"… I can serve you, but you must pay me a price equal to my loyalty. If you can agree to one of my requests, perhaps it'll be easier for us to reach an agreement."
Mother Stone's ambiguous words didn't give me an answer. However, judging from her expression as she secretly glanced at Beifeng, she actually had the shy expression of a young girl in love on her face, which was covered in lumps of stone. Everything was said without words.
From a certain standpoint, Beifeng's abilities had indeed surpassed the legend of turning stone into gold. He was truly capable of moving a stone statue's heart.
When I returned from the battlefield and learned of Beifeng's battle accomplishments, even I was confused.
"… Impossible! Just by talking, he managed to tame a gigantic war beast that received the Titan Giants' divine power? Are you kidding me? That thing has at least SemiGod combat strength, and it's also being restricted by the Titan Giants. How could it possibly betray me just like that!? "
But sometimes, certain people and certain things were just that unreasonable. Facts spoke louder than words, and reality spoke louder than theory. If you felt that something was inconceivable, it could only mean that you didn't understand the situation … Fine then, to be more direct, nobody knew what Beifeng had done, nor did they want to know.
But when I saw this "miraculous man" who was able to move even the Earth Elemental Stone Goddess, having fun with that beautiful Divine Beast Lion, even I felt that something was off.
"If you look at it from a different perspective, isn't he taming some ancient princess in another dimension, obtaining her dowry and a large number of subordinates? Not only that, his personal power level has increased exponentially through battle. Not only that, on the battlefield, he managed to use his mouth to tame a 'beautiful' individual who could easily crush him. Everything has been so smooth … Yet, he's such a playboy all the way, and there won't be any bloodshed in his harem. Isn't this just like a YY novel's main character? Beifeng, if you changed your style, you could totally become a Knight novel's main character. "
"… In fact, his novels about his own love history and biography are selling like hotcakes. The descriptions of the details are complete. The main buyers are not only men, but even many married women love it. I've read it before. It's truly amazing. "
Harloys's words made me feel uncomfortable. How could this be possible? How could anyone buy such a thing that offended public morals!? Not only that, Beifeng actually knew how to read! He even knew how to write!
"… Dracons are intelligent creatures as well. Be careful not to get sued for racial discrimination."
"That's impossible! Just Beifeng's existence is enough to make it impossible for the book to pass the censorship. It's impossible for such a thing to be printed and published! No Chamber of Commerce would dare to accept such an order! "
"To be honest, his writing is not bad, and his writing is also good. After reading it and comparing it, I realized that there was such a story in the world of beasts … "
"Heloise! Don't go the wrong way! "
Being interested and curious about certain forbidden areas was usually the beginning of walking down the wrong path. If changing a normal person's sexual orientation was called "turning gay," then what exactly should it be called turning a normal person into a beast? Could it be that a new term was about to be born because of Beifeng? Beifeng, could you please stop?
"Heh, what are you thinking? Don't worry, I'm normal. Weren't the recent Knight novels popular to add some animal characteristics to the female characters? Since humans could imitate beasts, naturally, beasts could also imitate humans. The relationships between men and women in Beifeng's Chronicles of the Hunter were basically normal. If we were to compare it to real life, it would probably be beasts transforming into humans, males transforming into females, males transforming into females, and so on. Ah, the seventh female lead, little Mia, is so cute, but I can't take it anymore when I think about how her original form was a big yellow dog, and a male one at that. As expected, it's enough to just look at the novel itself. Knowing about the author will only ruin your worldview! "
Alright then, I felt slightly more at ease after hearing this explanation, but it seemed that there were still many flaws in Heloise's words.
