Apostle of the Void

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 29: At the Forbidden Grounds, The Beginning of the Journey (2)

After finishing her meal, Sia, as the party leader, accepted two simultaneous requests for subjugation near the Gold Zone. Then she suddenly disappeared.

From Silver rank onwards, it becomes possible to take on two requests at the same time.

‘At Gold rank, you can take up to three.’

At Platinum rank, you can take five requests if you wish.

The Diamond rank has no limit on numbers at all.

Who would dare impose a restriction on the top adventurer in the world?

‘Is it a request going to the Gold Zone?’

After Kitan headed upstairs for a nap, Arzen glanced at the spot where the two had just been and thought,

‘I’ll need some information to make good use of those two.’

Arzen approached a guild member who was sweeping the floor with a rolling pin.

“What’s the situation around here? Hmm~ There used to be a lot of hunters, just like the locals who have taken root in the forest.”

“I thought there were more mines.”

“That’s not recent; the situation changed quite a while ago. About 30 years ago? As you know, that was when the steam revolution occurred.”

The steam revolution.

It was a technological innovation achieved in the later years of the legendary Dwarf engineer, Frisbea.

The steam gun technology that Jerome uses originates from that steam revolution.

“With the rising demand for coal to operate steam engines, mining areas were developed and flourished. Originally, they only mined iron ore…”

As a result, local villages, where hunters were the majority, had almost no requests for goblin subjugation.

In contrast, the mining villages formed by outsiders were flooded with subjugation requests plastered all over the status board.

While listening to this, a senior guild member approached and playfully flicked the forehead of the sister cleaning.

“Hey! You still haven’t cleaned this area?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’ll do it right away! Adventurer, I have to go now.”

Feeling a bit guilty for her reprimand, Arzen couldn’t help but move on.

He left the guild branch and wandered around the city of Euphoria.

However, since it was a castle located in a rural area, the size of the houses was small, and there wasn’t much to see.

After finishing his sightseeing, Arzen exited the castle and entered an empty forest.

“This should be a good spot. Kaz tu Arcturas!”

Since the number of Void Insects summoned depended on conditions, it was definitely a technique of the Void Insect type.

‘Worker bees and their subordinate drones!’

Seeing 30 Void Insects lined up instantly pleased him greatly.

As the Void Insects appeared, the presence of life vanished.

Everyone held their breath or ran away.

‘Alright, let’s go.’

It was time to showcase Arzen’s new technique.

In that moment, the dark green glow flowing from the Void Insects’ eyes amplified grotesquely.

‘And then…?’

The insects rushed toward the tree his fingertips pointed at and unleashed a vortex of annihilation.

‘I can feel it! Drone No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, disappearing!’

Indeed.

The squadron of 30 Void Insects unleashed their bodies in a frenzy, spiraling into a dark green storm.

The void storm that gnawed at the raw wood only stopped after leaving the massive trees grotesquely twisted and dried up.

‘This technique… is slightly different from the Void Insect techniques I’ve learned so far!’

This technique does not enhance or mutate the Void Insects; rather, it consumes them.

‘More than anything, I like that it doesn’t put as much strain on my body as Baralus does!’

Though it did make him uneasy to sacrifice all the Void Insects,

this would perfectly complement the lack of a powerful ranged technique he realized he needed during the last mining battle.

‘What’s the effective range? The power? With only 30, will it only gnaw at a massive tree halfway?’

Arzen spent the entire day experimenting with La Tsi Qua.

He summoned the Void Insects, sent them swirling, and then restored both his energy and spiritual power to summon them again, repeating the process.

As a result, dusk began to creep into the forest.

‘Got it. The power of La Tsi Qua depends on how many Void Insects I use…!’

When the Void Squadron is at full strength, it’s a finishing move, but as their numbers dwindle, it becomes a more ordinary ranged technique.

‘But I’m satisfied! Just having more options is a win! It’s still a basic technique! The pages of the scripture are still so plentiful!’

He liked the simplicity of it.

The power of this technique increases as the number of Void Insects grows?

It’s easy to determine the direction of my training.

‘Baralus, this devil is getting increasingly annoyed by the diversifying training with the Void Insects…!’

No matter how much he rested, there was a limit to the amount of miraculous energy a person could use in a day.

Arzen felt the weight of his limits.

He thought his training could stop for now.

He returned to the castle and quickly devoured two wild herb sandwiches.

After looking around the castle, he realized the other party members had not shown their faces.

‘These guys are already trying to ditch me… Are they eating at some nice place without me?’

The little ones seemed to be establishing their ranks in a very predictable way.

‘But too bad! This Arzen won’t be toppled so easily!’

Still, he spent another hour wandering around and peeking inside buildings but did not encounter the little ones.

Returning empty-handed to his lodging, he felt an emptiness inside.

Not receiving evening flattery from the little ones bothered him a bit, but he decided to sleep because he was tired.

“Alright, time to sleep. I’m so sleepy. Kaz tu Arcturas… Worker bee, wake me up at dawn.”

With a warm back and a full stomach, he felt drained of energy and tired, making it the perfect time for a nap.

In the early autumn breeze, which painted the forest with colorful leaves, the boy soon began to breathe softly in his sleep.

Above him, the curtain fluttered in the wind as the worker bee tied it back, blocking any disturbances that could disrupt the disciple's sleep.

“……”

Buuuuuum……

As the night deepened, the worker bee suddenly became alert, sensing the presence of a predator.

The north wind filled the room with the scent of autumn…

And from its depths, the stench of blood began to seep through.

