Chapter 67 – The Quest Isn’t Done Yet (2)

When Artpe started going through the motion of looting the corpse, Roa followed her master’s directions. She spat out a massive number of items. She had worked hard to gather all these items, so she felt aggrieved. There were unshed tears in her purple eyes.

This was for the benefit of the people gathered around the Kraken. It looked as if the Kraken was pouring out Artifacts thanks to Artpe’s looting.

“T…there are so many of them!?”

“Huh? I’ve seen this spear from somewhere before……”

“It was said that the Kraken swallowed whole ships that sank to the bottom of the ocean. I’m sure there are numerous weapons from each kingdom mixed in there.”

Since the items from the auction house were mixed within the pile, it was reasonable to make such an assumption. However, as expected of a highly intelligent magical beast, Roa taken out all the unremarkable items. She was able to accurately gauge the amount of curse energy and evil energy within the items. This was why she was able regurgitate the items that were considered to be unremarkable. The sense of disharmony between the humans quickly dissipated.

“However… Mmmmmmm.”

“Shit…. My three Magic Stones came back as shit!”

It was a legendary monster that was over level 250. The Kraken had been the tyrant of the ocean, yet the loot looked extremely ordinary. They couldn’t help but let out a sigh. It was to be expected. Roa had eaten all the corrupt energy within the items.

“Are there any Artifacts that was newly formed through the Kraken’s Record and Mana?!”

“I guess not. Shit. I heard this happens sometimes. Why did it have to occur at this moment!”

“Maybe, this is a blessing in disguise. Even if such items existed, it would have ended in the hands of the magician. We would have been unable to do anything about it.”

Artpe had been worried Roa might have spat out something of high value. His eyes were fierce as he looked over the items. However, there was no way Roa would make a mistake. She had executed her task flawlessly. She was so thorough that Artpe wondered if it would have been better if she had spat out more items.

“This should be enough to cover your share. You guys can take it and divvy it up.”

“No, I think I’d rather want the Kraken’s corpse than these items….”

“What? You want me to take weapons and equipments that’s useless to a magician? Or are you trying to say you find equipments of my companions lacking?”

“It isn’t like that…”

When Artpe put some strength behind his glare, the noble quickly shrank into himself. Artpe was acting like a gangster, but since they didn’t know the specifics of what Artpe had done, they were unable to argue with him!

“Your share will be covered by this spear. You can have this shield…….”

“How…. How can this be! How! This can’t be possible! Why!”

“If I knew these items would drop, I wouldn’t have given up my Magic Stones…. Shit!”

This was how the merchandise that were submitted by the nobles and merchants were returned to them as their share of the loot. The weapons and items were clean. There were no curses or evil energy imbued within them. No further troubles would arise from this! Mycenae already knew what was up. The white of her eyes were displayed as she mumbled to herself.

“This was why Artpe-nim said those words towards me earlier……”

“The Kraken’s corpse solely belongs to my party and Mycenae. People, who received their shares, should join the front line. Even if you are foreigners, you entered into the Diaz Kingdom, so you all have obligations to help out against the Lunatic Wave. I’m sure you are aware of that fact?”

“There still might be something left within the Kraken’s corpse!”

“So what if something remains within it?”

Artpe smirked as he questioned the nobel.

“What are you going to do about it? You qualify for 1/1000 share of the loot, so what right do you have to make such a demand?”

“I…I’ll go to the barrier wall.”

“Artpe is too cool······.”

Artpe was successful in chasing off the nobles and merchants. If he took the entire Kraken for himself, they would have become suspicious. This was why he used his Mana Strings to slowly remove the tentacles. He was working on the 20% of the Kraken he would have to give to Mycenae.

Mycenae looked worried as she watched the humans leave. They were grinding their teeth in frustration. She grabbed his sleeve.

“Artpe-nim, it is truly satisfying to see you act this way, but it also means Diaz won’t be able to avoid the backlash….”

“You are probably right. They can’t do anything to me, so that’ll pick on people they will have better odds against. They’ll lodge complaints against the nobles of Diaz.”

“I see. You are right.”

“This will lessen the influence of the nobles, and it would give the puppet king some breathing room. Even if the nobles try to lessen the damage by shifting the blame to the puppet king, the result will be the same. Either the nobles will get weaker or the puppet king will become weaker. It is an either-or situation. In either case, it’ll help Silpennon recover his kingdom later on.”

“······.”

Mycenae received an unexpected answer, so she was at a loss for words. She hadn’t the faintest idea as to how far ahead Artpe was thinking about. Of course, Artpe wasn’t thinking too seriously about his answer! He was just noting the fact that it wouldn’t be too bad if things turned out like that.

