◈ Chapter 301. Never Left in the First Place (1)
──────A colossus.
Whenever one moves, the continent trembles. Then what happens when colossus meets colossus? Even the continent can scarcely contain them, so it is rare for them to welcome one another gladly…….
──────The red-eyed clan, Dune.
Their chief, Shaheen Dune, looked up at the sky. In his red eyes, capable of seeing through to the essence of things, he caught sight of an intense presence. Whoa, Shaheen calmed his rearing horse and opened his mouth.
“A dragon as a guest. An extraordinary guest indeed.”
The Earth Dragon, Kudhanax.
Kudhanax, possessed of a massive physique even among dragons.
The king of all creation.
For an ordinary person, merely witnessing him would make their body shrink back in fear.
Yet Shaheen instead threw out his chest and let out a laugh.
“Have you truly returned, Claudi!”
That attitude showed that Shaheen, too, was a colossus.
If Shaheen was entering Claudi’s territory from the west,
then in the south was the Diamond Merchant Guild Master, Gamond Phil.
“Hyah!”
There was such a phrase as a golden merchant guild.
A title bestowed upon great merchants who could sway the continent itself.
However, even such a lavish epithet was insufficient for Gamond Phil.
It was not just one or two.
Was this truly the devastated Arcana Continent?
It was a procession that made one doubt one’s own eyes.
Dozens of carriages piled high with cargo.
The number of merchant soldiers guarding him was more than ten times that.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that an entire territory was on the move.
“Now then, let us calculate, Assistant.”
Tap, tap.
The merchant guild master’s carriage was plastered with diamonds.
His plump fingers tapped without hesitation on the jewels adorning the seat.
“Hmm…….”
Gamond looked at Claudi’s territory drawing nearer and turned the gears in his head. Now that Claudi had returned to the Arcana Continent……. Gamond clenched his fist.
“As expected, if one wants to strike it big, one must attach oneself to Claudi, mustn’t one?”
The Diamond Merchant Guild.
Gamond did not particularly like the title that surpassed gold.
After all, it was not a title he had earned through his own ability.
Gamond’s eyes glittered with ambition.
‘It is time to prove your ability, Gamond Phil.’
The previous merchant guild master, his father, had always said it.
Even in making money, there was a proper time.
Business in an age of peace?
Spices, gold mines, luxury goods…….
They had brought in tremendous income, but compared to the wealth accumulated by the family, it was laughable. At this rate, even if he spent his whole life, he would never escape his father’s shadow. For more overwhelming profits, he had to ride the currents of a new era.
“Like now.”
Gamond judged that now was precisely the opportunity to multiply his fortune severalfold.
The reason was simple.
A merchant’s perspective differed greatly from that of ordinary people.
Gamond spoke to the assistant beside him.
“Do you see it, the collapsed Arcana Continent? It is hard to believe that countless buildings once stood here. However, everything depends on how one thinks of it. If it has collapsed, must it not be built again?”
Gamond’s plan was simple.
If Claudi had truly returned to the continent, then the continent’s return to peace was only a matter of time. And if he could monopolize continental-scale construction projects on the Arcana Continent after peace was restored?
“Diamond? No, we will be reborn as a great merchant guild that cannot be described by some mere mineral! Which is to say…….”
His eyes now glittered like jewels.
“I will become a merchant greater than my father, and of course, greater than all my predecessors. None other than me!”
Oh my, he had gotten too excited.
Gamond calmed his excitement.
It was not yet the stage to be certain.
Had he not failed to confirm even that?
‘Indeed, does the returned Claudi possess such ability?’
Gamond had not lived in the same era as Claudi.
Nevertheless, the reason he knew Claudi’s fame was simple. The reason the Diamond Merchant Guild existed today was precisely thanks to Claudi.
Gamond said aloud.
“Can you believe it, Assistant? My father, strict, overflowing with confidence, and arrogant enough to attribute every achievement to himself. The fact that even he trembled before the name Claudi, I mean.”
“……
The previous guild master did?”
“That’s right. No, it likely wasn’t only Father.”
The dozens of opportunities that had come to the Diamond Merchant Guild.
He had said that the one who led every one of those eras was Claudi.
Even so, Gamond was not optimistic.
‘In the end, I am the one who will judge.’
Claudi had been annihilated.
Even if a survivor had returned.
Could they immediately recover their immense reputation of the past?
He had to judge with suspicion.
