Episode 103
This was thanks to the Golem prosthetic limbs that were much stronger than normal legs.
‘Survive.’
I raised my aura. The energy that could be called power was pumped from my danjeon and transferred to my right arm. Thanks to the energy remaining in my veins, I was able to control the aura concentrated on my right arm.
Ambrod’s eyes widened.
He saw straight away that something was wrong.
‘Yeah, that’s it. Trust your instincts!’
Ambrod tried to take a defensive stance, but my sword swung before he could.
Ambrod’s eyes were filled with the afterimages of three swords. He faced three swords, one of which was fake.
A sword swung diagonally, drawing a curve, another sword shot straight up, and another one aimed at a single point. Three different trajectories were pressing down on Ambrod. Even if he had been alert and blocked one, he would have been hit by another.
Kaaaaah!
Ambrod blocked the diagonal swing of his sword.
‘Good decision.’
It was a black fiction that rose up as if it was going to cut Ambrod in two. It only made Ambrod’s hair stand on end, but it had no physical force whatsoever.
The sword, thrust forward with the intent of piercing through his body, grazed Ambrod’s side. It only grazed lightly, but the sword was imbued with an aura. It tore through Ambrod’s side like a saw blade. It tore through his armor and burst his flesh. Fortunately, it did not damage his bones.
“Crunch!”
Ambrod stepped back, panting heavily. He looked as if he had encountered a ghost, not sure what he had seen.
“Do you still have time?”
It was a reference to the operating time of the Golem’s prosthetic limb. Ambrod, who had become pale, nodded slightly. We faced each other again with our swords.
‘It’s still lacking. I used up too much aura to create the illusion. And the accuracy is low.’
After that, Ambrod’s movements became somewhat dull. It wasn’t because of his wounds. It was because he was wary that I might unleash my phantom sword again.
“hungry.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Ambrod put away his sword. His face looked much more relieved. The magic stone attached to his right leg had become cloudy. It meant that all of his magic power had been exhausted.
Ambrod was also very tired from having to force himself to operate the unfamiliar golem limb.
“Variyan, I need to increase the usage time. You may use the magic stones as much as you want.”
“Choo, choong!”
Baryan, who had been absent-minded, replied.
I patted his shoulder. He really must have been a great technician. No matter how much knowledge I had, I would never have dreamed of a golem prosthesis without Varyan.
“Ambrod, use the magic stones as much as you want during your training. As you become stronger, Hebron’s defense will also become stronger.”
“insect!”
‘I didn’t know that the Golem prosthetic limb would perform to this degree. But I can’t be satisfied with this. I need to improve it a bit more.’
Ambrod followed me after replacing the magic stone on the prosthetic leg. If it wasn’t for a show, the golem prosthetic leg could move without relying on the magic stone. It did so by draining the wearer’s aura, but Ambrod could handle everyday walking.
“Tahap! Tahat! Hap!”
A roar of excitement erupted from the outside training grounds. The soldiers must have sensed my approach, because they were screaming at the top of their lungs.
“The formal training has already been completed.”
I nodded at Ambrod’s words. I could guess the condition of the soldiers even without having to check their skills one by one.
Hebron’s army moved in perfect order, in perfect order. They were incomparable to the rabble. Even if they were knights, they would be in big trouble if they were ignored as mere soldiers.
‘I need to make up for my lack of skills with artifacts, but I’m starting to reach my limit.’
The blacksmith ordered that the weapons be of a level higher than that of the regular army of the baron, even if it was not at the level of Charion. The poor noble families were forced to prepare even the weapons of the regular army with their own money, and this was used to reduce their salaries. However, all the weapons of Hebron were paid for directly by the lord.
There was a limit to how much money could be made by selling magic stones. Rumors were circulating that Hebron was consuming more magic stones, so those who were quick to calculate would start sniffing around.
‘I guess I should be promoted to count soon.’
To do this, three things were needed: territory, military power, and reputation. Hebron was ambiguous in all three. Of the three, it had the best military power, and its reputation and relationship with the royal family gradually improved, but it was woefully lacking in territory.
While I was pondering for a moment, I arrived at the garden. There was a table set up in the middle, and various foods were placed on it. However, there was only one kind of meat, and the rest were all vegetables.
But all of those vegetables were specialties of Hebron.
“This herb is very special. If you chew it thoroughly, it tastes like meat.”
“It’s good for your health, so eat a lot. I’ll pack some for you, so tell your wife about it too.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
Ambrod liked the nightshade that was spread all over the place. It tasted good when mixed with salt and oil. Considering the food culture of Zeno, which at best ate mushrooms, the vegetarian food of Hebron was rather splendid.
While sending the newly written book to each district of Hebron, he also regularly published some of the contents in
However, taxes were levied at a harsh level, so the people of Yeongji were likely to starve to death.
‘If you want to survive, you have to dig up grass and eat it. No, grass gets tastier if you keep eating it. So eat it and survive… … and pay taxes. If you’re going to do it, pay a lot.’
Some lords scoffed when they read
However, the vegetarian culture that began to spread around the herbalist and his family began to take root in the lands around Hebron. Even if the crops were ruined or the livestock was lost to monsters, they could survive by digging up grass.
