Ryu Han-bin enjoyed the peaceful sceneries of the fields before them as he sat in the wagon.
“That’s strange. There’s a rumor that a lot of bandits have settled here, but I haven’t even seen one.”
He heard that traveling in Latna was highly dangerous.
“Mr. Buckman enthusiastically told me that I should always be careful when traveling long distances because there are a lot of monsters out there, and bandits are rampant across the continent.”
Effir, sitting next to him, tilted her head.
“Who’s Mr. Buckman?”
“A good man who injured his back.”
“… Huh?”
In the past ten days, Han-bin and his party had never been attacked.
“It’s safer than I thought.”
“That can’t be right.”
Effir burst out in laughter.
“There’s a Golem steed attached to the wagon. Of course, there would be no bandits.”
Golem steeds could only be operated by a person level 45 or higher.
It was essentially galloping proof that the wagon was carrying high-level people.
What’s more, the man sitting inside the wagon was an unbelievably large being.
The 190-centimeter-tall giant covered with steel muscles was also carrying a two-meter-long sword.
“But if it were you, would you come at me, Han-bin?”
“Perhaps?”
The rattling wagon continued to carry them forward as they talked about such a nasty story.
Artis called the two.
“Han-bin, Effir!”
The sun had reached the peak of the sky. It was almost lunchtime.
“Let’s eat!”
They parked the wagon in the middle of the field and prepared for lunch.
But they didn’t follow the kind of camping atmosphere that was often imagined, with bonfires and cauldrons.
“Let’s have a quick lunch with yesterday’s leftovers.”
Muttering, Artis opened the cold storage in the wagon and took out vegetables and meat.
He then put the meat in the Magic oven and began to operate it.
They were all Magic furniture used at home.
Latna’s Magic Tools were powered by Spirit Stones as if they were battery-powered.
Cutting a loaf of bread, Artis rose a question.
“I heard on Earth, you all have to deliberately build an infrastructure that plays the role of Spirit Stones and connect it through wires that stretch for thousands of kilometers to use this furniture, right?”
“Well, if it’s about power plants and wires, that’s right.”
“Oh, how can they use it? That sounds incredibly inefficient.”
“… I never expected to hear modern civilizations on Earth to be labeled as inefficient in this world.”
Holding a bowl, Han-bin smiled bitterly.
“Our worlds have a lot of similarities! Don’t ignore Earth.”
Meanwhile, Effir set up a simple table and finished preparing their meal.
A man, a Dragon, and a Wyvern sat at the table and ate lunch together.
“That’s right, Artis.”
As he cut through the meat, Han-bin raised a question.
“What exactly are the Four Prohibited Areas?”
* * *
Unlike on Earth, Latna was made up of one supercontinent.
It was a horse-hoof-shaped continent as large as Eurasia, North America, and South America combined. There were Mediterranean Metis and three great powers at its center.
Caldris, the thousand-year-old Kingdom of the North.
Allendia, the fairy Kingdom of the West.
Lune, the Mana Kingdom of the East.
The three countries were called the three Continental Powers. They were at war against each other for the supremacy of Latna.
The Latnains called them ‘the Continent Centers.’
For Hunters, however, the term ‘Continent Centers’ had another meaning.
It was the hell of royalties, located throughout the Continental Powers’ territories, where monstrosities beyond common sense appeared.
Such places were extremely high-level Dungeon areas that not even the four strongest beings of Latna could have conquered.
That was the Four Prohibited Areas.
“It’s quite confusing at first. It’s called the Continent Center, then the Three Powers. Now it’s called the Four Prohibited Areas…”
Artis laughed at the grumbling Ryu Han-bin.
“That’s what people usually use. It has many names.”
Han-bin already knew the names of the Four Prohibited Areas.
“They’re the Great Maze Kaltan, Tower Mountain Rufus, Ice-Flame Forest Hithran, and Floating Island Avalta?”
“Exactly.”
Highly dangerous Dungeons continued to appear in the Four Prohibited Areas.
The Three Powers’ role in the middle of the continent was to protect Latna from worldwide erosion by preventing those areas’ expansions.
