Creak.
The old man stopped in front of us.
He had a battered cart piled high with odds and ends, along with one foolish-looking donkey.
My eyes happened to meet the donkey’s.
Chomp, chomp.
It was chewing a carrot, drool running from its mouth.
‘It looks even dumber in person.’
It had looked unimpressive in the game as well, but reality was even worse.
I almost felt bad comparing it to the fine horse the merchant company master had shown us.
“Hup!”
The old man swiftly climbed down from the donkey.
He began organizing the cargo piled onto his battered cart.
His hands moved without hesitation.
Before long, he had made enough room for five or six people to ride with ease.
“All right, now that we’re closer, I’ll only charge one million Shillings per person!”
“...”
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to turn down my offer again?”
Grin.
The old man bared his yellow teeth as he began to bargain.
Adelia, standing beside me, couldn’t hide her confusion.
After all, this old man was the very driver we had first encountered in Dark City Dawnguard.
—Let’s see. If you give me two million Shillings for both you and your companion... Huh? Hey! Where are you going?
“...”
Just then, I saw Adelia studying the old man with a flustered expression.
His clothes were torn and filthy, his face was wrinkled, and his unkempt beard was a tangled mess.
No matter where one looked, he didn’t seem trustworthy in the slightest.
‘But, Adelia.’
Think about it carefully.
While we were going through one disaster after another, that old man had brought a single donkey all the way here.
He hadn’t even suffered so much as a scratch while the Silk-road’s barrier vanished several times.
‘Doesn’t that mean that, despite his shabby appearance, his ability is the real deal?’
Jingle.
At that moment, something gleamed from inside the old man’s rag-like clothes.
Adelia’s gaze naturally drifted toward it.
“Huh...?”
A badge.
The badge of honor given only to merchants who had traveled the Silk-road more than one hundred times.
The same badge the bald merchant company master wore on his chest was dangling there.
There were seven of them, no less.
Adelia’s mouth fell open at the sight. It seemed the utterly unexpected object had momentarily stopped her thoughts.
“Remember this, Adelia.”
Pat, pat.
I lightly patted Adelia on the shoulder.
Then I gave her a lesson far more useful than the sloppy swordsmanship advice I had offered her thus far.
The saying regarded as an ironclad rule among Loel’s players.
“Anyone who survives to old age has a reason for it.”
***
You know how every game has at least one comic-relief character?
The sort of character who exists solely to make people laugh.
That ridiculous old man was one such NPC.
‘Known as the Donkey Old Man.’
Within Loel’s system, he was a mysterious character whose name appeared as 「??」.
Countless people had tried to dig into the old man’s past, but his identity remained veiled to all but a select few players.
That said it all. Even I, a veteran who had played for twelve years, had only barely managed to uncover those breadcrumbs.
[Kongi’s Dad] : Fuck, that DonOld bastard raised his carriage fare again.
[Strawberry Latte] : ?
[Kongi’s Dad] : No, seriously. He wants five million Shillings just to go to the next village.
[Strawberry Latte] : LOLLLLLLL
[Cool Choi] : Then walk there yourself if you don’t like it^^
The Donkey Old Man—DonOld for short—always charged exorbitant carriage fares.
Prices four or five times the going rate, and sometimes more than ten times as high.
Even so, players occasionally had no choice but to use DonOld’s cart through gritted teeth...
[Kongi’s Dad] : It’s an item-delivery quest with the 「Fragile」 trait. We’re fucked if we get attacked.
[Middle Finger (Me)] : Then take DonOld’s cart, I guess.
[Cool Choi] : What’re you gonna do if he raises the price? LOLLLLL You’ll have no choice but to ride it anyway LOLLLLL
...The reason was that random events would ‘never’ occur if you rode in DonOld’s cart.
In other words, you wouldn’t have to deal with the monster attacks that occurred all too often on the Silk-road.
Players who absolutely had to cross the Silk-road safely were therefore forced to seek out DonOld.
‘Though he’s an NPC who suddenly disappears in the middle and late game.’
That was right.
DonOld vanished in a flash at precisely the point when his abilities were needed most.
That was why players didn’t simply hate him; they regarded him with a complicated mix of affection and resentment.
[Strawberry Latte] : The difficulty in the middle and late game would’ve plummeted if DonOld had been around.
[Cool Choi] : For real.
[Kongi’s Dad] : I miss you, DonOld... Please come back... I’ll even pay two hundred million Shillings... I’ll be good...
‘Anyway.’
Someday, I would have to talk to the Donkey Old Man too. No matter what, he was an extremely important NPC.
But now wasn’t the time.
I couldn’t have a deep conversation with him while there were so many ears listening.
Well, that was fine. There would be a proper time later when I could speak with him in detail.
So today, I planned to be content with having confirmed that DonOld was real and familiarized myself with his face.
There was still plenty of time before DonOld disappeared.
More importantly, I had more than one or two things to do before then.
“Huh. Well, I’ll be.”
I was lost in one thought after another when the bald merchant company master sitting across from me suddenly exclaimed.
