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103
[Main Quest #4 has been completed.]
[You have received 100,000 gold.]
[Progress increases.]
[Main Quest #5: The First Wave]
The plan to evacuate the dwarves has been completed.
Move them somewhere safe and face the first wave.
Objective: Defend the city from the first wave.
Reward: 200,000 gold, 60,000 experience points, 5 stat points
*Current Progress: 11%
The main quest completed with Bollibo’s agreement.
Having confirmed the contents, Hanbit spoke to him.
“Good thinking. Then there’s no need to buy the shack — I’ll use it as is.”
“That’s less complicated anyway. But what are you planning to do with it?”
Bollibo asked as Hanbit pointed toward the shack.
Because no matter how he thought about it, the building was far too dilapidated to be of use.
“Not doing anything with it — it’s just space for the dwarves to live in. About a hundred of them, I believe.”
“…You’re going to put a hundred people in there? No, more than that — you’re planning to have dwarves live inside the city? Not just a simple hire?”
“Something like that. Ah, just a moment.”
Having answered offhandedly, Hanbit went back down through the hole in the floor.
‘Over that way, wasn’t it.’
He landed lightly and moved toward the far corner.
A single wooden box placed there.
Hanbit crouched down, reached in, and began rummaging through the contents.
“That side is all miscellaneous junk. Things that won’t even sell.”
Bollibo leaned his head down through the opening and waved his hand.
“All of these were brought in from abroad, weren’t they?”
“More like they tagged along incidentally. Small trading companies brought them as gifts, supposedly.”
The trading partners for the defective luxury goods ranged from other cities in the republic to foreign countries.
The number of trading companies was not large, but there were quite a few who came loaded down with things, claiming they wanted to establish connections.
‘Ah, found it.’
Rummaging through the items, Hanbit grabbed a glass bottle filled with dark crimson granules.
Pulling it out, he asked:
“So you dabble in the black market as well?”
“Ah, the black market! That’s an absurd thing to say!”
Bollibo denied it vehemently.
But his face looked as though the word ‘finished’ had been stamped onto it.
“Don’t worry. As long as we’re business partners, I’ll keep it covered.”
“But——”
-Oh, this is a mess. Lol.
-Isn’t that an enhancement drug?
-Yeah, looks like the same one Bares used.
-Anyone and everyone can use it apparently;
-Side effect) you lose your mind and die.
Bollibo, flustered and unable to speak.
It was only natural he was surprised — he had been covertly sending items through the black market, and believed there could be no evidence.
He had used reliable foreign trading companies, after all.
“How… did you know about that?”
“The item in this glass bottle. It’s an enhancement drug that only circulates on the black market.”
“Enhancement drug?”
Hanbit shook the glass bottle as he spoke.
The physical enhancement drug that had turned Bares into a monster.
Made from monster carcasses, it could not be traded through any legitimate route.
“And this glass bottle itself is even rarer. It was made in the Holy Nation.”
“The Holy Nation? Did you just say the Holy Nation?”
Those three words made Bollibo’s eyes bulge nearly out of his head.
He started waving his hands and backing away.
“I, I know nothing of this! I had no intention of trading with the Holy Nation!”
“Who said you traded with them? I’m just saying it’s an exceptionally rare item to find at a black market.”
Hanbit dismissed his concern without any intention of pursuing the matter.
Even if he had genuinely traded with the Holy Nation, it would mean nothing anyway.
“Come outside.”
Hanbit moved his feet and stepped out of the shop.
Outside, it had now grown completely dark.
“Can you see this on the bottom?”
“What?”
When he turned the glass bottle upside down to show him, Bollibo, who had followed, brought his face close.
On the bottom of the bottle, something resembling a magic circle shimmered faintly.
“What is this? When I checked the item, this wasn’t there.”
“Of course not — it’s been hidden to prevent recognition. Either way, it’s something you can’t obtain outside the Holy Nation. Finding it at a black market is borderline miraculous.”
“…There was an item like that?”
The Holy Nation’s artisan Astel.
Items he crafted each took on a unique property.
And this glass bottle had a particularly useful advantage — it could preserve any item in perfect condition.
“Wait, something of that caliber must be enormously valuable. You should sell it right away!”
“I told you it’s from the Holy Nation. You got lucky bringing it in, but the moment even a trace is found, you’re facing execution.”
“But——”
The word ‘execution’ killed Bollibo’s momentum.
Because if caught in the act, execution was an absolute certainty.
His brow furrowed for a moment before he asked in a subdued voice:
“Are you alright? Even if I don’t know why you received the gold bracelet, it won’t serve as an indulgence.”
“I’m fine. I have a record of having uncovered a Holy Nation devotee in Edelen. I can say I picked it up there.”
“You uncovered a devotee? Could it be… you’re that adventurer Black Dragon?”
