Chapter 1070: Kundara (3)
An unprecedented situation: the Blood-Thought Scribe itself refused the transfer of ownership to the Fearsome Blood King.
The Fearsome Blood King, clutching the notebook’s pages tightly, muttered blankly.
“N-no, it… it hates me?”
Perhaps she never imagined being openly rejected by an artifact she herself created.
Visibly shocked, the girl stammered, repeating the Blood-Thought Scribe’s answer.
The Fearsome Blood King stumbled backward, then belatedly regained her composure and spun around.
“You, it’s because of you!”
“…”
The Fearsome Blood King’s eyes, like intense rubies, sparkled as she stared at Lennok.
“Explain immediately what happened. What did you do to the recording device I made?”
“Even if you ask, there’s nothing I can tell you.”
Lennok shrugged in response.
“I merely received it from another caretaker and used it a few times. I’ve never tampered with the Blood-Thought Scribe.”
“…”
“As I don’t have deep knowledge of blood magic, I don’t know the operating principles of this artifact either. You must suspect as much, right?”
Lennok knew well the abilities and power of blood magic, but he had never deeply researched it himself.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t attempted research, but the requirement of using the caster’s blood as a material ultimately bothered him.
It was a difficult technique to master unless one was a demi-human born with innate compatibility between blood and mana, like a vampire.
There was a reason why blood wizards commanded exceptionally high prices when he worked as a freelancer in Vulcan.
“The blood rules I placed on the Blood-Thought Scribe are one of the regulations created to determine the hierarchy among vampires.”
But the Fearsome Blood King asked, as if unconvinced by Lennok’s words.
“I wouldn’t believe it even if another vampire had done this, but you have higher blood affinity and control than me, who possesses True Blood?”
“That part is highly personal information, difficult to disclose.”
Lennok, with his arms crossed, looked down at the Fearsome Blood King.
“In any case, I understand that the ownership transfer didn’t properly happen. What happens now?”
“…If the Blood-Thought Scribe’s ownership isn’t transferred, I can’t use it.”
The Fearsome Blood King pouted, answering.
“Even if I keep the notebook, it will quickly return to you if I get too far away.”
“You’re saying the act of handing the Blood-Thought Scribe over to you is now impossible?”
“Yes. But… I don’t like it.”
The Fearsome Blood King bared her teeth, glaring at the old notebook and Lennok with her red eyes.
“You’ve heard all the information you want, and you’re taking the notebook? That’s not the deal you and I made.”
“If you propose another acceptable compensation, I’ll accept it.”
Lennok nodded.
“Given the considerable value of the information I received from you, I have no intention of simply washing my hands of this.”
“…”
The fact that Kaiser’s body was hidden in the sanctuary of the Eight Tribulations, and that only Ascendants could enter the Eight Tribulations.
The information the Fearsome Blood King provided in exchange for the Blood-Thought Scribe was, from Lennok’s perspective, truly of immense value.
It was as good as instantly learning a secret that he would otherwise have had to scour all of Kundara to find.
Of course, this wasn’t the end; now he had to figure out how to enter the Eight Tribulations.
To simply wash his hands of it now would mean accepting too great a compensation from the Fearsome Blood King.
As the Fearsome Blood King held considerable standing among the Long-lived Beings of Kundara, breaking the deal like this would not be good for Lennok either.
“Hmmmm…”
The Fearsome Blood King seemed to consider Lennok’s answer reasonably cooperative, as she momentarily withdrew her anger and fell into thought.
Looking back, she too must have remembered that Lennok had been quite compliant with this deal.
The black-haired girl clasped her head with both hands, groaning.
“What should I do… There was something I wanted to try using the Blood-Thought Scribe…”
“Wouldn’t it be resolved if I cooperated with you on that matter?”
“No.”
The Fearsome Blood King glared at Lennok with her red eyes.
“It’s not something to disclose to outsiders. Especially not to a dangerous person trying to find Kaiser’s body.”
“That’s a strange thing to say, coming from the person who readily revealed the body’s hidden location.”
Though the Fearsome Blood King herself had decided where to hide Kaiser’s body, she had told Lennok its location more readily than expected.
Did she no longer feel the need to hide Kaiser’s body, or had her thoughts changed since then?
However, the Fearsome Blood King surprisingly had no answer to that and frowned.
“That, well, in any case…”
It was a subtle reaction, as if that topic itself no longer held much meaning.
The girl, pondering distractedly in the middle of the Blood-Veil Palace, sighed and shook her head.
“No, never mind. My head hurts, so just leave for now.”
