Ch. 82 - Money Pit and the Golden Kingdom

[Ring of Glory:

Legendary.

Bears the soul of 'Sword of Dawn' Aye Dawn.

You can use the power of the soul to summon the ring's radiance. Effect equivalent to the cantrip 'Light', capable of dispelling magical darkness.

You may also choose to easily shatter it—she has granted you this right.

Note: I offer you my everything.]

After leaving the tomb and standing on the upper level of the temple, Tang Qi closed the journal's pages by the moonlight streaming down.

"Looks like she didn't lie this time."

Placing it back in his dimensional bag, he unconsciously examined the platinum ring on his thumb again.

"At least I won't need to go around carrying a torch anymore..."

"It's not a marriage proposal—why are you staring at that ring for so long?"

Stonecrusher's voice pulled Tang Qi from his thoughts. Given how densely this foul-mouthed poet had been cracking jokes earlier, the dwarf wouldn't miss any opportunity to disgust him.

Pinching his deep throat, he deliberately squeezed out a high-pitched tone:

"I'm willing to offer you my everything~"

Tang Qi waved his finger:

"Very good, I accept your loyalty. When are you giving me the ring?"

"Fuck off! Willingly being protected by a woman—you don't feel even a bit ashamed!?"

"Then don't come looking for me when you need Resurrection."

"Ha! You know I'm joking. Have you forgotten? We're good brothers who've been through hardships together!"

Stonecrusher had witnessed the effectiveness of Resurrection.

Back when he was tanking for the Minions of Sandalwood Grove, he'd faced true death several times.

Thanks to the team's cleric Falto, who repeatedly saved him from Death's scythe.

In over two hundred years of adventuring, he'd only lost one eye—after all, it was just a third-circle spell that could only revive those who'd died within the last minute.

But Tang Qi captured more information from this mention of Resurrection.

As fellow divine spellcasters, clerics were purer and generally mastered third-circle spells earlier.

A paladin capable of casting Resurrection would have an even higher tier...

Meaning Dawn already possessed what was called 'hero' level strength.

And this was only the weakened result after she'd lost her original body and forgotten most of her past.

She had personally slain a 'False God' in life.

Perhaps she'd already touched the boundary of 'legendary'?

Whether it was her own abilities or the fascinating story behind her, both were reasons Tang Qi wanted to keep her in the party—

If he truly experienced her legend firsthand and uncovered the history and truth behind it.

Tang Qi believed the rewards would be far richer than 'leading three hundred people to escape Starberry Town'.

"It would be even better if she weren't held back by this body."

Looking at Dawn's broken hand, he couldn't help but sigh and retrieve a small bottle of white, viscous paste from the necromancer's legacy.

[Restoration Gel]—a new drug that helped flesh fuse together.

Due to its scar-removal and limb-regeneration effects, it was even superior to [Greater Healing Potion].

As he poured out the paste, which felt as sticky as snot and seemed to have little worms wriggling inside, he asked while applying it to Dawn's damaged opening:

"Anyone know how much this stuff costs?"

"Only that it's not cheap."

Stonecrusher muttered,

"Those nobles lying in soft beds who only care about putting makeup on their faces every day will never understand that scars are medals of honor!"

These precious goods still needed nobles to appraise.

Melade raised his hand to answer:

"A full bottle is about one thousand gold coins."

"How much!?"

Tang Qi quickly pulled back his hand, scraping the excess paste from Dawn's hand back into the small bottle.

Stonecrusher immediately roared:

"This fucking little bit costs one thousand gold coins!?"

"This is cargo obtained through maritime trade with the Terran Empire. The high price includes shipping costs over sea and land...

And it's generally used for scar removal, so one small bottle is enough to last a long time. But if it's used for limb reattachment, the required amount is uncertain."

Tang Qi stood with his mouth open, unable to speak for a long time.

Sure enough, the beauty industry was absolutely profiteering in any world.

Now looking at the paste applied to the severed hand, it was quietly bonding the flesh together—slowly but effectively—

It could even self-adapt to the limb's condition.

For instance, Dawn's body, though pieced together from different limbs, had skin that looked tender, smooth, and flawless thanks to the Restoration Gel.

But he still couldn't help lamenting painfully:

"I thought I'd recruited a Divine Smite launcher, but turns out I hired a money pit!?"

He looked at Dawn seriously, like a rigid miser:

"Unless absolutely necessary, you're not allowed to use any divine power."

