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[You can't acquire it with money or goods.]
"Of course, I thought as much."
[But you'll need quite a bit of gold. More than just a little.]
"Need gold?"
As soon as the word "gold" was mentioned, something seemed to click, and Murakan's eyes widened.
"Hey, Picon. Are you seriously talking about Ozdock?"
[Oh, you remember that name.]
Jin also knew that name.
"Ozdock, you mean. The monster from the folktales of the eastern continent?"
There were folktales related to Ozdock, a demonic creature, on the eastern continent.
A monster that eats gold, greedy humans who offer gold to harness its power, and nations that fall into ruin as they become prosperous due to its influence.
It was a rather common type of legend that could be found anywhere with a simple change of the name Ozdock. An allegory warning against excessive greed and the downfall brought by corruption.
[Time has passed. Nowadays, the younger generation only knows Ozdock as a creature from stories. Back in our time, it was a real headache. Around 30% of the world's gold production was devoured by that thing.]
"Is it still alive? Didn't it get subjugated after I fell asleep?"
[Just before you fell asleep, he sealed himself under the Sarba's Royal Capital. It was his stronghold, and with the downfall of the Sarba Kingdom, he could no longer obtain gold.]
Ozdock is a demonic creature that awakened through gold, so he could only exert its power with gold. When the Sarba Kingdom fell, Ozdock couldn't obtain any more gold, and thus chose to slumber.
Back then, Ozdock instinctively made that decision because he would not be able to survive if he got in the way of the powerhouses of Runcandel and Zipfel, who ruled the world at that time.
It was a good choice, but luck wasn't on Ozdock's side.
While Ozdock hid in the deep underground of the fallen Sarba Kingdom, the Black Sea's territory began to "expand."
Currently, everyone considers the place where the Sarba Kingdom used to be as part of the Black Sea's territory. However, a thousand years ago, it was just ordinary land not included in the Black Sea.
[As the Black Sea expanded rapidly, Ozdock ended up being swallowed by the tainted land of the Black Sea. You could say that it remained dormant but entombed in the poisoned territory.]
"So, the plan is to awaken the sealed Ozdock and capture it to obtain its core?"
[Exactly.]
"This crazy baldie... Do you think this kid is one of Ten great knights of ancient Runcandel? How is this kid going to capture Ozdock?!"
[You're here. And Ozdock is much weaker now compared to then. It's likely on the verge of death.]
Having gone without consuming gold for a thousand years, Ozdock had lost much of its incredible strength from the past.
"What if he's still fine? Are you suggesting we wake it up needlessly and end up with more trouble? Have you forgotten how much of a headache that thing caused a thousand years ago?"
As Murakan pointed out, Ozdock was a major troublemaker back in those times.
Before it settled in the Sarba Kingdom, it caused countless civilian casualties, and the fluctuating price of gold disrupted the world economy.
Runcandel, Zipfel, and even Vermont, all the major forces of that era, invested considerable effort to capture Ozdock.
There was no reason those powerful forces couldn't have suppressed Ozdock using brute force.
The problem was that until Ozdock was on the brink of becoming a "demonic creature with a core," nobody recognized its threat, and the same was true even until after its transformation was complete.
In other words, the response came too late.
When the major forces finally resolved to subdue Ozdock, the creature had already taken the people of the Sarba Kingdom hostage and used them as shields.
Thus, as the major forces were trying to minimize casualties and seize the opportunity to kill Ozdock, the Sarba Kingdom fell.
[Ha, it's definitely weakened!]
"Oh, this bald bastard... It is rather suspicious, isn't it? Last time, we had a hard time while facing Sylderay at the first tomb. I'm sure you are up to something similar with Ozdock. It is the first time I have heard that you need a core of the demonic creature to build a weapon."
Smack!
Murakan slapped his palm as if he remembered something.
"I see, you bastard. You've got a Guardian Dragon now, right? So, you want to use Ozdock's core for some kind of elixir?"
It was known that the core of a demonic core was useless to humans.
But for dragons, it was a top-tier elixir. It was one of the very few means that could drastically boost the strength of their heart's energy in an instant.
[Ha! What are you saying... This Picon Minche has never told a lie in his life. A Guardian Dragon? I didn't even ask Jin to look for it. I probably just sent a Guardian Dragon.]
"I can't really believe it."
[Argh! If you don't want to go, then don't! I was even trying to complete the weapon for you, and now you're treating me like a con artist.]
"Mr. Picon, I haven't said that. Hey, Murakan. Why are you doing this? Why?"
Jin began gently persuading Picon.
In truth, Jin's thoughts were somewhat similar to Murakan's. Waking up such a dangerous creature itself was burdensome, and he also remembered the difficulties at the first tomb.
But it didn't seem like a lie.
Furthermore, he thought there might be more uses for capturing Ozdock than just crafting a weapon.
