Chapter 298
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 298.
"Damn it."
Yoo Baek-jun let out a sigh.
Looking up, the sky was cruelly clear.
His mood was gloomy, and he wished it would just rain and cool things down.
"Ah, I don’t want to work."
"Are you alright, Family head?"
"I’m fine. Of course I’m fine…"
Yoo Baek-jun muttered darkly.
Beside him stood Delowin, Han Seong-ah, Baek Jun-kyung, and other hunters.
And lastly, Jeon Soo-yeon was waiting with a sullen face.
"Why do you look like that?"
"It’s nothing. I’m absolutely not in a bad mood because I was dragged here on my rare day off."
"What, was today your day off?"
"Jeon Soo-yeon, it’s a great honor to assist the family head…"
"Y-yes… I know…"
Han Seong-ah was someone who served Yoo Baek-jun with utmost devotion within the family.
There was no point talking to her. Jeon Soo-yeon nodded with an even gloomier expression.
"I’ll let you rest properly after this is over. Until you’re sick of it."
"When will that be, my lord?"
"Who knows. A month from now?"
"That’s such an irresponsible thing to say!"
"I want to rest too, you know!"
Yoo Baek-jun snapped.
He wanted to rest just as much.
But what could he do? If he didn’t work, his life would be on the line.
"Damn it. I really don’t want to work."
Yoo Baek-jun checked the information on the gate in front of him.
The gate was connected to the Kingdom of Baim.
As he tried to read the details, a message suddenly appeared, obscuring the text.
―The bonds of your past affect the gate.
―The quest content has been altered.
―If you bring a special individual connected to your past bonds, a special event will occur.
[Savior of the Kingdom]
The capital of the Kingdom of Baim. A lively place where countless people reside.
But now, unspeakable atrocities are taking place in the kingdom.
The hunting of the Demi-human race.
You must choose. Whether to rescue those Demi-humans.
Or to abandon them.
―Difficulty: S+ rank
―Entry limit: 20 people
―Objective: Rescue the Demi-human enslaved in the kingdom
―Reward: Unknown
Bonds of the past.
It went without saying. Yoo Baek-jun stared intently at Delowin beside him.
"……?"
Delowin tilted her head in confusion.
The events in the Ruwinid Forest had influenced the gate.
And that wasn’t all.
―If you bring a special individual connected to your past bonds, a special event will occur.
This was referring to Delowin as well.
Bringing her along would trigger an event that would help them upon their return.
"Alright, did everyone hear that?"
"Yes, Family head."
"Let’s hurry. The sooner we finish this."
Baek Jun-kyung stretched.
Yoo Baek-jun fully agreed with those words as he stepped into the gate.
"Let’s go."
* * *
If one were to name the most prestigious knight orders in the Kingdom of Baim, two would come to mind.
The 1st Knight Order, the Golden Wolf Knights, and the 2nd Knight Order, the Falcon Knights.
These two groups sometimes cooperated and sometimes kept each other in check, maintaining a delicate balance of power.
But,
―Knight Commander Farowell has fallen in battle.
Farowell.
A knight who was like a symbol of the kingdom, a man hailed as the one who would lead the next generation.
He died in the Ruwinid Forest.
Though he had led soldiers under the king’s orders to hunt elves.
―Farowell is dead?
―That can’t be. How… could that monstrous man die in such a forest…….
He never returned.
Nor was he the only one who died in the Ruwinid Forest. Along with Farowell, many scions of prominent noble families also perished in large numbers.
When the Kingdom of Baim received this news, it fell into chaos, and the nobles were enraged.
―How dare those lowly Sub-humans!
Shame, and at the same time, fury.
The nobles of the Kingdom of Baim seethed, but there was nothing they could do.
The elves of the Ruwinid Forest, their sworn enemies, had already vanished without a trace.
And so, they turned their anger elsewhere.
―Capture the Demi-humans!
―It doesn’t matter who they are. Whether they’re friendly or hostile to us, it doesn’t matter. Round them all up and enslave them for the kingdom!
―Plunder their resources!
They directed their arrows at other Demi-humans.
The Kingdom of Baim began indiscriminately hunting and capturing Demi-humans in nearby regions.
It didn’t matter whether these races had been friendly or not.
―They’re Demi-humans!
―Get them!
They were captured simply for being Demi-humans.
And as they enslaved and exploited the captured Demi-humans, the kingdom became filled with contempt and disdain for the Demi-humans.
―This is…….
And there was one man who had witnessed this entire process unfold.
The leader of the Golden Wolves, Hayden.
A man who rose from commoner origins to become the leader of the Golden Wolves.
A knight whose strength surpassed even Farowell’s, said to have reached the realm of SwordMaster.
―What kind of sight is this?
He muttered as he watched the nobles enslaving the Demi-humans.
―Have they completely forgotten their original purpose?
The kingdom’s initial reason for attacking the elves was ‘to gather strength to resist the empire’s invasion.’
They had sought to plunder the elves’ precious resources for that purpose.
―Even that was an inexcusable disgrace, but now…….
For reasons unknown, the empire had halted its invasion.
The reason had lost its meaning, and the nobles and royals were running rampant.
―Look at this ugly sight. Is this the kingdom we wanted to protect?
―Commander.
―Everything is wrong…….
Hayden bit his lip.
No matter what he thought, the kingdom would not stop. It had no intention of stopping.
Hayden couldn’t even begin to guess where this rampage would end.
* * *
"That’s one stubborn man."
Yoo Baek-jun relayed the above story to his companions.
