Overgeared

“Delicious.”

It could be said that Grid’s ability was great and hehad many things he could do on his own, but this matter was an exception. It was purely thanks to the help of his colleagues that he found 106 restaurants delicious enough to possibly satisfy the demanding taste of Gourmet Dragon Raiders in just two weeks.

‘As expected, having a network is the best.’

It was an unchanging truth that he had realized since he met Khan. Grid raised his left hand as he once again felt gratitude to his colleagues who always helped him. There was a loud bursting sound. Grid pulled out the gauntlet inserted in the monster’s mouth and buried the monster directly into the ground.

The eyes of the monster rolled round and round as it fell in a stunned manner to the ground. It was Turning the World Upside Down. Even elite monsters over level 400 couldn’t resist the grappling technique polished by Lee Jeong. The Enlightenment Sword neatly cut the neck of the monster who became defenseless and lost its defense.

‘Once the level of the stone statue rises, I’ll make new gloves.’ Alex's Quick Gloves had excellent effects, but the defense was too low.

‘By the way, there are monsters in front of a restaurant...’ Grid clicked his tongue as he glanced at the mountain.

Yusillat Mountain—there was nothing special in terms of scale. It was just a fairly large mountain. However, the mountain was filled with nasty rocks instead of trees. The mountain was also very steep. People who didn’t possess floating type magic or skills wouldn’t be able to reach the top. In fact, this mountain was sparsely populated. The monsters everywhere were proof. It was looking like a miniature version of the Chaos Mountains.

‘There is a restaurant on a mountain like this?’

Was he a famous swordsman or great magician during his active duty? Unlike Grid, who was astonished by the owner of the villa who was busy making and serving his own food, Raiders was just casually enjoying the meal. From a dragon’s point of view, it was a human no matter how great.

"This texture.... is it ogre skin?”

“Huh, how did you know? Have you tried ogre skin before?”

“Sometimes I enjoy it as a delicacy. I enjoy the chewy texture.”

“Ogre skin is so tough that it can’t be chewed with human teeth... this skin has been soaked in a secret sauce for five years so it has been softened.”

“Of course, I would just pickle and eat it.”

This was true. Of course, it wasn’t intended to soften the skin, but to enrich the taste. Raiders could chew on 100 layers of ogre skin. However, the owner of the mountain villa didn’t know this. He just interpreted it at will and believed it. Even Grid in the past wouldn’t have imagined that Raiders’ identity was a dragon. It was natural. Currently, Raiders was completely hiding his magic power. If he leaked his magic power, then it wasn’t just the monsters on the mountain, but even the restaurant owner would piss out of fear. For a comfortable meal, he had to hide it.

“Hah...! You aren’t just a gourmet, you also have good knowledge about cooking!”

The owner of the mountain villa started to speak more. He never dreamed that Raiders was a dragon and purely admired and was delighted to meet a guest who knew the value of cooking.

‘Ah, really. By the way, Faker actually found a restaurant in a place like this.’

It seemed that after gaining Eclipse, he completely absorbed all the information that Eclipse had accumulated. Grid shook his head as he thought about how excited Lauel was after Faker became Lantier and hunted 20 more monsters. Then Raiders, who was enjoying the mountain scenery without any interest in what Grid was doing, finally put down his cutlery and rose from his seat. “It was a delicious meal. The dishes made using monster ingredients usually can’t get rid of the smell, but I could enjoy these ones without frowning.”

“I’m happy to meet a guest who has a deep knowledge of food after a long time. At first, I found it suspicious that you knew to come to a restaurant set up in such a strange place. Now it seems you are one of the best gourmets on the continent.”

‘I knew it was a strange place.’

Why was he doing business in such a place? Each person has their own story, but it wasn’t easy for Grid to understand.

Grid had just grabbed a flying stone from the sky and threw it with all his might. A scream rang out and blood flowed from the forehead of the great goblin king who fired the slingshot at Grid. Even ordinary stones became a weapon when Grid held it. No matter what, it would be affected by Grid’s Combat Techniques and judged as a ‘weapon.’

“The strength of your guard is also very good...” The owner of the mountain villa seemed to have been living in seclusion for some time. He didn’t recognize Grid’s face, which was known even before he became a god, and misunderstood Grid as Raider’s bodyguard.

Tsk. Grid clicked his tongue in an unhappy manner and jumped down, trampling on the goblin’s back. He was already holding a sword that he had taken out of his inventory. It happened the moment Grid was inserting a sword into the goblin...

“Kuaaaak!” A scream rang through the place. The startled Grid climbed up and found Raiders’ hand piercing the chest of the mountain villa owner.

“...Eh?”

Why suddenly kill the owner? Grid was flustered by Raiders’ unexpected action, but quickly regained his composure. It reminded him of how Raiders wanted to destroy a family that had been cooking for him for a thousand years just because he was bored of it.

Yes, he was this type of guy in the first place. It wasn’t a surprise that this maniac would kill people for no reason. Grid shouldn’t be deceived by the favor he once showed and forget his essence.

‘Uh?’ Then Grid belatedly discovered the dagger held in the hands of the mountain villa owner. It was a dagger that had absorbed a lot of poison and turned black.

“Groan... Damn, you, skills... hiding it…” the owner of the mountain villa barely spoke through his blood bubbles before trembling. He turned into gray ash and left a notebook behind.

“Let’s go.” Raiders stepped forward. ‘The owner of the mountain village tried a surprise attack while I wasn’t paying attention. Naturally, I killed him.’ He didn’t give a lame explanation like this. It was the same reason why humans didn’t give an explanation for stepping on ants on the road.

