A chorus of screams, metallic clangs, hisses, snarls, and dying cries played in the background as a certain "Veshari" with a venomous and obscene trial name courageously blazed in the middle.

Daru naturally encountered a few enemies.

However, he defeated them as efficiently as possible, making sure to avoid the Grove Sentinels.

He absolutely could not be entangled with them.

Not in the next nine minutes.

The heavenly timer continued counting down in the skies, and for some reason, Daru felt that he would have to look for another grove if he failed to find the merchant and obtain what he needed from the waykeeper before the timer hit zero.

Fortunately, he learned an important skill just a few days prior, one he didn't expect would come in handy today.

Daru might not be adept at tracking footsteps yet, but he at least knew to use them to ensure he was going the same way as his target.

He continued sprinting along the chaotic dirt streets for five minutes, forced to a halt as the tracks suddenly ended.

It seemed that a battle had occurred here just a few minutes ago.

The dirt ground had been scrambled so much that it was difficult to tell whose footprint was whose.

Daru was certainly not at a level where he could derive information from such a chaotic afterscene.

So, he could only utilize his brain again, scalp warming in slight resistance as he looked around.

In front of him was an establishment.

The merchant could have gone there to hide...

To his right was another main street, but seeing that a Grove Sentinel was fighting off seven swordspawns there, it was highly unlikely that the waykeeper would go that way to join the "fun" that it had been avoiding the whole time.

Daru then looked to his left.

There was a dark, narrow alley formed between two young redwoods and a massive, mature one.

His brows rose.

The merchant was definitely hiding in that alley.

In the next moment, a faint smile appeared on Daru's face.

He was naturally pleased with how he dismantled the problem, heading over to the left when, suddenly, the door of the establishment banged open.

A short waykeeper then exited, sprinting over to the winning Grove Sentinel on the street on the right.

The smile on Daru's face froze and turned into a frown as a thought crossed his mind:

'Why are Veshari merchants so ugly?'

He then quickly rushed to the waykeeper, pushing the rather irrelevant and unpleasant thought to the back of his head.

"Hey, wait," he called out, grabbing the wrist of the horrified merchant with a little too much force.

"HIIH!!" The waykeeper jumped, startled.

Daru was fascinated for a moment.

This merchant, unlike the one in Agaron, didn't have a blank gaze behind the black beaked mask.

The waykeeper seemed to be alive...

"Oh, thank goodness! Quick, protect me A-A-Ahfakriphar?! Your name is crude and distasteful, but if you get me through this mess, I'll reward you!"

[The Kahsar Merchant has offered you a quest.]

Daru was surprised at another discovery, but he didn't even hesitate when he dismissed the [Tap to View] window.

He naturally wanted whatever the merchant would give.

Unfortunately, he was a human and was in no position to save a waykeeper of the enemy race.

"Y-You dumb...Why would you refuse a quest?!" the merchant then gasped.

"A-A-Are you perhaps here to kill me?! No! Noooo!! Let me go!!"

The waykeeper thrashed wildly.

Daru was a bit surprised at its strength.

*BONG!*

Slightly irritated, he smacked the merchant's head with the handle of his tachi before saying:

"Calm down. I just want to buy something from you."

The waykeeper rubbed his little head, locking gazes with him.

There was a hint of disbelief in the merchant's eyes, as though it was saying: You're really thinking of browsing my wares right now?

In the next moment, it erupted in what was similar to a tantrum:

"No!! You didn't want to protect me, so why would I sell my items to you?! Let me go! Help, sentinels! HeEelp!"

The corners of Daru's mouth twitched.

He had never been patient in other matters, especially not in business transactions.

A second later, another dull clang sounded, followed by a dull thud.

Daru took a deep breath to control his guilt, letting go of the now-unconscious waykeeper's arms and letting it plop to the ground in an ungraceful manner.

"S-Sorry. I just really need a map..." He apologized, instinctively tapping on the merchant's bag.

A huge window then appeared the next moment.

Daru froze, finding it difficult to believe what he was seeing.

There were hundreds of items, and a few were even of the S-tier.

He could take it all right now...

But then, he violently shook his head the next moment.

What would be the difference between him and filthy bandits if he let his greed get the best of him?

Daru utilized his sudden burst of clarity to search for the Veshara Map.

He easily found and grabbed it, as it was in the first two rows.

A prompt appeared:

[How many [Veshara Map] would you like to withdraw?]

Daru strictly typed two and pressed enter, finding one in his hands and the other falling to the ground in the next moment.

He then tapped on his bag, stored both, and tapped on the icon of his swordcoins occupying a slot.

Daru withdrew 5,000, ending up with a small sack in his hands.

"H-Here's my payment," he stuttered, placing the swordcoins in one of the empty slots of the merchant's massive backpack.

Daru then closed the merchant's inventory and glanced to the right.

The Grove Sentinel's battle was about to end, but he still had time to leave and avoid detection.

Daru carefully stepped away and turned.

However, the moment he did, he noticed a tall shadow looming over him.

Daru's eyes widened, and he jumped back, pulling his tachi out of its scabbard and assuming a fighting stance.

A Grove Sentinel had found him.

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