novelraw Chapter 171 : Chapter 171
Chapter 171 : Chapter 171
Chapter 171 : Lian Drasen Merchant Guild?
“What are these bastards…!”
Paaang.
Fwoosh.
A scorching flame followed the trajectory of the swung sword, opening a path to hell.
“Aaaaargh!”
The moment five masked figures who had rushed in were engulfed in flames and collapsed, the night’s campsite regained its silence.
Muno, who had dealt with a dozen assassins including them, tilted his head.
“Now that we're almost at Drasen, some random flies are sticking to us. What are these guys?”
That was the extent of his impression of the surprise attack by these unknown assassins.
Just then, Rauel, who had slowly walked out of the forest, continued.
“The few we captured all committed suicide again, Sir Muno.”
“Their skills are mediocre, but they’re very well-trained assassins…”
As Muno let out a dry laugh in disbelief, Rauel hesitated for a moment before adding.
“It feels like they were chasing us in a hurry. There’s no proof, though.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s as if they were trying to show their client, ‘we did try.’ Of course, it’s just a guess.”
“If you say so, then it must be.”
Muno smiled and dismissed Rauel’s modesty.
If they were shabby assassins who couldn’t even penetrate the chain barrier he had set up while he slept, they were nothing more or less than a nuisance.
Having reached that cold conclusion, he flinched as he remembered his experience in Aslan, but.
‘I just killed those who were trying to kill me, it’s an overreaction to worry about my mental state just because I’m this emotionless.’
Vwoong.
As if agreeing with that thought, the red core embedded in ‘Blade’ vibrated.
Heh.
Leaving the faintly burning flames as they were, he levitated the greatsword and strapped it to his back.
This was also a battle, and after the slight excitement subsided, he thought of a person who might have committed such an act.
‘It's obvious.’
The Demon Cult wouldn't have sent such incompetent people.
“It must be that bastard Zayd, right?”
“Yes, probably.”
“I’ll have to make him pay the price properly later.”
When Aslan's usefulness was over.
Thinking that, he let out another chuckle, realizing that the bastard probably sent the assassins with the same thought.
At his overly relaxed expression, Rauel gave a bitter smile.
“They must be pulling this stunt because they don't know yet in Aslan that Sir Muno is the natural enemy of assassins.”
Rauel’s gaze turned towards the throwing stars, daggers, and arrows the assassins had thrown.
All of them completely missed the space where their bedrolls were, a graveyard of projectiles that looked as if they had been deliberately aimed outside the target.
Was that all?
That black armor, with no gaps even at the joints, boasted perfect defensive capabilities.
‘Even that monster’s poison didn’t work, so he’s almost immune to poison.’
From an assassin's perspective, he was a terrifyingly incompatible opponent.
And even all of that.
“Really, those chains and that armor are really his own body…”
It wasn’t an artifact, but his own ability.
“Yeah. Everything except this Red Heart and Blade. I told you. Why? You still don’t believe me?”
At Muno’s nonchalance, Rauel let out a deep sigh.
“If I had known Sir Muno was such a monster, I would have refused the order in the first place.”
Saying so, Rauel was smiling.
It had already been three weeks since they left Aslan.
In that time, Muno had apologized for not telling her sooner and had confessed his secret.
Rauel was grateful just for the fact that he had told her.
And.
“That’s right. To do anything to me, you have to overpower me head-on with strength. Or be overwhelmingly fast. Ahem.”
Just seeing him act so casually made her feel that they had grown much closer, and her heart felt reassured.
“……Thank you.”
“Hmm? For what?”
“Just, for everything.”
“Why are you suddenly saying that? It’s awkward.”
Even his slightly embarrassed appearance felt friendly.
‘How can this person be like this?’
Aside from trusting an enemy who had once sought his life to this extent, he didn’t distance himself from or shun her for her completely unfamiliar appearance.
Rather.
‘Pretty… he said.’
Recalling those words again made her face flush for no reason, and her gratitude grew.
And as her gratitude grew, so did her worries.
‘I wonder how Sir Muno’s family will see me…’
Setting aside the fact that she was a former assassin, she had received countless comments about her appearance her whole life, being called a mongrel or a half-breed, or being asked why she was so skinny.
Enduring scornful gazes was a perfectly normal part of her daily life until she met Muno.
To the point where her heart had grown calloused.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, it's nothing. I was just thinking…”
She thought that the parents who raised Sir Muno might be alright, but.
She couldn’t bring herself to say that if she got her hopes up and received the ‘same reaction as ordinary people,’ she would be deeply hurt.
“Since we're awake anyway, shall we just get moving? If we run from now, we should arrive at Drasen by dawn.”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
She just hoped that the family of her new ‘lord,’ who saw her for who she was, or even better than that, would not cast her out.
With a pounding heart, Rauel began to follow the black knight who had started running again.
* * *
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
A run that lasted nearly half a day.
Muno, who couldn’t ride a horse in the first place, ran on his own two feet without any trouble, as always.
And Rauel, a Corporeal Arts user who had undergone an evolution that extremely developed her endurance and energy efficiency, had no problem maintaining a sprint faster than a horse for hours.
The temperature, which gradually dropped as they headed north, was not a major concern while running.
However.
“That’s Drasen… Huh!?”
Screeeech.
Muno, who had been running fine, suddenly screeched to a halt at the sight of his hometown appearing in the distance.
Even after stopping.
“What? What is that…?”
He just stared blankly at Drasen in the distance with wide eyes.
He couldn't help it.
