Chapter 345. Trusting Heart (4)

It is impossible to talk about the buhguhbu tribe’s history without mentioning Mamiya. Currently, the buhguhbus possess a craftsmanship comparable to the dwarf tribe that’s only passed down in legends. When the dwarf tribe went extinct after failing to accept their fate to become slaves subordinate to the gods in the Age of Gods, it was only natural that the gods’ attention would have shifted toward the buhguhbus.

Then how did the buhguhbu tribe survive to the present day without getting any protection from a god while various gods competed for them? When asked, the buhguhbus all reply with the same answers—Mamiya, and Narsha Haram. The Narsha Haram is a tower created by a bet between Miho, who loved the dingos and carbuncles, and the buhguhbus. The Narsha Tower is meaningful in that it is where the lasting relationship between Mamiya and Miho began, when Mamiya proved his worth by climbing to the top floor of the tower.

Several records wrote that Mamiya overcame countless adversity in the Narsha Haram, but what the ordeal entails is not written in detail. There are only a few lines at most, and it is safe to say that basically nothing is written about the second floor. No related records can be found at all, and the only information about it is passed down orally, without clear credibility. After going to the buhguhbus first hand and checking in person, I was able to hear the story of the second floor from an old buhguhbus.

The hardest part of Mamiya’s trial is the second floor, and the reason for that is because he had to make a ‘choice’ on that floor…

[An unofficial account of an ancient story during the Age of Gods from an anonymous historian.]

* * *

After the team selection was announced, Seven Stars became bustling with activity. Although Ru Amuh’s team was busily preparing to leave, Chi-Woo’s team wasn’t able to do the same. Their goal was clear, and the number of people was set, but the problem was coming up with a concrete plan. When they tried to materialize their vague thoughts into reality, several gaps that could not be overlooked were revealed. Among the many issues, the most glaring one by far was the path to get to their destination. For now, the shortest path, straight towards their goal, was completely taken out of the discussion. If they wanted to use that path, they needed to cross the Demon Empire’s mainland, and that was no different from suicide. In the end, they had no choice but to go around. Then which detour would take them less time? And which way would be safer? Since it was not a simple task like taking an item out of someone’s pocket, there were numerous things to consider.

“Geez, let’s just go! If we leave the sanctuary, it’s the same wherever we go anyway!” Yunael yelled in frustration after having meaningless meetings every day with no progress. In fact, she wasn’t completely wrong either. Although there was some difference, it was dangerous everywhere as soon as they left the sanctuary, whether they crossed the border or another faction’s territory or not. In the end, the head’s opinion was the most important.

Chi-Woo selected Hawa as the head of this expedition after considerable thought. Although he didn’t doubt Abis’ ability as a hero, Chi-Woo thought Hawa was more suitable as someone from a nomadic tribe who had traveled extensively around Liber, since fighting was not a priority in this expedition. However, for some reason, Hawa did not appear at the meeting. She appeared only once or twice at first, but had not participated at all since then. It would have usually been a matter of great frustration, but Hawa had asked Chi-Woo in private to give her some time, and Chi-Woo waited patiently. After hearing his explanation, Yunael endured for a few days, but that was about it. Five days later, Yunael finally exploded.

“Where’s the head now? No, I just want to talk. Where is she so busily going around that I can’t even get a glimpse of her face? What the hell is she doing—!”

Chi-Woo replied, “Let’s wait a little longer. I’m sure she’s also feeling a lot of pressure.”

Considering that Ru Amuh’s team had already finished their preparation and was almost ready to leave, while they hadn’t made any preparation, it was understandable that Yunael would be angry. Although Chi-Woo could sympathize with her, he consoled Yunael and quietly waited. They were going to travel a long distance; it would be ridiculous to go there recklessly, and he wanted to give Hawa time. At the end of the day, she was the driver in charge of leading this trip, and was putting in great effort to keep her passengers alive.

* * *

Hawa showed up after two days.

