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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Divine Dragon's Lair (2)
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"Uh, Grand Prince. What is this place?"
"What do you think it is? It's a cave. Hurry up and get in."
"Ah! Yes."
Giranox scratched the back of his head and entered through the open door. I checked our surroundings one more time before stepping inside.
*Rumble*
As if there were some kind of sensor, the door closed on its own once both of us were inside.
*Flick, flick, flick, flick*
The cave, which had been dark until a moment ago, filled with the sound of fluorescent lights flickering on as soon as the door closed, and light began to pour down from the ceiling.
"Wow, I've never seen anything like this, Grand Prince..."
"That's because you're a country bumpkin. This kind of thing is common."
"I-I see..."
[Common, my ass. Who the hell are you?!]
'What about it?'
Agnes spoke to me for the first time in a while. Her voice was filled with unconcealable surprise.
[How do you know about a place like this!]
'A great prophet told me.'
[Don't make me laugh. Do you think the great prophets are pushovers? That they'd tell only you? They don't care about status, rank, or money. Even if you were the marquis himself, not just his son, you couldn't get this kind of information.]
'But it's true?'
[You little...!]
Agnes is more perceptive than I thought.
[Hey, you damn master, tell me!]
"Hmph-hm-hm."
I ignored Agnes's questions with a hum and continued down the path.
"Giranox."
"Yes."
I stopped where a large, round wall protruded and called out to Giranox.
"Do you know where we are?"
"I'm not sure?"
"The place you all call the Divine Dragon's Lair is right on the other side of this."
I said, tapping the rounded wall beside us.
"What?"
"The wall is pretty thick, but on the other side is where people make wishes and bow in prayer."
"Th-Then..."
"They're praying to you and me right now."
"Eek!"
Thanks to my internal energy senses, I could feel the people bowing on the other side of the wall, which made me want to laugh.
"Most of the world's legends are nothing special when you see them in person."
As I wrote my novel, I tangled up all sorts of things, so legends really became nothing special, and sometimes common, trivial things from the neighborhood became profound.
"But I heard places like this have traps..."
"They're about to show up."
The traps here started from this point on. Their purpose was more for verification than repelling intruders, so they wouldn't be anything too serious.
"Don't step there. It's obvious, isn't it?"
"Ah, yes!"
Giranox listened to me and barely avoided a stone that was sticking out all too conspicuously.
"What would have happened if I'd stepped on it?"
"This whole place would have become a fiery hell."
"Heek?"
The traps themselves might be simple, but the consequences of triggering them could be truly dangerous, so I walked with focused attention.
"We're here."
At the end of the path, an empty space with no door appeared.
"Huh? Oh?"
"Hmm..."
There was nothing inside the room. It just looked like an empty cavern.
"There's nothing here."
"Haha! You think so?"
Unlike Giranox, I was relieved. I'd worried that with the story changing, someone might have already visited this place, but thankfully, no one had come.
In the very center of the cavern was a hole similar in shape to the one we had pulled to open the entrance.
*Clunk.*
I put my hand inside the hole, felt a handle I could pull, and immediately yanked it.
*Rumble...*
"Ooh!"
As soon as I pulled the handle, the ground split open, and a low stone table began to rise.
On the table was a luxurious-looking golden pouch and a small box, like one you'd get a ring in from a jewelry store.
*Click.*
I went to the table and opened the small box, and a cool, refreshing fragrance instantly filled the room. Inside was a golden orb.
"This is it."
[Th-This is...]
"Oh? You know what this is?"
[My old master ate this once. It's the Warrior's Orb!]
I'd never properly established anything about Agnes's old master, so the fact that he ate this orb was new to me.
As you can guess from the name, the Warrior's Orb was an item related to combat.
I had once thought about finding and eating this to master the sword if my Sichuan Tang Clan trait didn't fully unlock.
The Warrior's Orb was an item that could transform even the trashiest body into one perfectly suited for combat. It instantly raised one's physical strength, flexibility, and agility to their absolute limits.
Simply put, it created the ultimate physique.
"Good. Good."
I put the Warrior's Orb in my pocket and then picked up the golden pouch that was beside it.
"Let's see..."
Looking inside the pouch, I saw a sea of gold. An incredible amount of gold coins, more than I could ever spend in a lifetime, rippled within.
"Jackpot!"
"Grand Prince, what's inside?"
*Shhhh!*
Without answering Giranox, I grabbed a handful of gold coins from the pouch and tossed them into the air like confetti.
"Whoa!"
Magic pouches have different capacities depending on their grade, and the highest grade, the golden pouch, could hold the equivalent of two shipping containers.
This pouch held at least one container's worth of gold coins. I grinned and tossed a few more handfuls into the air.
Huh? Suddenly, a chill down my spine...
Suddenly, a shiver ran down my spine, a creepy sensation.
This is the first time I've felt this. I need to get out of here, fast.
"Hey, hurry up and pick up the coins."
