The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-68

Because Seol picked out a quiet lodging, he didn’t run into anyone when he went down the stairs from the 2nd to the 1st floor.

“Stop!”

Kibo, who was just about to take a sip of his tea, looked upstairs at the unexpected sound.

It was because that voice definitely belonged to Seol. And he sounded urgent.

A woman stomped down to the 1st floor at lightning speed.

She then asked Kibo a question.

“Are you that hooligan, Kibo?”

“Uh… Who?”

“How dare you come this early in the morning? Don’t you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Seriously, how did—”

“Karen, stop it.”

Seol, who had caught up to Karen, calmed her down.

She huffed and puffed as she sat down in the chair right next to Seol’s. Even so, she continued to glare down Kibo as if she wanted to kill him.

“Ah, oh no… I was hoping to have breakfast with you… Did I overstep my boundaries?”

“It’s fine. And I’m fine with anything.”

“Okay, well I bought some freshly baked bread from the bakery in front of here, it’s a bakery I visit often.”

Karen’s gaze cooled down and became soft. “You should’ve just said that from the start~ I was worried I’d have to teach you manners for a second. It’s nice to spend the mornings together like that, hahaha!”

“By the way… Who is she? Could you please introduce me to her?”

“Urm… Just think of her as my party member.”

“A party member, huh… it’s a pretty unique combination. It’s nice to meet you, I’m an old man named Kibo.”

“Karen’s my name.”

“Haha… I never thought I’d meet an elf so easily in Nobira of all places. It really was worth living this long.”

- Kibo: Yare yare~ What a dangerous combination.

- It really is dangerous though… The two of them are super fucking dangerous.

- Plus Karen’s the older one…

Seol, after seeing that Kibo’s subordinates were on guard of their surroundings, asked Kibo a question.

“Breakfast is nice, but if it’s alright, I’d like to ask a question.”

“Why wouldn’t it be alright? Ask away.”

“Did something happen recently in Nobira?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“Because there’s word that the residents here are uneasy.”

“Hm…”

Kibo then answered, scratching his chin, “Yeah, something did happen.”

“What…”

“Do you know what the closest city north of Nobira is?”

“Well, if you include towns too, it would probably be Wiggleton in the northwest. After all, they’re right on Nobira’s border, no?”

To the west of Nobira was the Great Forest, and to the south of Nobira was Kongory, the free city. And in the northwest, there was a town called Wiggleton that was a bit too ambiguous to be called a city.

‘Wiggleton’s also in an area that borders the other races.’

Kibo nodded.

“Yeah, and Wiggleton was attacked recently.”

“...Did that really happen?”

“Yes, but the problem is that we don’t know who did it. And even though Fortress Gulia is right by, pillaging frequently occurs there. In fact, it was recently discovered in a completely devastated state.”

“Were there no witnesses?”

“These guys were careful enough to avoid the fortress’s surveillance to pillage the town, so as expected, there weren’t any witnesses. Luckily enough, though, half of the town’s residents were out for their infrastructure business, so they were able to keep their lives. Even so, they returned to their town completely devastated and burned down.”

“Hm…”

“Now do you know why the residents of Nobira are so scared?”

“Yeah, I definitely understand it now,” Seol nodded.

It didn’t particularly matter to Seol what happened to Wiggleton or Nobira.

He was an outsider.

He also wasn’t the type of person who would get caught up in dumb things over patriotism.

“So on that note, could you listen to what I have to say?”

“So the reason you brought this expensive breakfast over is finally coming out.”

“Haha… I’ll just say that you’re right since you aren’t saying that to insult me. It’s because I have a request for you.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know what you personally think about this, but I want to create a future where residents and transferees can coexist in Nobira.”

Kibo had a serious look on his face.

“The problem is that I’m not strong enough on my own.”

“Are you asking me to help you?”

“I’m old and the times are changing. I need a younger person if I want to set the tide.”

“Don’t you have Mira?”

“Yes, I do.”

“So are you asking me to help you directly?”

“I’m not that shameless. I just… I just want you to check in from time to time to see if Mira is doing well.”

“You’re talking as if you’re about to leave.”

Kibo laughed.

“You just get a lot more worries with age, but I hope you’ll see it in a good light. Just think of it as me being the type that thoroughly prepares.”

Seol thought of Mira.

She was trying but was still far from reaching Kibo. Even so, he couldn’t deny that she was strong.

“I don’t think she’s weak enough for you to worry about.”

“But you never know how the world is. Even the most sturdy ships rock to big waves. And she also needs to learn when to avoid big waves when the storms come. In my eyes, Mira’s still a bit clumsy.”

Kibo wasn’t wrong.

Mira was still clumsy and Seol could more than easily be her lighthouse.

However…

“I plan on leaving soon.”

“Well at least until you leave then… no, Mira isn’t the type to spend the rest of her life in Nobira either. She has a big dream. Then when that time comes, I hope you won’t ignore her cry for help. Mira might be a bit hasty but she always gives her all.”

It was quite a trivial request.

Kibo also didn’t request anything specific either.

Seol, knowing how much stronger he became through Kibo’s introduction to Hamun, nodded his head, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Days went by.

As Seol was busy preparing equipment for his journey, the time flew fast.

“I’m so full! I don’t think I can eat anymore!”

“No one forced you to eat that much though…”

“Shh! I want to properly relax here, Master. Please don’t ruin my fun.”

Seol had also prepared temporary equipment for Karen to use as well.

It was common quality but since they were heavy with high durability, it should last the two scheduled Adventures.

‘And by that time, Karuna would have returned.’

And that’s all Seol needed.

