Chapter 627 – 627. God’S Atlantis
627. God’s Atlantis
Seira was incredibly fast as she climbed the rocky mountain. The moment a Yett slug appeared before her, she would immediately unleash a sword strike, killing it without a moment to catch her breath. She didn’t bother collecting the corpses of the Yetts as she passed them.
If it were any ordinary knight other than me, following Seira would have been impossible.
Seira would climb the rocky mountain in a straight line, then suddenly change direction. At first, I thought it was to deal with the wandering Yett slugs. But after a while, I realized that Seira didn’t know the way.
‘I heard that the Sword Master used to personally take care of killing the Yett slug queen.’
It was her first time, so it was natural for her to be lost.
‘Looking at her like that, it seems like she has no idea where the Yett slug queen is.’
Of course, I didn’t know where the Yett slug queen was either. And this was actually a good thing for me. If she found and killed the Yett slug queen in an instant, the whole point of me following her would be lost.
From a distance, Yett Mountain looked about the size of Jirisan Mountain. It was impossible to search the entire Yett Mountain in just a day or two.
She had left the city with great momentum, but when it came to actually solving the problem, it wasn’t easy.
I quietly followed her, approaching the corpses of the Yett slugs. The sight of the large, yellow slugs lying dead, oozing mucus, was quite disgusting.
The reason I approached the Yett slugs was because of Yett powder. I was thinking of trying to make some Yett powder. I had heard the method roughly before.
‘There are two reasons why Yett powder is more expensive than drugs.’
One is that Yett slugs only exist on this Yett Mountain, and the other is salt. Salt isn’t as expensive as it was in the old Middle Ages, but it’s still very expensive compared to modern times.
‘I can bring salt from the real world, so I can use it lavishly.’
First, I had to wait for the Yett slug corpses to dry. Once dried, they would shrink to about 50cm.
‘There’s no time to dry them.’
Seira was currently taking a short break. Since I had to follow her, the free time I had was only about 15 minutes.
‘Lightning.’
Blue lightning crackled in my palm. The electric current moved to the Yett slug’s corpse. I was planning to dry it using electricity, but it didn’t work as well as I had imagined. The Yett slug’s corpse began to bubble.
‘……Is this not it? Would it have been better to dry it with a hair dryer?’
I stopped the lightning and stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. I was a little flustered by the unexpected reaction.
‘Oh well. Whatever.’
I poured a bag of salt that I had taken out of my inventory onto the bubbling Yett slug corpse. As soon as the corpse and salt touched, a strange smell stung my nose. But the smell quickly disappeared, and the bubbling corpse began to shrink.
After some time, white salt particles remained where the Yett slug had been. They were a bit coarse, but it was Yett powder. Even if I scraped it all together, it wouldn’t be more than 20g.
‘……What, did it work?’
It seemed like pouring a lot of salt had helped. Or maybe the electricity had some unknown effect.
‘They say you melt and burn the Yett slugs repeatedly with salt to create fine Yett powder, right?’
I couldn’t be sure if I had succeeded. It felt very unsettling.
I hesitated for a moment, then raised lightning in my palm again. The electric current began to burn the coarse Yett powder on the ground.
The Yett powder disappeared as if it had evaporated into the air.
‘This isn’t it… huh?’
Suddenly, my senses became more acute. It was a similar feeling to when I had ingested Yett powder. The difference was that my senses were now sharper. The sound of the wind was louder, and the wind touching my skin felt like small pebbles.
I cast my gaze far away. Even without using mana, my eyesight seemed to have more than doubled.
‘Did the Yett powder enter through my respiratory system when it vaporized?’
I was startled when I touched my chin without thinking. The sensation felt unfamiliar. It was because my senses had become too sensitive.
I smiled awkwardly. My senses were so heightened that my body didn’t feel like my own. Even breathing felt awkward, and I could feel myself getting mentally tired quickly.
‘Wait a minute. If I use this well…’
I looked at Seira, who was far away, and started to think.
***
“Sir. How about coming out now?”
I came out from behind the rock and approached her, revealing myself. I wasn’t flustered. I knew that Seira had already noticed my presence.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Princess Seira.”
“You disobeyed my orders without a second thought.”
“I’m not a knight of Arpis.”
“That’s true. Can I hit you?”
Seira clenched her fist. A bluish aura formed around her fist. If I got hit by that, something would definitely break.
“I’ll pass. And it seems like you’re having a hard time, considering how confidently you left.”
Seira’s face turned slightly red. She had left the city thinking she would solve the problem easily, but now she was lost, so she must have been embarrassed.
“I thought I would find the Yett slug queen quickly. Since it’s a special monster different from ordinary Yett slugs, its presence would be different.”
“Were you trying to find the Yett slug queen using your senses?”
Seira nodded.
“I thought it would be possible. I was confident in my senses.”
“You went out relying on that alone?”
“According to my father, the Yett slug queen is in a place where there are a lot of Yett slugs. I thought I just needed to find the Yett slug groups.”
“And you failed.”
“I have no excuse. I found a few Yett slug groups, but the Yett slug queen wasn’t there. There are an abnormally large number of Yett slugs on this Yett Mountain right now.”
“Wouldn’t the Yett slug queen be near the top of the mountain? Usually, special monsters are located near the top of the mountain, aren’t they?”
“You’re right. That’s why I’m thinking of going to the top of Yett Mountain. It will take quite a while, though…”
Yett Mountain was rugged and high. There were no hiking trails, of course. And it wasn’t just rocks on the rocky mountain. There were plants that served as food for the Yett slugs all over the mountain.
