Chapter 232

Chapter 232

***

It was inevitable that true treasures were hidden exactly in what others told you not to did.

Of course there were reasons for others telling you not to did it, but because others didn't did it the treasures untouched by anyone remained intact.

Passing the Forest of Demonic Beasts, crossing the boundary of humans, and passing the hell-like spider cave a different world exactly like heaven greeted the party.

Thick mossy trees, colorful flowers and huge mushrooms, beetles flowing with luster and sky-blue dragonflies, and translucent butterflies......

Rickart's party ended up having their minds captivated by that bizarre and also beautiful scenery.

Especially because Bori had a lot of interest in flora and fauna the shock was greater.

"This is truly something I've never seen even once......"

Bori squatted down and muttered looking at a red flower.

The stem was thin and long but the leaves were broad, and the flower was red grains exactly the size of a fingernail clustered together making it hard to distinguish whether this was a fruit or a flower.

Since Bori who knew plants well said so the other people naturally couldn't know what that was. Such plants were forming a colony.

"It is a type of Panax and it is called Ginseng. It is good for treating water-borne diseases or fevers of unknown cause, and has efficacy in recovering energy and preventing aging. Above all it cleanses mana and if taken for a long time it can expand the vessel of mana."

It was Malcolm's voice. Rickart and the party looked back at him.

The previous day his face couldn't be seen as he was obscured by darkness, and earlier the distance was far and under the shade so they couldn't see closely, but seeing him up close he was, how to say, a very handsome man.

What it meant was, first his skin was very good and flowed with luster so his age was hard to gauge.

His forehead and nose were straight as if measured by a ruler, and his side hair was short but his long wavy top hair was softly combed back, a substantially unique hairstyle. It looked so to Rickart's party. Saying it nicely it was exotic, and saying it badly it was a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, in Rickart's hand the severed head of the Spider Queen was still held. Whether to call it a jaw or a mouth, it was spread wide open and completely unmatched with this different world making it very hideous.

"Sounds exactly like some legendary mandrake."

Roy said in a somewhat disbelieving tone.

Then Malcolm exactly as if intending to show it personally, squatted down and carefully dug out the thing called Ginseng with his hands by the roots.

And then exactly as if to show it at least didn't have poison, he roughly brushed off the dirt and just chewed and ate it. The stem, leaves, and flower fruit too.

"If the stem is recklessly broken or the root is damaged its efficacy decreases rapidly, so it's good to dig it by the roots and eat it quickly. Growing it artificially is impossible, and it can only be obtained in nature. Ironically, it slowly grew using the prey the spiders ate and discarded as nourishment for a very long time. The energy of life blooming from death. Judging by the size the one I just ate is at least 100 years old."

Malcolm truly just ate it all without even spitting out the dirt.

Hearing his explanation Bori also carefully dug out the thing called Ginseng, roughly brushed off the dirt, and ate it raw.

Chewing once, refreshing energy completely spread full inside his mouth. And every time he chewed refreshing energy wildly burst out so Bori opened his eyes wide and chewed munching. The other party members watched that sight quietly.

Swallowing the Ginseng in earnest, the effect appeared immediately. No, expressing it accurately it wasn't a physical effect but a mana effect.

The refreshing fragrance felt inside his mouth started from his stomach and spread out to his whole body entering every single blood vessel, and the feeling that it was clearing his head raised.

Mana circulated more vigorously inside his body, and his body seemed to become a bit lighter. When Bori condensed his mana heavily and operated it his own way it seemed to cleanse the impurities of his soul more cleanly, more definitely.

Of course it didn't mean his amount of mana increased or he obtained more powerful strength, but it felt exactly like he became more intimately closer to mana. And that was revealed in his yellow-brown pupils that seemed to have cleared up somewhere.

Soon the refreshing energy slowly subsided, and Bori felt regret.

"How is it?"

Rickart asked.

