Dawn of the False Lord's Execution
Screeeeech---!!!
By the time the train pulled into Lisal, dawn was already breaking. Staring at the sun rising over the mountainside behind the city walls, I stretched my stiff neck side to side from exhaustion and stepped off.
"First, we head to Kasar."
"Hmm. It's a quest to investigate Muhar Castle, but I don't get why you're fussing over Motram."
Baek Yiheon, who had gotten off the train with me, yawned lowly and shook his head.
"Let's go."
He and Red Sickle followed behind me. The good news was that I'd been able to leave Norpa Jeran in Jasal's territory. Jasal was slippery as a snake and not to be trusted easily, but there was a barrier there, so it should be fine.
Dwarves aren't weak in combat anyway, and there's no need to risk unnecessary danger.
For that reason, having Red Sickle along—who could more than handle the role of two or three high-level players—was a huge relief.
"Huh?"
Baek Yiheon knocked on the closed door of the Kasar Shop a few more times. It was early morning, with people just starting to appear on the streets, so few places were open yet, but there wasn't even a sign of life from the darkened shop.
"No one's here? Did he go somewhere again?"
"Where?"
"Beats me."
I couldn't hide my embarrassment at this unexpected situation.
I can't wrap up the Muhar Castle event without Motram. We need him to get the citizens of Muhar to follow us...
As Jasal had said, Muhar Castle wasn't strategically vital. It wasn't rich in resources or home to mines yielding magitech materials. Still, my interest went beyond just acquiring Motram and Muhar Castle—it was the secrets hidden there.
The three locations of Muhar.
Muhar Castle itself held no meaning, but the materials in the hidden chests at key spots within it were crucial.
If what I read in that ancient tome is right... Muhar Castle must not end up as shattered ruins to prepare for the calamity ahead.
Left alone, after the false lord incident, Muhar Castle would completely collapse. I had to prevent at least that much. And for that, I needed Motram, the hero of Muhar from that event.
But the man I'd assumed would be here wasn't, and I couldn't help feeling flustered.
"What're you doing there so early, lad? You didn't come for more leaf again, did you?"
"Hahaha, who else but you, Granny Dallian. Thought you were a guard for a second there."
"Scared my ass... Listen up, boy. I told you those leaves are for healing. Don't make honest merchants look bad—stop loitering around!"
"Aw, come on, that's not it!"
Baek Yiheon grinned at the approaching old woman, as if this were routine. It was rare for NPCs to be this friendly, but he somehow always seemed to have high affinity with them.
Probably from all the incidents he got tangled in as a Mysterious Transporter. He even snuck NPCs out of warzones in transport carts when he played mercenary sometimes.
Ironically, the guy called Mad Dog for butchering players was always careful with NPCs. He even had high affinity with the rail authority NPCs, granting him top-tier silver ticket access for transport.
Maybe the Memory Keeper buff from Mysterious Transporter isn't limited to transport NPCs—could be all NPCs in general.
If so, building affinity with Motram wasn't impossible.
"Sigh, leaf tastes just like tobacco. It's virtual anyway—no harm to the body—but NPCs won't budge."
He shot me a sly grin. Looked like what he'd promised the guard last night was probably leaf too.
"Granny, do you know where the owner went? Heard he came back to Lisal yesterday, but he's gone already this early?"
At Baek Yiheon's question, the granny clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"Left early last night."
"Where to?"
Muhar Castle. He always stops by there after returning to Lisal. Plenty of starving kids there. Loads up on food. Pointless nonsense. So don't bother good folk and get your head straight, you."
"Muhar Castle?"
I bit my lip slightly at her words.
No way... Today?
That instant, I realized. But it made sense—I'd only seen the Muhar Castle incident in reports, so pinpointing the exact date was nearly impossible. All I knew for sure was it happened well before my continental war.
"...Baek Yiheon!"
As I called his name and bolted toward the harbor where Jasal's ships were docked, the sharp one grabbed my arm.
"Follow me! From the harbor to the ship upriver is slower than taking a carriage straight to Muhar from Lisal."
"...Huh?"
"Granny!! No carriage today, right? Lend it to me for the day. Okay?"
"You up to no good again?"
"Nah, come on. On a duke's mission here. I'll bring it right back."
"Hmph, keep it clean then, boy."
"No worries. Carriages are meant to be driven, yeah?"
"Yeah, don't get hurt!"
Baek Yiheon waved to Dallian, who fussed like a worried grandma, grabbed my arm, and we dashed down the street.
"You know how to drive a carriage too?"
