Chapter 382

Chapter 382

Across the table, Yu Se-hee asked,

“Did you check the houses that were built?”

“Yes! Hundreds of them were already up.”

“At this rate, before even a full month passes, more than three thousand houses will be built. More than ten thousand people will gain new homes.”

“That’s impressive.”

“It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I’ve never felt this proud of myself before. So I’m grateful to you. Thanks to you, I gained the chance to save countless people.”

“It’s thanks to everyone working together.”

“That’s why, as I said before, I’m thinking of repaying you.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Zeon answered with a smile.

He said that, but Zeon did not expect much.

It had not been something he had done while hoping for repayment in the first place, and most rewards would not satisfy his standards anyway.

Yu Se-hee stood and said,

“You won’t be disappointed. Today, I’m specially opening the secret warehouse. Take any one thing you want from there.”

“The secret warehouse?”

“Yes! It was made in the early days of the Goblin Market. Everything from unsold goods to items we can’t carelessly sell has been gathered there. Originally, it isn’t opened to anyone, but after discussing it with Grandfather, we decided to open it only for you.”

“I’m honored.”

Zeon’s eyes shone.

The place where he had obtained the hourglass containing Exion, which could be called his secret weapon, was Elder Kleksi’s shop.

There was no law saying another item like that could not be in the secret warehouse.

Unlike a moment ago, Zeon now felt a thread of expectation.

Seeing Zeon like that, Yu Se-hee smiled faintly and placed her hand on the office floor.

In that instant, countless lines appeared on the floor and formed a magic circle.

The entrance leading to the secret warehouse had been on the floor of Yu Se-hee’s office.

It was a structure where the entrance would only appear when Yu Se-hee activated the magic circle.

The only one who could activate the magic circle was Yu Se-hee. No one else could open the door to the secret warehouse.

Rumble!

With a heavy sound, the floor split open, and stairs appeared.

Yu Se-hee pointed to the floor and said,

“You can bring out only one thing, whatever it is. So choose carefully. What you go through the trouble of choosing might turn out to be trash.”

“I will.”

Zeon nodded and entered the secret warehouse.

The secret warehouse was enormous.

At a rough glance, it was one hundred meters across and one hundred meters wide, with a height exceeding ten meters.

In that enormous space, all kinds of objects were piled up like mountains.

The objects had been abandoned while covered in dust, making it look like a junkyard.

Zeon looked at the mound with an incredulous expression.

“You’re telling me to choose one item from here?”

He felt at a loss for where to begin.

If he tried to examine all these items in detail, even ten days would not be enough.

“Well, I have no choice but to roughly look through them. If I’m fated to find something decent, I will. If not, I’ll just grab something and leave.”

Zeon relaxed his mind to some degree and began examining the items. But once he actually started rummaging through them, it turned out to be quite fun.

It felt as if he were treasure hunting.

Some objects were so shabby he could not understand why they were even in the warehouse. Others were so excellent that he naturally understood why they had been shoved in here.

The dagger Zeon was holding now was one such item.

A red blade curved like a half-moon.

A jewel enchanted with Magic was embedded in the handle.

Just holding it made his body feel lighter and his vision brighten.

Slash!

When he swung it at another object as a test, a lump of iron was cut apart like a sheet of paper.

It was definitely an item excavated from a dungeon.

Judging by its form and the enchanted Magic, it was clearly a dagger made for assassins.

If an object like this fell into the hands of assassins, their abilities would surely be amplified several times over. That was why Yu Se-hee, though it pained her, had shoved the dagger into the warehouse instead of selling it on the market.

“She was wise.”

Zeon swung the dagger a few times, then tossed it among the junk.

It was a good item, but it did not suit him.

Weapons like swords, blades, and spears did not match well with him. Because of that, Zeon removed cold weapons from his choices.

“This isn’t it either, and this one isn’t great.”

Zeon threw away the items he had painstakingly found.

He had searched so hard that thick dust had settled on his hair and shoulders.

A smile formed on Zeon’s lips.

Because it felt like treasure hunting, and that put him in quite a good mood.

He rummaged through the warehouse without noticing the passage of time.

“There’s no end to this.”

Zeon wiped the sweat from his forehead and clicked his tongue.

Even though he had searched so diligently, an enormous number of items still remained.

He was just starting to think he might give up and leave with any random item when—

“What’s this?”

Among the odds and ends, there was an item that caught Zeon’s eye.

It was a necklace.

He did not know how long it had been left unattended, but the necklace’s surface was thickly covered in rust.

He could feel no special power from it, nor was it an object connected to Zeon. Even so, Zeon picked up the necklace because of the pattern visible through the rust.

“It’s exactly the same as the pattern on the brazier Briel has.”

Siela’s Brazier, which he had obtained at the gambling den in the Mana Stone Mine.

The exact same pattern as the necklace was engraved on Siela’s Brazier, a treasure of the High Elves.

“Is it an object related to the High Elves?”

Zeon looked around the warehouse.

In any case, he did not think searching further inside would bring out anything he needed. If so, it seemed better to take this instead.

Having made up his mind, Zeon immediately left the warehouse.

“What? Why are you out already?”

Yu Se-hee, who had been waiting outside, looked puzzled.

She had expected it would take Zeon five or six more hours to come out.

“Did you choose something?”

“Yes! I’ll take this.”

Zeon shook the necklace he had found in the warehouse.

“What’s that? That junk? There was something like that in the warehouse?”

“Yes!”