"I didn't even think there would be such an amazing herb in the world. It's exactly like a dream. Even the legendary mandrake probably wouldn't be to this extent."

"The effect is best at the first intake. If eaten too frequently the effect becomes hard to see instead. The general dosage method although the medicinal effect drops is to dry it crisp, then regularly drink deeply brewed tea. Then one can softly maintain the effect for a long time. It is an herb exactly like a treasure in training mana."

"Are there many things like this here?"

As Malcolm added an explanation Roy asked. His hands were already in the middle of digging Ginseng himself too. Maters couldn't operate mana, but since it wasn't bad to eat he busily moved his hands.

At Roy's question Malcolm shook his head.

"Even for us Ginseng is a very precious item. If not a highly renowned family or a prestigious clan one cannot even sight it in one's lifetime."

"Are you affiliated with a prestigious family?"

Rickart who alone had no interest in Ginseng at all questioned Malcolm.

Perhaps because they passed the first test, Malcolm answered the question as detailed as possible. In a state where the subtly dismissive tone from when they first met had disappeared.

"First to formally introduce myself I am the third son of the Anustella family, the First Star, one of the four tribes of the Steel Reaper, Malcolm. If it's a prestigious family it's a prestigious family."

"Must have been a noble."

"No, we do not have status. So I am not a noble. Families merely pass down the teachings of the God King continuously through generations and walk looking at the 'Brightest Star'. The Brightest Star is that Steel Reaper who was active about 100 years ago. To explain a bit more detailedly the God King is the one who excavated forgotten ancient history and knowledge presenting the disciplines and directions we must keep as we live, and the Brightest Star can be said to be its representation. However, we do not know the end of the Brightest Star. We only know he met his death in your Westerners' world, my brothers and my's purpose is to reveal things exactly like did he perhaps leave a final teaching, does he have a successor, is there knowledge transmitted through generations."

"So you were selling Codexes. Since if there is a transmitted person he would be drawn to it."

"That is so. I don't know how it is for your side but that Codex is the God King's mind and body training method widely spread among us. It's exactly the most basic introduction book in mana training."

"By the way passing over that even we don't know the end of the Steel Reaper. For us he is not a figure worthy of exactly respecting just like that. A murderer among murderers, a demon among demons, that is our evaluation of the Steel Reaper, or the first Sword Master. If there's something worthy of learning it would merely be the ultimate swordsmanship he possessed. But there was a figure wrongly captivated by such a thing, and including him many people paid a desperate price."

Bori said. But Malcolm seemed to know that extent too.

"The arrogance and rudeness of Westerners is a well-known fact. You probably killed him because he was worthy of killing."

"What?"

"Whatever your side's evaluation is, as the Brightest Star he gave inspiration to the God King and we are living by that teaching. To us exactly a sword is a tool of cultivation resolving to protect oneself and destroy enemies, while simultaneously being a mirror shining on the soul. With the sword we defeat monsters, destroy evil, and pursue forgiveness and compassion. The Steel Reaper, the Brightest Star, he is our representation and orientation point meaning. At least thanks to him we obtained a foundation of life and a direction to live."

Malcolm said exactly as if feeling bad looking at Bori. Because of the bad evaluation of the Steel Reaper, the Brightest Star, Ricky.

To Malcolm and these people here Ricky was almost equivalent to a prophet. So a somewhat religious color was also felt, but they weren't blind exactly like the Cult of Condemnation.

Bori didn't particularly have bad feelings or anything about the first Sword Master from 100 years ago. It's just, since he merely stated what he knew, he just blinked his eyes exactly as if wondering why he was like that.

"Is Caldebert your God King?"

Rickart who was briefly lost in thought asked.

"That is so. A returner to true faith, a great intellect, restorer of knowledge, prophet mastering the world, the last descendant of the ancient Empire. That person is exactly our one and only King. After that person there is no King, nor is one needed."