The thousand-year-old kingdom of tradition, Caldris, suppressed the Tower Mountain Rufus.
The Fairy kingdom Allendia suppressed the Ice-Flame Forest Hithran.
The Mana Kingdom Lune suppressed the Floating Island Avalta.
“Lastly, the first dungeon and the worst dungeon, the Great Maze Kaltan, is being directly suppressed by the Sword King Baotolt.”
It was a difficult duty for the Continental Three Powers, but at the same time, it gave them access to great wealth and honor.
They constantly gained massive amounts of Spirit Stones, Magic Tools, and Artifacts from the Four Prohibited Areas.
Countless talents from all over Latna tried to seek wealth and fame there.
It allowed the three Continental Powers to reign as the most powerful countries without the other countries being able to contest them.
“And it’s the four strongest men who have dominated the Four Prohibited Areas.”
Ryu Han-bin tilted his head.
“Are the four strongest men the kings of the Continental Powers?”
“Yes and no.”
Artis began to explain the current situation of the Latna Continent.
“The Kingdom of Caldris is under the control of the Thunder King.”
Latna’s strongest Magic Swordsman was the Thunder King Garhan.
However, he wasn’t the king of the Kingdom of Caldris.
But everyone considered Garhan as the real ruler of the kingdom.
“Tepes Hall Caldris, the current king, is his grandson. The queen of the last king was Garhan’s daughter.”
King Tepes was still a young teenager, and most officials were people of the Thunder King. The real power of Caldris was in the hands of Garhan.
“Allendia, the Fairy Kingdom, is under the influence of the Immortal.”
The current king of Allendia was Nymph-Fairy King, Lophlan Strauss Allendia.
He was a just monarch recognized by the four fairy races.
“Because the Fairy King’s queen is Hollien, the greatest Spiritist in Latna.”
“He took one of the strongest four as his wife? Fairy King. He has talent.”
“You’ve got it backward.”
When she married Lopplan, the fairy king, Hollien was just an ordinary Nymph.
She had never learned Spiritism.
“After she became the Queen of the Fairy Kingdom, she began to learn Spiritism as a hobby. Allegedly, that’s how she became the strongest.”
“… What? Wow.”
Han-bin’s jaw dropped in surprise.
“Spiritism, learned by the well-grown queen of a country as a hobby. She beat all the other Spiritists who had dedicated their lives to it?”
Artis nodded affirmatively.
“It’s hard for me to believe as well, but there’s nothing I can do about it. That’s the truth.”
The Mana Kingdom, Lune, was ruled by its queen, Arc Mage Genovia.
Lune was also concurrently the head of the Mage Guild Sinkers.
They followed a hierarchy where the strongest Mage naturally became the ruler of the country.
“So three of the Strongest Four have direct and indirect influence over the Continental Three Powers.”
Han-bin tilted his head.
“Then what about Sword King?”
Artis replied with a smirk.
“The Sword King doesn’t hold any country. He’s that indifferent to secular power or wealth and honor.”
He was the strongest swordsman on the continent and the strongest Valtara warrior of the time.
He was the Sword King Baotol, an old-timer who dreamed of becoming a true warrior.
His only joys in life were believing in his sword and wandering endlessly in search of a strong opponent.
All he ever desired was to fight against powerful enemies.
In the vast continent of Latna, there were only Four Prohibited Areas that could quench the Sword King’s thirst, who had reached the ultimate level.
Due to that, he had settled in the Grand Maze and was spending his old days slaughtering monsters.
“Thanks to him, the Grand Maze Kaltan is contained.”
“… The other three strongest men have taken the nation’s deterrent to rule the prohibited areas. But the Sword King rules one of such areas using only his sword.”
Han-bin clicked his tongue.
“He must be a real monster.”
It was difficult to separate the three Continental Powers, the Four Prohibited Areas, and the four strongest men because they were tightly intertwined.
That was why the public called it the Continental Center.
It was a place where all the wealth and fame of Latna, which all Hunters dreamed of, gathered.
