ACT 5: DIFFERENT WORLD? NETHERWORLD?
ACT 5 Different World? Netherworld?
Translator Notes: Based on this chapter, it seems that once the door to the dimension is opened, it stays opened and other people can go through without the key.
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“Now there’s a little bit more money to spare.”
Raiden leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. He had been the Lord for 3 weeks. It had been a terrible time. There was 0 gold in the castle’s public funds. In addition, Ark had given all the public funds to the residents of the castle inside of fixing the infrastructure. Therefore the estate was already on the verge of bankruptcy when Raiden became the Lord.
‘That Ark bastard…….!’
Raiden snarled as he recalled how Ark had fooled them. However, he couldn’t go tear Ark apart. Although he wanted to chase after Ark, he was still the Lord of Silvana. If he left it as it was, the infrastructure would be inoperable and half the territory seized by the government. In the end, Raiden had to raise the taxes to prevent this from happening. Then the residents started complaining.
“The previous Lord gave us a bonus for completing the trading post. But this one raised the taxes as soon as he became the Lord! Isn’t it terrible?”
“Why are they so different when it comes to money management?”
“We’re not going to be the slaves of the Lord!”
“If he continues treating us like this then I won’t endure it anymore!”
‘God dammit, I have to raise the taxes because of the former Lord!’
Raiden inwardly screamed. How on earth was he supposed to rectify what Ark did? Because of that, Raiden needed to raise the taxes. Yet he received unfair abuse and complaints from the residents until he was almost in tears. But he didn’t dare tell the residents that. No, he knew that the NPCs didn’t consider him that highly based on Berami’s attitude.
“It’s difficult. If this continues then there really might be an uprising.”
In New World, the ‘rebellion’ system also existed. If he raised taxes too quickly or mishandled the infrastructure, his intimacy with the residents would fall. And once the intimacy fell below a certain amount, the residents would start to rebel. If he experienced a rebellion then it would be a serious issue. He couldn’t collect taxes while quelling the rebellion. But if he didn’t quell the rebellion then his estate would be in anarchy. If that happened then other guilds would be able to attack the castle without going through a formal siege. If other guilds flocked like bees towards Hermes, there was no guarantee that they could defend the castle. Eventually Raiden had no choice but to lower the taxes after a few days. But the immediate problem wasn’t the necessary funds. Raiden received information that the Grey Wings guild had bought the challenge rights and would siege the castle next.
‘Hang in there. It will be the end if I lose the castle!’
He had barely obtained the castle after paying Ark 4,000 gold and rare shoes. But was that all? In order to maintain the estate, he had to clean out all his savings and sold his car. If he lost the castle then he would vomit in a vase. In addition, it was obvious that Hermes was having some problems. Raiden had to shake up the guild members for money to repair the castle walls and defense towers. Fortunately, he was able to repel the Grey Wings’ attack. And after 10 days had passed, Raiden could finally take a break. The tax was lowered, the urgent funding issues solved and the Grey Wings’ power had weakened thanks to the failed siege. Of course there were numerous guilds in Silvana, but none of them were a threat except for the Grey Wings.
So after 20 days, the area finally managed to become moderately stable. But he had only barely managed to enter the safety zone.
“3 weeks! I poured a considerable amount of money into this estate during those 3 weeks!”
His anger rose again once he managed to rest. He didn’t receive any profits in those 3 weeks, only debt.
“That Ark bastard, I can’t forgive him for what he did!”
“Of course!”
Duke also exclaimed.
“When I think about how my shoes were stolen by that guy………”
Duke looked down at his leather shoes. Raiden had promised that he would buy better shoes after he became the Lord. However, Raiden was in a crisis situation where he had to sell his car to raise some money. In this situation, the guild couldn’t afford to buy Duke new shoes. Thanks to that, Duke was wearing shoes sold in shops. Although the shoes Raiden bought as an apology were still quite expensive, they couldn’t compare to his rare shoes.
“Recently the castle is operating on track. But we had to sacrifice so much to reach this point. And all this trouble was because of Ark. I can never forgive him!”
“I agree!”
The guild members shouted in unison.
“He deliberately tricked us.”
“That Ark will see that he can’t just mess around with the Hermes guild.”
“If I ever encounter him, I won’t be able to sleep until I’ve killed him many times.”
“But do we know where he is hiding?”
The guild members became gloomy at those words.
“He’s not an idiot and he would’ve already ran far away.”
“What if he crossed the border and entered another kingdom?”
“You don’t have to worry.”
Then Jewel interrupted with a confident face.
“Do you think I would’ve obediently handed him Duke’s shoes?”
“What do you mean?”
“Before handing over the shoes I used ‘Mana Perfume’ on it.”
“Mana Perfume?”
Jewel grinned and explained about Mana Perfume. Mana Perfume was an exclusive skill of Jewel’s class that could detect traces of mana left by a curse engraved on the item. If she used Mana Perfume and tracked it using ‘Memory of Perfume’ then Jewel would be able to track the item no matter the location. Of course, this curse didn’t appear in the information window. Since the item didn’t change while under the curse, it wasn’t easy for a user to distinguish. Jewel’s Mana Perfume was still an unknown skill. So a user wouldn’t notice anything strange even if they checked the item again. In fact, Mana Perfume was a curse a magician created after he got robbed by a chaotic player. Jewel used the curse and then handed the shoes to Ark. Jewel had a hostile relationship with Ark and saw a chance for revenge.
“It is possible to find him wherever he is in the game.”
“………….Then it’s decided.”
A bloody smile flashed on Duke’s mouth.
“I’ll teach him what it means to antagonize a pioneer.”
“I’ll regain my shoes.”
Raiden thought of something and unfolded his arms.
“The remaining question is who will go. It won’t be safe if Jewel tracks him alone……Duke?”
“Of course. I’m going no matter what.”
Duke growled and replied. Raiden judged that he couldn’t be stopped and nodded.
“Okay. But I still can’t be relieved with just two people. He also has his colleagues in Dark Eden. The war has ended so the NPC mercenaries won’t be with him anymore. So he’ll probably have 10 users with him.”
Raiden thought for a moment before nodding again.