BXBX NOVEL Chapter 70
Chapter 23. The Ariant Kingdom (3)
6.
The Gafor Guild’s ship, having departed from the port city of Lith Harbour, was experiencing an unusually peaceful voyage.
“No pirates, no monsters.”
“We’re really lucky.”
Even the captain and crew were surprised.
However, the adventurers on board didn’t share their enthusiasm.
The reason was simple.
“Ugh!”
Seasickness.
It wasn’t strange.
Many of the adventurers were from Victoria Island and had little to no experience on ships.
Even if they did, it was only brief trips.
In contrast, the journey from Lith Harbour to Jeddah, the port city of the Ariant Kingdom, usually took 15 days or more.
It was a completely different experience from a short boat ride.
It wasn’t just those from Victoria Island.
“How’s your stomach?”
“Not good.”
“I bet. It’s completely different from Ellinia.”
“What does origin matter? Even those from Ariant are throwing up.”
Many adventurers from Ellinia and Ariant also complained of seasickness.
Neither Ellinia nor Ariant were places where people frequently took boats.
Of course, there were exceptions.
“Tsk tsk, everyone’s so weak, struggling with a little seasickness.”
In Minerv the pirate’s case, she was not only free from seasickness but even more energetic than inside the Mystic Gates.
“How come you’re perfectly fine?”
“What, you got a problem with that?”
The interesting thing was that none of the El Pam party members, including Minerv, were seasick.
“Divo, have you ever been on a ship before?”
“This is my first time.”
“Then why aren’t you seasick? Kiri, how about you?”
“I’ve been on a ship a few times.”
“A few times? That’s it? Ralph?”
“I’ve never been on one before.”
“Really?”
“Why would I? You have to pay to ride them.”
This was quite strange from Minerv’s perspective as well.
“This is weird. Normally, by now, you’d all be vomiting your guts out. What’s going on?”
Among the people she had seen, there were very few who were so resistant to seasickness without any experience.
Only one person wasn’t surprised.
El Pam wasn’t surprised to see this.
‘The training has gone as intended.’
It was thanks to El Pam.
‘Their adaptability has become extraordinary.’
El Pam hadn’t just been taking his comrades to conquer Mystic Gates.
Honestly, the conquest itself wasn’t difficult. If conquest was the only goal, El Pam could have simply recruited the necessary comrades each time.
To put it bluntly, even now, if all he wanted was conquest, he could simply gather skilled adventurers from the 4th Circle and go.
But El Pam gathered companions.
Because in the future, the far future, he would need reliable comrades.
Naturally, El Pam rigorously trained the companions he gathered.
Consciously or unconsciously, he threw his companions into countless battles, turning those battles into training grounds.
That’s why they weren’t seasick now.
They had developed an extraordinary adaptability that allowed them to adapt immediately to new environments.
‘I didn’t think they’d keep up this well.’
In truth, this growth rate was beyond El Pam’s expectations.
‘Kiri is following along especially well.’
He had already witnessed Divo, Minerv, and Ralph’s abilities firsthand.
But Kiri was a surprise.
‘Not a bad thing.’
A pleasant surprise from El Pam’s perspective.
Of course, El Pam didn’t smile at that fact.
He couldn’t.
‘The situation will only get worse from here on out.’
El Pam, who had seen the future, couldn’t bring himself to smile at the sight that would unfold before his eyes.
“I see it!”
El Pam’s eyes caught sight of it.
“Jeddah! The port city of Jeddah!”
The grand port city of Jeddah loomed in the distance, backed by a vast, golden desert.
7.
The Nihal Desert was vast.
As such, there were many port cities in the Nihal Desert.
No, the Nihal Desert had to have many port cities.
“The Nihal Desert is vast. And dangerous. It’s a different dimension from Victoria Island. Crossing it is madness. It’s wise to travel by ship.”
Most travel had to be done by ship.
For this reason, the port cities of the Nihal Desert flourished.
“Of all the many port cities, Jeddah is the most prosperous.”
Jeddah was the best.
