Episode 483
The day of the Three Kingdoms Alliance has dawned.
After inspecting the goblin queen’s splints once, Ray nodded.
“With this, I won’t be able to move around.”
I’d like to leave her here to recuperate, but there’s nothing more dangerous than leaving a patient alone here.
Especially in a situation where you don’t know when you will be attacked by monsters.
Ray and the Goblin Queen packed up lightly and set off for yesterday’s stairs.
unlucky or fortunate
Even though it had already been a week since the stairs in the dungeon disappeared, the stairs remained in place.
Of course, the same goes for monster corpses.
The remains of decayed monsters are scattered all over the place with a disgusting scent.
Looking at the appearance different from before, it seems that another monster visited during the night.
“I don’t feel like staying for too long, so let’s hurry up and check it out.”
At the Goblin Queen’s words, I cast my eyes back to the dungeon’s entrance.
“Let’s see… what floor is this…” When
he brushed off the moss on the wall with his fingers, there was a rune word meaning ‘fifteen’ written on it.
That means that this place is on the fifteenth floor.
As Ray froze at the sight of the rune words, the Goblin Queen tilted her head in strangeness.
“Why?”
No matter how developed their intelligence is, goblins cannot read runes.
She didn’t know what floor this was.
Fifteenth floor?
It is clear that they came to the 5th floor by the stairs from the 4th floor.
However, the letters written at the entrance of the dungeon clearly meant the fifteenth floor.
When I came down the dungeon, a sudden thought came to my mind again.
‘The rat monster we encountered when we came down to the basement… is that a monster that can be seen from the fifth floor?’
Even though it was strong, it was too strong.
If their bodies didn’t move according to the rules Aira had taught them, they would have been annihilated.
There was something I felt while going down the dungeon, but the dungeon never had opponents so strong that I couldn’t handle it by going down one floor.
At least to the point where I could run away.
Have enough opponents to fight against.
As if to grow step by step.
But yesterday the case was a little different.
The monsters here drove them into a corner as if they were playing with toys.
Of course, thanks to defeating the monster, I was able to absorb a considerably larger amount of mana compared to the 4th floor, but the risk was much greater.
‘It would be quicker to die if I did something wrong.’
Rey’s eyes lingered on the Goblin Queen.
The condition of one ally was like that, so it didn’t seem easy to run away in case of emergency.
First of all, should I recuperate until she gets better?
Or should I research a way to fight alone?
While he was thinking about it, the Goblin Queen, who roughly noticed the current situation, said in an uneasy voice.
“Maybe… isn’t this the 5th floor?”
Although she has no experience and no knowledge, she is a goblin queen with excellent intelligence.
From Ray’s appearance, he could already roughly guess the current situation.
what are you hiding
Ray told her the truth.
“…This is the fifteenth floor. I guess we came in the wrong way.”
“Fifteenth floor…”
She collapsed, losing strength in her legs.
It feels like the string of hope I’ve been holding on to has been severed.
However, she soon strengthened her knees and stood up on the ground again.
Standing up, looking at Ray, he speaks clearly.
“If I die here, I will have no face seeing my own people. Of course, I don’t want to be ashamed of asking you to take care of me when I’m injured. I will survive on my own, so you go on your way.”
“Go on your way. What if I go away?”
‘In that condition, it’s just good food for monsters.’
The afterword soared up to his throat.
The goblin queen closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Sometimes there are days when ignorance helps.”
It seems that he has no intention of telling.
Ray considered leaving her for a moment, but the thought was fleeting.
he was a doctor
Abandoning a patient is worse than dying.
He had no intention of prolonging his life by indirectly killing her.
He, who seemed like he would turn around and leave at any moment, quietly met with her at eye level.
“It wasn’t rotten enough to leave the injured person behind.”
Looking at the sincerity of her blue eyes, the goblin queen felt that her thoughts were becoming futile.
She was unknowingly relieved by his attitude.
Honest feelings flowed out of his mouth.
“Thank you for saying that.”
After confirming each other’s thoughts, they left the dungeon entrance and headed to the field where they rested yesterday.
The relationship between the two was closer than before.
* * *
Although the forces of the Holy Kingdom disappeared and quite a bit of time passed, there was no change in the Demonic View.
People from the Lessian Empire and the Celia Kingdom gathered in the Holy Kingdom sat down at a round table with worried expressions on their faces.
“I am afraid that things are not going wrong. So much time has passed and there is not even a slight change…”
When the Count of Silia Kingdom said, the Marquis of the Lessian Empire received it.
“I also think the same. Even if there was an unexpected setback in the demon realm, there was plenty of time. Seeing that there is no answer or change yet, it’s just that something happened to them…”
While speaking, the High Priestess of Seongguk cut off his words.