‘The territory alone will likely show it.’
Would Claudi’s territory remain intact?
There was no way.
That was why Gamond moved with utmost calculation.
“It is not right to make hasty judgments, Assistant.”
“I will bear that in mind.”
“And if even that is insufficient, there is a need to take out insurance as well.”
The numerous carriages were a kind of insurance.
To reestablish House Claudi, they would surely need no small amount of wealth. Regardless of their ability. To make House Claudi indebted to him for a mere sum like this would not be a bad deal.
“Whoa.”
Just then, the coachman’s voice could be heard.
They must have entered Claudi’s territory.
Gamond opened the carriage window and looked outside.
“Let’s see…….”
And then he doubted his eyes.
“……!”
What entered his sight was a mansion exuding a tremendous presence even from the very edge of the horizon. For a moment, Gamond felt as if he had been struck on the back of the head.
Was it because the mansion was more splendid than his own?
No, there was no mansion on the Arcana Continent more luxurious than the Phil family mansion, adorned with all manner of jewels. Unless it were a legendary treasure island, perhaps…….
And yet Gamond murmured without realizing it.
“……
It is beautiful.”
Aesthetically, there was nothing to criticize. Even without extravagant decorations, the beauty arising from its structure and form was beyond words. It was like looking at a single sculpture.
But his astonishment had only just begun.
“M-Merchant Guild Master!!”
A voice came from the carriage at the front.
When Gamond stuck his head out a little farther, a gigantic statue entered his sight. More precisely, a statue moving as though alive was standing in confrontation with the merchant guild’s guards.
The stone statue opened its mouth.
“Without an invitation, you cannot enter Claudi territory.”
“……!!”
Only then did Gamond intuit that he had made a misjudgment.
That Claudi was an existence that could not be judged by the common sense of the Arcana Continent.
Hurriedly!
Gamond descended from the carriage and pulled out the invitation.
What one needed to succeed as a merchant was quick wit.
And the ability to judge a situation as swiftly as flipping over one’s palm.
“Here is the invitation! More importantly, I apologize for being late. As you can see, I was unceasingly and excessively preparing gifts to celebrate the return of the great house, Claudi……!”
*
East, west, south, and north.
I looked at the stone statues guarding the roads leading into the territory.
Symbols of loyalty toward Claudi left behind by the Four Families.
Claudi’s invitations had probably been delivered to the Four Families as well.
‘Of course, I don’t know whether they’ll accept the invitation.’
They may have been loyal employees in the past.
But after so many long years, weren’t they strangers now?
More importantly, it had been a while since I consumed enough mana to make my circle ache.
“What matters more than the exterior is the heart within.”
Integrity and incorruptibility.
Grandfell, who had realized that wealth and glory were fleeting, probably would not care much what state Claudi’s territory was in. But I, Lee Hoyeol, am different. Whether in social life or anywhere else, first impressions are important.
‘There is a need to show that we are alive and well.’
I had a purpose from the very beginning.
I would use Claudi’s halo to recruit allies!
To do that, there was a need to prove that Claudi’s halo still shone brilliantly. That was why Grandfell had hosted a banquet he did not particularly welcome.
The Claudi mansion was the same.
[Aesthetic: High]
I exerted my Aesthetic stat, restoring what could be restored through reversal magic, and for the parts that could not be restored, I relied on Grandfell’s aesthetic sense to rebuild the mansion.
‘I never thought I’d end up complaining about mana while interfering with minerals.’
Thanks to the effect of [Pentagram of Pure Knowledge], even the search process was omitted.
At the same time, it was also one of the magics I had used the most.
Even for me, who could call myself the founder if architectural magic existed, restoring the House Claudi mansion was not easy.
To begin with, its size was nothing short of grand.
‘It was practically on the level of a golden palace.’
And it did not end there.
Its interior, too, had to display Claudi’s continued strength.
Clack—
As I descended the mansion stairs, what entered my eyes
were accessories flaunting their presence with restrained luxury.
If you asked where such things came from.
‘Where else? The treasure island.’
I had brought them from the Yusra Kingdom after paying a fair price.
If those were converted into money…….
Wouldn’t they make someone gasp “hundreds of millions” hundreds of times?
‘Though it has little meaning.’
In truth, even if it were tens of billions,
it would not even amount to a drop in the bucket compared to the Rift clear rewards I had acquired until now. Of course, if it had been a petty bourgeois like me, it would have been an astronomical sum that would have frightened me just by looking at my bank account.
