Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 83

"Return it after raising it to mythic grade... what does that even mean?"

The employee said with a dumbfounded look.

Well, it wasn't surprising.

Here was a man standing before him, claiming he would kill 10,000 demons - a truly unbelievable situation.

If I were in the employee's shoes, I would react the same way.

However...

"It's exactly as I said. If you lend it to me, I'll return it after raising its grade."

These were not empty words.

Actually, the condition of 10,000 demons was doable.

Demons were everywhere in the journey ahead.

Even now, a great war was looming, wasn't it?

Unless something unexpected happened, I would be able to slay hundreds more demons there.

Considering that such battles would continue in the future, 10,000 was well within the realm of possibility.

Of course, it would take some time.

'As long as it doesn't break before then.'

Barundel was an expert when it came to taking care of axes.

He would make sure it didn't get damaged.

"So, how about it? Deal?"

This was a good enough offer for the shop to accept.

From the shop's perspective, lending it to us on favorable terms was much better than selling it off cheaply at the auction, wasn't it?

It was a mutually beneficial deal in many ways.

The problem was...

"How can we trust you and hand it over?"

Right, there was the issue of trust.

A customer visiting for the first time, a mysterious man whose identity hadn't been properly verified.

That's who I was, objectively speaking, from the employee's point of view.

It would be difficult to readily hand over an item to such a person.

Especially a very expensive item worth 30,000 gold coins.

Therefore, I needed to prove myself.

To show them what kind of person I was.

"First, take a look at this."

I detached the identification card I always carried on my waist and handed it to the employee.

This should build some trust.

"Hmm, you participated in the Aldeon evaluation. You must be quite skilled. Wait a minute... are you currently enrolled at Asion Academy?"

"Yes, that's right."

The identification card contained a brief record so that others could see what the owner did.

For example, records of me taking the Aldeon evaluation, enrolling in the academy, and volunteering as a war mercenary.

In a way, it was like a portable resume.

"Oh... that's quite surprising. A student from a prestigious academy."

As expected, the employee was impressed.

Even if you didn't know someone well, if they showed you a student ID from a top university, you would naturally feel a sense of trust.

The employee probably felt the same way.

The only regret was that I hadn't updated my circle information yet.

'It would have been better if I had done that too.'

From the 4th Circle onwards, being a 4th Circle mage itself helped prove one's identity.

As the level increased, the number of people at that level decreased, making it easier to identify individuals. This also meant the likelihood of engaging in shady activities decreased.

If I had updated my circle information, I could have earned extra points in this situation.

Of course, I didn't know I would be using it like this, so it couldn't be helped.

Putting aside my regrets, I continued with the main topic.

"Would this be enough?"

I looked at the employee with an intense gaze, making it difficult for him to refuse.

However, after a moment of contemplation, the employee shook his head.

"Unfortunately, I don't think this will be enough."

"...Is that so?"

It seemed that it was difficult to lend out a legendary artifact with just this.

I needed to offer something more...

How long did I ponder?

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

'This isn't a problem that needs to be solved by building trust, is it?'

There was a much simpler way than building trust.

I explained my plan to the employee, and fortunately, he quickly agreed.

"That certainly seems like a feasible deal."

I had finally succeeded in persuading him.

Indeed, there was no reason to refuse now.

"Well thought out. Then shall we meet again tomorrow here to discuss further? I'll bring what I mentioned as well."

"Yes, that sounds good. I'll bring the manager too."

Having successfully scheduled the next meeting, I left the shop with a feeling of relief.

"Phew."

Perhaps because the deal was going well, the air felt clear even though we were underground.

Of course, it wasn't something to get excited about just yet.

To make this deal happen, I still had to persuade 'him'.

"He won't suddenly try to kill me, will he...?"

My relieved heart became heavy again.

"Well, it'll work out somehow!"

Shaking off my worries, I carefully made my way out of the black market.

***

It didn't take long to reach my next destination.

As soon as I left the black market, I arrived at Barundel's training hall.

I had considered going to his house, but I came here instead, and as expected, Barundel was at the training hall.

And with familiar faces.

"Oh, Yuhan!"

"Huh? Yuhan?"

"Oh, it really is him!"

Barundel was the first to spot me, and the others also rushed over with smiles when they saw me.

"Yuhan!"

"It's been a while."

These guys, who greeted me as if they had found a long-lost friend, were none other than the fellow mages I had learned light magic with at Aldeon.

Seeing them drenched in sweat, it seemed that Barundel had resumed the training they had paused while he was away.

The training hall quickly became lively.

"Wow, it's only been a few weeks, but it feels so good to see you! How have you been?"

"Well, I haven't been up to much..."

After catching up for a while...

It was time to put an end to the small talk and call Barundel.

