Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: An Approaching Threat
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[Chapter 49 - Discovery]
The next morning, Arsen opened his eyes in the dim light.
The wooden window didn't fit perfectly, letting rays of sunlight seep through the gaps, which Arsen's eyes caught immediately.
Opening the window revealed that the sun was already high in the sky, long past dawn.
Eloise was still asleep.
'She must have slept like the dead.'
Since awakening as a knight, he hadn't slept in this late except for the most extreme circumstances.
Thanks to the deep sleep lying down, the headache and fatigue that had plagued him throughout the journey had significantly eased.
It would still take a bit more time to return to his normal condition, though.
Arsen pondered whether to step outside or wait quietly.
He needed to check why Rino hadn't come looking for him, despite their agreement last night to talk tomorrow.
There was even the possibility that Rino had gone to another knight organization and sold information about a knight and mage who possessed tremendous divine weapons and rode two Jins into the territory.
Before heading out, he opened the window facing the main gate to check for enemies. Right away, a delighted voice called out.
"Captain, you're awake!"
Rino, standing in front of the main gate, greeted Arsen upon seeing him.
Arsen stared at him in disbelief for a moment before closing the window, unlocking the bolt on the main gate side, and opening the door.
"Come in."
"Yes, sir!"
Rino hurried inside with quick steps and finally noticed Arsen's face, his expression turning to surprise.
"Captain, you're much younger than I imagined... so youthful."
Only then did Arsen realize he hadn't shown his face at all last night because he'd been wearing his helmet.
Though his physique was much larger than an average person's, making him look a bit older, Arsen was still a teenage boy.
"I've gotten so used to wearing the helmet that I forgot for a moment. You decided to become my subordinate without even seeing my face?"
"What does it matter? Whether the face is handsome or not, what counts is possessing respectable skills and acting in a respectable way!"
Arsen was slightly impressed by Rino's unexpectedly wise words as he closed the door.
"By the way, you're quite late. Looks like the sun's already at its zenith."
"I've been here since dawn. But I couldn't dare wake you, Captain..."
"You've been waiting outside the door since dawn?"
"Yes!"
Arsen let out a sigh of exasperation at Rino's response. He'd saved his life and offered him a good job, but showing this level of loyalty already was hard to comprehend.
Still, a subordinate showing loyalty wasn't a bad thing, and perhaps this was the local custom in this territory, so Arsen decided to accept it.
No need to tell him not to be loyal, after all.
"From what you said yesterday, you live day to day, hand to mouth?"
"It was a bit of an exaggeration, but honestly, things aren't that comfortable. And yesterday's hunt failed too..."
Not wanting to appear pathetic to his new boss, Rino looked deeply uncomfortable.
Seeing this, Arsen handed him something he'd prepared in advance.
"How much value do you think this would fetch if sold?"
Rino took the small stone with strange patterns etched on it and stood there blankly for a moment.
Trying to figure out if this meant to sell stones for a living or if there was some hidden meaning.
"Press down firmly on any spot once."
At those words, Rino pressed down hard on the stone, and suddenly it began to glow.
The light was quite bright, enough to illuminate the small thatched hut entirely.
Perhaps woken by the noise and light, Eloise stirred on the other side.
"It'll glow like this for a few minutes. Single-use. What do you think it'd sell for?"
"This is... a relic. Just for being wondrous, plenty of buyers would line up. It's a shame it's one-time use, but... if sold well, it could trade for a lot of food."
"Here, use this as activity funds. Maintain your livelihood with it, share appropriately with the friends you're recruiting. Oh, and bring some meals for the lady and me too."
Arsen handed over a handful of the small stones, and Rino's face went blank, as if his soul had left his body.
He couldn't even imagine selling over ten of these relics.
"Is this enough?"
"Huh? Oh, yes... of course, Captain. I'll handle it with my life on the line!"
"Good. I trust you. Don't bring anyone here except those who say they'll join as subordinates."
Patting his shoulder, Rino bowed his head with a moved expression.
After sending him off, Arsen closed the door again and picked up one of the glowing stones.
The stone still lighting the room crumbled as Arsen applied slight pressure, losing its light.
'Not particularly valuable anyway.'
Before leaving the territory, Arsen had requested an advance from Byulburmi. Among the items held by Azure's caravan staying in the territory at the time, he asked for things easy to store yet considered precious.
Payment would be made later with relics from conquering the ruins.
Byulburmi had initially balked, but after persuasion laced with threats that dying without a base in the territory would be worse, they agreed.
Fortunately, thanks to the backpack from Luden, he could carry a lot, sweeping up various items, including some far more valuable than the glowing stones given to Rino.
Worried about betrayal or robbery, he'd deliberately handed over items he wouldn't mind losing.
Arsen didn't place excessive value on this one-day loyalty that had just sprouted.
To prevent anyone peeking from outside, Arsen closed the window he'd opened to let in sunlight.
As the room darkened, magical light appeared in the center, and Eloise sat up.
