[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 137
"The Hermit of the Story?"
The princess nodded and said,
"I heard about him from my mother. She said there's a Hermit of the Story who has lived for hundreds of years on Mt. Ouroboros, located west of Thebes, bordering Delphi."
"Hundreds of years? Is he a lich?"
"No. I heard he's a sage who has reached the pinnacle of magic and transcended human limitations."
"A sage..."
It sounded like a legend, so it was hard to believe.
Then, the princess cautiously opened her mouth.
"Actually, I told this story to Laura as well."
"To my mother?"
"Yes. Laura was very curious about Irregulars. So, after hearing this story, she went to find the hermit."
"To think my mother went to find the hermit just by hearing such a legend... She was quite reckless."
"She found him, so you can't say it was completely reckless, can you?"
"Huh?"
Princess Arina, as if reminiscing about that time, slightly raised her head and looked into the distance as she spoke.
"Laura, who left for Thebes, met the sage and came back to tell me about it. I didn't hear exactly what they talked about, but she said it was true that he had knowledge unknown to the world."
"It's surprising that my mother actually met the sage."
"If he could satisfy Laura's curiosity about Irregulars, he would definitely know about the relics as well."
Zeke nodded, listening to the princess's words.
"Did my mother happen to tell you where the sage is on Mt. Ouroboros?"
The princess shook her head.
"She said she was wandering the mountain for almost a month when suddenly everything became bright, and the path to where the hermit was staying opened up."
Zeke tilted his head at the princess's words.
'Could that be a portal?'
He thought so because he went through a similar process when he met his master from his previous life, who was called the Hermit of the Forest.
'Could that Hermit of the Story be...?'
Zeke barely suppressed the anxiety rising in his chest and got up from his seat.
"I think I need to go to Mt. Ouroboros to find out."
"To find the Hermit of the Story?"
"If the demonfolk are looking for the relics, the Empire and Abel's side will be helping them. I need to secure information first and prevent the relics from falling into their hands."
Zeke, who had personally experienced what happened when Abel gained power in his previous life, wanted to prevent that as much as possible.
After a short rest, he prepared to leave again. He left Liam and Felix at Agamemnon Castle and had them train under Sister Clone.
"Ugh... My lord! I'd rather go to the mountain with you!"
Leaving Felix, who was being dragged away while being hit by Sister Clone, Zeke headed straight for Thebes.
***
"Sir Knight, that's Mt. Ouroboros."
Zeke, who went to Thebes from Mycenae via the main road, paid the carriage owner he got a ride from and got off near Mt. Ouroboros.
Zeke looked at Mt. Ouroboros, its peaks rising high in the distance, and pondered.
'It's a large mountain that stretches between Thebes and Delphi, all the way to Argos. I can't search it all...'
Although it was a daunting situation, Zeke had one thing he was counting on.
It was highly likely that the Hermit of the Story was a member of the organization Zeke belonged to in the past.
And a few hours after entering Mt. Ouroboros, Zeke realized that his conviction was correct.
'As expected, it's a Highlander mark.'
Subtle markings that only Highlanders could recognize, such as the arrangement of rocks and the positions of trees on the path up the mountain, were all over the place.
Zeke had a mixed expression as he saw the markings.
He felt joy at being able to find the Hermit of the Story, but also fear at having a connection with the Highlanders again, just like in his previous life.
'I didn't want to get involved with the Highlanders in this life.'
Life as a Highlander had been a major part of Zeke's previous life.
But he didn't want to remember those days.
He still felt guilty for breaking the oath he made with his master from his previous life as a Highlander.
Zeke pulled himself together and climbed Mt. Ouroboros, following the Highlander markings.
There should be a portal leading to the Hermit of the Story where the markings ended.
***
After a day, Zeke finally reached the end of the markings.
"Is it this way?"
Zeke looked around with Dragon Eye.
And he found a single tree standing tall in the middle of the forest.
'That's the Totem Pole.'
The Totem Pole, which concentrated the power of the portal, played the most important role in marking the territory of a Highlander in that area.
Zeke slowly stood in front of the Totem Pole.
Then, he reached out his hand.
Woooong!
After a while, waves emanated from the Totem Pole.
Zeke, feeling a familiar sensation, held his breath and closed his eyes.
With a flash of light, Zeke, who had been standing in front of the Totem Pole, disappeared.
When he opened his eyes a moment later, a completely different landscape unfolded before him, unlike the Ouroboros Forest.
"A bamboo forest?"
Bamboo, rarely seen in the central continent, stood tall on both sides of the path.
The bamboo leaves rustling in the wind created a serene atmosphere.
Zeke slowly walked up the path.
There was a small hut made of bamboo at the top.
Zeke, looking at the bamboo hut, felt a similar vibe to his master from his previous life.
'Back then, it wasn't a bamboo hut, but a treehouse built on top of a tree.'
He slowly approached the bamboo house and knocked on the door.
"Is anyone there?"
He knocked, but there was no answer.
Zeke carefully opened the bamboo door.
'Huh?'
A man was lying on a bamboo bed.
"Snore... snore..."
The young man, who looked to be in his twenties, seemed to be enjoying a nap, tossing and turning.
'Is that the Hermit of the Story?'
He had imagined the image of an archmage with a long, silver beard, since he was called a sage, but it was completely different from his imagination.
Zeke thought of his master from his previous life.
'Well, compared to Master's appearance, this is much better.'
Zeke considered waking the hermit up, but he decided to wait until he woke up, just in case the hermit was an eccentric mage.
The hermit woke up a few hours later.
