-Venom Sword poison storage: 80 percent.
-Recombining absorbed poison to strengthen it into a more powerful poison.
-Current poison potency: level 55.
After absorbing all the poison from the contaminated reservoir with Venom Sword, I threw a question at the bard standing on the reservoir embankment.
“Could you tell me specifically what you mean by observing?”
Grenda was extremely wary of the bard, but my thoughts were different.
It was not too late to judge after hearing him out.
Besides, he and I had met before.
The bard I knew gave off the impression of an amiable person who casually attempted small talk and knew how to find animals cute when he saw them.
Since my first impression of him was good, I wanted to at least hear his circumstances.
The bard bent at the waist in a gesture of thanks.
“We have met before, dimension traveler, but we have not yet introduced ourselves. Allow me to greet you properly. I am Krol, a wanderer who calls himself a bard.”
It was the moment a name was written on the bard’s name tag.
“Mr. Krol... That is a good name. So when might I hear the answer to my question?”
“To observe. I mean it exactly as I said. A bard’s life is always a battle with material.”
“I see. You want to use me as material.”
“Among all possible materials, lyrics made with dimension travelers as the subject are the most popular.”
He said that as long as the title dimension traveler was attached, nobles and wealthy people would compete to invite him.
In other words, it was what people called a universal subject.
There were plenty of people who wanted their own stories widely known.
Self-affirmation through fame, and the gains obtainable by increasing exposure.
The effects one could expect were more than abundant.
But I was different.
I was satisfied that, through the guild, news about me had already been delivered to the people actually involved in my journey.
“I understand very well that you are saying this with good intentions.”
“In that case.......”
“However, my schedule is far from interesting material. Even if you observe me, you will probably end up with dull lyrics.”
“I will handle that part to the best of my ability.”
“By ‘to the best of your ability,’ I hope you do not mean fabrication.”
“Rather than fabrication, it would be more accurate to say I would add a little flesh to the bones. Do you perhaps dislike even that much?”
“When the time comes for me to become known, I will become known on my own. I do not intend to rush to spread my name by going so far as to embellish things.”
Krol opened his mouth to persuade me, but his intention never came to fruition.
From behind Krol’s right shoulder, a black thorn stretched diagonally out, grazed the side of Krol’s head, and protruded forward.
It was Grenda’s Shadow Knock.
In a soft tone, Grenda emphasized that she had deliberately missed.
“You must not be stubborn. If you keep insisting, I may not be able to adjust the angle next time.”
Her response was fiery.
As extreme as it was, the effect was certain.
Krol said nothing more and quietly withdrew.
He left with his shoulders drooping in disappointment, and loneliness seeped from his retreating back.
I patted Grenda’s shoulder twice with my hand.
“Calm down. It is not as if that man followed us with malice.”
It was not so serious that she needed to launch such a murderous attack.
If words truly did not work, even a harsh verbal refusal would have been enough.
It felt as if Grenda had overreacted.
As if she did not agree, Grenda shook her head.
“Goodwill does not always give birth to goodwill. Rather, malice born from lack of self-awareness is more frightening than openly malicious intent.”
“Mm, I understand what you are trying to say. I only thought there might have been a better way.”
“And you must not jump to the conclusion that his approach came from goodwill. In order to obtain material as a bard. Do you really believe that?”
“There is no reason not to believe it. He really was invited as a bard at the Southern Volter Mountain Hot Spring, and he even performed at the dinner show.”
When Grenda leaned her upper body forward to move, Luna reflexively slipped between me and Grenda.
Now she was blocking her almost by conditioned reflex.
Grenda raised her right hand and waved it back and forth, then set her direction north and began walking as she spoke.
“You are soft.”
Unexpectedly, even Luna, who had been uncomfortable with Grenda all along, sided with Grenda this time.
“Please understand, Ms. Grenda. Until now, he has only seen people who treated him well because he was a dimension traveler.”
“Aha. In that case, it is not impossible to understand.”
“This would be a good chance to tell him.”
They exchanged a conversation only the two of them understood while leaving me out.
It seemed there was a separate reason Grenda had seriously guarded against Krol.
I looked alternately at Grenda when Grenda spoke, and Luna when Luna spoke, then opened my mouth.
“Stop talking about things only the two of you understand and start explaining to me too.”
“It means not everyone views dimension travelers favorably.”
“I know that too. I heard that many people are not interested in dimension travelers.”
“Not being interested is better, at least. The problem is the type who first looks for a place to bite whenever a dimension traveler is involved.”
“They have malice toward me, even without ever having met me?”
“Among humans, there are very few people who view dimension travelers badly. But if we are talking about demons, the story is different.”
“Did the demons not lose the war and return to their own dimension?”
Grenda shook her head.
“For a large army to retreat safely, someone has to take the rear. Demons who volunteered to take the rear, demons abandoned in the human realm as part of internal political maneuvering... Well, each has their own circumstances, but I know there are quite a few demons who failed to retreat and were left behind in the human realm.”
Demons had crossed into the human realm through special gates and attempted war, and currently, the gates were firmly closed and could not be opened by ordinary means.
