The Scorched Desert's Sand Mage (Novel) - Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Zeon was sitting on a street in the slum. There was no particular reason. He simply felt like doing so.
Crouched in front of the steps of some building and blankly watching the people passing by, he received no attention from anyone.
Thanks to that, Zeon was able to enjoy a bit of leisure for the first time in a long while.
The blazing sunlight and even the stale air all felt good.
Just as Zeon was fully enjoying that midday peace, a noisy commotion shattered it.
“Hurry up!”
“We have to process it before the corpse rots.”
“Move. Move. You beggar bastards.”
Several dozen Awakened were coming in from the main road leading to Neo Seoul.
As if they had just fought a fierce battle, they were all in tatters, covered in sand and demonic beast fluids.
What caught Zeon’s eye was the large truck they were dragging along.
The truck bed carried the corpse of a gigantic demonic beast.
“A Crown Bear? That’s not something you see often.”
The Crown Bear was a huge demonic beast with crown-shaped horns growing from its head.
Like a bear, it could move both on four legs and on two, and it even knew how to use its forepaws like a person’s hands, making it extremely difficult to deal with.
The hide of an adult Crown Bear was so tough that ordinary weapons could not leave even a scratch on it, and it also possessed strong resistance to magic.
Because of that, ordinary Awakened were no match for a Crown Bear.
To hunt one, a party or assault team with a proper balance of martial-type Awakened and magic-type Awakened was required.
It was worth going to that much trouble.
An adult Crown Bear was, in itself, a tremendous treasure.
Its gallbladder, often called bear’s gall, increased mana, and its internal organs were important ingredients for various potions.
Even its flesh and bones served as materials for Alchemy, so hunting just one could earn an enormous amount of money.
What mattered was time.
A Crown Bear corpse decayed incredibly quickly, so it had to be handled in a hurry.
That was why the people who had hunted the Crown Bear were rushing so frantically.
“Move, you ragged beggar bastards.”
Shouting loudly, they ran like mad toward Neo Seoul.
The people walking on the street moved aside on their own.
That was because they knew no one would care if they were run over by the truck while walking.
To those Awakened, the people of the slum were worth less than the stones by the roadside.
At least stones could be used to build buildings, whereas slum people had no use even if brought in.
Like a desert sandstorm, the Awakened who had hunted the Crown Bears vanished into Neo Seoul in an instant, leaving the street in chaos.
“How much would a Crown Bear fetch, I wonder?”
“Do you happen to have one hidden somewhere?”
At that moment, someone’s voice came from one side of the street.
When Zeon turned his head, he saw a man whose appearance did not fit the slum.
The man, neatly dressed in a fine suit with carefully combed-back hair, was Tajik.
Without showing the slightest surprise, Zeon answered, “I just meant it would be nice if I did. But what brings you to a filthy place like this?”
“I came to see you.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Zeon blinked as though he truly did not know the reason.
Tajik found that act detestable.
But forcing down the anger boiling inside him, he continued as though calm.
“Because of the Inazuma assault team.”
“Ah, the Inazuma assault team. They seemed very capable, so it’s unfortunate things turned out that way.”
“Unfortunate, you say?”
“If I’d had just a little more ability, maybe we could have all come back out together. I’m sorry.”
At Zeon’s shamelessly smooth answer, the skin around Tajik’s eyes trembled.
What had happened had happened inside a dungeon.
No one but those involved could know what had taken place inside.
Once a dungeon vanished, it disappeared completely from the world.
It left behind no evidence that it had ever existed.
That meant Tajik had no way of knowing exactly what had happened inside the dungeon.
‘Kouji is fiercely competitive. And he never disobeys my orders. He definitely picked a fight with him.’
Tajik had ordered the Inazuma assault team to assess Zeon’s level.
The most accurate way to judge someone’s level was to fight them directly.
So Kouji and the Inazuma assault team must have fought Zeon.
The problem was that the Inazuma assault team had failed to come out of the dungeon, while Zeon alone had survived.
“So what you’re saying is that the Inazuma assault team fell behind and failed to escape the dungeon in time?”
“A sad thing.”
Zeon answered calmly without the slightest change in expression.
Tajik tried to read the truth by watching Zeon’s microexpressions, but it was useless.
‘This bastard…’
For a moment, killing intent surged up.
He suppressed it as if it had never appeared, but he still failed to avoid Zeon’s eyes.
Instead, he had let Zeon glimpse his true intentions.
Unaware of that, Tajik continued, “So to summarize: the Inazuma assault team failed to escape and was destroyed along with the dungeon. That’s what you’re saying.”
“Yes.”
“It’s hard to believe so easily.”
“Which part?”
“The Inazuma assault team wasn’t made up of idiots who’d fail to escape from a collapsing dungeon.”
“Really? Then I suppose they just had bad luck. The dungeon must have collapsed too suddenly.”
“Haa…”
Without realizing it, Tajik let out a sigh.
That was because he could not find even a single opening in Zeon’s words.
He had failed to grasp Zeon’s level and had only lost the Inazuma assault team for nothing.
‘Should I just be honest and try to recruit him?’
He needed someone to replace the Crocodiles.
Based on what he had gathered so far, Zeon seemed perfect for the role.