"Forget about the explanation of male transforming into female, we all know what kind of person this guy is. The seventh female lead? With such a mess, how can the plot still be read? "
"I asked that as well. I remember that Beifeng said this: 'Every single one of my relationships is serious, super serious, and I'm in love with my life on the line. I'm willing to give up everything, including my life, for my lover. This is the reason why I was able to obtain the Heart of Protection of Universal Love. I'm a playboy, but I'm even more single-minded. Every time I fall in love, I'm completely devoted. I enjoy the joy of being in love, and I long for the next relationship that comes along with fate. If you think that I'm only pursuing carnal desires, then you're underestimating me and my lovers. '"
Although this reason was quite ridiculous, since he was able to form a Soul Imprint with such a concept, it could only mean that he truly believed in love, and even treated it as his life goal.
Personally, I would probably be unable to accept such a chaotic concept of love, but since it was someone else's personal hobby, it wouldn't be convenient for me to comment on it … How could it be possible? Was I such a good person? I was going to write up a proposal and apply for legislation to prevent books with such a different sexual orientation from entering the market! One Beifeng was enough. If books became a tidal wave of Beifeng, would this world still be saved?
"Although I don't want to admit it, it's most likely the truth. Did he convince you?"
"No, when he said this, he was being fought over by a male water buffalo and a female lizard. There was also a female gorilla crying on the side while tugging on a handkerchief. Since it was so disgusting, he actually dared to act out an eight o 'clock scene in front of me, and he was even a beast. I sent him flying with a wave of Arcane Missiles."
"Well done!"
I gave her a thumbs-up, but Heloise was still quite depressed.
"… He also gave me a thumbs-up while he was in midair. He was intentionally angering me so that I would send him flying in order to save myself from this situation."
"… Forget it, let's change the topic. I don't want to know anything about him at all."
From a certain standpoint, if it was possible, I really didn't want to know what Beifeng was like at all. But now, even this ancient Elemental Lord was willing to offer this as a condition. I couldn't help but be impressed by Beifeng's abilities in this area.
Right now, the most important thing was to obtain the information I wanted from the Great Stone Sculptor. Since she wanted this dracon, I would simply give it to her. After all, this dracon's tastes were unparalleled in the world, so it didn't matter.
Just as I was planning on having an arranged marriage, Beifeng jumped out on his own.
"… Sister Stone and I are purely brother and sister. Please don't misunderstand."
I was astonished to hear this. Beifeng was actually rejecting someone else's proposal? Weren't you supposed to love all non-humans?
Unfortunately, no matter how I winked at him, he wouldn't budge at all. He was just like an upright gentleman who argued for what was right, making me sound like an old fuddy-duddy who was trying to force me into a marriage.
"Heloise?"
"Don't ask me. I don't know anything."
"Then you know two things … Tell me. How about I transform into a cat and send Beifeng to you? Did you see that lion? He's a distant relative of yours, and he's even male …"
Although this was the same old trick, it was fine as long as it worked. After all, Beifeng had no interest in Heloise, who was originally an elf. However, it was enough to scare her. As far as I knew, Beifeng was already capable of using his gaze to awaken Heloise's mental trauma.
"… Pure love? Ptui! It's strange that Beifeng has such a thing. She has a physical body of stone and can't do anything, but he said something about spiritual love. And when the Great Stone Sculptor transforms into his human form, he's no longer interested in her. "
Although Heloise's anger was definitely mixed with her personal grudges, I instantly understood, even though I would have preferred not to understand at all.
It was quite normal for high-level elemental creatures and dragons to have humanoid forms. However, most powerful individuals would have humanoid forms that weren't too ugly. Once the humanoid form was determined, it would be impossible to change it. The ancient monsters of the world were especially fond of the beautiful High Elves. The Stone Mother's humanoid form would most likely be a beauty as well. A normal person's sense of beauty would likely accept Ainslo's elven form, but Ainslo just so happened to be a freak.
Even an honest official would find it difficult to resolve family disputes. Even a corrupt official wouldn't be able to interfere with these freaks' family disputes. If it were possible, I would really like to leave. However, it just so happened that I had many things I needed to discuss with Ainslo, and I needed her full cooperation.
