Episode 240
* * *
This is my first time feeling like this.
No kidding, this was my first time.
Like most Mana users, I started out with a sword.
I swung it a few times and had a gut feeling.
Ah, the black path is not for me.
I learned magic.
It was fun, but I felt like it wasn’t my path.
Then by chance.
I happened to pick up a short bow and shoot it.
Thinking back now, it was an arrow that flew very poorly, but at that time, Benedict felt it.
This is my path.
From then on, I started practicing archery.
Curved, curved, straight, and serrated edges.
I have studied all the techniques and mastered all the skills.
He became a master and is currently the only bow master on the continent.
To be honest, Benedict was disappointed.
It’s not that my side hurts or I need to get married, but because I don’t have any comrades.
Being the only Bowmaster on the continent is just a facade.
A bow that no one uses.
Even though his name was known and the bow was said to be threatening, no one learned how to use it.
So I was feeling empty, and now, Jack Valantier has stabbed me in the emptiness.
‘Archery department… … If we create it, the number of people using bows on this continent will increase even more.’
Of course, there are still people who use archery today.
But most of them are ordinary people.
Benedict wanted to see.
A unit of archers carrying bows.
A picture of a unit of archers made up entirely of high-circle mana users shooting arrows simultaneously at a target.
‘I can now imagine how Gray Cierran, the Dean of the Swordsmanship Department, must have felt.’
Jack Valantier.
He had an incredible talent, perhaps instinctual, for being able to sense what someone else desperately wanted and to pinpoint it.
‘One way or another, this guy will attract a lot of people.’
Tyrants and saints.
There is only one difference between them.
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Knowing and not knowing what the person below wants.
This guy knows it.
Even though he is a self-righteous man, he knows it and therefore can never become a tyrant.
What if I become a devil?
Benedict shook off the thought.
It’s not too late to think about it later.
Then he raised his head.
In the distance, the faint outline of a city can be seen.
“That’s the Bilton Estate. The current time is 6:00 PM. You arrived earlier than expected.”
“Okay. I told you a little bit about it earlier, but just in case, go and tell the instructors again. I’m going to sleep there today. Of course, tell the kids too.”
Benedict nodded and asked as if he had forgotten something.
“But, what are you going to do about ‘that’?”
Jack turned his head slightly at Benedict’s words.
Beyond the plains.
At the entrance where the mountain was visible, a man was looking this way with something like a ‘telescope’.
Bushy hair.
The clothes he was wearing were covered in dirt.
Appearance similar to that of a vagrant.
“Do you know him?”
“No way.”
“Then leave him alone. If he comes and asks for food, feed him and send him back.”
Benedict nods.
But could it be an illusion?
I have a feeling that something is going to happen.
Hmm. No, right?
* * *
A title higher than baron but lower than count in the five-rank system.
It’s your own work.
Osman Bilton was a Viscount.
The Bilton estate, ruled by the Viscount Bilton, was a territory with a population of over 60,000.
60 thousand.
It was by no means a small number.
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Rather, it was on the large side for a self-created estate.
So, until a few years ago, there were opinions that he should be promoted to an earl, but in the end, Viscount Bilton remained a viscount.
The reason was simple.
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Because his personality was too indecisive.
The nobles also have their own pride.
Additionally, from the position of ruling the territory, the nobles had a duty to pursue the stability of the territory’s residents.
Here, stability means preventing rebellion, or simply standing up.
Most nobles would have been terrified of it, but not Bilton.
He stopped it with popularity.
He was kind, and as I said before, he was indecisive – these are the characteristics and all of Viscount Bilton.
Actually, everyone in the world is mistaken.
Being popular and kind are not essential virtues for an administrator who governs a territory.
Moreover, politics should not be done based on mere feelings.
If you look at history, those who are called saints are those who appropriately distributed power and fear, not simply good people.
A good king is just an idiot.
Viscount Bilton was that kind of man.
A territory ruled by such a person is likely to be swarmed with flies.
A group of barbarian bandits who have complete control over the area surrounding the Bilton Estate.
They were flies.
Junk, a new recruit in the Barbarian bandit group, muttered.
“Did you just look this way? No, right?”
I picked up the telescope I was holding again.
There’s no way I’ve seen it.
How far is it? Look here.
Because it seemed like something really fun was going to happen.
Look at those dozens of carriages running right now.
There are over 20 of them.
Is that all? That carriage has no markings.
There are several cases where a carriage is not marked. One is when it is transporting something secretly to hide its affiliation. Another is when it is not marked on purpose. Another is when it is not really affiliated with any place.
Junk was convinced.
That’s called ‘the upper row that has to secretly move something’.
Because I definitely saw junk.
An empty bottle falls out of a rattling carriage.
Unless the telescope is faulty or my eyes are faulty, that is definitely ‘Grape Flavored Supreme Potion’.
It was strange that it was an empty bottle, but it was still a potion bottle.
This is a very suspicious carriage, and it’s carrying top-grade potions? If you’re a bandit, not paying attention is no different from neglecting your duty.
