The next day, I left the Duke’s Castle and stopped by the General Store to buy a few necessary items before heading west.
“Phew, the weather’s nice today. That’s a relief.”
Of course, my standard for “nice” in winter just meant there wasn’t too much wind.
Thankfully, since the Londinium Empire was in the warmer southern region, it wasn’t as cold as the northern territories, but cold is still cold.
Besides, having just passed through a sweltering summer and a cool autumn, the temperature hadn’t changed so drastically, so my body had time to adjust.
“I heard that in summer, when it rains, it pours around here…”
The fact that there were clear four seasons and a rainy spell in summer gave me a fleeting feeling as if I were back in Korea, but a glance around confirmed that this definitely wasn’t Korea.
Kkiruruk!
The distant cry of a Monster reached me, and the forest around was dense with trees, with all sorts of unfamiliar weeds and flowers filling the surroundings.
Of course, that didn’t mean I’d just walk by without doing anything.
“Oh, what’s this?”
[Flower Infused with Mana: The petals hold a slight amount of mana. Consuming it slightly increases your mana.]
A single flower could fetch a gold coin—a precious find.
I took out a jar from my Magic Bag.
That was why I’d stopped by the General Store earlier—to buy containers for rare Herbs or useful Materials I might find along the road.
My Magic Bag was already stuffed full of all sorts of Herbs.
-Skill ‘Observation’ has leveled up.
-Skill ‘Gathering’ has leveled up.
It was nice that my Skills were steadily improving, and I could always sell the Herbs and Materials I collected for some profit.
And it was great to have something to keep me entertained on the road.
“Sss, ha. The air really is nice.”
Maybe because I was deep in the forest, the air was fresher and cleaner.
Breathing in the crisp air that seemed to reach deep into my lungs, I felt my mind becoming clearer as I kept walking.
Toma, excited to be out, darted here and there around me, never straying too far.
It was a solo journey, but it was turning out to be more fun and enjoyable than I’d expected.
Especially, this solitude felt so good.
“Phew, this is great.”
How long had it been since I had such a leisurely rest, enjoying the beauty of nature? Since falling into this world, this was probably the first real break I’d gotten.
“There’s still about three weeks left on my schedule, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
I was taking it easy. If I really pushed it with Toma, we could reach our destination in a week.
That’s why I was able to take my time and enjoy myself like this.
So instead of taking the road by the edge of the forest, I decided to cut straight through the woods.
Of course, taking it easy meant running into some uninvited guests.
“Kkirik?”
The uninvited guests were none other than Monsters. The first wave was five Goblins.
“Fire Spear, Rock Spear.”
The two spears I cast flew from my hands and pierced the necks of two Goblins.
“Hihangba!”
Toma, thrilled at the appearance of the Goblins, charged in at full speed and slammed into one of them.
Kwaang!
Since it was winter, Toma was wearing a special outfit crafted by Smith.
Smith had designed it to keep him warm through the cold, covering his back and neck with thick fabric, and reinforcing his front and back legs with sturdy iron plates to make his kicks even more powerful.
At first, I worried that the extra weight would slow him down or make things harder for Toma, but he was running and living his best life—Smith himself was surprised by it.
The Goblin that clashed head-on with Toma was sent flying off into the depths of the forest.
That left two Goblins.
But even those Goblins were slowly collapsing to the ground.
As Toma finished his charge, I finished one off with a Magic Missile to the head.
“Not much of a welcome for guests, is it?”
I muttered as I rummaged through the Goblin corpses.
There wasn’t even a single Magic Stone to be found among them, and catching five Goblins hardly gave much Experience Points, so it wasn’t much of a reward.
So I kept walking through the forest.
At this point, even if I were to fall somewhere unknown, I wouldn’t be all that worried.
With Map Hack as a unique trait, finding my way was no problem at all.
That let me go even deeper and truly enjoy nature in peace.
“Chwiik?”
A second wave of guests appeared.
“Fireball!”
Shuyong, kwaang!
The Fireball exploded, incinerating an Orc on the spot.
Drawing my sword from my waist, I channeled Auror and charged toward the Orcs.
“Spinning Blade.”
I leaped into the middle of the Orc pack and spun with my sword.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
In an instant, my sword sliced two Orcs clean in half.
After swiftly subduing three of them, I smiled slightly and thrust my sword horizontally at the last remaining Orc.
“Farewell.”
My blade pierced the Orc’s chest, where its heart was, and the Orc died instantly.
Now, I had the power to kill Orcs in a matter of seconds.
Compared to when I first fell into this world, I’d made tremendous progress.
Praising myself for my own growth, I kept walking, when a sudden thought crossed my mind.
“Come to think of it, in Fantasy Novels, you always meet Elves or Beastkin in the forest… I wonder if I’ll get to see them.”
The idea of meeting the beautiful Elves, the icons of beauty in Fantasy Novels, or the cute Beastkin, made my heart pound with anticipation.
“It’d be nice if I could meet an Elf, just once.”
I really wanted to see just how beautiful they were with my own eyes. With that hope in mind, I walked deeper into the forest.
