After narrowly escaping the guards, I continued in the direction pointed by the compass until I saw someone in the distance.

It was a person wearing a cloak and carrying a large backpack.

The compass pointed directly at them.

"That's the one!"

"Graaawr!"

The person spotted us charging at them—or rather, Kraken's runaway youngest daughter—and shrieked, running away in fear.

"Eeeek! Stay away!!"

Why are they running?

It’s just a slightly large bear chasing them—if they run away like that, it’ll hurt my bear’s feelings!

This won't do; I need to clear up this misunderstanding.

"If you stop now, I’ll spare your life!"

"Kyah!"

Despite the massive backpack, she managed to run quickly, keeping a distance we couldn’t close.

I stopped the bear and shouted out.

"Let’s talk! Just a conversation!"

Hearing my voice, she halted and looked back at me, still wary.

"What do you want!?"

"Your father, Old Man Kraken, asked me to find his runaway daughter!"

"My dad!?"

Listening to my story, she relaxed and approached.

As she drew closer, she pulled down her cloak, revealing a young girl.

Is it an item effect? She looked about 170 cm earlier, but now she’s about my height—around 130 cm.

“You should have said that sooner! I misunderstood!”

“You didn’t give me a chance! You just ran!”

“How could I not run with a massive war bear charging at me!?”

Good point.

A bear about 15 meters tall would be terrifying if it chased me too.

We sorted out our misunderstandings through conversation. When I handed her the letter from Old Man Kraken, she read it for a long time before ripping it up.

“Hmph! Like I’d go back to that boring sea!”

A mysterious girl, a Kraken, who hates the sea.

[Quest cleared!]
You have received experience points and favorability.

Well, the quest is completed, so she can make her own decisions now.

I realized I hadn’t introduced myself.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Yuna, a Traveler.”

“Lala. As you can see, I’m a merchant.”

The young girl with silver hair and red eyes introduced herself with a smile. She looked exactly like a human.

Polymorph magic is really convenient.

“By the way, can I ask you something?”

“Sure! Go ahead!”

“What’s inside that bag on your back?”

As if she was waiting for this, she set her bag down and started showing me all sorts of things.

“It’s not every day you get to see these! Look at this! A knife with a rose engraving that can slice anything! Buy it now for just one million gold!”

A street peddler…?

She had everything from knives to dolls; it seemed there was nothing that wasn’t in that bag.

One item, in particular, caught my eye.

[Choker of the Divine Dragon]
A choker once worn by a priestess who served the Divine Dragon.

It was the final piece of the set I was searching for.

“H-How much is this!?”

Lala noticed my interest and grinned slyly.

“That one’s hard to come by, so it’s pricey. Can you afford it?”

“How much…?”

“One billion gold.”

I gaped at the staggering price.

“That’s outrageous! Give me a discount!”

“No negotiations.”

She firmly rejected my request.

She extended her hand as if to take it back, but I asked her to wait while I searched through my inventory.

If I sold all my mana stones, I might be able to afford it…?

No, that’s impossible! Yonyong and the bear would never forgive me.

While sighing, my gaze fell on an item.

[??? Box]
I don’t know what it is.

It was the item the old man from the Village of the Sage gave me.

Now seems like the perfect time to use it.

Opening the box, I found a single slip of paper inside.

[The law is distant, but the fist is near.]

I put the paper back in my pocket, snapped my fingers, and the bear sprang into action.

He rose up and pinned Lala, making sure she couldn’t escape.

"W-What are you doing?! What’s the meaning of this!?”

“Negotiations. I’ll spare your life if you lower the price.”

“This is extortion!”

The negotiation, which had been dragging on, quickly wrapped up thanks to the bear’s sharp claws.

The mana stones I’d been feeding him finally paid off!

“Sir, how about a first-time customer discount of 500 million gold?”

“One hundred million gold.”

“450 million!”

“One hundred million gold in three-month installments.”

“You’re being unreasonable!”