* * *

The worker bee’s morning call was quite meticulous.

Buuuum…

Buuuuuum……

Buuuuuuuuuuum……

The husky sound of flapping wings echoed in his ears.

If Arzen didn’t wake up, the sound would gradually grow louder and longer.

“Is it dawn, worker bee?”

Arzen mumbled in his sleep.

Buuuuuum…

The worker bee responded with a flap of its wings.

“Of course, if it’s not dawn for you, there’s no way you’d wake me up.”

Since it was dawn, there wouldn’t be anyone in the shared washroom.

He had the worker bee carry his toiletries (which could be bought as a set for five coins at the branch) and headed toward the washroom.

‘Am I pushing it too hard?’

A boss should have a certain dignity. Only then will those below him look up to him and follow.

“Even Platinum Rank 4 Olrat has never laid a hand on me directly. He always had his subordinates do it.”

Arzen realized this from observing Olrat’s behavior.

Even for the pinnacle of trashy thugs, a ruler needs to possess a sense of dignity.

That’s why he decided to act similarly.

“Toothbrush.”

“Toothpaste.”

“Soap.”

“Towel.”

Each time Arzen reached out, the worker bee carefully placed the toiletries into his hands.

‘Perfect to the very end!’

The worker bee, which had practically worn Arzen’s old underwear, assisted with the entire process of getting dressed again when they returned to the dormitory.

“Good work today, worker bee. What do you want as a reward?”

Buuuuuum…

“You think just being able to serve me is a reward? Hahaha! Truly my right-hand man! Such a cute little fellow.”

Arzen ruffled the soft and fluffy fur of the worker bee.

When Void Insects are caught by Arzen, they almost come to a standstill, becoming docile like dolls.

This state of mind can occur when a boy in his adolescence becomes consumed by loneliness, so parents should be cautious.

“You’ve worked hard. Go in and rest.”

Arzen snugly tightened the Akahalu epidermis robe up to his chin and left the lodging.

The old wooden planks creaked beneath his feet.

Arzen was frustrated by the lazy bums next door, who were still sleeping at this hour, despite being made of steel or brass at best.

To jolt them awake, he deliberately stomped his feet, making more noise.

‘Wow~ so stubborn, huh? Can you really sleep at your rank? Huh? You think you can sleep?’

It was infuriating that he had to get up early, while these guys were sleeping soundly.

‘So this is… encouragement.’

It was a loving kick aimed at his future subordinates, who were sorely lacking.

“Damn, who the hell are you?”

A muscular brute kicked the door open as if to break it down.

The muscles were impressive.

Compared to Barolus or La Tsui Kua, they wouldn’t stand a chance, but before he could even chant, he felt like he would get knocked out by a punch.

“I’m actually looking for him too, brother.”

Thus, Arzen rubbed his eyes sleepily and expressed irritation, as though he had just been awakened from a dream.

“Ah, where is that bastard? The terrorist at this early hour!”

One by one, the muscle-bound men emerged, weapons in hand.

They looked ready to kill someone.

Desperately maintaining the guise of a person chasing after the terrorist, Arzen scanned the stairs, pretending as if he had spotted the culprit. He then dashed down the steps with all his might.

“Hey, don’t just stand there! You damned hoodlum! Brothers! I’ll bring that vile guy back!”

Of course, this was the escape route designed by Arzen, who ranked at the top of intelligence in a world of adventurers with an average IQ.

‘Escape successful!’

On the stair landing, there were messy boxes scattered about, with a few keys lying around.

‘An unmanned return box… The branch is so small that even this is haphazardly managed.’

In Karshiko, there was a member of the guild present 24/7 for checkout.

He casually tossed the keys inside and stepped out of the branch.

As the season shifted to early autumn, it had gotten quite cold at dawn.

On the Adrion continent, it wouldn't start getting cold until mid-winter, so each of these little differences felt fascinating.

‘It’s cold, cold. I need to tighten my robe all the way up to my neck.’

As he adjusted his attire in the chilly early autumn dawn, his party members were waiting for Arzen.

Kitan was the first to appear.

Seemingly still half-asleep, he rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

However, upon seeing Arzen, he cheerfully waved his hand.

“Arzen, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.”

“I slept well too.”

“Who asked you?”

“I did.”

“Self-talk is acceptable, I guess.”

Sia, true to her role as the anger delegate, frowned while looking at the map and yawned repeatedly.

The last to arrive was Jerome.

He dragged a cart filled with firearms and ammunition behind him.

The sound of the wheels rolling across the ground echoed deeply in the early morning streets.

“What’s that?”

Jerome answered Arzen’s question.

“We’re heading quite a distance from the base. Since we won’t be able to resupply for a while, I brought plenty. It’s also necessary to relieve some fatigue.”

As Sia folded the map in half and then again, tucking it into her pocket, she spoke.

“If we’re going near the Golden Region, pushing a cart might be too much effort. Don’t you have any heavy equipment?”

“Do you think I’m weak like you guys? Just look at these arms. They’re twice the size of yours.”

“Manuki” means “monkey” and is a term used by the Dwarf to mock humans.

That damn dwarf casually threw out a racist remark at the crack of dawn.

He was quite a character.

“Hmph, if you make a whiny sound asking for help, you’ll regret it.”

Sia turned her body toward the north.

Though no words were exchanged,

Everyone naturally began to follow in her footsteps.

Arzen… found joy in that.

Together with his party members.

Setting off on a new adventure as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

That unfamiliarity felt inexplicably fresh and wonderful.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]