Apostle of the Void

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 40: In the Red Mountain Range (4)

By the time Arzen emerged from the underground tunnel, it was already late at night.

“As expected, it’s hard to tell the flow of time underground.”

It had taken quite a while to wait for the burly men to completely disappear.

Outside the tunnel, an exhausted apprentice witch, barely staying awake, was scribbling on a roster. A guard frowned openly at the sight.

“Hey, stick to the entry and exit times! You’re 10 minutes over. I couldn’t even leave because you didn’t come up.”

It wasn’t wise to provoke people on the payroll carelessly.

And considering he’d interrupted their precious work-life balance, the fact that he wasn’t being cursed at meant this was a rather gentlemanly response.

Arzen nodded in apology and quickly made his way down the mountain.

“As expected from an outpost, they’ve got people on duty even at this late hour.”

Arzen sold the intact pickaxe for 3 coins each. After deducting various fees, he was left with 23 coins.

“If I sell the large nails to the witch tomorrow, I’ll have earned 2 silver coins for half a day’s work.”

“Once I get more used to these tunnel explorations, earning 5 silver coins shouldn’t be too hard.”

With that in mind, Arzen wandered around the mountain base.

Several proprietors had set up chairs in front of large, makeshift tents. These were known as "chicken coops," lodging facilities crammed with nothing but tightly packed double-decker bunk beds, where adventurers would sleep amidst constant snoring, stinky feet, and drunken ramblings. But there were no other options.

Arzen paid 3 coins for a spot.

He climbed the ladder to the top bunk and wrapped himself in the provided blanket, only for his skin to itch. It was clear that the blanket hadn’t been properly washed, likely crawling with mites.

Cursing under his breath, Arzen kicked the blanket away and tried to sleep relying solely on the warmth of his Akahalu hide robe.

“Damn it, I’m so exhausted, but I can’t sleep…”

His body itched so much that he ended up spending the night tossing and turning, sleepless. Early in the morning, he headed to the Witch Association tent.

The witches, who prioritized spiritual discipline, were already awake, having finished their early morning gathering.

Beth, the senior witch who had assigned Arzen his task, was inside the tent, conducting various experiments with the large nails. She was either dripping liquids onto the nails or embedding them into ritual circles.

“I brought the nails.”

“Oh my, you brought a lot! Didn’t you overwork yourself? You look exhausted.”

“I just couldn’t sleep. May I go now?”

“Of course. Oh, wait a moment. I’ll make a record proving your shift. Adventurers need these for contribution points, right?”

“Thank you.”

The tunnels opened at 8 a.m.

The witches needed time to wrap up their morning gatherings and prepare for the day. As Arzen waited for 8 a.m., he thought he might collapse from exhaustion if he went back into the tunnels.

“I’m so tired, how can I work like this? What’s the point of making money if it’s this miserable?”

Arzen headed toward the bus stop.

Just then, a stagecoach was unloading a crowd of adventurers into the Red Ridge. About half of that number was now queuing up.

It seemed commuting hours were always busy.

Arzen barely managed to board before the coach reached its capacity. The crowd was so packed that he had to pull his knees to his chest, unable to even stretch out his legs.

Despite that, Arzen was so tired that he felt sleep coming over him.

He summoned a worker bee inside the lining of his Akaharu-hide robe to guard his money pouch, then buried his head between his knees and began to doze off.

Except for waking up once or twice when the carriage stopped at a station or jolted from hitting an obstacle...

Arzen napped pleasantly.

He felt so good that he even drooled in his sleep.

Having boarded just before the carriage reached full capacity, he managed to secure a seat where the sunlight poured down, adding to his comfort.

How long had he slept, letting the rhythmic shaking of the carriage rock him?

By the time all three suns were high in the sky, the carriage had reached the city gates.

“Those with a regular pass, come this way. First-time visitors or those without a pass, come over here for inspection.”

Seeing how thoroughly the witches managed the city’s entrance from the early morning, Arzen thought, "As expected of one of the Seven Great Cities."