Transmitting the soul's voice to everyone's ears seemed to consume mental energy.

So Dawn still only transmitted to Tang Qi alone:

"Then I won't be able to use any power."

Everything she had came from the divine soul fire of 'faith'.

So regardless of which school's spell she used, it was all divine to her.

"So you're a blank warrior."

Thinking about how in normal circumstances she could only fight with her martial skills but didn't possess [Action Surge] like Stonecrusher.

And when getting serious, she was like a 'glass cannon'.

Tang Qi felt even more regretful:

"In any case, use it sparingly. We're poor and can't afford the consumption."

This wasn't a joke.

Although the necromancer had previously sworn confidently to buy Catherine's head for 5,000 gold coins.

But when Tang Qi actually searched, he discovered that the value of those 5,000 gold coins should have included the skull he'd used to create the Flesh Golem.

During the five years stationed at the temple, to research the mysteries of the soul, Dais had sold almost all the treasures in the tomb, raising massive funds to prepare Dawn's Flesh Golem body.

He'd even found channels despite the spell monopoly to buy the learning method for a fourth-circle spell and successfully advanced...

Leaving Tang Qi able to scrape together only leftovers now:

Three bottles of [Stress Potion] worth 100 gold coins each, one necromancy spellbook, several blank scrolls without copied spells, over 300 gold coins, and jewelry worth about 500 gold coins total—probably worth half that when sold.

There was also some adventurer equipment like armor and bows that had some value.

But they had no packs to carry these supplies.

"Kuru, I'll keep this book for you. When you finish learning the spells you have now, I'll give you this one."

Tang Qi called out to Kuru, who was studying new spells nearby.

A wizard's spellbook was often more valuable for research than the wizard himself.

Only new spells could serve as the carrot dangling in front to make this naturally timid kobold willing to stay more loyally with the party:

"Kuru! Like! Learning!"

After his "Rua," he immediately dove back into spell research.

It seemed that having the necromancer as comparison made him deeply aware of his own insignificance and spell scarcity.

Now he just needed thick reading glasses to be a rigid old pedant.

"As for you..."

Tang Qi looked at Dawn, who had no head and was temporarily covering her torso with white cloth, and couldn't help clicking his tongue:

"Get a set of plate armor—the kind with an iron helm.

Make sure it looks like there's a head in there."

Though he already had initial prestige at the camp, unnecessary trouble and explanations were better minimized.

When Dawn finished putting on the already rust-covered iron armor, with her head covered by a huge, can-like helmet, Tang Qi realized they had one last problem:

"Three horses, one extra person. How do we get back?"

Stonecrusher clutched his gurgling stomach and complained loudly:

"I'm so hungry I could eat goblin meat—I don't want to walk back!"

Though their temporary little party could be called oddly shaped and exceptionally skilled.

In their poor condition, spending several hours crossing Dawnmist Forest and dealing with those complex wild creatures would indeed be troublesome...

As Tang Qi hesitated, Dawn answered first with her mental voice:

"Let me."

Then outside the temple, she summoned a golden bright light.

"Don't!" Tang Qi tried to stop her.

But in the instant he shouted, Dawn groaned, her hand already falling to the ground—

And outside the hall, on the lawn covered by Dawnbloom's halo, a black warhorse's phantom clearly appeared.

It couldn't fully solidify, looking more like a spirit body gathered from black lines and mist.

[Find Steed], a paladin's second-circle spell.

So using higher spell slots put greater burden on the body?

Though he noted this characteristic, Tang Qi couldn't help thinking about the Restoration Gel consumed when reattaching Dawn's hand.

He muttered resentfully:

"Wasteful, so wasteful! Whose horse is worth 500 gold? All the money we just scraped together was coughed back up..."

"I'm willing to buy this horse for 500 gold!"

Melade's eyes lit up instead, clearly amazed by the black horse's appearance.

"The landlord's stupid son."

Tang Qi took a deep breath and began searching the Poet's Academy textbooks, trying to find a *Methods for Swindling the Last Gold Coin from Nobles*, planning to pluck this little piglet clean when they entered the city.

But the academy apparently didn't favor going against nobles, so he was disappointed when he came back to his senses.

"I'm sorry."

Dawn thought she'd done something wrong and apologized sincerely,

"I thought you needed a horse."

