#67
Customizing (3)
“Oho… Indeed, as rumored, this is pepper of exceptionally fine quality. The processing is clean as well.”
“The evaluations from those who have used it personally are also very good. I hear the high-ranking people are all satisfied with it.”
“With this level of quality, if sold properly, it would be excellent not only for profit margins but also for building connections.”
Hubert’s business was proceeding smoothly.
The pepper he had brought, filling his subspace magic tool to the brim, sold out in an instant despite being priced quite high.
Sending samples to the nearby large merchant companies at the start of the pepper sales and forming various ties with them had worked in his favor.
‘Of course, in the middle of all that, I did use Harley’s services so the other side wouldn’t dare get too presumptuous.’
The formal thanks delivered to the Mercenary Guild through the Order played a major role in raising Harley’s fame.
As he became more famous, the frequency with which people picked fights with him increased compared to before, but even that only became new marketing.
‘Anyone who’d pick a fight with Harley, with that vicious appearance of his, must have been somewhat famous themselves. And he folded people like that up with his bare hands…’
Harley had become a celebrity in Tarak’s mercenary circles.
And the Hubert Trading Company, which had such a person as a business partner, also came to receive a certain amount of attention.
‘On top of that, good products, reasonable prices, marketing using limited stock, and even credibility from using the name of a famous person. It’d be stranger if this failed.’
External interference could also be blocked thanks to Harley.
Large forces such as major merchant companies inevitably had some connection with the Order by default.
Through their networks, they learned that Harley truly was receiving attention from the upper ranks of the Order, and naturally gave up on the idea of touching the Hubert Trading Company.
From their perspective, earning the Order’s displeasure just to swallow up one small business would be a greater loss.
And as for the riffraff who didn’t even have that level of information…
“Keugh… M-mercy…”
A dark back alley.
Fierce-looking men were sprawled here and there like trash.
“Harley, this one says he wants mercy?”
A mountain-like man with tattoos on his face was holding a thug by the collar and shaking him down as he spoke to the side.
“Mercy? Just how lightly did these bastards look down on us all this time that they’re asking for mercy now?”
“Things like these have to have their roots stomped out from the start, or they’ll crawl back up again, you know? I’ll show you how.”
The ones who reacted before Harley to his words were two bulky men who likewise had tattoos across their bodies.
Southern warriors who had once clashed with him, but were now as close as brothers.
They were the three men: Ruwang, the largest of them; Dao, who had a knife scar near his eye; and Turaba, whose face was covered in hair.
They were currently helping Harley trample down the thugs who had tried to pull some petty tricks on the Hubert Trading Company.
‘Of course, I’m not making them work for free. I’m earning a lot of money anyway, so there’s no need to be stingy with this kind of thing.’
Just having personnel he could trust to a certain extent and handle as he pleased was already a gain.
If he could draw out their active cooperation with a few coins, there was nothing better.
“Mm, now that I think about it, doesn’t it feel like Harley’s impression has changed a little?”
“You too? I feel like he seems somehow friendlier than before.”
“Isn’t that just because we’ve gotten closer all this time?”
“Is that so?”
It was a topic that came up without much meaning while they were on their way to have a drink after finishing the job, but Harley couldn’t help feeling a needless pang of guilt.
‘I’ve been changing it bit by bit so they wouldn’t notice…’
Because his facial structure really was changing, to the point that it was subtly different from when he had first appeared.
Since he had met three Southern locals, this was a good opportunity to naturally absorb their features.
Harley’s face, which had felt somewhat vague, was being adjusted little by little each day to match the race of Southerners.
“Ahahahah! Doesn’t that just mean we’ve become that much closer? Now you really feel like brothers!”
Harley laughed heartily with easy charm and smoothly moved past the topic as though nothing were wrong.
And inside the tavern they entered, they chatted noisily and held all sorts of conversations.
Most of the topics concerned the southern region, and they were very useful information centered on the vivid firsthand experiences of locals.
“…So once you leave the South, it’s hard to get an imprint carved. Most shamans don’t try to leave that place, you see.”