In most small towns or castles, gatekeepers would handle these mundane tasks, not witches.

Thanks to his regular pass, Arzen quickly completed the entry procedures and entered the city.

He wandered around, looking at different inns.

Many tried to rip him off because of his young age.

‘But who am I? I learned the art of haggling from the Divine Guillotine!’

After giving a few of them a piece of his mind, he managed to find out that all the inns near the gates had skyrocketed in price, as they were convenient for commuting to the Red Mountain Range.

Arzen hesitated for a moment.

But he figured that inns in the central district wouldn’t be much cheaper.

‘The Red Mountain Range is a hot spot right now, and even the accommodations attached to the guild branch must have increased in price.’

More than anything, he was too tired. He was so sleepy that everything seemed like a hassle.

He still had plenty of money left.

Even after subtracting the two silver coins he earned from selling picks and nails, the single gold coin Yuz had given him was still gleaming brightly in his pouch.

‘I'll just take an inn right in front of the north gate… I’ll catch the first ride to the Red Mountain Range at dawn and return on the last carriage of the day.’

He thought about upgrading his regular pass at the carriage office but was too exhausted to bother.

Besides, he could always do it at the temporary office set up in the Red Mountain Range.

Arzen chose the cleanest inn he had seen.

It came with a private bathroom, and the room was the largest of all the ones he had checked.

The cost was quite high, but he managed to haggle it down, using the excuse of staying long-term for a month and having breakfast included every morning.

‘The price? 23 silver coins!’

Considering the original price was one silver coin per night, it was quite the achievement.

After concluding a deal that satisfied both the innkeeper and himself, Arzen received the key with a handshake.

“Oh, and if you use hot water, the boiler will kick in, and you’ll be charged extra according to the usage.”

The boiler was a byproduct of the Steam Revolution.

Under the welfare directive of Aurelinople, the Dwarves were allowed to sell such technologies to humans for a price.

They wouldn’t teach the technical details, but it wasn’t like humans could understand it anyway.

In the past, to get hot water, you’d need to either rely on expensive magic tools or heat up stones and carry them around, but the world was getting better.

“Got it.”

The moment Arzen entered his room, he practically threw off his clothes and went straight to wash himself.

The bathroom even had a bathtub.

"One of the Seven Great Cities really is different," Arzen thought. Even inns here offered such luxuries.

‘Ah~ this is life. Now I can finally relax.’

Arzen thought to himself.

Earning lots of money and advancing in rank were important, but if the process was unbearable, then none of it mattered.

There's no use trying to grab hold of happiness in old age.

Each moment of youth must be filled with happiness.

In the warmth of the room, a pleasant drowsiness washed over him.

"Falling asleep in a carriage doesn’t count."

Now he understood.

A person needs a soft bed to truly get a good night’s sleep.

"I used to sleep just fine in stables or warehouses..."

Arzen could feel he had changed.

He had learned to live like a human being and realized that it was the way to find happiness. And this change felt good.

After conveniently finishing his bath, thanks to the worker bee’s assistance, Arzen changed into the cheap clothes he'd bought from the innkeeper and collapsed onto the bed.

“Worker bee, guard that well.”

His coin pouch, now filled with silver coins as change, was noticeably missing the gold coin.

It stung a little, losing the first gold coin he had ever held in his life.

But then again, he would be handling hundreds, thousands of gold coins in the future. There was no need to dwell on it.

With the worker bee standing guard over his pouch, Arzen quickly drifted into a blissful sleep.

---

Arzen woke up early at dawn.

It was still 3 AM, too early for breakfast.

After some light exercise, Arzen opened his sacred text and deployed all 61 of his Void Bugs.

"Kaz to Arcturus."

The summoning of the 62nd Void Bug was imminent.

He had been stuck at 61 for a while, too busy to move forward, but today, he planned to bring forth the 62nd Void Bug.