“I’ll cut them up for you roughly at this size. I’m sure I don’t need to explain to you on how to process a Kraken?”

“Artpe-nim seems to know everything.”

“I don’t know everything. I just know what I know. I’m pretty sure I told you this before.”

Mycenae’s share was quite generous. She was given half of the tentacles, and a good amount of the Kraken’s body was carved out for her. It was more than enough for the Anywhere company to celebrate her return. The only problem was the fact that she still had to haul this big body parts back.

“I heard the body could be used as ingredient to create a Mana reagent. It can also be used to make nutritious tonics. It is the part of the body with the most use.”

“However, the most coveted part is the tentacles.”

Roa had absorbed all the curses and the Demonic gene, so the Kraken had been weakened. Still, a Kraken was a Kraken.

The tentacles became tougher in death. Each tentacle had tens of thousands of suction cups, and hooks on the surface. The tentacles were frightening. Many weapons could be made with just one tentacle. Amongst all the weapons that could be made, the most famous one was a whip made from the Kraken’s tentacle.

“There are parts we can sell from the head. You can look forward to that. Ah, you should give up on the ink. I’m going to use it.”

Artpe knew he was very lucky. The Kraken had been gripped with madness, so it wouldn’t have been strange to see the Kraken swivel its head in all directions to spray its ink. He didn’t know if the Kraken liked to fight only with its body or if it was unable to expel any of its curse. The Kraken hadn’t used its ink during the battle. It either rammed the wall with its body or it swung its tentacles.

“This is the Kraken’s ink? I’ve never heard of it.”

“I can see why. It is usually used for curse magic. Moreover, there’s also the fact that not many people survive an encounter with a Kraken to spread such information.”

“E…even if you want to sell it to me, I won’t buy it!”

Maybe this was the aftereffect of what had gone on in Frate. Just the mention of curses made her face turn deathly pale. Mycenae’s ears fluttered as she backed away. He cackled when he saw this.

He changed the subject.

“Actually, it isn’t only used with curses. It is used in creating high rank magic books. A massive amount of pure Mana was infused deeply within the ink through the years, so a Magician could easily create a magic book with this ingredient. These magic books won’t be absorbed into one’s Record after reading it once. It’s like the Demite Gemstone. It absorbs Record to evolve. It support the Magician as it becomes enriched.”

“That has nothing to do with curses! Eeek. You are making fun of the trauma I suffered······!”

Mycenae’s body and ears trembled from the indignation she felt. Artpe cackled once again when he saw this. Maetel was watching Artpe from behind him. There was a slightly withdrawn look in her eyes.

“Artpe, let’s hurry up and take what is ours. Then we can go rest. I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“······Maetel, your voice sounds a bit scary.”

“I’m just too tired right now. I’ll become better soon if you are by my side. If you are near me….”

“Your voice just turned scarier……”

Artpe lost his nerve at the odd energy coming from her. He could no longer open his mouth. Mycenae also felt as if she would be murdered by Maetel if she remained here. Under such fears, she called forth the staff from her company. She quickly ran away after she gathered everything she could gather.

The butchering of the Kraken continued. There were still some people left. These particular humans still held lingering attachment towards the Kraken, so they had remained to watch.

However, they soon realized Artpe was just butchering the Kraken. There was nothing new that could be gained from the Kraken. They had no choice but to leave. This was how Artpe passed the time as he waited for everyone to disappear from this place.

However, the lord of Frate continued to wait until the end. It was quite unexpected.

“From what I’ve seen of you, I thought you would be the first to run to the top of the barrier wall.”

Artpe paused from his task of butchering the Kraken, and he spoke towards the lord. As if he had been waiting for this, the lord nodded his head as he spoke.

“Of course, the Lunatic Wave is important. However, I thought this would be the only time I would be able to talk to you. ”

When he heard those words, Artpe paused for a brief moment. It was imperceptible. Artpe commended the lord inside for figuring that out, but his outer appearance remained calm.

“What are you talking about? I’m in the same boat as you. I can’t get out of here until winter.”

“Is that so? I got the impression that you were going to leave immediately. That is why I wanted to express my thanks before that happened. Even if you aren’t leaving soon, I’ll give you a token of my appreciation. Thank you.”

The lord spoke those words as he pushed a small pouch towards Artpe. The pouch was imbued with fairly deep magic. It was none other than a Dimensional Pouch..

