Chapter 148: First Arrival in Salt City 1

“Could you at least watch where you’re going?”

Kent had been enjoying the ride when the Dragon Turtle’s back suddenly lurched sharply upward beneath him.

Instead of behaving after hearing Kent’s complaint, the Dragon Turtle deliberately gave several more violent jolts.

This time, however, Kent was prepared, so nothing happened to him.

Daphne, on the other hand, wrapped her arms even more tightly around Kent and buried her head deeper against his back.

Kent looked down at the Dragon Turtle’s jade-like scales and felt thoroughly exasperated.

In truth, Kent believed that magical pets deserved a certain degree of freedom as well. He had never liked the idea of using the power of a contract to force them into obedience.

Yet for some reason, the Dragon Turtle seemed determined to make things difficult for him at every opportunity.

Still, considering that it had, in a manner of speaking, “voluntarily” become his magical pet, Kent decided not to make too much of it.

After all, if he put himself in the Dragon Turtle’s position, he probably wouldn’t feel particularly pleased either.

Once Kent looked at the matter from that perspective, his irritation faded considerably.

The Dragon Turtle’s mental power was extraordinarily strong.

Throughout the journey, not a single magical beast reckless enough to challenge Kent’s group appeared.

Quite the opposite.

Wherever the Dragon Turtle passed, the pressure and aura naturally radiating from its body sent ordinary beasts and magical beasts fleeing in panic.

The Dragon Turtle was heading directly toward Salt City.

Along the way, Kent and Daphne chatted and laughed together, while the Dragon Turtle continued to find every possible opportunity to quarrel with Kent.

Only Big Nose sat nearby wearing an unmistakably sly expression.

With Big Nose’s intelligence, it had naturally guessed at certain possibilities.

Every now and then, it would glance at Kent, then at the Dragon Turtle, its little face filled with anticipation, as though waiting for something interesting to happen.

Salt City was the largest salt-producing region in the entire Underdark.

It was also the most commercially developed area in the subterranean world and the city with the largest human population.

Almost anything imaginable could be bought or sold there.

At the most ordinary end were everyday necessities such as salt. At the other extreme were high-ranking magical beast eggs, rare metals, and precious gemstones.

Taverns, brothels, auction houses, weapons shops, and armor stores could be found everywhere.

Salt City was also the most heavily populated settlement in the Underdark, with a permanent population of nearly six hundred thousand.

Even so, a large portion of the people passing through the city were merchants, adventurers, mercenaries, and other temporary residents.

More importantly, Salt City was the principal human stronghold in the Underdark.

Its laws, customs, and social order were all shaped primarily by human standards.

Salt City also attracted more adventurers than any other city in the region.

The reason was simple.

The two largest auction houses in the entire Underdark were located there.

Officially, those auction houses would sell practically anything except dark elves.

Privately, however, there had long been rumors that both establishments operated secret underground auctions reserved for a select group of wealthy and influential clients.

According to those rumors, even dark elves occasionally appeared among the items offered for sale.

The dark elf race had investigated the matter more than once, but so far they had never managed to obtain solid evidence.

By the time Kent began seeing increasing numbers of adventurers, merchant caravans, and patrols along the road, he had already spent half a month riding on the Dragon Turtle’s back.

Another five days passed before Salt City finally appeared in the distance.

Two volcanoes stood near the city, filling the surrounding region with an unusually bright reddish glow.

Salt City itself was surrounded by massive fortifications.

When Kent first saw the enormous city walls, he almost had the illusion that he had returned to the surface world.

Caravan after caravan streamed out through the city gates.

Wagonloads of coarse salt were being transported toward cities and settlements throughout the Underdark.

The entire area bustled with activity.

Adventurers traveling toward the city were accompanied by all kinds of magical pets—eight-legged lizards, fire rats, nether wolves, earth lizards, and countless other strange beasts.

Yet compared with the Dragon Turtle carrying Kent and his companions, most of them looked rather unimpressive.

After its evolution, the Dragon Turtle’s entire body had changed.

Its scales now resembled polished jade, and even after shrinking, its body remained enormous.

Two horns protruded from its head, giving it an even more imposing appearance.

Most striking of all, however, was the faint but overwhelming aura that constantly seeped from its body.

Many low-ranking magical beasts collapsed to the ground the moment they came close.

Even the Land Turtles used by merchant caravans to carry cargo went weak in the legs and sprawled helplessly on the road.

Land Turtles looked somewhat similar to Dragon Turtles, though their shells and bodies were black.

They were first-rank earth-element magical beasts known for their tremendous carrying capacity and gentle temperaments.

In the Underdark, they were among the most commonly used beasts of burden.

They ate little, worked hard, and could carry enormous loads for long periods of time—exactly the sort of magical beast merchants loved most.