“Lith Harbour is insignificant compared to Jeddah.”
The vastness of Jeddah showed a majesty beyond anything one could imagine.
“Oh my god.”
This was the reason why all of El Pam’s companions, including Divo, were surprised.
“That’s a city? Isn’t it a kingdom?”
Lith Harbour was by no means small, but Jeddah’s size was incomparable.
“Oh my god.”
It was a moment of shock like a frog in a well seeing the outside world.
Everyone was amazed by the grandeur of Jeddah.
El Pam, however, was different.
El Pam did not feel admiration for the grandeur of Jeddah.
It wasn’t because he had seen it many times before.
El Pam remembered.
‘That place was destroyed.’
The time when the magnificent port city of Jeddah collapsed.
‘Before Horntail.’
The three-headed dragon, Horntail’s breath had brought it down.
There was no resistance.
‘It collapsed with a single breath.’
It simply vanished in an instant, like a mirage in the Nihal Desert.
It was a scene of utter ruin, and many adventurers had lost their will to live after witnessing it.
‘All the survivors fled at that time.’
At least after seeing Horntail destroy Jeddah, no one dared to oppose Horntail.
‘Except me.’
Only El Pam, after witnessing that devastating scene, fought against Horntail.
He became the last adventurer.
And died.
As El Pam recalled his death, a man came into his view.
“Over there! Are you the El Pam party sent by the Gafor Guild?”
A young man.
A young man with tanned skin, who looked like he had just turned twenty.
He also had a strikingly handsome appearance.
So, everyone’s eyes were drawn to him.
“I’m Caesar from the Gafor Guild’s Ariant Kingdom branch. Nice to meet you!”
He bowed deeply towards the El Pam party, and they reacted to his gesture.
“Hi, I’m Divo. You’re very handsome.”
“Thank you!”
“By the way, did you come alone?”
Caesar laughed at Divo’s question and said,
“The Ariant branch isn’t that big yet… I’ll guide you to the branch office for now. Please follow me.”
The El Pam party didn’t question his words.
‘Well, I guess it was just established.’
‘Lith Harbour and Ariant are completely different. Building a branch here is like pouring water into a bottomless jar.’
‘The Gafor Guild is pushing it. They’ll go bankrupt at this rate.’
From the beginning, everyone was pessimistic about the Gafor Guild’s expansion into Ariant.
It wasn’t that they underestimated the Gafor Guild.
The Ossyria Continent was incomparably larger than Victoria Island, and expanding into the Ariant Kingdom, one of its central powers, was a dream for all the guilds in Lith Harbour.
That’s why they had attempted to expand early on.
However, only the Goldrich Guild had managed to establish a foothold.
Only two people questioned this situation.
‘I smell money. I have a feeling about this.’
One was none other than Ralph.
The other, of course, was El Pam.
El Pam’s eyes were cold and sunken.
‘This is getting interesting.’
Because he knew.
‘The third prince, Kashan, is making an appearance.’
The one who had just introduced himself as Caesar was none other than Abdullah VIII’s third prince, Kashan.
There was no way he could be mistaken.
That handsome appearance wasn’t something that could be confused with anyone else’s.
There were no questions either.
‘He’s the one who wants to get closer to the throne more than anyone else.’
While the third prince Kashan was unknown to the public, his true nature was that of someone who was working tirelessly to ascend to the throne.
The fact that he immediately tried to use the Gafor Guild to seize Lith Harbour was evidence of his extraordinary drive.
‘But to come out here himself in disguise just to meet adventurers who only cleared a Yellow-rankl gate…’
Despite this, the fact that he was here in person, hiding his identity, surely meant that something special had happened.
From El Pam’s perspective, there was nothing to lose.
‘This is an opportunity.’
If he could show something here, he could catch the eye of none other than the third prince Kashan.
In any case, there was no need for El Pam to reveal that he knew Kashan’s true identity right away.
El Pam managed his expression.
Soon, the El Pam party arrived in front of an ordinary-sized building in Jeddah.
