Dungeon Odyssey [EN]: Chapter 64

Dungeon Journal – 64

# 64

Dungeon Journal

Episode 65

Balzac maintained an unnatural silence in response to Kim Jin-woo’s question.

“Even if you try to pretend you don’t know, that armor is too familiar. Aren’t you being too careless? Or did you think I was a fool?”

Balzac did not answer even to the biting question.

“Did Anatolius send you to monitor me, or did he at least push you to do your job properly?”

Kim Jin-woo recognized Balzac’s identity the moment he saw the armor, which was identical to that of Anatolius the Iron-Blooded.

Nevertheless, the reason he observed Balzac’s actions for a while was that he couldn’t understand his purpose. However, the answer to his question was provided by someone unexpected.

“Balzac was never trusted by Anatolius from the start. He’s not resourceful enough to carry out a mission like this.”

Angela, who had approached unnoticed, spoke up close.

“For someone like that, his actions are quite adorable, aren’t they? If I hadn’t met Anatolius, I almost would have been fooled.”

Kim Jin-woo criticized Balzac’s actions with a nonchalant expression.

“The Iron-Blooded Knights are, as the name suggests, a knight order. They are war demons who ride carefully selected hell steeds and roam the battlefield. Their movement is like a divine wind, and their charge is devastating. But Balzac is…”

Angela gave an irrelevant answer. Listening to her, it seemed she wanted to imply that Balzac’s position was not good even within the Iron-Blooded Knights.

“He can’t ride a horse. A knight without mobility is not treated properly in the Iron-Blooded Knights. And Balzac didn’t disguise himself; he couldn’t. He is…”

Angela strode up to Balzac and, with a swift motion, removed his head.

“A Dullahan [a headless horseman].”

***

A Dullahan was a knight who lost his head on the battlefield and was resurrected from death.

By resurrecting in such a way, he gained even more powerful strength than he had in life, but in return, the Dullahan, who could no longer ride on the back of a living being, feared losing his head again more than anything. And the Dullahan, lamenting his situation, hated and resented the one who killed him.

“A bizarre being.”

Balzac, whose identity had been exposed by Angela, now openly tucked his large helmet under his arm and stood nonchalantly.

Kim Jin-woo shook his head, looking at this strange knight with his neck empty.

“Anyway, Balzac is not a spy or anything like that.”

“No. I still can’t trust him. Even if he can’t ride a horse, he’s still a hero-grade being. Anatolius wouldn’t have easily dismissed such a being just because he’s slow.”

As for hero-grade summons, he only had two under his command. Even with the penalty of not being able to ride a horse, he was not an existence that could be easily dismissed.

“Master, the Iron-Blooded Knights are…”

Angela sighed and replied.

“…a knight order made up of 100 hero-grade knights.”

This time, Kim Jin-woo couldn’t help but be astonished. The idea of filling an entire knight order with hero-grade knights was hard to believe.

“Anatolius wouldn’t even bat an eye at the departure of just one Balzac. From Anatolius’s perspective, who has a cleanliness obsession, Balzac would have been like a stain on the Iron-Blooded Knights.”

It was trouble piled upon trouble. Just when he thought he had gained a foothold on the 9th floor, he had no idea that the power of a deep-level Count would be so great.

As the power gap he had vaguely felt became a reality, Kim Jin-woo’s expression hardened.

“Even so, how can I trust him? Anatolius’s position might have changed since Angela left. Or perhaps Anatolius seemed like the kind of person who would have the capacity to embrace even a subordinate he didn’t like, depending on his needs. Am I wrong?”

His wariness of Anatolius was as strong as his wariness of Balzac.

In response to Kim Jin-woo’s words, Angela stood next to Balzac and placed her hand on his thick pauldron [a piece of armor protecting the shoulder].

“That’s right. Anatolius is a lord with that much capacity. But at least that’s not Balzac. I can guarantee that.”

Her attitude was too firm to be called unfounded conviction, so Kim Jin-woo demanded an explanation from Angela.

“Because Anatolius killed Balzac.”

***

In the end, with Angela’s guarantee, Balzac was able to settle in the Naga Fortress.

In the middle, he caused a commotion by claiming to have a duel, but from the beginning, an ordinary hero-grade summon could not defeat Kim Jin-woo, who had amplified abilities thanks to the Commander’s title.

He was beaten so badly that his armor was crushed, and he had to declare defeat.

After the duel, just in case, he summoned a Guardian Dragon to confirm whether the information was true. As a result, Balzac could not ride on the back of a living being.

When Balzac tried to get on, the Guardian Dragon vehemently refused.

It was too hostile and nervous to say that it refused because it was not his rider, so Kim Jin-woo had no choice but to believe Angela’s words.

“Are there any others in the Iron-Blooded Knights whose positions are ambiguous besides Balzac?”

Kim Jin-woo, who had newly felt the power gap with Anatolius, asked with a desperate heart.

Other than that, hero-grade summons were not talents that could be obtained just by wanting them.

Perhaps this was an opportunity to strengthen his forces, and that expectation was evident in his eyes.

However, Angela’s answer dashed his expectations.

