Chapter 505: Never Seen Such a Stingy Noble

Immense!

When Leech entered the mountain range and gazed upon the massive, abyss-like rift, he was completely stunned.

It was as if the earth had suddenly split open, forming a gash. Standing at the edge and looking down, there was only endless blackness stretching to the limits of his sight, as if even light itself were being devoured.

As expected, this was indeed a cave. As Leech drew closer, a red dot appeared in his vision, but it rapidly expanded—something he had never seen happen before.

Previously, the red dot had just been like an eye floater, constantly drifting in his sight but not really affecting his vision. Now, however, it had become a large red blotch, obscuring nearly half his field of view.

‘It’ll be easy to transport this thing back, but hiding it is another matter entirely.’

He estimated the rift’s length was as vast as the area covered by Porcupine Castle. Without choosing an absolutely secure location, it would be impossible to use.

Soon, his worries vanished.

Just as the red dot was about to turn yellow, it flickered with great difficulty a couple of times and then disappeared.

‘What’s going on? Is my power insufficient?’

This had never happened before, so Leech could only look for the cause within himself. Among all the caves he had acquired, the largest one was comparable in size to Porcupine Castle and Maitian Village combined, taking more than half a day to traverse on foot. But never had he seen a cave whose entrance alone was as large as Porcupine Castle.

Its true subterranean area must be immense.

Leech hesitated, wondering if he should enter the Rift Cave to take a look.

He noticed a village not far from the Rift Cave, seemingly built on the cliffs. Many people were coming and going, and he could even see troops stationed there.

“Well, since I’m already here…”

Leech invoked one of the four great rationalizations for himself.

The other three are: “They’re already dead,” “It’s the New Year,” and “They’re just a kid.”

‘I’ll check out the village first. Maybe I can find some useful information.’

His party entered the village near the Rift Cave. As soon as they got close, they were hit by the strong smell of grilled salt-cured fish—stinky, yet with a hint of fragrance.

Some people were cooking meat over open fires by the roadside, while others gathered in twos and threes. There were a few dozen houses, but tents were far more numerous. Everyone was armed, with weapons ranging from a farmer’s hoe to a Knight’s Longsword. People from all walks of life were here, all hoping to strike it rich.

When Leech’s party arrived, the village fell silent for a moment.

Noble lords were clearly not the usual clientele here.

Leech headed straight for the tavern.

It wasn’t like the standard trope in some Otherworld stories where the tavern is full of spies or the owner knows everything. In an established town like Iron Stone City, it would be normal for a tavern owner to be well-informed.

But in a newly built village like this, the owner was surely just a businessman.

Leech chose this place because whenever people gather, they start to boast, especially after they’ve had a few drinks.

As everyone knows, drunk people—especially men—love to talk big, holding forth on worldly affairs. You don’t even have to ask; they’ll rack their brains to tell you everything they know.

The Minotaur Tavern.

Leech ordered his Cavalrymen to find lodging for the time being, while the rest of his men stood guard outside the tavern.

He pushed open the door, and the thick stench of sweaty feet and beer assaulted his nostrils, just like his first all-nighter at an internet cafe back on Earth.

The air went quiet for a moment, probably because Leech was wearing a nobleman’s robes, but the noise quickly returned.

Leech also saw other Knights in ornate armor, so it seemed this wasn’t a nobles-forbidden zone after all.

He found a random table and sat down. Across from him were two adventurers in somewhat worn cotton armor. They used to be called Mercenaries, but now they seemed a bit different. Mercenaries fight for money; adventurers fight for their *own* money.

The two adventurers glanced at Leech, then, with a tacit understanding, stood up and left, leaving the table to him.

‘Do I look that scary?’ Leech rubbed his chin. He seemed to recall plenty of people being more than willing to throw themselves at him.

The tavern maid approached. She had peach-pink hair, a slightly round, cute face, and a ridiculously good, pear-shaped figure, which was made even more sultry by the tight apron she wore.

‘No wonder this place has such good business!’

Having found the root cause, Leech didn’t hold back and took a good, long look.

He wasn’t one to deliberately hide his preferences. She made a living from this, after all; one had to support her work.

“What can I get for you?” She spoke with a slight accent, likely from further south. Leech thought she was even harder to understand than someone speaking the Half-Beastman language.

Her voice was soft and sweet, not at all unpleasant.

“A beer,” Leech said.

“Coming right up!”

The beer arrived quickly. Leech occupied a table by himself. No one came to share it, and no one paid him any mind. Everyone was busy chatting, and Leech quietly listened, integrating the various pieces of information coming from all directions.

By the time he had finished two beers, the fatigue and thirst from his journey were completely gone, and he had overheard a good deal of the information he was looking for.

For example, the Rift Cave had appeared about two months ago, but it wasn’t the first of its kind. There were rumors that Prince Hoffman had been searching everywhere for treasures buried underground even before that.

Also, no one would stop you from entering the cave, but once inside, it was quite dangerous.

Some people had struck it rich inside, but the most profitable ventures were scavenging from corpses and preying on other adventurers.

So far, the furthest anyone had explored was a radius of about twenty *li*. Some speculated that the underground world might be endless.

‘Caves aren’t endless,’ Leech thought. From the letter he had read, he was certain that the changes to this Rift Cave were because someone had tampered with it, causing it to expand rapidly for some specific reason and then spiral out of control.

This wasn’t good news for Leech. With the cave out of control, he couldn’t claim exclusive ownership of it. It was like the doors to his private treasury had been forced open for anyone to plunder.

He decided to enter the cave first. From what he’d heard from the adventurers in the tavern, the first twenty *li* or so inside the Rift Cave, though not fully explored, were basically safe. Leech could go in, leave an anchor point, and then teleport his Palace Level Corpse Ghosts in. He had considered this method before; avoiding the notice of Prince Hoffman was just as important as finding treasure.

He was just worried that if the other party discovered how different his Corpse Ghosts were, they might just swat him down.

As long as his Corpse Ghosts were brought in, he could stay outside and reap the rewards from a safe distance.

Although he loved fighting on the front lines and charging into battle, when it came to his own life and safety, remotely controlling his Corpse Ghosts was absolutely necessary.

No matter how precious a Corpse Ghost was, it wasn’t as precious as his own life.

And now he had to add another line to that: no matter how precious a Corpse Ghost was, it wasn’t as precious as a dragon.

“The check.”

“Eight copper stars, milord,” the tavern maid said, swaying her pear-shaped figure as she walked over.

Leech fumbled around and pulled out a few Jinri.

The maid’s eyes lit up, and the chatter from the surrounding adventurers died down, their own eyes glinting.

Leech paid their gazes no mind.

He didn’t usually carry money, keeping a few Jinri on him only for emergencies.

‘Phew.’ He found a Silver Moon and handed it to the maid.

“Thank you,” the maid said, pleasantly surprised.

Even though she didn’t get a Jinri, a Silver Moon for the bill was still quite good.

“I need the change,” Leech said.

The tavern maid thought she’d misheard. “Huh?”

‘You nobles actually ask for change when you’re out spending money? Aren’t you supposed to just throw cash around and call it a tip?’

A moment later, holding a single copper star, the maid watched Leech’s back as he pushed through the door, muttering under her breath. She had never seen such a stingy noble!

And I swayed my hips for nothing!