Chapter 508
My Villains Episode 508
67. Lord of Icebovald(1)
Since the 'Dimensional Seal' was engraved on my left wrist and the quasi-dimensional 'Dream Territory' resided there, dreams have become entirely my domain..
Choosing whether to dream or not is the most basic power. You can destroy your dreams, create new ones, or adjust them as you wish. It is possible to attract others into one's dreams, and it is also possible to extract dreams from others who have been dragged into them..
But I just couldn't enjoy those things. This is because it requires the use of a huge amount of magical energy and causes long and intense headaches..
Also, crucially, wielding a power that one did not properly understand was a burden. Dreams are deeply related to memory and the unconscious, and my main concern was that misusing the power of dreams could lead to mental contamination..
In the end, there were only two powers that were consistently used. Erasing dreams in order to fall asleep deeply, and escaping from nightmares if they happen to occur..
“however……
I looked around and narrowed my eyebrows..
Even though he is clearly aware that he is in a dream, his powers are not exercised. quite embarrassing.
Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
A dark space filled with stars. It's a familiar scene..
The boy's voice pierced my ears, as if to hasten my delayed realization..
“Hey, it's been a while.”
“trickster.”
The trickster, decked out in a silver crown and star-studded jet black robe, is suddenly floating in front of me..
With a face full of unrealistic beauty and terrifying mystery, the old boy smiled brightly..
“How long has it been since this? Last time I saw it... … When was it??”
“2About a year - no, more. Because it was on the way to Setenio La..”
“Yeah, time flies by?”
The trickster got down on the ground and buried himself in the thick sofa. The leather sofa, which looked a little worn, was sitting in the dark space as if it had been there from the beginning..
“Honestly, I was a bit surprised..”
“I never thought the story would proceed like this. “Let alone the fact that it is a combination of low possibilities, I never thought you would have that much possibility.” “Are you talking about the scenario??”
“ that's right.”
The boy looked a little excited. The clear, sparkling eyes seemed to have forgotten their age..
“It is rare to find a fool who leaves the already known path and finds a new path. Thanks to you, I'm enjoying it enough..”
My mouth suddenly tightens when I hear people treat me like a handmade toy..
I tried to suppress my desire to live. Because I know it's no use losing my temper with the old boy..
The blue eyes that observed my silence shine again.
“You've finally become an adult. Yes, yes you should. It's a worthy time and a worthy environment..”
“Spring is coming soon, right? You'd better hurry.”
“ what.”
“New scenario, new chapter.”
I looked at the trickster carefully and slowly opened my mouth..
“I mean, it's easy. How wary is the new king of me?.”
“Hong, Eomsal-eun.”
“ I'll kill you?”
I wiggled my eyebrows..
Shows signs of annoyance and complains as if he has been waiting.
“He spent all his money like water and talked about all kinds of things, but planting a few shabby agents was his limit. Even then, I couldn't even come close to the royal palace or the Council of Dawn.……
“Yeah, that was worth seeing too..”
“Are you still saying that after seeing it? In this situation, stick your head in the royal capital.
go?" “Situations always change. And in the end, it all depends on your choice-”
The Trickster, who continued talking with a smile on his face, suddenly closed his mouth. And then he narrowed his eyebrows slightly..
I shrugged my shoulders proudly.
“Anyway, I guess I'm going to the royal road.?”
“……A fox-like bastard. Now, craftsmanship has become a habit..”
“It's a survival instinct. It's not a trick.”
Fortunately for me, the old boy quickly lost his temper..
“……what. It doesn't matter, this much.”
The tight mouth loosened again. The smile that appeared slowly made people feel uneasy..
“Anyway, the current flow is usually very difficult. Although you have quite a few details in your favor, there are quite a few cons as well..”
“The level of difficulty is high? Even considering my level?”
“Level? Are you still considering a recommended level or something? The scenario, chapters, and everything are distorted.?”
“Why not consider it? Even if the situation somehow changes and the difficulty level increases significantly, you will be able to solve everything when you reach level 65..”
“Well, that's not wrong either..”
The trickster, with his arms crossed, continued talking while tapping his feet..
“The problem is time. As a high lord, by the time you reach level 65, the dark world will devour the entire place..”
