Episode 537 To the Kingdom of Heron (3)
Ray frequently checked for signs of tailing.
It’s still following the wagon, but it’s not approaching noticeably.
At first, he wondered if he was going to pose a threat to the party, but he changed his mind after seeing the trail that only followed them at a certain distance.
‘Anyway, it seems that the head of Sylvester is quite out of his arms.’
How much do you care about your child, in addition to the external escort, you can attach a tailing escort?
Ray neatly removed the traces of the wild boar he had dismantled around him.
It even showed the meticulousness of burying it around the water’s edge in case the monsters smelled it and wanted to approach it.
When he returned from his full meal, the audience looked at Ray as if they were looking at a hero who saved the kingdom.
“I have a seat.”
“It’s getting late, so let’s go to sleep.”
A straw and a blanket were placed where the man’s finger pointed.
The seat closest to the bonfire.
The warmth of the embers remained on the blanket as they dug the ground lightly and put straw on top of it.
One to six people gathered around the fire, and it was a little cramped to sleep.
After thinking for a while, Ray gathered the fallen tree branches around him.
Seeing this, the men tilted their heads.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to make a furnace.”
“If it’s a brazier… isn’t it only used for blacksmithing?”
“It’s similar. Wouldn’t everyone be cold with these embers? When you sleep, you should sleep comfortably.”
Ray gathered the branches together as he spoke.
He dug a small hole in the ground and placed a branch over it as a support.
When I threw a few stones of appropriate size into the fire, the embers grew bigger than before.
He didn’t stop there.
After secretly moving mana to prevent the warmth from escaping, the surroundings soon began to feel warm.
The bed was warmer than I thought.
“Good workmanship. Have you ever lived an adventurer’s life?”
“I learned blacksmithing for a while.”
Nobles have no reason to learn blacksmithing.
The men laughed bitterly as they made wild guesses about the situation.
“Cheer up.”
“Aren’t barons usually like that? If you wait, something good will surely happen.”
Perhaps they thought that the second son had no choice but to learn blacksmithing because the family had no money, so they chanted the words, “Cheer up.”
“I don’t care. Rather than that, everyone comes around the fire. If you go far away, it will be cold.”
He handed over the best seat to himself and Gide Sylveria, and felt sorry for them sleeping over the fire.
As the fire grew and there were enough seats, the men brought blankets one by one.
The warmth did not leak out, so the bed was as cozy as an inn room.
He didn’t say it, but he must have been quite tired from riding his horse all day.
While they were talking about each other, one by one they fell into trouble.
* * *
As soon as morning dawned, the carriage started.
Perhaps thanks to the warm bed, Gide and the escorts led the horses.
I covered the mountains across the border in half a day.
It was still a long way to reach the village, but I didn’t worry too much about food because the escorts took care of it by hunting.
The fault was that the speed was slowed down a bit thanks to Sylveria complaining about wanting to wash her throat.
“Is the town still far away?”
Sylveria, her hair greasy, sighed.
It was the first time in her life that she suffered such humiliation in front of an outsider as a woman.
Besides, the other man didn’t know what he was doing every night, but by the time he came back after leaving for a while, his hair and skin were smooth and shiny.
Contrary to that, he had a haggard face, so he couldn’t help but feel ashamed.
The escorts said with an apologetic expression.
“Please be patient, my lady.”
“We still have three more days to go before the village comes out.”
three days!
Sylveria put her hand on her head and shook her head.
“If you come across a suitable valley, please let me know. I can’t stay like this any longer.”
When she, who had looked upon them like a granddaughter since she was little, said that, the men felt sorry for them.
A man led his horse forward.
“I will look around and see if there is a stream. I’ll join you in the middle of the night, so don’t worry too much.”
“Okay. Even though we passed the mountain range, there may be a group of monsters in the forest, so be careful.”
“Bocchan, I will go.”
“Make sure to join us by today at the latest.”
“ha ha ha. Don’t worry.”
The man, who smiled once at Gide’s anxious gaze, rode his horse away from the carriage.
As the man rode away and disappeared from sight, Ray felt a sense of deja vu and quietly got up from the carriage.
‘The follower’s movement has become strange.’
The tailers, who should have followed them as if escorting them in the dark, suddenly widened their distance and turned their heads in the direction the man had disappeared.
Sensing something out of the ordinary, Ray opened the carriage window and spoke to Gide.
“Has the Sylvester family sent another escort?”
When the saint, who had been quiet until now, spoke in a strangely serious tone, the nervous Gide answered right away.
“There are only three escorts from my family. They are the elite of the elite specially selected by the family head.”
I mean.
‘Aren’t those guys behind the escort knights?’
