Chapter 277: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 277
After saying those words, Rohan remained silent for a moment.
He was dipping bread in his soup and eating it, but judging by his unfocused eyes, he seemed to be deep in thought.
The magic fluctuations Raven observed in Rohan were short and urgent. Right now, Rohan was worried or anxious.
"Rohan, let's end our request here."
Rohan gave an awkward smile.
"Ahaha... It seems I've shown an unseemly side of myself to you ladies."
"Hunting a Drake is dangerous. One mistake could cost you your life. Unless we had enough capacity to watch over Rohan's life, but even we need to be cautious around a Drake."
"There have been quite a few adventurers who set out to hunt the Drake. Rumors spread that the reason the Drake guards the cliffs of Sturungarden is clearly because it's protecting the treasures of the evil dragon Sturungarden. But not a single adventurer has succeeded."
"I'm sure that's the case. But we're different."
"That statement has become the last words of easily over 1,000 adventurers. To give you an idea, there are even thieves who permanently stay here to steal and sell the equipment of adventurers killed by that Drake. They're like hyenas."
Rohan moistened his dry mouth with wine.
"To be honest, I'm not sure how strong you two are. I've seen many types of people while adventuring and working as a guide, but I've never encountered anyone as mysterious as you two."
"In what way?"
"Two women traveling through the wilderness, speaking politely to a guide, looking as elegant as nobles but acting as disciplined as soldiers... One of you carries a sword so I can roughly guess you're a knight, but I have no idea what the other does."
Rohan looked directly into Raven's green eyes.
"But when you said you would hunt the Drake, I got some ideas. Could you possibly be who I think you are?"
Raven seemed to know who Rohan was guessing.
"You're probably right about who you're thinking of."
"I'm truly sorry for not recognizing you. Honestly, I never expected to meet Lady Raven face to face."
"No. I hired you precisely because you didn't recognize me. We didn't really want anyone to know we're here."
"Then it seems I've been worrying for nothing. If you're the Green-eyed wizard, you could easily defeat something like the Adventurer Slayer."
"Is that the Drake's nickname? Adventurer Slayer?"
"Yes. It's called that because it devours every adventurer who comes to the cliffs of Sturungarden."
"Why hasn't such a monster been subjugated yet?"
"To be honest, what noble would dispatch knights to such a distant land? It takes almost ten days of walking from the edge of the continent to get here."
So far, there are only two cases where Drakes have been hunted. When a Drake enters and causes trouble in the territory of a noble who primarily engages in mining Or when a Drake is accidentally discovered during mine development.
So when a Drake was discovered during mine development, nobles didn't particularly consider it a bad thing.
Drakes have a strong territorial concept and don't like other creatures coming near them, so there were no other dangerous monsters besides the Drake.
And land where Drakes lived had a high possibility of having quality minerals buried in it. So there were even nobles who secretly hoped for Drakes to be present when developing mines.
However, if discovered during mine development, Drakes would be hunted, but there were no cases of tracking and hunting Drakes simply for fame or honor.
Knights are said to live and die by honor and fame, but Drakes are too tenacious and powerful to hunt simply for honor and fame.
So that's probably why nobles hadn't stepped forward despite the quiet rumors of a Drake at the cliffs of Sturungarden.
"Do you happen to know a lot about Drakes? I think I need to know exactly what abilities they have."
"Interestingly, very little is known. Red scales and a body about three times larger than an elephant, perhaps? Oh, and they breathe fire, they say."
"Each Drake can use different types of magic, right?"
"There are extremely few adventurers who have encountered a Drake and returned alive, so I'm not sure if this information is accurate, but apparently it emits something like a red mist."
"Red mist?"
"Yes. That's why few adventurers return alive. On already dangerous cliffs with poor visibility, it's bound to cause confusion. The problem is that even those who returned alive all died within a day."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure exactly, but it seems to be due to the red powder that enters the lungs. When they died, they continuously exhaled red smoke, making people initially think they had contracted an epidemic."
This is trickier than I thought. The mist itself is a problem, but it's also toxic. Among the numerous Drakes that Raven had read about in literature, none had this ability. And it wasn't clear whether it wielded other magic besides that...
"That's all I know. I'm not sure if it was helpful."
"No. It was very helpful."
Raven took out a small pouch from inside her clothing.
"Here is your payment for the request."
Rohan received the pouch. Rohan tossed the pouch up a few times and then spoke.
"It feels like there's more than the agreed-upon payment."
"You should open an inn. I think it's right for us to part ways here."
Raven didn't want Rohan to die in a foreign land. If Rohan were to die while fighting a Drake whose identity wasn't yet clearly understood, Raven would feel very uneasy.
"I can guide you to the cliffs of Sturungarden."
"No. You said we just need to keep going north from here, so it shouldn't be difficult."
"How do you plan to return?"
"We'll manage that on our own as well. Since we've already traveled the path, it shouldn't be difficult."
After Raven's words, Rohan hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"You're planning to leave at dawn tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Then I'll gather as much information as I can before you sleep tonight. You might run into problems if you wander around unnecessarily."
"We'd appreciate that."
Rohan stood up while clearing the table.
"I'll come back in 3 hours. In the meantime, pack your belongings and rest. And if possible, don't go down to the first floor at night. You'll encounter annoying provocations."
"Understood."
"Then I'll see you shortly."
Rohan smiled, closed the door, and left.
***
Raven looked at the clock and said.
"...How many hours have we been waiting now?"
"Five hours."
It had been 2 hours since Rohan was supposed to come, but he hadn't arrived. Gloria rose from her seat.
"I'll go check. Something must have happened."
Kos quickly wrote on a notepad.
[Wait. How do you plan to find Rohan?]
"I'll need to walk around and ask the staff or other people who were on the first floor."
