Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: The Road to Sampof
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Kill the elf, and save the man.
『Record from the Second Western Pioneering Era no.444 – Slogan of the nameless forest dwellers.』
***
The moment Ballagu and his group entered the castle walls, he spoke to the guard waiting behind the gate.
“Give those lowly folk following behind a suitable spot. If anything disloyal happens and stains my reputation… I won’t let it slide. Got it?”
Subordinates had to obey orders from superiors. Especially when that superior was a foul-tempered noble.
The guard hurriedly led away the kids and women, and Ballagu took Joseph’s crew and Pinel toward the palace lord’s castle.
Dovan offered to guide them, but Ballagu deliberately strode ahead.
Once inside the castle, he headed straight for the palace lord’s office. Just in case the lord was still inside, they needed to ambush him.
Pinel and Joseph knew this too, staying on high alert until they reached the office.
For Dovan trailing behind, it was pure agony.
Fortunately, the palace lord’s office was empty. Ballagu swallowed a sigh of relief and casually sat at the desk.
“Dovan, relay this to the guards. Have them go outside, maintain order in the surroundings, and rescue the homeless rabble to bring them into the castle.”
“Yes?”
Dovan, who believed he was facing the South Palace Lord, widened his eyes in disbelief, then immediately bowed his head under Ballagu’s glare.
“What? Is there a problem with my orders?”
“N-no, sir! No problem at all!”
Dovan replied with a voice laced with forced vigor, as if trying to hide his shock.
Deceiving a friend wasn’t pleasant, but Ballagu kept up the act.
To make up for his past mistake, and for Cheon Yeomyeong’s sake.
“Oh, and send all but the minimal guards to maintain surrounding security. If even one slacks off, I’ll punish you personally. Understood?”
Spreading out the guard forces. That was the final ploy to seize the palace.
Of course, Dovan didn’t suspect the scheme and asked back.
“But then the forces defending this castle and Your Excellency will be…”
“Didn’t you see the dragons’ battle end earlier? What’s left to defend now?”
“…”
“And for guarding this place, these folks are more than enough.”
Ballagu ad-libbed as he glanced at Pinel. Pinel subtly drew his sword and cloaked it in sword aura.
A translucent sword aura radiating lethal menace.
Seeing proof of a genuine superhuman, Dovan bowed his head and shrank back.
“…I’ll carry out the orders.”
The moment he replied, Ballagu waved him off dismissively.
Dovan shut the door and left at once. Once his footsteps faded, Pinel spoke.
“Ha… I can’t believe this plan worked.”
“Sometimes the most absurd plans succeed best.”
Joseph and the Brute chuckled in agreement. As their laughter died down, Ballagu sighed.
“But we’re not done yet. We don’t even know if the South Palace Lord is dead or alive.”
Pinel shrugged his remaining shoulder.
“An old man who’s lost his alliances and base?”
“He’s lost his alliances and base, but he’s a mage. A pretty skilled one at that.”
Better safe than sorry. Ballagu added as he began checking the office nooks and crannies.
Joseph and Pinel eyed him curiously, wondering what he was doing. Ballagu explained defensively.
“With that old man’s personality, he’d definitely have a secret passage here. Better to find it early, just in case…”
Ballagu’s words didn’t continue.
Just as he opened his mouth, the office bookshelf lurched back with a thud!
Joseph’s group—and even Pinel—stared at the opened shelf, speechless.
And from behind it emerged…
A familiar young man and three girls.
“…What? Why’s everyone here?”
It was Cheon Yeomyeong’s group, who had left the inn earlier.
Ballagu spread his arms in delight but froze, staring blankly at Yeomyeong’s face and hands in turn.
In his hand was the South Palace Lord, covered in blood.
***
A bit earlier, right after Yeomyeong stored the nuclear missile in his inventory.
Seeing the nuke vanish suddenly, Neti and the Saintess shared the same thought.
What the hell just happened?
Yeomyeong did something, but what? Magic? Martial arts? Divine power?
Unlike the two whose questions spiraled, Seti smiled meaningfully.
“Ah, so that’s the ‘bag,’ huh?”
“…What?”
How did you know? As Yeomyeong asked back, Seti stepped closer and whispered in his ear.
“Truth is, I’ve been watching the whole time.”
From the beginning? You don’t mean Migni… As Yeomyeong started to counter-question, the Saintess poked her head between them.
“Hold on, stop.”
She hugged Seti’s waist as she said it, blocking any further contact between Yeomyeong and Seti.
“Explain first. What’s this ‘bag’? And where’d you send the nuke?”
Sensing a long explanation ahead, Yeomyeong mentally scanned his inventory list.
He picked a rare item from beyond the dimensional gate among the hundreds and gripped the air.
The next instant, a small can of cola appeared in Yeomyeong’s hand.
“Huh?”
Seeing the Saintess’s mouth agape, Yeomyeong stored it away.
Then pulled it out, stored it, pulled it out, stored it…
Did the retrieval scale with distance and size? The mana cost for the cola can was negligible.
After repeating this a few times, it wasn’t the Saintess but Neti who clapped.
