novelraw Chapter 47 : Bald Grandpa (3)
Chapter 47 : Bald Grandpa (3)
Bald Grandpa (3)
Aiden, having arrived at the 5th Fortress Paruzan, looked around and said,
"It's become a wreck."
Ruined facilities from the stampede filled the fortress here and there.
A small building that had once been used as a warehouse had half of it blown off, and what looked like the infirmary had a hole in its ceiling.
The outer wall, which Aiden had just passed through upon entering the fortress, had been repaired to some degree, but it looked like it would take a while to restore it to its former state.
One could see how desperate the stampede had been.
"How did you survive?"
Normally, if a stampede occurred, the entire fortress would have been wiped out.
The fact that it ended with the place only half-destroyed was nothing short of a miracle.
"Kelian."
Aiden addressed the commander of the fortress standing in front of him.
"No matter how skilled you are, it wouldn't be normal for you to be unscathed."
"You make it sound as if you want something to have happened to me."
"You've always said things like that."
The two exchanged brusque remarks with practiced ease. Tension that could have frozen the air hung between them.
"Instead of just standing here, why don't you come inside first?"
Kelian tried to usher his guest to his command office. But Aiden waved his hand, remaining where he was.
"There's no need to go inside just to have a chat."
"The inside is at least relatively tidy—why insist on staying somewhere filthy?"
"That's exactly why we should."
There were places to sit outside, but the only options were a moldy tree stump and a dilapidated box functioning as a chair.
Not exactly a welcoming spot for a guest, but the two commanders chose to remain outside regardless.
"Otherwise, my soldiers are bound to cause trouble."
The soldiers Aiden had brought with him kept glancing menacingly at those from Paruzan Fortress.
As was characteristic of the 7th Legion, their eyes had not a hint of goodwill.
One felt that the minute their leader left, they would go wild like unbridled colts.
"There's nothing good about getting into trouble when construction is already ongoing."
Aiden glanced over at the soldiers repairing the walls as he spoke, and Kelian accepted his reasoning.
"You have a point."
Finally, using the box as a makeshift chair in front of the tree stump, Kelian sat and asked him,
"So what business brings you here?"
"I've heard the rumors. Congratulations on surviving the stampede. Even making it out of that hellish disaster physically intact is a miracle among miracles."
"You didn't come all this way just to congratulate me, did you?"
Seeing that Kelian was right, Aiden curved his lips into a faint smile.
"For your fortress to have survived the stampede is truly impressive. If luck hadn't been on your side, the entire place would have been wiped out by the tidal waves of monsters. People outside are now speaking highly of your survival skills."
That was something Kelian himself had heard as well, and he nodded.
To be honest, when the stampede first broke out, Kelian had been quite nervous.
There was no guarantee he would survive either.
"We were lucky. If not for that, my body wouldn't have made it through unharmed, just as you say."
There's no need to pretend to be anything special.
Conveying this, Kelian was suddenly joined by a bird alighting on Aiden's shoulder.
"Frankly, if you were just lucky, your unscathed state does make sense. But that's only if your luck was extraordinary."
"What are you trying to say?"
Sensing something, Kelian glanced at the bird.
It was obvious this was no ordinary bird but a spirit; after all, weak animals like birds would quickly die, unable to adapt to the demon realm's environment.
"Actually, on my way here, I had a conversation with His Highness the Crown Prince. The fact that he sent such a communication medium himself is proof enough."
As the bird-shaped spirit spread its wings and emitted golden magical energy, Kelian furrowed his brow.
Not only were there traces of communication magic through the spirit, but such intricate magic could only be managed by the Imperial Court at this point.
"His Highness asked a very important favor of me."
"And what was that?"
This was a favor possible because Aiden and Kelian had entered the service around the same time.
Only the 7th Legion could go in and out of the demon realm.
"He wanted me to find out what benefits your fortress gained from this recent stampede."
"Benefits..."
Mulling over the word, Kelian glanced at the wall under construction.
Thanks to Ferus, the great magitech scholar, the wall was to be rebuilt even better.