‘This...’

Grid stared blankly at Raiders’ back for a moment before picking up the notebook that had fallen to the ground. He didn’t know how it was taken care of, but the notebook gave off a terrible smell.

[The ‘Murder Notebook of the Human Flesh Demon’ has been obtained.]

[Murder Notebook of the Human Flesh Demon]

[Rating: Legendary

This is a journal that records the murders committed over the past decades by the killer ‘Human Flesh Demon’ who became a legend beyond the worst. It also describes how to cook human flesh deliciously.

If you submit this journal as evidence to the Glaucian royal family, then you will receive a treasure from the royal treasury as a bounty.

Weight: 5]

[It is a notebook made from human skin. The vicious grudges and germs have caused a disease.]

[You have resisted.]

‘A murderer who became a... legend?’

As Agnus proves, a legend wasn’t just a word for heroes. It wasn’t strange at all for someone to become a legend by doing bad deeds. Then if the Human Flesh Demon hadn’t pointed his blade at Raiders and survived...

‘Just imagining it is terrible.’

This mountain villa was the 40th restaurant they had visited and Raiders was pleased with all the dishes made so far. It was time for the happiness to reappear. In fact, Raiders still seemed to be in a good mood. He walked directly on the ground without moving to the next destination using magic. It seemed to be an act like he was enjoying the aftertaste. There was a bit of hope in Grid’s eyes as he watched Raiders.

“Did you perhaps know his identity?”

“His identity? I knew he ate human flesh. The reason why his dishes don’t smell is because he makes the broth by boiling human bone marrow and fat.”

“......!”

Raiders’ appearance that eliminated the planned disaster of a legendary killer filled Grid with expectations. So had Raiders been planning to kill the Human Flesh Demon from the start? Perhaps he felt better after eating dishes made by humans and wanted to contribute to society.

However, it was just a coincidence. If Human Flesh Demon hadn’t tried to attack Raiders, then he wouldn’t have died. It was too much to think that Raiders, who enjoyed the food despite it obviously being cooked with human parts as ingredients, would fight for humans.

‘Indeed... if it was possible to persuade a dragon by treating it to a delicious meal, then the gods and great demons would’ve done so already.’

Dragons were creatures that existed only for themselves.

Grid recalled Hayate’s words and gave up in his momentary thoughts. He was reminded that it was never possible to be on the same side as Raiders and only wished the gourmet cycle to end quickly. It was uncomfortable to accompany a dragon.

How long did they walk? It was only after descending to the middle of the mountain that Raiders opened his mouth, “I'm happy to have eaten delicious dishes for two days. I will reward your efforts in searching all your life to find dishes that will satisfy my taste buds with a piece of information.”

All his life?

‘It was two weeks.’

Additionally, the one who made the effort wasn’t Grid, but his colleagues. Nevertheless, it was better to bury this information.

[You have heard from Gourmet Dragon Raiders that he is happy!]

[A special reward will occur since the special condition is achieved!]

“You want to get a dragon on your side, right?”

“......!”

Information more precious than gold was about to flow from Raiders’ mouth. Grid cleared his thoughts and raised his concentration as he listened.

“However, dragons, especially dragons who have lived since the beginning, will never cooperate with others. It is because they have felt how meaningless and futile the world is as they watched the world being repeatedly destroyed and reborn. Having a relationship with someone doesn't mean anything to us.”

Grid thought the reason why dragons didn’t cooperate with others was because there was nothing they couldn’t achieve alone. Yet it was different. In Satisfy’s worldview, the ‘world’ was a concept that was repeatedly destroyed and reborn in every cycle. Perhaps the dragons were weary. Even the now ruthless dragons might’ve cherished and loved humans in the ‘first’ world.

“There is just one exception—Nevartan. He may feel grateful and cooperate with someone who heals his madness. You are also protecting his daughter, so he is more likely to cooperate. The cooperation will likely end after one time, but even just one time is enough to show a power that can change the situation.”

Insane Dragon Nevartan—the name of the most infamous dragon alongside Evil Dragon Bunhelier showed up here. Grid was bewildered and didn’t notice the landscape around him changing.

The signboard for the restaurant that was the 41st scheduled stop swayed in the wind.

“The purest blood in the world can get rid of Nevartan’s madness.”

Creak.

Raiders changed places without telling Grid using Mass Teleport and now he opened the restaurant door without delay.

“The only antidote is the blood of Marie Rose, which won’t go bad even if she sucks the blood of tens of thousands or hundreds of millions of people.”

[The ★ hidden quest ★Marie Rose’s Blood has been acquired as a special reward.]

[Marie Rose’s Blood]

[★ Hidden Quest ★

Get the blood of Marie Rose, the vampire duke, and give it as a transfusion to Nevartan, the insane dragon.

Quest Clear Rewards: Treatment of Nevartan’s madness, increased affinity with Nevartan.]

Based on the way it was flowing, it seemed he would have to fight the gods to protect the Overgeared Kingdom, rescue Hexetia, and prevent the destruction of the world.

Grid’s heart thumped at the possibility of obtaining Nevartan’s cooperation. “Where is Nevartan?”

“Nobody knows that. He might be wandering through Asgard in an insane state or enjoying the hot springs in the Hellfire River.”

“......”

It was difficult just getting Marie Rose’s blood. Even if he got the blood, it would be completely useless if he couldn’t find Nevartan. Grid felt very uncomfortable. He questioned if this quest could be called a reward.