Chapter 393 – Finally, I Can Rest!

The branch of the Mercenary Association on the 75th floor of the tower.

*Slam!*

“Puhuhut. Give me the bounty, meow!”

Theo, who had retrieved the 1.3 trillion Tower Coins that Uren was scammed of and the land deed for the 75th floor of the tower, entered the Mercenary Association, pushing the door forcefully.

“Woohehehe.”

Behind such Theo, Uren, holding the rope that bound Baka, whose eyes were bruised blue, entered with a relieved expression.

“No. What kind of guy… Huh?!”

“Who dares to make a scene at the Mercenary Association… Huh?!”

The mercenaries, who were jumping up while drawing their weapons to punish the hoodlum who dared to open the door of the Mercenary Association roughly, quietly sat back down in their places.

The mercenaries did not even lock eyes with Theo and his party, as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have.

‘Wow. Did I almost die just now?’

‘She didn’t see me frowning, right?’

It was not because of Theo.

“Kkyut-kkyut-kkyut.”

It was because of Iona, who had wrapped her body around Theo’s tail and was smiling pleasantly.

Iona, the Mage of Great Destruction.

She was one of the beings that one must be aware of if they lived a mercenary life.

Although she was the tower master of the Black Parkae Magic Tower and the president of the Mage Association, as well as a major client of the Mercenary Association,

it was because too many mercenaries had vanished after attacking her, looking only at Iona’s cute appearance.

Although recognizing Iona like that was a very fortunate thing for the mercenaries,

it was a shame, meow!

It was a pity. They should have stamped the print…

it was a matter of great regret for Theo and Ppiyot-i, who had lost the opportunity to make a slave.

As soon as the spicy fish soup was completed, he called Ramter immediately. Because there was no space, it had to be cleared away quickly.

“Here is the bounty for Baka, the Client Killer. Combining the Mercenary Association bounty of 15 million Tower Coins with the bounties placed by other clients, it is a total of 103 million Tower Coins.”

The branch manager of the Mercenary Association, who had heard the news that Iona had arrived, came out in person and calculated the bounty for them.

“Puhuhut. Thank you, meow!”

Theo, who handed over Baka and collected the bounty like that,

“Puhuhut. Then, now we go to the Lizard King, meow!”

Theo, Iona, Ppiyot-i, and Uren moved to the 69th floor of the tower, where the Lizard King was, to obtain the land deed for the 68th floor of the tower that Se-jun had requested.

***

The 99th floor of the Golden Tower.

[The cherry tomato eating competition begins.]

Along with the message announcing the start of the competition, a basket full of cherry tomatoes appeared in front of each elf participating in the competition.

And—

“Oh! What is this?!”

“Are these really cherry tomatoes?!”

The elves who ate the cherry tomatoes were astonished.

“This is the food for the eating competition, not a prize?!”

Cecilia was also astonished, in a different sense from the other elves. It was because everything contained in the basket was Cherry Tomatoes of Mana.

‘Then what do they give as a prize?!’

She would definitely win first place!

Cecilia, who had participated to obtain the Cherry Tomatoes of Mana, burned with fighting spirit.

But—

“Ah! I fell asleep!”

Cecilia’s capacity was 5 cherry tomatoes. Even among the elves who ate little, she was on the particularly light-eating side.

Because food was scarce, it was usually a condition advantageous for survival, but

“Ugh… I want to eat more…”

today of all days, she found it extremely regrettable.

[Cherry Tomato Eating Competition Ranking]

1st Place – Botny (30)

2nd Place – Erajin (29)

…

..

.

1920th Place – Cecilia (5)

In the end, Cecilia took last place, and

“Huh?! The cherry tomatoes are white?!”

“Wow! This is really delicious, and mana also increases by 10!”

she could only watch the elves who took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place eat the Elixir: Cherry Tomato Containing Mighty Mana.

To be so stingy and not give her even one!

Cecilia resented her disloyal companions and prepared for the next competition.

“Surely the 3rd competition will be a tomato wine drinking competition, right?”

Here comes the heavy drinker, Cecilia-nim!

Cecilia ate foods good for the liver and prepared for the 3rd competition of the harvest festival.

***

The 99th floor of the Black Tower.

“Guys, fill it with water! Ice Cube!”

Cuengi!

“Yeah! Hyung! Water Ball!”