"What! If you were going to tell me to pick them up, why did you throw them?"
"Man, it's only natural to toss some gold coins in the air when you find them!"
"I-Is that so..."
Giranox looked dumbfounded but said nothing and started picking up the coins.
"You can keep those. You might need them."
"Gasp, th-this is too much."
The gold coins Giranox had picked up were several times more than what I had given him when I sorted out his shop.
"Just take it."
"Thank you so much."
"We're done here, let's go."
"Yes."
This place was one of the strongholds of an ancient organization. They had created it as a contingency for when they lost their power. In the novel, an herb gatherer who stumbled upon this place by chance would have acquired this power.
I didn't want to run into the herb gatherer or those demonic bastards, so it seemed best to leave quickly.
Giranox and I immediately left the cave and descended the mountain. The mountain was still bustling with people going up and down.
When we got to the base of the mountain, we found souvenir shops and various taverns scattered about, and it was so crowded there was barely room to stand.
"Grand Prince, it's too crowded. How about we move to another area for now?"
"Let's do that."
Huh?
It was just as I was about to follow Giranox's suggestion and leave the crowded area.
Naturally, all my senses focused on one woman. My sight, hearing, and smell all turned to her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She possessed an overwhelming beauty that made every other human being look like a mere extra. If Ilia had a pure and innocent charm, this woman exuded an alluring fragrance that seemed to pull the very world toward her.
Why? Why doesn't anyone notice!
No matter how crowded it was, it was impossible not to notice her, yet no one was looking at this woman of absolute beauty. As if she existed alone in the world, she walked provocatively toward the mountain.
That woman... Don't tell me!
Seeing this bizarre phenomenon, I think I finally knew who she was.
*Snap!*
I tried to look away quickly, but for a brief moment, our eyes met. In that instant, a dizzying sensation washed over me, as if my soul were about to be pulled out.
I have to pretend I didn't see her. I have to act ignorant.
I clenched my teeth hard enough to break them and steadied my mind.
"Hey, is there a pub with good snacks around here?"
"I heard from someone on the mountain earlier that 'The Dragon King's Rest' is supposed to be good."
"Then shall we have a drink there?"
"Really?"
Pretending to know nothing, I spoke to Giranox.
"Yeah. Let's have a drink there."
As I spoke, I glanced back again, and she had stopped walking and was looking at me.
No, she hasn't found me out yet.
"Oh, sounds good to me."
I walked past the stationary woman naturally. I wanted to look back, but I could feel a piercing gaze on my back, so I couldn't turn. I bit my lip and kept walking forward.
"The tourist walking ahead of us earlier said we absolutely have to order the Dragon King's Dark Beer."
"Really? Then let's order that, and for snacks..."
Chatting idly with Giranox, we left the tourist area and entered the village.
"Haa, haa..."
"Grand Prince?"
My entire body was drenched in a cold sweat.
Why is that monster here? Don't tell me she was heading for the Divine Dragon's Lair!
The only business she could have here was the Divine Dragon's Lair. She definitely knew about it, but in my novel, she never entered the lair.
Something has changed again...
"Giranox."
"Yep!"
"The drinking plans are canceled."
"Huh?"
I have to get out of this place as fast as possible.
"For now, we're returning to Asse Castle."
The number of rich people who use warp gates is limited, so if I used one here, that monster might find out.
"I understand."
Giranox was momentarily taken aback, but after seeing my expression, he said nothing and began to lead the way.
"Grand Prince!"
"Yeah."
My mind was elsewhere as I walked, and I looked up at Giranox's call.
"There probably won't be any more inns if we go further. Let's rest here for the night."
Hearing Giranox, I looked around. The sun had already set, and it was dark. There were only a few inns and private houses in the vicinity.
"Let's rest here tonight."
"Yep!"
After a light meal, I went up to my room and immediately collapsed onto the bed.
"Haa, to run into her already... this is completely unexpected..."
The woman I met earlier is a character even the protagonist doesn't meet until the mid-to-late stages of the story. Running into her this early is definitely not a good sign.
"I have no choice."
I don't know what's going to happen from now on, so this is no time to be picky about my methods.
I took the Warrior's Orb I had obtained today from the golden pouch.
*Clack.*
"Yeah, this isn't the time to save it. Saving it for later will just let it go to waste."
I took the golden orb from the box and put it straight into my mouth.
*Ssshh*
The moment the orb entered my mouth, it turned into a liquid and flowed down my throat on its own.
"Kuhk!"
As I felt the liquefied Warrior's Orb spread throughout my body, messages appeared before my eyes.
[You have consumed the Warrior's Orb.]
[Initiating Metamorphosis (換骨奪胎).]
[Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi is assisting the metamorphosis process.]
[The fusion of the two powers will transform you into a stronger body.]
[Awakening the body to Heavenly Martial Body (天武肢體).]
[You have acquired the trait: Heavenly Martial Body (天武肢體).]