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Chapter 130: Lost Grea — Intruders
Sila’s eyebrows twitched as he studied the contents of the quests. He categorized all the quests into three categories: Doable, Somehow Doable, and Not Doable.
He found that most doable quests required him to travel to various places. No resources were needed aside from time. As for the somehow doable quests, many of them required bravery to accomplish, which was a big problem for him.
If someone asked him if he dared to fight a dragon one-on-one, he would reply instantly that he dared. But, if he was asked if he dared to only wear underwear and walk around for seven days, he would instantly reply that he did not dare.
More importantly, he only had three days left before he had to log out. His plan to obstruct Montra had yet to initialize, his debt to the bank was nowhere near being dealt with, and the major quest of the Slime Kingdom was still far from finished. To sum up, the number of tasks he had to complete was too many. He didn’t want to waste his precious time by doing these absurd, trivial quests.
‘Maybe there is another way for me to enter. I believe I once heard Blue tell me that some quests in Monster Soul have an alternative method for completion.’
“We can’t enter, yes?” Bow asked.
“Eh? Bow?” Sila was deep in thought so he had totally forgotten about Bow. The fact that her body was quite small also played some role.
“Bow what? Ah! Big Brother Sila has forgotten about me again, right?!” Bow started to sulk.
Sila stopped giving the gate any of his attention and lifted Bow up. “That’s not it, Bow. I’m thinking about what kind of food I’ll ask Julia to make for you when we go back.”
Bow gave him a big smile, “Really!?”
Sila nodded, then Bow recited the kind of food that she would like to eat (most of them were desserts) non-stop. As he believed that there was no point in staying in this place, he planned to go back to the mansion and ask Bluebird about how to enter Lost Grea City. He hoped that Bluebird could give him a useful hint like he had before with the Underwater Palace.
Sila was enveloped in flashing light being teleported away. Strangely enough, the players nearby had heard “Shortcake” as the last word before Sila’s body vanished. Thus, there was a weird rumor about a special dimension that resembled a certain house made of sweets.
***
After Sila left Bow in Julia’s care and a mountain of desserts, he opened his system window to contact Bluebird.
The conversation hadn’t even started but Bluebird cut the line and immediately teleported himself to the Mansion of Secrets.
“Eh? Actually, you didn’t have to come in person. I just have something I want to ask,” Sila greeted Bluebird as soon as his friend entered the living room.
Without asking for permission, Bluebird allowed himself to sit on the sofa while reaching his hand to a teapot as he wanted to alleviate his thirst for beverages. A voice saying, “Ah. That’s mine!” could be heard, but he ignored it as he poured the liquid inside the teapot into his mouth.
“Cough!! So sweet! What kind of drink is this?” Bluebird placed the teapot on the table while hurriedly searching for water.
Julia handed him a crystal glass filled with cool, still water and explained, “That’s syrup for Lady Bow’s desserts, sir. She likes sweet food so I made it especially sugary.”
Bluebird drank the water to wash away the sweet taste lingering in his mouth and turned his head to lecture Bow. “Bow, you shouldn’t always eat sweet things. They’re not good for your teeth.”
Bow licked the honey around her lips and replied, “No problem~ Bow is a slime. We slimes don’t have teeth.”
Bluebird thought to himself that it was true but still expressed his concern. “Anyway, always eating desserts and snacks isn’t good for your health. Hey, Sila, aren’t you spoiling Bow too much?” The last line was aimed at Sila.
Sila scratched his head. Now that Bluebird mentioned it, he recalled that he always saw Bow eating sweets.
“Julia. Usually, what kind of food does Bow tend to eat?”
“Tiramisu, shortcakes, daifuku, chocolate bar, thong yip...” The list went on as Julia recited the food names. All of them were desserts.
Sila gestured for Julia to stop reciting and asked again. “Excuse me. Does she eat anything other than desserts?”