“…So.” Yunael said with an unfriendly gaze at Hawa as she sat down. “You haven’t shown your face at all for the past seven days. Can I trust that you brought us something big, befitting the time you’ve taken?” Yunael’s tone was not as harsh as expected because Hawa’s eyes were dull and listless as she looked down at the map. The deep dark circles underneath her eyes suggested that she must have stayed up all night for days. This was at least proof that she hadn’t gone out to play hooky, but instead had been pondering deeply for days. After a long silence, Hawa closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I don’t know. I think there will be a problem whichever path we take.” Hawa continued as soon as Yunael was about to have a fit, “The paths to our destination can be categorized into three types.” Through the land, the sea, and the air. Going by land was too old-fashioned. Since the distance we’re traveling is great, it was also too naive to expect not to get caught even once during their trip. There would definitely be a problem, and there was a high possibility of dying whether they failed or succeeded in running away in that event. There was no need to even mention the problems with going by sea or air. Their destination was inland, far from the coast and surrounded by land, and they could not dream of flying unless they could use magic freely like Chi-Hyun or have wings.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s almost impossible for us to go on a path that people normally use. It will be hard unless we borrow the power of a god.”

“So what do you want us to do? You asked for more time, and all you’re telling us is that we can’t go?”

“No, I never said it wasn’t possible.”

“Really? Then tell us quickly instead of making us wait in anticipation.”

“I just told you.”

At Hawa’s flat tone, Yunael blinked as if she was asking, ‘When?’

Hawa said, “That it will be hard unless we borrow the power of a god.”

Silence fell.

“What…does that mean?”

When Yunael asked again, Hawa turned her gaze nonchalantly to Chi-Woo. “I heard that you had a pretty interesting experience during your last expedition not too long ago.”

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Chi-Woo answered, “Yes, but it was a rescue mission rather than an expedition.”

“Anyhow, I heard that the magic fire pit created a dimensional door connected to a different world.”

Jin-Cheon made a loud cough after listening quietly. Chi-Woo smirked and refocused on Hawa. Then he said, “Yes, that happened, but from my understanding, the Kobalos’ magic fire pit can no longer be used. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be suffering like this.”

“I know. What I want to tell you is that there is a similar door like that on Liber.”

“…Please tell us in more detail.”

“For example, what if we had access to a door that could move anywhere we wanted at once, no matter how far?”

Chi-Woo stared at Hawa. Her hollow eyes looked back at him without shaking an inch. Although it was hard to believe, it didn’t seem like she was lying. To sum up, Hawa was suggesting that they go through a door that can go anywhere with the help of a god and come back quickly. This was the best possible method if it could be carried out. They could drastically reduce the time the mission took, and they didn’t have to take any risks while moving back and forth. Although there was no better method…the problem was with the implementation.

“Where can we find that door?”

“On Narsha Haram’s second floor,” Hawa said without hesitation, and Chi-Woo looked a little surprised.

“If it’s Narsha Haram…”

“According to the buhguhbus’ leader, Mamiya had to stand at a major crossroad on the second floor after passing the first floor. There, he chose to go up the third floor after much thought.”

“What does that story have to do with the door you were talking about?”

“The tribe’s leader said that the second floor was Mamiya’s biggest struggle. If he had made another choice, he would have given up climbing further and exited the tower, using a door that could lead him anywhere he wanted.”

A door that let anyone go wherever they wanted. Yunael, who was listening to the conversation between the two, quietly turned around. Then she looked towards Evelyn, who was listening with interest. When Yunael asked what Narsha Haram was, Evelyn answered with a smile, “It’s a legendary tower that existed during the Age of Gods.”

Yunael looked flabbergasted by her explanation, “No, wait a minute. Before we go look for stolen treasures, you want us to look for a tower from thousands of years ago that may or may not exist?”

“I’m sure I told you earlier.” Since Hawa also had a fierce personality, she responded sharply in an irritated tone. “It’s not that it may or may not exist. It exists.” The guide always needed to be certain; this was one of the fundamentals of being a guide that Chi-Hyun taught her.

Chi-Woo added, “Narsha Haram exists for real. Ms. Yunael, you might not know, but we went there on an expedition before. It was only the first floor though.”