It was literally an ordinary building.
Unfitting for the Gafor Guild’s name.
‘It’s really nothing special.’
But no one questioned this fact.
Instead, they went inside with understanding, and soon the El Pam party was able to meet him.
“I am Salman, the branch manager of the Gafor Guild in Ariant. Nice to meet you.”
Salman, a man in his mid-40s with a strong impression and tanned skin.
Salman’s speech was as strong as his appearance.
“I won’t waste your time.”
He got straight to the point.
“Gafor sent you here. He said to put you to good use. He also sent along a title.”
He immediately revealed his true feelings.
“And I don’t believe it.”
At those words, Divo and the other companions bristled.
Honestly, they hadn’t come here with good intentions.
They had only come because El Pam led them, and they had no intention or preparation to operate in Ariant.
But to be met with such disdain at the very start?
“Victories in Victoria Island alone aren’t recognized in Ariant.”
But that was the way of Ariant.
El Pam didn’t complain either.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to waste time? Then let’s get to the point.”
He hadn’t come here to whine and complain.
“I need to verify your skills. With my own eyes.”
This was the main point.
“There is a Mystic Gate.”
The best way to test skills was, as always, to conquer a Mystic Gate.
“Yellow-rank. Maximum capacity of 28 people. Three scars.”
Hearing the explanation, Divo and the rest of the El Pam party tilted their heads.
‘That’s it?’
It wasn’t easy.
A Yellow-rank gate with scars meant it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
“Solo hunt.”
The El Pam party tilted their heads again at the additional condition.
‘It’s only a 28-person gate, right?’
It certainly wasn’t an easy condition.
Not only were there scars, but they were being asked to solo a 28-person Mystic Gate with a party of just five?
Most adventurers would have told him to get lost the moment they heard the offer.
But the El Pam party was an exception.
They were an adventurer party that had recently succeeded in conquering a 300-person Mystic Gate.
Even if it was due to luck, the fact that they had emerged meant they were special.
Despite this, such a proposal could only be interpreted by the El Pam party as:
‘Are they underestimating us?’
‘They’re completely ignoring our titles.’
‘Look at this guy, what does he take Golden Eye Minerv for?’
‘Not even offering a bounty, this is the worst.’
They felt disrespected.
They felt that all the titles they had earned in Victoria Island were not being acknowledged.
It was a very unpleasant experience.
For an adventurer, titles were earned at the risk of their lives, they were as precious as life itself.
However, El Pam was different.
He wasn’t paying attention to Salman’s words right now. He didn’t attach any meaning to what he said.
There was no need.
‘The third prince Kashan wants adventurers.’
After all, it wasn’t Salman who wanted to test their skills, but the third prince Kashan.
And if the third prince Kashan wanted adventurers, they wouldn’t be ordinary.
In other words, there was only one crucial point that Salman would present here.
“So, what’s the time limit?”
El Pam’s words surprised all his companions.
The one condition that was never mentioned when venturing into Mystic Gates was time.
It didn’t matter how long it took, as long as they came out alive, that was the common sense of adventurers who ventured into Mystic Gates.
But a time limit?
That was unexpected.
Even Salman was surprised.
‘How did he…?’
He was surprised that El Pam had read his intentions.
Salman, startled by this fact, looked back at Caesar, or rather, the third prince Kashan, and quickly regained his composure.
Realizing his role, he spoke.
“One week. Finish it within that time.”
“What?”
Divo objected to the answer.
“But some Mystic Gates require you to survive for a week before the exit appears!”
Everyone knew that, regardless of skill, it could take more than a week to clear a Mystic Gate, depending on luck!
“Luck is also a skill.”
But at those words, Divo stopped talking to Salman.
He looked at El Pam.
The decision was ultimately El Pam’s.
“One week, is that all?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not quite satisfactory. Let’s change the terms.”
El Pam made a proposal to Salman.
“Terms? Do you think it’s too difficult?”
El Pam smiled faintly at the question and said,
“For every day we finish ahead of schedule, give us 10 million mesos.”