My Villains Episode 508
67. Lord of Icebobalt (1) Ever since the
‘Dimensional Seal’ was engraved on my left wrist and the quasi-dimensional ‘Dream Territory’ dwelled in it, dreams have entirely belonged to me.
Choosing whether or not to dream is a power that belongs to the most basic level. You can shatter your dreams, create new ones, or adjust them as you please. It is possible to attract others to one’s dreams, and to extract dreams from others.
But I just couldn’t enjoy them. Because it requires the use of an enormous amount of mana and causes a long and intense headache.
Also, wielding a power that was decidedly not properly grasped was a burdensome task. My main concern was that misuse of the power of dreams might lead to contamination of the mind, as dreams are deeply related to memory and the unconscious.
In the end, there were only two powers that were consistently used. Erasing dreams in order to fall asleep deeply, and escaping from nightmares if you happen to have them.
“By the way…
I looked around and narrowed my forehead.
Even though he is clearly aware that he is in a dream, his powers are not displayed. Pretty embarrassing.
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh
Dark space filled with stars. It is a familiar landscape.
The boy’s voice pierced his ears, perhaps trying to hasten the slightly delayed realization.
“It’s been a while.”
“trickster.”
A trickster dressed in a silver crown and jet-black robe studded with stars is floating in front of me before I know it.
The old boy smiled brightly, with a face full of unreal beauty and terrifying mystery.
“How long is this? Last time I saw you… when was it?”
“About two years – no more. It was on the way to Setenio La.”
“Yeah, time goes by fast, right?”
Trickster landed on the ground and buried himself on the thick sofa. The leather sofa, which looked a bit worn out, was sitting in the dark space as if it had been there from the beginning.
“To be honest, I was a bit surprised.”
“I never thought the story would go like this. Putting aside the fact that it is a combination of low possibilities, I never thought you would have that much potential.” “Are you talking about the scenario?”
” that’s right.”
The boy seemed a little excited. Her bright, sparkling eyes seemed to have forgotten her age.
“It’s rare to find an idiot who leaves the obvious path and finds a new path. Thanks to you, I am enjoying it enough.”
My mouth stiffens when I hear that it is treated as a handmade toy.
I tried to suppress my life. Because I know very well that there is no point in having a temper with an old boy.
The blue eyes that watched my silence shine again.
“You are finally an adult. yes yes yes It’s the right time and the right environment.”
“Is it spring soon? You better hurry.”
” what.”
“A new scenario, a new chapter.”
He stared at Trickster and slowly opened his mouth.
“That’s easy. How wary the new king is of me.”
“Hong Um-sal-eun.”
“Are you stupid?”
I twitched my eyebrows.
He shows a hot temper and complains as if he has been waiting.
“I spent money like water and shuddered all over the place, but the limit was planting a few sloppy runners. Even then, I couldn’t even get close to the Royal Palace or the Dawning…
“Yeah, that was nice to see.”
“Do you say that even after seeing it? In this situation, you want me to stick my head into the royal capital
?” “Circumstances always change. And everything depends on your choice in the end-”
The Trickster, who continued to speak with a smile, suddenly shut his mouth. Then, he narrowed his brow slightly.
I shrugged my shoulders proudly.
“Anyway, it seems right to go to the royal road, right?”
“…a foxy bastard. It has become a habit now.”
“It is a survival instinct. Not handicraft.”
Fortunately for me, the old boy quickly lost his temper.
“…what. It doesn’t matter, this much.”
The stiff mouth was released again. The smile that was built slowly made people feel uneasy.
“Anyway, the current flow usually has a high degree of difficulty. You’ve got quite a few details to your advantage, but not a few vices.”
“Is the difficulty high? Even considering my level?”
“level? Are you still considering something like the recommended level? Scenarios, chapters, all distorted topics?”
“Why not consider it? Even if the situation somehow changes and the difficulty level rises drastically, I should be able to solve everything when I reach level 65.”
“Well, that’s not wrong either.”
The Trickster crossed his arms and continued talking with his feet bobbing.
“The problem is time. By the time you reach level 65 just by acting as a great lord, the Dark Territory will swallow it all.”
You know from experiencing it yourself, I quietly scratched my eyebrows at Trickster’s mocking voice.
