### Chapter 351
Descending from Enmaia Mountain.
Kraush felt like he had gone through even more hardship than on the way up.
He had poured all his strength into facing the Sword King at the peak of Enmaia Mountain.
Now, he had nothing left in his body.
‘This is the hardest return I’ve ever had.’
Thinking he never wanted to climb this mountain again, Kraush stretched his limbs.
Still, since he took breaks on the way down, he felt quite recovered.
“Hmmm, so where are you planning to go now?”
At that moment, Kraush turned his head at the voice he heard.
It was Jinmyoah, who had followed him down, stating that she would accompany him for the whole journey back.
Without her, he surely wouldn’t have been able to overcome the crises he faced while descending from Enmaia Mountain.
He felt grateful to her in many ways.
“I’m thinking of heading to Cloria.”
“To Cloria?”
Upon hearing Kraush’s answer, Jinmyoah looked perplexed.
Cloria was the city where the family of Zodiac Cloria, her friend’s son, was located.
But Zodiac had actually gone to the Demon Lord.
When she asked why he wanted to go to Cloria, Kraush stopped stretching.
“There might be more clues about the one manipulating Ixion there. Above all…”
Kraush said this with a chilling smile on his face.
That smile looked unmistakably like the grin of a villain.
“Ixion is targeting Zodiac, right? If he shows up in Cloria, won’t Ixion move too?”
“But isn’t Zodiac at the Demon Lord’s side?”
“Exactly, that’s why I’m going.”
“You’re saying you’ll disguise yourself as Zodiac?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Kraush had become too much of a risk to Ixion now.
While Ixion might bind him up, he wouldn’t rashly approach.
So, Kraush decided to turn himself into another bait.
A disguise that could fool even the Ixion crew.
Kraush was confident in his ability to pull it off perfectly.
‘I have the skill “Sable.”’
Kraush intended to tune his power down to Zodiac’s level and continuously absorb the rest of the output through Sable.
That way, even someone with keen eyesight wouldn’t be able to discern him based on his power.
‘Besides, the skill “Nox” is quite excessive like Umbra.’
The power of Nox was the night sky.
This skill was closely related to shadows.
If one looked closely, they might eventually notice.
But it was a skill filled with negative energy, which was enough to confuse him into thinking a kidnapping was necessary.
However, he had no means to change his appearance.
Hence, there was one person he needed to meet for that.
“There’s a capable person.”
The future Alchemist Lord, Darling Danphelion.
It was time to head over to Starlon and meet her again.
*
Before he knew it, summer was right around the corner.
Kraush had returned to Starlon to meet Darling Danphelion.
Not in the Danphelion estate, but in the capital of Starlon, Starlis.
Since graduating from Rahern Academy, Darling was currently in the capital.
“It’s been a while.”
Kraush spoke as he gazed at the scenery of Starlis.
The news of Kraush’s visit to the capital had only reached the high-ranking officials of the kingdom.
So, there wasn’t much commotion about his return.
“Selling the sword used by the Dragon King!”
“Food that the Dragon King loved is here!”
The problem was that everywhere he went, people were mentioning Kraush’s nickname.
Just recently, it had been announced that Kraush was among the Ten Great Lords.
When one of the kingdoms produces a Ten Great Lord, it spammed national pride like confetti.
Especially since Kraush was the youngest Ten Great Lord ever.
With his achievements, he could be sung about all day long.
The citizens of Starlon were intoxicated with national pride over Kraush’s exploits.
And that, of course, turned into marketability.
They wanted to possess something akin to a hero, something he ate.
Taking advantage of that, merchants started selling anything related to Kraush.
And the citizens naturally loved it and began buying it.
‘If I hadn’t been from Rahern Academy…’
There’s a high chance Kraush would’ve been paraded around Starlon.
Seeing him in person would’ve made the frenzy even worse.
‘Just thinking about it is horrifying.’
Being a display doll was a hard pass for him.
That’s why Kraush moved quietly, blending in with the crowd.
Currently, Darling worked at an alchemy shop in the capital run by Danphelion.
Having been familiar with the path, Kraush found the place in no time.
But he soon found himself frowning.
That’s because he saw the sign in front of the shop.
“The Alchemy Shop Most Favored by Dragon King Kraush Balheim”
The shop was overflowing with people.
Whether it was because of the sign or the efficacy of the potions, he couldn’t tell.
Yet even Danphelion’s shop was profiting off of Kraush.
“The Alchemist who was the dragon king’s companion, Darling Danphelion, personally makes the potions!”
“Limited edition! 1,000 units a day of potions made by Darling Danphelion!”
And it was all tied in with Darling.
Who else could have created this?
‘Probably Darling.’
Such an attention-seeker.
Kraush pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Once inside, the place was just as packed with people as outside.