I know this from my own experience. I quietly scratched my eyebrows at Trickster’s mocking voice..
After he began serving as a prince in earnest, he traveled throughout the entire territory, cutting down gangs of robbers, gangs of deserters, wandering wizards, and disguised spies. Exploring the vast forest, they exterminated goblin tribes, basilisks, cave giants, and slime colonies..
So I went up 2 levels.
10It took just one year to start at level 42 and then almost 2 years to reach level 44..
“The experience needed now is 2.4 million, right? The experience points of the highwaymen you killed recently are around 15 to 30... … . “Whew, I’m at a loss.” After becoming a lord, I felt it again, but reality was completely different from the game..
When playing the game, you'll wipe out the giant's lair, gain tens of thousands of experience points, then reopen the server and regenerate the monsters, repeating the same actions. You can easily get 2.4 million experience points..
In reality, it can't be done..
In the first place, monsters that give thousands of experience points - trolls, giants, wyverns, hippogriffs, drakes, etc. - are rare. If such people were common, how would humans have been able to build cities and villages? Whatever the order of cause and effect, it is rare for the realms of humans and monsters to overlap..
Even if such monsters existed in my territory, that is, ‘Prince Depelken’, finding and defeating them was a problem of a completely different level..
Collecting rumors and traces, releasing trackers and leads, and searching the forest. It is essential to take the lead in all processes. Unless you want to lose experience to the knights or soldiers under your command. Thanks to my surge and greed, the battle that marks the end of a long and tedious hunt always ends in an instant..
It would be fortunate if you could gain even a few thousand experience points like that, but there were many cases in which it was wasted..
So, when I was just sitting on the throne, simply patrolling the roads and subduing thieves was the most efficient way to farm experience points. After a few months, the number of criminals decreased, the development of Zellntree accelerated, and monster extermination became better..
And by now, both criminals and monsters have almost dried up. I'm not sure if I'll be able to raise even one level until next winter... … . As the territory became more peaceful, the opportunities for experience farming decreased..
“Okay, enough chit-chat..”
The trickster must have noticed that my thoughts were going to the wrong place, and he clapped his hands together..
“It's bonus time. You received ‘Aelo Force’ last time, right? Then this time,”
I quickly said what I wanted.
“Give me the necklace. Fill up your skills with me.”
The trickster naturally replied.
“I don't like it?”
“......uh?”
“You chose last time, now it's my turn..”
I smiled brightly.
“Anyway, a fucking baby.”
The old boy floated away laughing silently. The sofa had disappeared without a trace..
“It was fun. Bye bye.”
He winked, so I raised my middle finger. As the boy lifted his shoulders, the dark space full of stars began to vibrate..
“I look forward to it in the future. good luck.”
Jang, the world fell into pieces..
“It's my first time at Icebovald?”
Standing in the crowd walking along the street, the tall boy nodded silently..
“I knew he was a hillbilly, but he was a bit harsh. I was stuck in that gangster village until I got older.?”
In response to the question from the middle-aged man with a thick beard, ‘Egon’ only made a sulky expression. The middle-aged man, Alban, chuckled and then tilted his head to see if something occurred to him..
“wait for a sec. So this is your first time participating in ‘peacetime training’??”
“yes.”
“So what happened? He said he once received a ‘call-up order from Depel Ken.’?”
“I once got involved in a troll subjugation. in the spring of last year.”
“troll-?”
Albarn remembered the news he heard last spring. It was a story about several trolls appearing from the mouth of a deep, dark forest and attacking the settlers..
“Ah, yes. You said you were from 'Sobanhalz'..”
“yes. There was a gathering point near the village, so we joined there right away..”
“Is it possible? I heard that if you don't have a record of participating in training, you won't be called up.?”
“It was an exception back then. The Count himself gave the order..”
“what command?”
“Volunteers were gathered to supplement the search force. More than half of the village's youth came out to give silver coins as daily wages..”
The tall boy continued speaking slowly, with his eyes focused on the castle in the distance..
With the end of the Battle of the Blades, the Obdorf region changed hands and was divided into two..
‘The eastern half, centered around Bulfurt, became the direct territory of the young imperial ruler. The western half also belonged to the Imperial Territory, but its owners were not the Imperial Territory but its vassals..