“No matter how I look at it, it just seems like junk. Why don’t you exchange it for something else?”

“It’s fine. I’ll just take this.”

“Tsk! If you do that, it looks like I opened the secret warehouse just to put on airs for nothing. Then pick one more thing before you come out. I’ll specially let you take two.”

“It’s fine. I really only need this one.”

“I guess there weren’t any items that met your standards.”

“It’s not exactly that.”

“Tch! That hurts my pride. Just how many good items are you covered in, for my things not to catch your eye?”

Yu Se-hee pouted.

Zeon did not bother answering and only smiled. At that, Yu Se-hee waved her hand and drove Zeon away.

“Fine! Hurry up and get out.”

“I’ll see you next time. I’ll use this well.”

Zeon shook the necklace once more and went outside.

From behind him, he heard Yu Se-hee grumbling.

“What the hell? I said I’d give him something good, so why did he choose something like that? That hurts my pride....... Is there really nothing usable in our secret warehouse? This is driving me crazy!”

Zeon smiled faintly and moved on.

Even items required fate.

No matter how good an item was to others, if he did not need it, then it was not fate.

Zeon was sufficiently satisfied with the item he had now.

“More importantly, I’m curious what it’s for. Briel should know, right?”

---

“I don’t know.”

“Really?”

At Briel’s unexpected answer, Zeon blinked.

Briel’s brow was deeply furrowed.

“This pattern is definitely a symbol of Lady Siela.”

“She’s the god of the elves, right?”

“Mm! But I’ve never heard of a necklace like this among Lady Siela’s sacred objects.”

Briel carefully injected mana into the necklace. That was because Siela’s Brazier had also accepted Briel’s mana and regained its original form. But there was no change in the rusted necklace.

“Would something change if I brought it into contact with the brazier?”

Briel took Siela’s Brazier out of subspace.

The sacred energy of Siela’s Brazier, which had regained its original form, could be felt.

Briel placed the necklace on top of Siela’s Brazier. Even then, no particular change occurred in the necklace.

“It looks like we need some other trigger to awaken this necklace.”

“Seems that way.”

“Anyway, thank you! If this really is an object related to Lady Siela, the adults in the village will recognize it.”

“You’ve made up your mind to visit the village, haven’t you?”

“Mm! As soon as my preparations are finished, I’ll go to the village.”

“That was a big decision.”

“It feels like the fact that this necklace caught your eye is a revelation from Lady Siela, telling me to go home once. Otherwise, there’s no way it would have ended up in my hands at this timing.”

“That might be true.”

Zeon nodded.

Perhaps the fact that he had entered the Goblin Market’s secret warehouse, and the fact that he had found this rusted necklace, were all part of the flow of fate.

If so, the fact that he would go to Briel’s village might also be part of a predetermined sequence.

“Right, where’s Levin?”

“He came in for a bit, then went out again. He said he was going to the Crocodile Den.”

“Looks like he went to meet Jetoya.”

“I think so. He really lives busily.”

“That’s another part of his charm.”

“That’s true.”

Of the three of them, the one with the most affection and the most meddlesome nature was Levin.

He always looked after the people around him, and whenever he had time, he made sure to visit each of them and check how they were doing.

Because of that, he also had the most people following him.

With only a little exaggeration, half the people living in Shinchon knew Levin, and half of those people liked him.

That was how wide Levin’s network was.

“He’ll come back on his own when the time comes. Don’t worry too much.”

“I’m not worried. He has more than enough ability to protect himself, so why would I worry?”

“Ghost Transformation?”

“Yeah! Most Awakened can’t put so much as a scratch on Levin’s body, so there’s no reason to worry.”

“Tch! I wish I had Awakened an ability like that too.”

“Instead, you have Liri. And Gaia too.”

“That’s right!”

Briel smiled brightly, as if she had never been sulking.

Unlike Gaia, Liri’s summoning time was not very long.

That was because Liri was still only a lower spirit.

As Liri grew, the summoning time would gradually become longer.

Because of that, Briel summoned Liri whenever she had the chance, building their bond and caring for her.

Briel looked out the window and asked,

“Is Gaia still in the sky?”

“She’s flying around Neo Seoul and playing.”

High in the distant sky, beyond people’s sight, Gaia was swimming freely.

Though Briel could not see her, Zeon, whose mind was connected to Gaia, clearly grasped Gaia’s movements.

Briel wore a slightly sulky expression.

“She doesn’t come down much anymore. Tch!”

“This place is too narrow for Gaia now, so it can’t be helped.”

“Still, tell her to come down sometimes. Tell her I’m upset.”

“I will.”

Zeon answered with a laugh.

Zeon’s eyes changed as he looked out the window in search of Gaia.

That was because he saw vehicles returning to Neo Seoul in the distance.

They were the same vehicles he had seen when he went to the Goblin Market.

The vehicles were returning covered in dust.

As the line of vehicles drew closer, Briel spotted Mandy in the lead buggy.

“Huh? Isn’t that Mandy?”

“She hurried outside earlier. Looks like she’s returning now.”

“What happened? Her expression looks pretty serious.”

Just as Briel said, Mandy’s expression was stiff.

Unless it was something significant, there was no way Mandy would make that expression.

Zeon’s gaze naturally turned toward the rear of the vehicle procession.

There was one vehicle that had not been there when they left for the desert earlier.

It was an Armored Bus used when traveling to and from the Mana Stone Mine.

“Did someone come from the Mana Stone Mine?”