Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Remington Territory (1)
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# 106
Rokan proposed accepting the Remington lord's offer, even though he had a full grasp of every sleazy scheme they had in mind.
“And I’ll head over there myself.”
“Oh, would you really?”
If dirty tricks were already in motion anyway, he figured he might as well make proper use of them.
Refusing would just prompt expressions of regret followed by pressure tactics, then manufactured quarrels and disputes until they gobbled everything up—so he intended to seize control of the situation from their side instead.
The Rinai lord agreed without hesitation, and the exchange with Remington Territory was thus confirmed.
‘Does he not know, or does he trust me?’
Rokan eyed the Rinai lord with a touch of frustration as the man offered nothing but a beaming smile and words of gratitude for Rokan volunteering as envoy to Remington Territory. He turned back to the letter and ground his teeth once more.
‘How dare they eye what I’ve already claimed.’
He began fanning the flames of his fury toward those who had set their sights on his prize.
* * *
Three days later, the Rinai lord’s reply reached the Remington lord, and preparations for the exchange kicked into high gear.
What they called an “exchange” was little more than the small volume of ongoing trade and occasional visits from a handful of personnel, but protocol and visiting gifts demanded some preparation time.
Three more days passed, and Rokan set off for Remington Territory, leading three soldiers.
‘They should’ve arrived by now, right?’
If he were the Remington lord, the personnel sent to Rinai Territory wouldn’t be envoys so much as an inspection team.
Their focus would be less on mining experts, administrators, or knights for exchange and more on gauging Rinai Territory’s development status.
That meant it might’ve been better for Rokan himself to stay behind and deal with them, but sometimes there were things more important than mere defense.
‘I laid out the general countermeasures, so it should be fine.’
Truth be told, Rinai Territory held few surprises aside from the state of the newly developed mines and the quality of monster corpses from subjugations led by Rokan himself.
In contrast, Rokan stood to squeeze quite a bit out of Remington Territory.
“Remington Territory is in sight!”
How could he extract it all in a way that would spark rumors of masterful fleecing?
The words of one of his accompanying soldiers snapped Rokan out of his deep contemplation.
Dressed as envoys but armed only in basic gear that made them look utterly shabby, they perfectly showcased Rinai Territory’s apparent state—but Rokan had no intention of dressing them up.
To be underestimated. To breed complacency.
That was precisely their role.
“Folks from Rinai Territory? This way, please.”
Upon entering Remington Territory, a guardsman was the first to greet them.
They had been forewarned of the arrival, so even sending the guard captain wouldn’t have been out of place, but Rokan understood the implication and followed the man with a blank expression.
‘Amateurish ploy.’
It was intimidation, plain and simple.
A demonstration of “the gap between us and you”—in treatment as much as in caliber.
[Remington Guardsman Hanson][Lv 200]
A full Level 200 guardsman. In a third-tier city, that was on par with a city defense captain.
Of course, in actual combat power, Malkin or Jargos would overwhelm him, but the sheer pressure of that Level 200 number was no joke.
Rinai Territory’s guardsmen averaged only around Level 180.
Naturally, not every Remington guardsman was at this level, but Rokan’s soldiers were already shrinking back, thoroughly cowed.
“Oh, so you’re that man of the hour. Rokan, was it? I am Sakinkun von Remington, lord of Remington Territory.”
“Human Berserker Rokan.”
By the time they reached the lord’s office within the manor, the situation flipped.
Rokan had expected the Remington lord to look down on them, ignore them, and hunt for any pretext to pick a fight—yet the man personally welcomed them.
The soldiers were left baffled and at a loss, a stark contrast to arriving under mere guardsmen escort, as the lord threw his arms wide in embrace.
‘Interesting.’
Only one man grasped the gist of it: Rokan.
‘Whip and carrot, is it?’
Intimidation followed by lavish welcome to win over the envoy delegation. More precisely, to win over Rokan himself.
A mere knight he might be, but as Rinai Territory’s sole knight and the lone force behind its recent advances, the Remington lord had surely been tempted.
Hook him somehow, and it’d deal a blow to Rinai Territory while netting a major gain for himself—or so he must have calculated.
“Welcome! We’ll discuss details over dinner tonight. You must be tired, so rest until then. I’ve made special arrangements—no discomforts, I assure you.”
‘Tired, my foot. It’s practically next door.’
The Remington lord invited them to dinner while signaling a nearby knight with his eyes to escort them to their lodgings.
But Rokan had no plans to play along so obediently.
“My thanks for your hospitality. That said, I’m here on a mission, so if possible, I’d like to tour the territory.”
“Hah, as rumored—a devoted knight through and through. Do as you like.”
Had he gone along from the start, they’d have spent the whole time gorging and guzzling before heading home. But Rokan cut straight through, leaving even the lord unable to refuse. After all, that was the very reason they’d come.
The Remington lord—with his upturned lips and serpentine eyes—issued orders to the knight in charge of their lodgings, allowing Rokan to inspect the territory as he wished.
Oblivious to what that would bring.
“……What do you think?”
“Impressive enough. But that’s all.”
“Can we snag him?”
“Of course……”
The faint voices drifted into Rokan’s ears as he withdrew. He flashed a sly grin at the whisper caught just before the office door clicked shut.
Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.
“Where would you like to look first? The village farms?”
“For starters, I’d like to see the ‘dungeon.’”
“The dungeon……you mean.”
The knight tasked with guiding him wore a troubled expression at Rokan’s reply. He knew exactly which dungeon Rokan meant.
If Rinai Territory had its “Cave Where Mystery Sleeps,” Remington Territory boasted its own unique dungeon.
A special dungeon with limited entries, just like that one.
Items from there formed a major pillar of the territory’s income.
Being such a vital site, its location—as well as the types of monsters inside and攻略 methods—were all classified, yet Rokan had requested a viewing.
After a moment of distress, the knight dispatched another soldier to confirm with the lord, then nodded.
“The lord has granted special permission—but only to you, Sir Rokan.”
‘Gotcha.’
A place they’d never reveal under normal circumstances, but probing with the lord’s temperament had worked. Permission granted exclusively to Rokan.
The other soldiers were worthless, meaningless—so special treatment for Rokan alone to curry his favor.
“My thanks.”
Rokan immediately ordered his soldiers to rest.
While they headed to the lodgings under separate guidance, he moved off alone with the knight.
“This way.”
The site the knight led him to was a nearby barren hill.
An utterly ordinary-looking wild hill, nothing special.
It could even be mistaken for a secluded spot meant for a quiet ambush, but Rokan wore an expression of understanding.
‘So it’s here.’
One of Remington Territory’s specialties was “honey.”
A very special honey gathered by monsters—both a delicacy and a recovery item, it enjoyed considerable popularity.
Diluted in water, it served as a potion substitute; eaten raw, it granted buffs.
Other items would gain fame later, but that hadn’t spread yet.
“Right here. Please wait a moment……. Ah, they’re here.”
After a brief wait at the designated spot, a group arrived. Knights gathered to show Rokan the dungeon.
Given the dungeon’s high level, they needed proper preparations for a stable clear.
“It just looks like an ordinary dead tree at a glance, but see that big hive up there? You have to shoot it down.”
Such friendly explanation wasn’t strictly necessary, but he answered Rokan’s curiosity as if he were one of their own.
Part of the appeasement strategy, laced with the dismissal that Rokan couldn’t accomplish anything alone anyway.
At a nod from the guiding knight, one of the late arrivals nocked an arrow to his bow.
*Twang.* *Crash.*
The shot struck the fruit-like hive dead-on, sending it tumbling to the ground.
It shattered with a hollow, tinny ring.
One might expect bees to swarm out, but as if empty from the start, nothing emerged.
Instead, with a certain aura, something new took form.
*Tssshhhh.*
A dungeon gate. The entrance to the dungeon Rokan sought had opened.
‘Thanks to this, I’m in for some real sweet gains.’
A smirk tugged at Rokan’s lips as he watched the knights enter ahead of him.
“Mark.”
A Level 230-range dungeon, hard to access in Rinai Territory—and now free.
He immediately commanded his rune book to memorize the location, then followed them inside.
[You have entered the secret dungeon ‘Sweet Death.’]
[First-entry bonus: Acquired experience gain increased by 30% for three days.]
[First-entry bonus: Drop rate increased by 30% for three days.]
[Title ‘Pioneer’ effect: First-entry bonuses enhanced by 10%.]
The dungeon had already been discovered and攻略ed by the knights, but as a “visitor,” it counted as Rokan’s first entry, granting the bonuses.
Ideally, he’d have skipped entering now and snuck in alone later to monopolize it, but he had no choice at present.
Moving right behind them revealed an environment similar to outside.
“Watch yourselves. From here on, ‘Giant Bees’ and ‘Killer Bees’ appear.”
The secret dungeon ‘Sweet Death’ had a somewhat unique structure.
Those who entered stood as challengers, while from a distant massive hive on a great tree, swarms of bee-type monsters—Giant Bees and Killer Bees—poured forth in waves.
Clearing was straightforward: slaughter all the Giant Bees and Killer Bees like waves, destroy the hive, then take down the queen bee.
Their “bee” nature made them swift fliers, posing difficulties, but the Remington knights stuck together in tight formation, defending and pushing through successfully.
‘Nothing to it.’
Rokan stayed entirely under their protection, not stepping forward once.
Royal Jelly could drop randomly from hunting Giant Bees or Killer Bees without even destroying the hive, but he had zero desire to draw eyes now.
Rokan’s current level was 223.
Giant Bees were 237.
The more they assumed the gap was exactly as visible, the better his plans would unfold.
“You gentlemen are truly impressive. I’m in awe.”
After a long slog to clear the dungeon, Rokan lavished them with insincere praise, gilding their egos.
He could’ve soloed it in half the time, but this was all an act to lull them into complacency and underestimation.
They ate it up wholesale, puffing out their chests as they guided him to the next spot.
The village and farms this time. No way to see everything in a single day anyway, so Rokan paced himself to avoid raising flags.
Thus ended the first day’s inspection, leading into dinner with the Remington lord.
Amid the peculiar tension, the Remington lord spoke first.
“I hear you’re not a lifetime knight of Rinai Territory. Let me be direct: have you considered becoming my knight? I treat promising talent generously.”