Chapter 129

The festival was extravagant.

The elves, who had settled in this land even before Shahav was established, spared no expense in their celebration.

"Once we return to the forest, all of this will become useless anyways. They were all things we needed to keep living on human lands."

The residents of Shahav willingly participated in this unexpected festival.

Shahav was a land that was originally barren. Living in such a place required a necessary attitude of restraint, and so when it was time to give, they did so generously.

The elves' festival for their benefactor soon became a festival for all of Shahav.

-Y'all, Shahav's having a festival.

-That's a random event, LOL

It was mentioned in the community, but didn't receive much attention.

Shahav's festivals were random events that happened at unspecified times.

The hot topic in the community, of course, was Seojin.

-Did AM do this too??

-You mean the map changes?

-A major quest completed recently in northern Valaran

-Really? But how could a single user do that??

-More likely happened in the western outskirts of Valaran. People are saying they've seen elves.

Speculations about various "great" events in the Kingdom of Valaran all being connected to Seojin emerged.

And then, it went one step further.

-I'm from Traum on an expedition. There was a big incident recently, seems related?

-No, it's probably not Traum. It's definitely related to the rebellion in Retvia, 100%

Players began to highlight events that had occurred on a continental scale.

A true display of collective intelligence.

Some even bought paid information from sites to gain attention.

However, the actual content related to Shahav and Seojin were:

-Come on, I said there's a festival in Shahav. Couldn't it be related to Shahav? It was originally right next to the desert!

-No thanks, not buying!!

-If it started in Shahav, it won't just be a festival.

-Did you see the expansion of the hub? Grew five times busier??

-Congrats! I'm not going!

It was merely dismissed as a marketing ploy by an unpopular location. The forest, Salevania, had spread across the entire continent, but few thought that Shahav could be its origin.

And amidst all this.

"So it was you after all."

Seojin faced the leader of the Guardians of the Balance.

Jin looked at him with eyes that seemed to have expected this all along, his eyes brimming with trust.

"It was nothing special."

"Maya told me. You used a precious item… for the spirits."

"Who knows? Those friends might help me in the distant future."

"Was it a future investment?"

"It's not so much an investment, but more of a gesture of goodwill. Whether it returns or not isn't important. However." Seojin smirked. "So far, I've found that the goodwill I extend does come back to me eventually. It's just that I can't determine when and how it will return."

Such words wouldn't be easily spoken in reality. But in a game like Midgard, most acts of goodwill ended up coming back as rewards. After all, rewards based on difficulty were the driving force that kept the game going.

And now, from Jin came another moment of such rewards.

"…You extended goodwill to us without any reason. You just noted that the forest was gone, and expressed desire to restore it. That was how you started this endeavor."

"That's true."

"It was overwhelming goodwill. Most of us were skeptical. As we thought no such human could exist."

"But you were different, Jin."

"In the end, I was no different. I didn't believe in you. I just hoped that, in some way, you could break that mindset fixed within our group."

Even if Seojin had been a charlatan with bad intentions, Jin's goal was to induce some change in the group.

"That was enough. Other elves couldn't even do that. If I had been a malicious adventurer, you, Jin, being a wise elf, would have stopped me."

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me."

"No, I mean it. You would have initiated the change you wanted in the process of stopping me."

Jin started to say something, then laughed with complex emotions. Seojin's words were a plain truth. Jin had welcomed Seojin, but was more wary of him than even Maya. But without rushing to judgment, and patiently observing, he had arrived at this result.

"If it weren't for you, Jin, we wouldn't have come this far."

"That's too much praise." Jin smiled. The adventurer before him was benevolent and humble.

Now it was time to return that goodwill.

"…What's this?" Seojin asked about the item Jin handed him.

It resembled a gourd. A wooden stopper was attached to its spout, and the bottle shimmered in a bluish hue.

"It's wine."

"It doesn't seem like just an ordinary wine though."

"No, it's not. Just one cup will allow a magician to reach great heights, and a swordsman to imbue their sword with energy. Anyone, except those who wield light and dark powers, can achieve similar feats."

"Just one cup, and anyone, you say, does that include blacksmiths?"

"With a hammer filled with this energy, a blacksmith could certainly forge a sharper blade."

That's when Seojin realized the true value of this bottle.

Jin's mention of one cup wasn't metaphorical; just one cup could grant that much power.

And judging by the size of the bottle…

"I'll be able to use it about ten times, and still have some left over."

"Thirteen times, to be exact. This is the cup for it."

A small wooden cup accompanied the genie-like bottle.

It looked ordinary, but somehow just looking at it felt refreshing.