So Junk watched the procession enter the Bilton Estate, then glanced around the place where the carriage had left.
And then I found it.
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A single potion bottle rolling on the floor.
That was exactly what I saw through the telescope earlier.
Junk took it and moved to his base.
* * *
The others looked at Junk, who returned to his base with a bright smile, with slightly displeased expressions.
junk.
Although he was a new employee who had only joined four months ago, he already had a nickname.
Right, the torture chamber.
Usually, a torturer must be able to present non-existent facts as fact, and must also have the ability to tell lies as fact without even realizing it.
Junk was like that now.
“This is the upper ranks. There is no escort, but there are plenty of carriages.”
“Is it thick?”
If I had stopped here, I wouldn’t have heard the words “torture officer”.
What he said next was important.
“And then the sound of the rustling sound seemed to resonate.”
“Is it rustling?”
Junk pondered with a serious expression.
If it were a luxurious carriage with potion bottles rolling around, the clanking sound would be audible enough.
But what is that?
What is making that rattling sound?
Yeah, that’s it.
“Ah. Gold coins, that was definitely the sound of gold coins colliding.”
A few of the thieves tilted their heads.
“The sound of gold coins striking each other was that loud?”
Junk was proud.
Because Junk thought it was ‘possible’ enough.
“And it is certainly true that there were potions rolling around.”
Then, Junk, who was rummaging through his belongings, took out an empty glass bottle.
A broken glass bottle, to be exact.
But the logo engraved on the outside of the bottle was clear.
“The highest quality Litton Mountain grape flavor potion… …?”
Litton was an estate located in the exact opposite direction from the Bilton estate.
The most famous thing in the Ritten Estate is potions.
I don’t know about other places, but potions made in Ritten are popular nationwide.
So now, there is some basis for it.
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There are often cases where coincidences overlap several times.
That was the moment.
This bottle was clearly the one that contained the potion just a moment ago.
That makes sense, because Jack, who was in the carriage, actually drank the potion like water.
Jack, who had created a whopping 40 premium communication ports the day before, thought this.
It’s not like it’s a huge strain on the body, but still, human psychology is such that you want to eat something that’s good for your body first.
Besides, if you take a lot of potions, there are more benefits than harms to your body.
It helps digestion, increases the body’s healing power, and clears the mind.
In fact, other academies give students two or three potions every month.
The goal is not to heal wounds, but, of course, to recover from fatigue.
In addition to the empty bottle Junk brought, there were quite a few empty potion bottles inside the carriage.
The problem was that it was the last carriage, and no one was riding it, and the coincidence that an empty potion bottle fell out through the slightly open door of the carriage continued to stack up until Junk’s nonsense was eventually believed.
Dorian, the leader of the bandits who had been listening to Junk, puts his hand on his chin.
“At this time, as many as twenty carriages are moving?”
His hand slowly stroked his beard.
Once, twice.
“Even so, since there’s a person named Jangju from the Continental Battlefield in Teslan, if I’m unlucky, it could be an item from the Continental Battlefield. No, I don’t think so.”
His mind began to wander as he became more thoughtful.
It is rare for someone to raid a line on a continental battlefield.
Because there will definitely be retaliation.
What kind of crazy person would touch the Continental Battlefield, let alone another top battlefield?
That’s not crazy, it’s just screaming to be killed.
“If it’s a continental battlefield, there’s no reason to hide the markings. If that’s the case, then this isn’t a continental battlefield.”
There is no sign on the carriage.
That part was suspicious to Dorian.
The upper part of the continental battlefield or the one related to the continental battlefield usually has a design of a box full of gold engraved on it.
But that’s not there?
“It could be a nameless merchant, or a secret procession moving to pay tribute to a noble.”
There is no one who does not know that the power structure of the Teslan Kingdom has been reorganized recently.
What this means is that bribery of all kinds is rampant, starting with those who want to stand in line.
That’s an aristocratic society, that’s the world.
Dorian thought that the procession of carriages seen by that newcomer, Junk, might have been part of the bribe.
Well, there was plenty of reason to find out.
“Did you know that the guards at the Bilton Estate have been replaced recently? So go into the ‘hole’ and catch a few of them. Don’t kill them. It’s suspicious. It’s highly likely that they’re not at the top of the continental battlefield, but I think it’s important to be sure.”
A few of the bandits who had heard it all nodded.
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Among them, a man who looked quite experienced asked.
“What would you do if it was a ‘top’ that had nothing to do with the continental battlefield?”
Dorian chuckled as if to say, “It’s obvious.”
“Many people call us bandits and thieves, so shouldn’t we be true to that name? We kill all the men and bring all the women back.”
Whee-!
Whistles rang out everywhere.
Dorian’s lower body swelled as if he was feeling good just thinking about it.
“And then they take all the money and burn it to erase all traces. So let’s see.”
Dorian’s smile deepened.
“This will either be a hit or a bust.”