Was there something else apart from the Earth Elemental God? Of course there was. My "Frigidwinter Earth" required other high-quality divine elemental items in order to achieve balance and further perfect it. I had researched this topic in the Mage Country, but I hadn't found anything.
"Are you an idiot? If those mages knew about top-quality elemental items, they'd be fighting over them like crazy. Even embedding such items into staffs to buff magic would be a priceless treasure. Would they even leave one for you? Even if their elemental elements aren't compatible, it'd be great to leave one for their disciples and descendants as a family heirloom. "
At the time, Harloys's words had shattered my hopes of being lucky. However, when I asked the Gods, I didn't get an answer. Or, perhaps I should say that the answer was the same.
"… Are you an idiot? If I was here, I would have stolen one long ago. Why would I leave one for you?"
As expected, considering that Beyana was the Goddess of Wealth, it was possible that she knew something. However, the result was the same. It was fortunate that I had given her some small gifts in order to ease the tension between us.
However, when I thought about it, I discovered that when it came to elemental divine items, it was likely that nobody would know more than the ancient Elemental Lords. Elemental creatures had their own circles and worlds. The elemental wars between them had never ceased. And, due to the fact that the elements were mutually exclusive, the elemental creatures were unable to use or control other divine items with elemental seeds. Since they were on guard against their enemies, it was only natural that the elemental creatures would have a deep understanding of their enemies' divine items.
Meanwhile, one of my subordinates was an Elemental Lord who was in the same generation as Ömdiroken and the other Elemental Gods. Of course I wanted to ask her about this. However, this type of information would definitely be of a high level, so it would be normal for me to try and get on her good side first.
But now, Ainslo had obviously fallen in love with Ainslo, and she had even dragged me into this matter since I had a request for her into it. I really didn't want to care about the love affairs of such abnormal creatures, but I just couldn't.
In the end, I used the excuse of "I'm about to introduce animal protection laws across the entire Northlands. Yep, I made a deal with you in the past, but it won't be implemented in Sulfur Mountain City. Touching someone else's pet without their owner's permission will be considered trespassing. If you don't want to be hunted down by the Justice Knight, you understand." As an excuse, I made Beifeng promise to give this plump stone princess more chances and at least go on a few dates with her.
That was all I could do? Indeed, that was all I could do. After all, I couldn't possibly force this dracon to marry me. If I really forced this dracon to marry me, I felt that it would become a lifelong shame and black history for me. But even at this, Ainslo couldn't help but nod in satisfaction and thank me. It would seem that she was incredibly infatuated with him.
Then, when I asked her about it, she hesitated for a moment before telling me … but that only made my head hurt.
"A true Titan Giant's Heart? It's a combination of wind and earth elements. Of course I know that it's a top-quality God Item, but isn't this a little too difficult? "
"… The Stone of Gravity that's the core of the Pillar of Wrath in the Suolo Region? What do you think you'll do if I take away the foundation of your home? That's right, hunt it down to the very end. There's a mega empire in the Suolo Region. Do you think it'll be fun to be hunted down by tens of millions of people? "
"… The 'Devourer' ranked fifth on the Calamity Rankings? Alright, I heard that it's a type of mutated sandworm, but it's a monster that can easily swallow an entire volcano. What do you want me to do with it? Isn't this a scam? Why is it getting more and more difficult!? "
Although it was slightly better than the previous ones, it was obvious that anything that could survive in the world would be difficult to obtain. And, I wouldn't even consider obtaining these Earth Elemental God Items.
"That's strange. Why are they all Earth Elemental God Items? Aren't there any other Earth Elemental God Items? "
I asked in astonishment. However, Ainslo, who was just as astonished, didn't seem to be faking it.
