Chapter 3

The values are different.

The values are different.

Baron Kantreig, the lord of Prussia, was walking through the manor's garden with a pair of pruning shears in hand.

Tap, tap, tap…

But then, a knight rushed in from the entrance of the garden.

“My lord, a beacon has risen at the village entrance checkpoint.”

“A beacon?”

Click!

Kantreig unconsciously tightened his grip.

Without even glancing at the knight, he watched the leaves fall with a regretful expression as the branch with the flower bud was cut.

“It was a four-pronged signal.”

“What? Are you sure about that?”

Kantreig turned away from the flowers, looking at the knight with a bewildered expression.

“Yes.”

“Hmm… Why would a wizard suddenly visit such a small fishing village?”

“I don’t really…”

“Hmm…”

Baron Kantreig's expression was complicated.

All sorts of unpleasant thoughts ran through his mind.

Wizards were troublesome.

Although he, as a noble, held a nominal superior position, in reality, he was almost on equal footing with most wizards.

Moreover, they were capricious beings capable of doing anything, so it was impossible to predict what they might do in the territory.

It didn't seem like he had time to leisurely prune the flowers.

“Understood. Tell the knights to prepare for an outing. I will meet him personally.”

‘Still, who do I need to deal with…’

Yongsu looked around.

Everyone was whispering about the truck, and when their eyes met, they turned away and disappeared into other alleys.

‘Really…’

The clear sense of distance.

Yongsu checked the navigation again.

<Mission: Meet a human and trade the items you have.>

He drove the truck around to brighten the dark map on the navigation, but if everyone kept whispering and avoiding the truck, it would be difficult to make a trade.

He had arrived at the end of the territory.

Whoosh…

“The sea…”

To Yongsu, who had grown up by the sea, it was a familiar scent.

Splash! Whoosh…

The waves surged, and foam broke in the air. Seagulls flew around, and on one side, fishermen were mending nets and sorting fish.

It evoked a strong sense of nostalgia.

Crunch…

Yongsu turned off the engine at the end of the road where the truck could go.

Boats were floating on the sea, and almost naked men and women were diving into the water to collect shells and fish. On the wooden pier, fishermen were gathered, weaving nets.

The scenery was familiar and warm, reminiscent of his childhood.

However, as he looked closely, not only the boats but everything else seemed to be from a much older time than what he had seen in his childhood.

‘Is this place originally like this…’

It didn't seem like a modern Western town perfectly recreating the medieval concept, as the words he heard were clearly understandable.

‘It doesn’t seem to be Korean, nor the language used by the green-skinned orcs…’

While Yongsu was lost in thought, a wooden boat entered the pier.

“Damn, those whale calves have defecated again!”

The fishermen, as soon as they landed, vented their anger.

‘Whales?’

“Look, the nets are all torn!”

When he was young, he had occasionally seen whales caught in nets and die.

Although whales are heavy and strong, it was almost impossible for them to tear through tough synthetic nets or copper alloy nets used for aquaculture.

However, it seemed that the nets here were made by weaving vines, making it easy for whales to tear them.

“Ugh, it’s just a useless lump of shit.”

Splat!

The men nervously picked the feces from the nets and threw them into a bonfire.

The fire burned more fiercely due to the oil in the feces.

The smell of rotting fish wafted through the open window, making Yongsu's head spin.

‘Hmm…’

Yongsu frowned but watched the feces they were removing carefully, as something was bothering him.

‘It seems to be right…’

Click.

Yongsu quickly got out of the car.

If that was the feces he was thinking of, it shouldn't be burned like that.

Thud!

“Ouch…”

He tripped over a rock while running.

Yongsu frowned and looked at the rock.

It was a strange rock.

It had a strange color, with white, yellow, and black parts mixed together, and black shell-like things attached to it.

“This…”

Yongsu touched the shell-like part with his hand.

It was hard but slightly soft. This is a squid's beak.

Rattle.

Yongsu ran back to the car and pulled out the key.

He then pushed his way through the fishermen.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Who are you…”

Perhaps because of his different and foreign attire, the fishermen cautiously stepped back, wary of him.

Yongsu smiled and nodded, hanging the keychain on a fallen branch and heating the key over the fire.

“Hey? What’s that? It looks like a carriage, but there’s no horse… It’s like something a wizard would ride…”

“Wizard…”

Clang!

The fishermen quickly backed away, increasing the distance between themselves and Yongsu.

“…”

An awkward silence fell.

But Yongsu focused on heating the key.

‘That’s it!’

When the key was sufficiently heated, Yongsu hurriedly returned to the rock he had tripped over earlier.

Sizzle…

As he placed the key on the rock, a melting sound was heard.

When he removed the key, the rock had melted to the size of the key, turning into a liquid with a glossy finish between black and caramel.

“This…”

To the locals, it was useless whale feces that would turn into indistinguishable rocks and be considered unpleasant waste…

But in Yongsu's world, it was more expensive than gold of the same weight.

“It’s ambergris…”

He hit the jackpot.