"Please calm down, Mr. Picon. After all, you need to complete your masterpiece as well, right?"
"Hmm, hmm. Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. We will go and wake up and capture Ozdock or Modock, right?"
Murakan glanced around and spoke cautiously, and Picon nodded.
[Anyway, damn Black Dragon. If it weren't for Jin, there wouldn't even be soup, just bones.]
Thump, a blood vein popped on Murakan's forehead. However, he exercised patience, scratching the back of his head with an awkward smile.
"Haha, sure, sure... we are leaving. Well, it wouldn't be a bad thing to finally cut off Ozdock's throat for good this time."
[When you retrieve the core, don't even take a bite. Bring it as is, Murakan.]
"Got it. I am strong even if I do not eat that thing."
***
August 28, 1799.
A massive cat with swollen cheeks as if about to burst walked along the outskirts of the Black Sea.
It was Shuri.
Once again, Shuri was using its spiritual abilities to easily find the location of the former capital of the Sarba Kingdom.
Shuri was familiar with this area from the time it was Helluram's cat.
"I've thought about it before, this cat. I really want it. Can't you just give it to your big sis? It seems to like me too."
As Mary stroked Shuri's back, she spoke.
"It's not possible."
"Then I'll win this match and use the winner's command to take it away. Hehehe."
The reason she was riding on Shuri's back alongside Jin and Murakan was to have a match.
This time, it wasn't a one-on-one duel, but they had chosen the "Ozdock Subjugation" as the match.
By subduing Ozdock together and determining who dealt more blows and performed better, they would decide the victor.
Murakan had taken on the role of a referee and safety personnel in case of unexpected circumstances. If they, combined, couldn't defeat Ozdock and deemed it too dangerous, they would nullify the match and have a duel.
Of course, Mary was unaware that this match was also related to the strengthening of Jin's weapon.
'I have deep gratitude toward my elder sister Mary, but revealing the existence of Vin Branche and Mr. Picon could be risky.'
It was not that Jin didn't believe in Mary Runcandel as 'his third sister'.
But once Mary learned about Vin, the contractor of the god of blacksmiths, and Picon Minche, '7th flagbearer of Runcandel, Mary' would likely make a decision that would be advantageous for the clan.
It would mean that the legendary blacksmith Picon Minche had to forge weapons for all Runcandels, not only for Jin.
'Someday, it might become like that because of me, but not now.'
The prideful Picon couldn't accept that.
In the end, Runcandel could either use Vin as a hostage or force Picon to work for them, which had a high likelihood of causing a problem.
It was only a natural course to restrict all personal benefits Jin could obtain through Picon.
Until Jin was convinced that Mary was a sword of Jin Runcandel, not the sword of Runcandel, he had to be careful in sharing information.
"By the way, it's the core demonic creature. I've wanted to face it at least once. They say it's on a different level than those trivial monsters roaming near the outskirts of the Black Sea, so it won't end in a dull way, right?"
With the thought of fighting an extraordinary monster, Mary's heart raced all night, and she wasn't able to sleep well.
The reason she didn't ask Jin how he knew about such a monster was due to that.
If she could have a proper fight, other things didn't matter much to Mary.
"Huhu, if Ozdock were in his prime, there's no way you two could have done anything."
As if Mary had made an adorable remark, Murakan chuckled.
Mary didn't seem to mind much.
"Our Guardian Dragon seems to really like the term 'prime.' Guardian Dragon, I'm just curious, but you wouldn't give biased judgments, right?"
"Of course, I'm a fair dragon."
"Okay, once we catch it and return, let's have a good drink. I've heard you have a hobby for magazines too, right? I have some nice items in my collection that you might like."
"Good liquor and nice magazines, excellent. I'll make sure to do that!"
Throughout the journey, Murakan and Mary got along extremely well. They seemed to get along effortlessly as if they had been close from the beginning, which somehow didn't appear very fascinating to Jin.
He had suspected that the two of them would get along well.
"We seem to have arrived."
Shuri stopped walking.
In the desolate black land on the outskirts of the Black Sea, all that was visible was the sky and land, but this used to be the site of the old Sarba Kingdom's capital.
Myaa!
Shuri opened its mouth wide.
Suddenly, a burst of golden nuggets poured out. These golden nuggets they had been carrying since leaving the main house were prepared to lure Ozdock.
Naturally, the entry and exit of humans to the Black Sea were extremely rare.
Moreover, they were the only one who came to Black Sea with such a large amount of gold, and also to the site of the former Sarba capital.
"A monster that eats gold, huh? Let's see where and how it came from. Since we've brought its food, it should come out quickly!"
As Mary leaped off Shuri's back and shouted, a powerful vibration started spreading through the ground beneath them.
Crack...
The intense vibration began to shake the ground they were standing on.