Besides, he’d probably doze off during the ride to the Red Mountain Range anyway, so his energy could be replenished then.

“Let’s do this, worker bee.”

Arzen focused.

The worker bee opened the window.

Soon, a massive heat surged through his body, so intense that it made him forget the chill of the early autumn morning.

Sweat poured down, and his insides ached here and there.

"One thing I’ve realized since reaching 60 Void Bugs is that the more I summon, the easier they are to multiply...!"

As expected, the existing Void Bugs widened the dimensional rift, allowing the newly summoned ones to pass through more easily.

"In the past, it used to take half a day of struggle just to add one more Void Bug, but now it's different! I can complete the summoning of one in just an hour!"

If he could strengthen his energy further, he was confident that he could increase by two, maybe even three, Void Bugs a day.

"Time to get ready."

Arzen finished his preparations quickly and headed down to the inn’s first floor. It was 4:20 AM.

Quite a few people were already there, eating the breakfast the innkeeper had prepared since the early morning.

Most of them looked formidable and well-armed.

"They must be seasoned adventurers, given that they’re paying a silver coin per night for lodging and forking over extra for the carriage fare. Not that they compare to me, Arzen."

Arzen felt a sense of superiority at being part of this group, rather than the rabble he'd dealt with last time.

“Hey there, for our long-term guest, I’ll toss in an extra egg!”

The innkeeper said this cheerfully, though the portion didn’t look any different from what the others received.

The breakfast was nothing special.

It was a standard meal of toast, bacon, scrambled eggs with onions, and corn soup—something anyone from the Republic would love.

“It’s always the same. The best breakfast is something everyone can enjoy, especially when no one has much of an appetite in the morning.”

He agreed.

It was better to eat something guaranteed, rather than fall victim to the innkeeper’s greed by trying something too experimental.

And considering the innkeeper’s skill, the meal was excellent.

The corn soup, in particular, was rich and sweet—a real delight.

"Yesterday, I was too tired to notice, but after signing a long-term contract, I can see that the daily lodging fee of one silver coin is definitely worth it..."

Like a pack of ghouls, the adventurers, who had been eating in silence with soulless expressions, began to rise from their seats one by one.

The gate was about to open, and the first carriage of the day would depart soon. It was almost 5 AM.

Arzen hurriedly wrapped the remaining bacon and eggs in the last slice of bread, making a makeshift sandwich. With it in his mouth, he joined the line of adventurers heading out.

Just as the door, opened by the adventurer ahead of him, was about to close and Arzen stepped through...

Thunk.

His gaze shot upward.

His bread, eggs, bacon, and drops of grease were flying through the dim early morning sky.

“Ouch...!”

Someone had rushed into him, knocking him off balance.

A girl, about the same age as Kitan, had fallen right in front of him, landing on her backside.

“No… the fried egg the innkeeper gave me as a bonus...!”

As Arzen gazed at his sandwich, now sprawled across the ground, tears welled up in his eyes. Meanwhile, the girl bowed repeatedly, frantic with apologies.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Ah, damn it! Do you think sorry is enough?”

Instead of shouting, Arzen sighed and stood up.

Her desperate apology and the fact that if he missed the first carriage, there would be no seats left, softened his heart.

The adventurer tag around the girl’s neck, gleaming silver, also played a part in his decision.

“She must’ve seen me leaving the inn near the gate and realized who I am, which is why she’s groveling... If she messes with the wrong adventurer, she’ll suffer.”

The adventurer society was a hierarchy driven by power, after all.

Arzen joined the line in front of the stop.

The girl, without a trace of shame, stood right behind him, despite the trouble she’d caused.

The line grew quickly, but soon the first carriage arrived. The adventurers showed their tickets and boarded.

The witch who had opened the gate and the guards double-checked everyone’s identities as they prepared to leave the city.

“All clear. Let’s go.”

The witch waved her hand in a circular motion.

The second gate, made of iron bars, rose into the air.

The carriage passed through and sped out of the city.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]