“That donkey is a lot stronger than it looks.”
The merchant company master’s eyes gleamed. He clearly coveted the donkey.
It was understandable.
Despite its foolish appearance, that donkey possessed absurd strength.
You only had to look at the scene behind us to see it.
Scrape, scraaaape.
Sacks stacked on a massive wooden plank were being dragged behind the battered cart.
They were the goods the merchant company master had selected as his most valuable items.
The pile of cargo, bound tightly with steel ropes because of its immense weight, left deep tracks in the barren ground.
Even so, the donkey silently trudged onward, pulling the heavy load.
“And it’s even dragging the Celestial Dragon Bird’s corpse that easily...”
At the merchant company master’s words, I silently shifted my gaze.
The cleanly bisected corpse of the Celestial Dragon Bird came into view.
Didn’t the merchant company master say earlier that he had loaded only the most valuable items?
Without question, that massive corpse was the most valuable thing here.
‘The Celestial Dragon Bird’s corpse will fetch a huge price anywhere.’
At this point, a Divine Beast’s corpse had never once been put on the market.
As a one-of-a-kind specimen, the Celestial Dragon Bird’s corpse and byproducts would surely command whatever price was named at auction.
Naturally, there would be more prospective buyers than anyone could count.
‘However...’
There was one serious problem that followed.
‘...Explaining why we killed a Divine Beast won’t be easy.’
Divine Beasts.
They weren’t some lowly monsters.
As agents entrusted with the will of the Ancient God Elders, their very existence was considered special and sacred.
Having killed a Celestial Dragon Bird, we would have to provide a justifiable reason.
Otherwise, we’d have to bear tremendous repercussions.
‘The moment we enter Free City Vertas, we’ll probably be met with all kinds of scrutiny...’
There would be questioning by high-ranking figures, and every sort of rumor about us would circulate among adventurers.
To quiet this commotion, we had no choice but to prove the Celestial Dragon Bird’s corruption and that we had acted in self-defense.
The process wouldn’t be easy. Still, I had to make it work. If persuasion failed, we could be executed on the charge of blasphemy.
Even if we ran, once we were branded, we wouldn’t be able to stay comfortably in any city other than Dark City Dawnguard.
‘...But Adelia will handle that worst-case scenario herself, so whatever.’
Fortunately, I had a cheat code that I could use to my advantage in a situation like this.
Adelia von Goldheart.
If she, a young lady of the Sacred Family, explained things properly to the higher-ups, she should be able to steer the situation in a somewhat favorable direction.
The holy city of Middle Temple wouldn’t dispatch an investigative team, and no one would press us for answers.
Of course, Adelia wouldn’t be happy to invoke her family’s name, but given the circumstances, she would still find a way to resolve this matter.
‘Besides, it’s not like there are only one or two witnesses.’
The Celestial Dragon Bird had attacked us first.
No one had actually witnessed the battle, but there were more than seven survivors who could testify to the circumstances.
The bald merchant company master’s testimony would be especially helpful.
Having received the Silk-road badge, he was surely an influential merchant in Free City Vertas as well.
“...”
Still, there was one concern: in the process, we would inevitably draw a great deal of attention...
‘Well, does it matter?’
I had no intention of hiding my strength completely. If anything, showing off a suitable amount of my ability would help with my plans going forward.
‘But I shouldn’t flaunt my power, either.’
Too many pests would swarm, and unexpected incidents would happen more often.
The important thing was to find the proper line.
I had to precariously maintain that balance without attracting excessive attention.
That was a task I would have to keep resolving from now on as well.
‘...This is such a headache.’
In the end, there was only one way to break through this complicated situation.
‘I need to improve my build as fast as possible.’
To grow stronger.
Gaining overwhelming power was the fundamental solution that would let me overcome every problem.
It was in line with the first goal I had set after falling into this world.
Fortunately, my path to growth was clearer than ever right now.
The rewards I had gained by facing the Celestial Dragon Bird were the beginning of it.
〔Reward: You have obtained the Passive Skill 【Ultimate Auto-Parrying】.〕
〔Reward: The sealed ‘Sword Lv. Max’ talent has been unlocked.〕
The notification windows still flashed before my eyes.
The newly obtained Passive Skill.
And the overwhelming talent for swordsmanship worth 179,312,341 points, finally unsealed.
They were talents with truly limitless potential.
‘I’d like to test those two out as soon as possible...’
I was thinking that when...
“Sir Gaon.”
Rattle, clatter.
I snapped out of it, pulling free from the thoughts I’d sunk deeply into.
The battered cart was passing over a high hill.
Adelia, seated beside me, continued.
“We’ll soon arrive at our destination.”
At those words, I slowly turned my head to the side.
A massive city wall came into view.
Beyond it, roofs in a wide array of colors beautifully adorned the city.
In contrast to Dawnguard, it was a city whose lively atmosphere could be felt even from afar.
‘...Free City Vertas.’
The heart of Lost Elder had finally revealed itself.