The Last Adventurer

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 108: The Crown Prince (2)

4.

“El Pam.”

The moment he saw El Pam, Prince Kashan didn’t greet him right away.

Instead, he had a surprised expression on his face.

It couldn’t be helped.

“You’re alive.”

In Prince Kashan’s mind, El Pam was dead.

Of course, it wasn’t simply because he had returned alive that Prince Kashan agreed to meet El Pam.

Whether ordinary adventurers lived or died, it didn’t matter to Prince Kashan.

What was important was where El Pam had returned from.

“How did you come back alive from that tomb?”

The Prince’s Tomb.

He had returned alive from the place where it was judged that everyone involved had died, even though the tomb had been conquered.

El Pam calmly answered Prince Kashan’s question.

“I was lucky.”

That was all.

El Pam didn’t explain the details.

Prince Kashan didn’t question El Pam’s insincere answer.

They both knew.

No matter what El Pam said here, Prince Kashan had no way to verify it.

“You were lucky, I’m glad you came back alive.”

And no matter the reason, it didn’t really matter to Prince Kashan right now.

It was literally true.

“It would be a great help if you could help me.”

All Prince Kashan needed was El Pam, the adventurer who had returned alive from the Prince’s Tomb.

El Pam said to Prince Kashan,

“I apologize, but I have no intention of making a contract with you, Prince Kashan.”

It was a very shocking statement.

It was even more shocking for Prince Kashan, who thought he had gained the greatest helper.

However, Prince Kashan’s face showed no sign of shock when he heard the news.

It wasn’t an act.

“Are you thinking of talking to the other princes?”

“Yes.”

“You’re wise, as always.”

Prince Kashan understood El Pam’s choice.

It was an opportunity to raise his value more than ever, and there was no reason for him to sign a contract with Prince Kashan right away.

So Prince Kashan was rather satisfied.

If El Pam had shown favor and wanted to sign a contract with him here, Prince Kashan would have been suspicious.

Prince Kashan had to be more careful than anyone else about those who came with favors.

“So, have you talked to the other princes?”

“No. I thought it would be a minimum courtesy to visit you first, Prince Kashan.”

“Is that so? Then I guess my offer will be the first one you receive.”

Above all, Prince Kashan was confident.

“Feel free to negotiate with the other princes. But no one will make a better offer than me.”

He was confident that he could make an offer that couldn’t be refused.

“If I become Crown Prince, I will give you whatever you want.”

And Prince Kashan made that offer.

“Anything that the king of Ariant can give.”

It was a very unconventional offer.

It was so unconventional that it couldn’t be compared to a mere offer of a Legendary item.

In other words, Prince Kashan was that sincere and, at the same time, desperate.

“Is anything really okay?”

“A king keeps his word at the cost of his life. If he only says what he can keep, he shouldn’t be king.”

El Pam nodded upon hearing those words.

“I didn’t expect you to say that.”

Prince Kashan smiled at those words.

It was a smile of satisfaction that his bold offer had succeeded in swaying El Pam’s heart.

‘Of course, he wouldn’t have expected such an offer.’

Prince Kashan’s offer was so unconventional that no one could have expected it.

‘As expected.’

Except for El Pam, of course.

He knew.

‘Like Prince Kashan.’

What kind of person Prince Kashan was.

He couldn’t not know.

It was none other than Prince Kashan who fought against Queen Areda to the end.

It meant that he was more desperate than any other prince to normalize the Ariant Kingdom.

As such, Prince Kashan’s offer was well within the realm of expectations.

“I will be with you from now on, Your Highness.”

Of course, Prince Kashan wouldn’t know.

‘He won’t be able to predict what I’ll ask for.’

What El Pam coveted.

Naturally, El Pam had no intention of telling him right away.

‘More than that, now…’

And now was not the time.

‘My existence will be revealed to Queen Areda.’

5.

“El Pam? That El Pam?”

Queen Areda looked surprised at the words her subordinate brought.

It wasn’t just Queen Areda.

Evok, who was listening to the report next to her, also looked more surprised than ever.

That’s how surprised they were.

“That El Pam met with Prince Kashan?”

The fact that El Pam, whom they thought was dead, had returned alive and met with Prince Kashan was no ordinary matter.

It wasn’t simply because someone who was dead had returned alive.

“Evok.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What do you think of this situation?”

“As long as El Pam is alive, we are as good as dead.”

They had received an order.

“Lord Will wanted him dead.”

From none other than Will, the commander who led them.

But was El Pam alive?

That meant they had disobeyed Will’s orders.

The reason didn’t matter. Excuses didn’t work in front of the Black Mage’s Commander.

Moreover, it was impossible to hide this fact from him.

Will’s ears and eyes were spread like a spider web throughout Maple World.

“The fact that we’re still alive means…”

In other words, the fact that Queen Areda and Evok were still breathing was a signal from Will.

“It must be our last chance.”

A signal that if they failed to eliminate El Pam this time, he wouldn’t wait any longer.

At that point, the two of them no longer showed any surprise or bewilderment.

There was only one expression to wear when their lives were on the line.

“We need to kill Prince Kashan first. No, even if we don’t kill the other princes, we must kill Kashan and El Pam.”

An expression filled with desperate resolve.

Another urgent report came to the two of them.

“Prince Kashan is challenging it now?”

6.

“Choosing a Crown Prince!”

