[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 4: The Golden Sli (1)
1.
Gafor’s Top.
It was one of the 10 largest organizations in the city of Liss, and it was rapidly gaining power.
In terms of history and tradition, it was not yet on par with the other 10 largest organizations in the port city of Liss.
Despite this, it occupied the tallest and largest building in the port city of Liss.
The number of people coming and going from the Gafor’s Top was as large as the size of the building itself.
“Isn’t that person I saw sowhere?”
“Where? I can’t tell with so many people.”
There were too many people to recognize each other.
It was even harder to recognize the faces of adventurers, let alone the nas of slaves.
“Hey, there!”
“Oh, it’s Pau!”
However, El Pau was an exception. He was more famous than any adventurer at the Gafor Top Liss branch.
It was understandable.
“He’s back alive again?”
“Amazing, he’s survived again as a bait slave.”
He had been surviving and returning alive for years as a bait slave, a role that was usually difficult to survive for more than three tis.
Looking at El Pau, people thought:
“Looking at him co back alive like that, it seems like the Gafor’s Top is really terrible.”
“Of course. It’s better to just die than to run away from the Gafor’s Top.”
Judging by the fact that he didn’t run away from the Gafor’s Top even though he was going through hell, the Gafor’s Top must be even more terrifying than hell.
“Wait a minute.”
However, the atmosphere towards El Pau began to change ominously at so point.
“Why are you coming alone?”
“Alone?”
“Did you really survive the Mystic Gate alone?”
After all, those who returned alive from the Mystic Gate era were treated as ominous beings.
Not to ntion that El Pau was a bait slave, so it was natural that the gazes directed at him beca sharp.
Sharp gazes, enough to suffocate even the strongest, flew towards El Pau.
‘It’s exactly the sa as that ti.’
However, El Pau didn’t care.
To be honest, he didn’t even feel it.
Compared to the six gazes from the three heads of that monster, Horntail, this was nothing.
Of course, before he returned, the old El Pau was different.
‘Back then, my mind wasn’t right.’
El Pau’s ntal state was destroyed after being suddenly thrown in as bait, witnessing the deaths of the other adventurers, and narrowly escaping the incoming orange mushrooms to find the exit alone.
In fact, at that ti, he wasn’t even aware that he had opened the 1st Circle.
He ca here with a blank expression, only thinking that he had to report this fact to the Gafor’s Top.
However, it was different now.
“But why is his expression so calm? It doesn’t look like his party was wiped out.”
El Pau walked through the building of the Gafor’s Top with a face so cold it was almost expressionless.
“Now, wait a minute.”
And then, he willingly showed it.
“Is that… a Circle on his wrist?”
2.
Lakan, one of the executives of the Gafor’s Top.
“El Pau? Who’s that?”
His reaction when he first heard about El Pau was one of doubt.
“What, a slave?”
When he heard the following explanation, Lakan was surprised.
However, he was not angry.
He knew why.
“You’re not telling that a single slave ca back alive, are you? What’s going on?”
There was a reason why a low-ranking employee of the Gafor’s Top would co to him, an executive, on two feet.
“He opened the 1st Circle?”
And only when he heard the explanation did he acknowledge that it was a reason to co to him.
“Hmm.”
However, he was not particularly surprised.
“A bait slave opened a Circle…….”
This was not the first ti this had happened. No, it happened more often than one might think.
There were more people who opened the 1st Circle than one might think, and that was why the era of adventurers could begin.
Therefore, the fact that he opened the 1st Circle was not a big problem in itself.
“A bait slave.”
The problem was that the person in question was a bait slave, soone who could not have good intentions towards the Gafor’s Top.
Not to ntion, he was not just any bait slave.
“Three years?”
It was safe to say that among the surviving bait slaves, El Pau harbored the most resentnt towards the Gafor’s Top.
This posed a problem.
“He could beco a real pain in the ass if he turns into a successful adventurer later.”
“Would he maintain a good relationship with the Top then? Even if he did, it would require a lot of effort on their part.”
From the Top’s perspective, eliminating El Pau seed like the easiest solution.
However, that wasn’t so simple either.
“We can’t just kill him.”
“The Top may do so bad things, but it still values contracts. Trust with those who sign contracts is more important than life itself!”
The sa applied to El Pau. They had a contract with him. Should they just kill him because he ssed up? A secret execution was an option, but the risk of getting caught was significant.
On the other hand, killing El Pau wouldn’t benefit the Top in the imdiate term. An adventurer who could pay off his debts was a valuable asset, and killing him ant losing that potential inco.
Lakan needed to weigh the pros and cons. How much of a threat was El Pau to the Top? The report ntioned El Pau’s calm deanor upon arrival.
This was unusual.
Adventurers and bait slaves typically suffered ntal breakdowns after expeditions beyond the Mystic Gate.
El Pau, however, seed completely unfazed.
The report continued, informing Lakan that El Pau had proposed a new contract, one befitting an adventurer.
Surprise gave way to a narrowed gaze on Lakan’s face.
This was far from an ideal situation.
As ntioned earlier, it was impossible for a bait slave to have any positive feelings towards the Gafor’s Top.
From the Top’s perspective, a bait slave becoming an adventurer was a high-risk situation.
However, fear of risk was not an option for a rchant who wanted to survive.
