Chapter 81

Chapter 81

“Hey, young friend. We’ve arrived. Get ready to get off.”

“Yes.”

I gathered my luggage and stepped down from the wagon.

Siri also hopped out after me, looking excited.

“Thank you for giving us a ride.”

“A merchant’s basic virtue is to repay what he receives. No need to thank me. But young friend, are you a traveler?”

“Well, you can say I’m a traveler.”

“Then you’re quite the unusual traveler. I’ve seen countless travelers, but I’ve hardly seen any who come to Muktaba.”

“I suppose I’m a bit unusual.”

As the merchant said, there really weren’t many who would willingly come to such a dangerous place.

After all, this was a place where lava erupted at the slightest provocation.

“Hah, amusing fellow you are. Since you paid well, let me give you one piece of advice. Don’t go too far north.”

“You mean near the border?”

“Yeah. Duke Isrinbloom did subjugate them a lot, but there are still nomads left around that area. If you don’t want to get kidnapped, you’d better stay away.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The nomads who lived in the northern part of the continent.

A massive organization with countless tribes and a Khan who led them.

They weren’t people one could take lightly, so it was best to avoid being kidnapped by them, just as the merchant said.

‘Well, not that I’d ever get caught.’

It’d be different if I planned to go near the border, but the rune I was looking for wasn’t there.

The rune was in the south—more precisely, buried southeast of Muktaba.

At the very least, I probably wouldn’t need to go north of Muktaba while searching for the Water Rune.

“Anyway, thank you again for the ride. I’ll get going now. Come, Siri.”

“Woof?”

“Follow me. We need to find a place to stay.”

“Woof!”

After giving the merchant a simple farewell, I headed deeper into the city with Siri beside me.

The volcanic city, Muktaba.

Located at the northern edge of the Empire, this dangerous region had countless active volcanoes, with lava flowing like rivers.

At first glance, it looked like a place impossible for humans to live, yet surprisingly, many people resided here.

‘Since it’s the border, the Empire’s elite forces are stationed here, and more importantly, the countless minerals sourced from this place are far too valuable for the Empire to give up.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that more than half of the minerals used across the continent came from Muktaba.

Because of this, many people gathered here.

A city with a long history, said to have existed since the early founding of the Empire.

‘I felt it when I first saw it in the game too—there’s no way normal people could live here.’

The city itself looked fairly ordinary.

The architectural style was a bit unique, but not so much that it stood out drastically.

Rather than the appearance of the city, everything else around it caught my attention.

‘The constantly overcast sky, the heat from the lava, the people mining minerals in this heat and processing them with fire. And even the volcanic ash that makes breathing difficult.’

It was a city with every terrible condition stacked on top of another, yet its residents carried on their daily lives unfazed.

There was hardly a trace of hardship visible on their faces.

‘Volcanoes, lava, the border, nomads… so many dangerous elements, yet the city doesn’t collapse because there’s a reason.’

I glanced subtly toward the northern edge of the city.

There stood a tall, black castle.

It looked more like a prison than a castle, but regardless, it was a castle.

And that castle was the main residence of the Isrinbloom Family.

‘Sara’s hometown too.’

Muktaba had long been the territory of the Isrinbloom Family.

So for hundreds of years, the Isrinbloom Family had managed Muktaba and protected its people.

Muktaba’s prosperity was, practically speaking, thanks to the Isrinbloom Family.

‘They weren’t given the title of Duke solely for their abilities for no reason. But anyway, that black castle…’

I halted for a moment and looked properly at the castle of the Isrinbloom Family.

It was familiar to me in many ways.

And for good reason…

‘I was exploring that castle right up until the moment I transmigrated.’

After painstakingly raising Sara’s affection—her incredibly sensitive affection—I barely managed to enter that castle.

And while exploring the basement of the castle, I happened to discover an old document—one concerning a family that had received the Record Erasure Sentence.

After discovering and reading that document, I transmigrated into the game.

‘I’ll have to enter that castle again someday.’

The reason I transmigrated—and perhaps the secret of my family that I needed to uncover—might be inside that castle.

Entering it now would be impossible, but later—once I rose high enough in status.

Or once I built enough trust with the Isrinbloom Family, I’d be able to enter.

‘I have a feeling there’s a decisive clue inside. Well, going in now is impossible anyway, so let’s focus on the task at hand.’

The task in front of me was to obtain the Water Rune.

To do that, there was something I had to take care of first.

“Let’s go find an inn.”

“Woof?”

At my words, Siri looked up at me with questioning eyes.

It felt as if she were asking why we needed to find a place to stay.

“I need somewhere to leave my luggage. And I’ve been riding in a wagon all day, so I want to rest for a few hours.”

“Woof! Woof? Woof?!”

Siri barked while circling around me.

It wasn’t human speech, yet somehow I could understand exactly what she meant.

Something like: ‘Why rest in such a great place? Don’t you feel energized here?!’

I let out a small laugh at her antics, then one thought suddenly crossed my mind.

“Hey, now that I think about it, isn’t this your hometown?”

“Woof?”

Siri looked up at me as if asking what nonsense I was talking about.

But separate from that, the young Hellhound looked more energetic than ever.

I nodded.

“Mhm. You’re full of energy because you came back to your homeland.”

Most Hellhounds lived in volcanic regions.

And most of the continent’s volcanoes were in Muktaba.

