Episode 337
“Hahaha. I mean, I cut down ten orcs at that time…”
“Jeez! I saw them all running away, you bastard!”
“You’re funny! I was already running while watching your ass run away!?”
“Puhahaha
.
A man with ‘brown’ hair and a grim face sitting alone in the corner was looking at the foamy beer with his head down.
Although he seemed alone in his thoughts, his ears were wide open and he was searching for useful information in the conversations around him. The intelligence organization ‘Eye of Flame’ led by Damian had not yet spread throughout the empire, and because they arrived in such a hurry, they had not properly prepared a contact plan.
And he knew from his past life experience that unless he was in a situation where he had to go to a proper intelligence organization, rumors flowing from places like this could be quite useful.
“The Holy Kingdom is very upset because they are excommunicating a saint.”
“There are a lot of big things going on at this temple. But is that real?”
Fortunately, there was no word that the saint had been caught yet, so it seemed like Victor was doing a good job.
“what?”
“I heard there is conflict with some country to the east?”
“Hey, you’re so interested in that.”
“There might be a war.”
“Was it Grandia? That small country and empire? Hey, Arthur. Stop talking nonsense and have a drink.”
It was reassuring to see that although they were mercenaries who were inevitably sensitive to war, they were not very interested in news from the kingdom.
‘That’s a good thing.’
Logan smiled slightly, gulped down the lukewarm beer in one go, and headed to the counter inside.
An inn that serves as both a mercenary guild and a pub.
widely.
The attention of the bartender and mercenary guild branch member was focused on him as he naturally put down his beer glass.
“Would you like another drink?”
“No. If there is a job in the Crown Mountains, can you recommend it?”
I didn’t plan on accepting requests like a real mercenary.
I was just trying to find out if anything special happened with the destination I was planning to go to just around the corner, but the bartender chuckled.
“He looks like he’s from a foreign country. He has an Eastern accent.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Then there is.”
“hmm?”
The mercenary guild won’t discriminate based on origin, right?
The bartender smiled slightly again, as if he knew the meaning behind that gaze.
“It’s already been more than three months since the Crown Mountains were banned, so how can it not be a problem for work?”
The problem seemed to be a little different from what I thought.
“what?”
“It’s a recent thing, so you probably don’t know. It’s unfortunate, but look into something else.”
Colosseum, a city of mercenaries in the northeastern part of the empire. This place, which is close to the northern demon forest and has a very cold climate, was famous as a region in the empire where all kinds of conflicts were constant, and as befits its name, there were a lot of mercenaries from all over the place.
And one of the most common requests in this city of mercenaries was to escort the upper class through the Crown Mountains on the Hunter’s Path to the heart of the empire.
‘For some reason, there were fewer people than I remembered.’
It was a dangerous route on the hunter’s path, but it was also a fast route.
There’s no way merchants wouldn’t take risks?
“What is the reason? Has a giant monster appeared?”
“Are you lucky if it’s a monster?”
“What do you mean?”
“The imperial family declared the Crown Mountains off-limits on the pretext that demon beasts from the Demon Forest were coming over. Do not enter without permission.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? Since when did the imperial family care about the safety of mercenaries?”
Even in the infamous Demon Forest, mercenaries come and go hunting.
But the mountain range was closed for that reason?
It was clearly not a normal action.
“Haha, that’s right. I did. But what can I do about this now?”
“…What’s the real reason?”
“They said the Imperial Knights would take out the demon beasts and use the place as a training ground.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…”
“I think I’ve heard that answer a thousand times, including you. If it’s too uncomfortable, you should consider it.”
When you have about 100 lives.
When the bartender laughed and shook his head, Logan couldn’t help but frown.
‘No matter how recent it was, there were no rumors about it to the outside world. So, they declared it banned and then controlled the information.’
Something that never happened in my past life when I was working as a mercenary here.
The ominous premonition was irritatingly correct.
“I guess you were planning to go to Aserian or Pargentium? Or Noviense? Anyway, you can’t go into the Crown Mountains. If you came here because you wanted to shorten the journey, it would be a mistake… Hey, where are you going? Are you just going?”
On my way out, ignoring the bartender’s words.
Logan’s expression was somewhat stiff as he watched the setting sun over the Crown Mountains.
* * * Boom.
“Three months! Three months! Are you sure you’ve located the right location?! Are you digging in the wrong place?”
The table placed inside the makeshift barracks was blown to dust with a single light punch. It wasn’t just smashed, it was literally broken into pieces like sand.
This proved that the owner of the giant fist had overwhelming force power in addition to having a muscular body that was over 2 meters tall.
However, despite the bloody demonstration of force, the man sitting in front of the table did not move.
Her grizzled brown hair, combed back neatly, was not disheveled even a single strand.
“I’m sure.”
The faint smile on his wrinkled face also remained the same.
‘A person is not a doll or anything.’
Yashel, the general of the Eastern 1st Corps, seemed even more angry at that calm appearance.
It had already been three months since I had suffered so much hardship because of this wizard who was said to be from the imperial family. It was too long a period of time to continue working again, just believing in what was said to be certain.
“But why is there no sign! How far do we have to dig down!?”
“This is information given by His Highness the First Prince. Are you doubting His Highness’s words now?”
At those words, Yashel, who was about to continue his verbal abuse, closed his mouth.
Okay.
‘shit.’
To say anything more here would be tantamount to insulting 1st Prince Clid van Ares, the likely successor to the throne.
Even Yashel, who was famous for being quick-witted, couldn’t bear to do that. Because I already had an accident, it was a punitive mission.
Yashel forcibly held on to her trembling hands and gathered her patience once again.
“…So how much longer do you think it will take?”
“Now it’s time to see the barrier.”
“what?”
