novelraw Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105
While the Special Mission Unit was in training.
Every day, hundreds of people knocked on Moner’s gates.
It wasn't just merchant guilds and mercenary groups that moved seeking profit at the news that Moner was facing a large-scale battle.
Dageudak, dageudak, dageudak.
As more people visited Moner to support the fortress, Lier provided free carriages from Lier to Central Hold every hour.
And Gates, a famous hoodlum boss from Obsol, was moving to Central Hold with his subordinates.
“Kyaak, ptui!”
From nearby petty thieves to groups of hoodlums. Groups active in the back alleys also saw Moner’s war as an opportunity.
“Big brother, will it really be okay?”
“Are you saying that again?”
Gates said to his subordinate with an irritated voice.
“You heard that Moner has been taking beggars away since a few months ago, right?”
“Yes, that… I heard the Young Lord is conducting human experiments for dark magic…….”
“Human experiments my ass, you moron, if that were true, would the Holy Nation stay still? Moner taking beggars is because they lack people, people.”
As expected of a gangster wandering the backstreets of Obsol, Gates was quick-witted, and his judgments were mostly accurate.
“They lack soldiers so much they even take beggars to raise them. Then what will happen if we go now?”
“Hmm… It will be hard?”
“Erai, idiot. Once this war ends, we can also wash our hands and live like humans, like humans.”
At those words, the subordinate muttered with a completely dispirited voice.
“Soldier training will be tough though…….”
“Don't worry. Do you think beggars can swing a sword properly just because they are given one? For us, it will probably be training we can receive even with our eyes closed.”
Saying so, Gates’s gaze scanned the other people riding the carriage.
‘Merchants, ronin, hunters? A peculiar combination. That man sitting in the corner is…….’
Gates, frowning, quietly called his subordinates together.
“From now on, don't say anything and just breathe.”
“Yes? Big brother, what does that mean?”
“Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
Suddenly, Gates’s gaze landed on the man sitting in the corner.
‘A knight.’
Gates, whose dream as a child was to be a knight and who was actually lucky enough to have lived as a squire, was certain.
That the man sitting in the corner was a knight of extraordinary skill.
And for a knight to ride such a carriage hiding his identity meant he was either seriously crazy or a criminal who committed a heinous crime that couldn't be covered up even with a knighthood.
“Shut up, and just meditate.”
Gates sincerely prayed that they could arrive safely at Central Hold.
* * *
“You can walk from here.”
Before the carriage even stopped, Gates quickly jumped off with his subordinates.
“Big brother, big brother!”
“Be quiet and follow me.”
Every time he met eyes with the man in the carriage, he felt as if insects were crawling all over his body.
Trembling at the still vivid displeasure, Gates didn't even stop by an inn and headed straight to the recruitment center he had checked in advance.
He thought that once the camp training started, no matter what crap that guy pulled in the city, he and his subordinates would be safe.
“…Fuck.”
He thought so until he encountered the man who had drawn his sword at the recruitment center.
“Big brother, the atmosphere over there isn't good at all?”
The man who drew his sword was thrusting it at a woman who looked like an employee of the recruitment center and saying something.
“Does it look like that? Why, maybe that woman asked him to put the sword to her neck.”
“Ah… Big brother, was that your taste?”
Growling at the subordinate’s face that seemed to finally understand, saying he would tear his mouth if he wagged his tongue one more time, he ordered his subordinates to go call the guards immediately.
And to grasp the situation, he approached the recruitment center and asked a man behind him.
“Excuse me, what is all that about?”
“I don't know. It seems that woman said she couldn't hire the man…….”
At those words, Gates’s face hardened.
“What? I heard there were no restrictions for this recruitment.”
“Isn't everything nobles do like that? There must have been conditions they didn't tell us.”
Only then was Gates’s question resolved, and he cursed inwardly.
Because the only reason Moner, desperate for even one soldier, would reject a knight would be past conduct.
Since that knight wouldn't have boasted about the crimes he committed, it was certain there was an artifact that could identify criminals.
‘Damn it! I finally saw a way!’
If Moner sees the past, it’s obvious as fire that he would be rejected just like the knight.
Gates, cursing continuously inwardly, approached the man.
Because if that knight decided to, killing everyone here would be nothing.
“Aigoo, Sir! Aren't you the Sir I saw in the carriage earlier!”
At his uniquely loud and thick voice, people's gazes gathered in an instant.
“I wanted to greet you since earlier, it’s truly an honor to meet you again here!”
Slowly, pretending to be a harmless and worthless animal, he moved his steps.
“By the way, why the sword on this fine day…….”
He was already close enough to touch the sword if he reached out, and he looked at the woman sitting at the reception desk.
‘Who is that bastard to be sitting like that?’
To be precise, at the man yawning with his mouth wide open.
‘That, that bastard I could chew up but…….’
Sitting in the recruitment center, that guy must also be an official working for the Duchy.
Born as a man, instead of helping a lady holding her breath in front of a sword, what on earth is he doing!
Just as he was about to shout in indignation.
Rick, who had his eyes closed while yawning, discovered Gates.
“Uh? Pass!”
* * *
“What?”
Although the knight holding the sword spoke in a chilling voice, Rick spoke without even looking at the knight.
“Ah, I wasn't talking to you. By the way, if you aren't going to swing it, put the sword away. What are you doing in a place with so many people… Tsk.”
“…You must find me funny.”
Blue mana gathered on the sword held by the knight.
“Do you still find it funny?”
The knight, smiling satisfactorily at the fully established sword qi, asked Rick again, but Rick still had no interest in the knight.