“Halt! Where did you people come from? Don’t you know you’re supposed to put your magical pet away before approaching the city? So you’ve got a gemstone-type magical beast—big deal!”

Kent had been marveling at how Salt City had been constructed when a patrol of soldiers suddenly came toward him and shouted for him to stop.

The city was brilliantly illuminated.

Besides the reddish glow cast by the two distant volcanoes, the roads themselves were lined with lamps. These lamps were fueled by the same heat-storing stone coal commonly used for cooking.

The material was quite remarkable. Once placed inside a volcanic vent, it absorbed the surrounding heat. After being removed, it could continue releasing that stored energy for both illumination and warmth.

In principle, Kent thought, it wasn’t all that different from a rechargeable battery back on Earth.

Except this version was entirely natural—and far more environmentally friendly.

Unfortunately, Kent’s admiration of the city’s infrastructure had distracted him from what was happening around him.

The Dragon Turtle’s lingering pressure had frightened nearly every nearby magical beast into immobility, and the result was a considerable traffic jam.

The patrol leader was a sixth-rank knight mounted on an eight-legged lizard. His mount was no weak creature either—it had already reached the fifth rank.

“Sorry about that. My magical pet only recently advanced, so it still can’t control its aura very well. We’ll move immediately. Right away.”

Only then did Kent notice that the surrounding magical beasts were sprawled helplessly on the ground.

He quickly patted one of the Dragon Turtle’s horns and apologized to the patrol leader.

Kent considered himself a fairly civic-minded person, after all. Causing a traffic jam at the city gates wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.

“Then get moving.”

Seeing Kent’s cooperative attitude, the patrol leader softened somewhat.

“But let me warn you. Magical pets are charged double the normal entry fee. And anyone bringing a magical pet into the city isn’t allowed near the inner district. You’ll have to remain in the outer city.”

He glanced at the Dragon Turtle.

“If I were you, I’d put that big fellow away before going any farther.”

It was meant as a friendly warning.

Salt City’s outer district was notoriously chaotic.

Private fighting was officially forbidden, of course—but in practice, that only meant you weren’t allowed to get caught by the patrols.

There were also plenty of crooked inns and shady establishments in the outer city, and murders committed for treasure were hardly rare.

Gemstone-type magical beasts were mutated variants of earth-element magical beasts and were considered extremely rare.

The patrol leader understood perfectly well how much unwanted attention such a creature could attract.

Still, he only hinted at the danger.

After all, he could hardly stand at the city gate openly insulting the very city in which he lived.

Had he known what Kent would eventually get up to in Salt City, however, he probably would have given the young mage a much more serious warning.

Kent thanked the patrol leader and hurried toward the city.

At the same time, the Dragon Turtle gradually withdrew its aura.

Before long, it looked no more threatening than an ordinary intermediate-rank magical beast, roughly on the same level as many of the creatures traveling nearby.

When Kent reached the gate, however, he was charged two diamond coins for entry.

He couldn’t help cursing Salt City’s administrators under his breath.

With an entrance fee this outrageous, weren’t they practically driving half their visitors away?

Yet Kent had barely ridden the Dragon Turtle through the gate when something else happened behind him.

“Gibby, take this information and report it upstairs. And don’t forget to collect the reward while you’re there. The boys and I are going drinking tonight.”

The squad leader responsible for collecting entrance fees handed a scroll to one of the nearby soldiers and gave him careful instructions.

Recorded on the scroll was a description of Kent and his companions.

“Captain, looks like another fat sheep has walked right into our hands. Let’s see what we’ve got...”

Gibby unrolled the parchment and began reading.

“One human male mage, intermediate rank, under twenty years old...”

He paused.

“One female dark elf...”

Then his eyes widened.

“Boss really deserves to be an intermediate-rank rogue. Nothing gets past those eyes of his... A second-rank magic archer.”

He continued reading.

“One gemstone-type turtle magical beast, estimated to be somewhere above the intermediate ranks... and one earth-type magic mouse.”

Gibby’s expression became increasingly excited.

“Captain, this information has to be worth at least ten diamond coins.”

He licked his lips and gave a meaningful chuckle.

“Especially with that dark elf included... Tsk, tsk.”

As it turned out, the scroll contained a surprisingly detailed description of Kent’s entire group.

Of course, even if Kent had known about it, he probably wouldn’t have cared much.

The Dragon Turtle, on the other hand...

If it ever discovered that someone had mistaken it for a mere gemstone-type magical beast, the consequences would probably be far less peaceful.

Most likely, it would begin with a large-area ninth-rank earth spell—

Earth Spike Assault.

And whoever had made the mistake would probably end up skewered into something resembling minced meat.