Baek Jun-kyung clicked his tongue after hearing it.
"Too rigid for my taste. Not someone I’d want to work with."
"Why not? I like him."
"Well, you’re just…"
Baek Jun-kyung didn’t seem to like Hayden much, but Han Seong-ah found him very appealing.
"Ugh, suffocating. So, my lord, what do we need to do? Rescue the Demi-humans?"
"Yeah."
"Thought so. But why bring up Hayden…?"
"We need his help."
Yoo Baek-jun glanced around.
They were at a riverside some distance from the capital of the Kingdom of Baim.
"Do we need to meet Hayden? Then we’ll have to enter the castle."
"The problem is… a capital like that won’t let us in easily."
"Y-yes, hunters without proper identification won’t be allowed in."
Travelers from another world.
There was no way they’d recklessly let in humans of unknown origin.
"Especially with us…"
Yoo Baek-jun glanced at Delowin.
Because of the events in the Ruwinid Forest, the Demi-humans were being persecuted.
Hearing this, she was trembling with her hands clasped together.
"Perfect timing, we have an elf with us."
"If we go through the front gate, they’ll pounce on us like we’re fresh meat."
"I know. Then there’s no other way."
Yoo Baek-jun adjusted the collar of his Black ghost robe.
"I’ll infiltrate alone."
"Do you have a plan?"
Baek Jun-kyung, who had recently joined, didn’t know much about Yoo Baek-jun.
Or about the Grandal he possessed.
"Yeah, wait here. I’ll summon you once I’m inside."
"Summon…?"
Leaving the puzzled Baek Jun-kyung behind, Yoo Baek-jun headed for the capital alone.
"It’s disgustingly huge."
The massive walls surrounding the capital.
The wide waterway cutting through the middle and the castle beyond it.
At the capital’s entrance, guards were checking the people trying to enter.
‘The front gate is impossible, and the walls…’
There were soldiers on the walls too.
Archers and Spearmen.
They were no match for Yoo Baek-jun, but getting caught would complicate things.
Avoiding detection wouldn’t be easy either.
‘Magic devices… Of course they’d have them.’
There were devices to detect infiltrators as well.
But it didn’t matter. He just had to avoid their detection range.
"Annoying. Really annoying…"
Yoo Baek-jun sighed.
Why was he doing this when he wasn’t even a thief?
‘Well, I guess I am a thief right now.’
He quickly scaled the wall. The soldiers atop it didn’t even notice his presence.
Swish!
Yoo Baek-jun, completely blending into the darkness, crossed the wall.
‘Oh, there’s a map. Lucky.’
On the wall, there happened to be a map of the city’s interior.
Yoo Baek-jun took it and slipped into the city, avoiding the magic devices.
In an instant, he infiltrated deep inside and found a secluded spot.
"This should do."
In a dark alley, Yoo Baek-jun used Grandal’s skill.
Mass Teleportation.
It summoned everyone within Grandal’s designated range.
"Wow, this is quite impressive. You have an incredible sword."
"You’ve worked hard, my lord."
Baek Jun-kyung looked around in amazement at Grandal’s teleportation.
"Should we find an inn first?"
"No, forget it. We don’t have time."
"Then…"
Yoo Baek-jun unfolded the city map.
After studying it for a while, his finger pointed to a specific spot.
"It’s probably here. Let’s go."
Without further explanation, Yoo Baek-jun quickened his pace.
After walking for some time, they arrived at a tavern on the outskirts of the city.
There were several restaurants and taverns nearby, but this one was the smallest and shabbiest.
"Strange."
"What’s strange?"
"That tavern… People keep going in, but no one comes out."
Baek Jun-kyung muttered.
True to his words, people were continuously entering the shabby tavern.
But no one was leaving.
"Not a normal tavern, then."
"What should we do?"
"Me, Delowin, and Jeon Soo-yeon. The three of us will go in. We’re not planning to cause a big scene anyway."
Yoo Baek-jun rummaged through the bag Han Seong-ah had brought and pulled out an item.
It was a mask.
"Delowin."
"Yes… Huh?!"
He abruptly pressed the mask against Delowin’s face, who had been lost in thought.
The mask melted upon contact, adhering to her face like a second skin.
And moments later.
"Oh my?"
"Jeon Soo-yeon, you finish up."
"Y-yes."
Delowin’s face had changed.
Her striking beauty became plain, and her long, pointed elf ears turned into human ones.
A disguise item.
With Jeon Soo-yeon’s touch, Delowin’s appearance became completely human-like.
"That thing’s expensive, so be careful with it."
"Ah, yes. I’ll be careful… How exactly do I be careful with this?"
"Just kidding. It’s disposable anyway."
Yoo Baek-jun patted Delowin’s shoulder as she looked bewildered.
Her face, which had been stiff after hearing about the Demi-humans’ plight, softened slightly.
"Let’s go in."
"…Yes."
Yoo Baek-jun entered the tavern.
The inside was as shabby and rundown as the exterior.
There were about five customers drinking among themselves.
And the owner behind the counter.
Creak.
"Welcome."
His tone was gruff, as if he couldn’t care less about customers.
Yoo Baek-jun sat at the counter and searched his memory.
‘Let’s see, the passphrase was…’
This wasn’t an ordinary tavern.
It was one of the entrances to an underground market beneath it.
‘Pretending to be a customer.’
The five ‘customers‘ were actually guards keeping watch.
If Yoo Baek-jun made a wrong move or gave the wrong passphrase, they’d act.
‘Not that I plan to get it wrong.’
Yoo Baek-jun slowly opened his mouth.