"There are some."
So there were benefits—ones more important than walls.
"We survived."
We almost died, and getting my life back by sheer luck—that was a huge gain.
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"Ha..."
At Kelian's reply, which sounded as if he was genuinely curious, Aiden twisted his lips into a wry laugh.
"Let's be honest. You must have managed to subdue at least one higher-ranking monster."
At that, Kelian responded with a similar smirk.
"I hunted one, yes. But do you really think I'd leave the carcass lying around?"
Kelian was the only one in the fortress capable of single-handedly facing off against a higher-rank monster.
If he utilized the fortress's forces, subjugation wouldn't be impossible.
But the issue was with the monster's body.
"It's been used already?"
"See that newly built wall? It's made from that monster's bones."
"You're nuts. Surely some other party already had the rights to that carcass?"
The Bisted family.
By the original contract, the monster's remains were to be sent to them, not used for the fortress.
Paruzan got support from them during the stampede process, after all.
"Right now both His Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty the Emperor are furious because of this. You completely ignored a deal with Bisted, who is basically a friend of the Imperial Court—it's only natural."
"Looks like the Bisted family head ratted us out to the Imperial Court."
"Well, wouldn't it be odd if they weren't angry about a broken contract?"
Earning the anger of the imperial family was extremely dangerous.
Even though the demon realm was not easily accessible, there were countless ways to interfere—like Aiden's visit now.
"But I did not break the contract."
"What do you mean?"
As Aiden was not a contracting party, he couldn't have known. Kelian explained the details unknown to him.
"You know, resources collected by the 7th Legion cannot be sent outside at will. Only through a formal deal with a merchant seeking a trade."
Through sending monster corpses to such merchants, the 7th Legion gets the supplies they need in return. Even the rewards soldiers get are usually distributed in that way.
"In other words, if the merchants who came to trade don't say anything, we are free to use the corpses however we want."
"So, did no one come for a trade?"
Of course someone did. Support forces sent by Bisted. They were both reinforcements and trading partners.
"They were here, of course. They just refuse to go back to their main house and speak up to claim the corpse..."
"What?"
Aiden wondered what kind of nonsense this was.
In truth, the Crown Prince had ordered Aiden to investigate exactly what had happened to those people.
Although they were Bisted, they were an intelligence unit belonging to the Imperial Court.
"I don't know what tricks they've been up to...but the Crown Prince issued one more command."
From Aiden's perspective, he couldn't overlook Kelian's attitude either.
"You are to surrender all the monster carcasses gained from the stampede. And you will reveal the secret of your survival during the disaster."
Among the 7th Legion's majors, Aiden was famous for being pro-Imperial Court.
"So, they're planning to choke us to death."
Monster corpses were crucial trade goods for the 7th Legion.
Without them, they wouldn't receive any outside support.
Kelian saw through the Crown Prince's plan to cut off their supplies.
"Don't get reckless. You're in a disadvantageous spot right now. Rumor has it that guy Kadim is gone too, isn't he?"
Just as Aiden said, Paruzan Fortress's forces had been severely weakened.
If even a small skirmish broke out here, the already half-ruined fortress would be completely destroyed.
And not only their best fighter Kadim, but much of their key manpower was gone too.
"Are you trying to hunt a toothless tiger? That would only put you at a disadvantage, you know?"
It was common sense even for Aiden. Was there no solution to the 7th Legion's internal friction?
"That's why we're settling it in the 'arena'."
There was indeed a way. Bringing the soldiers along had been for this "arena".
****
"Arena?"
"Yes, I mean the arena."
Louis heard the familiar word from Kelian.
Arena—an in-game term for PVP content, it also referred in this world to duels among knights.
"So, those people came here to rip us off somehow, right?"
"The arena will be run as a three-on-three. I called you together to decide which soldiers will participate."
Louis, who had been helping Ferus, and his squad members listened to Kelian's explanation.
At the same time, Klein and Silia had also gathered to discuss the situation.
"I wondered why they suddenly dropped by—turns out they're here to bleed us dry."
