Chapter 59 – 60

Chapter 59 – A trading merchant arrived!?

The sticky spray splattered wetly on the shield.

"Wh-what!?"

Yes, what was it?

…Huh? Who said that?

The low voice had come out of nowhere. I looked around.

Shiel, Ril, and Mel could not talk.

That being said, there was no one behind me either…

I returned my gaze towards the flower. The flower had now shrunk back to its original size, and what I saw, were giant glowing red eyes.

The red eyes were staring at me quietly.

"…AHHHHHHHH!!"

"…AHHHHHHHH!!"

Both the thing with the red eyes and I started to scream as if in harmony.

After our screams had echoed loudly, our mouths closed.

Well, we now recognized that the other was a living creature.

Aside from its red eyes, the thing had a brown body that reminded me of a lizard.

However, this thing was big like a whale, and had scales.

The lizard slowly opened its flower-like mouth once again.

"Wh-what the hell are you!? I've never seen a creature like you before!"

Never seen a human?

As for me, I had never seen this giant lizard-like creature before either.

"That's my line… What are you doing here? Also, why was your mouth stuck?"

"Huh? Yes, that's it! There is no place that I cannot dig! However, I couldn't break the wall just now. But it was only rock…"

And then once again, the lizard tried to dig into the wall of the cave with its giant claws.

But no matter how sharp they were, it couldn't dig at all.

"Why…"

Indeed, it seemed rather odd…

Was this also an effect of 'Cave King'?

<<Yes. Caves that are dug through 'Cave King' are protected from environmental alterations by those other than the crest holder and servants.>>

I see… So it protects the cave from outsiders who might try to break it.

<<However, as it is only a protection feature, it does not completely insure preservation.>>

So, it's not actually impossible for someone to break it.

After all, the lizard had been able to break enough for its mouth to fit through.

Damn it. If I only knew this in advance, I wouldn't have had to worry about the caves collapsing… But then again, the Advisor said that it wasn't perfect, so maybe those safety measures weren't a waste.

The lizard lowered its arms in defeat and then looked at me.

"What is going on here… And your magic. You clearly aren't normal. Who are you?"

It could detect my magic?

Well, I could do it too. And so I knew that it also had quite a lot of magic energy. And we both used Magic Detection.

But it wasn't just that.

I felt that the words were echoing from its mouth, even when it wasn't opened.

At the same time, it seemed that its energy depleted.

I once heard that there was magic that could translate speech. Maybe that's what it was using?

In any case, it seemed like it wasn't the kind of creature that would attack us.

We should be able to discuss the matter.

"I am Heal. The lord of this island."

"Heal…huh… Well, I'm called Roydon."

The lizard that was called Roydon then politely offered me his monstrous claw.

As it seemed like he wanted me to shake it, I held the claw and obliged him.

"Still, this is a great surprise. I heard that everything above me is the sea. And so I did not expect to meet someone that is not my own kind."

"This also my first time meeting someone down here that can talk… Do you live somewhere below us, Roydon?"

"No, no. I… I traveled from the opposite side of the great land. It took me a month to get here. If I go just a little farther, then I would have traveled halfway around this star."

"The opposite side? …Half way around?"

I didn't really understand what it meant. But it was clearly that it wasn't from around here.

"…Well, never mind. By the way, you. Do you have anything rare?"

"Anything rare… Well, I think there might be a few things like that on the surface."

"Wonderful! Do you think we could trade items then?"

"Trade?"

"Aye! I happen to be a fledgling merchant, you see. And I will soon be able to reach the Earth Dragon homeland up ahead, so I can restock. Now, if you have any products, let me see them!"

A merchant… I had expected that we'd be encountering merchants soon enough. But it was a great surprise to meet one underground and not at sea.

Roydon lifted the great brown bag from its back and showed it to me.

I didn't know what was inside, but it was taller and wider than I was.

It must have been stuffed with all kinds of things.

On closer inspection, Roydon had smaller bags hanging around its waist and was dressed very much like a merchant.

Roydon had traveled from some other place for a whole month to reach us.

In that case, surely there were items in that bag that Kamyu would not be able to acquire.

"Of course. We welcome the opportunity. But, if you don't mind, why don't you eat with us while we talk?"

"Oh, do you mean it? Well, I would be very glad to!"

And like that, Sheorl Island had its first merchant visitor.

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Chapter 60 – We traded items!

"Woah! I've never seen a crab of this size! And is that a Killer Bird!"

The sounds of chewing echoed under the World Tree.

The very large lizard…Earth Dragon, Roydon, was eating lunch with us.

He could eat a whole roasted Killer Bird in one bite, and a whole boiled crab as if it was a berry from a tree.

Baris looked at this with wide eyes as he sat next to me.

"Hmm… I have never seen someone like this before."

"Me too. There were no Earth Dragons in the encyclopedia in the palace."

After talking with Roydon earlier, he had revealed that he was an Earth Dragon from the continent of Elto.

The kingdom of Sanfaris was the most powerful in the continent of Barleon.

And so we had connections to every human city.

As long as we weren't at war, foreign merchants were always present.

And so what was known throughout the continent was also known in the kingdom.

