Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion
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“What the hell kind of crazy situation is this?!”
A neutral zone a short distance from the border.
It was a narrow area, but it still featured a decent variety of terrain.
The Black Ogre Band was a bandit group operating in the neutral zone.
They had seized the tallest hill in the area and established their base there for all their operations.
And the leader of the Black Ogre Band, Jexter.
He had once been a guard captain in the Siren Kingdom but barely escaped with his life after a bribery scandal and was now turned to banditry in the neutral zone.
However, he possessed skills far beyond those of a mere bandit, allowing him to unite the surrounding bandit groups. Before long, he had built a massive bandit outfit with over five hundred men under him.
As a result, the Black Ogre Band wielded untouchable power in this neutral zone.
But...
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
Something utterly impossible had happened.
One of the Black Ogre Band’s sub-leaders, Rialkan, had returned after losing men to a tiny village with fewer than fifty fighters.
“L-Leader! It’s...”
At Jexter’s bellow, Rialkan put on an aggrieved expression and wailed.
“There was a guy shooting arrows like a ghost. I swear! He killed two of ours in less than ten seconds!”
Rialkan recalled the incident.
Darkness had blanketed the area, making it their perfect stage.
They had always operated under cover of night.
But the moment that arrow flew, everything changed.
Rialkan remembered it vividly.
One of his charging men struck by an arrow and flung backward.
“H-How strong must that bow have been... The guy who got hit flew at least three or four meters.”
“What the...”
“That’s bullshit!”
At that moment, someone stormed into the lair, shouting loudly.
Rialkan’s face twisted at the sight of the man approaching with a long spear slung over his shoulder.
The spearman addressed Rialkan.
“You’re just spooked, that’s all. A person flying three or four meters from an arrow? Guys who can shoot like that are rare even in the kingdoms.”
The sneering newcomer was Rolph, a sub-leader highly regarded by Jexter within the Black Ogre Band.
He had been a mercenary but got blacklisted after slaughtering his client’s merchant caravan and all the traders.
Thanks to that, he brought his entire mercenary band over to the Black Ogre Band. He was a freak with the spear.
His only flaw was his cruelty and poor anger control.
Rialkan scowled at Rolph’s arrival.
“Shut your crap. You think you’d do any better? If you’d been there, you’d have an arrow in your skull...”
Whoosh—!
In that instant, the spear whipped forward at blinding speed, aiming at Rialkan’s throat.
Rialkan stared rigidly at Rolph, the spear tip hovering right in front of his chin.
Rolph, spear trained on him, spoke.
“Rialkan, I’ve told you time and again: watch your mouth around me. If you want that ugly mug of yours to stay properly attached to your neck.”
His eyes brimmed with killing intent.
He genuinely meant to kill.
Rialkan swallowed hard without realizing it.
‘Th-this psycho... This bastard’s really insane.’
There’s an old saying: steer clear of madmen.
Rialkan fell silent and glared at Rolph, prompting Jexter to speak.
“That’s enough. How’d the raid go?”
“Well... we didn’t get much, but we snagged some decent women. I’ll sort out the prime ones before handing them off to the kingdom’s slave traders and have them served up for you tonight. Heh heh heh.”
Jexter turned back to Rialkan, ignoring the lecherous glint in the man’s eyes.
“Rialkan, take your men and go back. If you screw up again, no mercy.”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
“Jexter, no need for that. Leave it to me. No point wasting more time on this idiot—I’ll finish it in one go.”
“You son of a—!”
Rialkan, who moments ago had thought to avoid the madman, couldn’t hold back and drew his sword.
Clang!
As Rialkan unsheathed his blade, Rolph grinned and raised his spear again.
“Guess I’ll finally get a taste of your blood today.”
Rolph’s eyes gleamed. But,
“Enough.”
Jexter’s low voice echoed through the lair, and Rolph clicked his tongue before withdrawing his spear.
“This is Rialkan’s mess to clean up. Save it for next time, Rolph.”
“Tch, fine.”
Rolph slung his spear back over his shoulder without hesitation and turned away.
Jexter then addressed Rialkan.
“No second mistakes.”
“...Understood.”
Rialkan bit his lip hard, wore a determined look, and left the lair.
* * *
It was the arrival of a true hero.
Thanks to the sudden appearance of this man, everyone survived.
“Thank you for saving us.”
“Truly, thank you so much.”
The villagers repeatedly expressed their gratitude to Lian.
Of course, some eyed him warily.