“There are as many as 20,000 people. Although more time has passed than expected, it is hard to believe that all 20,000 people have been wiped out. Besides, even if something happened to the contingent, now you can’t bring in troops to save them. Don’t you know better than anyone? That all three kingdoms cannot afford it.”
Silence hung over the hall at the high priest’s words.
They invested an excessive amount of manpower in the search for the Devil’s Edge.
I didn’t even think that it would fail in the first place.
It was an army of 20,000 men no matter what, and it was prepared for all kinds of situations.
Contrary to expectations, however, the contingent was unable to bring about any significant change.
If this is not a failure, what is it?
As they all remained silent, the Marquis of the Lessian Empire cast a sharp gaze.
“It is true that there are no more manpower left. But does Seongguk intend to abandon all of them trapped in the Devil’s Realm?”
“…it’s not about throwing it away. To put it bluntly, I am just taking my time thinking about their comfort.”
“Give me time? You mean in this situation? What will you do if you rescue after ten years? They won’t be there anymore. If that happens, the rescue team will change to the current dispatch team and only repeat the situation waiting for rescue again.”
“However, as the Marquis acknowledged, there are no more manpower left. If we borrow more manpower from here, we will inevitably have to endure the invasion of other countries.”
foreign invasion.
The Lessian Empire wasn’t in a very different position either.
Now that everyone’s mana has been extinguished.
If the troops were a little weak, it was a thing that might declare war in a foreign country that was paying attention.
When the Marquis stopped talking, Count Celia proposed this time.
“I’m talking about it, but…”
After a while, all the eyes of the people gathered on the count.
“His Majesty the King of Silia is looking at the alliance of the Three Kingdoms. Wouldn’t it be better to make reliable allies to live in fear of being attacked by other countries? There is the Empire in the north, our Celia in the east, and the Holy Kingdom in the west. Although the distance is a bit far, it probably doesn’t have the same geographical advantage. If done well, might not the ambitions of the kingdoms be put to rest?”
Pope Ecclei, who had just listened to the Count’s words, was a little apprehensive.
“Keep talking.”
“Thank you, His Holiness the Pope.”
The Count, who bowed his head in respect, continued his story.
“The alliance of the three countries is not just for military force. If you use Celia, you will be able to help trade between the castle and the empire. If the Holy Kingdom and the Empire reduce tariffs on Celia merchants, the trade will be more active. Of course, Celia will also be able to reap sufficient benefits since tariffs have been reduced. It’s not just a story that benefits one kingdom. If we prevent aggression through the Triple Alliance and start raising funds through trade, other countries will not recklessly attack us.”
After the Count’s story ended, Pope Ecclei shook his head.
“Certainly there is a point.”
In diplomacy, trade is one of the stumbling blocks.
My heart moved when Celia said she would solve it.
If done well, the castle could become more prosperous by taking advantage of this situation.
‘The reason Gaia isn’t giving me an oracle might lie in this alliance.’
Eclay, who was lost in thought for a moment, soon woke up from his thoughts.
She accepted the count’s opinion.
“If the Empire has such a mind, the Holy Nation will consider the alliance positively. Of course, it would be important to unify the opinions of the three countries, but in an emergency like now, we can’t discuss everything one by one.”
Since the highest decision maker of the Seongguk spoke, it was more correct to say that the Seongguk’s opinions were unanimous.
Following the Pope, the Marquis also replied.
“It is a matter to be asked of His Majesty, but since the Pope is looking at it positively, I will try to convey the message as well.”
“Please.”
When both the Holy Kingdom and the Empire agreed, the count was thrilled.
It was just a hint thrown out.
I didn’t expect an answer to come back, but to come back with such a good answer!
“I will get the alliance agreement from His Majesty the King soon!”
The count said, unable to hide his delight.
The high priest cleared his throat and ventilated the surroundings.
“Hmm. It’s a bit out of the way, but let’s get back to the main topic. To state the conclusion, we currently do not have the capacity to dispatch rescue personnel to the Holy Land.”
“Manpower shortage is a problem.”
The Marquis commented.
“How about hiring mercenaries? If the wages were to pay only the basic employment fee and Duduk would give the reward money after the request was successful, there would be many people who would step out. If we succeed, it will be good for us, and if we fail, there will be no loss, right?”
“What a good idea! If we hire the entire mercenary corps, we will be able to reduce the wages as well!”
“…a mercenary. It was such a good number. There is no disagreement.”
When the three of them seemed to be unified, the Marquis let out a small breath.
“Then let’s talk about it again.”
Even though it was already late, the meeting went on without knowing the end.
