The Indomitable Martial King Chapter 10

“Okay, this should be enough.”

The village chief opens his eyes wide. Edward touched the old man’s chin and reveled in his generosity.

‘Well, where would these ignorant hillbillies ever find gold coins?’

His thoughts were half right and half wrong. It was definitely the village chief’s first time seeing gold coins. However, the expression on his face was not one of surprise and admiration for the gold coin.

“Hey, knight. This isn’t even enough to cover the cost of the meals the drivers ate… … .”

“What?”

For a moment, Edward’s eyes widened.

‘No, this lowly thing is trying to bargain with the knight now?’

I was so outraged that I became angry.

Originally, this slash-and-burn village was a rural area of ​​the countryside that was not even officially included in the territory, so there was no legal problem at all if a knight killed and plundered the villagers without saying a word. Since they abandoned the protection of their lord and ran away, the laws of Basil’s kingdom do not protect them.

I showed mercy to those things, but they dare to bargain with me?

“Yes you bastard! Do you think that I am a nobleman and do not even know the market price?”

The food he gathered in this village was of extremely poor quality and was not worth a hundred pieces of silver at most. He was truly showing mercy for just one gold coin.

“Yeah, well, what is that?”

Edward was convinced as he looked at the confused old man. It was clear that this dirty old man had a mean intention of ripping off brilliant knights like themselves. How dare you try to rip off a nobleman from a lowly class?

“Are you trying to make fun of the knight?”

Edward got angry and hit the old man. Well, it wasn’t a hard hit. Even if they were foolish villagers like this, they were definitely citizens of Vasily’s kingdom, so they couldn’t be killed. All you need is a light understanding of the topic.

“Egggugugugu!”

With a scream, the old man fell, covering his face. Fresh blood flowed out between his wrinkled fingers.

“Chief!”

“Oh my, Chief!”

The villagers who were away hurriedly helped the old man. Amid the commotion, a handsome young man in his late 20s walked out of the hall.

“What’s going on, Sir Edward?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, Prince Stephen.”

When the young man came out, Sir Edward was startled and bowed his head politely.

This young man, Stephen von Lepanto Altion, the second son of Marquis Altion and the title of Viscount Lepanto, was someone he had to serve as a nobleman, and was his superior as a knight. Even at a young age, this young man possessed amazing swordsmanship and even earned the title of ‘Knight of the Resolute.’ He was already one of the ten strongest men in Vasily’s kingdom.

Edward bowed his head and said politely.

“No, if you give some money to lowly people, won’t there be an uproar that it’s not enough?”

“How much did you give?”

Stephen was puzzled. The Sir Edward he knew was a generous knight and would never have been stingy with his gratuities.

“I felt sorry for the people living hard in the mountains and gave them a gold coin.”

“huh? “Isn’t that enough?”

Wise Stephen soon grasped the situation. After listening to it, I was really offended. A look of anger also appeared on the young man’s face.

“Huh, with the amount we took, there would be enough left over with just one gold coin. These are truly vile things.”

Stephen shook his head. And he comforted his subordinate knight who did not receive gratitude even though he showed mercy.

“This is why you should not carelessly show mercy to lowly things. “Because you’re trying to climb without even knowing the subject.”

“What you said, Confucius, is right. “I made a big mistake.”

The old man shed tears as he watched the two knights talking calmly.

no! Don’t you calculate transportation and labor costs? In the city where you live, one gold coin would have been enough for this, but here food costs more than twenty times that! Plus, it’s the middle of winter, so you have to risk your life to go through a blizzard to buy food!

But the village chief could not protest. How can I speak when I have been hit by a thick steel gauntlet and my few remaining teeth have been knocked out and bleeding profusely?

In the end, the villagers took the village chief away, crying, after he fainted. After looking at the back with indifferent eyes, Stephen entered the hall again.

The only furniture placed in the empty hall, which was roughly made of logs, was an ugly bed, table, and chair. It was all very shabby because it was all imported from this village. Stephen frowned. Compared to his bedroom in the royal capital, this is no different from a warehouse.

‘But a true knight can sleep even in muddy water.’

Ah, to be able to sleep even in a pile of trash like this! Stephen was proud. I was proud of myself for becoming a true knight. I completely ignored the fact that the people of this village always lived in a place like this.

Inside the hall, a man in his mid-30s wearing a robe was meditating. Stephen called him.

“Wizard Toad.”

The man opened his eyes and quickly bowed his head.

“Yes, Confucius.”

“Are the ruins still located?”

“Please wait a moment. Because the mountain terrain is rugged and it is winter, the mana air currents are uneven… … .”