It would be difficult if they did anything to the man who was separated from them.
It is still a considerable distance away, so it will take time to approach while deceiving the eyes of the escorts.
Can you make it through the evening?
Rather than act hastily, Ray decided to wait a bit.
It may be a tailing sent from the black room to receive and monitor his news.
It was better to wait until the distance was reduced as much as possible because the tail could be cut off if it tried to get rid of it.
Like a snake coiling itself in a bush.
Ray hid his energy and lay down deep inside the carriage.
* * *
In Daejeon ahead of the sacred Goddess Gaia statue.
The enraged High Priestess slammed the table with all her might.
Kwaaaang-!
“What the hell am I supposed to do with this loss!”
On the desk, there were only parchments proving the fact that the money was withdrawn from the Holy Kingdom.
Now that the demonic realm is closed and mana has returned, albeit clumsily.
Seongguk faced a huge deficit.
While spending the money he had without money, he asked the top half of the group to deliver magic stones.
With it, he tried to stand on the edge of power in the era of mana extinction, but when the demonic world was destroyed and mana returned, all plans were in vain.
Fortunately, since the magic crystals were bought cheaply, it would be worthwhile to aim for a profit if they could resell them at the right time.
Now I can’t even do this.
It was natural for the high priest to be angry.
The priests bowed their heads.
“Fix it, please. There are still opportunities.”
“opportunity? The Devil’s Eye has already closed. It means that the day when the kingdom soars has finally reached its end.”
“no. Isn’t there still one more demonic place left?”
At that, the high priest shook his head.
“No matter how much mana is half a penny, mana has returned to the world. It will only be a matter of time before the Holy Kingdom’s Demonic World closes.”
That’s what it says.
I don’t know if there is no mana at all.
Atmospheric mana has now regained its place, albeit a little.
That’s why it won’t take long for the one remaining Demonic Realm to be destroyed.
The priest also nodded as if he agreed.
“you’re right. But the demonic realm is near the holy kingdom.”
The high priest’s forehead twitched slightly as it left a strange aftertaste at the end of his words.
“Just to the point.”
“We are restricting the entry and exit of the Demonic Realm. To prevent anyone from destroying the Demonic Realm. If you block the entry and exit so that the superiority of the power you have seized is not taken away, then the Demonic Realm will not disappear.”
At the priest’s words, the surrounding priests and the central nobles opened their mouths.
“Does that mean that we will intentionally prevent the disappearance of the Demonic Realm in this Holy Land?”
“That’s right. If that happens, there won’t be many kingdoms that can withstand the soldiers of the original castle armed with magic stones.”
What he said was extremely apostolic.
I couldn’t even imagine how many people would die and suffer because of it.
The priests closed their eyes and prayed for a while in front of the statue of the goddess, while the nobles took a deep breath and calmed themselves down.
Maybe they heard it wrong.
How could the head of the holy kingdom come up with such a cunning plan?
“That is not to be said. Abolish the Demonic Realm? The famine has arrived this year as the glamorous place draws in mana from the vicinity. Even if we can’t close the demonic realm with our own hands, it’s impossible to block it.”
“I agree. High Commissioner, please think again. If we block even the Devil’s Eye now that pestilence is circulating throughout the territory, the suffering of the people will continue.”
Due to the lack of mana, the soil became rough and farming became difficult.
Even in the past, it is difficult to recall a holy country that continued to prosper day by day on fertile soil.
As a result, many of the people were turning into bandits.
The high priest stroked his beard and thought.
“If the demonic realm disappears, the Seongguk’s deficit will continue. It would cost a lot of money just to rebuild the top.”
“Yeah, but…”
“If there is a demonic world, the story is different. If adventurers gather around the Devil’s Nest, the ascendant will naturally develop, and it is possible to see the opportunity and raise the guild of the Holy Kingdom again.”
Even if the Demonic Realm is blocked, adventurers will always gather.
From their point of view, they don’t know when the Seongguk will allow the entry of the Devil’s Mirror again, so it’s better to wait nearby and explore the Devil’s Mirror as quickly as possible to make their name known.
The world does not recognize the second adventurer.
It’s just that I remember the adventurer who finished the first demonic world in the Holy Land.
That’s why peddlers targeting adventurers are bound to gather.
The high priest was expecting such a flow.
“good night. For the time being, let’s restrict access to the Devil’s Nest according to the priest’s opinion.”
“thank you.”
The nobles gave a small sigh at the high priest’s wrong decision.
It seemed that the people’s songs that would come later could be heard all the way here.
The head priest smiled involuntarily.
It has been several years since the Heukbang invested money and dispatched personnel to various places.
Finally, the results were starting from the Holy Kingdom.
