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Chapter 208: Wandering Merchant (1)

"We don\'t know what kind of offerings are needed either."

But they knew that it was an offering required for the direct descent of the Lord of Hell.

They could guess it would need something beyond common sense.

"Hmm."

Ketal stroked his chin.

He had successfully defended the elven sanctuary from the demons\' attack, but not perfectly.

They had lost a branch of the World Tree.

That was likely an offering necessary for the Demon King\'s descent.

What had been identified so far were the Primordial Essence, a meteorite that fell on the continent, the branch of the World Tree, and many other treasures.

"It might be a more dangerous situation than we thought."

"That\'s... true."

Milena couldn\'t deny it.

The world was extremely chaotic.

Doomsday preachers were starting to appear, claiming the end was near.

If the capital of the kingdom was in such a state, places with less security would be far worse.

"Why is this happening in the time I\'m alive?"

Milena sighed deeply.

The fact that the great disaster of the Demon King\'s descent was happening in her era made her feel like cursing the gods.

"Is that so?"

Of course, Ketal felt the opposite.

The fact that such events were happening while he was out and about made him feel grateful to the gods.

"Shall we take a look around the capital?"

Ketal nodded.

Ketal and Milena, who had come out, walked through the streets.

"It\'s been largely restored."

The world was precarious and dangerous.

But even in such times, people had to live in reality.

The capital of the Denian Kingdom was in a half-destroyed state due to the demon\'s descent.

When Ketal had left, it was literally in a tragic state.

But now, it had been largely restored.

Considering it had only been a few months, it was an incredibly fast recovery.

"They invested all the capital into the restoration. Most of it was my capital, though."

Milena muttered.

Her mouth tasted bitter.

Even though the restoration was almost complete, the expenditure had been staggering.

She had been on the brink of bankruptcy.

While they were looking around the restored capital, someone approached Milena.

"Lady."

"What\'s the matter?"

It was one of the family\'s employees.

The employee flinched when he saw Ketal but didn\'t show any further reaction.

He didn\'t seem to feel any rejection or intimidation towards Ketal.

\'Oh.\'

Ketal smiled slightly at the employee\'s reaction.

He had perfectly concealed his presence using what he learned from Karin.

Thanks to this, even those meeting him for the first time would only be momentarily surprised by his appearance and show no further reaction.

It was a very satisfying change.

The employee spoke cautiously.

"Um, the side that commissioned the artifact is pressing us."

"Ah..."

Milena frowned, looking troubled.

"Tell them we\'ll complete it as soon as possible. If they keep pressing, tell them I\'ll speak to them directly."

"Understood."

The employee left.

Watching his back, Ketal muttered.

"It seems there\'s some problem."

"...Yes."

Milena clicked her tongue.

The Akasha family was a merchant family.

They also made and sold various items.

Artifacts were one of the family\'s main businesses.

But that business was now facing a problem.

"We had a magician who was supposed to make the artifacts, but he had to leave urgently. This is already the umpteenth time."

"He seems to be a problematic magician."

"He often makes excuses and takes breaks. I want to fire him, but alchemists are rare, so I can\'t. It\'s a troublesome situation."

There were no problems when Arkamis was around.

She was a superhuman-level alchemist.

Her skills were not just certain; they were overwhelming.

Though she sometimes made strange artifacts, the risk was bearable considering her skills.

That\'s why the Akasha family had an overwhelming performance in artifact orders when Arkamis was around.

But after she left, problems kept arising.

Milena sighed deeply.

"If this continues, we\'ll have to give up the artifact-making business."

"Hmm."

After a moment of thought, Ketal asked.

"Is the artifact in a state where it has to be made from scratch?"

"No. The basic frame of the artifact is complete. Only the final step of imbuing it with mystery and activating the circuits remains, but the alchemist disappeared right at that point. I don\'t understand why he\'s avoiding it when that\'s all that\'s left."

Milena was grumbling about the magician\'s capriciousness.

"I see! It\'s a difficult situation!"

Ketal raised his voice.

“Then I\'ll help you!”

“What?”

Milena was startled.

“You, Ketal?”

“Yes.”

“Um… is that possible?”

Ketal had learned alchemy from Arkamis.

Milena knew that too.

But it was only at an apprentice level.

The artifacts she was commissioned to make were of a very high level.

An apprentice-level alchemist couldn\'t possibly make them.

“And Ketal, you… can\'t handle the Mystery.”

Above all, Ketal couldn\'t handle Mystery.

Since Mystery was required to activate the circuits, it didn\'t seem possible for Ketal.

But Ketal smiled brightly and said,

“It’s possible.”

“If… you say so.”

With a dubious expression, Milena led Ketal to a warehouse.

There were several artifacts waiting to be completed.

“There are quite a lot.”

“It was a big commission... Ketal, are you really sure you can do this?”

Milena\'s expression was skeptical.

She knew Ketal’s strength, but that was purely in terms of physical power.