“It’s under construction? And on a pretty large scale…?”
It was just as Rauel said.
Around the Drasen territory, which should have been called a fortress rather than a castle, a huge wall with a radius that seemed to be twice its original size was being built.
A scale large enough to block almost the entire valley connected to the northern mountain range.
“……Hul.”
Where did they get the money for that?
Surely the royal family didn’t give them that much money?
If the walls were expanded, what about the number of soldiers to defend them? Their training?
All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind.
“Sir Muno, are you just going to stand here?”
“Ah, no.”
Rauel’s urging brought him back to his senses.
His growing curiosity made him move his feet even faster.
And not long after.
“The Grand Prince has returned!!!”
“Inform the lord!!!!”
With a thunderous roar that drowned out even the noise of the construction, they arrived at Drasen.
And less than an hour later, they learned the secret of this massive construction.
“In addition to the royal family’s support, there was also support from the Hernandez family…?”
“In fact, the support from the Hernandez family was much greater.”
At the explanation of the old steward, Palmer, Muno couldn’t help but be bewildered.
“That's right, Young Master. Thanks to you… Oh? You didn't know?”
“Hernandez, Hernandez… Ah! That pervert!”
After thinking for a long time, a forgotten memory came to mind.
‘Alondo Hernandez.’
The middle-aged man called the Golden Knight, who had picked a fight with him at the royal castle and got thoroughly beaten.
Also…
- I came to thank you.
The one who came to thank him, saying he had gained enlightenment after being beaten like that.
What had he said to him?
Probably…
- Then, if you’re grateful, please support our family!
That’s what he thought he had said.
“That, turned into this…?”
That man, didn’t he take a verbal promise a little too far?
It was enough to make him laugh out loud, but Palmer shattered his thoughts.
“Ah, the money that the Young Master added was also included. That was probably more than the royal family’s support. He also actively advocated for the expansion of the walls.”
“Lian? Where did he get the money?”
To that natural question, Palmer answered with a mysterious smile.
“He’s starting to show his true colors now.”
“……What on earth do you mean by that?”
“You’ll know when you meet him. Ah, he’s coming right over there.”
As soon as he turned his gaze.
- Brother!!!!
He saw a boy running vigorously from a distance.
In a form that had grown a bit too much to be called just a boy anymore.
“Brother!”
“You rascal!”
A smile formed on Muno’s lips as he embraced Lian who leaped into his arms.
“You’ve really grown a lot!”
It had been about half a year since he last saw him, but he seemed to have grown by almost 10 cm, so Lian didn’t look so young anymore.
He felt like a short high school student.
He wondered if this was what Palmer was talking about.
“Young Masters, let’s go into the inner castle first. The guest should come in as well. There are many eyes watching.”
The person himself shattered the emotional reunion of the brothers.
“I see quite a few unfamiliar faces.”
“We have to let in outsiders for a big construction project. But they all probably know your face, brother, no, your armor. Your fame is renowned throughout the kingdom these days.”
Seeing his somehow excited younger brother made him feel proud for some reason.
“Brother, but the person behind you…?”
“Ah. This is Rauel. My colleague. For now, she’s helping hunt the Demon Cult.”
“Not just for now, I will serve you for life. My name is Rauel. Younger brother… sir?”
Rauel’s awkward greeting created a moment of silence.
“Wow! It’s my first time seeing a black person! Awesome!!”
At Lian’s suddenly and thoroughly ill-mannered attitude, Muno’s heart sank.
“You punk…!”
He was about to scold him, but Rauel smiled instead and responded to Lian’s words.
“Haha. Thank you, Young Master. But I’m not black, I’m mixed-race. My skin is a bit too light for a black person.”
Rauel’s smile didn’t seem fake.
“Ah, really? Now that you mention it, it does seem so. But how did you end up with my brother? By any chance, are you a candidate for my sister-in-law?”
At Lian’s overly unprejudiced attitude, Muno’s heart sank once again.
“No. I am his subordinate. I have sworn to serve Sir Muno.”
At Rauel’s words that seemed to draw a line, he let out a dry laugh at his own slight disappointment.
“The Grand Prince has returned!”
“Long live the Black Knight!”
“Long live Muno Drasen!!!”
“Waaaaah!”
The group entered the inner castle amidst a grand welcome from the residents.
‘What’s with all this.’
It was a little embarrassing, but his heart pounded and felt warm.
‘Yeah, I’m glad I came.’
And so, a bright smile remained on Muno’s lips for a while.
That is, until he heard something a little absurd from his father, whom he had met after a long time.
“I’ve handed over all the duties of the territory to Lian. About three months ago.”
“……Pardon?”
“It’s the territory he’ll inherit anyway. Why? Are you disappointed?”
“Ah, no, it's not that, Lian is still young…?”
He turned to his smiling younger brother and expressed his bewilderment.
For some reason, no one seemed to agree with him.
Even his mother.
“Lian has grown up, Muno. Without me even realizing it.”
She said so with a face that seemed to be a mixture of pride and bitterness for some reason.
“Didn’t you hear? Lian paid for a significant portion of the wall construction costs.”
“Pardon? Ah! No, that wasn’t a lie, it was real…?”
“Yes, brother.”
“How?”
“To be precise, the Reid Merchant Guild. The Lian Drasen Merchant Guild paid for it.”
“What…?”
‘Li’an ‘D’rasen Merchant Guild?
A ringing sensation echoed in the back of his head.
It was a day when his younger brother's bright smile felt strangely unfamiliar.