Chapter 277
My Villains Episode 277
52. ancient gateway(5)
After dragging the dead wyverns and gathering them in a corner of the camp, pulling out their teeth and claws, and stripping them of their skins, night was already deep..
The leather was spread out and hung under a tree cleared of snow to dry. Claws and teeth were cleaned and distributed into bags..
Normally, just skinning would have taken everyone in our group for about two days. Dealing with six massive monsters weighing up to 1 ton is a very laborious and labor-intensive task..
But fortunately we had Utekwai. He treated the wyvern as if it were a large wild boar and skinned it in an instant. The fact that all the work was completed in just four or five hours was entirely due to Ute Kwai..
I felt it the other day when I was skinning a brown bear, but it looked like a skinning machine..
As I loaded the sack of claws and teeth onto the cart, I asked Conwyer:.
“How much is this roughly??”
“well.”
He answered, wiping his hands dirty with oil and blood with his eyes..
“Leather will vary greatly depending on how you bargain with the merchant. For teeth and claws, you'll get about 20 gold coins..”
“Twenty sheets? In just two sacks?”
“Yes, Nari.”
Twenty gold coins is equivalent to the annual income of a small manor, which is certainly a considerable amount of money..
But considering my circumstances, it's not that much money..
The amount of money that goes out to the mercenaries' weekly salary is 23 silver coins and 6 pennies, which is a little less than 5 gold coins. This means that sometimes you need this kind of income to cover your expenses..
The reason I was spending this much money to maintain mercenaries, and even to recruit them little by little, was of course for the future..
There are realistic limits to becoming strong alone. My current level is 30, and the experience required is 150,000..
If you roughly calculate the experience gained from killing a wyvern, it will be a little less than 20,000, so you have to go through the same battle eight times to raise the level by one..
However, no matter how chaotic the world is, valuable experience points like Wyvern do not come to visit on a regular basis. Monsters do not respawn endlessly like in other games..
In the end, leveling up will inevitably be delayed. So I decided I needed to find another way to increase power..
The result of that judgment was a mercenary..
All kinds of mysteries, including magic and miracles, exist in this world. There are also humans with magical physical abilities..
For example, Sir Langbolt, Prince Ulkar's first knight, is a human being without an ounce of magical power. Nevertheless, he swings his sword like lightning, cutting through the iron plate, and jumps 2 meters while wearing plate armor. They say he's a superman like something out of a movie..
Among my mercenaries, Fritz, Dervish, and Steedman often demonstrate strength that surpasses human limits. Fold coins with your fingers, break a man's head with a punch, swing an orc in two with a sword, and things like that..
That was why I trained with mercenaries every morning. My judgment was that one day, if the mercenaries under my command became strong enough and I gave them a variety of magic tools, they would definitely become a useful force..
The brief thought ended with the words added by the conductor:.
“There's nothing to be surprised about, Nari. Basically, all the items used in alchemy are expensive..”
“ alchemy?”
“Wyvern teeth and claws are materials that alchemists are fascinated by. I don't know exactly, but I heard that it has the property of repelling poison and cold, or something like that..”
“……I see..”
When Conwyr went away to warm up, I flopped down on the stump next to the cart..
“It was an alchemy ingredient..”
I sighed lightly and looked up to see a round full moon. There wasn't a single cloud during the day, and the night sky was filled with starlight..
Suddenly, the scenery of an August night comes to life vividly..
One night, when moonlight and starlight streamed through the fields of fir and pine trees and these jagged trees. One night when a cool breeze blew under a large spruce tree.
Silky golden hair, white forehead, and neatly rolled eyelashes. At that time, that slender hand was tightly holding the size of my knee..
As the memories came back to life, something seemed to be welling up in my heart..
“......trunnion?”
“ O ha
■己三
What brought me out of my memories was Mungchi’s voice. The guy was looking at me with anxiety or worry written all over his small face..
“Uh, why?”
“……no.”
A bitter smile comes out..
“What's wrong with that?.”
As I said that and stroked his head, Mungchi lifted his chin slightly and closed his eyes..
After Ellen left, Mungchi didn't leave my side for a while. The look in your eyes the whole time was similar to just now..
Suddenly, I raised my head and made eye contact with Utequa, who was wiping himself in the snow at the border of the camp. Then he suddenly scooped up a handful of snow covered in blood and oil and threw it away..
“IC,”
I quickly tried to avoid it, but the snowball was originally aimed at the tree next to me, not me. The snowball shattered and rained down on my head..
“What are you doing, you bastard! It's dirty!”
“cleaner than your face.”
“what?”
I felt my face, but there was no trace of blood or oil. Well, there's no way I, a blood knight, wouldn't have known even though I had blood on my body..
“There's nothing!”
He lost his temper, but Utequai just smiled and wiped himself..
Utequwai, who had recently climbed the mountain at the call of the so-called 'Mother God', returned after exactly a week as he said. He had a tattoo on his leg and his eyes were clearer than before..
After a short period of thought, I honestly confessed the reason why Ellen left..
Contrary to my expectations, Utequai did not explode with anger. I didn't feel sorry or sad.
All he did was mutter ‘I see’ and tap my shoulder. Since then, he hasn't said a word about Ellen..
It was unclear exactly what Utequai was thinking. But just having less to worry about was something I was thankful for..
While I was taking revenge on Utequai with the help of a bunch of people, a group of mercenaries came looking for me..
“lily!" The four or five mercenaries, led by a heavy soldier dervish, all had angry faces..
“••••••what?”
“Did you hear the story??”
“This is all nonsense. What's the story?”
“Wyverns. Here, this newbie attacked me because I was stealing eggs..”
