Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Return Scroll Rescue
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Return Scrolls were one of those items so abundant they were practically rotting away in storage.
They dropped from pushes, loot, and especially came up as duds in Random Boxes. If players had a top item to trash, it was definitely the Return Scroll.
But even so.
"Ah, this..."
I groaned.
"Gonna be short, huh?"
"L-Lord!"
"No way... How did you get here..."
"Everyone, quiet! What if the Vulcan warriors hear us!"
"Ah, no need to worry about that. There aren't any living orcs nearby."
I opened the door and confirmed the women filing out one by one.
"Just as I thought."
As expected, the orcs hadn't killed the women either. The four hundred or so women holed up in the village east of Bronze Sword Territory were proof of that.
"Good thing. Plenty were suffering from losing family."
"Um, excuse me."
A middle-aged woman who seemed to be leading them spoke up cautiously.
"For the past few days, the Vulcan warriors have been restless, and their numbers have dwindled. Is there an army nearby?"
"No."
I shook my head, and despair settled on their faces.
I smirked and pulled out a Return Scroll.
"But I'm here instead."
"Pardon? But... even a lord can't do much alone."
I handed scrolls to the bewildered group.
"Tear one."
"Pardon? But what good is—"
Flash!
With a small burst of light, the woman vanished. I nodded.
"Works fine."
I'd tested it plenty, but no surprises was a relief.
"Potions too—consumables work even for non-players."
Thanks to that, I could send anyone from anywhere on the continent back to the Starting Point.
Of course, Return Scrolls weren't originally like that.
They sent you to the [last safe zone the target arrived at], so while I held it, the destination was the Starting Point, but the moment I passed it over, it changed to wherever they'd been.
Not some handy item that teleports to unvisited spots.
However.
Right now, with the Starting Point the only [safe zone] on the continent?
The only issue.
"Not enough Return Scrolls."
"Log out."
Back in my one-room, I scoured the official site and fan forums.
Looking for spots with high Return Scroll drops, but no luck. They dropped in small amounts from many monster types, not floods from specifics.
"Sigh. Money it is, then."
I bought Return Scrolls from the Exchange.
Luckily, not too pricey. Bundles of ten at the lowest 10 Diamonds.
One Diamond per scroll—100 won each.
"Ah, but... supply's thin."
Nobody bought them, so listings were scarce. The few up were probably 'will this even sell?' toss-ins from overflowing inventories.
Still, scraping the Exchange got me about 700.
Seventy thousand won to save hundreds of lives? Bargain.
"Th-thank you! Thank you!"
"Is Dad alive? The territory's wrecked... Is the new spot livable?"
"Sob... Waaah..."
"But teleportation? That's empire artifact-level stuff."
I sent off every grateful, anxious, questioning woman.
Boom!
A distant explosion—battle noise. Seizing the orcs' distraction, I mounted Sky and took off.
Flap! Flap! Flap!
Sky beat its wings fiercely, soaring skyward. Ride wasn't smooth. Those initial climbs could eject you even with a saddle!
But my superhuman physique shrugged it off easily.
Whoosh!
High up, Sky rode the wind. I crouched low against headwinds, scanning below.
At this altitude, the vast mountain range and every moving thing stood out.
"Magical beast numbers are way down."
From above, it hit clear. Spaces beasts should roam swarmed with dozens, hundreds of goblins.
Invaders there? Those mobs would clump into thousands.
"Beasts must curse their luck."
Monsters were tough, pack hunters, yet yielded no meat.
Some dropped food, but Revenge wasn't a life sim—how many such mobs?
"Just token additions."
That's why I soloed elsewhere but sent troops only to Windbreak Plateau. Had to claim it for [producing] boar haunches.
"Grrr!! Yap yap!!"
"Yap yap!"
"Wolves! Wolves! Kill 'em! Skin 'em!"
"Wanna ride wolves! Wolf ride! Can't ride wolves?"
"Yeah, can we? Big ones rode 'em!"
"Squeee!!"
"Boars! Pigs! Can't ride those? Huh?"
"Better than wolves? Some kin ride pigs!"
Dropping altitude, I saw beasts getting mobbed by goblins.
"No match."
One-on-one, goblins couldn't touch beasts. Orcs maybe, but meter-tall weaklings? No chance.
But... goblins mobbed in dozens baseline, thousands at threats.
No tactics, but berserker mad. Charge first, no regard for life.
Normal creatures? Extinct fast. But they respawned...
So hordes of beasts clashed, died, pushed to inner lands—far from ley lines. Ardenia's "heartland" between lines.
If borders were bad, central continent? No need to say. Wolf King heads on walls? Same fate.
"Ah, there it is."
I'd flown east 100km in 2 hours 10 minutes from Bronze Sword. Giant eagle speed? Solid.
Unlike game, pets tired—mid-flight rest—but fine for [touring].
"Goblin dungeon again."
Spotted goblins en route. Not Red Spike, but Blue Hammer Goblins.
Flash!
Rode Sky straight into the light pillar.
[Blue Hammer Forest]
Entered high, but landed on ground. Dungeon [Random Teleport]. Sky panicked, head whipping.
"Go back."
I unsummoned Sky quietly, swapped classes.