But after talking with him now, Tajik changed his mind.
‘No. He’s not the kind of man who’ll listen to anyone. Just looking at how he handled the Inazuma assault team, it’s obvious how meticulous he is and what a rebellious streak he has. He’s not someone who’d serve under another, and even less someone who’d obey orders.’
Having settled his thoughts, Tajik wore a cold smile.
“Thank you for your time.”
“Anything else you need?”
“No.”
“Understood.”
“Then I’ll see you again next time. Well then…”
Tajik dipped his head slightly and disappeared.
Watching the direction Tajik went, Zeon muttered, “Looks like this won’t pass quietly after all.”
Zeon knew men like Tajik very well.
Men with eyes full of ambition and self-confidence could not tolerate even a single failure.
That was because they saw failure as directly tied to their pride.
By now, Tajik no longer had any thought of using Zeon.
What remained was only the obsession that he had to restore his pride.
“If I just leave him alone, it’ll only keep getting more troublesome, won’t it?”
Zeon let out a faint sigh.
***
A colossal wall that overwhelmed one just by looking at it.
This wall was the barrier separating Neo Seoul from the slum.
Fifty meters high and more than five meters thick, the massive wall was plastered with all sorts of magic circles and weapons.
Built to protect Neo Seoul from giant demonic beasts, this enormous wall did not allow the approach of unauthorized humans.
Particularly at the huge gate connected to the slum, Awakened stood guard, so slum dwellers could not even approach.
Even with Awakened standing watch all day, only a handful of slum people ever came near this place.
Even those merely looked from far away out of curiosity and did not dare approach closely.
The Awakened mocked those slum people.
“Ha. Those beggar bastards are peeking around again.”
“Leave them be. They must be curious about the inside.”
“So curious, are they.”
“Ugh. The smell…”
The Awakened made a show of covering their noses.
Though they were fellow humans, they did not consider the people of the slum to be human.
To them, the only humans were those who lived within Neo Seoul.
Even within Neo Seoul, status was divided.
Between the Awakened and ordinary people.
But being an ordinary person did not automatically place one beneath the Awakened.
Among ordinary people too, there were successful ones.
Those who ran businesses like slaughter companies or magic-stone processing companies, or those who excelled in their own fields, were often treated better than mediocre Awakened.
In any case, the people living inside Neo Seoul lived by performing roles suited to their abilities.
The social system of humanity that had collapsed a hundred years ago still existed here intact.
What the Awakened despised were those outside that system.
Namely, the people of the slum.
Neo Seoul could function perfectly well without them.
That was why no one cared in the least for their safety.
Into the sight of those Awakened laughing mockingly came a man approaching the main gate.
Wearing a robe with its hood pulled low, he walked forward loosely.
One of the Awakened immediately stopped him.
“Who are you? State your identity.”
“My name is Zeon.”
The man was Zeon.
“Zeon? From the slum?”
The Awakened wore a puzzled expression.
He knew practically everyone who had come out of Neo Seoul, yet Zeon was a face he had never seen before.
So he guessed Zeon must be from the slum.
“Yes.”
“What does a slum beggar want here? If you’re not from Neo Seoul and don’t have a pass, you can’t enter.”
“I have one. A pass.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Zeon pulled out a temporary entry pass from inside his robe and tossed it to the Awakened.
It was the one he had received after saving Mandy before.
The Awakened frowned as he examined the temporary pass.
“Issuer: Mandy Systein. Guarantor: mechanic Kim Sang-sik? Check this.”
He handed it to the Awakened beside him, who inspected it with a reader.
A blue light appeared on the reader.
It meant it was authentic.
Neo Seoul’s entry passes were treated with special magic and could never be forged.
Even so, the Awakened still looked at Zeon suspiciously.
“What is your purpose in entering Neo Seoul?”
“I’ve come to meet Mandy Systein.”
“The issuer?”
“Yes. Is there some problem?”
“No. Pass through.”
Since the issuer and guarantor were both verified, there was no reason to stop him.
The Awakened guarding the main gate let Zeon pass.
Rumble.
With a heavy sound, the thick gate opened.
“Go in. Your allowed stay in Neo Seoul is one month. If you’re still in Neo Seoul after that, the guards will find you and kill you.”
The temporary pass Zeon had been given was marked with a tracking spell.
If he remained in Neo Seoul after the permitted period, the magic would activate and the guards would be able to find him.
“I won’t even stay that long. Once I finish what I came for, I’ll leave right away.”
Smiling, Zeon passed through the main gate.
The moment he entered Neo Seoul, the air changed.
It felt fresh, as if an air purifier had been turned on.
It was on a completely different level from the always-stuffy air outside.
It felt as though even the depths of his lungs were being cleansed.
The streets were spotless, without even a stray stone rolling around, and not even the common sand of the outside could be seen.
Sophisticated buildings soared so high they looked ready to pierce the sky, and the clothing of the people moving through the streets was clean and stylish.
Silent cars and all kinds of means of transportation.
A scene Zeon had only heard about in stories was now spread out before his eyes.
This was the most advanced city in the world.
A cutting-edge colony incomparable to any colony Zeon had ever seen.
Perhaps this place truly was the pinnacle of present-day human civilization.
And into such a city, Zeon took his first step.