Entering Exorsus (2)

The reason for dragging those two, especially Unos, around despite the discomfort and attention it brought was clear.

Revenge.

There were several targets of vengeance that filled my heart with poison, prompting me to decide to enter this damned place twice.

Among them, one of the top three I most wanted revenge on was Unos.

I caught such a Unos. I can’t just kill him easily, can I?

Even if he suffers severe mental and physical pain until death, it wouldn’t satisfy me.

Moreover, from the moment you enter Exorsus, you cannot kill a representative for a certain period. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say they don’t die.

That’s the “setting” that governs the entire ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’ In Exorsus, the village of beginners, the following “settings” prevail.

First, during the training period, you cannot kill a representative in Exorsus.

Second, after the training period, if a representative who meets certain conditions surrenders, they won’t die until the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ ends.

In other words, during the training period, you cannot kill a representative. But if Unos surrenders, it would all be in vain. I must prevent him from expressing such intent.

So, I gagged him and cut out his tongue to prevent him from uttering a word.

I bent his arms and legs in different directions to immobilize him.

I shattered his mana core to prevent him from relying on supernatural powers.

I stripped him of all clothing except his underwear and confiscated his weapons and accessories to block any tricks completely.

I despise Unos enough to endure all these inconveniences. I am wary of his schemes and conspiracies.

Of course, since it’s the ‘Battlefield of the Gods,’ there must be other ways to escape despite this preparation.

To guard against and prepare for that, something special is needed. Fortunately, I can create it through ‘production.’

I retraced the series of events so far while looking at Unos. Checking for any problems or mistakes I might have made.

Then my gaze landed on Katarina, who wasn’t particularly important.

She looked like she had lost her mind. Is it because the continuous, albeit not severe, pain has driven her mad? She was drooling, and her eyes were dull and vacant.

The reason I didn’t ‘absorb’ Katarina, unlike other representatives in the previous Monster Belt, was because, as a symbol of terrible misfortune, I might step in it.

What if I absorbed her and gained a talent like ‘makeup’?

With strength over 100, bulging muscles all over my body, and an ability for ‘makeup’!

Just thinking about it makes me feel like I’ve been attacked. I wish I could buy a brain that didn’t imagine that grotesque image.

I brought her along to sell for another purpose.

As a prostitute or sex slave.

In the ‘Battlefield of the Gods,’ there are nobles and royalty. Among them, some are crazy enough to want representative slaves.

And strangely, those perverted high-ranking nobles or royals each have some ridiculous artifacts.

For example, like a necklace that blocks any attack a certain number of times.

That useless woman, Katarina, will play a fitting role for that. Definitely.

We left the guard building and took the carriage provided by the head of security, which was used to move around the village, heading towards the central square.

The gate we entered through was the north gate, and it would have taken quite a while to walk to the central square.

To briefly explain Exorsus, it is called the beginner’s village by the representatives and the village of transcendents by the continent dwellers living in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’

For some reason, many people with extraordinary abilities, enough to be called transcendents, live here.

Perhaps because of these transcendents, the city of Exorsus is surrounded by a Monster Belt, yet they live without any inconvenience.

The area is approximately the size of a district in a metropolitan city, making it quite a large city.

In the village center, there is a large market including a square and a fountain, and at the center of the square is a building like a chapel called the ‘Garden of Gods,’ where once a year, you can meet your patron god.

To the north are the Adventurers’ Guild, the Exploration Guild, educational facilities, and the residences of the transcendents.

To the south, divided in half, one side houses the residences of Exorsus citizens, the Mercenaries’ Guild, and government offices, while the other side has guilds related to a few different races, such as the Elementalists’ Guild or the Summoners’ Guild.

To the east, mainly temples are located, because if you go east past the Monster Belt from Exorsus, you will find the ‘Holy Nation Union’ that worships the gods of the Heavenly faction. Maybe?

Conversely, to the west are elemental magic towers, and similarly, if you go straight west, you will find the ‘Darkness Empire’ that worships the gods of the Demonic faction.

If you head slightly south from the central square, you’ll find the only government office in Exorsus.

The reason for the sudden visit to the office is that there are people here who handle administrative tasks related to housing.

After telling two people outside the office to watch over the rascals, I headed inside.

Like a quiet rural district office, most people inside were either reading books or nodding off at their desks, not paying much attention to my entrance.

“I want to buy a house.”

When I approached the nearest staff member and spoke, he pointed somewhere with an annoyed expression.

Moving in that direction, a middle-aged man with glasses looked at me sullenly.

“I want to buy a house. It must be sturdy, definitely have a basement, and a garden is essential. I’d like a high fence, at least three stories, and more than 20 rooms per floor, excluding the living room.”

“…Huh? Really, do you have the money?”

“Of course.”

Even as I nodded and offered a simple affirmative, he didn’t withdraw his skeptical gaze.

No, to put it nicely, it was a look of disbelief, but it might as well have been saying, “Someone like you?”

I could somewhat understand this official’s mindset, as the kind of house I described would be fit for a noble, a wealthy noble at that.

With ordinary money, it’s hard to even rent, let alone buy, half of such a house.

Of course, just because I understood his position didn’t mean I forgave him.

“Is there a house that meets the conditions?”

“There is. There are about five or more. But, do you really have the money… sir?”

Perhaps he thought someone who could afford such a house wouldn’t be of ordinary status? He awkwardly added a polite suffix at the end.

“If so, it would be nice if it were near the residence of the transcendents in the north.”

“There are two houses that meet your conditions. One is easily twice the size of what you mentioned, and the other is about 40% smaller than the house you proposed.”

“I’ll take the bigger house.”

When I said I would go with the bigger house, the man bit his lip as if to say, ‘We’ll see.’