“I’ll follow you.”
“You won’t listen to my orders. You’re a knight of Valdert.”
Seira’s words were laced with thorns. She seemed to be upset that I had easily disobeyed her orders.
I grinned and said to her,
“Princess Seira. Do you have any food?”
“…….”
Seira closed her mouth. She thought the task would be easy and didn’t bring any food. All she had brought when she left the city was her greatsword, the Zweihander.
“Just in case, I brought a week’s worth of emergency rations.”
I showed Seira the backpack I was carrying on my back, as if boasting. I had an inventory, but I had no intention of telling her. The inventory was too convenient. Sometimes, you need to go through some hardship.
“I think it’s fortunate that you came with me.”
Seira said with a serious face. It was already past noon. She hadn’t even had water since dawn.
“Let’s have a late lunch here.”
“Alright.”
I handed her the emergency rations.
“Is this food?”
“It’s the emergency rations from the world I lived in. It’s a slightly improved version of the combat rations used in the military. It doesn’t taste good, but it’s high in calories.”
Seira ate the emergency rations, following my lead, and her eyes widened.
“Isn’t this delicious enough?”
“……You think this is delicious?”
“This is delicious enough. It’s a taste I’ve never experienced before, and it’s amazing. What’s the name of this dish?”
“It’s just fried rice. I still don’t think it tastes good.”
“You didn’t say things were delicious even when you were at the mansion.”
“Was that so? The food at the Arpis Duchy was okay.”
“Just okay? Your taste is much more refined than mine.”
I couldn’t argue with Seira’s words. It was true.
Lately, most food tasted bland. It tasted good when I was hungry, but otherwise, it was all the same.
There was only one reason I could think of.
The food of Yuria in the [Baekhwan] world. And the food of the kitchen maids who were taught by Yuria.
I was sure that if the Michelin Guide came to my mansion, they would give it three stars 100% of the time.
“You saved me.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“I’m not saying it as a formality. I was considering returning because I didn’t have any food. Thanks to you coming with food, I was able to save face.”
“The knights in the city must be resentful of me.”
“That wouldn’t have happened. They would have packed food and left for Yett Mountain right away.”
After finishing our meal, we walked side by side towards the top of the mountain. The Yett slug groups were no problem for us. Without me even needing to step in, she would unleash a sword strike, and the slugs would die.
I looked at the Yett slug corpses with regretful eyes. I wanted to get Yett powder, but I was conscious of Seira’s presence. Yett slugs were the property of the Arpis family.
We reached the top of the mountain around sunset. It felt like we could touch the clouds in the sky if we reached out.
“I don’t know.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know where the Yett slug queen is. I thought she would be near the top, but I don’t see any Yett slug queen, or even ordinary Yett slugs.”
“Don’t you know any characteristics of the Yett slug queen?”
“I don’t know anything other than that there are many Yett slugs around the Yett slug queen.”
“Hmm…”
I looked down at the rocky mountain. If I focused my mana on my eyesight, I could see a few groups of Yett slugs. But the Yett slug queen was nowhere to be found.
“Yett slugs seem to like shady places, like slugs.”
“That’s right.”
“Isn’t it highly likely that the Yett slug queen is also hiding in a damp place like a cave?”
“What you say makes sense. But I don’t know the geography of Yett Mountain.”
“I don’t either.”
“…….”
“…….”
We both sensed it. A path of hardship was wide open.
It was evening. We found a spot between the rocks where we could avoid the wind. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a tent or blankets, so we had to rely on our coats to sleep. It was fortunate that our bodies weren’t ordinary.
Seira had a rather dissatisfied expression.
“With our skills, we should be able to move at night without any problems, right? Is there really a need to sleep?”
“Both you and I are human. The dark night makes people tired quickly and accumulates fatigue. It’s also hard to find the Yett slug queen in the dark. It’s better to rest well and move actively during the day.”
“Sir. We need to kill the Yett slug queen as soon as possible to keep the city safe.”
“There are knights and soldiers in the city. Don’t you trust them, Princess Seira?”
“……You’re right, I have nothing to say.”
“Princess Seira. I’m an expert in this area. Please trust me and follow my lead.”
“…Okay. Make sure to wake me up in 4 hours. If you show me any unnecessary consideration just because I’m a princess, I won’t forgive you.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll wake you up like clockwork. I like sleeping.”
I like sleeping with women even more, but I swallowed those words.
Seira looked at the night sky and closed her eyes.
I waited until she was completely asleep. Of course, she wouldn’t be completely defenseless. Touching her body was out of the question, and she would open her eyes in a flash if I just got close.
‘An hour has passed. She must be in a deep sleep by now. I’ve been waiting for this moment.’
I took a bottle out of my inventory.
A transparent bottle.
But inside, there was a substance made by vaporizing Yett powder.
Then, I took out a gas mask from my inventory and put it on my face.
「Purifying Gas Mask
Purifies the air.
Rank: C」
I gauged the direction of the wind and opened the mouth of the glass bottle. The colorless and odorless Yett smoke traveled towards Seira on the wind. In less than a minute, her body twitched. I took out another bottle from my inventory and opened its mouth.
‘She’ll be very sensitive when she wakes up. Heh heh.’
After using all five glass bottles, I moved away from her. I moved nearby to hunt Yett slugs. I needed to replenish the Yett smoke.
