Using [Exclusive Rights], I crossed the gate portal with Lancelot.
The first time I saw the landscape of the Retel dimension, it was desolate in itself.
Lancelot said with a bitter expression.
“···It’s just as good as Avalon.”
“······Because it’s a dimension that has been destroyed as well.”
That I have been given a local monopoly.
That meant that the Rethel dimension had collapsed to the point where they could no longer defend their land.
Before we secured the exclusive rights, this ‘Testius’ region must have been owned by the ‘Emes’ dimension.
Those who carried out brutal invasions in the name of the goddess.
The hardships that the Retelians must have endured were portrayed at a glance.
“I guess that’s true, you completely ruined it?”
A dark shadow fell over the surroundings.
Because, like twisted tree branches, rocks riddled with holes covered the surrounding area and even the sky.
Although light leaked out occasionally, it was not enough to dispel the darkness.
Meanwhile, the floor was completely covered in mud.
My feet were sinking so deep that it was difficult to even walk.
As I looked around the surrounding area, which was comprised of mud and swamps…
“My lord, that is······”
Lancelot pointed around the gate we had come through.
“End! Kkeuut!”
A gate hack with two diagonally placed eyes that are half-open and have a strange smile.
It was then that the Chamber of Commerce’s minions, paired with the Gate Portal, appeared.
“···Shall we take care of it?”
“No, leave it for now.”
The Gate Hack was happily rolling around in the mud, perhaps liking the texture of the sloppy floor.
Looking at the nose bridge that is as soft as jelly, I feel a little bit sick.
I had a burning desire to get rid of it right away, but…
“···That gate is ours.”
“I see. If you get rid of it too hastily, your monopoly rights may disappear······”
Ironically, for now, we are the masters of that monster.
Lancelot nodded as if he understood, and Gatehack splashed mud water as he ran through the swamp, seemingly happy about something.
Tiring!
[Large dog fence, price is 45,500 won.]
CLANG!
“Kkukkuk!?”
For now, I locked him up.
If you keep running around like that, you could end up dead.
There are so many different types of pets in the world, from dogs and cats to reptiles and insects, that it wouldn’t be strange if they were jelly eggs that had their eyes, nose and mouths rubbed.
“It is very strange, my lord…”
“I know, Inma······”
Leaving the gate core behind in the cage, Lancelot and I escaped into a slightly wider space.
The surrounding area of caves and rocks had cleared away a bit, and a relatively open plain came into view.
Still, the scenery wasn’t all that great.
A few dozen meters out, a grayish-green swamp surrounded the area like a moat.
While exploring the ‘Tertius’ region of the Rethel dimension…
“······Eek!”
We could find beings cowering in fear as they looked at us.
Except for the gray skin, their overall appearance was not much different from ours···
“Why are you so skinny···?”
The situation was even more dire than when we first encountered the elves of Elvenheim.
Not only was his entire body, including his limbs, as skinny as chopsticks, but his cheeks and eyes were deeply sunken.
A state close to skeleton, beyond starvation.
Before long… we could guess their identities.
“···It seems like these people are from the Retel dimension.”
“I guess so?”
It seemed like he didn’t even have the strength to run away.
The Lethelians simply collapsed on the ground as if they had lost the world.
Lancelot added.
“There is no need to subdue them. Of course, this is my lord’s land to begin with······”
It was just as he said.
granted by the Chamber of Commerce.
That meant that only I could engage in ‘economic activities’ in this Tertius.
And the most representative example of economic activity regulated by the Chamber of Commerce was taking lives to steal the magic stones they had in their possession.
“······”
Looking at the trembling gray skin of the Retelians, I thought of Pax’s explanation.
With the acquisition of Toton Investment, Pax FC became a proper business, but it also had the business card of an ‘investment company’ attached to it.
Unlike other dimensions, this is a form of earning magic stones through ‘investment’ rather than direct combat and massacre.
Therefore, even if I massacred these Retelians because of the condition of being an ‘investment company’, not a single magic stone would fall to me.
‘I didn’t even intend to do that in the first place.’
I approached the Lethelians together with Lancelot.
First, we decided to talk.
.
.
.
Because I was so scared, it took me a while to start a conversation.
One of them approached us with his eyes tightly shut, and after a few fruitless exchanges with the common name ‘Tereb Retel’…
Tereb asked me.
“···Are you really not going to kill me?”
“That’s what I’m saying···”
To be exact, it was a wish.
After dealing with Evans in Italy, he went straight to England and completely destroyed Totten Investments.
They were not worth keeping alive, but even I did not enjoy killing them.
When I asked Tereb what had happened here in Tertius, he waved his thin arms and told me an old story.
“Continuing to lose in bidding competitions···”
It wasn’t much different from the Earth scenario.
Bidding wars took place, regions were defeated one after another, and regions occupied by invaders gradually spread like cancer.
Moreover, that was not the only thing that was familiar.
“Sabros···?”
“Yes, right now the entire Retel dimension is covered in them······”
Tereb guided me outside, as if it would be quicker to see for myself.
It was not too far from the portal.
To be exact, it was the place where I first encountered the Retelians.
He pointed to the murky swamps surrounding the region of ‘Tertius’.