Stevan sighed, looking at Todd who was embarrassed.

“Please find me quickly.”

“Yes, Confucius.”

After scolding the wizard once more, he walked to the window. I lean against the window frame and gaze out at the snow-covered mountains and fields.

“This must be the right place, right?”

“I’m sure, Confucius.”

Sir Edward, who had already approached me, answered in a confident tone.

“This is where the great swordsman, Sir Claude von Leotas Altion, is buried.”

☆ ☆ ☆

On the third day after leaving Krom City, Reppenhardt was walking along the main road with a small backpack on his back.

Snow-covered fields spread out to the left and right, and the occasionally visible trees have bare branches. Perhaps because it was the middle of winter, no one else was visible on this central road that runs across Basil’s kingdom in the shape of a cross. No matter how experienced the peddlers were, there were many cases where they died on the road during a snowstorm in winter, so few travelers dared to walk the road during this season.

But Leffenhardt didn’t care at all.

“This crazy body has amazing physical strength.”

Even if you don’t care, the outfit is pretty decent. He looked like an exemplary traveler walking on a winter road, wearing a thick fur coat and a scarf.

In fact, for his current body, this level of cold was no different from a breeze, so there was no need to wear clothes prepared for the cold. But how eye-catching will he be if he walks around in the middle of winter with his shirt winded? It is said that previous kings of power walked around shirtless even in the middle of winter to show off their muscular beauty, but Leppenhardt, who prided himself on having some humanity left, did not want to stand out as much as possible.

“Still, it’s a bit of a waste to pay for the coat.”

I paid ten pieces of silver for the clothes and bought various items needed for the trip, and now the travel expenses I received from Gerard were less than half.

“But now you can make money quickly.”

Leffenhardt laughed heartily. In his previous life, when he was young, he traveled around the continent and made a name for himself as a relic explorer. And that information is stored intact in memory.

In other words, he has all information on all newly discovered ruins within the next 30 years. We also know what items are found in those ruins! In short, you can only go around and pick out the ruins that are worth the money!

‘Anyway, this is quite a coincidence.’

Scratching his cheek, Reppenhardt recalled a memory from the past.

This happened when I was a child learning magic at the Magic Tower in Delphia. There was a wizard named Tod who belonged to the Magic Tower and specialized in exploring ruins. He was very fond of young Reppenhardt, and every time he returned to the Magic Tower, he told him about his adventures, including a story about the ruins near the Hattan Mountains that he explored with Marquis Altion.

‘That date coincides exactly with my descent date.’

It is currently the 14th of the month of Ice and Wind, so Todd would have been staying in a mountain village near the Hatan Mountains. Since it happened so long ago, it was difficult to remember the exact date, but as long as he has the rare secret technique ‘Artificial Magic Light’, Reppenhardt can accurately recall and confirm past events at any time.

‘Of course, after hearing Todd’s story and getting older, I went on an expedition myself. hmm.’

Most ancient ruins have complex topography, so even if they have already been explored, there is a high possibility that some parts will be missed. The same was true for the ruins of the Hatan Mountains, and I remembered making quite a lot of money by taking the ‘real’ underground artifacts that Todd and his party had missed.

“I sold everything I got and made over 2,000 gold coins, so it was a pretty good relic, hehehe.”

So Leffenhardt deliberately took this route.

Even though the descent was delayed and Todd and his party had already cleared the ruins, there was no problem. The underground ruins would have been unexplored anyway. Even if that’s not the case, you can just go to other ruins. On the road to the Principality of Chatan, there were four more expensive(?) ruins that had not been excavated only in Reppenhardt’s memory. Even if the timing wasn’t right, making money was no problem at all.

The only reason I’m trying to get involved in Todd’s past is… … .

‘I should take this opportunity to find out about the state of my body in this era.’

Todd was quite close to himself when he was younger, so he would have a good understanding of Reppenhardt of this era. When you meet him, you can expect some information from him.

I continued walking, making plans for the future in my head. Slowly, the appearance of pure white mountain ranges began to appear beyond the horizon. It was the snow-covered Hatan Mountains.

“I can finally see my destination.”

Leffenhardt increased his movement speed. And then he launched himself into the air. With his incredible leaping power, he crossed the road in an instant and began running furiously towards the Hattan Mountains.

An hour later, Reppenhardt was looking at the small mountain village from a hill, without breaking a sweat. It took only 30 minutes to cross the Hattan Mountains, which are far from the road, and about 30 minutes to climb the rugged mountains to Cattle Village. Even if you ride a horse, you won’t be able to get there this fast. It was a movement speed he could not have imagined when he was a wizard.