"Barundel, I have something to discuss with you."

"Ah, has the mercenary work been decided?"

"It's not about that, it's something else important."

"Something important? Hmm... Come this way."

Barundel tilted his head with an unreadable expression and led me to a side room.

It seemed to be a personal space used only by Barundel...

As I stepped inside, the chatter from outside was significantly reduced.

"Is there a soundproofing spell on this room?"

"Ah, I put some effort into it when I built this training hall. I had a romantic vision for this kind of space... Looking back, it was a meaningless endeavor."

"You must be quite attached to this training hall?"

"Well, I can't help it. This was the first thing I started after quitting being a hunter."

"Aha, it must have cost a lot of money."

"Indeed... but why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

Barundel asked with a frown, sensing something strange.

It seemed I had inadvertently given off a hint.

Telling him now would only shock him, so I decided to talk about his weapon first.

I started by telling him about my visit to the black market to find [Anatak's Great Axe] and how I found it at a shop there.

"Oh... is that true?"

Naturally, Barundel was delighted.

It was only natural, since I was talking about finding his new weapon.

At this point, I asked what I was curious about.

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That the price of the axe has gone up tremendously. It costs a whopping 30,000 gold."

"3-30,000 gold, you say...?"

"Yes."

"Huh..."

Judging from his expression, he didn't seem to know.

"I heard that the price had gone up... but I didn't know it would be that much. It seems like it had a hidden ability."

"Exactly. I heard that [Anatak's Great Axe] is a growth-type artifact."

"Ah, I see... Wait, growth-type? Does that mean...?"

"Yes, it's an axe that can grow to mythic grade."

"Gasp!"

Even Barundel, who didn't usually show much emotion, couldn't help himself at this news.

He covered his mouth with his large hand and his eyes widened.

He knew the value of a mythic-grade artifact.

"M-m-mythic grade, you say?"

Barundel even stuttered.

I fully understood how he felt.

I also had the experience of getting so excited when I first obtained a mythic-grade weapon that I jumped around and broke my monitor.

Of course, Barundel hadn't actually obtained the weapon yet, but this showed how significant a mythic-grade item was.

There were less than 100 mythic-grade weapons with normal effects in this world.

"So, 30,000 gold..."

Barundel seemed to immediately understand the inflated price, knowing its value.

Along with that, a slightly disappointed expression appeared on his face.

"Then... it would be difficult for me to use it."

It was a perfectly normal reaction.

Who would think they could use a weapon worth 30,000 gold?

I was looking forward to Barundel's reaction when I told him what came next.

"But, I made a deal with the employee at the shop."

"A deal, you say?"

"A deal for them to lend me [Anatak's Great Axe]."

"...Lend? They would lend out such a weapon?"

"Of course, it wasn't easy. But they accepted my proposal."

"Th-that means!"

"Yes, you can use [Anatak's Great Axe]."

Was he shocked?

Instead of the reaction I expected, Barundel paced around with a serious expression, his arms crossed.

"Huh... Hmm... Me, with a mythic-grade weapon...?"

He seemed restless, like a child who had caused a major accident.

I added an explanation, thinking he might be misunderstanding something.

"To be precise, it's not a mythic-grade weapon yet. It needs to be leveled up."

"Ah, right. What's the growth condition?"

"You need to kill 10,000 demons with that weapon."

"Aha, I see... Wait, 10,000?"

"Yes."

Thud.

Barundel, who had been constantly pacing, stopped in his tracks.

"That certainly won't be easy."

He finally realized the reality of the situation.

In a way, this growth condition could be a big problem for Barundel.

"To fulfill 10,000... that means I have to go back to being a demon hunter."

The moment he received this weapon, he would have to become a demon hunter again.

This was also an opportunity to get a definite answer from him that he would continue to be with me.

"Would that be alright with you?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Barundel spoke with difficulty.

"...I need some time to think about it."

It seemed that he couldn't easily make a decision, perhaps due to his trauma.

"Yes, please think it over carefully and let me know. We can postpone the deal."

"...Alright."

As he replied, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

'I shouldn't have said this first.'

If I had known the atmosphere would become so heavy, I would have brought up something else first.

In my opinion, this next topic would make the atmosphere even more serious.

'...Well, it can't be helped.'

The water had already been spilled.

Since it had come to this, I decided to just go for it.

"But... there's one more condition."

"Hmm? What else is there?"

"Since it's an expensive item, we'll need some collateral."

"Ah, you're right. It's a deal that can't be made without collateral. Hmm, but what do we have that we can offer as collateral..."

"There's only one thing."

Gulp.

I swallowed hard and spoke.

"This training hall."

At that moment...

I saw it.

Barundel's face, hardened with coldness.

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

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