Of course, I had studied this subject thoroughly.

So you could say that Earth Dragons were completely unknown creatures.

While it was possible that someone had heard of them, there was no information in the royal capital.

Baris nodded.

"Still, I suppose that they are a type of dragon, given the name."

"Yes. A mythological creature, just like the Leviathan…"

However, according to him, they normally lived at the tops of mountains in an unknown continent across the sea.

This Elto continent was also a name I had never heard before.

In any case, Roydon clearly lived in a very different world from humans.

Rienna and a few other monsters were now approaching us while carrying trays of roasted Killer Bird.

"There is plenty more, so please eat up!"

"Oh, thank you! I haven't eaten anything but preserved food recently. So fresh and delicious food like this is very welcome…and this purple liquid…it is also good."

Roydon said as he drank the wine from a barrel.

"It makes me feel light-headed…hic!"

It was hard to think of mythical creatures when looking at Roydon…

While there was no harm in giving him a lot of food, I worried about him over drinking and causing trouble.

Besides, it seemed like he didn't know what wine even was.

And so I decided to have them stop bringing him wine so that we could talk.

"Roydon. Do you mind if you show me your goods now?"

"Oh, that's right. Just wait one moment."

Roydon shakily got up to his feet and swayed a little as he began to take the items out of his bag.

"Ohh, I have never seen such things before."

Baris sounded impressed.

There was a giant pot and other home tools, swords and armor, and works of art made from glass.

However, they were all about three times larger than what humans used. In other words, they were perfect for Roydon.

Not only were they beautifully decorated, but they were generally all clear like glass or crystal.

Most of them had a red or green tint.

Ril and Mel began to hide in the pots and play.

At this point, Mappa had also appeared. And he looked particularly delighted when he saw that there was a giant glass-like hammer.

"Amazing… Everything is so different."

"Right? All of them are made from Fire Dragon or Green Dragon scales. And so they have excellent durability and heat resistance!"

"Dragon scales!? I see…"

The Leviathan scales had also been transparent.

Mappa had used them to make glasses. The Earth Dragons must have similar skills.

"Also, I have stuff like this."

Roydon took one of the sacks that hung on his belt.

And from it, he removed large, sphericals objects.

"Dragon eggs! They are so delicious that you can eat them raw!"

"Dragon eggs… Well, that is impressive."

"Aye. The largest one is a Fire Dragon egg. The smaller ones are from wyverns. You can also fry them or boil them."

"I-I see… But uh, will they hatch?"

"Huh? Well, if you don't keep them chilled, sometimes that can happen. After all, it just takes a little heat and they just start popping out."

That was incredible vitality.

Baris turned to Roydon.

"I know of wyverns as well. They are monsters that are the size of horses, are they not?"

"Aye, that is right. We larger dragons like to eat them. After all, they are very delicious."

To Earth Dragons, other dragons were just food…

Baris chuckled awkwardly and then turned to me.

"I have heard that wyverns are loyal to their masters if you raise them from when they are small. Perhaps it would be a good thing to buy some of them."

"I see. If we raise them, we will have a way to travel through the air."

Currently, Baris, Mel, and Kamyu were the only ones who could fly.

The other goblins, orcs and kobolds could not.

And considering how useful it would be for watching and for moving between the levels of the World Tree, they would make a wonderful addition.

Roydon looked puzzled.

"You're not going to eat them? Well, I think you should do as you like. These eggs are about two months old. So they will hatch in less than a month if you warm them up."

Roydon then started rummaging through his bag and came out with ten more eggs.

"I have thirty in all. What do you say? Will you buy them?"

"I really do want them. But what do you want in exchange?"

"Indeed. What was that called, wine? Also, do you have any plants?"

"We have branches and leaves from the World Tree. Also some fruits?"

"Ohh, then give me those branches from the World Tree or whatever it's called. We generally don't have much wood."

"Huh. You don't have trees?"

"Aye. The Green Dragons have monopolized the few forests that exist."

"Huh…"

Considering that and the eggs, it sounded like there was a lot of fighting on Roydon's continent.

"Yes, let me see. Give me as many fruits as I can carry. And then I will add the Fire Dragon egg."

"Really? …But…"

Baris nodded.

"We don't really know anything about Fire Dragons. Besides, I am not confident that we could control it."

Roydon answered me.

"While every monster is different, they should generally recognize the first person they see as a parent. And they will not go against a parent. So I think it should be fine."

"I see. In that case, I suppose we'll take the Fire Dragon egg too."

"It's settled then! Ahh! Now I can return without worry!"

Roydon laughed boisterously as he started to drink the wine again.

"Hmm? You're not going to the other Earth Dragon settlement on the other side?"

"Aye. I was going there to get more wood materials. Because the other kinds of dragons aren't there. That's why I can sell them these scales and eggs."

"Oh. Still, you traveled for a whole month…"

"Aye. But thanks to you, the trip will be shortened by around ten days. Thank you!"

And with that, Roydon drained his barrel, finished the transaction, and started to return by the route he had come.

"I will be back. And with even more eggs!"

He promised before he left.

And so without having planned it, Sheorl had acquired a trading route.