‘He’s a guy with potential.’
Judging from his appearance, it was clear that he was no longer the inexperienced adventurer who had just opened his 1st Circle.
Of course, Lakan didn’t think much of it.
At the end of the day, El Pau was just a novice adventurer who had just opened his 1st Circle.
From the perspective of the gigantic Gafor’s Top, he was nothing more than a large pebble on the side of the road.
He was not soone that Lakan, one of the core executives of the Gafor’s Top, needed to be deeply concerned about.
So Lakan made a decision.
“Leave El Pau to Ebisu.”
3.
“So you’re Ebisu.”
The man who spoke and extended his hand had a face completely covered in thick beard.
He was also huge in size.
An appearance that was impossible to forget once seen.
‘Ebisu.’
That was his na.
‘The left-hand man of Lakan, one of the current executives of the Gafor’s Top.’
El Pau easily recalled the na and identity of the man before him from his old mories.
‘Not a bad catch.’
And he was satisfied with the fact that Ebisu had co.
‘This ans Lakan is paying attention to .’
Before his regression, El Pau had acted like a complete fool the mont he opened his 1st Circle.
He had behaved in a conventional manner, and the Gafor’s Top had treated him conventionally as well.
El Pau had been used to the very end, just like it was common knowledge that adventurers who owed a lot of money to the Gafor’s Top would be used until they died.
That was why it had taken him three years to find freedom.
His initial debt was 1 million sos, but in the process of completing the Gafor’s Top’s requests, he had no choice but to borrow money or items from them.
He couldn’t just die, after all.
So he ended up in debt again, and the debt grew.
That’s why it took three years.
El Pau was still a better case scenario. Most people lived their entire lives under the thumb of the Gafor’s Top.
‘I have no intention of repeating history.’
It went without saying, but El Pau had no intention of being used like that again.
That’s why he had acted strangely, and executive Lakan had reacted in the way he wanted.
‘Ebisu would be the best.’
El Pau was even more pleased when he realized that the person before him was Ebisu, the left-hand man of executive Lakan.
The left-hand man ant one of the closest aides.
‘He’s the kind of guy who wants to be the right-hand man.’
It also ant that he wasn’t satisfied with his current position.
And that was exactly what he expected.
Ebisu, who had co to this place, was thinking to himself with his thick beard.
‘He’s definitely not an ordinary guy.’
The Gafor’s Top had beco a top 10 organization by handling high-risk tasks that other organizations wouldn’t touch.
Most of the adventurers that the Gafor’s Top encountered were of poor quality in many ways.
Having t and dealt with such people directly, Ebisu’s judgnt was naturally bound to be exceptional.
‘He has potential.’
To Ebisu, El Pau was clearly different from an adventurer who had just opened his 1st Circle.
“You said you wanted to change the contract?”
“Yes.”
“Changing it from a slave contract to an adventurer contract, well, that’s not a difficult thing to do. I’ll change it for you. So, from now on, I’ll classify you as an F-rank adventurer and change the contract.”
“I request an E-rank.”
“E-rank? For soone who hasn’t even received a rank from the Adventurer’s Association?”
And there was sothing else.
“I’ve adventured through the Mystic Gate hundreds of tis as a bait slave. Even if you call an F-rank adventurer, with that much experience, it wouldn’t be strange for to receive a D-rank.”
After all, he had an exceptional track record.
Of course, that didn’t an it was an easy task.
After all, D-rank treatnt was not ordinary treatnt.
That was to be expected, as the Adventurer’s Association originally divided adventurers into five categories:
Beginner, Junior, Veteran, Ultimate, Master.
However, with the advent of the Mystic Gate era and the influx of adventurers, the Adventurer’s Association felt the need to further subdivide the adventurer’s ranks, and from then on, they began to use a ranking system that started with F-rank.
Therefore, in terms of the old system, D-rank treatnt was equivalent to a junior adventurer, not a beginner.
The difference in rank was clear.
‘That’s what I expected.’
However, Ebisu had expected El Pau to act this way.
El Pau’s background as a bait slave must have played a role in his different attitude compared to others.
And as El Pau said, it was clearly a very valuable experience.
“That’s all well and good, but it’s still just the experience of a bait slave. You don’t have any experience actually hunting monsters, do you?”
“Other adventurers are good at hunting monsters. But I’m better at surviving against monsters. That’s what happened this ti too. All the other adventurers died, but I, a slave, survived.”
The virtue of an adventurer is to go on adventures and survive.
The first adventurers were able to achieve such great fa and reputation because they survived.
And it was those kinds of adventurers that rchants like Ebisu needed.
Adventurers who were willing to go where no one else would.
‘Hmm.’
Of course, El Pau wasn’t a reliable adventurer yet.
Surviving for three years as a bait slave was impressive, but the talent of an adventurer was a completely different area.
Instead, one thing was certain.
‘It’s a sha to just kill him.’
Ebisu had no intention of killing El Pau.
That left only one option.
“There’s a Mystic Gate. If you complete the request there, I’ll treat you as an E-rank adventurer.”
It was a test.
“You say you can even hunt a Horntail.”
El Pau responded to Ebisu, who was taking out a contract along with those words.
“I’ll show you that it’s not just talk.”
El Pau signed the contract.
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Reviews
All reviews (0)