“Not bad.”
Grandfell’s vessel was simply far too vast.
Thanks to that, I returned to the Arcana Continent with my inventory packed full.
And that brought me to the present.
I faced Kudhanax, who had been roaring my name at the top of his lungs.
‘Did you really have to do that……?’
I could not help but resent him.
But there was an order to everything.
Even so, one ought to ask after a patient first.
“Is your body whole, Kudhanax?”
“Thanks to your concern, there has been no great change, Dark Dragon Lee Hoyeol Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo. More importantly, when did you find the time to restore the territory once more?”
What do you mean, when?
It was thanks to the fact that I moved diligently the moment I tore through dimensions and set foot on the Arcana Continent. But did this damned bravado ever easily admit to all the hardship it had gone through?
“I did not restore it.”
“……?”
“Claudi had never fallen in the first place.”
Truly, even if I fell into the netherworld, only my mouth would float to the surface.
“Oh my……. I failed to grasp that profound meaning.”
Kudhanax bowed his head as though apologetic.
He really did not need to do that.
After all, what profound meaning?
Everything was simply due to Grandfell’s lofty pride.
‘Even if everything belonging to Claudi had collapsed.’
Because Grandfell himself had not broken.
In the end, it meant that Claudi had not fallen to the very end.
Was it because I had returned to the territory and even taken on the weight of being the family head?
My already proudly puffed-out chest felt as if it were straightening even more.
‘I only hope today passes safely.’
Just as I was worrying over my mouth, which had begun running wild in an unusually spectacular manner from the start,
Kudhanax continued speaking.
It was about his kin, the dragons.
“Yunaxus sent his regards to the Dark Dragon. He said he wished to attend the invitation, but circumstances did not permit it, and he expressed his regret.”
I could understand his difficulties without even hearing them.
Yunaxus was the Elder Dragon and the leader of the dragons.
He must be in the middle of seeking a solution for his kin who had swallowed the evil fruit.
‘No matter what, he couldn’t have attended the banquet.’
The dragon standing in for Yunaxus must have been Kudhanax.
Why did it have to be Kudhanax, whose voice was so loud and whose mouth was so loose?
I had only been resentful, but after hearing the circumstances, I understood.
‘The only one who has lived through an age similar to Yunaxus is Kudhanax.’
……
In any case, thank you for making Claudi’s halo shine.
As it happened, in the Magic Tower of reality, the Magic Tower and the Healing School mages were also tirelessly working on the evil fruit. I was about to deliver some good news in my own way when…….
Boom!
A sudden, tremendous noise rang out.
“Hmm……?”
Kudhanax’s ear twitched once.
[Natural Enemy Relationship]
was not activated.
It was impossible to know the source of a noise heard from afar.
However, if that place fell within the reach of my [Authority], the story was different. No, beyond the fact that the [Authority] function was active, this place was Claudi territory.
“I can guess.”
I could understand it.
Was a colossus called a colossus for nothing?
Since their forces and frames were enormous, it was only natural that they would collide when they encountered another colossus. However, just as there was a saying that when in Rome, one should do as the Romans do.
“However.”
In this place, Claudi was the law.
“I cannot allow it in my territory.”
*
Shaheen Dune of the red eyes.
“The merchant guild’s little piglet has fattened up nicely.”
The Diamond Merchant Guild Master, Gamond Phil.
“Let’s see, I believe this is not a bad proposal for you people, who are no different from barbarians. I hear there is no great inconvenience even with only one. Sell them to me, will you? The red eyes of the Dune clan!”
The Dune clan’s warriors and the merchant guild’s guards stepped forward with weapons in hand.
The two colossi blatantly tore into each other.
However, the murderous war of nerves did not last long.
Soon, a cold voice resounded in their minds.
—Are you confident?
“……!!”
At that moment.
—I mean, are you prepared to cause a disturbance in Claudi’s territory?
The pressure exerted upon their mouths and bodies.
It was the 「Word Spirit」 they had only ever heard of.
Only then did the two men realize the gravity of the situation.
And they understood.
‘Word Spirit……! To think he can exercise such immense authority……!!’
There was no room for doubt.
On the Arcana Continent,
Claudi had returned.
“……
How could we fight on such a fine day, haha.”
The great house that could make even colossi lower their tails had returned!