24. A guest comes from afar (3)
Not only Zeke and Deus, but also the entire group were in the group hunting the contaminated elk.
“It’s more surprising than that. “I didn’t expect that the monsters that came from the land of mugwort would be so polluted.”
Yulgeum looked through the machine and said this.
Yesterday, I hunted a few big spatula elk. The results were all clean meat.
I didn’t know what negative effects eating mutated creatures would have on my health, but I was starving so it wasn’t the time to worry about such things.
“Could it be that the pollution has disappeared?” Yulgeum shook his head in response to Deus’ question.
“They said at least 100,000 years. “It is only about 70,000 years since the end of the Golden Age, so it is unlikely that the pollutants have disappeared.”
“Like Lakhe said, I guess it just mutated due to contamination.”
“Perhaps it was so large that the contamination
did not spread throughout the body.”
“It was really big. I think it’s similar to a dragon just in terms of body size. “If you look at dragons, they only have long necks and tails.”
Yulgeum nodded.
“In terms of weight, the elk might weigh more.”
“Meat is only good if it has a lot of fat.”
“Yes, the elk skewers I ate yesterday were really great.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been with a damn girl
.”
“Are you in love again?”
“Did you get intelligence beyond a doubt that I wouldn’t be able to hit you?”
“I’m embarrassed again.”
This was far from Guando, so the road was a mess.
Rather than being a road, the road was simply a place where people and animals passed by frequently, causing the grass to dry out and die.
The rattling carriage made a creaking sound.
“Looks like it’s time to change carriages.”
When the sound was loud, Deus said something.
“Shall we ask the short charcoal guys a favor?”
When Skatul asked, Deus crossed his arms and snorted.
“Now that I think about it, what happened there? The basement would be more vulnerable to ants. “Hasn’t the entire territory been taken away?”
“Now that I think about it, it might be so.”
Zeke joined the conversation.
“The charcoal workers are excellent warriors.
“I won’t let you down easily.”
“Well, what should I do? Even ants are not average when it comes to their abilities as warriors.”
As Zeke’s expression hardened, Deus burst out laughing.
“Are you starting to worry again? “It looks like you won’t lose your temper unless you help everyone in need in the world.”
“I know my topic too.”
“It means that if you have the ability, you want to do it.”
“Well,
just mind your own business. “The times are suspicious, so
it will be difficult to take care of my younger siblings.”
“That’s right. “I’m not too worried about the fact that he’s in Acoma with the knights of the Holy Emperor.”
“Isn’t it because there are so many prominent families that we are in a cold position?”
“You can’t. Holly Jade is just a family of contract warriors. Still, I’m glad that both of them are growing up nice and pretty. “It seems like they are not conceited just because they have more free time and are working hard in their respective positions.”
“Whenever you talk about your younger brother, you can’t stop bragging. Now that I think about it, don’t they also
have a high degree of pure blood? “Why don’t you take a test?”
“It is better to take a pureblood test when you graduate from high school. “If it comes out high, it’s easy to get complacent, and if it comes out low, it’s easy to give up.”
“That’s right. “A guy like you must be a special case.”
At that time, I saw a herd of contaminated elk running in the distance.
“Lake! Stop it!”
“Yes…
Lakhe jumped out of the running carriage.
She took off her shoes in the air and stepped on the ground with her bare feet.
From the moment her roots dug in, her abilities expanded infinitely.
The suddenly sprouting roots blocked the contaminated elk’s path.
Deus called out Sadimus’ name as he saw the elk starting to scatter.
“Sadimus, you hit the big one.”
“I understand, master.”
Black lightning struck the elk.
Because it was so large, it was not easy to kill it with one hit even with the lightning created by Sadimus
.
Still, the effect was sufficient. The four elk began to stumble.
“Then the two guys ahead are dispatched.”
Scatul and Zeke, who were sitting in the coach and passenger seats, swung their swords at the elk who were about to faint.
The leash of an elephant-sized deer broke and blood spewed out.
Hunting was easy.
Rather, it took even longer to dismantle the bodies of the four animals and wrap the usable meat back in elk skin.
We loaded the meat onto a cart attached to a wagon and headed to Joryx’s camp.
After driving for about an hour, we entered a barren rocky hill area.
It seemed like they had arrived near the campsite. I was still quite far away, but I was already starting to hear loud noises.
“It looks like you’re really going to do it.”
Deus spat out with a cold expression.
Zeke smiled bitterly.
“It would be uncomfortable to stay in a tent.”
“If I don’t want to live here for ten thousand years, I will build a castle. “And that too by mobilizing starving permanent residents.”
Yulgeum sighed and said.
“Humans are weak beings who feel very anxious if they do not have a comfortable place to live.”
Deus did not reply to her words.
I didn’t feel it was worth it.
Zeke said in a slow voice.
“When God gave you a great position, it must mean that you should be of great help to people, but
it seems that the lord has not yet realized the reason.”
Deus’ heart ached at Zeke’s words.
Was it perhaps the wrong choice to abandon the position of Demon King and come out like this? A thought occurred to me for a moment.
Of course, I immediately erased it from my mind.
Who would do something like the devil?
Let’s decide that by having a fight between the remaining dukes.
Now that I think about it….
What on earth was Alex thinking when he did this?
Was this really what I wanted to do?
Questions floated through my mind.
