A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! - FSAGW Chapter 78 (Part 1)
The reason for the appearance of Named Monsters, huh?
For a moment, Kaiyan couldn’t answer Hoil’s question as he thought, and Hoil, with a surprised look, spoke up.
“Oh, you don’t happen to not know about Named Monsters, do you?”
“I’m well aware. But is there a specific reason they appear? As far as I know, they’re considered variants.”
After encountering Orc Lords, Kaiyan had asked Mr. Jeff about Named Monsters. At that time, Mr. Jeff had mentioned that Named Monsters were considered rare variants that sometimes occurred with very low probability, and the exact reason for their appearance hadn’t been determined.
“Hehe, that’s right. They are variants. But that doesn’t explain why they appear.”
“So, what is the reason?”
“My magician friend told me that they became variants because they consumed mana essence or mana cores that are rarely created naturally. It’s the excess mana cores that caused their bodies to change and turn them into Named Monsters. Oh, but this isn’t something certain; it’s more like a secret story circulating among magicians.”
“…I see. But what exactly are mana cores?”
While Hoil’s words were quite intriguing, they didn’t provide a definite answer to his initial question. However, they did manage to pique Kaiyan’s interest.
What could mana cores be that could mutate monsters into Named Monsters?
“Sometimes in nature, pure mana, completely free of impurities, gathers in one place. And when that mana exceeds a certain threshold, mana cores are created.”
“So, you mean that a collection of pure mana becomes a mana core?”
“That’s right. And it seems you must have been lucky enough to consume one. I heard that when a magician consumes a mana core, they gain a large amount of mana, and a swordsman gains a significant amount of aura.”
“…It seems like that might be the case. Thank you for explaining.”
Listening to Hoil’s words, Kaiyan realized that this was a completely unrelated story to him. However, he now had a convenient excuse to use whenever something like this came up in the future.
Right now, he felt like giving Hoil a toy or something as a gift.
Honestly, how difficult had it been every time he revealed his skills, constantly being met with suspicion from others? But now, he had found such a good excuse to use in such situations.
“I’ll get up and pick up a sword right away!”
“Why are you suddenly doing that?”
As he picked up a sword and got up, Hoil looked at him in confusion, as if wondering why he was suddenly doing this after all their previous conversation.
“I’ll be your practice partner, Hoil!”
It wasn’t a bad thing for Hoil to spar with him. Having someone to spar with freely swung a sword would be a great help in improving his skills.
It was a perfect way to repay the favor.
Of course, it couldn’t be denied that this method was more for his own benefit than for Hoil’s.
Two hours had passed since Kaiyan had finished sparring with Hoil when Barvan came into the room.
“Kaiyan, what did you do to make Hoil act like that?”
“Why?”
“He looks as pale as a sick person. That’s why.”
Kaiyan couldn’t help feeling a little sorry if he had pushed himself too hard during their sparring match.
“Well… It’s been resolved quite well, hasn’t it?”
“Well, we do have knights we can use as witnesses. I’ve informed the heirs of the noble houses about what happened first.”
“The heirs? Not directly to the lord? Why?”
“It’s better to inform the heirs than to report directly to the head of the house. They’re in the same position as me, so they won’t make a big issue out of this problem. In fact, they’ll probably owe me a favor.”
No heir would view the gathering of younger siblings to vie for the position with favor. Moreover, if Barvan had suffered at the hands of Jansen, the next targets would likely be the heirs.
“That’s good. So, should we start talking about Lukuba’s merchants now?”
After resolving the issue in Lunas and heading to Carsia Territory, Barvan had promised to tell Kaiyan the location of Lukuba’s merchants, even if Lukuba’s merchants moved from Blatan to somewhere else.
“Don’t worry about that. I have a way of knowing where Lukuba’s merchants are.”
“What is that method?”
Kaiyan expected that noble houses had excellent intelligence, but how could they always find the whereabouts of Lukuba’s upper ranks who moved around discreetly?
“Well… um, this is a bit of a secret that only high-ranking noble families in the Kingdom of Menislan know. So, keep this a secret Between us, okay?”
“Of course.”
Barvan closed his eyes as if contemplating, resting his chin on his hand.
After about five minutes, Barvan seemed to have made up his mind and spoke.
“Kaiyan, remember that there could be consequences if you go around telling what you’ve heard. You’re my benefactor, and that’s why I’m sharing this with you.”
“Don’t worry.”
“The Lord at the top of Lukuba is a noble. Not just any noble, but one with quite a high rank in Menislan.”
“…The Lord at the top is a noble? What nonsense is this?”
Kaiyan seemed tense as if wondering what to say, but the idea that the Lord at the top of Lukuba was a noble was hard to accept from Kaiyan’s perspective, as someone who had lived as a commoner on the Eunasia continent.
How surprised had Jansen been when he had to bend his pride and work as a merchant to survive? But now, a noble not just any noble but one with a high rank, directly managing the top.
“That’s right. That’s why I hesitated to tell you.”
“It makes sense… It’s quite shocking that a high-ranking noble manages the business.”
“Remember once again that you must never tell this fact to anyone.”
Barvan emphasized this with a stern expression as if he were worried that Kaiyan might inadvertently reveal this fact.
“Got it. But does that have to do with the location of the Lukuba merchants?”
“Of course not. He’s not someone with such a low rank that a noble could talk to him unless he was his father.”
“Then?”
“He has artifacts that he gave to each of the high-ranking noble families in Menislan. If you use it, you can know the current location of the Lukuba merchants. Lukuba operates almost exclusively in Menislan unless there are special circumstances, so it’ll be easy to find once you know the direction.”
“That makes sense. But why did he give such a thing to noble families? As far as I know, nobles have a high sense of pride, and that’s like announcing that they’re managing a merchant group.”