Chapter 166

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Screech!

A large transport vehicle ground to a halt amid a violent noise. Those riding inside the transport vehicle got out while grumbling.

“Fuck! Again?”

“Goddamn it! What’s the point of riding in a car if it breaks down before getting anywhere?”

As the large transport vehicle stopped because of a breakdown, the other vehicles came to a halt one after another. At that moment, a short, stocky middle-aged man climbed down from the vehicle behind it.

“What now? It stopped again?”

“Yes. It looks like the gear has corroded.”

“Fuck! This damn sand. Even after magical treatment, it still wrecks everything. Just how many times has this happened now?”

The squat middle-aged man spat on the ground and cursed. In a way, he looked almost comical. His height only reached an adult man’s chest, yet his shoulders were much broader than any adult man’s, making one think of a gorilla. Even so, no one laughed at him.

That was because he was not an ordinary man, but a dwarf.

A dwarf, rare even in the North District where many different races gathered, was the true identity of the squat middle-aged man.

At that moment, Lee Ji-ryeong appeared, pushing through the people.

He spoke to the dwarf.

“Has another vehicle broken down?”

“Yeah. Looks like the gears are shot and need replacing.”

“How long?”

“Not today. It’s bad enough that it needs a full replacement.”

“Can’t be helped. We’ll rest here today, so while we do that, repair the broken vehicles.”

“Dammit! Everyone else gets to rest while I have to work alone?”

“Anyone listening would think you’d be working alone, Jeloei. If the whole base team is mobilized, two hours is enough, isn’t it? I’ll leave enough food and alcohol for the base team, so work hard.”

“Tch! Fine.”

Jeloei answered while pulling tools out of his work apron.

They were far too large to have fit in the apron pocket in the first place.

At the sight of the massive tools appearing in defiance of physical law, the Awakened participating as mercenaries widened their eyes.

“What the hell? How did that come out of an apron…”

“Could it be the apron is enchanted with subspace?”

Just as they guessed, Jeloei’s work apron had been enchanted with a subspace where tools could be stored.

Thanks to that, he could walk around carrying every tool needed for repairs inside the apron.

Lee Ji-ryeong gave an order to the Pegasus Raid Force.

“We’ll rest here today. Set up the watch and prepare the meal.”

“Yes, sir!”

With that answer, the Pegasus Raid Force began moving in perfect order.

The Awakened responsible for watch duty went to their places, and food that had been prepared in advance was brought out from the transport vehicles.

The food the Pegasus Raid Force had prepared was preserved rations that needed no cooking.

It was perfectly prepared so that, like a lunchbox, it could be eaten just by opening the lid.

Thanks to that, people were able to sit down and eat comfortably.

Zeon’s group also gathered in front of the buggy and had their meal.

Levin and Mandy chatted while eating their boxed meal.

“This is pretty good. So dungeon raid forces always get to eat stuff this tasty.”

“Only a raid force on Pegasus’s level can prepare food like this. Small-scale raid forces couldn’t even dream of it. Most of them eat awful canned preserves.”

“Cans?”

“It’s the easiest way to store food.”

“Then do those Pathfinder teams operating out of Neo Seoul all eat canned food too?”

“Of course. That’s why once they come back from the desert, they don’t even want to look at canned food for a while.”

“I can see why.”

Levin nodded.

For Levin, who was participating in a raid force for the first time, even this kind of trivial information was precious.

Then suddenly Brielle asked Zeon, “But is it really okay for this many people to be gathered together?”

“What do you mean?”

“Wouldn’t the damage be huge if a demonic beast like a sandworm attacked?”

“This isn’t the kind of terrain sandworms like. The sand grains here are coarse and compact.”

“Sandworms care about the sand too? No, wait, are there different kinds of sand? Isn’t all sand the same?”

“It all changes depending on the terrain. Some places have fine grains, some places are rough. Sandworms prefer fine sand. Digging through it is easier than through hard, coarse sand.”

“I see.”

Brielle’s eyes lit up.

Learning new knowledge always delighted her.

Then her expression suddenly crumpled.

Her already unfocused eyes began trembling wildly.

“Again?”

Brielle hurriedly searched through her clothes and pulled out a medicine bottle.

But her hands shook so badly she could not properly open the lid.

“That little runt, honestly…”

With a bitter smile, Mandy opened the medicine bottle for her.

The moment the medicine was handed over, Brielle hurriedly shoved it into her mouth.

“Haah! Haah!”

Brielle collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily.

Watching over her with a bitter smile, Levin muttered, “Why do they even make drugs? I really can’t understand humans as a species at all.”

At that moment, a rough voice cut in.

“Then what about dwarves?”

The owner of the voice was none other than Jeloei.

He had come close, holding a beer bottle in his hand.

“Jeloei, was it? Supervisor miss.”

“Have you finished fixing the vehicles?”

“Heh heh! Is that even work?”

Drinking his beer, Jeloei sat down in front of Zeon.

“So you’re the famous sand mage Zeon, right?”

“Do you need something from me?”

“Not really. I just came to see your face. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a class called sand mage. Want a drink?”

Jeloei abruptly thrust a beer bottle toward Zeon.

Zeon shook his head slightly and answered, “I don’t drink.”