“…Leave?”
“I’ll think about what compensation to demand from you, including an explanation for that part.”
The Fearsome Blood King slumped onto her throne and waved her hand, and one wall of the Blood-Veil Palace cracked open, revealing the scenery outside.
It wasn’t the misty bridge Lennok had been standing on just moments before, but a hill overlooking the city in the distance.
“I’ll let you into Outer Tribulation City for now; after that, you’re on your own.”
The Fearsome Blood King waved her hand at Lennok.
“I’ll call you back once I’ve organized my thoughts.”
“This Blood-Veil Palace. It’s a space that can freely change its exit and entrance according to the owner’s will.”
Lennok said, arms crossed.
“It seems useful for coming and going from Kundara. If it’s alright, may I continue to stay in this palace?”
[…]
Olivera turned her head as if looking at a madman.
The Fearsome Blood King, pondering on her throne, glared at Lennok with sharp eyes.
“Do you want to die? Do you want to be drained of blood?”
“…”
“Get out now.”
Rumble!!
The palace violently closed, and Lennok, thrown outside, turned back to Olivera and shrugged.
“It didn’t work very well. A shame.”
[I don’t know what you’re thinking.]
Olivera said, crossing her arms within her robes.
[The Fearsome Blood King was known for her exceedingly cruel methods even during the Holy War. There were even rumors that her epithet referred to her way of handling blood.]
“…”
[To my eyes, it looked like you were deliberately trying to provoke and irritate her.]
“That’s right. Her reaction to my words was very lukewarm.”
Lennok’s eyes glinted sharply as he looked back at the spot where the blood palace had vanished.
“The Fearsome Blood King didn’t come to us because of the Blood-Thought Scribe. She’s hiding something more important.”
[…]
“Don’t you find it strange that she readily told us the location where Kaiser’s body was hidden?”
Lennok asked.
“If the Fearsome Blood King herself was the one who hid Kaiser’s body, there’s no reason for her to reveal its location so easily. No matter how important the Blood-Thought Scribe is, she would have been more cautious and weighed her options.”
[…So?]
“But from the moment she mentioned Yorta’s Mugan, the possibility of the Fearsome Blood King lying is low. Assuming the information is true, there are two possibilities.”
Lennok spread his fingers.
“Either she wanted us to find Kaiser’s body and deliberately leaked the location. Or she thought it was information we would find out anyway, so she spoke first.”
[…]
“Either way, it’s highly suspicious. This alone doesn’t tell us what the Fearsome Blood King wants. So I tried to provoke her to gauge her reaction, but…”
Lennok chuckled, turning away and shrugging.
“Considering she looks like a child, she’s remarkably cautious. In this regard, I suppose you could say she’s truly a Long-lived Being.”
[She’s plotting something regarding Kaiser’s body hidden in the Eight Tribulations…]
Olivera tilted her head thoughtfully.
[Indeed, this information seems far too scarce. At this point, we can only make vague conjectures.]
“Yes. So from now on, I plan to gather related information by traveling around Kundara.”
Lennok said, looking down at the cityscape spread out beyond the palace.
“How to enter the Eight Tribulations. I won’t know until I investigate directly.”
Whoosh!!
Thousands of magnificent tiled-roof houses stood on the misty plain.
An arched bridge spanned a deep river. Dozens of tall towers soared into the sky in all directions.
Cranes as large as houses glided through the clouds, and on the ground, colossal turtles transported people.
Would this be the scenery if one were to fall into the middle of a celestial realm where immortals resided?
“The method to enter the Eight Tribulations, and the important event planned for Kundara that Alohan mentioned.”
Lennok gestured towards the path leading to the city.
“Let’s prioritize these two pieces of information and proceed. Anything to add?”
“…No.”
Olivera replied.
“From now on, let’s move separately.”
“What?”
[As you said, if information gathering in Kundara is the priority, it would be more efficient to proceed with investigations separately.]
Olivera raised her head and said.
“I have a few acquaintances in this city. I’ll go find them first.”
“…”
Lennok knew Olivera had a surprisingly wide network for her personality, but he never expected her to have acquaintances even in Kundara.
If she was going to seek information herself, it must be with someone she maintained quite a friendly relationship with.
“Information like Kaiser’s body or the Eight Tribulations would be quite sensitive for Kundara’s Long-lived Beings.”
Lennok crossed his arms.
“Can you extract information without provoking them?”
[You don’t need to worry about that; I’ll handle it myself.]
Olivera smiled and turned away.