“It probably won’t take long. A week at most? Or it could show up in a few days.”
“Is that true!?”
Yashel visibly smiled.
“That’s right. So do your job properly. Don’t let the sacrifices do anything wrong on the day the barrier is discovered.”
Yashel couldn’t help but distort his face again at the sight of the grizzled wizard Harvey pronouncing the word ‘sacrifice’ particularly softly.
‘Are you really going to carry out that terrible plan?’
The biggest reason why Yashel didn’t like Harvey from the first time she saw him.
And the reason why all this work is kept secret from the outside world.
This was because the final stage of the ruins excavation plan, which was created in response to the first prince’s proposal by the Eastern King, was scheduled to involve a terrible human sacrifice.
A cruel plan to ruin the lives of workers mobilized for construction.
“…Are you sure that such magic really exists?”
Eat.
“Surely the lives of the worms are not a waste? If their insignificant lives can be used for the glory of the empire, wouldn’t it be a worthy sacrifice?”
“…No matter how ignorant I am, I know that the word sacrifice is not used that way, wizard.”
The anger over something I didn’t want to do ended up being directed at the wizard in front of me.
Because it felt like the person who planned it all was not the First Prince, but this annoying wizard.
but.
“So you will disobey the emperor’s command?”
“…No way.”
Hearing Harvey’s next words, Yashel could only helplessly lower his head.
How could he disobey the emperor’s orders? It was not a question of whether to do it or not, but an absolute order of force majeure.
Because he was a knight of the empire who had been educated and lived like that his entire life.
“That’s it.”
But the sight of Harvey snorting made my conscience prick even more.
“It was necessary to maintain confidentiality anyway, so don’t take it to heart, knight.”
“hmm?”
Recognizing and reluctant to be different from each other, they only called each other knight wizards.
And that’s why Harvey’s words were unexpected.
Depending on what I heard, it seemed like he was considerate of Yashel.
but.
“Everything will happen according to His will.”
Yashel could only grit his teeth as he looked at Harvey, who was saying incomprehensible things with his crazy eyes.
‘If you look at the size of the tent, it looks like there are over a thousand workers, but there are only a hundred knights there, with no soldiers guarding it? ‘It’s a strange composition.’
In the forest not far from the excavation team.
Standing on a tree that was about 30 meters high under a dark sky, with its thin branches swaying in the wind, Logan was lost in thought. The tree branches swaying precariously, as if they might break at any moment, might have made him anxious, but he just kept a stern expression on his face as if nothing had happened.
Even if someone with clear eyes had seen him, he would have thought he was just a ghost and walked away.
It was an appearance that clearly showed that the ghost’s shadow had gone beyond the level of a remnant and was moving toward another level.
‘I can’t kill them all…’
Let alone the reluctance of massacring civilians, I don’t have the confidence to catch all of the more than 1,000 people who are running away in all directions.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t just leave them alone. Because you don’t know what you’ll do while you’re in the dungeon.
Furthermore, you had to do your best to break through the dungeon’s barrier. This means that secret movements cannot be shown.
Above all, the soul-stimulating feeling coming from a place deep in the mountains was gradually becoming stronger.
I miss you endlessly and it feels so unpleasant.
‘It’s close. ‘Not long left.’
Because of that feeling, Logan was able to understand the progress of the excavation team even before they got close to where they were digging. Even if I had wasted a few more days worrying about it, the barrier would have already been discovered by them.
‘Is it not because I reached an appropriate level that my memories were liberated, but because they got closer to the barrier?’
The timing is so unique that it makes you think that way.
All those guesses would become known once I held the holy sword again.
Before that, we had to come up with a plan to dispose of those excavation teams.
‘No matter how much I think about it, it seems like there’s only one way.’
Logan, with a somewhat stiff complexion, moved around at night to get a more detailed picture of the size of the excavation team. He even investigated the environment in all directions to check for any unknown variables.
And as the movement continued for three full days, it felt like collecting any more information was meaningless.
– I’m out!
A voice full of joy was heard from deep within a cave in the mountains.
Logan, who had been napping like an acrobat on a thin branch at the top of a tree with very lush leaves, opened his eyes brightly.
“It was so true.”
In a dark cave, the torch that had been installed to light the tunnel was no longer needed.
The barrier that appeared between the collapsed walls was emitting a pure white glow, brightening up the wide tunnel.
Everyone here could feel that it was a miracle created by a different ability than magic.
“Wow!”
“I feel like crying.”
“This this.”
“I once felt something similar to this. When I received a blessing from a high-ranking priest.”
The workers who were looking at the white barrier with moved eyes each expressed their impressions.
Yashel, who heard the commotion and rushed over, couldn’t help but be impressed.
“It’s a sacred power that has become tangible to the point of being visible…”
“In the end, aren’t I right? A gentleman knight.”
“…Right.”
“Then we should get ready now, right?”
“…I know.”
A moment of conflict appeared on Yashel’s face as he looked at the workers, but that light disappeared with a firm resolve.
and.
“Knights, gather the workers. The final work begins!”
Some of the senior knights, who knew what that meant, scolded the rank-and-file knights and drove them out.
“Bring all the resting shift workers in too!”
“quickly!”
“yes!”
The voices of dozens of people talking and answering at the same time resonated loudly in the tunnel, but soon the voices disappeared like the ebb of the tide.
One of the workers, who felt uneasy for some reason, cautiously asked Yashel.
“Captain. Why are you gathering replacement workers? Shouldn’t we just continue excavating as we were doing?”
Yashel, whose face became a little stiff, did not reply, and the worker, who became even more anxious, was about to open his mouth again.
-Who who!
– Argh!
– Enemy!
A scream was heard that changed the complexion of everyone in the tunnel.