He had gotten them out of danger, but his identity was unknown.
“But who are you?”
“I’m Captain Lian of the Artian Kingdom.”
“Whoa, regular army from the kingdom?”
“Yes.”
The mood stirred at that.
Weren’t they all refugees who had fled the Artian Kingdom to this place?
So why was a kingdom soldier here?
Unease flickered in their eyes.
Was he here to drag them back?
They began cautiously raising their weapons.
Lian shook his head at their reaction.
“No need to be on guard. The reason I’m here is because I need your strength.”
“What kinda bullshit is that?”
The retort came from another direction.
A group approached from the side, led by a woman dragging a massive sword along the ground.
Her face looked young at first glance.
But her body seemed quite developed in comparison.
Lian asked as she approached.
“I’m Lian. What’s your name?”
“Skip it. What’s this crap about needing our strength? Let me warn you: spout any nonsense, and your head’s coming off right here.”
Lian studied her closely at the sharp tone.
She was tall for a woman.
Easily over 170cm.
Brown hair in a short bob reaching just below her ears.
She was scowling, but overall gave a round, innocent impression.
Long limbs and, unlike most women, firm-looking breasts.
No bulky muscles, but solid ones were visible, and above all, blood trickled slightly from the hand gripping her sword.
A faint smile tugged at Lian’s lips.
“...Herilda.”
“...!”
Her eyes wavered for a moment.
She soon furrowed her brow.
“Wh-who are you?! Who told you my name?!”
Herilda shouted at the crowd, but they all shook their heads in confusion.
No one had said a thing.
She turned to Lian.
“What? How do you know my name then?”
“I’m 1000-Man Commander Lian of the Artian Kingdom. I’ve come here to recruit members for my unit.”
“...You’re saying you came to enlist us into your unit?”
“Exactly.”
“You crazy bastard.”
Herilda sneered, lips curling. She pointed at the people behind her.
“There’s barely fifty of us here who can fight. And you’re gonna take us into your unit? What about the rest? You gonna take responsibility for them too?”
“If you join the unit and rack up merits, you’ll earn enough money and housing to support your families. Then...”
Lian answered calmly.
He had planned for all of it, naturally.
But before he could finish, Herilda exploded.
“That’s bullshit!”
Lian looked at her as she bellowed.
Herilda ranted at him like a madwoman.
“There’s no guarantee we’ll rack up merits just by joining your unit! What happens to the people here in the meantime? You gonna leave them behind?!”
She soon smirked mockingly amid her fury.
Sneering, she said,
“Your kingdom bastards are all the same. Selfish. Don’t give a damn what happens to anyone else.”
She turned to the people behind her.
“Why do you think we fled here?”
Some nodded in agreement with her words.
A few were already tearing up.
That was their situation.
Herilda continued.
“The moment we leave, everyone left behind dies. The young women and kids get captured and sold as slaves, the old folks slaughtered.”
Her gaze on Lian now flickered with faint killing intent.
“You slick little shit who’s lived fat and happy—think you understand our plight?”
“Of course I do. Perfectly. That’s why I’m here.”
Lian replied evenly to Herilda. Then he addressed the crowd behind her.
“You know there are bounties on the bandit groups here, right?”
“...What?”
“The most notorious is the Black Ogre Band. They operate in the neutral zone, but they’ve encroached all the way to the borders of the Artian and Siren Kingdoms. Plus, their human trafficking is undermining both nations’ laws.”
That was why both kingdoms had placed bounties on the neutral zone bandits.
Here’s the absurd part.
While they hoped the bounties would lead to the bandits’ extermination, neither kingdom had any intention of deploying troops to wipe them out.
Simple reason.
The damage wasn’t severe enough to warrant army mobilization, and doing so would feel like aiding the enemy kingdom.
“Given the bad blood between the Artian and Siren Kingdoms... it’s pretty predictable.”
Mortal enemies.
That was the state of relations between the two.
“So they’re dead set on never doing the enemy any favors, even if we suffer.”
“...You call that an excuse?”
Herilda looked incredulous as she listened to Lian.
“Those lunatics... that’s the only reason they let us get tormented like this?”
“...Yes.”
It might be called the ugly side of kingdoms, but from their perspective, there was no obligation to protect refugees in the neutral zone.
Yet Herilda and the people here lived in hell day by day.
They couldn’t flee elsewhere, nor did they have the strength to fight back.
Lian spoke as Herilda’s sad expression grew plain to see.
“But there is a way out of this situation.”