"I thought that you were intending to repair the Earth Elemental Throne. Actually, these are the materials that we're currently searching for as well. Do you want information on other Earth Elemental God Items? Although there aren't many, I have some as well. "
Alright then, judging from her disappointed expression that she couldn't hide, she had her own selfish motives. As long as the Earth Elemental Throne could be repaired, she would naturally be the most likely to become the next Earth Elemental God.
However, now obviously wasn't the time for a showdown. I pretended to be a fool and asked for more information. This time, Mother Stone didn't feel any pressure at all. After all, these Earth Elemental God Items had nothing to do with them.
From a certain standpoint, any Earth Elemental God Item that the Earth Elemental Lords had information on would either be impossible to obtain, or they weren't ready to be born yet. Naturally, it would be incredibly difficult to obtain.
However, if the Earth Elemental Lords encountered any Wind Elemental or other God Items that were hostile to them, wearing them would weaken them. Since these Earth Elemental Gods were destined to be treasures to their enemies, the Earth Elemental Gods would naturally think of ways to destroy these Earth Elemental Gods. And if it was truly impossible to destroy these Earth Elemental Gods, they would seal or prevent information about these Earth Elemental Gods from obtaining these Earth Elemental Gods.
In this way, information would be valuable.
"More than ten thousand years ago, the Hollai Volcano had …"
As expected, this information was quite reliable. In fact, Ainslo had personally sealed the Earth Elemental God Item. But now, it was my turn to be troublesome.
[Ding! Congratulations for triggering an Epic-level quest: Go to the Hollai Volcano to find …]
[Ding! Congratulations for triggering an Epic-level quest: Go to the Winged Tribe's former capital, Lais …]
Such quests began flooding my screen, ranging from the lowest to the highest SemiGod rank. However, it would take quite a while to complete all of them. And considering that I needed materials on the same level as the Earth Elemental Throne, it was likely that I wouldn't even need to consider any Epic-level quests.
[System Notification: This quest's difficulty is only based on Ainslo's description. The actual difficulty will be updated based on the quest's progress.]
Alright then, I knew that there would be more trouble to come. The difficulty was one thing, but the information I obtained was far too outdated. I would still have to investigate whether or not it was real. The Stone Mother's first words were from tens of thousands of years ago. Just comparing the names of the ancient and modern places that Ainslo described would require several historians to do the same. Just organizing the information would require a great deal of effort.
Every dog has its day. Just a moment ago, I was still complaining about not having enough information. Now, I had too much information, and I needed to go through them one by one. Moreover, the information I had was extremely outdated, which would make the Quest's results even more of a gamble. A Quest that I had worked so hard to complete might end up with nothing at all. It was possible that a small Excellent Quest would give me an excellent item.
"That's true. System, can't you just let me go? If I keep doing these lottery quests, even three years won't be enough. You know how I hated lottery quests when I was adventuring back in the day. My luck was terrible. I bought a treasure map with a lot of money, but I ended up getting nothing a few hundred years later. That wasn't even the worst part. One time, I actually chased after a Phantom Cat that was guarding the treasure for half a month before I realized that the treasure was actually a fish head and a fish bone, which were rarely seen in the mountains. And they were rotten.
Back then, I was so disgusted … "[System Notification: You're such an idiot. If you can't do the Quest yourself, why don't you find someone to do it for you? You've won three consecutive championships in the arena, you've got a professional Quest Master to do the Epic Quest for you, and Bear Grylls has taught you how to survive in the wilderness. You only need nine ninety-eight! How come you're already a boss? Why do you always want to do everything yourself?]
Someone to do it for me? Someone to do it for me? I paused in surprise for a moment, but then came to a realization.
"You're saying that I can give out Quests for those Contract Heroes to do for me? Yep, as long as I specify the difficulty of the Quests and give out rewards, I'll have endless helpers. I'll just need to think of a way to get the reward money. Doesn't that mean I'll have to think of a way to scam money again? Right, it's about time I go to the Bardi capital. It's not good to keep the Dragon Knight Archduke waiting … "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
