novelraw Chapter 76: Are you our true Lord?
Chapter 76: Are you our true Lord?
"Ah... finally, out of that cursed forest! Aah... hahaha!"
A bitter, weary laugh echoed along the muddy road, and its owner was someone Ethan knew well.
Ulric, father of Alaric, the former captain of the Goldenveil Guard.
"Ah... if that damn brat hadn’t failed... so many years invested in raising a child, only for him to be a goddamn good-for-nothing." Ulric growled, kicking the wet ground hard.
With a dejected look, he turned and stared at the forest behind him.
It had been ten years since he had left the kingdom of Burning Ice to join a Darkwall family expedition, with the goal of establishing a settlement in that wretched place.
It had once been a great city, with over three thousand inhabitants, and he wanted, one day, to revive that glory under his own rule.
But that damned Golden Lord had ruined everything, and even his master had stopped answering him.
"What a miserable excuse for a life." Ulric growled, before continuing on his way.
After walking for a few more hours, he finally arrived at a small border town with a population of just over ten thousand souls.
Strangely, as he walked through the streets, he couldn’t help but notice that the actual population seemed far larger than that.
The streets were completely packed with adventurers.
"Where did all these adventurers come from?" he wondered, watching those strange young people running back and forth, haggling with vendors, and carrying out tasks.
Some were even hauling the corpses of mana beasts toward the adventurers’ guild, where rewards awaited them for their kills.
None of that was unusual in itself.
This was a city on the border with the Eternal Forest, near the Golden Sea Kingdom, separated from the Burning Ice Kingdom by the Solene River, and it often clashed with neighboring powers over control of those waterways.
Because of this position, the city of Crowden had always attracted adventurers and mercenaries, but never in such numbers.
"Ah... ten years have passed and so much has changed..." The old man murmured with a touch of melancholy, stroking his long white beard.
He took a step forward, mentally counting the gold coins in his pocket to ensure a decent meal.
"Oh... this NPC is really ugly... I wonder if he has a quest for us?" A voice rang out beside him, sweet and serene.
Ulric froze.
He turned slowly, and his eyes met those of three young, beautiful, and lively women.
Only the one in the middle kept her face hidden beneath a closed helmet, though he could make out her dark eyes and the delicate pale skin of her exposed chin.
It was she who had called him an ugly NPC.
What the hell even is an NPC?
Whatever that meant, those brats were going to pay for it.
The girls visibly shuddered at the murderous intent radiating off the old man.
"Do something! You’re the one who provoked the ugly old man!" The mage among them said, quickly ducking behind the knight in the closed helmet.
"Y-yeah, he’s really going to kill us! I don’t want to take an XP penalty again! And we still have to help that bastard Erick gather an army of NPCs for that quest in the Eternal Forest!
If we break our promise, that crazy Tryhard is going to be furious!"
"You’re the one who promised! I just wanted to go hunt wolves, not raid a settlement with him!" The knight shot back, her normally serene voice cracking for just a moment.
She did not want to die and be locked out of logging in for another twenty-four hours.
Ulric’s expression stiffened at those words.
Settlement... Eternal Forest...
What the hell were those girls talking about?
"This Erick..." He grunted, eyes narrowing. "Take me to him."
The girls nodded hastily, exchanging quick, smiling glances with each other.
They weren’t sure exactly what they’d done, but it had worked.
With lively steps, they led him to a tavern Erick had rented out, where twenty mercenaries were already waiting inside.
It was a fraction of the number they needed, but if that frightening old man joined their ranks, they would be considerably stronger.
The girls had no real connection to Erick. In truth, they were only helping because he had promised decent payment.
For the knight, who came from a wealthy family, the sum was negligible, but for the other two it was a small fortune.
Erick was seated at a table, deep in conversation with two other mercenaries, when he noticed the girls walk in.
His gaze immediately drifted across the mage’s and assassin’s generous cleavage before settling on the knight’s delicate, exposed neck.
He hadn’t given the three of them much thought at first, even after converting the mage and assassin’s gold coins into real money, but in the end, Erick was a complete simp.
After a lot of simping, he managed to get those two crazy chicks with more tits than brains to follow him, and with them, the knight came along too.
He had a life-or-death mission ahead of him, yes, but carrying it out alongside some hot girls would be much better.
The knight, nicknamed SnowBreath, had always caught his attention the most. He had asked her several times to remove her helmet, but she never agreed.
Still, what he could already see was more than enough: firm breasts, a slim waist, and black pants that, beneath the metal plates of her armor, hugged a big, round ass like a natural BBL.
That alone was enough for Erick to be certain she was a complete beauty, which only excited him further when he remembered that character customization didn’t exist for players.
That was her true appearance, in both worlds.
Setting the three girls aside for now, his focus shifted to the old man, who wore a heavy, complicated expression.
"When I was on guard duty at the gate of the Darkwall settlement, I saw Alice, the most beautiful woman in the settlement, enter accompanied by a man."
Ulric began, his voice low and deep.
"When we gathered to welcome our Golden Lord, the one who would lead us to glory, it was not the Lord summoned by the gods who stepped forward. It was the man who had come in with Alice that day."
He paused, eyes fixed on Erick.
"A scoundrel who, I am certain, stole the place of our true Golden Lord."
Ulric’s words made Erick’s heart race instantly. He rose to his feet, staring at the old man with a genuinely stunned expression.
"Tell me... are you our true Lord?"