Abandoned Priest at the Hero’s Party

To the core area

“I thought well. I thought really well. Come on, take it. All of these items sell well in the Eastern Plains.”

After checking the amount carefully, counting it once in three people, and dividing it into thirds, the merchants handed over the magic pouches here.

“We didn’t have the courage to go into the plains and do business, so we couldn’t sell it, but you guys are strong. I’m sure it can be sold at a high price.”

Of course, I paid that money to buy things, not because I wanted to do business, but because I still needed an excuse. In their words, travelers like us on the eastern plains roamed around and immediately drew attention from all sides.

They explain that calling a wandering merchant who has come all the way here to at least get a share is less vigilant than calling a traveler’s party.

Before even deciding what was right or wrong, the princess fell for her dazzling narration. He opened his wallet and paid a large sum of money. Now, their attitude is much more hospitable than before.

“It is said that ordinary items such as cloth clothes are completely popular there. And the food sells well.”

“Since there is a rock salt mine, salt is not sold surprisingly, but sugar and honey are just gold prices. so hard to get If you bring it and sell it, you will get a big share.”

Then ask what you are getting from there, and they say.

“Because there was nothing to eat, he raised all kinds of special things. Even if it is grown like that, the production is not much, so many people are hungry. Without the fruit of the fox tree, everyone would have died of starvation.”

“Rabbit skin, wool, or the fruit of a fox tree. Handicrafts made by the Beasts. What kind of things did you bring? It’s not that big of a deal.”

“The route to money is already occupied by other merchants, and they also have connections with high-ranking people. People like us should earn a penny through this kind of trade.”

We wondered if we could take this and sell it, but for now we accepted it.

“And by the way, there are several routes to the Eastern Plains. There are strict boundaries, so if you wander around without knowing the way, you will get hit by arrows.”

“Is the checkpoint strict?”

“okay. Originally, they were soldiers who prevented them from going out from the inside, but if they saw them coming in from the outside, they would block them. There is a route that can be reached without a checkpoint in the shortest distance, but I do not recommend it. You have to see things you don’t want to see.”

“What is it?”

At the princess’s question, the three looked at each other.

And he nodded almost at the same time.

“The reason the soldiers don’t guard is because other things are guarding them.”

“Monster. There are places where the famous hydrani, griffin, and cockatrice are rampant. Even the soldiers don’t mind going there. They will only see them as snacks in the eyes of the monster.”

“Mostly yes. I’ve heard rumors that soldiers or generals will get angry when they enter their territory. The monster is big and it looks dull, but it is more sensitive than I thought. They have good eyes and good ears.”

As for Hagi, the size of the eyes, nose and ears far exceeds us as a monster.

Although it is difficult to say that bigger ones perform better, the monster’s sense is definitely something that is hard to underestimate. I don’t usually think of going through a place that is strictly guarded by such things.

“So let me tell you about other smuggling routes we know of.”

“We don’t even know how to get to the core area, but we don’t have to go there anyway, right? It is clear that the inspection will be strict.”

I was given a map made by hand. They were sure to give as much as they were given, so they opened the map themselves and explained this and that. It certainly took a long time, so I had to spend the night with them.

Of course, that’s not to say he slept.

“That’s what’s important. what’s the purpose If you stay in the Eastern Plains for a long time, wherever you are, you will be unconditionally checked out. It’s a strict surveillance society.”

“My family was petrified by Cockatrice. We’re on our way to unlock it.”

“petrification…? We don’t know much about petrification, but then things don’t go well.”

“why? Can’t we just go ahead and remove the petrification and get out?”

At Kisea-san’s question, the three of them looked perplexed.

“It’s not that simple.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Your family is probably wolves, right? Then there would be no way that the stone statue was just left there. It’s the last of the wolf rattles, so I probably put it in a museum in the core area.”

Oh My God.

Kisea couldn’t even get angry, and just stood there blankly like a crazy person. It’s sad that my family has turned into a stone, but it’s only natural that it even became an exhibit.

“No, in the first place, that wolf rattle…”

“Is the core area the city where Epirna’s royal palace is located?”

On behalf of Kisea-san, who was stunned and unable to speak, I asked. Then you nod your head.

Because the current Beast King Epirna prefers the expression of a leader rather than a king, the Beast Beasts do not call the Royal Capital the Royal Capital, but rather call it a core area.

“At the same time, the intention is to inspire a sense of benevolence.”

“I think the two wolves over there will be fine if they disguise themselves. I’ll give you the camouflage tools as a bonus. A wolf is not much different from a dog clan if it is decorated a little.”