At the dervish's words, the mercenary with half his face burned - what was his name, Doni? - stepped forward, dragging the skinny boy with him. The boy's face turned pale as he was grabbed by the collar by the man's vicious hands..
“cabas?”
“I sent him out to pick up some firewood and he did something stupid. Ha, I was so upset.-”
I scratched my eyebrows and opened my mouth..
“……Uh, so?”
“yes? Sir, this rat-sized bastard has invited wyverns to the camp.?”
Other mercenaries also gathered one by one in the sudden commotion. The dervish raised his voice as if to make everyone listen..
“I didn't make a mistake while scouting, I just messed around with the monsters to fill my stomach. You deserve to be punished, Nari.!”
Well, that's a problem..
The dervish's request was a legitimate one. After hearing the truth, it was procedurally justifiable to bring Cabas in front of me instead of beating him up arbitrarily. but…….
“What kind of punishment would you like me to give you??”
“After beating them, they take off their clothes and kick them out.
I have to.”
At her words, Cabas' face went from pale to red. In the background, Gole Mann and Shea shout 'No!' He shouted and tried to go forward, but was stopped by other mercenaries..
“……Isn’t that a bit harsh? Cabas is still a kid. And, it's a bit hard to say it's thanks to you, but I also got some nice extra income..”
“lily! what is that-”
The dervish's face suddenly distorted, and Conwyr, who had been standing silently next to her, stepped forward to block her..
“Thanks to Nari, Mr. Hatanka, and Miss Hayla, this raid actually turned out to be a lucky one. It's like being struck by lightning..”
He looked around and spoke in a calm voice..
“But Sir, the fact remains that the newcomer brought trouble to the camp. I think he should be punished.”
“……So, let’s whip them out and kick them out? This night, in this mountain valley?”
“People often do that, Nari. An ally who causes harm to those around him is more dangerous than an enemy..”
Cabas stiffened and could not make any protest. Goleman and Shea, who were causing an uproar, were silenced by the other mercenaries..
This is a pain in the ass. I just want to give it all away and go to sleep, but that won't work.?
I crossed my arms and pretended to be worried, but Hayla suddenly appeared next to me and suddenly opened her mouth..
“where did you pick it up?”
“......yes?”
“That egg. where did you pick it up?”
Cabas hesitated at the sudden question before barely answering..
“There is a nest on the cliff in front of you. I picked it up there..”
“Nest on the cliff. where is it?”
“That, that……
“can you point with your hand?”
Cabas was held by Donny's collar and pointed somewhere with a trembling hand. I glanced back and saw a not-so-high cliff under the bright moonlight..
“I see.”
Hayla blinked once and looked back at me..
“There is a story I heard from merchants in Modos..”
“……modos?”
“huh. They said that the southwestern road leading to Seteniora Monastery and Odenloc was blocked, so everyone came in from the northwest..”
The southwestern road leading to Seteniora Monastery and Odenloch. This is where we are now.
“And a group of wyverns built a nest just a stone's throw away. They probably attacked and ate travelers and merchants passing by..”
Everyone in the camp was listening. Hayla's voice was very quiet, but thanks to her noble status, powerful blood magic, and the goodwill she had always accumulated, no one complained..
“This is the territory of the wyvern group. Not anymore though.”
“……So, even if it wasn't for Cabas, the wyvern would have attacked us.?”
“huh. They must have targeted the night..”
It's a night attack from a group of wyverns..
I tried to imagine it for a moment, but it doesn't seem like it would be easy. We could stop it, but there would have been a few casualties..
Strange expressions and murmurs floated among the gathered mercenaries as if they were thinking the same thing..
Hayla stood still, blinked and looked at me..
After letting Ellen go, my anger turned towards Heyla..
Of course, I knew that the direction of my anger was completely wrong, so I did not express it to her directly. But I wasn't relaxed enough to have a comfortable conversation with her..
So, in a really shameful and childish way, I treated Hayla like she didn't exist for a while. I didn't talk to him and I didn't even look at him as much as possible..
Still, Hayla didn't change much from usual. It always stayed close to me, eating, reading, looking after Oltonidze and looking into Hrunting (what it used to be)..
About a week passed, and as I was about to leave Paulville, I calmed down and apologized to her. I'm sorry for showing you off and I know very well that I shouldn't be angry at you..
Then Hayla blinked her eyes rapidly about three times and answered, ‘It’s okay.’ At that moment I noticed. She had no idea I was angry..
At that time, I burst out laughing when I saw Hayla sipping tea calmly..
Thanks to Hayla's intervention, the night's commotion came to an end..
The mercenaries acknowledged that Cabas had summoned a wyvern, but that he had only pulled off a planned attack..
However, Cabas's mistakes did not completely disappear, and he had to pay a price for his deviance outside the territory as a newbie..
Confire, Dervish, Eson, etc. followed the unspoken rules of the mercenary world and suggested ending the situation with five lashes..
I was still reluctant to beat up a 16-year-old, but after all, when you go to Rome, you have to follow Roman law... … After all, I am from the Republic of Korea, a secularist country. There is no reason for me to do something that makes me uncomfortable just because of what the mercenaries think..
So, I replaced my punishment against Kavas by becoming Utekwai's Nabouk demonstration opponent for the next month..
I was planning to tell anyone who expressed dissatisfaction to just shut up, but somehow everyone seemed to understand it, so I was a bit embarrassed..
Two days later, after passing the three-way intersection leading to Odenloc to the south and Seteniora Monastery to the west, and walking for some time, we finally arrived at a stopover..
800A high stone wall that is more than a year old and a desolate ground beneath it..
It was the gateway to the ancient empire.
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