Ambrod asked his servant to prepare some vegetables to see if they suited his taste.
I said, watching Ambrod’s dishes being cleared away.
“There will be war soon.”
“I heard that the appearances of branded monsters have decreased.”
“I don’t know when, but they will come back. But the war I’m talking about is not about them.”
“then……?”
Ambrod had no sense. He and other country-born people have narrow vision. Louis de Hebron was no different. If it had not been for Breyot’s memory, I would not have been able to make a nationally just judgment.
“How much do you know about the situation on the continent?”
“I know that it is a neighboring country to Kyle. I heard that there is the Kingdom of Behol beyond Kyle, and that there are Baron and Marcia next to it. I also heard that there are small countries on the western end.”
The Kingdom of Zenon was located in the eastern part of the continent. It was relatively peaceful, with only one neighboring kingdom, Kyle.
Ambrod continued.
“I have heard that no great power has settled beyond the southern wastelands since the Kingdom of Antaria. Oh, and I have also heard that there is a monster kingdom called Behemoth beyond the eastern sea of the continent.”
The western and northern borders of the Kingdom of Zenon are adjacent to Kyle. The eastern border is the sea, and the southern border is a wasteland. Across from Kyle is the Kingdom of Behol. The national power of the three kingdoms is similar, but Zenon’s military power is weaker than that of Kyle and Behol.
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Very few people knew about Zeno’s external situation. The people of the territory were indifferent to matters outside the territory. Even the nobles only heard news from the surrounding territory.
Hebron ran its own intelligence group. It made agreements with several other groups, centered around the Serpens Group, and gathered information from all over Zenon. Some of it was foreign information, and through Gaius, it was possible to determine the truth of the rumors.
“With the branded monsters running wild, Kyle is in shambles. While Behol was drooling over Kyle, something appeared in the Kyle castle.”
“Are you a monster?”
“A true vampire.”
Not all monsters are the same. Some were classified as top predators. Among them, true-blooded vampires were the highest class.
Unlike other monsters, the True Blood Vampires do not act alone. They are known to have intelligence superior to that of humans, and to seduce or hypnotize humans into becoming their subordinates.
There is a theory that the True Blood Vampire is the ruler of the Demon Realm, but this has not been confirmed. The only way to deal with the True Blood Vampire is to hunt it before it settles down.
It was known that the Royal Knights, Royal Magicians, and even the entire religious order had to be mobilized to hunt them down, but the Kingdom of Kyle was initially inadequate in its response. No one noticed until the True Blood Vampire turned Kyle’s queen into a vampire and enslaved her.
“The Kyle castle was taken over by that bastard, and the royal bloodline was ruled by vampires. I heard that Duke Darun is uniting the nobles to fight against the vampires. The Kingdom of Behol will probably wait until they fight before moving their army to attack Kyle.”
“Is the Kingdom of Kyle falling?”
“That’s not a problem. Kyle also acts as a breakwater to block the Kingdom of Behol. In any case, it’s clear that this is not a good situation for us. The Kingdom of Behol has maintained its military power intact, so it’s obvious that after they swallow up Kyle, they’ll target Zenon.”
“War… … This is it.”
“Yes, it is war. However, war is always waged in another country. King Zenon is well aware of this fact, and Zenon’s army will soon enter the Kingdom of Kyle. We cannot move first, and we must first seek help from Duke Darun or the Kyle royal family. I heard that the army led by Kyle’s Sword Master Calix is planning to attack the True Blood Vampires.”
If only the True Blood Vampires were dealt with, Zenon’s army could stir up trouble throughout the Kingdom of Kyle under the pretext of subduing the branded monsters. Even if they couldn’t take away Kyle’s territory, it was clear that they would gain a corresponding benefit.
“Is the Kingdom of Kyle disappearing?”
“It will happen eventually. Even if you try to hold out, it will be difficult to last more than half a century.”
The Kyle royal family had become a figurehead, and there were rumors that Duke Darun would soon establish the ‘Kingdom of Darun’. It was only a matter of changing the name of the kingdom, but it was clear that the process would not be smooth. In any country, there were bound to be nobles who resisted for reasons of ‘loyalty’ and ‘chivalry’. This was also the reason Duke Darun could not announce his ascension to the throne.
The Zenon royal family anticipated Kyle’s civil war and Behol’s invasion. This was possible thanks to Haryan, the god of love and sacrifice, who prevented the emergence of branded monsters.
The world’s kingdoms sharpened their swords to counter the branded monsters, but with their targets gone, they turned their swords against each other.
“Are we going on an expedition too?”
“It will be two months at the shortest, or half a year at the longest. Kyle’s season is different from Xenon’s. After the harsh winter passes, we plan to try our best to participate.”
“I will prepare.”
I nodded and said.
“It is highly unlikely that a single Viscount’s army will be the main force of the expedition. Furthermore, the Viscount Hebron is a pro-royalist. It is likely that this expedition will be composed primarily of nobles and the Pope.”
It was also something I discussed with Gaius.
If I were King Zeno, I would have taken this opportunity to weaken the military power of the nobles and the papists. The justification was sufficient.