The demons who had been left behind in the human realm during the war had no way to return, so they wandered aimlessly through the human realm, living in all kinds of forms.
Luna picked up Grenda’s words exactly and advised me to always keep the demon remnants in mind.
“If a rumor spreads that this generation’s dimension traveler died, and that rumor reaches the demon realm, the demon realm may open the gates and attempt another invasion.”
“I understand what you are trying to say. The demon remnants left in the human realm may try to harm me in order to open a path back home, right?”
“The bard named Krol chose to follow us rather than formally ask permission. There is more than enough room for suspicion.”
“Mm. I do not like starting with suspicion indiscriminately.”
“For my sake, could you be careful from now on? I do not want my journey with Master to end early.”
What was with her, being so honest for once?
She was expressing with all her might that I really did need to be careful.
How could I joke around when Luna was acting so admirably?
I threw away my tastes and whatever else and met Luna’s expectations.
“Yeah, I will be more suspicious than necessary. If you are clinging to me saying you want to stay together, then I can develop a little suspicion sickness as much as you like.”
“Excuse me, I was not clinging to you.”
“It is not too late yet. Want to cling to me now?”
When I raised my right arm upward in an L-shape, making it easy for her to cling to, Luna took one step away from me and looked at me as if I were pathetic.
“You are making me want to retract what I just said.”
After that, Krol no longer appeared before us, and we arrived at the northern village before the day grew dark, finishing the day there.
***
Day 3 of the Volter Mountain schedule.
First, I entered the hot spring and obtained the Travel Reward Fund.
-Arrived at Northern Volter Mountain Hot Spring.
-Omoreo Region Exploration Rate increased to 60 percent.
-2,000,000 won has been added to the Travel Reward Fund.
-Current accumulated fund: 22,000,000 won.
Then, after bathing for ten minutes, I received the Hot Spring Experience Event reward.
[Level increased. Level has risen from 24 to 26.]
-Current remaining skill points: 13
The northern hot spring was divided into a men’s bath and women’s bath, and perhaps because a large number of group guests happened to arrive, both sides were packed with people.
I went in and out of the crowded hot spring and stayed there for a long time, using the other guests’ chatter as white noise.
Because it had been so long since I had been somewhere bustling, the feeling was different, and that day, I enjoyed the hot spring bath for more than an hour.
***
Day 4 of the Volter Mountain schedule.
Unlike Days 2 and 3, when we had encountered monsters several times, Day 4 passed peacefully without encountering any monsters.
The third place where we performed purification work was the upper reaches of a valley on Volter Mountain’s northern ridge.
Since we did not encounter any monsters, there was no occasion to consume Venom Sword’s poison. So I deliberately created a poison blade and dismantled it to forcefully consume poison before performing the purification work.
And in the evening, just as in the previous schedule, we moved to a village and entrusted ourselves to the hot spring.
-Arrived at Western Volter Mountain Hot Spring.
-Omoreo Region Exploration Rate increased to 80 percent.
-2,000,000 won has been added to the Travel Reward Fund.
-Current accumulated fund: 24,000,000 won.
With this, I had checked off all four paid hot springs on Volter Mountain.
During Days 1 through 3, the Travel Reward Fund had been the lead role, but today, the Travel Reward Fund was only an extra.
Because I had visited all the regular exploration points.
-You have successfully visited all exploration points in the Omoreo Region, excluding hidden exploration points.
-As you have conquered the regular exploration points of the Omoreo Region, rewards will be granted accordingly.
-‘Photo Capture’ function added to Traveler Package skill.
-Using the Photo Capture function registers the living creature or scenery you are gazing at in the Album. Each time a photo is registered in the Album, the skill level of one random skill increases.
-The rarer or more splendid the photo subject is, the higher the skill level increase. (However, skill levels raised through Photo Capture are calculated as 0 refund points when deleting the skill.)
-This function can be used only once per region.
-Next recommended travel destination: Banes Region.
As a bonus, they said that once I returned to my original world, the completed Album would be made into a physical object and delivered to me.
Was there anyone who did not take photos while traveling?
Actually, there was one right here.
Since I was young, no matter where I went, I had never been the one to step forward and take photos first.
In my case, I had a strange stubbornness: if a memory only came to mind when seen in a photo, then that meant the trip had been terrible.
Looking back, I wondered if it was a habit that formed because I never particularly had anyone to brag to about my travel stories.
To think I had to diligently take photos after crossing into another world, when I had not even taken them in my original world.
The chance to take a photo was once per region.
The rarer or more splendid, huh......
Still, the first photo had special meaning, so I wanted to take a photo of the subject I wanted, without clinging to the reward.
A subject I would want to look at from time to time even after returning to my original world.
Who that was had already been decided.
[Level increased. Level has risen from 26 to 28.]
-Current remaining skill points: 15
Oh dear, had ten minutes already passed?
By now, Luna should have finished her walk and returned to the room.
Just as I was about to return to the room for my monumental first photo, a body marked by compressed muscle entered the hot spring and took a seat beside me.
It was Krol.
As if he had completely forgotten what happened yesterday, Krol spoke to me comfortably.
“We meet here again. I am scheduled to perform here today. If you are interested, please come watch.”