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Chapter 109: The Crown Prince (3)

7.

A week had passed since Abdullah VIII declared that he would choose a Crown Prince.

“Choosing a Crown Prince?”

It was such a short time that few people had heard the news.

“Prince Kashan is going straight to the Mystic Gate raid!”

In that short time, Prince Kashan had made his move.

“It’s a reckless move.”

Everyone questioned his actions.

But one thing was for sure.

“There’s no way he’s fully prepared.”

The possibility of being fully prepared while proceeding this quickly was close to zero.

“The preparations are perfect.”

But Prince Kashan thought differently.

“Because I have the best party.”

He had already organized the best party to conquer the Mystic Gate.

“I didn’t know things would go this way, though.”

Of course, he hadn’t anticipated Queen Areda’s actions and prepared in advance.

Prince Kashan had simply prepared.

“Someone who can’t prepare for the Mystic Gate isn’t qualified to be king.”

If he wanted to lead the Ariant Kingdom, he had to have the ability to conquer the Mystic Gates above all else.

That was the quality of a king.

That was Prince Kashan.

He wasn’t just someone who was greedy for the throne, but someone who truly wanted to lead the Ariant Kingdom properly.

Someone who could do anything for it.

“And the El Pam party has come.”

A reliable force had been added, a force he hadn’t even expected.

In such a situation, there was no reason to hesitate.

And there was no reason to hold back.

“Let’s move.”

Prince Kashan immediately led the prepared troops to the Tiho Oasis, where the 300-man Mystic Gate that Abdullah VIII had obtained was located.

“Prince Kashan has moved!”

That news had already spread throughout the Nihal Desert.

To be precise, Prince Kashan had spread it.

The more dramatic the process of becoming the Crown Prince, the higher the approval rating for Prince Kashan would be.

Prince Kashan’s aim was successful.

All the attention of those in the Nihal Desert was now focused on Prince Kashan.

Naturally, they wondered.

“So how many people is he going to raid with?”

The condition for becoming the Crown Prince was to succeed in the raid with the fewest number of people.

“It wouldn’t be a problem to raid with 200 people. There have been quite a few cases like that.”

“Still, there should be at least half, 150 people. You never know what kind of variables there might be in a 300-man Mystic Gate.”

“Then?”

“140 people, that would be the limit.”

And people expected that Prince Kashan had prepared around 150 people.

“The record for the fewest people to conquer a 300-man Mystic Gate was 135, set by Gina, one of Captain Kyrin’s disciples.”

The fewest number recorded by the Maple World Adventurers’ Association was 135.

To conquer such a place with around 140 people, and with Prince Kashan, who could be considered a burden in some ways?

That was even a high estimate for Prince Kashan.

The answer to such public expectations came soon.

“Kashan, the third prince who received the glory of Abdullah VIII.”

Prince Kashan appeared in the Tiho Oasis.

“Including myself, 99 people will challenge it.”

8.

99 people!

“What? How many?”

When the number of Prince Kashan’s party members was announced, everyone’s reaction was the same without exception.

“Don’t joke around, is it even possible to raid a 300-man gate with 99 people?”

It was impossible.

The number 99 was that shocking.

“A raid with double digits!”

It was practically a suicidal act.

So quite a few people suggested this opinion.

“They could be pretending to be 99 and have more people enter. It’s possible they’re trying to create a buzz.”

That the actual number of people entering wasn’t 99, but more.

But that opinion didn’t last long.

“They’ve entered! Prince Kashan has entered!”

Prince Kashan arrived at the Tiho Oasis and immediately started the Mystic Gate raid without taking any rest.

He proved in the most certain way that the 99-person raid wasn’t a trick, but a sincere attempt.

Upon learning this, people agreed on two things.

“If Prince Kashan comes out alive, he will become the Crown Prince. Who would try to follow that?”

There would be no other prince who could conquer a 300-man Mystic Gate with 99 or fewer people.

“If he comes out alive, that is, if he comes out alive.”

But the raid would be very difficult.

“It will be difficult from the first floor. 99 people, no, 98 people have to block a huge number of monsters.”

Quite a few people expected that Prince Kashan wouldn’t even be able to clear the first floor.

“Boss.”

Among them was El Pam’s party.

Of course, they knew that if El Pam stepped forward, there would be no difficulty.

Conversely, they thought it would be very troublesome if El Pam didn’t go all out.

“This is insane.”

But Prince Kashan’s soldiers and the adventurers he hired showed great skill even without El Pam.

It couldn’t be helped.

“The items.”

The adventurers and soldiers gathered by Prince Kashan were overflowing with Unique items.

There were even a few Legendary items.

That was proof of Prince Kashan’s confidence.

“It’s definitely on a different level.”

While the strength of an adventurer was important, the strength of items could instantly change the level of adventurers.

With so many Legendary items, it would be strange not to be confident.

“Money is really scary.”

“Yeah, money is scary.”

Because of this, Divo and Miner expressed their admiration for Prince Kashan’s wealth, which allowed him to collect such items.

“You can’t do it with money alone.”

Ralph’s opinion, however, was different.

“What?”

“You can buy good items with money. But you can’t buy really good items with money.”

“What do you mean?”

“The biggest reason adventurers save money is to get really good items. So an adventurer who buys an item for a high price will never put it on the market.”

Ralph was right.

