Lundebarun, a city located on the continent of Asparagan.
As it was called the holy ground of wizards, it gave me that ‘city of wizards’ impression at the first sight.
I could see the dome-shaped roof, the tall spires hidden as if within a maze-like outer wall, the countless airships floating around, people, and many colorful clouds.
It was as if I had spilled a palette with all kinds of paints on my eyes.
According to the information confirmed on the circuit wiki, this place was also one of the “Village of Beginning”’s that players choose to start from.
Which ‘Village of Beginning’ that a player starts with depends on the question that the player gets to answer from a certain girl in the completely white room when the player first creates the character.
If that player liked ‘wizards’ so much then that player was most likely to end up in Lundebarun as the ‘Village of Beginning’.
In my case, the reason why I started playing this game was to ‘farm the magic items’, so I said directly to her that I wanted to start out in Linduroak, which was the village that had the highest spawn rate of slimes known for having a relatively high drop rate for magic items.
That was how that little village came to be my ‘Village of Beginning’.
And with that information, Lundebarun was also one of the starting villages chosen by players, it was clear how quiet and peaceful the small village of Linduroak was compared to this one.
As the airship descended, the huge crystal balls hanging from the outer walls of the buildings lit up brightly and started playing images that seemed to float in the air like a hologram.
[This is the ‘Stonefinger Dwarf Industry’, we handle all kinds of minerals all over the world. We can knead all the minerals in the world like clay.]
[Everything about airships, we are the ‘Cloudbrows Dwarf Industry’. No need for long words. We will make this short and clear like our heights. Our industry is the Bellica of the airship industry.]
[A reliable supporter of your adventures, the ‘Serzin Insurance Company’ adds blessings to your steps like the Goddess of the earth Lonvadena.]
In the images outside the window, dozens of humans, dwarves, and elves were tangled and chattering.
Even in the midst of this noisy situation, colorful smoke and flashes of light continued to shine in my eyes.
Then, in an instant, a small object passed in front of me with a huge roar and scattered all the images around us.
The small object was a smooth, glossy black vehicle.
On it, there was a woman sitting on the very edge, fluttering her pure white hair.
That vehicle’s speed was incredible, but it was still at the speed that I could follow with my vision.
As the airship had passed through the maze-like forest of buildings, passing the images and lights that suddenly appeared in the air, it was leisurely heading towards the pier. Then this one particular building literally robbed my attention and sight.
Khea too was focused on that building.
“This is the first time I actually saw it.”
After confirming her bewildered expression, I too looked at it with the same expression.
I still couldn’t see the end of that structure even though I pushed my chin as high as possible.
{The White Tower}
As soon as I put the building into my sight, the silver text appeared. The appearance of the building was colder than silver and whiter than snow as if the exterior walls were cleaned with strong bleach every day, making the surrounding city of Lundebarun look foreign.
Even if I put my head up as high as possible, the tower was at the height of the clouds, so there was no way for me to know its peak.
That place is the holy land of wizards and the place where the player wizard Kellion, who disappeared with Sharan, took all his exams.
However, the tower, which had no windows and was built with only white bricks, was so thin that one person could barely fit in it.
The tower had a very mysterious structure that made it difficult to be even called a tower. As soon as I saw it, I was able to get the impression of the extremely closed tendency of the wizards.
By the time Khea and I got back to our minds from frantically staring at the tower standing ever so straight into the sky, the boat had already docked at the pier.
The pier of Lundebarun was more like a private space than an open space, as waving walls were installed in each compartment.
It was also the first thing that caught my eyes as Khea and I walked out from the ship.
“It’s like the boat is being devoured by the ocean.”
As I was in the midst of feeling the unique atmosphere of Lundebarun, Khea’s joke that seemed to tickle my ears came out from behind.
“And we’re trying to head out as if we’ve already been digested by it, right?”
As I reflexively responded to her joke and turned around to see her, she let out an ‘ugh’ sound, waving her hand with a funny expression
***
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – Karane]
***
“Welcome. Adventurers, Players, and Immortals!”
As soon as we left the waving veil, a small goblin greeted us with a robe made of silk so fine that it could not even be compared to his own skin.
“Thank you for using our pier! We are the ‘Galladi Pier’. We provide the best service, security, and privacy!”
Usually, piers are a public facility provided in every city or village, so I was not used to receiving such a welcome.
Still, I thought that it was one of the unique colors of the city of Lundebarun, so I bowed my head to greet him and tried to pass by.
However, the goblin swayed to and fro, waving his silk clothes like a cloud met with heavy wind, and ran to us and blocked my path.
“Our precious customer, please forgive me to inform you that we require 1 gold per day in order to rest your ship properly. Of course, we are able to clean the outside of your ship perfectly, as if it had been washed naturally by the rain bestowed by Oroad, the god of rains and clouds! However, we would require 3 gold for us to perform such work.”
My eyes met Khea’s for a moment, slightly bewildered by his words.
She also noticed that it was strange to collect money from a pier, which was a public facility.
At this, the goblin quickly caught our thoughts, and immediately began to explain, hurriedly spreading his short arms with rough skin.
“This is a private property serviced by our Galladi Industrial Company. Unlike general piers, we receive a certain amount of fee because we provide perfect service.”