Bollibo, who had been keeping tabs on news from Edelen for some time.
He had thought an extraordinary adventurer had appeared — but he never imagined he would be standing right in front of him.
“Either way, I’m using this, so know that.”
“…If by chance it’s discovered, I’d appreciate you leaving my name out of it.”
“You’re already an accomplice. Give up.”
“Haah……. How did it come to this…….”
Bollibo let out a deep sigh and lamented.
Of course, being entirely self-inflicted, there was nothing to say.
Hanbit placed the glass bottle in his inventory and turned his gaze toward the city gate.
“Let’s go now.”
***
Shortly after.
Hanbit stepped out through the city gate and moved to the dwarf village together with Bollibo.
“That I would end up mixed up with dwarves……. If the mayor finds out, it will truly be a disaster.”
“With all that timidity, how did you ever manage to spirit away the defective goods?”
“That was the result of planning and moving with sufficient preparation! A situation like this is beyond prediction!”
-Must be an extreme planner type.
-Life is meant to be lived spontaneously.
-Right, and then you crash and burn improvising.
-You’re sensing-type, aren’t you.
-That’s not how that works;
Bollibo still voicing his anxiety.
It was not entirely a lie — he was someone who found stability in plans and frameworks.
And Hanbit had the ability to give him a direction that looked ahead.
“You’re here!”
At the village entrance, Avantgarde was waiting with sparkling eyes.
His gaze had already landed on Bollibo.
“Jaeha-hyung is watching inside?”
“Yes. He is better suited to guarding the inside, so we divided the roles!”
The two were each making use of their strengths.
It was nothing but gratifying that they handled it well without needing to be told.
“More than that — could you tell me a little more about the background of that NPC? And what exactly was that earlier? A glass bottle made by the Holy Nation’s artisan……. And what are you planning to do with that enhancement drug?”
Questions spilling out one after another as though they had been held back with great effort.
Inside the village, Kim Jaeha could be seen shaking his head.
“Is he a madman you bring along with you? That sort of person bears watching.”
Bollibo, observing Avantgarde’s fanatical behavior, asked cautiously.
Hanbit gave a nod and looked at the two of them.
“I’ll answer your questions later — the two of you have a conversation in the meantime. I’m heading inside.”
“Understood!”
“No, wait——!”
-Lol.
-Bollibo toss.
-Avantgarde dying of happiness.
-One hour of information dump incoming.
Leaving Bollibo’s cry of anguish behind him, Hanbit headed toward an empty house at the center of the village.
Below it, a freshly made underground space was visible.
“Phew. It’s been a while since I burned my spirit like that.”
“I never went this hard even in the mines!”
“I know, so go clean up that side!”
A group of dwarves visible inside.
Their expressions and voices were all flushed with excitement.
It was a desperate scramble for survival, and at the same time, a feeling of solidarity they had not experienced in far too long.
“Working the body like this is fun again!”
The next to appear was Kudran.
He too was breathing in ragged gasps as though he had given everything he had.
“How’s it going? Is everything on track?”
Kim Jaeha, who had been down below, came up and asked.
“More or less. How was the atmosphere?”
“Not bad. They were bickering at first, but gradually got focused on the work.”
Kim Jaeha had been prepared for any problems that might arise, but the work had proceeded more smoothly than expected.
Looking inside, Hanbit confirmed that the preparations required had been completed.
“Did you keep watch outside?”
“At first I was watching together with him, but it was quiet. Either way, you can barely see anything.”
The night in the dwarf village was dark enough that even faint lamplight was needed to see.
Even if monsters were present, distinguishing them would not be easy.
“The people at hyung’s company — they cleared this episode, right? How was it?”
“I saw the footage, and the first wave was genuinely nothing. The NPCs here do a good job of holding it on their own.”
As had been mentioned before, the first wave was simple.
It was a level manageable solely with the city’s defenses, its troops, and the adventurers stationed there.
An ordinary player’s efforts would inevitably have only a negligible impact.
“Well, to get to the point — leaving it to be resolved too cleanly is actually the first problem. The moment the first wave is safely held, things start going wrong.”
“…So we should have been interfering? That would probably get us banned from the city.”
“Going too far, or being caught interfering — that would lead to exactly that. So we’ll be using a special method.”
“A special method? What are you going to——”
Thud—!
A sound that cut into the middle of their conversation.
Both sets of eyes reached toward the dark forest beyond the village.
At the edge of the lamplight Avantgarde was casting, a writhing shadow was visible.
“Right on time.”
Shhk—
Hanbit glanced at his watch and produced the glass bottle filled with dark crimson granules from inside his coat.
“…That enhancement drug — we’re not the ones taking it, right?”
“No.”
Click—
Shaking his head, Hanbit opened the lid.
Then he looked at the shadows in the forest and spoke.
“I’m going to use it on those monsters.”
