Chapter 51 (1/2)
The place Samuel led the group to was none other than the very inn Alex introduced to Seol Ji-Hu.
They climbed past the floor he stayed the night before and went up to the third floor. Seol Ji-Hu got a huge shock once he saw the three individuals waiting for them at the meeting room.
”Hugo?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Huh? Seol?!” (Hugo)
Hugo, too, showed a similar reaction. Cho Hong's eyes went round as she spat out a surprised groan herself, and meanwhile, Dylan let off a wry chuckle as he crossed his arms.
”Oh my G.o.d. I had no idea we'd meet each other again less than an hour later.” (Hugo)
”They were searching for a porter when I was in the pub, so I applied right away.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
A bitter smile floated up on Seol Ji-Hu's face. He recalled Dylan's advice from earlier on.
”What's this? You know folks from Carpe Diem already?” (Samuel)
”Well, something like that. Let's say that we know who each other are.” (Dylan)
”Huh, this fella.” (Samuel)
After hearing Dylan's reply, Samuel took a sweeping look at Seol Ji-Hu with a renewed interest.
”Naught we can do but to take it as a trick of fate, I guess.” (Dylan)
Dylan raised his hands up in defeat.
”In any case, time is money. We'd like to hear that delicious deal of yours right away, if possible.” (Dylan)
”Hehe. Gimme some time to start cooking, will you? However, I'm sure you can pick up on the delicious scent already, yeah?” (Samuel)
Samuel joked for a bit and dragged a big table to the middle of the room. He then spread out a map on it.
While the crowd gathered around it, Seol Ji-Hu stayed in the corner, unmoving. He wondered whether a porter like himself was even allowed to b**t in here.
”Hey, you. What are you doing?” (Cho Hong)
Cho Hong looked at Seol and pointed at the table with her chin.
”Hurry up. Meeting's about to get started.” (Cho Hong)
She even took a step to her side and opened up a spot, too. When Seol stood next to her, Hugo began giggling hoa.r.s.ely.
”Whenever she owes someone an apology, she suddenly becomes so considerate to that person. It'd be simpler to say sorry once, wouldn't you say?” (Cho Hong)
Keuk, the tip of Cho Hong's nose reddened slightly, but she kept her mouth shut. Samuel began his explanation while pointing at a spot on the map, that was why.
”Since I know how you guys are like, I'll make my explanation as brief as possible. Our starting point will be the South gate. From there, we will use carriages to travel along the Rahman river for a day or two.” (Samuel)
Samuel's finger traveled along the river as marked on the map.
”This road is comparably safe, so we'll travel as fast as we can on this part of the journey. Well, we need to conserve our stamina for what's to come, anyway. If we don't run into an incident, we should safely disembark around here. And then, after we go over the Napal hill….” (Samuel)
His finger stopped by the image of a huge, sprawling forest.
”The Forest of Denial. Our ultimate destination. Most likely, we will have to go past the entrance and carry on until some sort of an interruption halts our progress.” (Samuel)
The moment he heard the words ‘Forest of Denial', Dylan's complexion hardened, but he didn't say anything. Samuel licked his lips and formed a confident smile.
”I've heard this information from a very reliable source. Apparently, there is a pretty sizeable tomb within the Forest of Denial.” (Samuel)
”A tomb, you say?” (Dylan)
”That's right. And no, it's not your regular tomb, either. There is a very good chance that it's a tomb related to one of the destroyed kingdoms from the past.” (Samuel)
”Are you suggesting that we raid the tomb and loot the grave goods?” (Dylan)
”Indeed! If it's true, then we might be able to acquire some serious artifacts for ourselves!” (Samuel)
Dylan rubbed his chin in contemplation.
”I was wondering why we were going so far down South, but I see now. It's plausible. You could say this location is at the frontier of the kingdom.” (Dylan)
”It's not only that. You know that Sicilia has put up a mission of scouting the Forest of Denial, yes?” (Samuel)
”I'm aware of it, yes.” (Dylan)
”There is also that mission from the royal family to consider, too! If everything goes smoothly as planned, we will be able to receive rewards from three sources!” (Samuel)
”Okay. I see what you're trying to say here, Samuel.” (Dylan)
Dylan calmed down Samuel as the latter began jumping up and down in excitement.
‘So, this is how an expedition is arranged.' (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu had been listening in very attentively as he didn't want to miss out on a single thing, but now, he was feeling somewhat confused.
This sounded like a tempting offer, indeed. However, he found it rather suspicious that no one had conquered this Forest of Denial, seeing that it was no more than four, five days of travel from the city of Haramark. Unless no one else knew about Samuel's information, that was.
In other words, there must have been some kind of a problem to worry about.
Dylan took his time deliberating on things, before raising his voice.
”There are three things I want to ask you about, Samuel.” (Dylan)
”Go ahead.” (Samuel)
”This information…. Who else knows about this, besides us?” (Dylan)
”Let me be honest here. I went to speak to Kahn's team first before calling you. They refused, though. But, they will definitely keep it as a secret.” (Samuel)
Dylan nodded his head.
”Fine. Then, can you tell me the ident.i.ty of this reliable source?” (Dylan)
”When are you going to ask me for what my countermeasure for the Forest of Denial is?” (Samuel)
The corner of Samuel's lips arched up. Dylan was taken aback, before a wry smile formed on his face.