It was a question with no answer, so I erased that too.
The lords of Zoryx were now laying the foundations of their new castle.
The children collected small stones and the adults collected large stones and began to pile them along the foundation of the castle’s outer wall.
While Deus cursed, the local residents quietly participated in the construction of the castle.
In a way, I had no choice since that was the only way to receive elk meat.
The knights smiled brightly as they looked at the meat Zeke brought.
It was a total of about 10 tons of meat from four animals.
Although it could not be said to be enough to feed the more than 30,000 residents, it was enough to provide relief in a drought.
After handing over the meat to the knights, Zeke went back to the guards on the outskirts. It was to go on patrol together. There were
also two Zodiac Knights in the security unit
.
The two paladins, Cadenza van Holypitch and Oridon van Holywhig, even treated the commander-in-chief of the guard with contempt.
The Zodiac Knight was an event where only 12 warriors from around the world were selected.
Even if the position was not up to standard, it would be left vacant, but no one would be forced to fill it.
Even now, three positions are vacant, so there are only nine Joe Deak Knights.
The guard captain of a rural castle was not someone worth comparing.
If there’s an exception, it’s Zeke.
Cadenza and Oridon were already treating Zeke like the 10th Zodiac Knight.
It was natural.
He was a warrior who used aura.
“Once you get used to it, these times aren’t that bad. “Isn’t that right?”
Oridon greeted Zeke with a bright smile.
Zeke saw a cadenza in his story without context.
“It looks like Mr. Oridon has been hunting since the morning. “We have hunted over 2 tons of monster meat and
are checking to see if it is worth eating.”
“Isn’t there romance? “This life of hunting, catching fish, and building houses out of stones.”
“I don’t know if there is romance, but there is definitely no civilization.”
“Great Cadenza! Cadenza, my friend!” Oridon said this with exaggerated hand gestures and then turned to Zeke.
“What about Zeke? “It looks like they went hunting too.”
“It is natural for a warrior to work harder when people are in trouble. “The residents are starving, so
gathering food must be more important than fighting the devil.”
“Haha, that’s the answer of a model student.”
Oridon burst out laughing.
At that time, a soldier rode a horse and entered the area where the guard barracks were located.
He got off his horse, saluted Oridon and Kadencha, and then spoke directly to Zeke.
“Lord Zeke has a guest. “They said it was urgent and I had to see him… I tried to chase him away because he was acting shabby, but he was saying strange things, so
I am keeping an eye on him from outside the castle.”
“A strange story?”
“He says he is the vice mayor of Neuekan, where the Imperial Palace is located.”
“Vice Mayor Segetsu?”
“It’s definitely that name… Is it true? Why did Neuekan’s deputy mayor come here? “Without even an attendant!”
Cadenza and Oridon looked at each other.
If it was Segetsu, they knew it well. Although he was from a lower-class noble family, he had excellent political skills and was treated like a secretary by the mayor
.
“Where are you? Please bring me quickly. “No, I will go.”
Cadenza and Oridon also walked out of the castle with Zeke.
Although it was called a castle, it was still just a layer of stones piled up to mark the boundary.
Still, wherever the door stood, the knights stood strictly guard.
The place where Vice Mayor Segetsu was located was outside the west gate.
He was sitting on a stone on the ground with a mule,
looking at the distant mountains with a bewildered expression.
It looked as shabby as the knight who came to visit Zeke had said.
It was difficult to think of him as the proud deputy mayor of Neuekan, where the Seonghwangcheong office was located.
“Mr. Segetsu!”
“Zeek!”
Segetsu got up from his seat and approached Zeke.
It was a face that looked like it was about to cry from joy.
“Zeek! I wanted to meet you! Really… really…
I couldn’t bear it anymore and wiped away my tears with my sleeve
.
“What on earth is going on?”
“I want to express my feelings in a long epic poem about how hard it was to get here.”
“Segetsu-san, it’s been a while.” Cadenza greeted him as he made a fuss.
“Cadenza! Even Oridon! What happened? Why are these two Zodiac Knights in such a rural area… Ah! Is it because of Zeke?”
Cadenza nodded slightly, approving his words.
“That’s the way it is.”
“I thought there was no way the Seonghwangcheong wouldn’t know. Zeke created Holy Cross. If my eyes are not mistaken, it is the brilliance created by the aura of Generation Zero that has been passed down in legend.”
“We saw it too. “It must be an aura.”
“also! Oh, this is not the time… Zeke!”
“Yes, Segetsu-san.”
“There was a big problem. “To the knights of Seonghwangcheong…. great hardships have befallen them
.”
“By the knights, do you mean the ones who were with us?”
“It is them. That’s why I hired several adventurers to come all the way to this place. “After encountering giants and nameless monsters, the adventurers all lost their lives… We came here entirely relying on luck.”
“What on earth is suffering? “Are there any monsters haunting Acoma?”
“Not really. Acoma…
fortunately, is peaceful. “The lands close to the volcano and some areas of the Horsespine Mountains are still not under control, but the mountain ranges and distant areas are relatively calm. Although monsters appear occasionally, they can be easily suppressed with the power of the Knights alone.”
Due to the conflict with the demons, humans became accustomed to war.
Just because the enemy had changed from a demon to a mugwort monster, there was no way they could have been defeated one-sidedly.