For Ryu Han-bin’s final purpose, and to empower Artis and Effir, advancing to the Continental Center was essential.
So Artis chose Allendia, the Fairy kingdom where Hithran, the Ice Flame Forest, was located, as their next destination.
Not for any particular reason, other than…
“It’s just the closest to Highten.”
With a smile, Artis concluded his explanation.
“By tomorrow, we’ll be able to enter the western border of Allendia.”
* * *
The next afternoon.
The wagon kept running on the road.
Ahead of them was a large wall and a tall gate loomed over them in the distance.
“Is that Hithran?”
Artis shook his head in disagreement.
“Not yet.”
The Ice-Flame Forest Hithran, the Four Prohibited Areas of the Fairy Kingdom, was located in central Allendia.
It was a long way from there.
“That’s the western gateway city, Tyaron.”
Artis and Effir were still slightly too low-leveled to head straight to the Ice-Flame Forest.
And the Dungeons near Tyaron city had the difficulty suitable for level 50 or greater.
“We have to increase our levels if we want to go to Hithran and actually survive there.”
Tyaron city, like any big city, was forbode wagons from being used in public areas.
After leaving the wagon and the Golem steeds to the external castle, Han-bin and his party went into the city.
As they passed through the gate, an unusual scene unfolded.
Tyaron itself was not much different from Highten.
There were exotic buildings across the city, and its people dressed in medieval clothing filled the streets.
The unusual part was its composition.
While the majority of the residents were human, there were often people with unusual traits.
He saw a slim, beautiful lady with pointed ears buying items in a store.
The seller eagerly accommodated her with his small body, broad shoulders, and a rich beard.
In front of the store, men and women with gray skin and long legs passed by hurriedly.
A little further away, women with half-translucent blue hair hanging down, like glass fiber, laughed and chatted.
Latna’s four Elves, so he had heard of.
Elves and Dwarves, Sylphs, and Nymphs.
Looking around in disbelief, Ryu Han-bin murmured.
“Wow, I’ve never seen non-human races.”
Artis and Effir looked back at him in bewilderment.
“Wait.”
“First time seeing what?”
What was he talking about? He had been with a Dragon and a Wyvern throughout the majority of his journey.
Feeling embarrassed, Han-bin scratched his head.
“You have the appearance of human beings anyway.”
Fairies, on the other hand, were different from humans.
Their features and bones were quite different in addition to their distinctive appearances.
It was an amazing sight for Ryu Han-bin, who had only seen human civilizations since he had arrived in that world.
“Oh, my God, can’t I consider this view as amazing?”
Han-bin, who was looking around frantically, turned his eyes away in a moment of impatience.
‘It would be a natural sight for the people of this world, but it would cause problems if I looked around looking so surprised.’
Effir shook her head.
“Wouldn’t it be okay? There aren’t many people from other countries that had seen elves in person anyway. Even I have never seen them before.”
There were too few angels in Latna.
Even though that country was called the Fairy Kingdom, there were still overall more human inhabitants in it than there were non-human ones.
As such, the fairies didn’t travel that much outside of Allendia.
It was common for Hunters from other countries to arrive in that country and find Elves or Dwarves amazing.
Artis also provided related information.
“On the contrary, the people of this country are already fed up with all sorts of different human beings, so they don’t pay much attention to outsiders.”
Many people from all over the continent visited Allendia to seek their fortunes as Hunters.
With people of different origins and characteristics gathering together in their territory frequently, nothing surprised them any longer.
Of course, Ryu Han-bin’s appearance was never decent, so he was still put in the spotlight.
“Oh, look at him!”
“Why is he going around naked during the daytime?”
“He must be a Hunter from another country, right? Hunters are barbaric anyway.”
“Look how big and thick that is, though.”
“Don’t take the subject out. It sounds weird.”
Looking at the reactions towards him, Ryu Han-bin giggled.
“No matter how famous Valtara warriors are, it’s hard to tell at a glance unless they’re Hunters.”
Artis nudged him forward.
“Let’s start with the Hunter Guild. We need to renew our status.”
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