Julia fell into silence as if she was looking far into her memory. It was at that time that Bow interrupted. “Muu~ Bow doesn’t eat only desserts! Bow also eats rice!!”
“Really?”
“Yep~”
“With what?”
“Mango!!”
“Mango?” Sila frowned at the menu name.
“Yep, mango! Very delicious~” Bow looked left and right before lifting the food on a certain plate up to show Sila. “This one!”
Sila stared blankly at the dish in front of him. “This is... Mango Sticky Rice, right? It’s a dessert, not rice, Bow.”
“It’s called Mango Sticky Rice, isn’t it? If it’s really a dessert, the name should be Mango Sticky Dessert, no~?”
“Being cunning, aren’t you? Bow, you won’t grow up properly if you only eat desserts. Good kids need to eat a lot of vegetables.”
“Big Brother Sila talks like my dad.” Bow pulled a wry face. “Eat plenty of vegetables so that you can grow up stronger.” She mimicked the voice of the Slime King.
Sila sighed, “If you misbehave, I will tell Master Viola and His Majesty.”
“Uwah~ Big Brother Sila is mean. Those two will surely scold me.”
“In that case, listen to this Big Bro. I won’t stop you from eating desserts. I just want you to eat less of them and eat more proper meals, especially ones with vegetables.”
“But Bow doesn’t like to eat vegetables. They taste bad.”
Julai interrupted, “I can prepare vegetables that taste different, sir.”
Immediately, Bluebird replied to her as if he was the owner of the mansion, “Cool. Let’s do that. As for you, Sila, can we stop talking about sweets? Just looking at all the dishes on the table makes me feel like my sugar level is rising.”
Sila told Julia to clear the table. She began taking away all the desserts, which Bow reacted to by quickly snatching the Mango Sticky Rice dish without letting it go. He sighed at such a sight.
“That’s the last one for today. Alright, Bow?”
Bow nodded with her entire body, then started eating her last dessert slowly to savor the taste since it would be her last one for now.
Sila turned his attention to Bluebird who was opening his system window.
“I can’t contact Burapha at all. What about you?” asked Bluebird.
“I also haven’t been able to for several days. Do you know if something’s wrong?”
“I don’t know where have you been, but, after we left, Burapha went to Zhongsuyuan City and dueled against Revin, the Heavenly Dragon Guild’s Flame Monarch.”
Sila was startled and asked with a concerned expression. “What happened to Burapha?”
“He was safe for a little while. He lost the duel, but before Revin could finish him off, he was rescued by Beluga, the guild leader of the Mountain Thieves League. Then, I heard he was sent to the Victorious Wolves Sect to rest. Well, the problem is, the Heavenly Dragon Guild has spread the news about Burapha owning the Dragon Killer Sword. This sword is very problematic. I suspect that he will be attacked by various groups as soon as he leaves the Victorious Wolves Sect. You know what? Burapha’s current bounty is even higher than yours.”
Bluebird then explained the ability of the Dragon Killer Sword. Nevertheless, Sila was still worried about Burapha.
“Why can’t we contact him?”
“I don’t know. If I were to guess, he must be training somewhere since he went missing as soon as he recovered. Maybe he wants to have a rematch against Revin.”
Bluebird belonged to an information guild so he knew many things, including the fact that Ginny had joined the Heavenly Dragon Guild.
“What should we do, then? Should we go to Zhongsuyuan City and wait for Burapha to return so we can assist him?” said Sila.
“In my personal opinion, I think it’s better for us to do nothing,” said Bluebird as he sipped a cup of tea that Julia had served him.
“Do nothing? But, Burapha is facing a problem, isn’t he?”
“But he didn’t request for our help, right? That guy is smart so I guess he has already come up with some kind of a plan. Another thing, Sila. Take you for example... Nah, you don’t even need to imagine it as you yourself are being pursued by various groups. Even with that, you have never asked for someone to help you, right? Can you tell me why?”