“The Iron-Blooded Knights are united by their loyalty to their lord. Even if their lord turns his back on them, they are a fanatical group that will give glory to Anatolius until the moment they die. Balzac is just a spoil of war that Anatolius paid for; there are no more like him.”

That the Dullahan fiercely hates the one who killed him, and yet Anatolius’s power is so great that he can control Balzac despite that hatred, was not good news for Kim Jin-woo.

“If it weren’t for Anatolius’s situation of trying to overturn the landscape of the 11th floor, Balzac would have suffered forever, serving the one he hated.”

Anatolius, who would have to fight a great war someday, would have been burdened with keeping a Dullahan who hated him. That’s why Balzac was able to leave the 11th floor and come up to the 9th floor.

Kim Jin-woo, having sorted out his thoughts on Balzac, called Dominic and Angela and told them to find a way to gather talents.

“First of all, Master’s reputation has spread far and wide due to repeated victories, so as time passes, many strong people will naturally come to rely on you.”

‘There are several people knocking on the door of the labyrinth every day. Most of them are just husks, but occasionally, some quite useful people come along.’

They both said in unison that time would naturally solve everything.

However, Kim Jin-woo was not satisfied with that answer.

In a situation where even a Count, not a Duke, possessed unbelievable power, sitting back and waiting for talents to come was not his style.

But there was no way.

There was a way to hire mercenaries through the black marketeer, but he could no longer trust the Black Merchant, who had already tried to dig into his background through Angela.

So he had already decided to limit his dealings with the black marketeer to materials.

“Find a way to accelerate that.”

‘Master, even now, you are achieving unprecedented growth and expansion. Don’t be too impatient.’

“The lords of the deep floors have existed for a short hundred years, and a long several hundred years. Trying to catch up with them in such a short time is actually impossible.”

Their words were all correct. Kim Jin-woo himself knew that even the current growth was so fast that the entire 9th floor was surprised.

But even so, he wanted to grow even faster.

“No. If we just sit back with such excuses, we won’t be able to catch up with them even if we wait a lifetime.”

Unlike the other labyrinth lords, he is human. If he can wait a hundred years and achieve everything they have achieved, what good would that do? He would already be dead.

“Bring Ricksha. She, who has been living as a wanderer, might have some way.”

So Ricksha was also included in the meeting. And as he expected, Ricksha began to tell in detail the rumors she had heard while wandering the underground.

Everyone was impressed by the surprisingly detailed information, from where the strong were on the 9th floor to which labyrinth lord was dissatisfied.

“I have ears, but I have not heard properly. But now that the master has given this lowly and wretched body new eyes and ears, I can finally meet the master’s expectations.”

It seems that she has organized the information brought by the long-range patrols in her own way. Kim Jin-woo praised her achievements with a satisfied face.

“Let’s send envoys based on Ricksha’s information.”

‘Where should we start first?’

There were more than one or two places marked on the map placed in the center of the owner’s room. Dominic picked out a few of them and asked, but Kim Jin-woo shook his head.

“Proceed simultaneously. Send them to the east, west, south, and north without discrimination. Send Nagas along with every two patrols.”

At the firm voice, Angela shook her head and sighed.

“I see why the beings of the underground fear the surface dwellers.”

Angela spoke again, looking at Kim Jin-woo, who was still not even turning his head and looking at the map.

“No one in the underground can move so passionately.”

“Humans, unlike you, do not receive the benefits of time.”

“Is that why? In my eyes, Master looks like a burning flame.”

With eyes that seemed to be looking far away, even the focus disappeared, Angela shook her head vigorously and stammered.

“I hope and hope that Master’s flame will last for a long time.”

***

Even after the long-range patrols, including Ricksha, spread out in all directions of the 9th floor, it took another week for Kim Jin-woo to hear that the Grave Yard’s core had been completely restored.

“Oh.”

Kim Jin-woo’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the Grave Yard’s core, which had a distinctly different color from the labyrinth cores he had seen so far, swirling like black smoke.

“It took longer than expected because the damage was more severe.”

The black marketeer was exaggerating, chattering about how much Down Gem [currency in the game] was spent and how much he suffered. Kim Jin-woo cleanly ignored the black marketeer’s words and checked the state of the core first.

[Land of the Dead, Grave Yard (Grade 5)]

[Once a haven for countless dead and reapers, the Grave Yard has been destroyed by Valishus’s reckless summoning. The facilities and summons lost at that time have not yet been restored, even though the core has been restored.]

[A lot of funds will be required to rebuild the labyrinth.]

[You can construct facilities and summon summons with the rights of a regent.]

Perhaps because he was a regent, everything was not visible in as much detail as in the Naga Labyrinth, but even this much message was enough to set the direction for the future.

“More than that, now the promised payment…”

Kim Jin-woo, who smiled with a satisfied face, rummaged through his pockets at the black marketeer’s words.

“Hehe, thank you.”

The black marketeer bowed, looking at the bloodstone heart containing the labyrinth’s core.

“Good work.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”

The black marketeer reached out his short arm to receive the bloodstone heart, but Kim Jin-woo subtly pulled his hand back. The black marketeer reached out again to grab the bloodstone heart, but looked embarrassed.

“Why…?”

For some reason, Kim Jin-woo was holding the bloodstone heart tightly and not letting go.