"If poured into another cup, the wine immediately loses its power. It must be poured into and drunk directly from this cup."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"It's an ancient elven treasure. We sometimes felt frustrated for saving it, not using it after all these years, but now I see it was fortunate. It allows me to offer some repayment for our gratitude to you, adventurer."

"I really appreciate it."

Seojin didn't deny the reward. Instead, he genuinely expressed gratitude and stored the bottle and cup in his inventory.

"I'll drink it with thanks, Jin."

[Eternal Wine]

* A fruit wine aged for ten thousand years using elven techniques.

* The user's experience increases significantly. (30,000,000EXP)

[Wooden Cup]

* A rustic-looking drinking cup. It can contain the energy of the Eternal Wine without spilling.

* Breaks after 13 uses.

'…This is incredible for something that didn't even trigger a quest message.'

Thirty million experience points per cup. Considering that a 10 million experience capsule could allow a player to reach level 100, it was truly remarkable.

But this wasn't even an official quest.

'It was just a favor from Legia.'

There were no quest messages, no completion notifications.

'…There must be more hidden things like this, not classified as quests.'

As Seojin concluded his thoughts, Jin caught the atmosphere again.

"Oh, right. There's something else I meant to tell you…"

"Go ahead."

"It's a question I had when I first met you. Do you have a master? Someone who imparted their teachings to you…"

"A master?"

"Not an adventurer. I met this person more than a decade ago."

"No I don't. It's not common for adventurers to have masters. But for you to feel that way…"

"That person was truly remarkable. Perhaps on par with you, but time has passed…"

"That's fine. Something like that doesn't hurt my pride. You're saying that person treated you similarly to how I did?"

"…Yes."

"But the direction they took was different?"

Jin nodded again.

"Yes, different. That person had no interest in the forest, and instead, was obsessed with 'betting.' We constantly lost, too."

"What were the stakes?"

"If we won, that person promised to help find the forest for us. Of course, no one believed that at the time."

The outcome of the bet was clear, considering Seojin was standing before him.

"…I think if we had won back then, we might have regained the forest sooner."

Jin smiled bitterly, and Seojin's eyes twinkled with interest.

"Do you remember where that person went?"

"I don't know. He never talked about himself. All I know is his name."

"What's his name?"

Jin answered in a clear voice, "Raul. He called himself Raul."

* * *

Oldman Shahav, the lord of Shahav, was incredibly busy as of late. The rapid growth of his domain had led to an endless influx of work.

And the cause of it all, Seojin, was sitting before him.

"So, you planned to deceive me from the start? While I totally fell for it."

"Yes. That was my intention from the beginning."

He had been deceived, yet both smiled at each other.

"I'm too old. I think it's time for me to step aside."

"Just hold on a little longer."

"If I had a child, I'd step down without any regrets…"

"Didn't you dedicate everything to this land?"

"You mean I should invest the rest of my life here too?"

"That's what you want, isn't it?"

Oldman Shahav. That's who he was. His life's purpose was the prosperity of Shahav, and now was the moment his lifelong dream was about to come true.

"Will Ironblood leave this place be?"

"They will. I'll make sure of it."

"Their principle is—"

"Applicable only to adventurers. Not to the residents here. What they need to suppress is the adventurers. The resistance of the citizens can be portrayed as a natural phenomenon of this world."

"A natural phenomenon…"

"As you know, adventurers live a different life."

"I've only watched for a year. I'm not that insightful enough to judge all of you."

"The king will take notice now. The link with Ironblood has been completely broken."

"And you did it?"

"Who else would do that but me?"

Oldman couldn't help but laugh. It was true. Aside from this adventurer, no one would dare to even think about doing something like that.

"What can I do to repay you for your deeds? I've been losing sleep over it."

"I don't need anything. I didn't do what I did for that. Just remain as the lord here. Stay, so I can always return to this place."

"That's…"

"You already gave me the oasis concession last time. That's enough."

The oasis concession.

With forests around, the oasis wasn't an oasis anymore. But until a new water could be found, they had to use its water.

"…I'll allocate 20% as yours."

"Thank you. That's more than enough."

"I'll send gold to you on a set date each month."

"I couldn't ask for more."

Seojin grinned, and Oldman smiled faintly, watching him.

"Thank you, sincerely."

"I can feel it."

"Are you leaving?"

"I have to. I'm an adventurer."

"I've never seen anyone more fitting of the adventurer title. I hope your passion never fades, wherever you find yourself."

And then, Oldman added.

"Just out of pure curiosity, can you tell me where you're headed next?"

"That's not hard."

Seojin smirked.

It didn't matter if it became known, and the old man in front of him was Oldman Shahav after all.

"I'm heading to the capital."