Chapter 179: Mayfield (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 179: Mayfield (2)
I killed every last one of the bandits who attacked the carriage.
I had no intention of playing hero, but killing them was several times better than letting them live. Besides, they'd just be executed if I handed them over to the city guard anyway.
In the past, I would have tracked down their stronghold and taken anything valuable, but I wasn't that desperate anymore.
However, the coachman mentioned that a few of the bandits I'd dealt with had bounties on their heads. The amounts weren't huge, of course, but they weren't small enough to ignore either.
‘Might as well take what I can get.’
More importantly, my conscience wouldn't let me ignore money just lying on the ground.
Feeling like I was just picking up loose change, I collected the bandits' heads and waited for the coachman to fix up the carriage.
“Th-thank you, Sir Wizard!!”
The merchant, Logan, bowing so deeply it looked like he might break the floorboards was a bit annoying, but it was nice not having to use formal speech with him anymore.
People in this world tended to freak out when a wizard used formal language.
He insisted he couldn't dare ride in the same compartment as a wizard and volunteered to sit next to the coachman.
“Good work out there.”
Iris greeted me with a bright smile.
Of course, she still looked half-asleep, her eyes a little unfocused, but even that looked beautiful to me.
With a sleepy Iris nestled in my arms, I settled into the carriage.
“Oh? Sir Hyun-woo, what's that?”
Iris tilted her head, looking at the small card in my hand.
“It's a reward I got from my ability. It says I can synthesize weapons.”
It was the Weapon Synthesis Ticket I'd received as a reward for signing up for the dating app.
[Weapon Synthesis Ticket
Grade: ??
You can synthesize two weapons to create a new one.
The performance of the new weapon depends on the materials used.
※Warning! Synthesized materials cannot be recovered.]
Setting everything else aside, I focused on the warning.
It probably meant I had to synthesize swords with swords, and axes with axes.
‘I wonder if I can synthesize Gilenium and the Black Killing Mad Demon Sword?’
If it was possible, I might be able to combine Gilenium's magic-related effects and the Black Killing Mad Demon Sword's demonic energy effects into a single weapon.
But there were a few concerns.
First, Gilenium's demon-breaking effect might conflict with the Black Killing Mad Demon Sword's demonic energy amplification effect.
Besides, the Black Killing Mad Demon Sword still had one locked ability.
After a moment of thought, I put the synthesis ticket away.
It wasn't an urgent matter, and I might get a better weapon later.
“Ah, speaking of which, Sylvia. What's that sword of yours?”
I'd seen it several times now—a silver rapier that seemed to radiate moonlight. No matter how I looked at it, it was no ordinary sword.
“It is a sword bestowed upon me by Lady Iris during my knight's oath.”
“Can I take a look at it?”
The moment I finished speaking, a troubled expression appeared on Sylvia's face.
It was a rare sight.
Normally, she would have scowled, but with Iris right next to her, she seemed to be controlling her expression.
“Sir Hyun-woo, to a knight, a sword is a life companion, their honor, and a second life. A request like that is a great discourtesy.”
“...Sorry.”
Ignorant of this world's etiquette, I hadn't realized it was rude.
When I apologized immediately, Sylvia actually looked taken aback.
It was as if her face read, 'You're apologizing...? Did you eat something weird...?'
‘Unbelievable.’
I apologize and this is the treatment I get.
It seemed the time had come to show her the dignity of a Royal Consort.
I took a small box out of my inventory, and Iris flinched when she saw it.
“It's nothing much, but would you like to try this? It's a kind of dessert they sell where I'm from.”
“A dessert... you say?”
I unwrapped it and handed it to Sylvia.
It was a small, yellow candy.
“S-Sir Hyun-woo...?”
Iris tugged on my sleeve and whispered, but having come this far, I couldn't back down.
Sylvia inspected the candy suspiciously, but perhaps feeling it would be rude to refuse, she cautiously placed it in her mouth.
Just as she rolled it around on her tongue a few times...
“...Eek?!!!”
Her eyes went wide, and she shot up from her seat.
For the record, what Sylvia had eaten was an extremely famous sour candy from Korea.
Iris had even guaranteed it was an intense sourness that couldn't be experienced in this world.
“So, how is it? Taste okay?”
Crunch. Sylvia bit down on the candy and glared at me as if she wanted to kill me.
If Iris hadn't been there, she looked ready to lunge at me.
“...Yes. It's an intense flavor, the likes of which I've never experienced before.”
“That's a relief. Want another one?”
“I appreciate the offer, but I must decline.”
Behind her eyes, I could see the resolve of someone vowing revenge.
It seems she still hasn't grasped her place.
Clatter. Amidst the strange war of nerves, the carriage started moving again.
“Iris, you want one?”
“I-I'm fine...”
Surprisingly, the elves of this world seemed to have a low tolerance for sourness.
In any case, time flew by as we stopped in a few villages along the way.
“—We will be arriving in Mayfield shortly.”
As the coachman spoke, a massive city appeared in the distance.
Just the city walls I could see looked to be one and a half times taller than Wavel's.
And to top it off, a line of carriages stretched for hundreds of meters from the city gate.
Of course, thanks to the letter of recommendation I'd received in Wavel, we didn't have to wait in line.
Things like this made me realize how convenient the power of nobility was, but it was a power I wouldn't be able to use once I left the Veilhaven Republic.
There was a reason I'd only asked the butler for the route to the Nivia Kingdom.
In a situation where a pursuer could show up at any moment, there was nothing more foolish than advertising my destination.
“Here's the bounty money.”
After safely entering the city, I handed the heads over to the guards and received the bounty.
A quick glance showed a mix of copper and silver coins. No gold coins, of course.
