Leave Right Now!

"Leave right now!"

"...!"

Rufo was horrified.

No, but still. They had just gone through all that trouble persuading the counts, mobilizing troops, and making ready for battle, and now he wanted to pull out?

"Lord Tae-hyun! I told you I was wrong! But this is going too far!"

"No. I think it's a great idea."

"...!"

What was the thing Kim Tae-hyun wanted most from this quest?

The weapon that injured Marquis Marden.

The weapon imbued with Authority!

Of course, killing Marquis Marden would be nice too. It was the full package—experience, items, and Fame all rolled together.

But Tae-hyun always considered possibilities.

There was a chance I might not be able to kill Marquis Marden.

So he had prepared for that outcome. While Marquis Marden had left the old castle empty, Tae-hyun would go there first, strip the place clean, and find the weapon that contained Authority.

Tae-hyun didn't think Anong Castle would fall that quickly anyway.

There were plenty of players gathered there, and Count Anong wasn't an idiot like Count Marcel.

There's more than enough time!

Once he had made his decision, there was no reason to hesitate any longer.

Tae-hyun finished preparing and departed immediately.

At a terrifying speed.

Marquis Marden, never even imagining that Tae-hyun had irresponsibly abandoned Anong Castle in order to blow up Marden Castle, reorganized his army and glared at Anong Castle.

"Kekeke... I'll bring it down soon enough!"

"Human. Turn back. This is the land of Marquis Marden... urk!"

As they approached the old castle, a vampire warrior appeared and tried to block their way.

Of course, he was nothing more than easy prey.

"Listen carefully. We don't have that much time, so we need to split up."

"Kgh! Kraaagh!"

After leaving the vampire warriors for Cain to pin down, Tae-hyun beat on them while he spoke. Such fierce determination not to waste even a second.

"Ed-an. Take Su-hyeok and search every inch of the castle. If it looks like it has anything to do with Authority, grab it all. The weapon that injured the marquis is definitely here."

"Understood."

"The rest of you sweep through the castle with me. You three."

Tae-hyun pointed at the blacksmiths.

At first glance, they seemed completely unsuited for a mission this urgent.

But their inventories were packed to the brim with bombs.

Bombs Tae-hyun had made through gritted teeth.

"Follow me. Be careful not to set them off."

"What? You said these wouldn't explode."

"Ah. Right."

"......"

The blacksmiths instantly went pale.

They were blacksmiths too, so they knew full well what the Mechanical Engineering skill was like.

Still, Tae-hyun had told them, Don't worry, these won't explode, so they'd trusted him and stuffed the things into their bags.

It's Tae-hyun. He must've had some kind of plan!

And now he was saying ah, right?

"No. They won't explode."

"You just said 'ah, right'!"

"You heard wrong. Stop whining and move. We need to finish planting them before they explode."

"So they do explode?!"

Tae-hyun ignored them and stepped straight into the old castle.

The undead soldiers that had once poured out in such huge numbers were now scarcely anywhere to be seen.

Clangclangclangclangclang—

A loud racket echoed from inside the castle.

"What's that sound?"

"What do you think? We showed up, so they're gathering the troops inside."

Tae-hyun answered as if it were nothing.

He had expected this much defense.

But that didn't matter to him.

If they wanted to catch Tae-hyun, they needed either the kind of full-scale anti-Tae-hyun setup the Sadiq Church had prepared, or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the kind of high level and varied offensive skills Marquis Marden himself possessed.

Rounding up a bunch of half-baked enemies like this just made them prey.

"Let's go!"

"Right!"

Evangeline answered at once.

Because of her immense bad luck, she hadn't been able to party with anyone for a long time. She was starving for this—for fighting together with others.

The fact that she was even fighting alongside a party at all made her happy.

"Ah. You fight out front by yourself."

"...Why?"

"Because we need to break through fast right now."

"......"

Evangeline wilted and charged ahead alone.

The vampires blocking the way were ground to pieces by the heavy sword she swung.

"Isn't she fighting even better than usual?"

"Really? Guess she's used to soloing. Maybe we should make her fight alone from now on."

Hearing that from behind her, Evangeline couldn't help feeling a stab in her chest.

"Um, Ed-an."

"...!"

Ed-an doubted his ears.

"What... did you just call me?"

"Huh? I called you Ed-an..."

When Jeong Su-hyeok addressed him politely, Ed-an started trembling.

How long had it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been since anyone had called him by such a respectful title?

"Fu-fufu. Yes. What is it?"

"Well, you're a Great Thief, Ed-an..."

Tremble tremble!

Ed-an's hands began to shake, and Su-hyeok flinched.

What's with this guy?

"K-keep going! Fufu."

"...It's not strange to search this castle, but I don't have a single thief skill."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Ah. That's because of magic."

In ruins and dungeons, traps were often hidden behind magic.

