The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-84

Not too long after, the transferees who set up Audenin as their location were all causing a commotion.

“Y-You weren’t lying? They really are close to 2 million points!”

“Who could it be? Changsik only came back yesterday.”

“I never would’ve imagined that the Park Changsik would’ve been pushed down to Rank 2… this is crazy.”

Park Changsik, the man closest to 1 million Adventure Points among the transferees in Audenin, was in an uproar. He had a handsome face with a sharp jawline.

“Gasp… Gasp… Did you find them? Any news?”

“Nothing, hyung. We have our guild members asking around, but you already know how hard it is to find a single transferee in a big city like Audenin…”

“You’re not wrong. Still, do your best. I want you to grab anyone who looks suspicious and ask them.”

“What are we? Thugs?”

“I just want you to do whatever it takes. Regardless, damn it… Got it! Keep looking!”

“Yeah, hyung!”

Audenin’s transferees united together under the banner of the five major guilds within the city.

Unity wasn’t always the case, but thanks to Changsik leading the charge against evil individuals and chasing them out of the city with the help of other transferees, he paved the way to set up this system early.

The guilds, like different religions, had different values but were all on a similar scale.

Kongory was eventually able to set up a system like Audenin too, but they were a bit lacking individually compared to the transferees in Audenin.

And the de facto leader of Audenin, a place filled with many powerful transferees, was looking for someone.

Even though Changsik had just returned from an Adventure and was in the process of recovering, he left the guild building to search for them on the streets.

‘2 million points… How were they able to reach that?’

Changsik also considered himself a very exceptional person and there was a reason for it too.

His overwhelming Adventure Point total.

Even when compared to the rankers of the nearby cities, few people who surpassed him, if any.

Well, he did hear about a transferee in a city to the northwest named ‘Private’ who surpassed 1 million points, but he didn’t trust in something he didn’t see for himself.

After all, he knew the types of Adventures he went on.

That was why he couldn’t believe that someone went on Adventures much more difficult than his, ones so difficult that it resulted in accumulating nearly double his points.

The first thought he had was that the person who had the score either cut corners or was lying about their points entirely.

However, right now, in front of him, he could see that unbelievable score.

A mysterious person who pushed him off the Rank 1 position with a point total that doubled his…

‘Damn it… Because they made their information private, this primitive method is the only way I have to find them.’

Still, the fact that Audenin had most of its transferees in guilds like this was useful in these situations.

Since guilds interacted with each other often, it was easy to spot a new Adventurer in the city.

Furthermore, Changsik had a separate, personal reason as to why he was looking for the new Rank 1 Adventurer.

Not too long ago, he acquired a hint about an Adventure.

It was impossible for the current Changsik to properly know the scale of that Adventure because not only was the difficulty high, but it was also a Long Distance Adventure and had a peculiar restriction.

No more than 5 party members allowed.

It was an awkward number, too small to use the guild’s help and too big for him to clear alone.

However, as he was researching the Adventure, he discovered multiple things about it.

Things about the rewards.

‘Even though the rewards could be better than treasure-quality items, I can’t even think about embarking on it yet…’

As stated earlier, Changsik believed that he was an exceptional person. But he was also the type of person who didn’t trust those who were weaker than him.

Simply, he recognized only those who were stronger than him.

‘If I want to go there, there needs to be at least one person who’s stronger than me.’

Since Changsik could already see what the results would be like if he took the rankers of Audenin, he gave up on it.

After all, they were all weaker than him.

But if he could just get the person who had nearly 2 million points to join his party, it wouldn’t matter who the other party members were.

‘That’s why I need to find him quickly. I have to find out who he is!’

It was clear that this would be a good proposal to the newly appeared transferee too. After all, the strong purposefully looked for trials and tribulations.

And Changsik not only had information about a dangerous Adventure, he also knew that it would give out incredible rewards.

“Hyung! Changsik hyung!”

From afar, Changsik could hear the voice of someone looking for him.

It was one of his guild members.

“Yeah! Did you find them?”

“...They left.”

“What?”

“It seems like they just left. Both their name and score disappeared.”

“Damn it!”

Crush!

Changsik kicked a hole in a wooden wall in frustration.

“...For now, go check the records about the transferees who left around this time.”

“Do you think the guards would tell us?”

“Do you think they won’t? Think of how much money we gave them.”

“Okay. But what are you going to do with that information?”

“I’m going to wait here and grab them the next time they pass by.”

“But do you really think he would help you, hyung? You haven’t even met them yet.”

“Help me? No, this is a fair trade.”

“Hm…”

Changsik’s eyes were burning with passion.

“Damn it… I’m not going to let you go next time. I’ll establish a relationship with them, no matter what.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

As Changsik and Audenin’s transferees expected, Seol had already left Audenin.

Clop… Clop…

The horses drawing Seol’s carriage were slowly walking. And as such, Seol was growing impatient.

“Uh… Could you perhaps go a bit faster?”

“I told you it would roughly take 10 days to reach Kongory. And I’m not the one drawing the carriage, the horses are.”

10 days.

It was roughly the same amount of time it took for Seol to reach Shade Canyon from Nobira.

However, because the distance was shorter and the roads were better maintained, the fact that it was going to take this much time was ridiculous.

And as Seol thought about what to do, he saw a few options.

[[The people of Audenin have a reputation for being lax. It’s clear that your travel time would have been much shorter if you took a carriage in another city. What do you say to the coachman?]

1. You must be out of your mind, old man. Are you really going to go this slowly when the path is this comfortable?

2. I’ve never seen anyone as slow as a snail, like you! It might be fun to cut off all your limbs so that you’d really be a snail.

3. Is there any way you can go faster?

4. I’ve heard that the people of Audenin are a bit slow, but this really is slow. Still, do you think that death would be slow for you too?

