278translated
I Killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.
Chapter 278
Rohan found it harder than expected to gather information about Drake. First of all, everyone described his appearance differently.
"Well, that Drake has wings and flies around in the sky."
"No. I heard he's a cripple without eyes? They say he crawls around like a snake, flicking his tongue."
"Ah, would you like to have a drink?"
His abilities were also described differently.
"Did they say he breathes red mist from his nose?"
"No. It was from his mouth."
"Mouth or nose, it's all the same."
"From what I know, I heard it comes from his armpits?"
"I think they said it was blue, not red, wasn't it?"
"Forget that, try this drink. It tastes amazing."
Rohan shook off the drunkards' invitations and went out to the street. Without any reliable information, Rohan could only sigh.
'I need to earn my payment.'
Rohan was shocked when he slightly opened his pocket. A whole 10 gold coins. With gold prices skyrocketing, gold was currently worth 20 Del per gram. Roughly measuring the weight of the gold coins at about 200g each, if one coin was worth 4,000 Del, that would be 40,000 Del in total.
'This is enough to build an inn and have some left over.'
With his savings and everything combined, he could acquire a two-story inn. Rohan kept touching the heavy inner pocket while gathering information. If any pickpocket tried to steal it, he would break their neck.
'Hmm?'
Rohan sensed something strange and looked back. For a while, he had felt like someone was following him.
'Is it because of the money pouch inside?'
Rohan tried to ignore it and focus on gathering information, but the back of his head kept tingling.
It felt like something kept watching him. Or rather, it felt like a tense atmosphere filled the street? Without turning around, Rohan glanced behind him through a tavern window.
Then his skin crawled. Dozens of people were staring at the back of his head.
'What's going on?'
Had a bounty been placed on him without his knowledge? Rohan instinctively made a decision.
Survive first, think later. Rohan entered a corner alley. The wilderness people on the street slowly approached the alley with their weapons drawn.
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop!
Then several camels rushed out, trampling the crowd.
"Wh-What?! What's this!"
As the camels trampled people and emerged, Rohan appeared behind them. Riding on a camel, Rohan began to escape while trampling the wilderness people sprawled on the ground.
"Damn it! He noticed!"
Rohan didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Even when he was an adventurer, Rohan's shooting skills were exceptional. Though he had put down his gun for some time since becoming a guide, his skills hadn't rusted.
Rohan shot at the wilderness people pursuing him before escaping. He headed north. It wasn't his intention, but as he gathered information about Drake, he had moved toward the northern part of the village.
Rohan gritted his teeth and left the village. He felt he should warn Raven and Gloria, but...
'Those two shouldn't be in danger.'
Raven is the Green-eyed Magician. A magician who killed the Demon King wouldn't fall to such mediocre opponents.
***
"This is why I shouldn't have entrusted tasks to idiots."
Ten men wearing black hoods clicked their tongues while watching Rohan escape.
"What should we do?"
"Track Rohan. Attacking Raven would be suicide."
The men mounted camels.
"There must be a reason why Rohan is suddenly investigating Drake. Let's capture and interrogate him."
"Won't Raven come after us?"
The man who appeared to be the leader pointed with his chin toward the limping wilderness people and said:
"Let's use those scraps. They'll at least buy us some time."
***
The desert at sunset was very cold. The dry cold penetrating through Rohan's thin windbreaker stabbed at his skin. Rohan glanced back slightly.
"...Persistent bastards."
The men in black hoods stared at Rohan without changing their focus as they charged forward. He didn't know who they were, but it seemed he had stumbled into serious trouble.
Bang!
Rohan shot behind him. Shooting accurately while riding a camel was extremely difficult, but luckily the bullet hit the chest of one of the pursuers.
Ting!
But only the sharp sound of steel echoed across the desert.
'Knights?'
The wilderness people don't wear steel armor, let alone chain mail. Wearing such things in broad daylight would get them cooked alive by the heated metal. If someone in the desert was wearing steel armor, they could only be knights. Rohan's eyes narrowed.
'The camel won't last much longer.'