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Sila fell into silence for a moment. “It’s something I need to solve by myself.”
“You see? That’s what we called putting yourself in other people's shoes. I know that you were raised uncommonly and don’t have much experience interacting with people, but you need to know at least this much. Try to imagine yourself as others and guess how they are feeling about a certain situation. Only then will you know why they act the way they act.”
Sila showed a dry smile. “I know the phrase ‘Put yourself in other people's shoes.’ I grew up in a dojo, not a cave.”
“Whatever. You may know of it, but do you truly understand it?”
Julia who had been listening silently suddenly expressed her opinion, “I think I understand, sir. It’s similar to how Mister Bluebird often comes to the mansion and asks me to prepare meals for him while resting comfortably. All of these with Master’s wealth, am I correct?”
“Cough!!” Bluebird choked on the tea. “Um... That’s... One way of putting myself in someone else’s shoes... I guess?”
A short silence filled the room. Bluebird coughed a few times to cover up the topic. “Hey~ Everybody has some flaws and I have some as well. Anyway, you should stop worrying about Burapha. There is someone from the Blue Pigeon Guild keeping an eye on him with care already. If Burapha wants our help, he will contact us himself.”
Sila didn’t understand the whole story, but he felt relieved as he discovered that someone was looking after Burapha.
“What about you? Why did you contact me?”
“Ah. The thing is...” Sila told Bluebird that he wanted to visit Lost Grea City and about the problem he found.
Bluebird finished listening by taking another sip from the cup of tea. “And here I was wondering what you wanted. If it’s just this, anyone from the Blue Pigeon Guild can tell you. It’s a fairly common question. I have personally sold information regarding this seven or eight times already.”
“A common question?”
“Yeah. Everyone is like you. Who would be willing to do those stupid quests? How to access Lost Grea City without doing the quests is information that sells very well.”
There was no way Varee wouldn’t know about this. Now, Sila was confident that she had played a prank on him.
“How can I?”
“The method is the same as the one we used for the Underwater Palace. The easiest way is to directly invade it.”
Sila frowned. “But, Lost Grea City is underground. Don’t tell me that I have to dig?”
“You won’t find it even if you dig all day. No joke. Someone has already tried that. The practical method is even easier than the one for the Underwater Palace; at least you won’t drown. You just have to buy some dimension crossing device and use it, just a small one that allows a single player is enough. This kind of item can be purchased from the black market. Unfortunately for you, they become rarer and more expensive as the war event draws closer. Most of them should have already been bought by large guilds. Well, if you wait for Burapha, that guy might be able to help you find one.”
“Master has one as well, it’s in the treasure room,” informed Julia.
“Oh! I remember. You really have one. It’s even the type that can bring many players with you. Tag me in. I have wanted to visit Lost Grea City for a long time.”
“But, its name is Dimension-Invading Device, isn’t it? The word ‘invading’ sounds quite aggressive. Will it be fine?”
“Ah. it’s not that easy, but it wouldn’t be a problem too. All you need to do is kill the Android Soldiers and defeat their commander.”
“But, I don’t have any problems with them. We are the ones at fault by intruding their territory. Is there another method besides killing them?”
“There is. You need to stamp your seal on the throne of their king. Let me tell you that this method is slightly harder.”
“Let’s do that. By the way, how hard is it to pass through them to the throne?”
“Not quite. It’s very safe. They are just Knight Rank monsters. No one has ever failed to invade the city. With your speed, if you don’t intend to fight them and instead focus on the throne, it shouldn't be any problem. Easy peasy~.”
Julia opened her palm and the Dimension-Invading Device appeared on it. “I recommend Mister Head Butler goes with you, sir.”
Afterward, everyone followed Julia to the lawn in front of the mansion. The neatly trimmed grass indicated that Julia performed a splendid job even as a gardener. She seemed to not have any flaws as a maid. As for Sebastian, the Head Butler, even though he rarely stayed at the mansion, Julia informed Sila that he always came back with souvenirs.