Tang Qi sighed deeply and finally shook his head, using the other half bottle of Restoration Gel to bond her hand:

"Forget it. This is after all a spirit warhorse that comes when called. A 100 gold coin price difference—barely acceptable, I suppose."

Compared to caring about gains and losses, returning to camp quickly to write his journal was more important now.

Money was all external possessions.

The rewards obtained through stories were his true pursuit on this journey.

So they delayed no longer, quickly distributing the horses and mounting their saddles.

But suddenly realized that behind them, the moonlight spreading over the Dawnblooms was quietly fading.

In just a breath's time, bright morning sun fell through the thinning mist gaps, and those Dawnblooms emitting soft halos became vibrant.

"This scenery isn't common in Dawnmist Forest."

Tang Qi sat in front of Dawn, holding the paladin's helmet to prevent it from making harsh noises during the jolting.

Dawn's mental voice sounded like a bitter smile:

"It's like they're seeing light as soon as I leave."

Tang Qi turned back to look at the dilapidated temple covered in golden radiance.

Now the moss on those stone steps and the vines on the gray walls seemed to reveal their green.

Even this aging 'hero' seemed to be rejuvenated with new life.

"Why isn't 'dawn' seeing off Dawn?"

The headless knight didn't answer him.

Instead, the black mist at her neck showed a strange surging as if about to erupt.

Tang Qi couldn't discern what complex emotion this represented.

He only heard her voice trembling slightly.

Saying somewhat awkwardly:

"Actions speak louder than words."

The meaning of that ray of sunlight behind them didn't depend on what she said.

Only on what she would do.

Tang Qi didn't care about her obsession—as long as it was generally beneficial to him, it had value to exploit.

But just as he told Dawn to follow closely behind Melade riding in front, he heard the paladin suddenly ask:

"After all these years, why are you still using this kind of construct?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not mocking anything. I just instinctively thought that the times would progress forward.

After all, the magical array in the tomb and the 'soul research' I falsely promised the wizard both came from the Golden Kingdom.

But in fact, it seems that's not the case..."

"Wait, wait."

Tang Qi blinked, asking in surprise,

"You've seen that 'eye'?"

"Though my memory is somewhat blurry, seeing familiar things makes me remember something—in the Golden Kingdom, they were relatively common artificial life forms."

Tang Qi felt his breathing becoming heavy.

Because he'd previously read through the journal and confirmed from the Slave of History Pen's notes the factual existence of the Golden Kingdom:

"When a slave possesses inexhaustible labor power, he becomes history's first slave—the Lord of the Golden Kingdom, 'the Greatest Pioneer' Sultan Adel."

Only the historical period it represented couldn't be verified.

Even Stonecrusher, who'd lived two hundred years, had never heard this name.

And dwarven generational turnover was extremely slow—long-lived ones could reach four hundred years.

To completely erase this nation's past would conservatively require three generations, tracing back over a thousand years.

That was an era before even the Lost Calendar had begun its chronology.

Now Dawn confirmed that bottled eyeball was 'common' technology from the Golden Kingdom period.

Did this mean that over a thousand years, people's mastery of magic and even other skills had actually 'regressed'?

But what couldn't be recorded was clearly only 'history' itself.

Even just through oral transmission, many techniques should have been inherited and developed to progress, right?

Many famous spells had been passed down this way...

In his contemplation, Tang Qi detected an unusual flavor:

"What connection does that Duchess who possessed the bottled eyeball have with the Golden Kingdom?

What involvement do those orcs who suddenly appeared in Dawnmist Forest have with the Golden Kingdom?"

By now, treating these as simple 'coincidences' was probably no different from self-deception.

And compared to the unease felt amid confusing conspiracies.

Tang Qi rather enjoyed the pleasure of being in the midst of it all, trying to unravel the threads.

If he recorded the entire story about the Golden Kingdom, the rewards obtained...

"You know what your expression looks like right now?"

Stonecrusher interrupted his reverie, suddenly shouting,

"You're grinning like those young punks about to get laid! You know what kind of action I'm talking about, right?"

Tang Qi cast a contemptuous glance at Stonecrusher:

"I'm laughing because I suddenly came up with a saying to write in my story collection."

The latter immediately felt his spine go cold.

After spending so many days together, he knew too well what Tang Qi was about to say:

"I'll never joke with you again—can you just shut up!?"

"A dwarf on stilts—self-deception."

"Fuck off!!!"

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