“You don’t drink something this good? It’s not quite as flavorful as the kind made from real barley, but it’s still pretty close.”

“I guess you really do like alcohol.”

“Heh heh! For a race of laborers like us, work liquor is essential.”

“I suppose that could be true.”

“By the way, the fact that you didn’t look surprised to see me means you’ve seen our race before, right?”

“A few times.”

“Where?”

“Not around here.”

At Zeon’s vague reply, Jeloei frowned.

“What, is it that hard to tell me where you saw them?”

“It isn’t exactly something I remember fondly.”

“So you don’t like our race, then?”

Jeloei’s face hardened.

He knew there were many people in Neo Seoul who didn’t like other races like dwarves and elves, but this was the first time he had met someone who showed it so openly to his face.

“I’ve taken quite a few blows to the back of the head from dwarves.”

Zeon shrugged.

What he said was true.

The dwarves he had met in the desert had all been selfish and had all tried to fleece him however they could.

Because of those memories, Zeon did not particularly like dwarves.

“Ahem! Then let me apologize in their stead. Still, please understand that the world is harsh. They probably had no choice if they wanted to survive.”

“It’s a world where no one has an easy time surviving. Not just dwarves…”

Unable to regain the upper hand, Jeloei’s face flushed red.

“No matter what, today doesn’t seem like a good atmosphere for talking. Let’s talk again another time.”

Jeloei stood up without waiting for Zeon’s response.

He was leaving without having gained anything.

Zeon did not even spare Jeloei another glance.

To begin with, he was not someone Zeon was interested in.

And as he had just said, he did not trust the race called dwarves itself.

Despite their bold-looking exterior, they were narrow-minded and underhanded inside.

Brielle let out a short laugh.

“You really do dislike them.”

***

“Ugh! Ptoo!”

The Awakened who opened their eyes in the morning all got up cursing the sand.

That was because sandstorms had blown through while they slept and buried them.

If it had only buried them in sand, perhaps they would have said nothing.

But it had also entered their breathing passages and tormented them.

By contrast, nothing like that had happened to Zeon’s group.

That was because Zeon had used his control to prevent sand from piling onto them.

Thanks to that, the three had welcomed the morning in perfect comfort.

“I slept well.”

“This is the first time I’ve ever slept this comfortably in the desert.”

They hurriedly cleaned up and got ready.

There was no time for a proper breakfast.

They had to solve that in the vehicle with simple provisions.

The moment the four got into the buggy, the vehicles began moving again.

The march had resumed.

In the vehicle at the front rode Lee Ji-ryeong and Jeloei.

Instead of Keldara, Jeloei had boarded, and his face was twisted with irritation for some reason.

Lee Ji-ryeong said with a faint smile, “Looks like what you went to do didn’t work out too well.”

“Arrogant bastard.”

“He has the right to be arrogant. That’s how strong he is.”

“Damn bastard! If he weren’t a sand mage, I’d have broken his back in half.”

“Do hold back. We absolutely need him for this raid.”

“I’m only enduring it because you said so, Captain.”

“Heh heh!”

Lee Ji-ryeong smiled.

Jeloei had a childlike side to him.

He was that honest about his own emotions, and everything he felt showed through in his way of speaking.

That made him easy to handle.

And he had that much ability too.

Lee Ji-ryeong had not put Jeloei in charge of the base team for nothing.

“By the way, did they say the dungeon is around three hundred kilometers from here?”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t this the first time we’ve gone after a dungeon that far away?”

“That’s right.”

“Whew! I’m nervous. It really feels like we’re heading straight into the jaws of a demonic beast. I wonder what kind of demonic beast is waiting for us this time.”

“After raiding that many dungeons, you still get nervous? That’s not very dwarf-like.”

“What, you think dwarves don’t know fear? Maybe the dwarves who stayed in Kurayan were like that, but I was born and raised here.”

“Then you probably know almost nothing about Kurayan.”

“That’s right. My father talks about how this or that was back home, but to me it’s all just stories from another country. My homeland is here.”

“Our homeland, you mean.”

“Yeah! Our homeland. And yet for him to shut us out just because we’re dwarves…”

Thinking about it again only made Jeloei grind his teeth.

“Are you sure he’s really a sand mage?”

“Absolutely. I confirmed it with my own eyes.”

“Dammit! Why would the gods give such a precious ability to a bastard like that?”

“Was the sand mage rare even in Kurayan?”

“If someone like that had existed, my father would’ve told me. As far as I know, a sand mage has never once appeared in Kurayan.”

Lee Ji-ryeong frowned.

‘Every Awakened ability that has appeared on Earth existed in Kurayan. There are no exceptions here.’

It wasn’t just his own guess.

It was the conclusion City Hall had reached after long research.

The accepted theory was that any Awakened ability that had not existed in Kurayan could not exist on Earth either.

And yet for the first time, someone had appeared who ran contrary to that theory.

That person was Zeon.

‘Is he the product of chance? Or an impurity that exists outside the laws of this world?’

At that moment, a voice broke through Lee Ji-ryeong’s train of thought.

“Demonic beasts. Demonic beasts have appeared ahead.”

In the direction the convoy was heading, a giant dust cloud was rising.