Gently, ever so slightly, thanking Gerard, Reppenhardt looked around the village.

“It’s just like I remember.”

Cattle Village was the same as ever. It was still a shabby, still shabby little mountain village. If things had gone as planned, I would have had to wait 20 years before I came here, but there is almost no difference between what I remember then and what I saw now. It really is a village.

There is a poor wooden fence surrounding the village to prevent attacks by wild animals. There are about 20 log cabins inside and a large hall is built in the middle. He concentrated for a moment, glaring at the hall.

“Lal Tara Sakita Bon. The hawk’s eyes roam the sky. Double Watcher.”

By using Double Watcher, a 1st circle far-sighted spell that doubles the field of vision, I was able to see the scene within the hall quite close up. If I had used a higher circle spell, I would have been able to see into the inside of the hall, but I couldn’t reach that level yet. Instead, Reppenhardt sensed his presence in that state.

‘Two human men with the spirit of warriors, and two ordinary men. One is a boy. And there are three orcs. Are you a slave? And there was a sign of a woman, and I could feel her unique light steps, so it was an elf woman. Is this guy also taking Slayer with him?’

A female swordsman who is both beautiful and strong in battle has long been one of men’s dreams. However, in the case of human women, once they become high-level warriors, it becomes difficult to tell whether they are male or female. However, the case of elves is different. Regardless of whether a person is a man or a woman, even if he or she becomes a decent warrior, he or she maintains a handsome and pretty appearance by human standards.

The law of the world is that if there is demand, there will be supply. Slaves began to select talented elves, specially train them in combat, and sell them.

That was ‘Slayer’.

A beautiful female swordsman elf can be used as a sex slave at night and as an escort during the day, so it has high utility and above all, satisfies men’s fantasies! As a result, it was popular for high-ranking nobles to have at least one slayer.

‘Well, since they’re from a marquis family, they probably have a dedicated slayer with them.’

He continued to look around the village. The distance between the Cattle villages was approximately 300 to 400 meters, and at this level, no matter how sensitive his senses were, he could not sense their presence. And the current magic is also at a rudimentary level, so it doesn’t reach that far. However, the combination of the martial artist’s unique senses and magic resulted in an intermediate-level or higher-level long-distance spell effect.

‘There are five more people in each house with the spirit of warriors. ‘It’s just as I heard.’

As expected, Marquis Altion was staying in Cattle Village. Reppenhardt smoothed his chin. If he just wants to make money, he can either outrun them and head to the ruins first, or wait for them to leave and go later, but he needs to get information from Todd now. However, if a stranger suddenly appears and says, ‘Please join me in your group,’ you will only be treated like a crazy person. I need an excuse.

And he had already thought of an excuse.

‘Let’s see… … .’

Leffenhardt looked away. There was a rather large log cabin on the outskirts of the village, and I could feel a lot of villagers gathered there. There was a strong feeling of embarrassment and anger. A smile appeared on his lips.

☆ ☆ ☆

Currently, about a dozen villagers were gathered at the cabin of Ted, the best hunter in Cattle Village, raising their voices.

“Maybe it’s a good thing now?”

Everyone had a deep look on their faces. The marquis who had taken over the village, known as Altion, had taken away food and supplies, beaten up the village chief, and had made excessive demands again.

“The Valley of Death is a place you should never approach… … .”

About half a day away from Cattle Village, there is a forbidden valley called ‘Valley of Death’. Although it is truly a cliché place name, one cannot expect much from a name given by villagers. In any case, people were dying as soon as they went nearby, so the unwritten rule of not going near Cattle Village had been firmly entrenched for several generations.

However, those knights requested to send a mountain man to guide the way there. It’s a good thing to say, it’s not a request, it’s just an order. Of course, the villagers cried and said it would never be done, but… … .

“Didn’t they tell you to provide a guide? “Is it because you don’t know what will happen if you refuse?”

A middle-aged man with half his face bruised and screaming touched his eyelids. She went to the village representative and cried, showing signs of being beaten.

“The village chief also ended up like that… … .”

“Eye, dirty nobles.”

“Watch your mouth! “Don’t you know what will happen if they come in?”

“Ugh!”

The villagers looked at each other and sighed. It was sad and sad again. He is a dirty bastard who was chased here because he has no strength, and even here he has no strength and ends up like this.

A gloomy atmosphere filled the cabin. After a while, Hana, a fairly strong adult, opened her mouth with a determined look on her face.

“I, I will come back.”