Chapter 218 (1/2)

The eerie tongue felt like it was suffocating his body. Park Muyeol felt a tremendous sense of pressure as he faced the dragon who never fell asleep that he only heard about in words. It was just like Hercules told him. The sight of hundreds of heads moving on the huge body was strange. The sharp claws exuded a force like it would tear everything apart. In short, the existence in front of him could only be defined with one word—‘Monster.’

It was hard to believe that Hercules killed this monster once. Of course, this was the child of ‘Ladon’ who was killed at the time, but it had grown so big it showed a huge presence. How on earth did Hercules deal with it? It was impossible to understand from Park Muyeol’s point of view.

“Ladon~ have you been well?”

“Swiiik—”

“It must be nice to see us.”

“Swiik— Swiiik—”

The women called Aegle and Erytheia greeted Ladon, but in Park Muyeol and Michael’s eyes, Ladon wasn’t happy at all. It was a ferocious predator facing prey.

“Go ahead and take out the silver bells if you don’t want to be eaten.”

At Arethusa’s words, Aegle and Erytheia each took out a small silver bell. It was the same for Arethusa. The three sisters started to shake the bells while looking at Ladon.

Rattle- rattle- rattle-

The regularly swaying bells produced a beautiful sound that slowly permeated Ladon. The results were astounding.

“...It is asleep.”

“What is that thing?”

”How should I know?” Park Muyeol shrugged when he saw the sleeping Ladon. Michael was amazed by the sight in front of him and speculated on the identity of the silver bells, but there was no way for them to know.

“Go find it. This won’t last long. Ladon is someone who never sleeps so it will only last three minutes every time it rings. You must hurry.”

At her words, Park Muyeol and Michael hurried up to the golden apple tree. The first thing they saw were the golden apples there.

[Golden Apple of Tragedy]

[Rating: Myth

The fruit of the golden apple tree that Gaia, the original god, brought to the human world.

There is no disease that can’t be healed if it is eaten. Additionally, if eaten constantly, then one will become immortal.

However, there is a theory that most humans who covet it will face tragedy.

-Various diseases and wounds will be fully recovered.

-If more than 30 are consumed, your character’s status will rise to the rank of a ‘god.’]

‘It is amazing.’

Park Muyeol couldn’t see anything else. He could become a ‘god.’ This alone meant that the golden apple had tremendous value. The condition was that he needed to eat more than 30 apples, but it would be a ridiculous item if there wasn’t this limit.

“It would be better not to covet a golden apple.”

Arethusa floated in the air with folded arms and gave this small warning as she looked down at Park Muyeol and Michael. She watched their actions carefully while making such threats. If they showed even the slightest signs of stupidity then she would cut them down.

The search for the Star Fruit lasted around half an hour. The three sisters continued to wave the bell while helping them with their search.

“Is it really here? I don’t think I see anything.”

It was the same for Park Muyeol who was confused by Michael’s question. Hercules had said that he felt the energy of the Star Fruit from the location of the golden apple tree. However, he looked over the entire tree and couldn’t see anything similar, let alone the Star Fruit.

If so, where was it?

The three sisters had been glancing at them since a little while ago with irritated expressions. They would be charged as liars and killed if they did something wrong. Arethusa approached them with angry eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re deceiving us? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you humans...”

“I found it!” Just then, Park Muyeol cried out and pointed to one place. The direction was a completely unexpected place. He hadn’t expected it to be hidden there. He quickly descended the tree and headed toward the Star Fruit. It was in the arms of Ladon, who had fallen asleep with closed eyes.

* * *

It was an hour later. I had my eyes closed and felt the carriage slowing down. I saw Edward blinking and opening his eyes from where he was sleeping across from me.

“Um, we’re almost there?” Edward asked Kerenos with blurry eyes.

“Yes, we’re almost there. Wake up now and wipe your saliva.”

“Oh, yes.” Edward wiped his saliva with his sleeves.

I opened one of the carriage’s windows and looked outside. In the distance, I could see a great castle and the city center. It was a place where royalty didn’t seem to be lacking anything as they lived. After confirming our identity, we passed the checkpoint and finally got off the carriage.

A message welcomed us.

[Welcome to the Orca Kingdom.]

“Ah~ this air is refreshing!”

Edward stretched in a pleasant manner. I stretched my shoulders while the Sylphid Knights got off their horses and walked with tired bodies.

Kerenos asked Edward, “Are you going to stand as guarantor straight away?”

“Yes, let’s go right away. This is why we came.”

Stand as guarantor? I was startled and asked Edward, “What is that?”

Kerenos explained to me, “There are two ways for an immortal human to become a lord. One way is to establish great achievements and become favored by the king, gaining the status of a noble. The other way is to receive a guarantee from a noble in the kingdom.”

I hadn’t expected the word ‘guarantor’ to be so scary. A guarantee in this world was similar to the one in South Korea, but there were different aspects. It was scary.

“So how do you stand as a guarantor?”