“I would have liked to have repaid you with a better item, yet this is all I have left. Still, in terms of how much it can hold and its ability to reduce weight, it was evaluated to be the best in this country. It should have plenty of space to put in the Kraken.”

Artpe had been listening half-heartedly to the lord’s explanation as he took the item. His eyes turned round in surprise. He couldn’t help it.

“What the…. You weren’t exaggerating. This really is an amazing treasure.”

Dimensional Pouches were somewhat common. However, when one tried to find the better functioning Dimensional Pouches, the price increase was very steep. Then there were the ones that couldn’t be bought with money. This pouch was part of the collection of items that were made by Archmages from the distant past.

If a Dimensional Pouch was able to contain the incredibly large Kraken, which was several hundred meters in length, it was well beyond the realm of being a normal Dimensional Pouch.!

“You know you will be taking losses from the result of my actions, yet you are giving me such a precious item……?”

“Loss?”

The lord smirked at Artpe’s reply. He looked at Artpe with kind eyes as he spoke.

“Countless lives within the city were saved, because of you. When I think about the weight of the blood and tears that could have been on my shoulders, I can laugh off any threats those bastards can come up with.”

“······.”

He hadn’t expected such a great response from the lord. Artpe became silent. In his past life, he had seen a lot of hypocrisy and pretense from humans. This was why he knew the lord was speaking the truth.

‘Yes, I saw so many disgusting humans that I forgot about people like him. They are very small in number, but there really are humans like him in this world.’

It felt as if he was hit on the head. When he was faced with the endlessly selfish humans, he had fought fire with fire. He acted only in his own interest as a response. This was why this sudden attack by the lord had hit its mark.

“You······.”

The lord wasn’t done. He continued to speak.

“We truly fell short. We made such a foolish mistake by trying to protect the wrong things. We were able to avoid an irreversible calamity thanks to you. However, it seems humans are creatures that can’t help but make the same mistake over and over again. We once again showed such crude behaviors in front of you….. Still, I want to make sure that you know this truth. There are a lot of people out there that are of of like mind as me.”

In his past life, Artpe had lived for several hundred years. This human had lived not even one fifth that number, yet he was able to see through Artpe. Artpe felt he still had a long way to go. He couldn’t stop his laughter from coming out.

A crinkle started to form at the edges of the lord’s eyes. The lord’s intelligent eyes reflected his years of experience. He looked straight at Artpe as he brought his words to a close.

“We know the worth of what you have done. We cannot do what you can do, but there are many people out there that respect what you have done. Please continue to help the other humans. I know you are disappointed in humanity, but there will come a day when you will find hope from humanity. I truly believe this.”

“Hah······.”

It was a complete defeat.

However, it didn’t feel too bad.

Artpe took the Dimensional Pouch being offered. He nodded his head as if it couldn’t be helped.

“I’m just one human. The fact that I become disillusioned and disappointed by humanity doesn’t mean it’ll greatly affect the human world….. All right, lord. I’ll be sure to remember your words.”

“It is very fortunate that you think so.”

The lord was past being middle-aged, and he was at the cusp of entering his latter years. When he saw the spite within Artpe’s eyes lessen by a small amount, he let out a truly bright laughter. Artpe was strangely embarrassed when faced with the lord’s smile. He snorted as he turned his gaze away. However, words that didn’t match the expression on his face leaked out.

“I will be leaving soon, but…. It was my fault for destroying the reinforced barrier wall. I’ll reconstruct the first barrier wall.”

“No, the barrier wall was used to defeat the Kraken. It was done out of necessity. Moreover, the place where the 1st barrier wall stood is filled with water and monsters now…..”

“Do you really think that’ll be a problem for me?”

“······no, it won’t be a problem. Then I’ll head to the frontline ahead of you. I’ll say this again. Thank you very much.”

The lord had already seen what Artpe could do. The lord laughed as he expressed his thanks once again. He headed towards the frontline where the humans and monsters were confronting each other. He didn’t turn around to look at Artpe.

Artpe’s 3-man party was the only ones left there.

“Are we going to leave this place too, Artpe?”

“We’ll have to finish butchering this bastard.”

The work he had to do right now had to be done away from prying eyes. However, he had received a special tool. He didn’t really need to stay here.

He put the entire Kraken within his pouch. The pouch remained light. He grinned in satisfaction as he turned to look at his party.

“All right. Let’s go receive our next Quest.”

“Quest!?”

The Kraken had fulfilled its role, and it exited the stage in an ignominious manner.

It was time to to meet the new character that would appear from within its stomach. A new stage would be set.

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