Raven took out a wand from inside her clothes.
"Let's first use magic to see where Rohan is, then go out. If it's a dangerous situation, we'll go help, but if it's just taking time, we don't necessarily need to go out."
Raven waved her wand and created a blue bird.
The blue bird left Raven's hand and surveyed the entire village. Since the sun had set, most building lights were off and there were no people walking on the streets.
Raven sent the blue bird to search every corner of the alleys. Thugs were smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol, and homeless people were sleeping in various corners of the alleys.
Unlike the vibrant red colors of daytime, the gloomy atmosphere of the village, devoid of vitality, sent a slight chill down her spine.
"I can't see him anywhere."
"Where could Rohan have gone?"
Thud! Thud!
At that moment, the sound of knocking on the door was heard. However, the knocking on the door was dull, rough, and overconfident. Raven immediately turned off her magic.
"Hey, Ladies! Would you mind opening the door?"
"We brothers have some questions"
Voices heavily drunk and the sound of boisterous footsteps could be heard outside the door. Gloria frowned.
"Of all times..."
"No. This is perfect timing."
Raven put on her hood.
"Let's ask them where Rohan is."
Gloria extended her hand to Kos. Then with a click-click sound, Kos disassembled part by part and attached to Gloria's body. Finally, Gloria drew out Flawless.
Bang. Bang!
Eventually, the outlaws who were knocking on the door broke it down and entered. The first one who came in rolled inside as the door broke.
"Ouch, ouch, that hurts... Why did these X break the door... Huh?"
The outlaw gulped as he noticed the white blade against his neck.
In contrast to the clean sword that looked purer and more innocent than any other sword, the knight wearing fierce and bloodstained armor looked extremely bizarre. Gloria held the sword to his neck.
"I'll ask once. Where is Rohan."
"Uh, uhh..."
The outlaws standing outside the door felt like they were suddenly sobering up. And their survival instinct, honed in the wilderness, reacted immediately.
"Run, run!"
Slash!
Gloria mercilessly sliced off the guy's arm.
"Aaaaaaaahhh!"
And before his arm fell, she moved to the door and cut off another man's leg.
"Aaaaaahhh!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Terrified gunshots filled the hallway. Gloria didn't need to dodge the bullets. Because the outlaws crowding the hallway served as shields. Gloria advanced while ruthlessly cutting off their arms and legs. These men had all come to violate Gloria and Raven.
If Gloria and Raven hadn't been strong, they would have been the victims. Like a devil, Gloria cut down the outlaws one by one, getting covered in their blood. Gloria arrived at the first-floor lobby. All the outlaws were terrified, pointing their guns at Gloria.
"What, what the hell! These ladies aren't even ladies!"
"Fuck... That bastard tricked us!"
Gloria's eyebrows twitched.
"By 'that bastard,' do you mean Rohan?"
"Shoot!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets were fired indiscriminately at Gloria. Even Gloria would die if shot in the head.
But Gloria had long ago learned from Caesar how to dodge and block bullets.
Gloria advanced with her body bent low, seeing through the trajectories of all the bullets fired at her.
After dodging all the bullets and deflecting them with her armor, she reached the man who had spoken about Rohan earlier. The man froze when he saw Gloria's eyes filled with killing intent.
"I'll deal with you later."
Gloria elbowed him in the forehead.
Thud!
"Waaaaaack!"
The man passed out with his face in his own vomit.
After that, nothing could stop Gloria.
She swung her sword mercilessly at the men firing guns.
With each swing of Gloria's sword, at least three limbs flew off. After completely destroying the lobby, Gloria picked up a fallen dagger and threw it at the counter.
The dagger handle quivered next to the head of an employee who had pulled out a shotgun. The employee fumbled and dropped the shotgun.
"You stay put."
Gloria grabbed the collar of the man she had knocked out earlier, stood him up, and kicked his shin.
"Aaaahh!"
The unconscious man regained consciousness with a scream.
"P-please spare me! Please spare me!"
"Where is Rohan?"
"Rohan? W-who is th-that person...?"
"The person who told them we were here!"
"Heeeek!"
Gloria cornered him against the counter wall and said.
"Tell me properly. Where is Rohan?"
"I-I don't know. I really don't know."
"Then why did you target us?"
"J-just to make some money... That's all it was."
Gloria glared at the counter employee who was trying to sneak away and said.
"Hey, what is this guy talking about?"
The counter employee nodded.
"There was a rumor that a man was wandering the wilderness with two women he would sell to the red-light district. He said he'd give 50,000 Del to whoever brought those two women..."
"What?"
At that moment, Raven came down the stairs.
"These guys are right. There was a bounty on us."
"Who... Don't tell me..."
"Yes. It seems Count Vex placed it."
"How were we discovered? We wore hoods and covered our faces with masks. We even used different identities."
"They must have had some method. But that's not what's important right now. It's Rohan."
Gloria lifted the captured outlaw higher and said.
"Speak. Where is Rohan?"
"I-I'm not entirely sure, but I think he went outside the village."
"Outside the village? Why?"
"Uh, well... There were guys wearing black hoods who seemed to be tracking the person who was with you..."
"Really? Where to?"
"That... North, was it? He seemed to have escaped on a camel heading north from the village. R-right?"
The counter employee nodded desperately.
"He stole a camel that a customer had left here. That's why I remember."
If he went north, there's only one direction Rohan could have fled.
"Good."
Crack!
"Aaaaaaargh!"
Gloria broke the arm of the man she was holding and threw him aside. Then she said to the counter employee.
"Give me a camel. If you don't want to die."
"Th-they're in the stable, please take one."
Gloria shook the blood off her sword.
"Let's go quickly. Before something happens to Rohan."