“That potion is in the left drawer of A-13!”
“Those wishing to pay, please queue over here!”
Danphelion’s shop was already famous for alchemy.
But still, this was on another level altogether.
Could such advertising actually work?
Kraush was dumbfounded as he caught one of the busy staff members.
“Excuse me, can I ask you something?”
“Oh, yes, what is it?”
Fatigue was evident on the staff member’s face.
She clearly had been working nonstop.
“About Darling Danphelion…”
“Ah, I’m sorry, all the items related to Darling have been sold out today.”
The staff member spoke and attempted to leave immediately.
But Kraush hurriedly grabbed her again.
“No, that’s not it. I mean, I’d like to see Darling Danphelion in person…”
“Haah, sir, you can’t do that. Items related to Darling are all limited editions, no matter how much you plead.”
She didn’t even let him finish.
“Moreover, Darling Danphelion is currently quite busy, so it would be difficult for even the king to get her attention.”
Is Darling that busy?
Kraush scratched the back of his head.
“Well, at least let her know that I’m here.”
We’ve lived together for quite some time, she should at least show her face.
“Yes, please tell me your name.”
In the end, the staff gave up and replied as if resigned.
She probably planned to say it and then forget all about him.
“Kraush Balheim.”
“…huh?”
When the name returned, the staff blinked, thinking she must have misheard.
“Kraush Balheim.”
Kraush lifted up his robe slightly to show his emblem.
The moment she saw the blue-haired symbol of Balheim sway, her face turned pale.
And soon she stammered, backing away.
“Oh, I’ll inform her immediately, so please, grasp a seat!”
She dashed inside with a face full of panic.
Maybe I should’ve just revealed my identity earlier.
I didn’t expect her to be this shocked.
After waiting for a little while, the sound of someone rushing out followed.
It was a middle-aged man with the title of Master.
“Apologies for the late greeting. I’m Orimos Karian, the Master of the Danphelion Shop in the capital.”
He pushed past the customers and bowed repeatedly to Kraush.
At that, everyone’s attention naturally shifted toward them.
“Is Master Orimos bowing like that?”
“Who the heck is that?”
Kraush heard the whispers of those around and raised his hand to signal him to stop.
“First, let’s talk inside. It’s a bit too conspicuous out here.”
“Oh, of course. Please, come inside.”
He quickly led Kraush in accordance with his response.
“Wait!”
At that moment, an ominous voice echoed.
When Kraush turned to see who it was, there stood a noble lady.
She looked a bit young as she glared at Orimos.
At her gaze, Orimos’s face stiffened and became awkward.
“Orimos, despite how much I’ve said I wanted to enter the shop to meet Darling Danphelion, you wouldn’t allow me.
So why on earth are you letting this person in?”
She clicked her heels angrily, approaching Orimos.
Then she shot a glare at Kraush as well.
“Tell me. Who is this person that you let in without permission?”
“Lady Elasia Eryuette, you shouldn’t—”
As she mentioned Kraush, Orimos anxiously tried to stop her.
While Kraush was regarded as a hero by the common folks…
Among the nobles of Starlon, his reputation was quite different.
He was from Balheim.
The more remarkable his strength was among the Balheim lineage, the more troublesome his personality tended to be.
This was a consensus among all nobles in Starlon.
And so Kraush also had a high probability of having a troublesome personality.
In fact, considering he was the one who achieved the greatest accolades among the Balheim lineage, his chances were even greater.
No one could predict what might happen if they got on his bad side.
And on top of that, Orimos had several things weighing on his mind.
‘Lady, why do you have to take such an obnoxious marketing strategy!’
The sign hanging in front of the shop.
Kraush already suspected that was all Darling’s doing.
Perhaps common folks wouldn’t know, but seeing a noble do such advertising almost made Orimos faint.
But in the end, the shop was thriving.
Even so, as his anxious heart rose with satisfaction from the shop’s performance—
Kraush appeared.
With the world in chaos, even Elasia seemed intent on antagonizing him.
Orimos felt as if his stress-induced gastroenteritis had made a sudden comeback.
Kraush glanced around.
As expected, Elasia was drawing even more attention.
“Orimos, can this person come inside?
I’d prefer fewer stares.”
The last thing he wanted was to draw even more eyes.
So Kraush asked Orimos, who nodded hurriedly.
“Yes, yes, we can arrange that.”
“Really?”
At that, Elasia’s eyes widened in surprise.
She had never expected to get permission to enter the shop like that.
Feeling slightly uplifted, she changed her tone.
“Whoever you are, you seem to be a person with manners. If there’s anything you desire, I, Elasia Eryuette, will see it through for you.”
She said this as she looked at Kraush, trying to extend some grace.
Naturally, Orimos’s face turned even paler.
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