"Years as a Transporter? Mastered vehicle skills day one."
He flashed a cocky grin.
Riding skills aren't impossible, but his NPC affinity is higher than expected. What kind of playstyle is this guy on?
Like with the station guard earlier or the granny just now, he treated them like real neighbors—effortlessly friendly.
Maybe his Transporter evolution isn't just vehicles—anything 'transporting' in general.
Like my earlier guess. If the Memory Keeper title buff applies from the literal act of moving things, not just vehicles...
It could even extend to abstract stuff like trust or hearts.
If it were straightforward like Seizure Sword, it'd be simple... Need to look deeper into Baek Yiheon's ability.
My interest stemmed from this: if he could build NPC affinity easily, maybe during the Muhar Castle citizen rescue...
We could make Mad Dog the hero instead of Motram.
It wasn't impossible, seeing how he treated NPCs like living people.
Clop-clop-!!
Watching him expertly whip up Dallian's carriage from the stables—not his first rodeo—I asked casually.
"You're a weird one. Slaughters players without batting an eye, but cozy with NPCs."
"They're more human than people."
"...What?"
Baek Yiheon cracked the reins hard, picking up speed.
"Resurrection penalties or not, we don't really die. We avoid death to dodge downtime and lag behind. Nobody truly fears it."
"And?"
"But NPCs don't respawn. Makes 'em more real. Kim Do-hyun, ever seen an NPC's dying face?"
"No."
Even in dreams, my followers weren't NPCs—they were true comrades, people to me.
"I've seen plenty. Too many. Don't wanna anymore. But what happens if they die now? No churches or priests like DW1. No resurrection classes."
"Permanent death... That's why you like NPCs? Valuing life... Doesn't sound like Mad Dog talk."
Baek Yiheon's back seemed to twitch as he drove.
"Yeah. Not my place."
"Damn right."
To a casual listener, he might sound like a cool player who loved the game world. But I just snorted.
Early DW1: thief players massacring city NPCs. Mad Dog, Baek Yiheon, started it all.
"... "
For a moment, I imagined him as Muhar Castle's hero.
"Nah, won't work."
"...Huh?"
I nudged his head forward from behind and whispered in his ear.
"You're better off just rampaging."
"There it is."
As the carriage slowed after two nonstop days, a small castle came into view far ahead.
Too beautiful on the vast plains to call abandoned, this was Muhar Castle.
Situated midway between Lisal and Jasal's territory, this inland fortress had once thrived as one of House Jasal's domains. Before the duchy formed, a dwarf kingdom stood here, its scars of fierce battles still visible.
But as House Jasal prioritized overseas expansion via their Black Fleet over inland, it faded into abandonment. Now, with even the lord gone, it was just ruins sheltering vagrants.
The dwarf kingdom, thriving in magitech, fell challenging the gods' domain.
I thought, gazing at the castle.
Considering its massive scale—three times the duchy's territory—Muhar Castle lay within it.
Did war erupt inside the kingdom?
In truth, Muhar Castle is proof of the dwarves' transgression into divine realms.
I recalled a passage from an ancient tome.
Magitech stepped into forbidden realms. Thus, we opened a door that should have remained shut. We barely closed it... but the black energy seeping from the crack dominated the dwarves' minds and plunged us into ruin.
But what door they opened, or what that black energy was, no records remain.
By the time I unified the duchy, war had wiped out most dwarves; none knew the past.
One certainty: the traces in Muhar spoke of battle against that black energy.
Because...
Ancient Muhar was where dwarves conducted magitech research.
"Fuck, what the hell is that...?"
That's when Baek Yiheon, driving, growled under his breath.
"...Why?"
I leaned past him and looked at the castle.
"...!!!!"
I was speechless.
Up close, the once-beautiful castle was crumbling everywhere. Around its outer walls, like a palisade, wooden stakes stood in a row—with people hanging from them.
The hanged showed no movement.
"All dead."
Baek Yiheon's grip tightened on the reins.
Chill—
It's already begun.
Muhar's False Lord.
The cold sweat down my back instinctively confirmed the event I'd only read about was underway.
"Baek Yiheon."
"Yeah?"
"Use this. Better than what you've got. But..."
I drew Seizure Sword from my belt and handed it over.
"Gah?!"
He took it, eyes widening in shock as he stared at me.
"H-Heroic grade?!"
I poked his head to face the castle, then whispered in his ear.
"Straight to the lord's keep after the main gate. I'll take responsibility. Slaughter anyone who blocks or hinders us."
Neiiiigh--!!
The carriage accelerated toward the castle.