Chapter 362

Elder Ognev was once again sulking.

He was the one mainly responsible for the Adventurers’ Guild branch in Kamengrad. No guild head had ever been appointed, since the branch was too small, and so he was effectively an acting guild head for Kamengrad. Kamengrad hosted about two million people, and despite not being as large as Zamorye, it was still an extremely important city, and therefore such a matter — not filling the position of the head — was not going unnoticed. There were many such cities as Kamengrad across the world, though with so much food and resources, it would be weird if cities were less populated than that.

And yet, the elder couldn’t help but think that if they had not made him the guild head yet, they might be thinking about transferring him somewhere else.

But one of the things about Kamengrad was that it was home to the very valuable Stone Golem Dungeon, which carried extremely valuable minerals — but it also had limited access, and every year, one had to create a very specific party for it. Since there were rare traps on top of the incredibly strong stone golems, one would need Trap Masters and incredible warriors to cooperate with each other.

The problem was that there were only two spots left for the Trap Master position, and his son, whom he had tried really hard to raise as a great Trap Master, had started lagging behind. If anybody worth their salt showed up, Elder Ognev would be in a very tough position, and this might very well be the last year that he could take advantage of the Stone Golem Dungeon.

His son, Ruslan, was at Peak Adamantite Rank, so his strength was nothing to scoff at. But he was also an idiot womanizer, incapable of creating long-term connections with whatever woman he started a relationship with. And Elder Ognev was starting to get mad at the fact that, despite such a formidable son, he had still not gotten one grandchild.

And as such, it was almost a miracle when an incredibly beautiful lady appeared in Kamengrad’s Adventurers’ Guild branch.

She entered with another young man, but the moment she entered, Elder Ognev — who was at Early Mithril Rank — could immediately tell that there was something incredible about her. Especially since she went straight to the counter and asked to be evaluated as a Trap Master. She specifically requested to be evaluated as a Mithril Rank Trap Master. His own son Ruslan was not a Mithril Rank Trap Master yet, despite being at Adamantite Rank. And yet, from the power of the girl, Elder Ognev could tell that she was at best around Intermediate Imperium Rank.

Seeing such a match made in heaven, he immediately sent a servant to call up his son, who probably had to be woken up after another drunken night around the city’s brothels.

That lady looks exactly like what Ruslan needs, and I need some grandchildren, Elder Ognev thought to himself, delighted.

Then he looked at the young man by her side. He looked extremely ordinary. Ognev sighed.

Well, sorry, young man, but unless you’re her brother, you have to go.

Elder Ognev went up to the counter and said, “So I hear that you are here for the Mithril Rank Trap Master spot?”

“Yes,” the girl replied with a beaming smile. “I’m sorry, may I ask who you are?”

“Oh, I am Elder Ognev. Uh, but you can call me Grandpa Ognev, if you wish. I am just the acting guild head here. Um, I will personally oversee your test, since we don’t have any other Mithril Rank here at the moment.”

“Uh, of course,” the girl replied, and Elder Ognev felt his heart jump — until it was brought down by her saying, “Oh, by the way, my friend here, uh, John Cabbage, is trying to get the same certification. Could we take the same test, perhaps?”

Elder Ognev looked with a disgusted face at the young man, thinking, What the hell of a name is John Cabbage?

“Um, uh, of course. But you will each have to work on three different traps for the certification.”

“Of course,” the young girl says.

“And may I ask your name?” Elder Ognev asks her.

“I am Talia Carrot.”

Elder Ognev looks at this Talia and says, “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Oh, of course. It’s a bit of, um, an uncommon name. I am Talia Carrot. T-A-L-I-A, C-A—”

“You don’t need to spell it for me. I, I got it,” Elder Ognev says, scratching his head and thinking, Whatever. She’ll take my son’s last name once they marry. It won’t matter that she has such a ridiculous last name. But why do they both have vegetable last names? Do they come from some sort of cult that worships a god of vegetables?

A source note for readers: this copy was taken without permission, while the site the author publishes on carries the published chapter.

It was the first time that Elder Ognev had heard something so preposterous.

“Uh, wait a moment. And please, have some drink and food on us. We have a wonderful cook working in the guild, and of course, once you become a member, Miss, with your certification, you can eat here for free, whatever you’d like.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! So we,” Talia underscored the “we” part, “could eat for free whenever, after we get certified as Trap Masters?”

The man looks again at John Cabbage and says, “Indeed,” with a gloomy voice, and then goes to talk to the clerk.

While John Cabbage and Talia Carrot eat, Ruslan, his son, is finally dragged inside the guild by two servants. Before he can ask why he was summoned at such an early hour in the morning, Elder Ognev shoves a stamina potion and a health potion in his mouth and says, “Drink.”

Ruslan is confused as to why his father is suddenly acting like this. Elder Ognev is usually a very composed person and rarely lets anything affect him. Plus, he is also one of the most influential people in Kamengrad, making him even more unaffected by worldly matters. And yet now he’s shoving potions inside his mouth without any explanation.

“Where were you yesterday night? Were you still at the brothel?”