“Um... Lost Grea City is supposed to have few players...” Sila looked at Bow and asked, “Bow, do you want to go with us?”
“I’ll go! I’ll go! Bow still wants to shop~”
“Please wait for me to reach Mister Sebastian...” Sila halted his sentence midway as Sebastian suddenly appeared behind him.
“Miss Head Maid has already informed me, Mister Sila.”
“I see. Um... Mister Sebastian, is that a bloodstain, on your shirt?” Sila pointed at the dry stain on the black butler uniform.
“You have very good eyes. No need for concern, sir. I just took care of something unimportant. Please rest assured that I didn’t pick a quarrel with anyone.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.”
‘I just pretended to be a weakling and wandered around in areas with shady backgrounds, then those thieves attacked me first. It was self-defense. Fufufu. Oh, right. Me raiding their camps is also counted as self-defense too... Self-defense in advance, that’s is.’ Sebastian thought to himself, using the word ‘self-defense’ very loosely.
Julia placed the device on the ground and said, “Can I have permission to accompany you, Master?”
Sila frowned. “Eh? I didn’t know that you are able to leave the Mansion of Secrets.”
“I can if the dimensional portal is opened here. However, I can’t fight as I only have a spiritual body.”
“It’s better if you bring Julia with us, Sila. You are planning to repair your arm, right? Julia is connected to your treasury, so in the case that the need for some items arises, you can just tell her to summon them.”
Sila was considering whether he should bring Julia with him. Although Bluebird kept telling him that it was quite safe and easy, he thought that he better be prepared.
“Release Lookhin.”
A small dark brown sparrowhawk flew out from the ring. It hovered around the sky once before perching on Sila’s left arm.
“Lookhin, please take care of Bow and Julia, okay?”
Lookhin’s green eyes fell on Sila for a second before it nodded. Then, it began playing with its own feathers without paying attention to its surroundings.
Sila walked closer to the device and asked, “How do I use it?”
“Press the green button and state your destination, sir. In this case, it’s Lost Grea City,” explained Julia.
Sila nodded and pressed the button. He quickly said, “Lost Grea City.”
The air in front of them distorted and started to become a portal. There was a system sound informing Sila that there was one minute before the portal would be opened.
“Sixty seconds.” He turned back to look behind and found that everyone was standing calmly.
The portal widened. Its width was more than fifty meters. However, there seemed to be some kind of a semi-invisible wall that prevented them from entering. The scenery behind the wall was blurred so they couldn’t tell what awaited them. However, the psychic power being emitted from behind the wall that they could sense caused them to feel tense.
“Please be careful. This amount of psychic power means there are more than ten, or even a hundred, enemies waiting for us,” said Sebastian.
Sila nodded. The number counting down in his ears was telling him that there were only five seconds left. He began to circulate Tiger Dragon Qi while feeling regretful that he had yet to study partial circulation.
In the meantime, both Sebastian and Bluebird could sense the difference in Sila’s qi. Sebastian’s lips curled into a smile while Bluebird showed a confused expression.
“Let’s go in.” Sila was the first to hop in, followed by the rest. For the record, Bow and Julia were the last to enter with Lookhin flying around them closely.
The first thing Sila saw was a giant wall. However, looking closely, it wasn’t a wall but rather an army of five-meter tall Android Soldiers. There were thousands of them standing on many layers of the plaza.
Looking upward, he saw a ceiling giving off light and illuminating the room. It seemed they really were underground, and the reason why they could sense the immense psychic power before was due to the combined psychic power from all of the Android Soldiers.
Sebastian smiled and whistled. His hand was holding his scythe tightly and it seemed he had already prepared a spell without anyone having to remind him. As for Bluebird, he was looking at the army and muttered something to himself.
“I really need to have a serious talk with the one who gave me the information when I go back.”