“You do run into them elsewhere from time to time, and if you prove your qualifications and pay the price then, you can get a new imprint carved.”
Among them was also content about the “imprints” they often spoke of.
“Sometimes, there are idiots who try to get imprints carved that don’t match their station. In most cases, the shaman will take care of it by chasing them away or something, but…”
“There are some every now and then, you know. Ones who can’t be satisfied unless everything goes their way.”
There were cases where people forced imprints onto their bodies through threats, persuasion, bribery, deception, and so on.
“It’s not for nothing that proof of qualification is required.”
An imprint was not a simple tattoo.
It was a branch of mysticism carved by weaving together the life force and mana flowing through the body, as well as the karma the person had accumulated.
‘Is it a kind of biological magic circle that strengthens the body?’
They said an imprint beyond one’s station not only ate away at one’s lifespan, but also brought about all sorts of side effects, from muscle loss and decreased virility to aging and hair loss.
“That’s why in the South, if you don’t have even a single imprint, you won’t be recognized as a warrior. It means you haven’t even met the qualifications for the most basic ‘Warrior’s Imprint.’”
That was the reason they had picked a fight with Harley, who had been a “self-proclaimed Southern warrior.”
On the body he went around showing off half-naked, there had only been prank-like scribbles, and no imprint existed anywhere.
‘There’s nothing I can do about what I can’t get right away. It’d be nice if I could definitely get one before going to the South.’
Like the manly man he was, he gulped down the liquor in a large mug and smacked his lips.
While Hubert and Harley were thus spending their days busily and faithfully, Harris, who had newly joined Tarak, had been continuing a battle all on his own for several days.
“Ugh… I do feel something, but…”
Shut up in the base Hubert had prepared, the elf avatar Harris made daily efforts through meditation to commune with spirits.
He had been excited, thinking he might be able to become a High Elf, but after the notification that the World Tree was watching him, no particular change had occurred.
‘This seems to be natural force, but how do I contract with a spirit? Is my affinity still lacking?’
Natural force, mana that had been filtered once through natural objects like trees and purified until clear and clean, was an energy source essential when forming a spirit contract.
Considering his initial stats, as well as the effects of “Child of the World Tree” and the bracelet, his affinity shouldn’t have been lacking, but he had no idea how he could become a spirit master.
“Rather than doing this here, should I go into a forest with richer natural force and try there…?”
Until now, he had been staying cooped up here to hide the fact that he was an elf, but it seemed he would have to go outside now.
‘I can just pull a hood down and cover my ears. I was trying to lie low as much as possible until I formed a contract with a spirit, but…’
Elves, a rare race on the Ion Continent, were inevitably bound to get caught up in all sorts of trouble.
Wasn’t Cecily, who had been a High Elf candidate, sold as a slave because of that as well?
‘Right, like Cecily… Hm? Wait…’
High Elf Lafori, the candidate Cecily, and the elven delegation of nearly twenty people.
They were still staying at the Great Temple of Rosellia.
The inquisitors of the Talia Kingdom had discovered the residence where the Immortal King had stayed in the Forest of Monsters, and had also uncovered the fact that he had been there until right before he infiltrated the Great Temple.
They still did not know how he had realized the exact moment when the Great Temple’s defenses were at their weakest, but…
‘It wasn’t as though the Order suspected the elves from the beginning either.’
They had merely dispatched an investigation team to clearly grasp the truth of the matter, so toward the elves, the Order was still maintaining the same courteous attitude as before.
‘From what I heard, they’ve finished their work now and are slowly preparing to return…’
Wouldn’t it be better to receive help from fellow elves than to study on his own?
If he could get even some advice before they returned, there would be nothing better.
‘Good. That sounds best.’
Harris hurriedly rose from his seat and pulled his robe over himself.
Then he confidently headed toward Tarak’s temple.
Around the time he was nearing his destination, a huge giant of a man approached, swaggering out from the alley beside him.
A large and imposing body, the complete opposite of Harris’s slender frame.
The man who approached with an intimidating gait—Harley—naturally joined him and moved toward the temple.