A thief's skills could disarm those traps, but magical skills granted a bonus too.

And Su-hyeok's magic skills were no less than Advanced rank.

He could see through most ordinary illusion spells.

That was why Tae-hyun had attached Su-hyeok to Ed-an in the first place.

Ed-an, now in an excellent mood thanks to Su-hyeok, said,

"But still, not just anyone can find things like this. Just trust me and follow along. Everything will turn out fine! I'll show you the techniques of a Great Thief."

"Ooh...!"

Su-hyeok nodded innocently, believing him.

The corners of Ed-an's mouth stretched up so far they looked ready to tear.

"Fufu! When you're looking around an old castle like this, the first thing you check is the floor, and then the walls. Do you know how I found the staff?"

With nimble hands, Ed-an started tapping along the walls, searching for hidden spaces.

He moved aside the frame of a painting so weathered it had nearly faded away, found the cavity behind it, and Su-hyeok's eyes went wide.

"Inside here is... hm. Nothing much. Shall we look for something else?"

"That's amazing!"

"Fufu. You may praise me more."

Su-hyeok trailed behind Ed-an, watching the dazzling display of thief techniques.

Ed-an truly did have skill worthy of calling himself a Great Thief.

Not once did he trigger a trap inside the old castle, and he kept uncovering hidden spaces one after another.

"Do you know where the staff was? To do this kind of work, you have to know how to read the heart of the person who owns a place like this. Ordinary thieves would search shabby rooms first, or places tucked out of sight. But I'm a Great Thief. I'm on a completely different level from those sewer rats!"

Given the chance, Ed-an boasted about himself like mad.

Su-hyeok was taken aback, but nodded anyway.

"The marquis's chair on the top floor, right in the center. That's where I found the staff. Other thieves, when they saw a chair, would've just checked the surface. Who would imagine someone would hide an item somewhere so obvious? But I'm different. Someone rich enough to own a castle like this would hide things in a place worthy of his status."

"So that's where you found it?"

"Exactly right! Fufu. If I'd had more time, I could've found the weapon containing Authority back then too."

"......"

Su-hyeok decided not to mention that Tae-hyun had given the retreat order without the slightest concern for Ed-an's feelings.

There was no point in saying it.

"Aren't you going to check what's hanging on the wall over there?"

Su-hyeok asked, pointing at the weapons displayed there.

The weapons hung up haphazardly along the wall were covered in dust and looked filthy.

"No need to look at those. I told you, didn't I? Read the owner's heart. A man like Marquis Marden would keep the weapon that wounded him somewhere very special. Find his personal chair, things like that."

Su-hyeok nodded at Ed-an's words.

Then he reached for one of the weapons displayed on the wall.

He did it without thinking much of it.

Yeah... guess it's nothing special.

Su-hyeok checked the other items one by one with mild disappointment.

For someone like him, who had never done anything like this before, even the act of checking them was fun.

"?!"

Su-hyeok was startled.

Wasn't this exactly the kind of thing they were looking for?

But Ed-an said they wouldn't hang something like this in a place like this...

"What are you doing?"

"Maybe this is...?"

"Fufu. I told you. Items hanging in places like this are..."

Ed-an walked over and inspected the item himself.

As a thief, he had a high Appraisal skill for items.

"......"

"Isn't it?"

"It... looks like it is..."

Ed-an said, sweating profusely.

"...Shall we say we found it together?"

"......"

Su-hyeok looked at Ed-an with cold eyes.

He felt like he was starting to understand what kind of person Ed-an really was.

"Give it here!"

"Ah. Aah..."

Ed-an made a plaintive sound as Su-hyeok snatched the staff away from him.

At that moment, a message window appeared before Su-hyeok.

Huh?

Su-hyeok hesitated for a moment.

What would Tae-hyun have done in a situation like this?

Ah, right. He told me not to stubbornly cling to a basic class, and to grab a Rare or Heroic class as fast as I could if I found one!

If Tae-hyun had heard this, he would've stopped him.

Some Rare classes were one thing, but Archisus Church Mage? The name alone sounded ominous.

Tae-hyun didn't care what class he got—he was confident he could make anything work. But for someone like Su-hyeok, who lacked instinct, he would've wanted him in a stable class first.

But Su-hyeok remembered what Tae-hyun had said and followed it exactly.

Besides, Archisus Church Mage. Wouldn't that let him walk a path similar to the one taken by the Tae-hyun he admired so much?

"Th-that bastard's a monster! We can't fight him! Everyone fall back! Hide inside the castle and deal with him there!"

After clashing with him a few times, the vampires realized just how strong Tae-hyun was and changed tactics.

They planned to use the maze-like structure of the old castle's underground passages to strike and withdraw.

But Tae-hyun didn't bother chasing them.

"Plant them."

"Yes, sir!"

Bombs piled up neatly in the corridor, one after another.