The group traveled for a day until they found a dukedom. The dukedom was called Lubock and it has more than five hundred thousand population. Lubbock was a dukedom located at the western part of Hairin.
Hairin was the land ruled by Dionysus, a powerful god from Mount Olympus.
Judging from this, Souta knew that they were far from the demons. It means that they were safe for a while and didn't need to worry about the demons. Well, it's better to be cautious than to regret it later so they will still keep up their guards.
Souta, Alice, Eztein, and Eilish entered the dukedom. The dukedom was lively and thousands of people were coming in and out of the dukedom every day.
"Hmm... It's pretty lively here." Eilish muttered as she looked around at her surrounding.
"Do you think so?" Souta raised his eyebrows.
"They are waiting for something," Alice said.
"Something?" Eztein looked around.
"Let's find a place to stay first. Then, we'll tour around the place while looking for a merchant we can make a deal with." Souta said to them.
The group hurriedly finds an inn. Eztein and Eilish were pretty excited to explore a dukedom from the Great World.
"I can feel the strength of ordinary people here but I haven't seen someone that could rival me," Eilish said.
"Do you think people that broke a mortal shackle is common here? No, they are pretty rare considering that most of the people that broke a shackle have high status. You wouldn't see them walking around." Souta explained to her.
"Mm. Those people are pretty much in noble households." Alice added.
"I see." Eilish nodded her head.
"Also, most of the people that have potential went to the capital of Hairin. They either wanted to join the god's legion or make a name for themselves." Souta said.
"Ow, then what's the power level of the strongest person in this place, boss?" Eztein asked.
"Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin before he said, "Shackled realm... I think. Maybe a solidifying realm."
"Oh, then this is pretty much the countryside."
"Yeah, you can call it like that." Souta nodded.
"You said that people with potential went to the capital to join the god's legion, right? Then, who is the god managing it? I haven't seen a god managing a land before. I only know the gods from the council so I'm pretty much clueless about them." Eilish asked.
"Dionysus is the god that's ruling the Hairin. He is one of the top gods of the Mount Olympus and he was very powerful. The gods of the council wouldn't win against Dionysus even if they fought him." Souta looked at them and said, "But I will warn you. Don't mention the name of the gods easily as most of the people here worshipped them. You have to add Lord if you will speak about them in public."
"That strong?!" Eztein was surprised.
"Yeah, the gods of the council only have above average strength." Souta slowly explained the difference between the two.
Mount Olympus is one of the Holy Lands of God's Continent. No mortal could easily enter this land as most of the creatures that were living here were either gods or people that received the blessings of a god.
The Council of High-World only had five gods yet the Mount Olympus had more than forty gods in its ranks. The difference was huge and even the non-holy land had three to six gods in their ranks.
"So strong!!" Eztein muttered in shock.
"And there are dozens of holy lands in this continent, right?" Eilish asked.
"Yeah, Mount Olympus, Albios, Heavenly Court, Asgard, Takamagahara, Vaikuntha, Tir Na Nog, Aaru, and the Garden of Eden, are examples of Holy Lands," Souta said to the two.
"All of those holy lands had more than forty gods?!" Eztein asked as he opened his eyes widely.
"Yes, that's why people from sub-world called Imperium the Land of Gods or Divine World because of the number of gods that's living here," Souta said.
The leader of the Holy Land was an insanely powerful god. They were sometimes called the King of Gods. They were comparable to the ruler of the three great countries, the great demon emperors, and the rulers of the notorious bringers of calamity.
'You know a lot of things in this continent for someone who came from the Giza Continent.' Saya's voice sounded in his mind.
'It's written in the books.' Souta said to Saya as he shrugged his shoulder.
The four went around the dukedom and talked to several merchants. They wanted someone that could provide supplies to the headquarters of Astros.
It was already night when they found someone that fitted their condition.
The merchant was a handsome ocean elf.
"So your headquarters is in the west, outside of Hairin?" The ocean elf asked.
"Yes, it will take one day before you arrive there. We have silver and gold ores that we could use to exchange for our needs." Souta explained to the elf.
"Hm... Gold ores aren't that attractive but silver ores are a different matter. I can take it but do you have other valuable things?" The ocean elf asked.
"I have epic enchanting ores and some monster orbs," Souta answered after some contemplation.
He had a total of 46 monster orbs of a third evolution monster, 26 monster orbs of a fourth evolution monster, and 100 kg of epic enchanting ore. He got all of this from the living labyrinth.
He still had fifth evolution monster orbs but those things were too valuable and it's beneficial to his growth. He wouldn't sell it.
As for the epic enchanting ore. It's a metal that was added to increase the enchantment capacity of an object. The success rate of enchantment will be boosted by twenty percent if they had this type of ores so it's pretty valuable.
Souta had 100 kg of epic enchantment ore and he gave half of it to Gragas the moment he joined the organization. So he still had 50 kg left and he could sell 20 kg of it and he would receive thousands of silver coins.
"Epic enchanting ore and monster orb?!" The ocean elf was surprised.
"Yeah, so are you going sign our deal or not? It's pretty good, you know?" Souta said without changing his expression.
"It's pretty good but are you sure that you have those things? I'm afraid that there are bandits waiting for me the moment I left the dukedom." The ocean elf said. He wasn't strong as his power level was only C-rank so he was pretty cautious about people that could potentially deceive him.
"Don't worry, you're not the only merchant that we are going to make a deal with," Souta assured the elf. "Also, you can ask some mercenary to escort you. That's how merchants do things, right? They always hire mercenaries to guard them."
"Fine, but first, let me see the other merchants." The ocean elf nodded and said.
"I have no problem with it." Souta shrugged his shoulder.
This was the limit of this dukedom. He could only find small-time merchants in this place not some large corporations like Lanny Corp.
At this moment, bells rang around the entire city.
Ding!
Souta, Alice, Eztein, and Eilish raised their heads as they heard the sound of the bell.
"Hm... The heroes are here." The ocean elf muttered as he turned his head in the direction of the city gate.
"Heroes?" Eztein looked at the elf with a confused expression. He didn't know what was happening.
"They are people that received blessings of the gods." Souta explained.
"Oh, they are here? I want to see them." Eztein was curious.
Souta simply shook his head and smiled. He forgot that he hadn't told them that he, Yuko, and Isabella has a blessing. He wondered what will be his reaction if he told Eztein that three of them has blessings.
"Let's take a look," Eilish said.
"Okay, I'll follow after I've finished this," Souta said to Eilish before he turned back his attention to the ocean elf.
The ocean elf looked at him and said, "I already accepted your deal but let me see the other merchants first."
"Okay. Then, let's go." Souta turned around.
The group went near the city gate to watch the heroes. Thousands of people gathered on the streets as they also want to see the heroes of the gods. A lot of people dream of achieving it but only a few could make it true.
"The heroes are here!"
"Let me see!"
"I heard that they will be dispatched to kill demons!"
"The heroes are strong! They will kill those vile demons!"
The people murmured to each other and their voices filled the streets.
Souta and the others were on the sideline watching the entrance of the so-called heroes of the gods.
'They are here. It means that this place is their hometown.' Saya said.
Souta nodded and narrowed his eyes. The heroes had entered the gate and their group consisted of seven people. Three shackled realms and four solidifying realms.