“Ah! I get it. It’s a subspace, right?”
“…Yeah. Correct.”
Not a quiz show, but Yeomyeong tossed the cola can to Neti as a prize.
While she marveled at the cold can, the Saintess finally caught on and tilted her head.
“A subspace that can retrieve a launched nuke…? Never heard of one used like that.”
“…”
“But I can’t deny what I saw with my own eyes…”
The Saintess eyed Yeomyeong with a complicated expression. This wasn’t the first time he’d shown abilities beyond imagination.
That aside, a nuke was a nuke. After choosing her words carefully, she spoke cautiously.
“…Yeomyeong. Can you promise me one thing?”
“Promise?”
“That nuke you just retrieved. Promise you won’t use it on innocent people.”
Was it a prophecy? No, she seemed to recall the prophecy she’d seen with Yeomyeong before.
The future where he and Seti turned Yeouido to flames and razed the National Assembly.
No hesitation. Yeomyeong looked at the Saintess and Seti in turn.
“I’m no murderer… If that’s it, sure, I promise.”
“……Thanks.”
The moment the Saintess replied, Neti shot her hand up like she’d been waiting.
“Brother-in-law, brother-in-law! How much more can you fit in the subspace from now on?”
“…What?”
“Not anything else… There was an armory and tank depot in the direction the rat bastards fled, right? How about grabbing some weapons and a tank while chasing them?”
“…”
Tank? The Saintess tilted her head, clueless. Yeomyeong narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin.
Weapons and a tank. Not a bad idea.
***
Unfortunately, the armory had already been looted.
From the massive armory, Yeomyeong could only retrieve a few dozen rifles and ammo crates. No need to say more.
No real disappointment, though. Pinel had already told him the Ratkin beat them to it.
The tanks were what mattered. Thinking that, they headed to the tank depot…
“It’s emptied here too.”
The tank depot was barren. Fuel, parts—cleaned out spotless.
“Nooo! My tank!”
Regardless of Neti’s wail, Yeomyeong pondered, lips pursed.
No exit, so how’d they move the tanks?
The answer came right after leaving the depot.
Right in front of the opposite door, mana flickering red enough to dye the surroundings.
It was a dimensional gate. Massive enough for tanks to pass through.
“Nukes first, now dimensional gates…”
As the Saintess lamented, the group all looked to Yeomyeong.
Their expressions all said, ‘Gonna chase through the gate?’
Yeomyeong shook his head without a second thought.
Not fear or lack of prep.
The mana from that gate was the issue.
It felt just like the red arm he’d fought in frozen time.
“Let’s pull back here.”
Regrettable not killing Bikov, but they stopped the nuke somehow. No need to risk pursuing now.
The moment Yeomyeong thought that and stepped back.
The red gate began dissolving with a hiss, as if waiting for him to fall into a trap.
“…Man, what kind of country was the Soviet Union to leave stuff like this behind?”
With Neti’s brief sentiment, the group turned toward the corridor where the South Palace Lord fled.
Fortunately—or not—the abnormal escape via dimensional gate left plenty of traces from Bikov and the lord.
Footprints, bloodstains, blatant mana trails.
Seti led the tracking. Didn’t want to miss the palace lord after taking Ekaterina’s spear hit, or so she said.
Anyway, she steadily followed his trail from the armory out to the city alleys.
After weaving through the chaotic back alleys for a while.
They found a wooden door between alleys leading underground.
Opening it revealed a liquor storeroom stacked with whiskey barrels.
The faint booze and wood scent diluted the blood smell; footprints long gone.
No more mana either. End of the trail?
As Seti sighed in regret, Yeomyeong suddenly started tapping the barrels.
Tap tap, thunk thunk, hollow hollow.
The wooden barrels rang differently by fill level—closer to tap tap meant fuller.
“What’re you doing?”
The Saintess tilted her head. Yeomyeong kept tapping as he replied.
“Something off. Wait a sec.”
Soon, he stood before the rack of barrels all giving solid tap taps.
And the next moment.
Pushing the rack, it slid aside with a rumble, revealing a hidden corridor behind.
“What? How’d you find it?”
As they entered the hidden passage, Seti asked. Yeomyeong shrugged it off.
“Store whiskey in wooden barrels, and it evaporates yearly—loses volume.”
“…So?”
“But dusty barrels full to the brim? Not one, the whole rack? Obvious, right.”
Seti smiled faintly at the explanation.
“…Documentary?”
“Documentary.”
Making sounds only I don’t get again. The Saintess grumbled softly behind, and Neti comforted her—It’s fine, I don’t get it either.
The corridor ended at a small, luxurious room.
Wardrobe, mirror, ladder up.
There, the South Palace Lord was scrubbing blood off himself. Spotting Yeomyeong’s group, he gaped like he’d seen a ghost.
“N-no, how…?!”
Before he could reflexively grab his staff, Yeomyeong’s Flying Leg Art connected with his jaw—slightly faster.
Clean roundhouse, shattered molars.
With the palace lord’s groan from the single blow, the group’s cleanup ended.
* * *