*Kkwoooong!*

*Mooo!*

At Se-jun’s instruction, Cuengi, Ajax, Pink Fur, and the Black Minotaurs began to pour water into a giant stone pot made of stone.

Ajax did so with magic, and the rest filled the pot by drawing water from the pond and the fountain.

At first, because the pot was so large, it did not show much, like pouring water into a bottomless bucket, but as time passed, the water was filled gradually.

Once the water was filled like that, Se-jun put the spicy fish soup ingredients inside the stone pot, and

*Snap.*

snapped his fingers to create a giant flame, and then threw the flame into the furnace where firewood was piled.

Then,

*Whoosh.*

the firewood burned, and flames rose.

However, because Se-jun had put ice in the pot to fill it with water, the water temperature was low, so it did not boil quickly.

“Cuengi, Cuengi Breath!”

Cuengi! Cuengi!

[Understood! Cuengi Breath going!]

*Kkwooooong!*

At Se-jun’s request, Cuengi blew strong wind into the furnace with Cuengi Breath.

Then,

*Roar.*

in an instant, the flames became several times stronger than just a moment ago.

Thanks to that, the 1 million portion spicy fish soup contained in the giant stone pot made of stone began to boil quickly.

Huhut. As expected, cooking is all about firepower.

Se-jun seasoned the boiling spicy fish soup like that, and

‘Okay. It’s done. Ajax, go call Lord Ramter!’

“Yeah! Hyung!”

As soon as the spicy fish soup was completed, he called Ramter immediately. Because there was no space, it had to be cleared away quickly.

“Good job. Our Se-jun is going through a lot of trouble. Refresh.”

Ramter, who took the spicy fish soup along with the stone pot, cast a recovery magic on Se-jun and the rest of the party and returned.

When Ramter left,

“Earth Raise!”

Se-jun made a giant stone pot over the furnace again with a skill.

And—

“Guys, pour!”

they started filling water again.

Huhut. Just 9 more times and it is over.

While making the 1 million portion spicy fish soup for the 6th time like that,

“Everyone, even if it’s hard, let’s hang in there just a bit!”

Se-jun cheered Ajax, Cuengi, Pink Fur, and the Black Minotaurs, sucking on a blue mugwort juice potion that restored mana.

With a face that looked like he was about to die of exhaustion.

However, the companions had expressions that did not empathize with Se-jun’s words at all.

It’s not hard at all?

The rest of the companions were completely fine. It was all too redundant, but Se-jun was still too weak to worry about someone here.

*Whimper!*

Hey! He told him not to overdo it. He had to make his food later!

To the extent of being worried over by the sunfish Fenrir.

“Whew. I’ll rest for just a moment.”

In the end, Se-jun had a rest time alone.

“I’m so tired. I should at least drink some coffee.”

When Se-jun was grinding coffee beans to try to hold out with the power of caffeine,

[The soul is enriched by the immense praise of the elves of the Golden Tower.]

[Mental Power increases by 30.]

a message stating that his power had risen appeared.

“Golden Tower elves? Did Aileen sell them?”

Since he had no link with the Golden Tower, Se-jun brewed coffee, thinking that the crops Aileen sold had been delivered to the elves of the Golden Tower.

Still, thanks to his mental power rising greatly and his fatigue disappearing a lot,

“Ah. This is good.”

Se-jun could drink coffee pleasantly and go back to make the spicy fish soup.

***

The 69th floor of the Black Tower.

“Is this where the Lizard King is, meow?”

Theo, who entered the boundary of the Draken Great Farm, a giant farm where many lizardmen were working, asked Ppiyot-i.

Ppiyot!

[Yes!]

At that moment,

“Aren’t you Lord Theo Park, the golden cat, subordinate of the great Black Dragon?”

Tamuro, the Lizardman Great Warrior who was defending the Draken Great Farm, spotted Theo and hurriedly greeted him.

Theo and Tamuro had known each other in the past when locusts appeared on the 67th floor of the tower.

Back then, Theo was a novice traveling merchant… but now he was traveling with Iona, the Mage of Great Destruction, and Great Merchant Uren.

Theo had truly made it big.

“Puhuhut. Nice to meet you, Tamuro, meow! But to be precise, it’s Lord Theo Park, the golden cat with the deadly dragon claws, subordinate of the great Black Dragon, meow!”

Theo kindly explained himself again to Tamuro.

“Ah. Yes. I see. But what brings you here?”