“Hey mister over there, you have nowhere to go later, right? Just wait for a moment.”
Then he spoke to the woman trembling beside him.
“Hihihi, Miss Lina, we clearly promised. If that knight swings, I’m getting off work.”
“…Yes.”
Lina answered, distorting her beautiful face with anger.
“It seems both of you want to die.”
Even at the knight’s cold eyes, the two reacted nonchalantly.
“…If you return now, I’ll let it slide once, so just go back.”
“Let it slide?”
Gates, watching the situation, couldn't understand the conversation happening before his eyes at all.
What was certain was that the two had touched the knight’s pride.
“Aigoo, Sir! It seems the Sir misheard the request to endure just once!”
He shouted as if vomiting and thrust his body in front of the sword.
Although he heard the man’s curt voice from behind telling him not to do useless things and wait, he couldn't watch a woman die before his eyes.
Never again.
“Sir, you have nowhere to go in Moner, is it right to cause trouble on the day you arrived like this?”
“…It is not for the likes of you to care.”
“Aigoo, of course, absolutely. I’m just saying out of worry. With skills of your level, Sir, you could even join the Royal Guard, so wouldn't it be a waste of time here?”
Cold sweat flowed like rain down Gates’s back as he spoke.
Raising his voice in front of a knight was already a capital offense.
“…Woman, you choose. If you hire me, I will forget the rudeness just now.”
Gates prayed continuously inwardly.
That this beautiful woman would please be a human with common sense.
Just say she hires him now, and it would be enough to mobilize the knight order to catch him later.
For now…….
“I apologize.”
“Strange. I clearly heard you requested support from the Kingdom because you lacked troops…….”
“That is correct, but we do not accept double contracts.”
Simultaneously with those words, the moment the knight was about to swing his sword with a hardened face.
Lina, who appeared in front of his eyes at some point, thrust a dagger at his neck and said.
“Let’s stop here.”
“…….”
“Letting it slide, this is the last time.”
At that cold voice, Gates standing next to her trembled.
When the knight sheathed his sword without a word, Lina sat back down as if nothing had happened.
“Assa! Then I’m getting off work first!”
“…Rick, that gentleman didn't swing his sword, though.”
At that shameless face, Rick blushed and shouted at the top of his lungs, but Lina didn't care a bit and spoke in a calm voice.
“Next.”
* * *
“Ah… O, I am Gates of Obsol.”
As he rubbed his sweat-soaked hands on his pants and started speaking, Rick spoke with a teary voice.
“…Pass.”
“You have passed.”
Rendering his expectations and worries meaningless, that was it.
When he signed a simple document, Lina smiled and welcomed him to the Moner family.
“…Kkeuheup.”
The moment he was about to show tears at the surging emotional turmoil, Rick, who was looking at the two with a very sullen expression from the side, continued speaking like a rapid-fire gun.
“We decline melodrama, so cry later, later. Ah, this is the last batch, so training time is short. It will be that much harder, so cheer up. Since there are no places during the training period, go to this inn and show the contract, and they will give you a room. Don't worry about the cost.”
Rick, catching his breath for a moment, said with a serious expression.
“Lastly, absolutely, no matter what happens, do not fight with the residents. Even if something unpleasant happens, endure it.”
“Ah, I am absolutely not the kind of person who touches civilians……!”
“No, not you, the residents here are such people, so I’m telling you to endure.”
As Gates tilted his head, Rick offered serious advice once again.
“What was it? The ownerless flower garden? There are many humans who came hearing that strange rumor, so everyone is sensitive. So don't even talk to the residents. Ah, if there is someone you like, try kneeling at least, that seemed to work.”
Rick, letting out a self-deprecating laugh saying good times are all gone, urged Gates.
“Ah, go now! Don't you see the line backed up over there?!”
* * *
Rick, glancing at Gates leaving with a blank face, said to Lina.
“Why did you tell that knight earlier to draw his sword?”
“…Because there was something I needed to check.”
That knight was a human filled with malice, but he wasn't crazy enough to draw a sword in the middle of Moner.
He drew the sword because Lina demanded he prove his skill.
“…But why didn't you kill him?”
“Because there are many watching eyes.”
Nodding his head, Rick realized that the knight wouldn't survive past tonight.
The Black Noble Troop must be sticking behind him, checking everyone he converses with.
“…Where do you think he was sent from?”
“His aura was similar to the guy sent by the Royal Family last time.”
“…From the Royal Family?”
“The Royal Family doesn't really like Moner.”
Rick, watching her speaking in a calm voice for a long time, said as if sighing.
“…It’s difficult. We just want to protect it.”
Lina nodded.
“I’ll say it again, really thank you. If it weren't for Rick, we would have never been able to filter him out.”
Rick, who judges good and evil, excelled in everything involving people.
Just by being together, he could filter out people with malice.
“It’s all because the boss made me do it, forcibly. Well. But why are you suddenly looking for spies?”
At Rick’s question, Lina answered with a bitter smile.
“Because Moner seen from outside and Moner seen from inside are different. Outside, they believe Moner is an impregnable fortress where not even a needle can enter.”
Moner seen from outside is a great family protecting the Demonic Beast Forest, but Moner seen from inside is different.
A deformed city where all troops were moved to the fortress, leaving only back-alley hoodlums and women.
The judgment of the leadership was that if it’s revealed there are no garrison troops in Central Hold and Lier, they don't know how the Kingdom will react.
‘In the worst case, they might forcibly occupy Central Hold.’
So until the Black Noble Troop leaves, they had to clearly show that Moner is stronger than thought.
So that absolutely no other thoughts occur.