Meaning, most Hellhounds on the continent were from Muktaba.

There was a chance it wasn’t true, but Siri’s parents were likely from Muktaba.

“Woofwoofwoof!”

I understood why Siri was so excited and overflowing with energy.

From a Hellhound’s perspective, a place full of heat and overflowing with lava would be invigorating indeed.

“Yeah. I get that you’re feeling good, but calm down a little. And don’t make it obvious that you’re a Hellhound. Got it?”

“Woof!”

“No, seriously. Anywhere else would be fine, but this place is actually dangerous.”

If they were residents of Muktaba, they would have suffered from Hellhounds more than anyone.

So if they realized Siri was a Hellhound, there was a good chance they would try to kill her even if she was still young.

‘Thankfully, Siri didn’t really look like a Hellhound yet.’

A Hellhound’s biggest traits were the flames around their mouth and the sparks that appeared across their body.

Luckily, Siri was still young, so she couldn’t breathe fire or anything like that yet.

But a sharp-eyed Muktaba resident could still recognize her at a glance, so avoiding unnecessary attention was the best option.

“That’s why you need to stay still. Otherwise, you’ll really get hunted.”

“…Woof.”

Maybe she understood what I said, because Siri, who had been running around excitedly, suddenly quieted down.

The bright, clueless puppy instantly turned into a composed and dependable hunting dog.

She then woofked beside me calmly… and seeing that, I unknowingly burst into laughter.

“Woof?”

“No, haha. Why do you look so funny when you try to act serious? Haha, I can’t get used to it.”

“…Woofwoof! Woofwoofwoof! Woof! Woof! Grrr! Woof!”

At my words, Siri barked with a hurt expression.

And that wasn’t enough for her—she reared up on her hind legs and started smacking me with her front paws.

I kept laughing while patting Siri’s head.

“Aww, sorry, hey, sorry. But it’s too funny, what can I do?”

“Woof! Grr… Woof……”

“Alright, I said sorry. Don’t sulk.”

“…Woof.”

“I’ll give you something tasty later.”

I resumed woofking with the droopy Siri beside me.

While searching for a suitable place to leave my luggage—

“Hey. Stop right there.”

“…Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah. You. You there.”

A soldier carrying a spear approached me.

“I haven’t seen your face before. You from out of town?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m traveling.”

“Hmm, odd. Ah, not for any special reason—just because travelers rarely come here. And that dog next to you, she yours? You didn’t pick her up somewhere nearby or anything, right?”

“Yes. I’ve raised her for a long time…”

“Woof! Woofwoof?”

Siri wagged her tail and circled around the soldier.

The soldier gave a dry laugh at the sight.

“Yeah, right. No way a Hellhound would be this docile. Anyway, how long are you staying in the city? And where do you plan to stay?”

“I’m planning to get a room at that inn over there, and I’ll leave the city around this week’s Friday.”

“So you’re not staying long. Then there shouldn’t be any issues. Alright. Don’t cause trouble, and if anything happens, just ask the guards for help. Got it?”

“Yes. Understood.”

“Nothing more to say then. By the way, your hair color is unusual. I’ve never seen white hair in my life.”

“I hear that a lot.”

We parted without any further conversation.

‘He probably stopped me because he didn’t recognize my face.’

As mentioned earlier, this wasn’t a city travelers visited often, so it made sense.

“Woof?”

“Let’s hurry and get a room. I need a bit of rest before I properly start searching for the rune.”

A few hours after Gideon and a soldier had spoken—

“Your Grace. May I come in?”

“Oslo? Come in.”

Inside the Isrinbloom residence, in the Duke’s office.

At the words of the red-haired Duke, Dilug Isrinbloom, his butler Oslo entered the office.

“My apologies for disturbing you during work.”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t particularly busy. So, what is it? For you to come find me personally, did something happen in Muktaba?”

“Nothing in particular has happened. However, in the reports that just came up from the patrol unit, there was something I believed Your Grace should know.”

“Hm? And what is that?”

“According to one soldier’s report, a few hours ago they found a traveler in the city.”

“A traveler?”

Dilug nodded at Oslo’s words, but then expressed doubt.

“It’s certainly rare for travelers to come to my territory. But for this to be something you personally report to me, something I absolutely must know… doesn’t that seem a bit lacking?”

“There is more. According to the soldier, the traveler had white hair.”

Dilug stroked his chin and looked at Oslo.

“…White hair? And his age?”

“He was said to look quite young. About the same age as Lady Sara.”

“And carrying a distinctive sword?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Gideon Kyrgram?”

“Yes. I also judged the same, so I came to report to Your Grace.”

“Hm.”

Dilug rose from his seat and looked out the window.

He silently observed Muktaba’s city for a moment before speaking.

“Why do you think a student who should currently be at the Academy, and who even received a commendation from the Imperial Family, came to my territory?”

“…My apologies. I thought about it several times on my way here, but I couldn’t find the answer.”

“It could simply be a trip for sightseeing, but I doubt that student would come here without reason.”

“I agree.”

At Oslo’s words, Dilug paused to organize his thoughts.

Then, with a resolved expression, he looked back at Oslo.

“Do we have any private soldiers available right now?”

“Yes, there should be a few soldiers standing by within the residence.”

“Have them tail the student. I don’t think he’ll do anything bad, but I’m curious why he suddenly came to my territory.”