Tamuro carefully asked about Theo’s business.

As a Great Warrior, Tamuro occupied a major position in the Lizard Kingdom, so he was well-informed about the tower’s information.

And in that information, there was also something about Theo, the Slave King.

In the past, he was a naive, unscrupulous merchant, but now he was a ruthless Slave King.

He had evolved into a person of interest who must be multiple times more careful around.

That was why Tamuro hurriedly stepped forward to prevent his subordinates from becoming Theo’s slaves.

“I came to buy the land deed for the 68th floor of the tower from the Lizard King, meow!”

“The land deed for the 68th floor of the tower?!”

“That’s right, meow! How much is it, meow?!”

It was a preemptive strike, meow! That way, he could bargain it down three times, meow!

Theo was excited at the thought of using the triple bargain for the first time in a while.

But—

“Um… Lord Theo Park, I am truly sorry. If the Lizard King had the land deed for the 68th floor of the tower, he would have just given it to Lord Theo Park. But… the land deed for the 68th floor of the tower is in Dino, the capital of the Lizard Kingdom on the 70th floor of the tower, so we cannot give it to you.”

“Meow?! What does that mean, meow?! Then can’t we just go to the 70th floor of the tower and get it, meow?”

“That is…”

The Lizard Kingdom originally ruled from the 70th floor to the 65th floor of the tower.

However, by exterminating the locusts on the 67th floor of the tower, their national strength declined greatly. They tried to recover their declined national strength afterwards, but

as misfortunes never come singly, Se-jun vanished to the 77th floor of the tower, and the Black Minotaurs moved south to search for Se-jun.

In the aftermath, a large crowd of monsters from the upper floors invaded the 70th floor of the tower, putting the kingdom in danger, and

the Lizard King sealed Dino, which had been the capital of the Lizard Kingdom for hundreds of years, and evacuated to the 69th floor of the tower to prevent major damage.

Afterwards, when the southward movement of monsters stopped, the Lizard King moved his troops and went to reclaim the capital Dino, but

a giant bird clad in extreme flames, a Phoenix, had already built a nest there. They had no choice but to return miserably to the 69th floor of the tower.

“Puhuhut. So if we just clear the bird, we can get the land deed, meow?”

Theo, who finished listening to Tamuro’s words, asked.

“Yes?! It’s not just a bird, it’s a Phoe—”

“Puhuhut. Understood, meow! Then the treasure inside is fifty-fifty, meow! Stamp the print quickly, meow!”

Cutting off Tamuro’s words, Theo thrust forward a contract.

“Just a moment. Then, I will go get the Lizard King’s permission.”

“Understood, meow!”

Anyway, if not then, there was no way to reclaim the capital!

Tamuro, thinking that there was nothing to lose, hurriedly ran to the barracks in the center of the Draken Great Farm with the contract.

A moment later.

“Lord Theo, please make sure to reclaim Dino, the capital of our Lizard Kingdom!”

Tamuro came back with the contract stamped with the Lizard King’s handprint.

“Puhuhut. Don’t worry, meow!”

Theo, who received the contract, climbed the tower with his party.

However, Theo passed the 70th floor of the tower right above and kept moving.

“Kkyut-kkyut-kkyut. Lord Theo, you passed it.”

“Puhuhut. No, meow! I will go to Chairman Park first, meow!”

“Kkyut-kkyut-kkyut. Why Se-jun-nim?”

“Puhuhut. I will go together with Chairman Park, meow! Chairman Park can go to the 70th floor of the tower, meow!”

He would go to the 70th floor of the tower with Chairman Park, defeat the bird, and hand over the Lizard Kingdom’s treasure and the land deed for the 68th floor of the tower to Chairman Park, meow!

They would move to the 68th floor of the tower and find the power of destruction with Chairman Park, meow!

Lastly, he would go to the 75th floor of the tower with Chairman Park, take the Great Merchant promotion test, and become a Great Merchant while receiving Chairman Park’s congratulations, meow!

Theo was planning the travel itinerary with Se-jun in his head.

“Kkyut-kkyut-kkyut. That would be fun!”

“Puhuhut. Yes, meow! It will be fun, meow!”

While Theo was moving to the 99th floor of the tower, thinking of the trip with Se-jun like that,

“It’s finished!”

Se-jun handed over the 10th spicy fish soup to Ramter and was shouting hurrah.

Finally, he could rest!