With a satisfied smile, I shook her hand, though she gave me a sharp glare.

“In all my ten years in this business, I’ve never experienced such a crooked deal.”

“When you give, you also receive. You’ll be blessed for this.”

“I’d rather get the money!”

As I equipped the choker I’d gotten from Lala, a message appeared.

[You have acquired the Choker of the Divine Dragon!]

[Choker of the Divine Dragon]
A choker once worn by a priestess who served the Divine Dragon.
[Equipping this significantly boosts your summoned creatures’ stats.]

[Set Bonus (4/4) unlocked: Special skills available.]

[Divine Dragon’s Blessing: Increases the abilities of your summoned creatures.]
[Divine Dragon’s Prayer: Restores your summoned creatures’ health.]
[Divine Dragon’s Cheer: Boosts your summoned creatures’ morale to the max.]
[Divine Dragon’s Resurrection: Revives your summoned creatures.]

[You can now use the power of the Divine Dragon.]
[Divine Dragon’s Descent: Imbues your dragon-type summon with the Divine Dragon’s power.]

With countless notifications, I unlocked a new skill set.

Resurrection revives summons, and Descent infuses a summon’s body with the Divine Dragon. 

Since it’s specifically for dragons, does that mean it only works on dragon-type summons?

Our Yonyong is technically a dragon in name, so maybe it’ll work?

“Divine Dragon’s Descent!”

[Special Skill: Divine Dragon’s Descent imbues your summon (Yonyong) with the Divine Dragon’s power.]

With a flash, a massive bolt of lightning struck Yonyong from the sky, but… nothing changed.

“So? Do you feel like a dragon?”

“Kyuung?”

Yonyong tilted his head and burped.

What? No effect at all?

After waiting a while with no change, I tried another skill.

“Divine Dragon’s Resurrection!”

[Special Skill: Divine Dragon’s Resurrection revives your summoned creature.]

But again, nothing happened.

Even though I got two faulty skills, I got the choker, so I suppose it’s fine.

“I’ll put this to good use.”

Trying to comfort the sniffling Lala, we continued on our way together.

We decided to travel to the next town together, but the selling didn’t stop.

Trying to make up for her losses, she showed me various items, claiming to sell them cheaply, like offering a high-grade mana stone for three million gold.

The usual price is one million—she’s trying to make a 300% profit!?

“You scammer! You’re marking it up three times!”

“Mobile sales are always pricier!”

“It’s way too expensive!”

---

The Information Guild in the commercial city of Talisah received new intel.

News of a bounty on Yuna.

“Is it true?”

“The esteemed benefactor’s war bear got caught illegally entering the country.”

“If only she’d shown her pass when entering with him, there wouldn’t have been an issue.”

Taking a sip of warm tea, I organized my thoughts.

There’s no way our benefactor wouldn’t have known that.

“She must have her reasons, so let’s leave it be.”

I don’t know what our benefactor is planning, but I’ll support her as much as possible.

“Take out any foolish moths who try to pursue the bounty.”

“Yes, Master.”

The shadow vanished with those words.

It felt like the tea was missing some sweetness, so I added a bit more sugar, just as hurried footsteps approached.

“S-sir! Urgent news!”

“What’s the commotion?”

Panting, a guild member reported that monsters were coming back to life?

“D-dead monsters are reviving and rampaging!”

“Where?”

Around Cradle Village, Star City, and Talisah—all places the benefactor recently passed through.

There’s only one person capable of such feats in this world.

Our benefactor.

Tapping the desk, I collected my thoughts.

“Request assistance from all Information Guilds to cover this up. Mention that it’s the benefactor’s work, and they’ll cooperate.”

“Yes, Master.”

There’s an Information Guild in every village and city.

And there’s no Information Guild that doesn’t know of the benefactor.

Thinking of the grand chaos our benefactor has once again stirred up gives me a headache, but it can’t be helped.

Honestly, our benefactor doesn’t seem to have a single quiet day.