He first summoned a guard, then quickly drafted a document with what appeared to be a magic pen, slamming it onto the desk with a bang.

“500,000 gold!”

1 gold is roughly equivalent to 100,000 Korean won. 1,000 silver equals 1 gold. 1 silver is approximately 100 won. So, 500,000 gold was 50 billion won.

He shouted 500,000 gold loudly, as if to say, “Do you really have that kind of money?” His exclamation drew the attention and focus of the previously quiet office.

“Here’s 500,000 gold. But there’s no funny business at this price, right? I’m planning to enter the ‘Garden of the Gods’ after stopping here. The one who ordered me to buy a house upon entering Exorsus is my patron god.”

“What? A-a divine Delegate?!”

“If you mean a representative, yes. That’s why I’ve been speaking informally to you, the manager. Didn’t you know?”

“…!”

Simultaneously, a hush fell over the bustling office.

As if a massive bomb had exploded, causing a strange ringing in the ears, the air suddenly froze, and everyone in the office stopped moving at once.

And then, a few seconds later, the office began to buzz with noise again.

A very fat man, who had been nervously dealing with me, waddled quickly from behind the staff.

“I-I’m sorry. Noble, no, divine Delegate!”

“No, it’s fine. Let me just make sure. Is the price of this house certain?”

Why am I asking if the price is certain?

First, the consistently unfriendly and dismissive attitude of the staff.

And then, a message that disrupted my view.

“Pl-please give it to me. I-I will check it right away.”

A fat man, who seemed to be the superior of the rude official, slowly checked the document and then bowed his head again.

“I’m sorry. It seems the staff made a mistake while calculating. The correct price is 400,000 gold.”

“I see. If I hadn’t mentioned it, it would have been overlooked, wouldn’t it?”

“N-no, if we had discovered the mistake later, we would have definitely refunded the difference. I assure you on my name.”

I could see the sweat starting to trickle down from his forehead, soaking his shirt as it ran down his neck.

Frowning at his appearance, I nodded, conveying a hint that I’d let it slide this time.

“Then, let’s proceed with the calculation.”

“Ah, yes! A 21% discount on 400,000 gold, oh? The discount, um? I will apply it. Ah! Yes, I will apply the discount correctly. So it amounts to 316,000 gold.”

The staff, who was initially rude, soon agreed and completed the transaction with the skill-applied price.

“I’ll take it with this.”

Hundreds of jewels stacked in the inventory. I took out one diamond, one ruby, and one sapphire, and placed them on the table.

The manager, whose eyes widened at the sight of the diamond, gaped at the three jewels.

The brilliance of the three jewels was dazzling, but the elemental power and divine power each jewel emitted could also be felt.

“Is this what you mean?”

“Yes. Quickly calculate. Is the work process always this slow here?”

“What? Oh, no! Hey, Roy! Go fetch the appraiser who’s idling upstairs. What are you doing?! Go get some Althus tea leaves!”

As if someone pressed the play button on a paused screen, they moved in perfect coordination.

The bespectacled official who was unfriendly to me expressed his despair with his whole body, then ran off somewhere after being kicked by his chubby superior.

By the time the bespectacled official returned with tea emitting a refreshing fragrance, the appraiser from upstairs had finished appraising all the jewels and cautiously handed me a paper with the prices.

The appraisal results for the jewels were as follows:

The diamond was 200,000 gold.

The sapphire was 180,000 gold.

The ruby was 180,000 gold.

This time, even after looking at the appraisal document, the discernment skill didn’t activate, so I considered the prices reasonable.

An unusual point is that on Earth, the value of a diamond as a jewel would be significantly higher than that of a sapphire or ruby, but here, there’s not much difference.

“May I ask a question since there’s a difference from the dimension I lived in?”

“What? Oh, yes! Of course.”

“Here, diamonds don’t have much price difference from rubies or sapphires.”

“Yes? Isn’t it obvious? Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and topazes are all used in wands or artifacts by mages. Of course, they can be used as gemstones themselves, but something with such immense power should be considered a quasi-artifact rather than just a gem.”

“Got it. It was just a simple curiosity, not an interrogation.”

“Then, please calculate.”

“Oh, yes. So, the diamond is 242,000 gold, the sapphire and ruby are each 217,800 gold. A total of 677,600 gold. How would you like to receive the remaining 361,600 gold after excluding the house price of 316,000?”

“10,000 gold as mithril coins worth 100 gold each, 1,600 gold in gold, and the rest directly to me.”

“Understood.”

After a moment, two officials struggled to place a pouch of gold on the table. They also placed a small, novel-sized golden metal plate on the desk.

“Here, place your hand on this plate and say ‘deposit.’”

“Deposit.”

With the word ‘deposit,’ letters appeared on the golden metal plate.

350,000 gold had been deposited.

This is the system that allows you to carry money in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’

You can carry coins directly, but the weight is considerable.

Some people use subspace or put them in and out of magic pouches, but as mentioned, large sums are inconvenient to move.

So, like internet banking or phone banking, this deposit and withdrawal device allows easy deposits and withdrawals.

Most stores of a decent size are equipped with this magical deposit and withdrawal device, making it a convenient system.

Strictly speaking, it can be said that this is for the convenience of the representatives who will live here, the main stage of the ‘Battlefield of the Gods.’

Finally, I put the house deed and the gold pouch into the inventory and placed two mithril coins worth 100 gold in front of the fat official.

“This is the referral fee. Find and send someone from the construction guild who is trustworthy and the most skilled before I arrive home.”

“Of course! Leave it to me!”

As soon as I stepped out of the office, I was greeted by Arun blocking the path with two pieces of trash and the confrontation with Hyo-ju, who was panting and drenched.