Unless it was a horse bred for military use, it was impossible to ride long distances with steel armor.
Moreover, since none of the desert's camels had been modified for military use, it was nearly impossible for them to pursue Rohan while wearing steel armor.
As expected, one of the pursuing camels buckled at the knees and collapsed. The black knight performed an impressive aerial somersault to avoid falling, but the camel couldn't get up.
The other knights also began to collapse slowly. It seemed he could keep running, hide in the darkness, and then return to the village.
Purpur!
But Rohan's camel wasn't in perfect condition either. It seemed the camel Rohan had chosen had worked hard during the day. As if its fatigue hadn't fully subsided, foam began to form at its mouth.
"Hold on just a little longer. Just a little more."
Eventually, all ten pursuing knights lost their camels. But the persistent fellows continued chasing Rohan on foot.
Their running skills were comparable to racehorses. They must be wearing steel armor, yet they maintained such speed.
The saying that knights were superhuman wasn't for nothing. Rohan stroked the camel's long neck as he continued heading north.
The reason he didn't change direction was that on the flat desert with no elevation changes, changing course would only narrow the gap with his pursuers. It was better to widen the gap as much as possible before finding a place to hide.
"Huh?"
At that moment, the knees of the camel carrying Rohan buckled. Rohan rolled on the ground. His back felt like it was breaking, but the only option was to gather his wits and run.
Rohan ran while watching the knights charging madly toward him. If there was any consolation, it was that the knights' running speed had significantly decreased. No matter how superhuman they were, they wouldn't have experienced long-distance running for nearly an hour.
Their legs felt extremely heavy while Rohan's legs were still nimble. Rohan ran across the desert.
"Ah."
While running frantically, he hadn't noticed, but suddenly the cliff of Sturungarden appeared before his eyes.
The cliff structure didn't drop downward but jutted upward. The Adventurer Slayer would surely be waiting inside this cliff. This must be where the saying ‘escaping from a wolf only to enter a tiger's den’ came from. Rohan gritted his teeth.
'It's all or nothing.'
Rohan entered the cliff. The cliff was pitch black, not even allowing moonlight to seep through. Thinking that Drake might be inside sent chills down Rohan's spine.
Rohan hid himself inside the cliff, hoping those knights would be too afraid to enter. Since sight was useless, he closed his eyes and felt along the wall to find a hiding space between the cliffs. He found a small crevice in the rock.
Rohan squeezed himself into it and calmed his racing heart like a snake.
Wheeee! Wheeee!
Strong wind sounds flowed regularly through the cliff. Amid this regularity, Rohan listened for the knights' voices and footsteps.
-......Drake..... There…
-... Inside.... Wait......
Thump! Thump!
The knights began to enter.
'Persistent bastards.'
Rohan swallowed the curses that came to his lips. And as he felt around with his hands, he prayed the approaching knights wouldn't find him. Rohan aimed his loaded revolver at the approaching sounds.
Thump! Thump!
One knight came close, then moved away. He hadn't seemed to discover Rohan.
'That's one.'
Thump! Thump!
The footsteps of a second knight came close, then moved away.
Thump! Thump!
'Three... Four... Five...'
There were ten knights who had pursued Rohan.
So far, five hadn't discovered him. Half had passed, so he just needed to hold out for the remaining half.
However...
Grab!
The sixth knight grabbed Rohan's head.
"Found...!"
Bang!
Rohan fired his revolver toward the voice. Light flashed from the muzzle like a camera shutter. The man instantly grabbed Rohan's revolver and threw it away.
"Crazy...!"
Whether it was reaction speed or animal-like instinct, in this pitch-black darkness, he reacted instantaneously and seized Rohan's revolver. These men were no ordinary knights.
"Damn it!"
But Rohan wasn't going to give in easily. He pulled out a revolver from his left hand and fired wildly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rohan's indiscriminate bullets rained down on the man.
"Ugh!"
By luck or otherwise, a bullet seemed to penetrate between the man's armor plates. He momentarily lost his grip on Rohan's head.
"Where is he?!"
"Behind! It came from behind!"