[You, on the other hand, should try to suppress your temper in this city for a while. You know that if you act recklessly, everything we’ve done so far will be for naught, right?]
“…”
[I’ll find you once I’ve found the necessary information.]
Olivera vanished into the distance after delivering her message.
Lennok watched her receding figure with a wry smile, then turned in the opposite direction.
He had vaguely forgotten, given her unusually cooperative demeanor lately, but the Mystic Eye sorceress was originally like that.
After all, Olivera’s accompaniment was at Lennok’s request, so her proactive approach wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Well, then…”
Lennok muttered, stepping onto the streets of Outer Tribulation City, Kundara.
A bustling commercial district with an intricate mix of antique tiled-roof houses and tall towers.
Walls constructed from countless talismans and lamps crafted from captured fairies emitted a beautiful light.
People of all kinds in martial arts robes, and various beasts far exceeding ordinary size.
Were all the residents walking the streets Long-lived Beings, possessing lifespans different from humans or demi-humans?
‘Outwardly, it’s hard to distinguish them from humans.’
Lennok tilted his head, watching the people pass by in the middle of the street.
‘As Claris said, do Kundara’s Long-lived Beings dislike revealing their true forms?’
Claris had told Lennok that while teaching him Celestial Spellcraft, the ‘Miniature Garden’s’ consciousness expansion ability could forcibly draw out the true forms of Long-lived Beings.
She had also added that this ability might be helpful given Kundara’s atmosphere.
He had mostly ignored it, but did that imply that all of Kundara’s residents had mastered human transformation?
Lennok thought so, slowly moving his steps.
‘There are many ancient items. Talismans. Souvenirs. Dharma treasures… Most items, excluding food, seem to be decades-old relics.’
True to a city of Long-lived Beings, most of the items sold in the bustling commercial district possessed extraordinary histories.
Cursed solitary jars sealed for decades.
Crustacean shells intricately engraved with bizarre ancient scripts.
Necklaces woven from animal teeth. Capes made from colorful feathers.
Indeed, like a city untouched by human footsteps, the place was filled with strange relics, even to Lennok.
Even picking up a seashell from a stall revealed a peculiar fossil he’d never seen before.
Lennok, intent on gathering information, found himself lost in sightseeing, oblivious to the passage of time as he explored the streets.
“…Ah.”
Lennok stopped, noticing a shop radiating a mysterious glow on the other side of the street.
A massive workshop, unusually large for its location near the commercial district, yet with few visitors.
The aura emanating from the vast yet quiet workshop was very familiar to Lennok.
‘It feels similar to a Ruyi Orb… Could it be?’
The Ruyi Orb he had acquired by winning the wager with Alohan.
The workshop seemed to be emitting a similar, yet subtly different, aura, layered tens to hundreds of times.
Could this be a workshop that processed Ruyi Orbs or similar orbs into artifacts?
Thinking that far, Lennok immediately opened the workshop door and stepped inside.
“Oh…”
The various artifacts and armors displayed on the workshop’s shelves immediately caught Lennok’s eye.
A greatsword woven with rough thorns. A crescent blade made from a giant fang. A staff carved from a sacred tree.
The mere fact that equipment easily worth hundreds of millions was openly displayed in the middle of the street attested to Kundara’s prestige.
It was the first time Lennok had seen such a concentration of powerful and diverse artifacts since visiting the Duris Workshop.
But what Lennok focused on as soon as he entered the workshop was not the artifacts’ flashy appearance.
‘This isn’t just a workshop that produces powerful or useful artifacts.’
Lennok’s eyes narrowed as he checked the names and descriptions beneath the artifacts on display.
‘All the artifacts in this workshop were crafted using parts of Long-lived Beings as materials.’
The Thorn-Hedgehog Sword, whose blade split like thorns upon impact.
The Horn of Holy Mark, which, when blown, increased mana resonance efficiency by nearly threefold.
The Black-Chained Dragon Scale Armor, which enveloped the wearer upon impact, protecting them.
‘Each was made from body parts of the Thorn-Hedgehog Clan, Heavenly Horn Clan, and Scaled Dragon Clan, respectively.’
The body part of the Long-lived Being used to create the artifact was written beneath each item.
Among them, what caught Lennok’s eye was the scale armor, the Black-Chained Dragon Scale Armor, located at the very top of the display case.
This armor, made from the scales of the Scaled Dragon Clan, usually remained hidden, protecting vital areas, but would deploy upon impact.
It was a relic-grade defensive equipment specialized for spellcasters, designed to cover the wearer’s skin with scales immediately upon taking damage, protecting their body.
