<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Chapter 20>
Hunter.
Insatiable treasure hunters crazed for money. Even if a place turned out to be hell itself, as long as there was money to be made, these quasi-superhumans would eagerly crawl their way into it.
Why the sudden mention of Hunters?
Because the place where I currently stood was an auction hosted by the Hunter Alliance, an organization formed by these Hunters.
This was the so-called ‘Royal Market’.
“The Ston Ogre’s Core! I’ve been looking all over for that, and it’s in the hands of the Alliance.”
“Huh? Is President Park here? Must be for the ‘Recovery Potion,’ right? Hahaha, come on in.”
“No matter what, the highlight of this auction is the ‘Blizzard Skill Book.’ Ice attribute AoE magic with freeze status effects… Wow, this is killing me. I wonder who’ll get it.”
“Huh? Is that cursed magic sword and that Asura corpse up for auction? Ugh… What’s the state of the Alliance these days?”
People dressed in suits and formal dresses mingled about, sipping wine while examining the auction items. Meanwhile, my mother and I walked a step behind, arms affectionately linked as we strolled through the auction like it was a walking path.
“Were you surprised I called you in the middle of your training? Sorry about that, son. These people just work like this. It’s what they call a ‘guerrilla auction.'”
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t have anything to do anyway.”
“Nonsense, you don’t have anything to do? Stop lying. Isn’t there a midterm soon? Mom understands how nerve-wracking the first one can be. You saw what Su-hyeok and Min-ji went through, right?”
“It’s fine. I have Mary after all.”
“True, our diligent and capable son…”
“…”
“Mom, what are you saying?”
Mother, it seems your true feelings slipped out just then…
“Forget it.”
“…”
“Forget it.”
“Yes!”
“Ho hum, Princess, don’t push your son too hard.”
“No, no pushing. He’s a friend, a friend.”
“Ugh.”
As Mom shrugged, she gave me a teasing tap.
But I know you, Mom. That subtle hint of pride in your smile says it all: “He’s just like me.”
“Ah, this is great! It’s been ages since I’ve had a date with my son. I just love it!”
“Me too.”
“This is a nice day. Tell me if there’s anything you want. I’m treating you today!”
“Okay! That’s a promise.”
“That’s right. We’ve got plenty of time, let’s head down to the regular shop. Sometimes the occasional good item pops up there. Just follow me.”
As we followed Mom, various thoughts crossed my mind.
Hunters, the Alliance, the auction.
The Hunter Alliance was created by the Hunters to protect their own rights and interests. They collect membership fees from registered Hunters and, in return, represent and promote the Hunters’ rights within the economic and political elite. If the empire had anything comparable, it would be something akin to a mercenary guild.
Come to think of it, this ‘Royal Market’ is also an extension of boosting the rights and power of Hunters.
Rare items or artifacts obtained from hunting Gates, and new products useful in everyday life, are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Through this process, the Hunters’ influence expands.
In other words:
“Because Hunters exist, these items are available for you to buy. Need something? Just give us the money, and we’ll find it for you. Do you see another merchant like us out there? Aren’t we great? Useful, aren’t we?”
They simultaneously demonstrate their value and advertise.
This is a very clever system.
Particularly useful for those who lack hunting abilities but have money and power.
Just as a perfect example has come up here:
“Huh? ‘Healing Factor?’ ‘Please Yield to the Healing Skin.’ What is this?”
“It’s a beauty product. Look! Anti-aging, wrinkle improvement. Right? The principle is that if you press the button and sleep, your skin regenerates.”
This Healing Factor, for healing battle wounds, the amount of mana required makes it completely inadequate. In reality, it’s subpar artifact quality.
However, it’s sufficient to rejuvenate healthy skin, and it’s marketed to wealthy people who crave youth.
Eliminating defective products, making money, and creating connections.
Isn’t this very efficient?
It’s no exaggeration to say that their obsession with money is no joke, and their merchant instincts are extraordinary.
Though there are many cunning intentions visible, I’ll stop here.
