Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 130

The Spine Road, which connected the northernmost edge of Hellas to its southernmost end, was the road of roads that represented Hellas.The Spine Road possessed a longer history than any kingdom, and its value wasn’t merely in its age.

Beyond its long history, it was a vital infrastructure that had greatly contributed to the prosperity of Hellas in practical terms.

It was the great arterial route of north-to-south distribution across Hellas, and a key supply line supporting the north, which defended Hellas from the invasions of the violent Centaurs and the Barbaroi.

Because of this, any Hellenes who knew even a little about the Spine Road expressed both reverence and gratitude toward it.

Even those who didn’t know would often feel awe just by looking at its immense scale and the majestic road stretching all the way to the horizon.

In any case, the Spine Road was vast and enormous, just like the origin of its name—the spine of a giant—and naturally, countless people used it.

Pilgrims, travelers, wanderers, merchants, mercenaries, practitioners, nobles, and even royalty—of all kinds.

Naturally, there were also those who made a living off such people.

Traveling food carts, inns that provided lodging, and stopover villages that offered both.

Stopover villages, whose primary source of income was serving travelers.

Chiron Tower conducted surveys of the stopover villages in northern Hellas every four months. Occasionally, there were bandit dens disguised as villages.

And this year was no exception.

A village that hadn’t existed during the quarterly survey had suddenly appeared.

Sanchonius had been taught to avoid such villages whenever possible. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.

Naturally, he explained this to Anagin.

About how they were about to enter that suspicious village.

But even after hearing the explanation, Anagin did not change his mind. He said he had a reason.

And that reason was.

“I want to eat food in a village.”

That was the end of the discussion.

No one was particularly pleased, but since they had already agreed to follow Anagin’s decisions, they had no choice but to comply.

“Welcome.”

But when they actually entered, there was nothing particularly strange about the village.

There were sturdy men, but also women, children, and the elderly—it was just an ordinary village.

Just like the other villages they had visited, they welcomed travelers and asked if they would be staying. When they answered yes, they were smoothly guided to a place to stay.

It was none other than the village chief’s house. More precisely, an extra room in the chief’s house.

Fortunately, the room was large.

“Ah, I see there’s a lady as well. Shall we prepare a separate room?”

“No, it’s fine. She’s my younger sister.”

When Anagin answered that it was fine, the village chief nodded and withdrew.

In the meantime, they exchanged brief opinions.

“Well, nothing looks suspicious, right?”

“Not that I can see.”

“Me neither....”

Just as it began to feel like unnecessary worry, Anagin took out a thick money pouch from his Interspatial Bag and asked if they could be served a meal.

“I’ll pay, so could we get some food?”

“Of course.”

As expected of a village that earned income by serving travelers, the chief gladly agreed and soon brought out food.

True to the Hellenes’ virtue of hospitality, the table was generously set.

Honey-glazed roasted chicken, lamb skewers, boiled pork, seasoned cabbage, boiled eggs, braised pig’s trotters, barley porridge, and vegetable stew.

Considering it was a small village, it was a feast worthy of a celebration, but given that it was a stopover village and the considerable sum Anagin had handed over, it wasn’t excessive.

Just the right amount.

They only eyed the food suspiciously for a moment.

Once Anagin started eating, the others quickly followed.

The meal ended in no time, and as if on cue, the chief appeared again.

“Was the meal to your liking?”

“Yes, but it’s a bit lacking. Could we have more?”

Anagin asked for more food—not once, but four times.

Except for Sphinx and Sanchonius, everyone present was a Gigant, so their appetites were far from ordinary. No matter how much they ate, it wasn’t enough.

And Sphinx, being a monster, also had quite the appetite herself, surprisingly so. It was practically a feast of gluttons.

“Ah, of course.”

There was no issue.

Each time more food was requested, Anagin casually handed over large sums of money, so the chief gladly complied.

And so, the group’s meal continued until sunset, and before they knew it, it was time to sleep.

“See? It was a good call to stay, right?”

Anagin spoke as if demanding agreement that his decision had been correct.

After all, if they hadn’t stopped at the village, they wouldn’t have been able to eat their fill like this.

“Meals should always be filling. You’ve got to eat until you’re full.”

Sphinx, who had been in charge of preparing meals, gave a slightly irritated smile, clearly displeased.

“My apologies. I only prepared enough to barely take the edge off your hunger.”

In truth, it wasn’t something Sphinx needed to apologize for.

She had actually prepared food generously. It just wasn’t enough to match Anagin’s overwhelming appetite.

Anagin knew that as well, but he didn’t apologize. Instead, he “comforted” her.

“It’s fine, I’ll forgive you. Still, your cooking tastes better.”

“Hah?”

Sphinx looked dumbfounded, but the others beside her unconsciously nodded.

They had eaten her cooking during their journey, and to be honest, Sphinx’s cooking skills were quite impressive.

Sphinx found herself unsure whether to feel happy or upset at this not-quite-a-compliment.

She was pleased that her cooking was praised, but the way it was said left a strange, unpleasant feeling.

It was then.

“......It seems I was overly worried.”

After finishing the meal and preparing for bed, Sanchonius suddenly spoke as if apologizing. He had suspected it might be some kind of trap, but now felt embarrassed for worrying unnecessarily.

“.......”

Anagin didn’t respond.

There was nothing to apologize for. If anything, Anagin himself had been too carefree.

A little more time passed.

And just as they were about to end the day without incident, something strange occurred.