Once Karuna came back, Seol no longer needed Karen to spearhead the party and it gave him the opening to slowly solve Karen’s equipment issue.

‘But more importantly… is it a Long Distance Adventure? I wonder if that system would activate here too…’

Long Distance Adventures.

It was a system that activated when the player’s location and the Adventure’s location were far apart.

When traveling to close locations, the players were transported by being surrounded in blue particles out of convenience.

But what happens for Long Distance Adventures?

When Seol had to go on an Adventure in a place located far away previously, he would do either one of two things.

The first was to quickly move his location to a place near the Adventure location to reduce the distance.

That method was a bit inconvenient and since he could be swept up by something on the way there, it was only used in special circumstances.

The other method was the ‘Expedition System’.

When using the expedition system, the game time continued as normal but the player arrived at their location almost instantaneously.

During that time, the player picks between multiple options and the results of those options change the player’s condition when they arrive at the Adventure location.

‘Judging by how the travel luck dice is applied here too… there’s a good chance the expedition system was applied as well.’

It would be best for Seol if he could instantly teleport through being surrounded by particles like before but, just in case, Seol prepared for the situations where he wouldn’t.

“How long is it going to take to come back here?” Karen asked Seol.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to come back for a month at least.”

“I was just starting to like it here…”

“The restaurants?”

“I especially like those, yeah. The food in Nobira, unlike Montra, is really stimulating. Is it because it’s food from South Pandea?”

“Oh, did you not like it then?”

“No, I loved it. The food in Montra was so bland that sometimes I just wanted to flip the table over. Nobira’s the best!”

Seol flashed a smile and hinted at Karen that it was time to go.

Karen grabbed the box filled with her armor from Seol and prepared to go. Karen was currently wearing simple leather armor and waiting to be transported.

Glooooow…

Seol was starting to be transported.

Glow…

Normally, Seol’s vision would return like a bolt of lightning but this time, Seol couldn’t see nor do anything but wait in the darkness.

And then, he saw a few options.

‘This is… the Expedition System!”

[[As you head to your location, you discover a merchant whose carriage is stuck in mud. The merchant, noticing you, asks for your help. What do you do?]

1. Help out the merchant in trouble.

2. You ignore them as you are busy too.

3. Find someone to help them.

4. [Required: Title: Wicked Tendency] Take his wares.

……]

The options he saw here were a bit different from the options he saw before. When he placed his hands on an option, it would pop out as if asking to be pushed.

‘Option 2.’

Press…

As Seol pressed down option 2, the option’s color changed and the other options disappeared.

And then, another message appeared.

[Nothing happens.]

- Oh!

- Is it a success?!

- I knew it! You should always ignore those who need help!

It was fifty-fifty whether this option was correct or not.

If the merchant was a good person, he could have a rewarded Seol for helping him out. However, if he was a bad person, Seol could’ve been ambushed.

‘The rewards I could get for helping him aren't worth the risk I’d have to take.’

If the rewards were better, Seol would have definitely accepted the risk. Seol then looked at the next options that came up.

[[After lighting a campfire, you attempt to have a meal. However, fate is a cruel mistress. There was a hole in your bag and most of your food had disappeared from it. Now, in a situation where your food is mostly gone, what do you do?]

1. Skip your meal.

2. Search around you.

3. Go hunting.

4. Give up on your Adventure and go back.

……]

This was obvious to state but there was a risk that came with every option.

‘Damn it… I didn’t think travel luck would play a role here too.’

Normally, something like this would never happen, but Seol’s bad travel luck overlapped with the expedition system to bring this result.

Push…

Seol chose option 2 once again.

[A bit of stamina is used.]

[Fatigue builds up.]

Though Seol was confident in his ability to hunt thanks to Karen, hunting in the expedition system only took the player’s strength and dexterity into account and nothing else. And as such, it wasn’t that efficient of an option.

[[You search around you but this land is barren. Anything that could have been food was already devoured by the wild animals. However, as you continued your search, you felt something beneath your feet. Oh my god, it’s a mushroom! But the color is…]

1. Who cares about the color? You eat it immediately.

2. It isn’t normal for a mushroom to be blue. It seems like starving is the better option.

3. [Required: Insight] This mushroom is poisonous.

4. [Required: Cooking] You know of a way to safely cook this poisonous mushroom.

……]

Seol chose option 4.

[You had an excellent meal.]

[You recover some fatigue.]

[Your footsteps are now lighter.]

[You no longer hold negative thoughts.]

‘Phew…’

Seol was thankfully able to defend himself from negative thoughts and fatigue.

After that, Seol went through multiple more options.

[You arrive at a swamp…]

[Fatigue accumulates.]

[You are exposed to Abnormal Status: Chills.]

[The durability of your boots decreases by 10.]

He had to clear through a swamp on his own…

[You hear the cries of wild animals all night long…]

[Fatigue accumulates.]

[You are exposed to Abnormal Status: Lack of Sleep.]

[You are currently on edge.]

And try to sleep despite the cries of animals at night…

[You find a dead animal. A fine piece of meat…]

[Fatigue accumulates.]

[You avoid the danger of parasites and food poisoning with your amazing cooking skill.]

[You are currently very satisfied.]

After many complications, Seol had finally arrived at the last prompt.

[You continued your march even with a lack of sleep. Though an arduous journey may be a fond memory, it is always painful when undergoing it. You walked and walked again. And now, finally, you looked around.]

Fwoooosh…

Seol felt like a chick breaking out of his shell and experiencing the new world.

Caaaw…

The sound of crows surrounded him. The sharp wind stung his eyes.

“Fuu…”

[You arrive at Shade Canyon.]

The messages continued after that too.