Boiling Meat

Perhaps because guests were about to arrive, people were coming and going inside the main building, which served as the reception venue.

Heka stepped aside for several people carrying wine barrels to the banquet hall, then continued onward.

The feeling of weaving through a crowd brought back memories of his days on the streets not long ago.

"You're here? I was just about to look for you. Come with me. The boss will take you to the banquet hall in a while."

As Heka struggled toward the place where the leader might be according to his memories, Deko, who was directing his subordinates as they arranged the venue, caught sight of him flickering through the crowd.

After calling Heka to a halt, Deko frowned at the object clamped in the boy's hands.

The leader would probably meet him once more before taking him to the banquet, so Heka did not refuse Deko. Instead, he followed him to a small room beside the banquet hall on the second floor.

The room had probably been prepared for guests who could not conveniently meet one another. It had two doors: one allowed them to leave through the corridor behind it, while the other led into the banquet hall.

Perhaps fearing that Heka would run away, Deko deliberately left behind a warrior in full, neatly worn armor before departing.

After entering, the man silently sat down in a chair near the door.

When he saw Heka take off his shoes and lie down on the chaise longue prepared for guests, he immediately rose to his feet.

However, just as his mud-caked boots were about to step onto the carpet, he stopped.

"He only told me to stay here. Since he told me to stay here, why won't he let me use these things? After all, I count as a guest too, don't I?"

Heka's sophistry made the man's hand withdraw from his waist. He then fell silent again, sat back down, drew the weapon at his waist, and carefully wiped and maintained it with the rag he carried.

Heka withdrew his gaze from the man and began staring at the tassels above him.

It was easy to tell that the people from the Black Mountain Merchants had furnished this place according to the principle of not seeking the best, only the most expensive.

Their taste, however, was somewhat worrying. There was a carpet, a tapestry, small solid-wood cabinets, and even a dressing table.

It looked dazzling. Each individual piece was a masterpiece, but once put together, they gave the impression that one had wandered into the dressing room backstage at an opera house.

After a long silence, the half-armored soldier had already begun removing his armor to wipe and maintain it. At that moment, the door leading to the banquet hall was finally opened.

The man in the black hunting outfit squeezed into the tiny room, bringing with him the darkness that the candlelight had yet to dispel from the banquet hall.

His gaze paused for a moment on the shoes Heka had placed before the chaise longue.

They were not a new pair, merely secondhand—or perhaps thirdhand—shoes picked up from a pawnshop.

After all, to the Black Mountain Merchants, Heka was merely a bone that might bring them profit. As long as he did not die, it was no great concern.

When it came to shoes, frugality was naturally preferable.

At that moment, those boots had been given a second spring by their owner's care.

Compared with the furnishings around them, however, they—or rather, the pair of them—were a little too old.

Moist mud clung to the edges of the leather shoes, while the heavily scuffed and creased leather above sagged limply together beneath the gray laces.

They looked like two gambling dogs sitting on the magnificent marble steps outside a casino, their bodies and purses hollowed out by gambling.

The man waved his hand. The soldier, who had just been preparing to remove his armor for maintenance, immediately stood up. At the same time, he held his right palm horizontally against his chest, stamped his left foot hard, and gave a standard military salute.

Heka sat cross-legged and looked at the man, while the man lowered his head and looked at the boy.

As the leader of the Black Mountain Merchants, he considered himself an excellent officer, as well as an excellent opportunist and gambler.

His string of successes had allowed him to lead the young men from his homeland away from that barren land.

If this venture succeeded, he would be able to name a clan after himself—Riel.

Yet when facing the little devil before him, he felt a strange slickness.

Every one of the other party's provocations and acts of presumption was so measured that he could not possibly reprimand or punish Heka for using the facilities without permission.

He did not dislike that slickness, though. Seen from another angle, being slick also meant that dealing with him could be more comfortable.

"I found a possible underground warehouse of theirs.

There are about thirty-two clearly recorded spaces of sufficient size inside the Dungeon, but fifteen of them are flooded during this season.

Some of the rest are located deep within the Dungeon. After excluding those, there are ten possible choices left."

Before the other man could speak, Heka directly shoved the meat soup he had cooked, still brimming with the heat of the pot, into his mouth.

Words were sometimes pale and monotonous. Knowing this, Heka jumped down from the chaise longue. Without wasting the other man's patience on putting his shoes back on, he directly displayed the map he had drawn.

"The Dungeon has roughly four levels, with some intermediate floors as well. If I were looking for a place to store goods, I would choose the dungeon on the second level underground."

Heka spread out a map. It was a rough sketch of the Dungeon he had drawn on the spot, with several conspicuous red circles already marked on it.

"Although this place is on the second level of the Dungeon, making it relatively deep underground, its structure means it generally will not be flooded. Even during the tidal season, it will remain dry.

Both of the travel journals mention this, and I also found a disaster report. It clearly states that this place was once operated by the Marnie Lineage as a transshipment point for supplies.

For a time, that transshipment point served as an important hub between the second and third levels. Later, during the Fusion Stage, it collapsed because of a geological movement. The people at the time thought the repair costs were too high and simply abandoned it.

As you know, that was common in Dungeons during the Fusion Stage. After all, valuable items no longer respawned there, leaving behind only scattered Demonic Beasts.

Afterward, the place was repeatedly overlooked during sewer renovation projects.

There is a watchtower there, less than a meter from the surface. For a time, it was also an important entrance.

An entrance like that should never have been overlooked, whether it was to be sealed for safety reasons or used as a ventilation shaft and work entrance during sewer construction.

But it was skipped because there is a carriage company above it."

"Golden Horseshoe Carriage Company."

Riel immediately gave a name, then watched Heka nod.