After starting his role as a prince in earnest, he roamed the whole territory and cut down spies disguised as bandits, deserters, gangs, and wandering wizards. He pioneered the wide forest and defeated the goblin tribe, the basilisk, the cave giant, and the slime colony.
That’s how 2 levels went up.
It took just one year to start at level 10 and reach level 42, but it took nearly two years to reach level 44.
“I need 2.4 million EXP right now, right? The experience points of the robbers you killed recently are between 15 and 30. After becoming a lord, I felt it again, but the reality was completely different from the game.
When playing the game, you will wipe out the giant’s lair, collect tens of thousands of experience points, reopen the server and recreate the monsters, and so on. 2.4 million experience points can be filled in no time.
In reality, you can’t.
Monsters that give thousands of experience points in the first place – such as the troll giant wyvern hippogriff drake – are rare. If such guys were common, how could humans build cities and villages? Regardless of the order of cause and effect, it is rare for the realms of humans and monsters to overlap.
Even if such monsters existed in my territory, that is, ‘Defelken Prince’, finding and defeating them was a matter of a completely different dimension.
Gather rumors and traces, untie the tracker and the lead, and search the forest. Being at the forefront of the whole process is essential. If you don’t want to lose experience points to knights or soldiers under your command. Thanks to my group surge and greed, the battle that culminated in a long and tedious hunt was always over in an instant.
It would have been fortunate if he had gained even a few thousand experience points, but in many cases it was in vain.
So, when he was just sitting on the lord’s throne, simply patrolling the road and subduing bandits was the most efficient way to farm experience. Also, after a few months, the number of criminals decreased, the speed of pioneering Zelntree increased, and the monster eradication became better.
And now, both criminals and monsters have almost dried up. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to raise even one level until next winter.
“Now, let’s stop talking.”
The Trickster clapped his hands in pairs as if he had noticed that my thoughts were drifting in the wrong direction.
“It’s bonus time. Did you get ‘Aelo Force’ the other day? Then this time”
I said what I wanted.
“Give me the necklace. I’ll fill up my skills with Marjo.”
Trickster answered naturally.
“Nope?”
“……uh?”
“You made the choice last time, so now it’s my turn.”
I smiled softly.
“Anyway, a fucking bastard.”
The old boy laughed silently and floated up. The sofa had disappeared without a trace.
“it was fun. Just go.”
I raised my middle finger as he winked. As the boy shook his shoulders, the dark space filled with stars began to vibrate.
“Look forward to the future. Good luck.”
The world was torn apart.
“Is this your first time with Icebovald?”
Among the crowd walking along the road, the tall boy silently nodded.
“I knew he was a country boy, but he’s a bit harsh. Were you stuck in that ghetto until you were old enough?”
At the question of a middle-aged man with a thick beard, ‘Egon’ only made a sullen expression. The middle-aged ‘Alban’ giggled and then tilted his head to see if something came to his mind.
“wait for a sec. So, is this your first time participating in ‘peaceful training’?”
“yes.”
“Then what happened? I hear you’ve received a ‘Defel Ken’s summons’?”
“I got involved in a troll subjugation. In the spring of last year.”
“troll-?”
Alban remembered the news he had heard last spring. It was a story of a few trolls appearing at the mouth of a deep, dark forest and attacking the settlers.
“Oh yeah. You said you were from Sovanhalts.”
“yes. The assembly point spread out near the village, so we joined right there.”
“Can you? I heard that if there is no record of participating in training, you will not be called up?”
“That was an exception. The Count gave the order himself.”
“What command?”
“We gathered volunteers to replenish the number of people to search. More than half of the youth in the village came forward because they gave silver coins per day.”
The tall boy kept his eyes on the castle in the distance as he continued to speak slowly.
As the War of Blades ended, the Obdorf region was divided into two at the same time the owner changed.
The eastern half centered on ‘Bulfurt’ became the direct jurisdiction of the young imperial ruler. The western half also belonged to the Imperial vassals, but their owners were his vassals, not the Imperial vassals.
For that reason, Egon’s hometown and the land he stood on now was called ‘Defelken Prince’. Although there are still more people who call it Orb or Ruff.
And the city that had just begun to rise from the horizon was Eisbowald, the capital of Baegryeong in the Defelken area.
“One silver coin per day. That must have been pretty salty.”
“It wasn’t what I expected. Because the troll was caught in two days. They disbanded right after the subjugation was over, so there was no reason to come to Eisbobalt.” “I guess it was like that… but it’s amazing? To think that a young guy was a skilled soldier with experience in subjugating trolls.”
