Chapter 80: The Kaplan Effect (1)
Terms used in this chapter:
Praise makes even a whale dance – an old Korean saying which means that praises makes a person feel good.
Magician of words – also known as wordsmith, which means a person who is an expert in the use of words.
Jude also had something called a conscience.
“Really?”
“Why are you pretending like it’s someone else’s business? You’re an accomplice too.”
“Cordelia doesn’t know anything. I was just following Daddy.”
Cordelia pretended to be cute and innocent in front of him, and Jude couldn’t win against her.
“Hehe, I’m really cute so you couldn’t win, right?”
“No, it’s not?”
“Hehehe.”
Cordelia cheekily laughed and lightly knocked on Jude’s chest.
“Apparently, you have a conscience here too.”
Jude’s conscience.
As she had said, Jude also had a conscience.
Even for Jude, it was unreasonable to extort more from the Fairy Queen as a reward for her single request when they had already received the Earth Protection and over twenty magic tools.
‘Though the truth is, we have nothing else to extort from her.’
There surely would have been more treasures, but it was questionable if the Fairy Queen would hand it over to them.
There was no need to destroy a good relationship just because of greed.
“That’s why you got this?”
“It’s enough.”
Jude replied with a smile before spreading out the map he received from the Fairy Queen.
“Magellan, the kingdom of magic.”
It was a powerful magic kingdom built by the High Elves, who were also known as the ancient elves.
The map displayed and recorded in detail the geography of not only the Raptor Canyon, but also of Endymion, the capital of the former magic kingdom.
“Lena must be here somewhere, right?”
“Perhaps. Even if she isn’t here…we still have to know about Endymion in order to save Lena.”
After nodding at Jude’s words, Cordelia turned her gaze towards the left corner of the map and smiled.
“This is the hot spring we’re in now. And since this is the bathhouse sign…hehehe, there are more than ten bathhouses in Endymion alone.”
Although it would not have been completely preserved like the bathhouse they were in that was managed by the wild fairies, the fact that there were bathhouses was still important.
“Good for you.”
“Yes, yes, I love it.”
Seeing Cordelia’s broad smile, Jude’s mood also became better.
“Let’s stop by these places on the way. Anyway, we gained a lot from today’s meeting.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
They got the map of Endymion, the Earth Protection, and several magic items, which included the Spell’s Echo.
‘There’s even information.’
Information such as what monsters lived in Raptor Canyon and which surrounding terrain and so on, that they should be careful of.
Jude and Cordelia got more than they had thought.
“Let’s change our equipment setting first, minus the items that has effects that cancel out each other. Let’s set it at the highest efficiency.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll set up yours at the highest efficiency.”
Cordelia lightly knocked on her chest and began sorting out the equipment they had brought, and Jude approached the fainted Kaplan who was still lying on the floor.
“How’s Kaplan?”
“He looks fine. He’s just sleeping well.”
After answering Cordelia, Jude checked Kaplan’s pulse before he untied the ropes.
‘Indiana Kaplan.’
An adventurer and archeologist from the Argon Empire.
He was a character the player could meet at least once when they explored the ruins in the Argon Empire. He was always involved in accidents, so beginners would call him the god of disaster while rotten waters called him the god of bliss.
“Are you going to wake him up?”
“Yes, because we have a lot to talk about.”
He wanted to know why Kaplan came to the wild land, and what and how much Kaplan knew about Endymion.
“Wait, if you’re going to wake him up, I’ll wake him up with magic.”
Cordelia put the sorted equipment into their newly brought magic bag before she quickly walked towards Jude.
“.”
As she gently stroked Kaplan’s shiny head and whispered, the spell’s effect was activated.
“Uhhh…uh…”
Kaplan opened his eyes with a groan and was half-asleep for a moment, but he soon jumped up and raised his upper body.
“Hyuuuk?! Where am I?! What about the monster?!”
Jude and Cordelia left him alone for now as Kaplan exhaled roughly and looked around him before he stabilized his position.
“Ba-bathhouse? High Elf style?”
As expected of an archeologist.
Jude unknowingly smiled, and then said to Kaplan who was covered in cold sweat.
“You’re Sir Indiana Kaplan, am I right?”
Kaplan flinched at the sudden call, but he soon nodded.
He was too busy to look around, so he didn’t properly notice Jude and Cordelia standing next to him.
“I’m Indiana Kaplan. Here…n-no. I remember. While being chased by the White Giant Bear…”
“Yes, we saved Sir Kaplan.”