After collecting the bounty, I went out and walked the streets, taking in the sights. There were definitely several times more people here than in Wavel.
The market street, in particular, was so crowded there was barely room to stand.
The stalls were filled with fascinating things I'd never seen before. Some of the ingredients, especially, made me wonder if they were even edible for humans.
As I passed what looked like a restaurant, I saw a man getting smacked with a ladle by a woman who seemed to be the owner, probably for trying to dine and dash.
I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the man passing out after just two hits.
This city definitely had a more lively, human feel to it than Wavel.
“Aah! I-I'm sorry!”
There was a small incident where some kid tried to steal my wallet and got caught, but other than that, nothing much happened.
Leaving the market street behind, I found a bench in a nearby plaza.
It must have been a fairly famous spot, as it was bustling with couples even in broad daylight.
In the past, the sight would have made me frown, but now that I no longer felt that lonely chill, I just stared blankly at my surroundings.
“...Now what?”
It suddenly occurred to me that I had nothing to do.
My original plan was to arrange for a carriage in Mayfield to take us to the County of Partal to cross the border.
Fortunately, I'd heard from the coachman that there was a carriage in Mayfield that went to a city right on the border. After some trouble, I managed to rent the entire carriage, but the problem was that it didn't depart until tomorrow morning.
So, I unexpectedly had the day off until tomorrow.
I hadn't had a proper rest since leaving Wavel, but now that I had the chance, I had no idea what to do.
Iris had left with Sylvia, saying they had a quick errand to run and that she'd see me at the inn this evening.
And just like that, I was left alone.
“I'm already tired of sightseeing.”
Just as I was debating whether to go back to the inn and train...
“...Hm?”
In the distance, I spotted someone in strange attire between the alleyways.
Their hood was pulled down low, but judging by their small frame, it seemed to be a woman.
I felt a sudden sense of unease.
There had to be at least a hundred people milling about, so why did my eyes fixate only on her?
It might make sense if she were a stunning beauty, but a suspicious woman in a hood in the middle of the day?
At that moment, the woman darted urgently into the alley, as if she were being chased.
And sure enough, a group of men followed her into the alley. At a glance, there were more than ten of them.
It reeked of crime.
After a moment's hesitation, I got up from the bench and walked toward the alley where the woman had disappeared.
“I've got nothing better to do, anyway.”
Besides, if things got complicated, I could just dump it on the city guard.
*
Following the woman into the alley, I soon witnessed a curious sight.
‘She was a mage?’
The woman had taken down the men with Magic Bolt, a 1st Circle common magic.
But seeing her crouched on the ground, panting heavily after firing just three Magic Bolts, she didn't seem like a proper mage.
A moment later, the woman got up and started running again.
“There she is!”
“Get her!”
“If we lose her, we're dead!”
More men popped out from other alleys and chased after her, likely trying to tighten their encirclement.
They didn't give up even after knowing she was a mage, so they weren't complete idiots.
After following them for about five minutes...
“Pant, pant...”
The woman was trapped in a dead end.
The men watched her, smirking.
“Hoo, finally caught you.”
“She ran right into our trap without even realizing it. Guess not all mages are smart.”
“Don't let your guard down. If she fires off a spell, we'll all get holes in our heads.”
“What mage? Can't you see she's a total amateur?”
Watching the men close in, the woman tried to draw on her magic power, but it just kept dissipating.
Proof that her mana circle was depleted.
‘A 1st Circle mage at best, huh?’
Just as I'd thought. She was clearly a mage who'd formed her circle by some fluke.
A complete novice who seemed to have learned nothing about combat, at that.
Observing the situation from a rooftop, I dropped down.
“Just be a good girl, and we'll find you a nice new master soon.”
“Yeah, such gentle peop—”
CRUNCH!!
I stomped on the head of the man who'd been spouting filth. Unable to bear my weight after a five-meter drop, his neck snapped.
As someone who had studied Buddhist martial arts, I offered a silent prayer for him.
‘Please, in your next life, don't be born looking like the bully's lackey who used to call me an orphan.’
For the record, I don't know any Buddhist scriptures.
What matters is the thought, anyway. That depraved monk, Vajra Divine Monk, would probably say it's fine.
Anyway, he was so scrawny that, as expected, he didn't provide much of a cushion.
I shook the blood from my shoe and walked forward.
Through the thick cloud of dust, I could feel eyes on me.
The men stared silently at the corpse of their comrade, whose head and body had parted ways.
Into the heavy silence, I spoke.
“I'd like you to introduce me to a master, too.”
I drew Gilenium from my hip.
“K-kill him!!”
“What the hell is that guy?!”
“That bastard killed Rick!!”
“Vital points! Aim for his vital points!!”
Finally snapping out of it, the men drew their weapons and charged at me.
Every single one of them was an ordinary person who hadn't even learned a proper grip, let alone how to use magic power.
‘Should I kill them?’
It wasn't much of a dilemma, having already killed one of them, but I needed to exercise some restraint within the city to avoid unnecessary trouble.
“Gak?!”
“Keuk!?”
“W-wait... Gack?!”
It wasn't hard to knock out the charging men with the pommel of my sword.
As I broke the ankles of the men on the ground to ensure they wouldn't be trafficking people anymore, I felt the woman's gaze on me from across the chaotic scene.
‘...Blue?’
For just a moment, I saw her eyes through the gap in her hood.
A deep blue, the color of the ocean.
It wasn't a common eye color.
Our eyes met, and the woman flinched, then slowly began to back away. Not that she had anywhere to run in a dead-end alley.
“I was just helping, so you don't have to worr—”
Thud.
Before I could finish, the woman collapsed.
I'd only followed them thinking I'd help out this once and then hand things over to the city guard, but I was starting to get an ominous feeling that things were about to get complicated.