‘If it can be used for defense only when needed, without restricting movement or agility, it certainly has value…’
Perhaps because it was made from the scales of the Scaled Dragon Clan, which were as hard as alloy and intertwined like a lock.
Even Lennok, who usually paid little attention to defensive gear, found himself intrigued.
‘The descriptions for the equipment are quite detailed, but there are no prices listed. Is this a system where one has to negotiate directly with the workshop?’
For those who lived long lives and traded, like Long-lived Beings, this selling method wasn’t incomprehensible.
There was no common currency or money circulating in Kundara at the moment, but Lennok had a Ruyi Orb.
He could certainly ascertain how much compensation was required to purchase equipment from this workshop.
“Excuse me.”
At Lennok’s question, a young man bustling beside the display case turned with a weary expression.
Lennok, having skillfully modulated his voice, asked politely, “I wish to purchase the Black-Chained Dragon Scale Armor sold in this workshop.”
“…”
Instead of answering Lennok’s words, the young man silently raised his head.
A blatant attitude, as if such a question itself was an annoyance.
“Are you a Dragon?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re not a Dragon. I can tell just by listening to you speak.”
Saying that, the young man waved his hand at Lennok.
“Don’t you know that Dragon-kin equipment can only be purchased by other Dragon-kin? What are you coveting such a treasure for, without knowing your place?”
“…Is that so?”
“You look like a beast-kin who wandered in from outside and accidentally gained intelligence. We don’t serve customers like you, so please leave. Do I really have to spell it out?”
“…”
Even during his time as a freelancer, he had rarely received such treatment; it was quite a novel experience.
The overly blatant, condescending tone, mixing honorifics and informal speech, was so blatant that it barely even made him angry.
As Lennok considered Olivera’s advice to suppress his temper, he reached into his pocket.
“Snook.”
A robust elderly man emerged from the back of the workshop, calling the young man in a heavy voice.
“How many times have I told you not to drive away customers who visit the workshop without my permission?”
“M-master…”
“Move. I will deal with him.”
The old man gestured to the pale-faced young man.
“I’ll reprimand you after we close for the day.”
“…”
As the young man bowed his head and stepped back, the old man finally turned to Lennok.
A muscular physique with broad shoulders, unbefitting his age.
His outward appearance alone left an impression as intense as the Thorben’s Tower Lord.
“It’s been quite a while since a customer came to my workshop looking for Scaled Dragon Clan equipment.”
The old man, staring intently at Lennok with indifferent eyes, said.
“First, I’d like to see your orb.”
“My orb?”
“All the equipment made in our workshop uses the Ruyi Orb as its power source.”
The old man said, arms crossed.
“To perfectly replicate the abilities and characteristics of the Long-lived Being used as material, the power of an orb is essential.”
“…”
“In other words. The items I can sell you are determined by what kind of orb you possess.”
The old man’s expression, looking down at Lennok, turned slightly sharp.
“Of course, if a customer visits my workshop without even knowing this, I don’t think I’ll have a good answer for them.”
“…”
The need for the Ruyi Orb’s power to operate equipment made from the body parts of Long-lived Beings.
Was that why, even though no Ruyi Orbs were visible in the workshop, a similar aura continuously emanated from it?
Lennok took out his Ruyi Orb from his pocket and placed it on the display case.
“Here it is.”
“This is…”
The old man’s expression shifted slightly as he saw the Ruyi Orb radiating a brilliant light on the display case.
A sacred orb, imbued with at least a century’s worth of life force, obtained by winning the Obaekro wager with Alohan.
Since it was filled with the life force of one of the Eight Great Dragon Kings, it was natural for its sanctity to emanate from it.
The old man, picking up the Ruyi Orb with an unconscious gasp of admiration, said.
“You possess an incredible item. Something of this caliber is not easily found even in the Seventh Tribulation.”
“…”
“In the Sixth Tribulation or Seventh Tribulation, quite a few Long-lived Beings are from races capable of creating and holding Ruyi Orbs.”
The old man said, stroking the Ruyi Orb.
“That’s why my shop crafts equipment that can stably manifest the orb’s power… Hmm?”
The old man’s expression, stroking the orb surrounded by mysterious light, soon hardened.
His reaction was as if he had sensed something within the Ruyi Orb that he shouldn’t have felt.
With a hardened expression of disbelief, the old man spun around to Lennok and asked in a trembling voice.
“W-Water God Dragon King of the Water God Clan, what brings you to my workshop…?”