"Snore... Ah, I slept well."
The hermit stretched and got up from the bed, then slowly walked to the table and drank the water in the bamboo cup.
"Ah, refreshing."
Zeke sat on a bamboo chair and watched him quietly.
It was 10 minutes later that the hermit finally noticed Zeke.
"Y-you, who are you?"
The hermit was startled to find Zeke sitting on the chair while he was about to go wash his face.
"I was wondering when you would notice me."
The hermit calmed his surprised heart and asked Zeke,
"How did you get in here?"
"Do you remember a woman named Laura Agamemnon who visited you about 20 years ago?"
At Zeke's words, the hermit scratched his head and recalled.
"20 years ago? Let's see. What was the story again? Ah, that young lady. The reckless Healer."
"I think that's right. I'm that Healer's son."
"Huh? That young lady already has a son this old? Has it been that long?"
The hermit looked at Zeke with a renewed gaze.
Zeke looked at the hermit and said,
"I came here to ask you something."
The hermit clicked his tongue and said,
"Oh, come on. That Healer lady did the same, do you think I'm some kind of answering machine? Even if I'm the Hermit of the Story..."
"I heard you're a sage who knows all the knowledge in the world, even hidden knowledge."
The hermit's expression softened a little at those words.
"W-who said that? Hmm, hmm, was it that young lady back then?"
"That's what I heard."
The hermit, with a gentler expression than before, nodded and gestured for Zeke to come outside.
He sat on a bamboo mat set up in front of the house and took out a fan from his pocket, gently fanning himself.
"Oh my, besides that young lady and you, no one else has ever come all the way here with questions."
"Why do people usually come here?"
"It's very rare for people to find this place, but in the past, kings would sometimes visit. Some even asked me for prophecies. Most of them can't even distinguish between a sage and a prophet."
"Do prophets really exist?"
"They're rare, but they do exist. It's less about prophecy and more about fragmentarily predicting all possible situations and estimating the most probable outcome among tens of thousands of possibilities. It's quite complicated to explain. Just because you see it doesn't mean it will definitely happen. The moment you confirm it, new variables arise, and the situation branches out again... Anyway, that's how it is."
Although he was quite different from the image of a sage, it seemed that he did know a lot.
Zeke asked the hermit,
"I came here to ask about the relics."
"Huh? Relics?"
"Yes. Do you know about the relics?"
The hermit frowned slightly at those words.
Then, he got up and muttered hesitantly,
"Relics... Hmm."
He closed his fan, looked at Zeke, and said,
"What was your name again?"
"Zeke Draker."
"Zeke Draker. Draker. Hmm."
The hermit, hearing Zeke's name, unfolded his fan again and wrote Zeke's name on it.
Then, he closed and opened the fan again.
The hermit showed Zeke the back of the fan.
On the back, it was written in Chronos language, 'Monster, Ten (十).'
"What's this?"
"It means you have to bring me ten monsters."
"Monsters?"
"Did you think you could get answers for free? That's a cheap price compared to the question."
Zeke, seeing the hermit asking him to catch monsters in exchange for an answer, realized anew that he was a Highlander.
Highlanders didn't reveal themselves and carried out the duty of maintaining the balance of the world by hunting monsters in secrecy, according to their oath.
The Hermit of the Forest, Zeke's master, was the same.
Zeke, in his previous life, made a Highlander oath with the Hermit of the Forest in exchange for saving his life and teaching him about Ether hall.
But he broke that oath, escaped from his master's territory, and went to Himonas in the north.
A scene from Zeke's distant memory surfaced.
A woman with a thick wolfskin coat, holding a sword on top of a castle, facing the cold north wind.
'Zeke Murray. Help me. The north needs you.'
Zeke suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.
If he recalled any more memories, he might run to Himonas right now.
'Damn it. Get a hold of yourself, Zeke Draker.'
He pulled himself together and asked the hermit,
"Ten monsters will do?"
The hermit was rather surprised to see Zeke asking so casually.
"Huh? Do you even know what monsters are?"
"Yes. Are there monsters on Mt. Ouroboros?"
"If there weren't any monsters, there would be no reason for me to be here."
Ordinary Highlanders wandered around without a territory, hunting monsters.
However, powerful Highlanders created their own territories in areas where monsters frequently appeared.
Zeke's master, the Hermit of the Forest, was one of the oldest and strongest Highlanders.
Therefore, he created his territory in the forbidden Forest of the Forgotten.
It seemed that the Hermit of the Story was in a similar situation.
Zeke nodded at the hermit's words and asked about the location of the monsters.
The hermit opened a portal to the area where monsters appeared for Zeke.
As Zeke went through the portal and disappeared, the hermit shook his head and said,
"Whew, I wonder if he can even catch one properly."
Most of those who visited him were extraordinary individuals who had a great influence on the world.
Those destined to become kings, warriors who displayed great valor, or mages who glimpsed the other side of truth.
But even those people rarely passed the hermit's test.
If they passed the test, he would give them a complete answer, but if they didn't, he wouldn't give them an answer at all, or only tell them part of it.
"It's not that I decided that way, it's because of Karma, so it can't be helped. But was ten too much?"
The hermit leisurely lay down on the mat and rolled around.
And an hour later, a signal came from Zeke to open the portal.
"Huh? He's giving up already? That's unexpected. He seemed to have some perseverance."
The hermit waved his fan and opened the portal.
Thud!
As soon as the portal opened, ten hideous monster heads fell out.
Zeke appeared without any significant injuries.
The hermit's jaw dropped as he looked at Zeke.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]