"It's honestly the perfect timing. Since the fortress is so weakened, it would be weird not to take advantage."
Even Kadim's squad, known as the best unit, had been dismantled.
Even if they couldn't launch an all-out attack, the odds were clearly in their favor in the arena.
"But... what happened to your head?"
Silia paused mid-sentence, staring curiously at the lumps on Rio's head.
"The young master hit me."
"Why?"
In response, Silia glanced at Louis, who clicked his tongue and snapped at Rio.
"What, you wanted me to let the headmaster torture you instead of just hitting you?"
"But that grandpa really is bald."
"And you said that to his face?"
No matter how true, saying that right in front of the person would only make them angry.
In fact, Rio's inability to sense such things was Louis's responsibility.
"You call the officers 'big bro' and tease them, so why can't I do the same?"
"...."
Unable to retort, Louis brought the topic back to the main issue.
"Anyway, if we don't want our supplies taken away, we have to win in the arena."
"What happens if we lose?"
"No matter how many rewards you earn, you won't even get to eat any candy."
Silia answered Rozen's question, and the rest of the squad members were horrified.
There were things that couldn't be surrendered, no matter who gave the order—even if it was from the Crown Prince.
"So... why did you call us?"
Then Simon, one of the squad, asked, sensing something ominous. Louis dropped a hand on his shoulder.
"Why do you think?"
.
.
.
After about five minutes of discussion, Paruzan's side chose their first fighter.
They hadn't been allowed much time to think because the opposing team kept pressuring them.
"Kuahahaha! So it's true—Paruzan Fortress really is short on forces!"
A burly soldier from the enemy side snickered at Paruzan's chosen fighter.
The reactions of the soldiers surrounding the two dueling participants varied by affiliation.
The soldiers of the 4th Fortress, Kaliion's side, laughed like the one participating, while Paruzan's side collectively looked gloomy.
No wonder—
"Young master... young master!!"
The fighter representing Paruzan was a child, not even an adult yet.
"What are you doing, young master!! Why me...?!"
Simon, who was chosen first, desperately pleaded with Louis. But Louis told Simon,
"Don't worry. You'll win."
"How can you say something so absurd!!"
Simon looked at his opponent.
With a body of muscle and a great sword slung over his shoulder, the man was a war-hardened veteran by any standard.
Compared to this monster, Simon felt like an insect and, teary-eyed, shouted at Louis,
"You bastard!! Are you trying to get me killed here?!"
"...."
"You think the world is easy just because we call you 'young master'? I'm two years older than you!"
"...."
"Don't underestimate me!"
Louis just ignored Simon, pretending to meditate.
"Guys! Deputy-commander!"
Simon even looked to Silia and the other squad members for help.
"...."
"Why is nobody answering?!"
Amazingly, they all just looked away.
Had he truly been abandoned?
While Simon was stunned, Aiden's voice rang out: "Begin!"
At that, Simon yelled out quickly,
"Forfeit! I forfeit!"
He pleaded for his life, but the opposing soldier strode up and said,
"Kid, in the 7th Legion's arena battles, a soldier can't forfeit on their own. Unless your supervising officer personally calls a stop, the fight continues."
"... What?"
At this shocking fact, Simon went pale. They didn't even have a supervising officer.
"But don't worry. I don't enjoy playing with children. They break too easily—no fun at all. So I'll finish it quickly."
"You're not a big bro, more like an uncle...."
"What?"
The veins bulged on the arm of the soldier holding the great sword.
"I'm only 25!!"
"Kyaaa! I'm sorry, big bro! I was wrong!"
"Looks like I'll play with you after all!!"
With that one slip, the soldier flew into a rage and swung his sword.
Simon tried to recover, but it was too late—the great sword was only two centimeters from his shoulder.
"Kyaaah!!"
There was a slicing sound, and Simon's scream echoed out.
But strangely, his shoulder was intact, and at some point, Simon had drawn a dagger and stood behind the soldier.
"Huh?"
The soldier panicked as blood suddenly began to flow from his leg.
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