Ultimately, as someone who’s enjoying the experience, it’s not really my place to care too much. Why should I worry when I have nothing to do with the Hunter Alliance and can simply enjoy the experience?
After Mom’s guidance, the first place we entered was a weapon shop.
Though it was just a shop that seemed appealing in appearance, the owner must have already known Mom’s identity because he quickly rushed to the front of the shop to greet her.
“Wow, our Lady.”
“What’s all this fuss about?”
Mom gave a light chuckle, but she seemed pleased by the recognition.
Then, when the owner heard the familiar question, “Do you have anything good?”, his eyes changed.
It was as if he had hidden some grand treasure. He sneakily glanced around and then proudly announced that only Mom would be shown this exclusive item, placing a sword on display.
The results, however…
Kraack!
“…?!”
“…??”
“…It broke?”
It was defective. The moment it was struck down, it shattered.
Looking at the broken sword, the baffled owner muttered nonsense like, “This shouldn’t have happened,” and we quietly left the store.
The next location was the shop next door, a general goods store.
Once again, the store owner greeted us at the door.
Here, too, the owner repeated the familiar phrase, “This is exclusively shown to the Chairman.”
What he then displayed before us was…
A Skill Book.
“I’ve heard that your son has overcome Mana Deficiency Syndrome. Here’s a Basic Magic Skill Book. To explain this Skill Book, all you have to do is ‘use’ it, and you’ll gain Fire, Water, Win… D… … Di… g…”
The owner couldn’t finish his explanation.
The magic he’d mentioned was taking place right in front of him.
Despite that, there was something intriguing about this so-called ‘Skill Book.’
Learn skills simply by using them? As far as I know, this method is rare. This explains why the level of magic skills on Earth is so shallow.
After that, we wandered around and did some childlike shopping. We also took a break at the lounge to drink coffee and tried buying Jun-woo a present, inadvertently breaking a few more swords along the way.
At one point, a large and beautiful mace caught my eye, and I wanted to give it to Mary as a gift. However, Mom grabbed my hand and shook her head, whispering, “Son, that’s not it.” She then replaced it with a mana-restoring floral pin.
After this delightful and fulfilling day of shopping, just as we were about to return to the auction hall, we stopped for a moment.
Facing something we could never have imagined finding—a treasure beyond our wildest dreams.
“…What’s this?”
A distasteful green liquid in a dusty glass vial, tucked away in a dusty corner where it was hardly noticed, even in the toxic substances section.
“Son, what’s wrong? Isn’t this ‘Monster Impurity’?”
“What? Impurity?”
What makes this impurity?
“Sometimes, when killing a monster or beast, this substance may appear. It’s completely useless, so we call it ‘scrap’ or ‘failure.'”
Speechless. Did I hear that right?
Here, this is…
“…Trash?”
“Most likely. It’s said that prolonged exposure could lead to poisoning, but since it’s so rare, it’s too ambiguous to use as poison.”
“Can we get some?”
“Hmm… How much?”
“As much as possible.”
The barbarian tribe undergoes a special procedure during their coming-of-age ceremonies.
A procedure to gain the body of a bear and the wisdom of a hawk.
A method to restructure their bodies and unleash their full potential, known among warriors as ‘伐毛洗髓’ (Bulmo Se-soo).
The core of that procedure was this very item.
Known as…
‘Evolution Fluid.’
This was the true identity of the item—known here as ‘scrap,’ ‘failure,’ and ‘Monster Impurity.’
I’ve become complacent.
Why have I been sitting on my past life knowledge?
Something insignificant in the Empire could be highly valuable here, just as something seemingly useless here could be unattainable there.
The former is represented by Spirit Stones.
Back when I helped Baphomet, the lawyer mentioned that Spirit Stones are quite rare here. In the Empire, they’re just rocks that only Spirit Masters can use.
On the other hand, the latter is exemplified by the Evolution Fluid I obtained today. In the Empire, it is uncertain if even a billion wouldn’t secure it, yet here it lies hidden among the dust.
I have been negligent. Very negligent.
Preoccupied with becoming stronger, I’ve overlooked the gems scattered around me!