★☆Job Change Complete☆★
[Variant Ranger (Hero)]
Strength+80 Agility+160 Stamina+80 Vitality+40 Mana+40
[Range +50%]
[Observer of Darkness]
Hid in forest shadows post-change; body went semi-transparent. Variant Ranger trait: [Observer of Darkness] effect.
[Intermediate Stealth (Passive) activated!]
Senses sharp, I prowled. Trees woven into huts everywhere, endless goblins crossing forest to somewhere.
"There."
After scouting, found a hut in a clearing.
"Sob... Sob... Hic..."
"Mommy..."
"Luby. Be good. No crying... Monsters outside..."
Peeked in: about 100 women huddled.
'Gotcha.'
Could've sniped boss, but scouted stealthed for them.
'Clear dungeon, conquer fort: becomes [safe zone].'
Then Return Scrolls useless—destination shifts from Starting Point to new fort.
"Everyone quiet. Here to save you."
"...!"
"Gasp..."
Approached self-gagging women, passed scrolls one by one.
Whispered instructions.
"Soon, I'll finish up and yell. Hear it, tear your scrolls one by one. You'll go safe."
Repeated across Blue Hammer Forest. Easy work—no low dungeon mobs spotted Intermediate Stealth.
When all women saved, scrolls ran dry.
"Ah, just a few more..."
Stuck gagging women, grimaced. Exchange scraped clean.
Logged out, checked: new listings.
"Oh, nice."
But price hiked. Ten-pack from 10 to 20 Diamonds.
"Well... still cheap."
Two hundred won to shift one person hundreds of km? Steal.
Price doubled hurt, but what ya gonna do.
"Here!"
Finally distributed to all, kicked off ground.
"Everyone out!!"
Yell shook forest. Then—
Flash flash flash flash!!!
Lights everywhere—women using scrolls.
[Blue Hammer Goblin Fortress (Normal~Rare) Hell cleared!]
[Guilds meeting conditions first can declare siege!]
[Shoddy Earthen Fortress (Normal) appears!]
[Congratulations! One guild seized Blue Hammer Goblin Fortress!]
[New lord: Han Jaeyeon.]
Post-rescue, cleared dungeon and sieged in under 30 minutes. Snipe Hobgoblin boss. Sky into fort, claim keep—done.
"But issue... leave fort as-is?"
Kan Slasher invaded Red Spike right after I took it.
Like targeting the 'fort' itself.
"Then... let 'em take it once."
Had to happen sometime, so left unupgraded fort, left Blue Hammer.
Flap!
Remounted Sky east. Empty earthen fort—monster-free, people-free—shrank fast behind.
Background blurred by; impressive.
"Damn fast. Full day flying? Cross continent?"
Game flight pets? 1.2x other mounts. Straight-line merit huge, but not raw speed.
Reality? Different.
Falcon wing speed matching horse? Nonsense.
'Game unlike: rest, feed midway... But two+ fliers solve. Alternate rides.'
Ardenia pets summoned long craved food, sleep, mating—but unsummon reset physiology somewhat. Even healed injuries after time.
'Death? Gone.'
Like monsters: corpse dust, unsummonable. Collection proves existence.
"...Hm?"
Mid-flight, spotted troops barring ley-line road with barricades.
Different vibe from prior roads.
"Plenty. Thousand?"
Fresh from war—disciplined menace. Still armed, scanning; clicked.
"Ah! Holding goblins here!"
But I cleared goblin dungeon/fort—field goblins vanished.
They panicked as charging mobs poofed.
"Totally different. Intact human force nearby."
Kept east on Sky.
Fewer solo monsters/beasts; more ground groups of people.
Finally, city.
Go board outermost, sea-adjacent: Blue Whale Earldom.
"Untouched. Makes sense for Blue Whale."
Not all edges equal fringe.
Blue Whale Count house.
'Count' but Marquis/Duke power. Unlike Red Axe baron's three knights, real Knight Order.
Long ago cleared local beasts; vast lands, 30k+ pop powerhouse.
'Sure, inner continent has tons like this.'
But dungeon ogres/cyclops? Outer Blue Whale stance differed.
Low-level mobs: even low-power world, manageable.
[Wild Dog Den (Normal~Rare)]
Sky-landed dungeon: Count's army contained it. Keep-centered 1km flattened; bloodstains showed casualties, but city ran normal.
Like us before: sturdy barricades, hundreds armed around light pillar.
"Sieged, not cleared."
Unlike game, Ardenia neutral dungeons didn't function as such. Easy~Hell gone; all field monsters crammed inside.
'Recap.'
Controlled Sky toward dungeon, noted quirks.
1. Monsters free in/out.
2. Humans/players: enter, no exit.
3. Clear: turns siege.
So clear? Super strong assassinates boss despite thousands.
Or dump thousands troops at once.
'But nah.'
Scouts never return—why throw thousands in blind?
Unless dungeon lore like me, psycho tossing thousands lives, or one uber powerhouse—no clear for years.
Magic mobs like Red Spike? Monsters roam free, attack out—humans trapped.
'Many die figuring that. Lots..."
Bitter smile.
[From Red Spike Goblin Fortress (Hell): Hundred got Barrier Wand (Rare)!]
"...Oh! Hundred!"
Exclaimed.
Mood lifted.