The level of items that Prince Kashan had gathered wasn’t something that could be simply bought with money.

That meant he had acquired them in other ways.

And in this world, there was usually only one way to get items besides money.

“It’s highly likely that he acquired half of them himself.”

“Oh my god.”

Divo, Miner, and Kiri were even more surprised when they realized this fact.

Of course, El Pam was an exception.

He had known about Prince Kashan’s abilities for a long time.

He couldn’t not know.

‘That’s why he secretly built up his power in various places, including the Gafor Merchant Guild.’

The Gafor Merchant Guild, which El Pam had belonged to, was one of the outposts for Prince Kashan’s item collection.

In other words, Prince Kashan had been preparing for a long time, and the results of his preparations were bound to be extraordinary.

His confidence was also bound to be extraordinary.

“This is crazy.”

Of course, at this moment, that fact didn’t comfort El Pam’s party at all.

Far from being comforted, they all frowned.

‘Most of them are traitors?’

They knew that this overwhelming strength would eventually become the force that strangled them.

It was a situation that couldn’t help but be worrisome.

“There’s no need to fight right away.”

El Pam told his companions.

“Not until we catch the boss monster.”

There was no need to fear them.

“From the traitors’ point of view, there’s no problem if they move after catching the boss monster.”

In fact, what El Pam was worried about wasn’t their existence.

There was only one thing he was worried about now.

“The problem is the boss monster here.”

El Pam knew.

“A boss monster stronger than any we’ve encountered will appear.”

9.

Tiho Oasis.

A place where adventurers exploring the Nihal Desert could rest.

But now, no adventurers were allowed to enter the Tiho Oasis.

“No entry.”

Soldiers of the Ariant Kingdom had occupied the Tiho Oasis and were blocking all adventurers.

Under normal circumstances, the adventurers would have risen up.

Occupying and blocking an oasis was a life-threatening act.

But this time it was different.

None of the adventurers who visited the Tiho Oasis were angry.

“How is it?”

“It looks like Prince Kashan’s party has entered!”

In the midst of this huge event to choose a Crown Prince, tight security was only natural.

“Really, with 99 people?”

“It seems so.”

“That’s crazy!”

Prince Kashan’s party had already entered. What if someone tried to intrude in this situation?

It was certain.

The moment an intruder appeared, everyone guarding this place would become one with the sands of the Nihal Desert under Abdullah VIII’s orders.

“Step back!”

The guards couldn’t help but be on edge.

“This is your only warning.”

Their voices and eyes were sharper than ever.

Usually, at this point, it would be normal to back down.

But the adventurers gathered here were different.

Some thought.

‘What if I intrude?’

That this situation was a huge opportunity to make their name known to the world.

Of course, only a few adventurers, those who were out of their minds, thought that way.

The problem was the adventurers who were considering intrusion even though they were sane.

Naturally, they had a purpose.

‘If I succeed in interfering…’

To ruin Prince Kashan’s raid.

And there were too many people in Maple World who wanted Prince Kashan to fail.

‘The reward for success is 100 million mesos.’

With such a huge reward at stake, it was a situation where people couldn’t help but be tempted.

There were actual attempts.

Several adventurers tried to intrude.

“Argh!”

And soon after they tried to intrude, they dyed the Tiho Oasis red.

Far from succeeding, no one even managed to get near the Mystic Gate.

It wasn’t strange.

“This is insane.”

“Of course it is. It’s none other than 6th Circle experts who are guarding the place.”

The Ariant Kingdom had deployed as many as ten 6th Circle experts for this security detail.

It was beyond tight security, and to break through this kind of security, a 7th Circle expert would have to step up.

And currently, the only 7th Circle adventurers in Maple World were those whose fame reached the sky.

‘I can’t break through that.’

It was a place that could be called an impregnable fortress.

But there was an exception.

‘Except for me.’

Phantom Thief, he broke through the tight security too easily.

It wasn’t difficult.

He wandered around the Tiho Oasis like it was his own home.

Of course, it was possible because it was him.

‘There are detectors everywhere.’

The soldiers of the Ariant Kingdom weren’t fools, so they had taken measures to monitor thieves who used the Dark Sight skill everywhere.

There was only a sliver of a gap.

Finding it, let alone moving through that sliver of a gap, was virtually impossible.

‘But it’s easy for me.’

However, for the Phantom Thief, it was a laughable matter.

That’s why…

The Phantom Thief was able to reach it too easily while everyone else failed.

‘This is it.’

In front of the 300-man Mystic Gate that Prince Kashan’s party had entered.

Of course, the Phantom Thief’s purpose in coming here wasn’t to hinder Prince Kashan or anything like that.

He had no intention of helping either.

He was just curious.

‘El Pam.’

That El Pam had entered this place to help Prince Kashan.

‘I hope the deal went well.’

And the Phantom Thief wanted El Pam to survive and succeed here.

It was a profitable deal for the Phantom Thief if El Pam succeeded.

Queen Areda!

If she disappeared, the Ariant Kingdom would quickly return to normal.

So he came to see.

To gauge the odds of El Pam’s party winning.

And with his special eyes, the Phantom Thief could see.

Just by looking at the Mystic Gate, he could tell what the boss monster was.

That was why.

‘It won’t be easy.’

The reason why the Phantom Thief smiled bitterly.

‘The boss monster is a Junior Balrog.’