Around the time the news of the Crown Prince selection event spread throughout the Nihal Desert, that is, before it had spread completely.

“Prince Kashan is challenging it!”

“What?”

News about Prince Kashan spread around that time.

“No, what does that mean all of a sudden?”

“Prince Kashan is the first to challenge the Mystic Gate!”

Naturally, everyone was surprised by the news.

“Already? The news that they were going to choose a Crown Prince came out yesterday, yesterday!”

The princes were just starting to recruit adventurers, so how could they already be starting the raid?

So most people thought.

“Isn’t it fake?”

That the rumor was false.

But that thought didn’t last long.

“I, Kashan! I will now embark on the Mystic Gate raid to prove my worthiness as Crown Prince!”

Prince Kashan himself started to move.

At that point, everyone started to question.

“No, why is he moving so fast?”

How could he have already assembled a raid party when the other princes were just starting to recruit adventurers?

“It’s not a speedrun, is it? It’s not about clearing it quickly, it’s about the number of people, right?”

Above all, there was nothing to gain from clearing this Crown Prince event quickly.

So everyone thought that this Crown Prince event would take at least half a year, or even several years.

But to start the raid less than a week after Abdullah VIII’s announcement?

No one could understand Prince Kashan’s intentions.

“No, boss. What’s going on?”

The same went for Divo and El Pam’s companions.

No one questioned siding with Prince Kashan.

“Yeah, what’s going on? Huh? It’s good to go with Prince Kashan, but what’s the reason for going so fast?”

But this fast movement was unexpected.

“This is too dangerous.”

No matter how much they wanted to see it in a positive light, they couldn’t.

This Mystic Gate raid was more dangerous than ever.

Even with thorough preparation, it wouldn’t be enough.

But to go on a raid so quickly, without even time to catch their breath, let alone prepare?

Only one person didn’t have any doubts.

“The key to this Mystic Gate raid is not the quality of the adventurers.”

“Huh? Boss, what does that mean?”

El Pam, he knew.

“Exactly what I said. The important thing is the presence of traitors.”

“Traitors?”

“Minimizing the internal enemies is the most important thing. Prince Kashan already has enough quality adventurers under him.”

Prince Kashan already had a large number of adventurers and soldiers under his command.

And their level was also quite high.

There was no problem in conducting the raid.

As long as no problems arose from within.

“More than half of the adventurers who come can be considered spies. Joining hands with them is suicide.”

In other words, spending time gathering better adventurers here was not only futile, but also detrimental.

“The longer it takes, the more people will be bribed.”

Furthermore, as time passed, the loyal subjects who would have followed Prince Kashan into a fire might waver.

“Because this is about choosing the Crown Prince.”

Because this matter was so important.

Only after hearing El Pam’s words did his companions finally look like they understood.

And then their expressions hardened.

“Wait, so this is just fighting against trolls?”

They knew it would be a much more difficult raid than they thought.

“So how many do you expect?”

Naturally, the more people tried to troll, the faster the difficulty of the raid would increase.

“About 3 out of 10.”

“Huh?”

At El Pam’s words, everyone’s faces turned pale, not just hardened.

“B-Boss? What did you just say?”

“Hey, what kind of nonsense is that?”

“That’s right. 3 out of 10!”

“That’s an absurd number!”

The scary thing about trolling was that even if just one person in a 100-person party trolled, all 100 people were in danger.

If that one person decided to poison the food, they could cause enormous damage.

But 3 out of 10?

That meant 30 out of 100 people, and if they started trolling?

There was no way a proper Mystic Gate raid could be conducted.

It was an unimaginable number.

“No matter how I think about it, you’ve overestimated it.”

So Divo and the others didn’t believe El Pam’s words.

“Besides, isn’t Prince Kashan rushing this to weed out the traitors?”

“Of course, Prince Kashan must have carefully selected them.”

Moreover, wasn’t Prince Kashan making this drastic attempt because he was most worried about the traitors?

Then the number should be even smaller.

El Pam answered his companions’ questions.

“I didn’t say it clearly.”

“Right?”

El Pam said to his companions, who were now relieved,

“3 out of 10 is the number of people we can trust. So 7 out of 10 are traitors.”

If 100 people entered, 70 of them would be traitors trying to kill Prince Kashan.

At that number, Divo and the others had blank expressions on their faces.

It was a number so unimaginable that their minds went blank.

After a while, Divo regained his senses and said,

“Boss, are you sure?”

“That’s my prediction. Prince Kashan’s surroundings are already full of people bribed by Queen Areda. To be precise, it’s always been that way.”

No one questioned El Pam’s words any further.

At least El Pam wasn’t the type to joke or make absurd delusions about this kind of thing.

Rather, if El Pam said this, it was highly likely to be true.

“This is crazy.”

And those who were here had to raid the Mystic Gate with Prince Kashan in this absurd situation.

“It’s crazy enough to raid a 300-man gate.”

And it wasn’t just any Mystic Gate, but the most difficult 300-man Mystic Gate.

Even though Prince Kashan hadn’t announced it yet, most people expected that he would raid the 300-man Mystic Gate with 150 people.

It meant that it wouldn’t be more than that.

It was the worst situation in many ways.

“Boss, are you really okay?”

But El Pam, who was actually facing the situation, didn’t show any particular signs.

“It’s okay.”

It wasn’t a bluff.

“I have a powerful card prepared for this kind of situation.”

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

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