“We saved you. If not for us, you would have been eaten by the White Giant Bear.”
Cordelia emphasized the fact that they saved him even if Jude didn’t ask her to.
‘Why?’
‘No, I’m just proud.’
She grew up well.
But he partly felt awful when he thought that he had corrupted an innocent child.
In any case, Cordelia’s emphasis on doing him a favor worked.
“Oh! You two were my benefactors! Thank you very much! I lived thanks to you two.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Ahem, ahem, now then…”
Cordelia immediately nodded, but Jude stealthily stopped Cordelia as he stepped forward.
Because Kaplan wasn’t a fairy.
Emphasizing that he owed them was good, but if it was too obvious, there was a possibility that it would be slightly counterproductive.
“It’s an honor to meet Sir Indiana Kaplan, a renowned archeologist.”
“Hoho, it’s just a bit of an empty name.”
Kaplan stroked his beard as if he was embarrassed, but praise makes even a whale dance.
Kaplan felt much better.
“I am Jude, and this is my fiancée, Cordelia.”
“I’m Cordelia. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Cordelia’s courteousness made Kaplan’s face flushed.
“Your fiancée is a very beautiful woman. I’m envious.”
“Hahaha, thank you.”
In fact, Cordelia didn’t notice because she didn’t pay it much thought, but Jude had always stressed the fact that she was his ‘fiancée’ whenever they met someone.
In the midst of the friendly atmosphere, Kaplan spoke.
“By the way…you don’t look like people who live in the wild land.”
“Yes, we are from the S?len Kingdom.”
“Ho! S?len! The S?len Kingdom has long been in war with the barbarians, so how come you’re here…”
“There were various circumstances…but the biggest reason is to explore the ruins.”
“Explore the ruins?”
“Yes, explore the ruins.”
At the same time as he laughed ‘hoho’ at Jude’s answer, Kaplan’s face was filled with curiosity and nervousness.
“The ruins you’re talking about are…”
“The capital of Magellan, the magic kingdom. The Endymion capital.”
“Oh! You’re the same!”
With bright eyes, Kaplan stood up from his position, and Cordelia immediately continued.
“Sir Kaplan, are you here to investigate Endymion?”
“That’s right. I was a little lost because I didn’t know the exact location…but seeing you two gave me hope.”
Endymion must be somewhere around here.
“Yes, Endymion is real. And if you look at this place on a bigger scale, this is also a part of Endymion.”
“Ohhhh! As expected! Is this the bathhouse of the High Elves?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Whooaa!”
Kaplan was extremely excited as he immediately ran to the wall and began looking and carefully touching the murals, engraved characters, decorations, and so on, that decorated the bathhouse.
“He’s completely excited.”
“Because he’s an archeologist.”
Jude didn’t want to appear rude, but they still had to finish their conversation with him.
So he approached Kaplan and spoke.
“I and Cordelia are researchers at the Academy located in the capital of the S?len Kingdom. By chance, we got a map of Raptor Canyon and Endymion, so we ended up coming here.”
“Map? You mean a map?!”
“Yes, a map.”
Kaplan immediately rushed towards Jude, who took out a neatly folded map.
However, Jude didn’t give out the map.
“Before that, Sir Kaplan. There’s something we’d like to know.”
“What do you want to know?”
“It’s not a big deal. We just want to exchange information.”
They wanted to know what Kaplan knew about Endymion.
But the reason Kaplan came all the way to the wild land was because he wanted to just see Endymion.
“Umm…as you two know, Magellan, the kingdom of magic, is a legend. It’s not that there are no records at all, but information about the kingdom is lacking to the point that its existence is even questioned.”
That was correct.
Even Jude and Cordelia did not know of the existence of the magic kingdom itself until they had heard of it from Gentle Snow Breeze.
“Because the kingdom’s existence itself is being questioned, the cause of its destruction was also handed down through legends.”
A long, long time ago.
The overlords of hell descended onto this world in an era called the ancient times.
“According to legend, Angelone, the last queen of the magic kingdom, gathered all the forces of the kingdom to confront the overlord of hell. But in the end, they were outnumbered. The magic kingdom eventually fell into the hands of demons and collapsed.”
But they weren’t just trampled.
Magellan’s High Elves succeeded in inflicting a fatal injury to the overlord of hell.
“Moreover, it is said that the war between Magellan and the overlord of hell did not happen for a day or two. At least a year…no, during the war that lasted for many years, Magellan’s wizards researched and studied ways on how to fight the demons.”
It was a convincing tale.