Ruslan rubs his face. He’s a man now, and above thirty-five. His father shouldn’t butt into his matters like this. Usually, Elder Ognev doesn’t. But today he seems like a man possessed, and Ruslan cannot understand why.

“Why, Father, do you ask?” There is a displeased expression on Ruslan’s face. He would just like to be left alone.

“You gotta start taking some responsibility in your life, Ruslan. I can’t keep hand-feeding you everything. You have such an incredible talent, but you’re a dissolute man, and you need to start walking on the straight and narrow.”

Ruslan doesn’t know what has gotten into his father now. It’s not like he hasn’t heard these speeches before. But why? Why now? And why did he have to be dragged out of bed for this? He’s about to say that he is going back to sleep — since he had come back just an hour prior from a long night of debauchery — when Elder Ognev grabs him by his robe and secretly points at the girl that has come to take the Trap Master exam.

“Do you see that girl?”

Ruslan looks at her, and at her beautiful youth. And suddenly he feels more awake.

“Wow, she’s extremely beautiful.”

“Yes,” Elder Ognev says with a big smile on his face. “That’s why I called you here. She came to take the Mithril Rank Trap Master test.”

“Mithril Rank? What Rank is she?” Ruslan looks stunned. How could such a young person be so powerful?

“Ah, she’s probably not that good. She’s probably just around Adamantite Rank when it comes to traps. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll rig her test so that it will be the easiest Mithril traps, and she can get the token. But now the most important thing is… Hmm. I want you to start familiarizing yourself with her, and I’ll put her on the expedition to the Stone Golem Dungeon with you. I want you to make a move on her there. All right? I want a grandchild, Ruslan.”

Ruslan frowns, then says, “Of course, Father. I shall take her by any means possible. She’ll fall at my feet before the Dungeon, even. Don’t worry, my charms and my riches have never failed me so far.”

“Yes. Let me go introduce you as my son. That will certainly carry some sway with her.”

“But who’s the guy with her?”

“Ignore him. It’s some young man. They might be some couple from the countryside. We’ll just get rid of him. Don’t worry. He’s here for the test as well.”

Ruslan looks displeased as he stares at the man. “What’s his name?”

“You’ll want to hear this. His name is John Cabbage.”

“What?” Ruslan snorts. “John Cabbage? What a ridiculous name. Wait, what’s her name?”

“That’s Talia Carrot.”

“Carrot?” Ruslan looks like he just got whiplashed.

“It doesn’t matter. She’ll take your name anyway. Now, let’s go.”

They approach the table, and they see that the two have ordered quite a feast and are eating ravenously.

Yeah, they’re definitely peasants, Elder Ognev thinks while looking at them, and then says, “Hello, hello. May I bother you for a moment?”

“Elder Ognev,” Talia Carrot replies. “Uh, what a pleasure. Uh, how can we help?”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry. I just wanted to tell you that the test has indeed been arranged, and that we are ready to go whenever you want. I will be overseeing it personally, as I told you.”

“Oh, that’s great.”

“And please, call me Grandpa.” Elder Ognev smiles at the girl.

“Well, Elder Ognev, I— I’m not sure about that.” The girl looks shy, and Elder Ognev waves away her reluctance to be favored.

“Is my test ready as well?” John Cabbage asks, confused.

“Yes,” Elder Ognev replies, with some disgust in his voice.

“All right. Who’s the guy behind you? Hi.” John Cabbage waves at the man, who just looks him up and down.

“Um, hi,” Ruslan says, walking to his father’s side and smiling at Talia Carrot. “I heard that you want to take the Trap Master test. Well, I’m sure you’ll be in good hands. My father here is one of the best Trap Masters in the entire world.”

“Oh,” Talia says, raising an eyebrow. “Really? That’s wonderful.”

Meanwhile, Ruslan snickers at how John Cabbage is looking quite confused as to why he hasn’t responded to him. But that’s just a little power game that—

“Hey! I said hi. Are you deaf?”

Both Elder Ognev and Ruslan are shocked by the vulgar response of John Cabbage, who clearly has not understood what kind of situation he is in. But Ruslan knows that it’s just a matter of time before this beautiful girl falls into his lap. So he just waves briefly at John Cabbage.

“Hi to you. Sorry, I couldn’t really see you there.”

“Oh, you have eye problems?”

Eye problems? Ruslan thinks, indignant. What is this guy talking about? Is he stupid? Does he not understand I’m mocking him? I’m saying that he’s so insignificant that I can’t even see him.

“He probably has eye problems. You know, it’s not that uncommon in Zamorye,” Talia Carrot nods apologetically. “But it’s not great manners to mention it, John. So please apologize.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had eye problems. Um, I hope it will get better. I’m sure they have a bunch of resources around here to cure your problems.”

Ruslan looks at John Cabbage, thinking that if it wasn’t against the law, he would be ripping the young man’s head off his shoulders at this very moment.

“Well, we have wasted enough time in chitchat. Why don’t you two finish eating and then reach us? Ask the clerk. He will bring you to the trapping room.”

“All right,” Talia says. “I can’t wait.”