“······As you can see, just over there··· and over there too.”
Trembling fingertips.
As expected, in the swamp, reptiles with yellow snake eyes were floating around, watching them intently.
Only then could I realize the true nature of the caves and swamps that filled the surrounding area.
A cave area that was created when the gate was installed in Incheon.
So… all of this was Sabros’ terraforming.
slam!
Lizardmen bubbling and foaming as they cut through the swamp water.
I asked Tereb as I watched the movements of the guys circling around.
“Why aren’t you coming in?”
If the lizardmen of Sabros were the hunters, the Lethelites here were the helpless prey.
But the lizardmen only wandered around, licking their lips, and did not enter.
Tereb answered with a trembling voice, holding onto both shoulders.
“···I don’t know the exact reason. Here in Tertius, the Emes dimension was stationed there until a few months ago···but one day, it suddenly left, and since then, other dimensions have been unable to approach.”
The disappeared Emes dimension and the remaining Tertius region.
It was clear that this was when we won the bidding war and acquired the exclusive rights to this place, Tertius.
Because of that exclusive authority, Tertius was protected as a kind of sanctuary.
It seems that I have been helping the people of Letel here, knowingly or unknowingly…
“Because of the Lizardmen… I’ve been trapped here for a long time. The food inside Tertius was all gone within a few days… I lost weight because I had little food, and my skin turned ashen because the water was polluted.”
It was clear that they had been going through a tough time.
Even···
“It’s already been four months···?”
“Is that so? I’m so used to starving···”
It would have been a time when any normal person would have starved to death long ago.
No matter how close their bones are, it is an ability that cannot be understood from our perspective.
Thanks to this mysterious ability, the Lethelians were able to survive for several months on the remote island of Tertius, surrounded by swamps.
Certainly, in Tertius, there was not a single blade of grass, and the terrain was all rocky and full of holes.
And then······
Tiring!
[Notice from the Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce] [A declaration of war from the dimension ‘Sabros’ has been received against the region ‘Tertius’.] [Entry into the region of Tertius will be permitted in 7 days from now.]
“Huhhh!”
A message from the Chamber of Commerce that flew in with Tereb’s screams.
In the swamp, the lizardmen were happily wagging their tails and splashing mud.
“I think it’s because we came in here that this is happening···”
This place, Tertius, had always been protected by a monopoly…
As we began to exercise that right, Sabros also began to reach out.
To occupy the remaining piece of the Retel dimension.
“Ugh······!”
“Ugh!”
The Lethel people, anticipating the war that will begin again, embrace each other and swallow their sorrow.
Among them were various types of Retel people, including women, the elderly, and children.
“Kahhhh······!?”
Tiring!
[Chupa Chups lollipops 180 pieces, 558g, price is 18,450 won.]
I continued speaking, handing the candy to the grieving Tereb.
“Have you ever fought a Sabros?”
“Oh, of course… In fact, the battle situation wasn’t bad at first. But as soon as they saw the food warehouse, they dropped it into the swamp….”
The Retelians who ‘could have’ been starving for months.
As expected, food seemed to be an invaluable strategic resource for them.
If that were not the case, Sabros would not have been so keen on cutting off the Lethelians’ livelihood.
I asked Tereb, who was quietly melting candy, one last time.
“Have you ever attacked another dimension?”
“···I heard that it was like that 100 years ago. It’s a meaningless name now, but back then they were a great fighting people··· However, 100 years ago, Rethel decided not to invade other dimensions anymore···”
The exact reason is unknown, but Rethel had strayed from the path of the invaders 100 years ago.
Maybe that’s why it’s on the decline like it is now.
I added, handing the rest of the candy bag to Tereb.
“That resolution… it would be better to keep it until the end.”
“Yes? Yes···”
The fight begins seven days from now.
Of course, I could have fought them directly, but since I came in with the authority of an ‘investment company’, I wouldn’t have made a single penny by killing those lizards.
But on the other hand, if we help the growth of Letelin as an ‘investment company’, the story is different.
Every time they recover lost areas, kill Sabros’ reptiles, and destroy a gate core, a fee will flow into Pax FC.
When told that he would invest in the Lethelins, Tereb simply looked dumbfounded.
“To us···?”
“okay.”
Moreover, since the investment was a subspace material that could be infinitely copied, I had no way of losing anything.
Really, if the Lethelians were to betray me, all I had to do was get back the supplies they had provided through product recovery.
Whoosh!
Tereb’s eyes are turned by the piles of food pouring down.
I asked him one last time.
Of course, you can’t fight Sabros with your bare hands.
“Is there any kind of weapon you want? A sword, a spear, or something······”
“Ah… The type doesn’t matter. As long as it’s as heavy as possible….”
“······Something heavy?”
It was absurd.
The Retelians, with their thin limbs trembling like ants.
Because it was an absurd idea to call it a heavy weapon.
Thump!
Without thinking, I immediately dropped one of the balls on the floor.
Because this was the heaviest weapon I had in my possession for its volume.
“Oh···! Thank you······!”
The colored Tereb immediately clung to the cloud.
The sight of him half-bent over, hugging a large iron ball…
It was the perfect deadlift, that’s all.
luna-cave
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