“Ah, is that so? I didn’t know. Sorry about that.” At Chi-Woo’s testimony, Yunael politely apologized and shut her mouth.

Chi-Woo smiled at Hawa as she let out a snort. “You must have asked me for more time…to figure this out.”

“Yes. I had to do work that took seven days just to get this answer, but I couldn’t see a way to reach our goal other than this.”

“Since you’ve checked it yourself, there’s no doubt it’s the truth, but there’s still a problem left.” Anyone could see that it would be no easy task to go to the second floor of the Narsha Haram, ask Mamiya to open the door, reach their destination right away, pack up the stolen treasures, and sing on their way back home. Going through the first floor again was a hurdle alone. At that time, the expedition team had to go through seven compartments and all kinds of trials and hardships. The second floor would probably present them with more challenges rather than fewer.

There were no consequences without a cause. If they wanted access to the door that could go anywhere on the second floor, they needed to produce the appropriate cause. And if their target was a god, there was a high possibility that it would be in the form of paying some kind of price.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to go and see what kind of payment Mamiya wants,” Hawa replied matter-of-factly. Considering that Hawa found a path much more realistic than through the land, sea, or sky, it could be said that she had already done her job as the head, and the other problems were the expedition leader’s responsibility.

There was no reason to hesitate longer after thinking this was worth a try. Chi-Woo called Eval Sevaru. “Please make an appointment with Mr. Dalgil. As soon as possible.”

* * *

They made an appointment in the evening the very same day. Eval Sevaru, who had a lot of exchanges with the buhguhbus, worked hard to make the appropriate preparations for guests according to their culture. With the buhguhbus, it was tradition to prepare enough food for the guest’s stomachs to burst the more important they were. Thanks to this, Dalgil, who visited Seven Stars, got to feast on an enormous amount of food and alcohol, and their talk began in a relatively good atmosphere.

“It’s good to see you after a long time, but you’ve even prepared such a feast. My heart feels full.” Dalgil cleaned his teeth with a toothpick and revealed his good mood. “So what’s your request?”

“Haha, you knew already.”

“It’s not like I don’t know the situation in the city these days. Anyway, what do you want me to do? If you want, I will stand as your vanguard even while putting aside what I’m doing right now.”

Chi-Woo hadn’t seen him for a long time, but Dalgil’s personality was the same as ever. Chi-Woo smiled and shook his head. “I need your help, but there’s no need for you to go that far.”

“Then?”

When Chi-Woo asked him to open the second floor of Narsha Haram, Dalgil’s expression stiffened.

Dalgil said, “After coming back from conquering the first floor of the Narsha Haram, I’ve gained significantly more influence in my tribe, but it’s not an easy task to receive a divine command.”

All tribes treated their gods sacredly, but the buhguhbus were more severe in this regard. Since they had a strong tendency to sanctify Mamiya, the buhguhbus needed to go through complicated steps to meet Mamiya, unless it was for the growth system. This was the case for the buhguhbus, so there was no need to even mention the difficulty of getting a divine command for an outsider.

Yunael, who had been listening to the conversation, got an ominous feeling about this. She felt as if Dalgil was going to make a difficult request in exchange for this favor. In an urgent time like this, Yunael felt anxious as their work seemed to keep getting pushed back.

“…But if it’s a request from my benefactor and friend, it’s a different matter.”

However, Yunael’s prediction was well off.

“Can you perhaps tell me a little more about the situation? It would be easier to persuade the others if it’s for a greater cause. Of course, we will make sure to keep it a secret.”

When Chi-Woo told him about their search for tohari, Dalgil exclaimed, “Then it’s a matter for us buhguhbus as well! Furthermore, it’s for the benefit of the whole League. There’s no need for more explanation.” He immediately raised his huge body and turned around. “Wait a little longer. I’ll come right back with the divine command. Even if I have to break the head of anybody in opposition.”

Dalgil returned to Seven Stars exactly two hours later. “I’ve received a divine command. God Mamiya has accepted your request.” With a token in one hand, he continued, “Do you remember when we last activated Narsha Haram?”