Then he pointed his short finger signaling us to look around the pier, moving our gazes.
There were many different types of piers lined up around the pier where we were standing.
I noticed the largest and most ordinary pier among them.
The goblin noticed my gaze in an instant, and
“That’s Lundebarun’s public pier facility!”
He explained quickly.
“If you docked at our Galladi Pier without knowing that, then we will have to ask you to get the ship out immediately.”
Then the goblin frowned with deep wrinkles on his forehead slowly approached us.
His two small hands were clenched in fists, and the gigantic men who had been watching the whole situation from afar began to approach us slowly.
The two large men stood on each side of the goblin as if it was promised beforehand, and they slowly approached us as if they began to put pressure on us.
“Everything can be solved with just 1 gold. Ah, I forgot to say that we will need 2 golds from you. Well, learning from the first mistakes in life always comes with a price.”
“Everything was done at my will, my captain, and my master.”
As soon as the elated voice of the goblin ended, Elsha’s voice reverberated loud enough to make those standing around on the SkyLord tremble.
Then, the faces of the goblin and his men began to harden like a candlestick that had been blown out and started to solidify.
“Mose, my master, now that the size of the honor and fame on your name is greater than the behemoths of the sky and heavier than the mountains of Lalie, I have set my direction to this pier for fear of attracting the attention of all the people here.”
SkyLord, no, Elsha had made her way to this pier with a clear intention for a reason.
Due to the fame stat given to me and the splendid appearance of the gigantic airship, which is still difficult for players to have, it was very easy to attract attention.
There was a clear increase in the number of people that gathered to see the ship after we docked at this pier.
“Elsha, I appreciate your caring thoughts.”
“My rudder always follows your footsteps.”
I approached the goblin after hearing Elsha’s response.
However, the goblin and his men’s faces did not look well.
Their faces were as pale as the underground people who had never seen the sun before.
“M…Mose?!”
“The… Prince Slayer!?”
“The Hero of Azharus?!”
Unexpected aliases started coming out of their mouths.
It was also the moment I realized how fortunate it was for me that the very person who created this alias and the Information Guild who decided to spread this information don’t know my face or my personal details.
The three of them, who started spitting out the aliases that made me feel somewhat strange, were now shaking as if they were stranded in the middle of a blizzard.
“B… But there are other immortals that use the same name!”
“Yeah, but have you seen another immortal who owns that kind of ship?”
“H-hey…! Take a look at that ring!”
After having a very urgent conversation with each other, they became completely silent after the last man’s shrill scream.
They finally noticed the ring on my finger.
Unfortunately, they noticed it very late.
They didn’t seem to want to talk any longer.
So I decided to approach them.
“First of all, I would like you to take care of my SkyLord since it had to guide us through the harsh and heavy mists of Oroad. There was a lot of moss in the lower part of the ship, so it would be good to clean that off too.”
I opened up my inventory and handed them 3 golds.
They were paying very keen attention to every single one of my actions, and they trembled and twitched with surprise several times.
“And the price of learning you mentioned before…”
I could see that their minds were starting to go numb. They even stopped shedding cold sweat with their faces pale as if all the blood were sucked out of them.
“You must’ve learned something from this, right? How about we call it even?”
I showed them a cold smile.
I didn’t want to create any fuss in a place like this, and like Poche the Lympu we saw back in Tikris, they were just doing their job.
Of course, they had treated us quite rudely, but looking at their pale faces, it seemed to me that they had already paid their price.
“Then, I hope you can take good care of my ship.”
They responded to me only through their trembling eyes. Then they finally said something back.
“O…Of course! We will make sure to serve you with the best we have!”
“May the light of Bellica always be with your steps!”
“I swear on the name of Velluce that we will use everything we have in the Galladi Pier to ensure the quality of our service!”
Then Khea, walking beside me, suddenly stopped.
I knew exactly what expression she had on her face, and what she was about to say without having to even look at her.
She must have a stone-cold and piercing expression on her beautiful face.
An expression like the quiet summit of a snowy mountain that was about to avalanche.
As soon as that thought flashed through my head, her voice softly echoed from behind me.
“Of course, I also think that the light of Bellica will be with you in what you do in the future. I really hope so.
“But, I ask you not to speak of this incident that took place here and spread it. I’m really begging you, alright? Do keep in mind that it is a very rare case for Sworders to ask for something.”
Hearing her voice, I just slowly headed out of the pier with a small smile on my face.
As I got closer to the wall, quiet music with slowly increasing volume began to play around my ears.
I could hear the enraged cries of string instruments and the trembling sounds of other instruments that made my heart tremble like the foot stomps. And the melodies were as if they were waiting for me to step out of the wall.
Soon Khea had caught up to me and stood beside me so naturally. And we both stepped into the wall and out the other way.
The music reached its climax in line with the chills and thrills transmitted down to the back of my neck by the clear view of Lundebarun that fills my field of vision. It was as if the rhythm of the music was meticulously beating my heart up.
{Lundebarun – Street of Magic Merchants}
It was no longer just a place I passed by to gather information.
It was now a destination I had to reach in order to solve a problem I was faced with.
In this place that was only just a game, but never actually felt like just a game.