Reflect, past me. Put in the effort, present me.
When the auction started, my doubts became a belief—not a belief, but a certainty.
“Mom! Mom!”
“What on earth?”
“We must buy that! Absolutely, we must!”
“Son, those are cursed weapons. They look impressive, but you can’t even use them. They’re trash.”
“Curses come in all forms. Give it a try, Mom. You’ll see.”
“Haa… Our son, doing something so unusual… Ugh, fine. Though your stubbornness is exactly like your father’s.”
As Mom picked up the phone in the auction room, the auctioneer on screen immediately reacted dynamically.
“50 million! 50 million is in! The threefold cursed swords of Asura, a demon known in China as having three heads and six arms! Three swords, all for 50 million! Considering the starting price for the non-cursed Asura swords will be 10 billion, 50 million for the three cursed ones sounds like dirt.”
The auctioneer’s voice, strained, searched for reactions but was met with an embarrassingly cold silence.
The reason? Simple. No one knows how to lift the curse.
The first time I heard this, I was shocked. Really? A cursed weapon? They’re just discarding something like this because of some curse?
Best-case scenario? It’s only decoration. At best, it becomes a collector’s item for the rich, gathering dust in warehouses.
Worse, most cursed items are deemed entirely unusable depending on the nature of the curse.
“Sigh… The auction is done. Why have I bought such useless items? I must have gone mad.”
“You did well.”
“Tsk, I bought it for our son’s request, but this is dangerous. These are cursed swords of Asura. Don’t play with them recklessly.”
“Mom, don’t worry. You won’t regret this today.”
Pfft. Cursed? That’s my specialty.
Reeeeally. Just a small curse from a demon god? Is that supposed to be a demon god? Can I laugh?
If this is a demon god, the stray dog passing by is Fenrir. What nonsense is this?
Let me tell you, I know a bit about gods. They have pride. They don’t curse things lightly. Think about it, would humans curse ants out of rage?
If a god really cursed something, it’s extremely rare.
And even if they did, why waste time cursing an object when cursing a soul would be far more effective?
We’ll have to see. But I suspect the ‘Asura’ from China would at most be a Great Demon. On par with Baphomet.
In short:
“To me, these are excellent nutrients.”
I smacked my lips in anticipation.
Given this, there’s something else I need to touch upon:
“Mom, could you also get me the Asura corpse?”
“The corpse? For what?”
“To create a ‘left arm.'”
“Left arm?”
“Yes, since I already have a right arm, I should make the left one.”
“Dear…”
“I’ll give you a cursed sword in exchange.”
“Alright, I give up.”
Thus, we gathered all the valuable treasures that others ignored—such as the Asura corpse that would come later and those contaminated Magic Gems—and returned home laden with goods.
“Haha.”
Making money is easy.
A few days later, Kim Yeon-hee looked at the sword in front of her with complicated eyes.
“It was true.”
A few days ago, at the Royal Market, Park Ki-hyuk said something.
“I’ll make you rich, Mom.”
She thought he was joking.
She only thought he was throwing a tantrum.
Kim Yeon-hee was unfamiliar with this side of him. Park Ki-hyuk had always been not just well-behaved but overly cautious as a child.
A boy who had hesitated with his words and watched others’ reactions.
To Kim Yeon-hee, the youngest child had always been her sore thumb, and for that reason, his tantrum felt somehow endearing.
That was why she silently bought the gifts without questioning.
The youngest wants it, right? How precious his courage is.
After all, it’s not like a little money could deflate the spirit of her youngest son.
However, two days later.
An unexpected gift arrived.
From her youngest son, Park Ki-hyuk.
Chuck.
The blade, unsheathed, gleamed sharply.
This is real. A real legendary blade.
A sword whose value cannot be easily measured.
Certainly, it is not cursed.
“Wow, the curse really did disappear…”
The confident face of her son flashes before her eyes.
He really meant to make his mother rich, didn’t he?
How impressive, proud, and grateful.
“Of course.”
My youngest is like me, isn’t he?
In the gleam of the pristine blade, Kim Yeon-hee smiled.