***
My excited heart quickly cooled off.
“Well, I did hear that Elves have been hiding their presence on this continent for a long time.”
This was something I’d heard right after arriving here, picking up bits and pieces of rumors. As expected, Elves were nowhere to be found.
“Should I change the imaginary animal in my mind?”
I remembered a webtoon I read back on Earth, where the “imaginary animals” made me laugh.
One was the mythical beast Kirin, another was the Dragon, and the last one was a Girlfriend.
The first time I saw it, I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and nearly puked.
Sometimes, idiots in games would see my ID and pick fights, saying I must be single. While it was true I didn’t always have a Girlfriend, it wasn’t like I’d never had one.
And those idiots never dared to mess with me again after I gave them hell.
It was only possible because I was a legendary player on the server.
Anyway, I figured I could just substitute Elves for that Girlfriend in my imagination.
“Enough with the fantasies, time to find an Inn.”
After about a week camping in the forest, I finally came out and stopped by a village. The reason was none other than the darkening sky.
The clouds looked heavy, as if it might rain at any moment.
So I hurried and changed course, heading to the village.
It wasn’t very big. Maybe around fifty households—a small, cozy place. I made my way to the village’s one and only Inn.
Luckily, there was also a Stable, so I didn’t have to worry about feeding Toma or keeping him out of the rain.
I took a seat at a Table inside the Inn and ordered a simple meal.
No matter that I’d become a noble, my tastes weren’t that refined yet.
Unlike the real nobles here, who would make a fuss if the food wasn’t top quality or throw a tantrum, I didn’t care for any of that.
I was perfectly content to eat warm Drizzle Soup and hard bread, and didn’t complain if there wasn’t any meat.
As long as I got whatever the owner was proud to serve, I was satisfied.
This time, the owner brought out a hearty Stew with large chunks.
When I looked at the flesh-colored chunks and wondered what they were, the owner explained,
“These are Potatoes grown in our village. They’re delicious boiled, roasted, or added to Stew like this. The meat is Direbit.”
It had been a while since I’d had a dish with Potatoes as the main ingredient.
Of course, it wasn’t as if Potatoes were unheard of—I’d had them sometimes at Inns, and we grew a small amount on our territory too.
But the ones we had were small and not that tasty, so I was curious how these would be. I scooped up a Potato and tasted it.
Eh—
The Potato was delicious. Firm and flavorful, it blended perfectly with the Stew.
With a satisfied expression, I ate my fill, and the Innkeeper looked pleased as well.
I was savoring my meal when the Inn door suddenly burst open and three men walked in.
“Hey, innkeeper, got any rooms?”
One of them spoke, his robe pulled tightly over him and soaked from the rain.
Only then did I realize it had started to rain outside, and congratulated myself for making it to the Inn in time.
The Innkeeper greeted them and showed them to a Table.
The three men sat together and spoke quietly among themselves.
They kept their voices low, and the sound of the rain outside helped cover their conversation.
But my ‘Eavesdrop’ Skill, which I’d been training steadily, was already at level 23. Their words came through to me perfectly.
“Really? There’s a Dungeon here?”
“Shut it, you lunatic! That’s top secret.”
“Who’s gonna hear us?”
“Right there. And this can’t get out. This is our ticket to a windfall, just the three of us.”
“So what kind of Dungeon is it?”
Hearing their conversation, I was a little surprised. I tried not to show it, because if I gave myself away, they’d get suspicious.
So I just listened quietly.
“Well…”
The man in the middle pulled the others closer and spoke even more softly.
“They say it’s a Dungeon made by the Great Sage Rezo.”
His voice was quiet, but the other two men recoiled in shock when they heard it.
“Huh—!”
“Rezo? That Rezo?”
“Hey, you idiots, keep your voices down!”
The man in the middle snapped at them and continued,
“You fools. If Mercenary Thieves like us want to live the rest of our lives easy, this is our one chance. So for god’s sake, keep quiet.”
“Okay, okay…”
“Sorry…”
They wanted to keep talking, but their food arrived and they naturally fell silent.
The Innkeeper stepped away, and the three resumed their conversation in between bites.
“But can the three of us manage without a Mage?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about too. But as long as we’re careful, we should be fine, right?”
“Come on, how many years have we been Thieves? As long as we’re careful, we can handle it.”
Despite the other two’s worries, the man in the middle seemed unconcerned.
“Mages are greedy bastards. If they find out, they’ll take half for themselves, and that’s if they share at all. I’d rather we just keep this between us and play it safe.”
“But still…”
“The safest way to get through a Dungeon is with a Mage, though.”
The two of them still seemed scared.
At that, the man in the middle said,
“Fine. If we can find a Mage here, we’ll bring him along. But we split everything evenly.”
At that, I stopped eating, stood up, and walked over to their Table. Boldly, I sat down with them and raised one hand.
“Fireball.”
A ball of flame formed in my palm. I held it out in front of their eyes and said,
“The Mage you’re looking for is right here.”
At that, the three of them froze on the spot.