"No! It was from the front!"
"Who got hit?!"
Other knights rushed over at the sound of gunfire. The knights gathered toward where they heard the gunshots.
"Ugh... Over here!"
Rohan grabbed the rock and climbed desperately. Fortunately, there were crevices in the rock for Rohan to grip and climb.
"Here! He was here!"
"Where did he go?"
Rohan climbed the rock fervently. The rock crevices were sharper than expected, and blood seemed to flow from his hands, but it was better than dying. If he could just find a suitable place to rest...
Wriggle!
At that moment, the rock Rohan was stepping on wriggled. More precisely, he felt the presence of life inside the rock he was holding onto.
'...No way.'
Rohan looked deep into the cliff. There was a pair of yellow eyes staring at the knights and Rohan. Rohan wasn't the only one who noticed something strange. The knights who had entered the cliff felt it too.
"Uh..."
The knights looked inside the cliff at the warm breath of life tickling the back of their necks. Flashing golden eyes.
Grrrrrrrrrrrr!
And a low predatory growl that froze their bodies. Everyone knew what that was.
"It's Drake!"
All the knights drew their swords and began to flee out of the cliff. Rohan wanted to escape too, but it was impossible. What Rohan had been holding onto was none other than Drake's body. Because he was stuck to Drake's body as it began to crawl out of the cliff to punish the intruders who had invaded its territory, he couldn't move at all.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Drake was relaxed even in front of its prey. Or perhaps it wasn't fully awake.
Drake came out of the cliff with smooth yet unhurried movements. Drake's body revealed in the moonlight was astonishing.
Even under the pale moonlight, its scales were red like blood, and its length was like four elephants combined.
Its scales were thick and rough like rugged rocks, and from its back to its tail were long bones.
Unlike what the drunkards had said, it had no wings, but there were two horns with holes pierced through them at the shoulder blades. Rohan was holding on to the long bones on its back.
Gwaaaaaaah!
Drake let out a roar. Was it anger at having its sleep disturbed?
Or joy that prey had entered on their own?
It was a roar whose emotions couldn't be read, but one thing was clear. Those knights would have to fight Drake for their lives.
"Everyone draw your swords!"
The knights threw off their black hoods and drew their swords. They weren't wearing full-body armor.
Since they had to walk through the desert for a long time, they only wore chest armor covering just the chest and greaves covering the entire lower body.
However, they seemed to want to clearly show who their master was, as they wore medals in the shape of a sword with wings on their chests.
Rohan couldn't mistake that winged sword medal. There was only one order of knights with that symbol.
The personal knights of Count Vex and one of the strongest forces on the continent. The Ascension Knights.
What caught Rohan's eye among them was the knight standing at the very front of the Ascension Knights. Next to the medal symbolizing the Ascension Knights, he had an additional pair of wings, which was proof of a veteran who had served Count Vex for more than 10 years as an Ascension Knight.
Since the Ascension Knights had their own active ranking and elimination system, it was rare for anyone to last more than a year after becoming an Ascension Knight, so lasting more than 10 years meant he was a monster among monsters.
"For Vex."
The Ascension Knights rushed towards Drake like the wind.
Drake swung its front paw at those who charged at it with what looked like toothpicks. The veteran knight at the front struck Drake's front paw upward.
Surprisingly, Drake's front paw was knocked upward. Taking advantage of that opening, the Vex knights climbed onto Drake's body.
"The scales are tougher than expected! Aim for the eyes or between the scales!"
A blue aura flickered on each of the knights' swords. Those auras precisely penetrated between Drake's scales, cutting through the tough flesh.
Gwaaaaaaah!
Drake began to be slashed by the ten knights. Rohan swallowed hard. He had heard of the fame of the Ascension Knights, but he never expected them to be this formidable. Rohan truly thought the Ascension Knights might hunt Drake. But...
Flash!
A red light flashed from the two horns on Drake's back.
Then, Drake's fallen scales and surrounding rocks floated in the air and swept over the Ascension Knights.
"Aaaargh!"
The knights were knocked down by the sharp scales and rocks that flew at them.