The moment someone opened the door to take care of business before going to sleep, a long corridor with no end in sight appeared.

* * *

The moment he opened the door to take care of business before going to bed.

An unnaturally long corridor suddenly appeared, so bizarre it felt unsettling.

Needless to say, there had been no such corridor originally.

No matter how large the chief’s house was, there was no way something like this could exist.

In other words, it was an abnormal situation.

“A trap?”

“A trap.”

It might sound strange, but no one was surprised or flustered.

If anything, their reaction was closer to so it’s finally happening.

The probability of not encountering raiders or bandits, while transporting the Coins of Greed would’ve been less likely was low to begin with, and they had already been suspicious of the village that appeared so suddenly.

But the biggest reason they remained calm was that it didn’t feel particularly threatening.

“What kind of magic is this?”

Anagin asked as he looked at the long, stretched-out corridor.

With a phenomenon this bizarre, it was obviously magic. What he was really asking was what kind of magic it was, and who had used it.

While the New Argonaut Expedition Team trio couldn’t immediately give an answer—

“It seems to be a village bandit group.”

Sanchonius replied.

“How do you know that?”

Anagin questioned him, despite being the one who had asked.

He hadn’t actually expected an answer.

Wasn’t it a bit impressive? Recognizing it at a glance.

It was another glimpse of Anagin’s nasty personality, but the good-natured Sanchonius answered sincerely.

“I just studied it in my spare time. The Chiron Tower has information on criminals like these.”

“You read all of that?”

“Haha, yes.”

Sanchonius answered with an embarrassed smile.

But only for a moment. Soon, he explained about the village bandits.

“As the name suggests, village bandits create fake villages, then kill those who visit and take their possessions.”

“I know that already. What I’m asking is, what is this?”

Anagin asked, tapping the corridor wall.

Just by looking at it, didn’t it feel like something would happen if you kept walking?

“I believe it’s a spatial-type magic tool.”

“A spatial magic tool?”

“It refers to magic tools that handle space. For example, something that looks small on the outside but has a vast interior, like a house. This building is likely one of those.”

Anagin understood what he meant.

He had seen something similar in the Ruin Village, where they met the Monster Merchant.

There had been a massive inn, and when the innkeeper tapped it with a staff, the entire building shrank and slipped into a carriage.

It was probably something like that.

“Then those kinds of magic tools must be pretty rare?”

“They are. And the one currently trapping us, I believe, is quite valuable even among spatial magic tools.”

Anagin nodded.

Just from the suddenly appearing corridor, it was clear the tool was no ordinary item.

Boom!

“Breaking through the wall to get out won't be easy.”

Thyreos said after striking the wall with his hammer.

Breaking it wasn’t difficult, but not long after, it repaired itself with an unpleasant grrrk! sound.

“Hmm, the space is gradually expanding, and the path is changing in real time. There are also armed men hiding here and there.”

Lynceus, who had activated Farsight, informed them of the situation while peering beyond the walls.

From what he described, the tool’s performance was certainly impressive.

However, as mentioned before, there wasn’t much to worry about.

Even if it repaired itself, that recovery wouldn’t be infinite, and if necessary, burning everything down with Tramachus’s fire was also an option.

Though there was the minor issue that Sphinx and Sanchonius might have trouble with that…

There were also other methods besides destroying or burning it.

They could use Lynceus’s Farsight to find an exit or take down the hidden enemies one by one.

However…

That sounded too tedious and time-consuming.

Anagin wanted a more direct and faster method.

Shing—

Anagin drew the Beast Devourer.

Everyone’s attention turned to him, wondering what he was about to do.

Ignoring their gazes, Anagin considered testing something.

To summon Pigmenes from within Beast Devourer and have it devour all the magic imbued in the structure.

If his theory was correct, the magic of the tool trapping him would disappear, and the problem would resolve itself naturally.

However, he soon decided against it.

It felt like too much of a waste.

Using such a rare spatial magic tool as feed for Pigmenes seemed wasteful.

‘Am I starting to get greedy over magic tools? Damn it, this is all because of Grumbal!’

But that wasn’t the only reason.

There was something else Anagin wanted to confirm.

“Magic tools… even if they get pretty… pretty badly damaged, they can be repaired or recycled, right?”

A question that gave off an ominous feeling.

Still, the diligent Sanchonius answered.

“Yes. It’s not my specialty, but magic tools don’t become unusable that easily.”

“Then, that’s fine.”

“What do you mean ‘that’s fine’?”

Tramachus asked, sensing something ominous. What exactly was fine?

Instead of answering, Anagin raised his hand into the air. Then he spoke.

“Longbald.”

As he called its name, a terrifying club appeared out of thin air.

It was the club taken from Periphetes, and the same one that had played a major role in defeating Hippomenes.

“Hey… you’re not thinking…?”

The vague sense of dread sharpened into something clear, and everyone called out, trying to stop him.

In a place this cramped? Seriously? Are you insane?

This time, Anagin didn’t ignore them.

He simply smiled and infused Energy(Γι) into Longbald.

And then—

“You crazy bastard!”

Regardless of whether people were nearby or not, he swung Longbald down.

As everyone scrambled to get away from him, a flash of light burst forth.

BOOM!

With a small explosion, the magic tool trapping Anagin shattered apart like peeling skin.

Just like when he had destroyed the flesh territory created by Hippomenes.

Everyone was left in awe at the overwhelming display.

“YOU FUCKING INSANE BASTARD!!”