“Don’t treat me like a dog. And there’s no point in disguising yourself. After all, real dogs will recognize us as ghosts by smell.”

Kisea groaned. From what I heard, it was close to impossible to go to the core area in hiding.

“Aside from dogs, foxes like noses too. Differentiate between us and dogs like ghosts. Besides, there are a lot of them, so doing something like camouflage for nothing will only make you more suspicious. It’s like buying one and causing trouble.”

“What do you think of the Empire? If an imperial diplomat came to visit, would you treat me to it?”

It seems that it would be difficult to go in hiding, so I thought of an open method.

An immediate answer came back to the princess’s question. The merchants responded without thinking.

“You think I’m going to send you straight to jail?”

“Who is a diplomat who strongly insists on a country that is only made up of water people? If there was any desire to engage in diplomacy with humans, would you have been running the country in such a closed way?”

It was not easy for the princess to reveal her identity openly. It was even more so since they hadn’t had diplomatic relations since before.

Epirna seemed to point out humans as a common enemy in order to raise the beasts’ sense of kinship. And with the wolf who abandoned the plains and ran outside.

Rokawa Kisea-san, who suddenly became a traitor to the beast people, was now too difficult to return to the plains. So, that night we couldn’t sleep. We kept discussing and finding the best way.

“There is a way to go directly to the core area. Boundaries are also the loosest. But the problem is that you have to cross this area… this area that I mentioned earlier.”

“It’s an area where monsters appear.”

“If we covertly break through this area and quickly infiltrate the core area, we might be able to move like lightning before the other side even responds. But it’s too dangerous. I do not recommend it.”

“But unless we are going to go to war with Epirna, this is definitely the only way.”

The only choice is to get on the night air and move as fast as possible.

It’s a familiar experience. It is convenient to think that we are in the enemy territory now. When we were at the Hero Party, our area of operation was the Demon Realm, and they did not see us as friendly.

Not all demon realms were like this, but especially when roaming around Harmael’s exclusive area, you had to move assuming that there was an enemy’s attention everywhere.

There was no way to kill civilians just because they were demons, knowing that they were the eyes and ears of the enemy, but there was no other way.

Presumably, the interior of the Eastern Plains is also in the same situation? In such a place where Epirna is tightly controlled, even if you wander around for just one day, the people around you will notice something strange and report it to the top.

“Or, I would rather go public and negotiate, but…”

“no way. Then it’s nothing more than letting him know that my parents’ statues are there? In the end, it’s like taking the whole family hostage.”

What I thought would be simple suddenly became so big, but it was unavoidable.

Originally, it was supposed to be a simpler and safer way to negotiate than this way, but I wasn’t sure if I could expect such a common sense from Eastern Plains and Epirna.

“It’s the year that still treated wolves like thorns in the eye. If we know our purpose, we will take the statue hostage, take Roca out of the way, and then destroy the statue as well.”

“Why me?”

“We are the same wolves. Your family is my family, and my family is your family. it’s okay! My parents will treat you like a daughter.”

Loka, who had only her eyes wide open, suddenly nodded her head. I couldn’t help but nod. It was because Kisea-san forced an answer with her eyes.

“Our Loka. Take care of your parents with your sister. My sister will help me a lot.”

“And this is only a rumor,”

A merchant hesitated and opened his mouth.

“I didn’t want to warn you of something that wasn’t certain, so I kept quiet, but I have to tell you because I don’t want our customers to be put at risk.”

“There are rumors that Epirna is closely related to the Arctic one. There is a story that Suin Royal Palace has a gate that connects to the North Pole.”

I knew that the Demon King and Epirna had a hand in hand, but this is really the first time I’ve heard of a gate. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s definitely not possible.

“Maybe you can reach the North Pole without having to cross the Kalcamir Mountains…”

“What? Did you also make the North Pole your destination? What the hell are they doing? Are you all terminally ill? Before you die, do you even want to travel around the world as a wish-fulfillment?”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t know anything about the North Pole.”

People who come to such a place and do business are prohibited from even stepping in.

okay. I was going to go to such a place in the first place, but what is the significance of the core area? I called Kisea-san and Roca, and decided on a route.

Go through the area covered by the monster to the core area.

But, don’t fight. Try to avoid it by mobilizing your senses as much as possible.

I really didn’t want to make a big deal out of this place.

If you openly flirt with a monster and even stimulate Epirna’s vigilance, things will only get bigger and there will be no real benefit.