It became apparent that the reason Lena came here was to obtain the demon countermeasures that was developed by Magellan’s High Elves.
“After the tragedy of the Paragon Kingdom, demon followers began to run wild in the Argon Empire. More and more people are concerned about the arrival of a powerful demon.”
“Then…”
“Yes, it is to find a way to fight against the demons not only for the Argon Empire, but also for the whole world. As a scholar, there are also many reasons to move. Of course, there were requests from sponsors too.”
Despite looking like an old dwarf, him clearing his throat at the end was strangely cute.
“I see. In fact, we are here for a similar reason. The Devil’s Hand and other demon followers have been running wild in the S?len Kingdom for a long time too.”
“Hmm…as expected. Demon followers are a worldwide problem. It’s not just one country’s problem.”
“Yes, so Sir Kaplan. Let’s explore Endymion together. Let’s leave our position as citizens of the S?len Kingdom and of the Argon Empire, and even transcend our human and dwarf races, and just be people who live together in this era.”
“Ooh…that’s good. Let us do so.”
As Kaplan nodded and shook the hand that Jude had stretched out, Jude glanced at Cordelia and she gave a thumbs up.
‘As expected of my scammer!’
‘They call me a magician of words.’
After his eye conversation with Cordelia, Jude opened the map, showed it to Kaplan, and then said.
“Sir Kaplan, we’re going to take a break here today and start exploring tomorrow. So, Sir Kaplan, let’s have a good rest today.”
“Oh…I see. I understand. Could I see a little more of the map?”
“Of course. Take your time.”
Jude plainly handed over the map to the overly excited Kaplan before he drew closer to Cordelia again and said.
“Let’s take a rest now.”
“I have to take a bath and do the laundry. Wash yourself a little too. You’re sweaty.”
“Uh…really?”
“Yes…really. So don’t stick close to me until you’ve washed yourself. Do you understand?”
Cordelia coyly said before she turned around and headed towards the bathtub in the corner, and Jude sniffed and smelled himself before hurriedly heading over to the opposite side of the bathtub.
And the next morning…
“Uh…are we going like this?”
“Yes! We’re going like this!”
“We’re going like this!”
At the hot spring’s entrance.
Jude and Cordelia were close together, while Kaplan stood far away.
Was it almost 30 meters apart?
Moreover, they weren’t just far away.
A rope was tied around Kaplan’s barrel-like waist, and Jude held the other end of that rope.
“Don’t worry. If anything happens, we’ll save you like yesterday!”
“It’ll be fine since we’re connected with the rope like this!”
“No, it’s just…”
Kaplan took the lead, while Jude and Cordelia followed him.
But since he was tied up with a rope like that, it felt like he was a bait that was hanging from a fishing rod.
“Let’s go!”
“Let’s depart!”
At the urging of Jude and Cordelia, Kaplan had a baffled expression, but he soon nodded.
At any rate, the two were his benefactors, and they even gave him the map and let him take the lead.
The value of the map, in which Endymion’s geography was described in detail, was surely around a thousand gold, so Kaplan himself didn’t feel like he was a bait.
‘They must have a different idea.’
The two were good enough fighters to save themselves from the White Giant Bear.
There must be a reason why they were following at a distance.
Kaplan tried to convince himself before he looked straight ahead with sparkling eyes.
The Endymion capital.
The capital of the fallen kingdom of magic.
The last city.
These were words that stimulated his heart as an adventurer and archeologist.
‘Let’s go!’
Kaplan proudly advanced and Jude and Cordelia followed Kaplan at a distance of 30 meters.
One hour passed like that.
Cordelia raised her head, and Jude spontaneously smiled.
“Ahhhh! It’s a monster!”
“Oooh! It’s an Ice Grizzly, a rare monster!”
“It’s also named! It has two horns! As expected of the Kaplan effect!”
While Kaplan screamed and ran away, the two widely smiled and then pulled the rope hard to retrieve Kaplan before they stepped forward.
It was a named monster fishing using Kaplan, an unlucky man who attracts misfortune.
With this method, they would be able to encounter rare monsters that were normally difficult to encounter.
In addition, they would be able to encounter named monsters that were even harder to encounter.
This was called the Kaplan effect.
“My princess, shall we catch a big fish?”
“Yes, Daddy. Let’s pick the mulberries.”
The two rotten waters smiled broadly at each other before they moved forward, and the named monster, who sensed the unusual atmosphere, shuddered at that moment, but it was already too late.
Jude and Cordelia.
The exciting fishing of the two rotten waters began.
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