Making artifacts was more about technical skill than brute force.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

But Ketal nodded.

“It’s possible. After all, I’m not the one who will be doing it.”

“What?”

“I summon thee, one who embodies the Primordial Essence of Purity.”

“…Huh?”

Milena’s eyes widened.

In front of Ketal, flames began to swirl and gather.

The power contained within them was enough to dominate the space.

Milena stepped back in fright.

Ketal calmly finished his incantation.

“Come forth, one who bears the horns of the Pure Flame. Piego.”

Whoosh.

The flames formed a door, and from it emerged a bull of flame.

[You called me.]

“…A highest-ranking spirit!”

Milena was stunned.

She widened her eyes in disbelief.

And with good reason.

Spirits were pure beings of nature.

While elves could easily summon them, humans found it very difficult.

Spirit mages were rarer than magicians.

And naturally, powerful spirit mages were even rarer.

Even in the entire Denian Kingdom, there was not a single spirit mage contracted with a mid-level spirit.

It would take searching two or three kingdoms to find one.

As for high-level spirits, they were out of the question.

As far as she knew, there were fewer than five humans on the entire continent contracted with high-level spirits.

Highest-ranking spirits were thought to be beyond human reach.

Yet now, Ketal had summoned a highest-ranking spirit.

Even seeing it with her own eyes, it was hard to believe.

The pure flame filling the space was palpable even to her.

She stammered.

“K-Ketal. How…”

“I received it in the elven sanctuary.”

“You received it?”

“I resolved their issue. This was the reward.”

“The highest-ranking spirit... is that something the elves could give?”

“I didn\'t receive it from the elves.”

“Huh? Then from whom…”

“From the Spirit God directly.”

“…?”

Milena was confused.

Piego, the summoned spirit, asked gruffly.

[So, why did you summon me? There’s no sign of battle.]

“There are artifacts here.”

Piego glanced at the scattered artifacts.

Then, as if realizing something, he grimaced.

[…No way.]

“The final step. Can you do it?”

[You.]

Flames flared up fiercely.

Milena held her breath.

[Did you summon me for such a trivial task?]

It was clear anger.

Highest-ranking spirits had immense pride.

Even a contractor could not summon them for trivial tasks without risking their wrath, potentially making them refuse future summons.

But Ketal was indifferent.

“Yes, I did. Is there a problem?”

Ketal looked as if he saw nothing wrong.

[...]

If it had been any other contractor, Piego would have lashed out and returned to the spirit world immediately.

And he would not respond to any summons for a while.

But with Ketal, he couldn\'t do that.

This was because the contract had been directly facilitated by the Spirit God.

Not following Ketal\'s commands was tantamount to disobeying the Spirit God.

In the end, Piego suppressed his emotions.

[…Understood.]

Whoosh!

Piego exhaled a great flame that enveloped the artifacts.

Mystery quickly filled the artifacts.

“Oh. It works.”

Ketal smiled.

He realized that he could use Piego in such situations from now on.

“This will be convenient.”

Piego felt dizzy at Ketal\'s muttering.

Who was he?

A spirit imbued with the primordial flame, one of the oldest spirits.

Though he occasionally made contracts, he was always in an overwhelmingly superior position.

Contractors always groveled and catered to him.

But now, he was being treated like a convenient tool.

This was hard for Piego to accept.

[I am the highest-ranking spirit. You should respect and consider me.]

“I respect you.”

Ketal tilted his head.

“Please complete the artifacts. I ask this as a favor.”

[…]

‘Oh, Spirit God.’

Why did you make me contract with such a brute?

Piego lamented.

Milena watched the scene in astonishment.

‘A highest-ranking spirit…’

Was being used like a tool.

It didn’t feel real.

It was like a dream.

Ketal smiled brightly and spoke to Milena.

“Just wait a bit. It looks like it will be done soon.”

“Ah… okay.”

She could only nod blankly.

* * *

The artifacts were completed in no time.

Milena, looking somewhat dazed, left to handle the artifact commissions.

Since the job required time, Ketal spent the night in his room.

The next day.

Ketal happily went to find Milena.

‘Will it be possible now?’

He hadn’t made the artifacts just to help Milena.

He had a clear purpose.

He wanted to obtain Mystery.

For that, he needed powerful catalysts imbued with Mystery.

Milena, from a renowned merchant family, would likely know such information.

It was the price for his help.

Ketal headed to Milena’s office to ask her favor.

However, the office was unusually chaotic.

Puzzled, Ketal opened the door.

“Quickly, line up! At least five! If you succeed by today, you’ll get a week’s vacation!”

She was frantically talking into a communication artifact.

She looked extremely urgent.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh. Ketal.”

She stammered.

“Do… do you know about the wandering merchant?”

“I know. Isn’t he a mysterious being who trades? A figure of dreams for all adventurers.”

In fact, Ketal’s artifact pouch was from the wandering merchant.

She spoke hurriedly, making Ketal\'s eyes widen.

“That wandering merchant has come to the capital!”