It was truly mysterious. A society where exactly only one person was a King and since then there was no King, and no status.

"What on earth is that teaching?"

"To explain simply it is entering heaven alive after polishing and cultivating oneself up to the end. As said before exactly the sword is a tool of cultivation, protecting oneself and destroying enemies, and a mirror shining on the soul. We accept the sword like that. Though to Westerners the sword seems exactly none other than a bladed instrument."

"That's not it though. I also researched swords for a long time, and had my own results. Though it's a bit much to say with my own mouth I raised swordsmanship to the level of an academic discipline."

Bori said. However Malcolm just snorted without even answering exactly as if it was absurd.

"So, will you guide us to the Eastern Frontier without exactly anything like a test now?"

Rickart asked. Even though Malcolm's nerves were offended exactly by the words Eastern Frontier, upon seeing the Spider Queen's head held in Rickart's hand the annoyance disappeared instantly.

"Tel Urano. That is the city name. Please refrain from the words expedition region if possible. Our test is finished. However, the closest place from here exactly as said before is Solarium. That is not my hometown, and there are people living there separately so I do not know how they will accept your side."

Rickart didn't know history well, but these people seemed to live close to the form of city-states. Not forming nations and territories centered around Emperors or Kings, lords.

The sword was their honor, and their most important necessity, exactly an self-defense weapon and simultaneously their social status.

How well one handles the sword, how high an achievement one reached in mana operation seemed most important to these people.

But that wasn't important to Rickart. Just, the teaching of his old friend permeated in their minds and insides, and what meaning Ricky possessed exactly as a representation was important.

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky...... The more he continuously thought about it the more unfamiliar it felt. Exactly like an object looking completely different depending on the viewing angle, the evaluation of Ricky was all different too.

The Ricky Helauman looked at, the Ricky the Cult of Condemnation looked at, the Ricky Caldebert looked at, and the Ricky the people living in the Eastern Frontier looked at.

Was that me, or was it another something separated from me. Funnily it wasn't something he could decide himself. Definitely, it was a feeling having left his hands.

So now, what remained was exactly the Ricky Rickart looked at, not simply looking back at the past.

"Hey, Malcolm."

Rickart said tossing the Spider Queen's head he was holding in his hand onto the ground thud.

His other friends were busy digging all the Ginseng and wrapping them in moisture-filled moss then packing them with leather. Saying its medicinal effect drops if for a long time, but still it was better than not having it.

"Hmm?"

"Since you don't particularly seem like a bad person I will let you know one thing. When looking at something, and evaluating and testing, you must think of the opposite too."

"What do you mean?"

"The words that you are also being evaluated and tested. The sword shining on the soul is also such context. When killing someone, when cutting skin and severing bones, when blood spews out, when vitality disappears from the opponent's eyes. Do not attach exactly strange rhetoric to the sword, and do not feel pride either. Do not forget. A bladed instrument is a bladed instrument......"

Rickart brushed his hands roughly tap tap and silently tried to move. Bori who hurried to get up while packing Ginseng asked.

"You aren't eating it, Ricky?"

"Wash it with water. How can you eat it with dirt?"

"Since the dirt is fine you can just chew it roughly. It's not exactly a feeling of chewing sand."

Rickart again merely walked sharing an ordinary conversation with his friend, and Malcolm watching that sight tilted his head. It was due to a strangely odd sense of incongruity, but no matter how much he thought he couldn't know.

Saying a sword was just a bladed instrument. From Malcolm's standpoint depending on how one views it it was insulting words but it wasn't words said with exactly insulting intent, and it didn't sound exactly like it either.

Just, the face of the miserably dead Spider Queen lying on the ground was staring at him. The distorted face was hideous to the extent of fearing it coming out in dreams.

The lifeless eyes somehow seemed filled with resentment, and seemed to say exactly like this. This time I died, but it could have been you. Or exactly next time it will be you.