”Well, aren't you a surprising one. Ever since High Priest Rebecca barely managed to return alive from that place, I was thinking that Forest of Denial is pretty much impossible to tread.” (Dylan)
”From the get-go, their method of approach was all wrong. The Forest of Denial isn't about curses. No, it's magic.” (Samuel)
”Magic?” (Dylan)
”That's right. You gotta counter magic with magic, but Rebecca failed because she relied on divinity. No, wait. Because it was her, should I say that she managed to walk out of that place alive?” (Samuel)
Samuel spoke up with a certain amount of confidence, before taking a cautious look around him. It was as if he was being very careful of making sure that there was no one listening in on them, even though they were inside a room.
”Dylan? I'll answer the last two questions in one go. The person who told me about the tomb is none other than Sir Ian.”
At this declaration, the trio of Dylan, Cho Hong and Hugo displayed a bit of shock.
”Sir Ian, is it?” (Dylan)
”That's right! Not only that, he's planning to join us on the expedition himself!” (Samuel)
”Hmm. Hmm….”
Inwardly, Dylan hadn't been too sure of it until then. But now, he was slowly tapping on the table with his fingertip. Seol Ji-Hu lightly poked the side of Hugo as the big guy's mouth bobbed up and down like a goldfish.
”Hugo.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Uh, uhm?” (Hugo)
”Who is this Ian?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Hey, man. How come you don't…. Oh, wait. It's your first time here, ain't it.” (Hugo)
Hugo began whispering to Seol as if he understood the youth's plight.
”Sir Ian a level 4 Alchemist. He's a skilled Sorcerer who is this close to entering the upper levels.” (Hugo)
Only then did the youth more or less understand. No matter which Job it was, reaching level 4 afforded some amount of acclaim, but what if the person with the rarest Job, Sorcerer, reached that level? No need to even mention it.
Dylan finally opened his mouth to speak.
”So, it's not scouting the Forest of Denial, but an expedition, instead. However, since we're nominally scouting the area, we don't even have to apply for the expedition licence, is that it?” (Dylan)
”Fufufu. It's a really delicious deal, don't you think so?” (Samuel)
”I agree. I'm already salivating at the prospect.” (Dylan)
Samuel began stamping on the floor with his feet as if he couldn't wait anymore, causing Dylan to form a toothy grin as well.
”Good. What about the finer details?” (Dylan)
”Don't be like that. You know how I operate. I'll take the lead and guide you forward, but Dylan, you take over during the battles. As for the loot, the first refusal goes to the person with the best compatibility with his or her Job. If there are two or more with the same Jobs, then higher level gets it. And the reward distribution is equally split.” (Samuel)
Samuel recited everything as if he had memorised already.
”Excellent.” (Dylan)
As soon as Dylan agreed, Samuel turned his head to look at the others.
”What about you two?” (Samuel)
”Why do you even ask? The decision's been made already.” (Cho Hong)
”I approve!” (Hugo)
Cho Hong agreed disinterestedly, while Hugo was very energetic.
Samuel formed a satisfied grin and s.h.i.+fted his gaze over to Seol Ji-Hu.
”My man! You're also okay with this, yeah?” (Samuel)
”Oh, I'm…..” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu stopped himself from speaking further.
Inwardly, he definitely wanted to be a part of this expedition. However, didn't he promise Kim Hahn-Nah that he'd not go any further south than Haramark?
Sensing his hesitation, Samuel's eyes opened up wider.
”Hey, is there a problem? This isn't an exploration, you know. It's an expedition parading around as an official mission. I'm sure that you'll earn a c**p ton of experience points by accompanying us.” (Samuel)
”The Forest of Denial is pretty close to the frontier, so won't it be too dangerous?” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu pointed this out, causing Samuel to let off a soft chuckle.
”Aha. That is true. However, you don't have to worry about that one! Technically, you could say that the Forest of Denial is on the border of the human territory, but actually, that place is much closer to a neutral zone more than anything else. The magic found in the Forest is so strong that not only us humans, but pretty much all the other species don't even think about getting close to it.” (Samuel)
Samuel explained it at length, before clenching his fist tightly.
”However, we're different. We have the high-leveled Dylan and Sir Ian in our midst. That ancient magic cast over the forest or whatever? We're going to break it apart, for sure.” (Samuel)
Rather than placing his trust in those words, Seol Ji-Hu activated his Nine Eyes instead. Samuel remained devoid of any colours even then.
”So, how about it? You're coming, yes?” (Samuel)
A short deliberation later, Seol nodded his head.
”Yes, I will.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Okay!!” (Samuel)
Samuel slapped the table's surface and stood up.
”We depart tomorrow! Let us meet up by the South gate early in the morning!” (Samuel)
The morning had come.
Seol Ji-Hu woke and lightly washed up, before hurriedly putting on his gear. Now that he thought about it, his sense of time had become a bit blurry ever since he started his life in the Paradise. Since there was no clock here, it couldn't be helped, but still, it was pretty tough to figure out when this ‘early in the morning' for their meeting would actually be.
He picked up his bag and left the inn. He then headed straight to the South gate via the route he memorised yesterday.
He was unsure until then, but his fears turned out to be true. Nine people were already waiting for him by the gate. Thinking that he was late, Seol ran with almost everything he had, before Samuel noticed him and waved his hand at the youth.
”Woah, woah! Calm down, calm down! You are not late, so you don't have to rush like that.” (Samuel)
”Oh. That's how it was.” (Seol Ji-Hu)