Muttering something, Alban looked at Egon with new eyes. The tall boy was clad in thick quilted armor under a hooded cloak, and had a round shield and a javelin the size of his torso slung over his shoulder.
Compared to the other party, namely the thirty men gathered from ‘Brinst’, a large town northwest of Obdorf, and various villages around it, it was a very proper armed force. In any case, Egon looked much more reassured than most people who were only carrying clubs or poles. Except for the youthful face with red aura.
Egon shook his head with a shy face, as if the gaze was burdensome.
“It’s not that great. It was only to the extent that they followed the soldiers of the ‘Battle Brigade’… The trolls only looked at the corpses.”
“Nevertheless. I’ve never seen a corpse before.”
The men from Brinst, including Egon and Alban, walked slowly. There is no need to rush. The destination is already within sight, and no matter how short the winter days are, the cold sun is still in mid-heaven.
By the time the shape of Eisbovald’s castle was clearly visible, several crowds resembling their party caught my eye.
“It looks like there are a lot more people than last year or the year before last.”
“is that so?”
Egon glanced around. Trying to estimate the number of people gathered. However, it was not easy for the inexperienced boy to count the number of people scattered throughout the field.
“There must be a lot more than a hundred.”
“I think there are more than three hundred people.”
As the boy admired silently, Alban added that it was nothing.
“This is not all. Some people will arrive early, and there will be more people on the way. Didn’t we come a day early?”
Unlike the highlands across the border or the Bühlsruhe to the west, Obdorf’s winters are rather mild. Although there is quite a bit of snow, it is not so much that the road is blocked, and recently, security has been very stable around the road, so it is not bad to travel.
Still, winter is winter. It is not pleasant to walk in the wind for half a day if it is short, or three days if it is long.
‘Well, everyone is going to make money…
The new lord of Eisbowald used his right to conscription in a slightly new way.
He insisted that conscripts should be prepared in advance in a peaceful time, saying that they would not be able to demonstrate their combat power by gathering conscripts only right before or after the outbreak of war. That is how ‘Peacetime Training’ began.
Of course, not all of the men subject to conscription participated in the training. The lord surveyed the population of the five manors and nineteen villages and sent them within a certain range.
However, if only the minimum quota had been sent from each manor and village, the number of men in Egon’s field of vision would have been reduced by half.
The minimum number of people assigned to Brinst, the town of Egon, was 16, but their party was twice as many as 32. Due to the overflow of volunteers, the maximum quota allowed in Brinst was filled.
The reason for the overflow of volunteers was simple. This is because he can receive silver coins when he finishes all the regular training that lasts for a week.
Is that all? You can fill your stomach for free while you are training, and depending on the distance you have traveled, you can get a few extra coins as a nojaro.
Thanks to that, the older brothers and uncles who participated in peacetime training last year and the year before last returned to the village with hens and duck calves.
While Egon was reminiscing, Alban, who was walking beside him, frowned slightly.
“Oh, I’m worried about this.”
“why?”
“There are too many people. I might not be able to pay for training because I don’t have enough money.”
“Can’t you get the money? Have you ever?”
“It’s not like that – anyway, I don’t know. There is nothing to be gained by blindly trusting Milanol.”
The tall boy smiled wryly at the middle-aged man’s low grumbling.
“I don’t think the lord is such a picky person.”
“Is it something to do or not to do? Just looking at it, it looks like a thousand people will gather, but isn’t that a thousand silver coins just for the training fee? In a situation where such a large amount of money is going out of your pocket, even a nobleman with a large distribution would have other thoughts, right?”
Egon shrugged his shoulders slightly, but did not refute. It seemed obvious that it would be a waste of time.
Besides, the boy didn’t come here to get a penny for that. It wasn’t that he learned martial arts from Uncle Brund, a retired mercenary who had begged his brother-in-law and sister for pennies to equip himself with equipment.
Before I knew it, Icebovalt was close enough to be caught in my hand. The walls of the city were not as high as the boy had imagined. However, it was extremely thick, so it was a solid impression.
‘certainly.’
Egon’s eyes were shining brightly as he looked at Eisbobalt.
I heard that the nine knights guarding that city and their masters were once commoners, just like the boy now.
Egon took a deep breath and walked briskly.