……]

There were a lot of options and Seol pondered for a moment.

‘The people of Audenin are slow, but they are also known to be mean if you slighted them.’

Seol thought about his previous pieces, which also passed by Audenin. It wasn’t just one or two instances where he’d get frustrated at their speed and say something, only to inevitably pay the price for insulting them.

Seol chose his next words very carefully.

“Sir, what do you think about doing it like this?”

“You really don’t know when to give up, do you? I told you, the horses pull the carriage, not me.”

“I’ll double the money I pay you for each day you can reduce the time by.”

“...What?”

In other words, just by reducing it to eight days of travel time, the coachman would earn quadruple the money. Seol would be paying for the share of four passengers on his own.

The coachman hesitated before speaking again.

“Hm… Even so, it would be difficult. The horses need to rest too, y’know? And what about the other passengers? Even if I wanted to, I can’t do it.”

“Then I’ll pay for their fare as well.”

“...Are you serious?”

“I am. And I also have the money to do it.”

Clatter…

Seol shook the gold pouch in his inventory.

Though it wasn’t an action he’d normally do in public, he did it as there was no one around him who could threaten him.

“Um… Excuse me, passengers… As some circumstances have arised…”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m fine as well.”

The coachman nodded and spoke to the horses.

“It’s been a while since you guys galloped quickly, so put in some effort for me, yeah? I’ll make sure to give you guys hay, corn, and boiled peas on the way there.”

Neigh!

Fwip!

The horses, surprised by the sound of the whip, started galloping.

“Please understand even if the carriage is a bit shaky.”

Seol let out a sigh of relief and sat back down.

It seemed like he had managed to reduce the time it would take to arrive at Kongory, the city closest to Nobira.

‘But more importantly… What the hell happened in Nobira?’

Even though he was able to have a short conversation with a horseman earlier, he didn’t know anything more than that.

Seol planned to quickly arrive in Kongory and find accurate information about the unexpected situation.

And then, an older gentleman asked Seol and Karen a question.

“Excuse me, do you both have family in Kongory too?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

"I mean, wouldn't that be the only reason someone would want to go up there at such a dangerous time?"

‘At such a dangerous time’.

Seol quickly responded as it seemed like the older gentleman knew about what was going on around there.

“Sir, do you perhaps know about what’s going on in Nobira?”

“Of course I do. Even though I look like this now, I used to be a big trader. I still have contacts here and there, so I’m quicker to get information like this.”

“Could you perhaps… tell us too?”

“Sure, it’s not like there’s anything to do until we arrive at Kongory anyway.”

“Thank you.”

Seol considered himself extremely lucky for running into the older gentleman here in the wagon.

If he hadn’t met him, Seol would have spent a lot of time collecting information the moment he arrived in Kongory.

“So… Where should I start? Are you perhaps a transferee?”

“I am.”

“Yeah, you look like one. Then I’m sure you also know that we’re in the Nevenia Kingdom, right?”

“Yes, I do know.”

Nevenia Kingdom.

Not only were Kongory, Nobira, and Audenin a part of it, but Yugo, a city much further to the south, was also a part of the kingdom.

While Nevenia wasn't particularly large in terms of territory, it had earned significant recognition in the South due to its status as the kingdom with the largest forest in the region, the Great Forest.

“Then do you also know about the countries that share a border with Nevenia?”

“I know that Adeline’s to the south and Setena’s to the east and north. Ah, and there are also trolls to the northwest.”

“Precisely. And the trolls are slowly growing in power and eating away at Setena’s territory. And now, the shared border between Nevenia and the trolls has increased greatly.”

“I already knew that Setena’s territory was decreasing. Is there a reason you’re mentioning this?”

“Of course. Have you perhaps also heard about what happened to Wiggleton recently?”

“Wiggleton… yes, I have.”

It was something that Kibo told Seol before Seol went on his Adventure.

Seol could clearly remember Kibo mentioning that Wiggleton had been ambushed by an unknown group.

- 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.

Seol, realizing something, quickly asked the older gentleman a question.

“Are you trying to imply that the trolls were behind what happened in Wiggleton?”

“I am. After pillaging Wiggleton, they killed all of the survivors. I don’t know where they were able to infiltrate the kingdom from though.”

“Then does that mean… Nobira also…?”

He nodded.

“After Wiggleton, they aimed for Nobira. They ambushed Nobira, turned the city into a sea of fire, and ate or kidnapped the residents.”

“Kidnapped? Trolls?”

Trolls never used humans as slaves.

As they were much more physically capable than humans, trolls either ate the humans or killed them for fun.

‘Why would they do that?’

The older gentleman continued.

“The people who were able to survive evacuated to Kongory. And that’s about everything I know. I have no idea about what’s going on there currently.”

“...Thank you for telling me.”

Seol was silent for the rest of the journey as he was shocked.

‘Damn it… Hamun and Chao were both there though.’

Even though Chao might not have been there, Hamun was definitely staying in Nobira.

And as Hamun was weak, there was a high probability that he would die there.

‘Please… Please be alive, Hamun.’

If something happened to Hamun, or if he died, it would be a huge blow to Seol. Not only was it difficult to find a blacksmith as capable as him immediately, but he had just finished an Adventure for him.

‘If something happened to Hamun because of the trolls…’

Seol had a fiery look in his eyes.

He was the type of person who would become furious if anyone messed with his belongings.

If the trolls actually killed Hamun, like how Seol worried, he would make them pay an appropriate price for it.

And like that, a week had passed.

“Alright! I arrived three days ahead of schedule! You didn’t forget your promise, right?”

Pour…

Seol poured gold coins into the coachman’s hand.

“S-So much…”

“Thank you. Well then…”

The wagon had arrived in Kongory.

And Seol wasted no time in entering the city.