"He gone?"
"Yeah. You stayed asleep on purpose?"
"Too uncomfortable."
Knowing her aversion to interacting with others, Arsen nodded and rummaged through the backpack.
"What if he betrays us?"
"Even if he does, the most he'd do is call in one nearby organization. We can handle that. Rumors about us were bound to spread anyway."
After a simple reply, the item Arsen pulled from the backpack was a crystal orb.
Now it was time to handle another matter.
"Let's contact those friends over there now."
[It's been a while. Sir Arsen, are you still in the wasteland?]
"Thanks to your concern, we arrived safely in Narvik. We're inside the territory now."
A sigh of relief came from the other side of the crystal orb.
During the crossing of the wasteland, Arsen had insisted to Elder Lattis not to contact first via the orb.
Concerned that vibrations or sounds might reveal their position if enemies appeared.
They'd communicated sporadically en route, but with Arsen always exhausted, it was limited to brief exchanges.
Just hearing "on the way" or "still traveling" repeatedly, so relief at the arrival news was natural.
"How's the separate unit we agreed to send?"
[They should arrive in a few days, but we don't have an exact map, so I can't promise for sure.]
"A few days... Understood. How many?"
There was a pause after Arsen's question.
Wondering if some trick was afoot, but then a whispering voice indicated Elder Lattis was just asking the separate unit's numbers.
Soon, a confident reply came.
[One knight and ten well-trained elites. All armed with powerful relics, so you can look forward to it.]
"Please contact us from outside upon arrival. Meeting inside the territory isn't ideal. We'll come out."
[Understood. We'll contact you right away on arrival.]
"Thank you. That's all for now."
Arsen turned off the communication orb with a sigh.
Eloise, who had been sitting quietly listening, spoke up.
"One knight and ten soldiers... fewer than expected."
"Better that way. Too many, and they might've run."
He wondered if Byulburmi had intentionally sent a modest number for that reason.
If the unit included many knights or mages, Arsen would've seriously reconsidered meeting them.
They'd helped a lot so far, but he couldn't blindly trust and walk into their mouths.
"But Byulburmi has knights too? That knight won't mind having a mage like me around either."
"They've got their ways. Gritting teeth and enduring isn't impossible."
"You don't even know what it's like for you."
"True, but still."
The reason Byulburmi sent the separate unit first was mobility.
As a large organization with many people and possessions, traveling from the far north to Narvik would take them months at least.
If Arsen died screaming in the meantime, nothing worse for Byulburmi.
Thus, they proposed dispatching a fast-moving unit first to link up and start ruin conquest.
Arsen had accepted.
"Ah, my head..."
Perhaps from using his brain, Arsen pressed his throbbing temples and stowed the orb in the backpack.
Watching him, Eloise said,
"Why not sleep more? You barely got any rest on the way."
Feeling like a father exhausted from holiday driving, Arsen shook his head.
"It's not that bad. Though... nothing else to do in here anyway."
* * *
In the forest near Narvik, a group led by one knight marched mounted on their riding beasts.
Bearing a specific emblem sewn into their clothes, they were classified as an 'organization' within Narvik.
Accustomed to outside regions, they scanned surroundings alertly yet without tension.
One subordinate scanning around called to the knight.
"Captain, magic beast corpse."
"What is it?"
"Iron Armored Bat."
"Whoever killed it must've wrecked their weapon. Pointless..."
As the knight scoffed, the subordinate's slightly hesitant voice followed.
"But... looks like it was killed in one hit. With a bladed weapon too."
"What?"
The knight immediately turned his massive tiger-like riding beast around.
At the reporting subordinate's location, a freshly killed Iron Armored Bat, less than a day dead, lay.
Dismounting to inspect, the cause of death was clear.
A bladed weapon, specifically a sword type, had pierced the skull.
The head wound was too wide for a spear, too deep for an axe.
Surrounding scales undamaged and the wound clean confirmed a one-hit kill.
"The flank's gouged a bit too. Like something clawed it out..."
"That was probably after it died. No monster rips scales off a live Iron Armored Bat barehanded. I could tear a dead one's flank."
Cracking sounds as he ripped off a handful of scales to chide the subordinate, then the knight remounted.
Looking at the second-in-command—the one he'd just scolded—he asked,
"Who in our territory has a sword that can pierce an Iron Armored Bat's head?"
"No idea? Isien's spear or Lord Oldo's axe are the most famous weapons... not sure about swords. Iron Armored Bats are usually beaten to death anyway. No one tests precious blades there."
"Right? That's exactly it."
The knight grinned and moved toward the front of the column, as if eager to return to the territory faster.
Eyes fixed ahead on the territory, he urgently ordered the second-in-command keeping pace beside him.
"Once back in our zone, send the kids to sniff around. Report anyone bringing unfamiliar gear or any new faces, no exceptions."
"What do you mean?"
A thick smile spread across the knight's face.
"Whoever this guy is, he brought such a magnificent sword—how could we not take it!"