He had slipped away from a drinking session with the Southern warriors to make time to help Harris.
And the two walked side by side, soon arriving at the temple.
“Hm? Aren’t you Sir Harley? What brings you all the way here… Do you perhaps have some business?”
Recognizing Harley, whose appearance was so distinctive that his very existence was proof of identity, the paladin guarding the entrance to the temple spoke to him.
“Hahaha—! There’s something I’d like to receive help with this time, you see. I’d like you to pass a message inside!”
The story that came up in the meeting arranged that way was simple.
He also boldly said that, as a token, he had given Harris the bracelet that had been awkward for him to use himself.
As for his request for help, an agreement had already been reached above, so Harley’s story was immediately conveyed to the elves at the Great Temple of Rosellia.
***
Woooong—
After passing through the gate he had already used several times, a space that had likewise become familiar greeted him.
“Welcome, Sir Harris. Welcome to the Great Temple of Rosellia.”
The high priest in charge of the gate, whose face only Harris knew unilaterally, welcomed him.
And Harris was guided outside behind another priest.
‘It feels awkward coming to a place I’ve already become completely familiar with under a completely different identity.’
As soon as the discussion about receiving the elves’ help had been settled, he received the Order’s cooperation and arrived at the Great Temple of Rosellia after several days of gate travel.
The place he was guided to as an invited guest was the lodging where those who had come from the Elven Kingdom were staying.
There, several elves were already gathered together and conversing.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Lafori Granwood, a High Elf of the Elven Kingdom.”
When Harris entered, Lafori greeted him warmly.
“Ah, I’m Harris. Thank you for making time for me like this.”
“Hahaha, not at all. It is Sir Harley’s request, and it is also a matter concerning one of our own people. This much is nothing.”
Having answered that way, Lafori looked at the bracelet on Harris’s wrist and nodded.
“It seems you are very close with Sir Harley. I was well aware that he was a good man, but I was quite surprised to hear that the first request he made was to help his friend.”
“Ah… We are indeed quite close. You could say we’re closer than family…”
It was absolutely not a lie.
“And I heard this bracelet was originally one you used, Sir Lafori. I accepted it because it seemed like something I needed, but if it offended you, I apologize.”
“No. That is something I gave Sir Harley as thanks, and how he uses it is no longer a matter for me to interfere with.”
He shook his head as if it truly did not matter.
“Rather, I feel grateful once again that he used it for the sake of one of our people.”
With eyes that sparkled and shone like stars in the night sky, he looked at Harris and smiled quietly.
For some reason, it was a gaze that made him feel burdened.
“So what Sir Harris wants is to learn how to handle natural force and how to contract with spirits, correct?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right. Since I’ve lived alone since I was young, there was no one to teach me those things. I came here wondering if I might at least receive some advice.”
“Hmm…”
Lafori stroked his chin, quietly looked at him again, then nodded to himself.
‘Somehow… it feels like he’s treating me a bit too familiarly. Did he notice something?’
Even if Harris was a compatriot from a foreign land who had come through the introduction of their benefactor, there was a strange feeling that could not be explained by that alone.
While he was thinking that, Lafori quietly opened his mouth with a meaningful smile.
“By any chance. If you are all right with it, Sir Harris, would you consider going with us to the Elven Kingdom on the Enamel Continent?”
“Pardon? To the Enamel Continent?”
“Yes. We also expect to return before long. Wouldn’t that be better than merely hearing a brief piece of advice?”
And he subtly tempted him by saying that if he went with them, he could receive more detailed education in various things, including spirit arts and archery.
‘Elves… other races… another continent… a new adventure!’
There was no reason whatsoever to refuse such a good opportunity.
Just as he was about to gladly accept, Lafori quietly added one more sentence.
“Above all, it seems the World Tree is keeping an eye on Sir Harris. You have not yet obtained the qualifications of a High Elf, but it seems you were born with at least the aptitude.”
At those words, Harris could understand his strangely subtle attitude.
It seemed the World Tree was quite interested in Harris.