For that reason, Egon's hometown and the land he stands on now came to be called 'Prince Depelken'. Although there are still more people who call it Obdorp..
And the city that had just begun to rise from the horizon was Eisbowalt, the capital of Depelken Bang Baekryeong..
“One silver coin per day. That must have been pretty salty.”
“It wasn't as good as I expected. The troll was caught in two days. “We disbanded immediately after the subjugation, so there was no need to come to Eisbowald.” “That’s what it was… … . Still, it's great, isn't it? This young guy was a skilled soldier with experience subduing trolls..”
“Somehow,” muttered Albarn, looking at Egon with new eyes. The tall boy wore thick quilted armor under a hooded cloak, and had a shield and javelin the size of his upper body slung over his shoulders..
Compared to the other party, that is, about 30 men who had gathered from the large town of 'Brinst' northwest of Obdorf and various villages in the area, they were very well armed. In any case, Egon seemed much more reliable than someone who usually just held a club or pole. Except for the red, youthful face..
Perhaps feeling burdened by those gazes, Egon shook his head with a shocked expression..
“It's not that great. Because I was just following the soldiers of the ‘combat brigade’… … . At least the troll only looked at the corpse..”
“Still. I've never seen a dead body before..”
The men from Brinst, including Egon and Alban, continued to walk leisurely. There is no need to rush. The destination is already within sight, and no matter how short the winter days are, the cold sun is still high in the sky..
As the shape of Eisbowald's castle became clearly visible, a number of people resembling their group caught the eye..
“It looks like there are a lot more people than last year or the year before..”
“Is that so??”
Egon glanced around. To estimate the number of people gathered. However, for an inexperienced boy, it was not easy to count the numbers scattered around the field..
“There must be more than a hundred people..”
“I think there are more than 300 people..”
As the boy silently admired Albarn, he elaborated as if it was no big deal..
“This isn't everything. There will be people who arrived first, and there will be more people who are already arriving. We came a day early, right?.”
Unlike the plateau across the border or the Wüls-Rue to the west, winters in Obdorf are relatively mild. Although it snows quite a bit, it is not so bad that the roads are blocked, and recently the security has been very stable, especially along the road, so it is not a bad place to travel..
Still, winter is winter. Although walking in the harsh wind for as short as half a day or as long as three days is not welcome, there is no sign of distress from the men..
‘Well, everyone goes there to make money.……
The new lords of Eisbowald used their right to levy in a slightly new way..
He argued that conscripts could not be properly demonstrated by gathering them just before or after the outbreak of war, and that they should be prepared in advance during times of peace. That’s how ‘peacetime training’ began..
Of course, not all men subject to conscription participated in Lee's training. The lord surveyed the population of five manors and nineteen towns and ordered them to send people within a certain range..
However, if each manor and town had sent only the minimum quota of men, the number of men currently visible to Egon would have been reduced by half..
The minimum number of people assigned to Brinst, Egon's town, was sixteen, but their group was twice that number, thirty-two. Due to the overflow of volunteers, the maximum quota allowed for Brinst was filled..
The reason for the overflow of volunteers was simple. If you complete all peacetime training that lasts for a week, you can receive silver coins..
Is that all? While you are training, you can fill your stomach for free, and depending on the distance you travel, you can also receive a few extra coins..
Thanks to this, the brothers and uncles who participated in peacetime training last year and the year before returned to the village with hens, ducks, and calves in tow..
While Egon was lost in reminiscence, Albarn, who was walking next to him, frowned..
“Ah, I'm worried about this..”
“why?”
“There are too many people. You may not be able to receive training fees due to lack of money..”
“Can't I get my money? Have you ever been like that??”
“That's not it - anyway, I don't know. There is nothing to be gained by trusting those Milanol guys..”
The tall boy smiled bitterly at the middle-aged man's low grumbling..
“It didn't seem like the lord was such a petty person..”
“Is this a problem that should be ignored? From the looks of it, it looks like there will be about a thousand people, so isn't the training fee alone worth a thousand silver coins? If such a large amount of money is coming out of your pocket, even a noble person with a large distribution will have other thoughts.?”
Egon only slightly shrugged his shoulders and did not retort. Because it seemed obvious that it would be a waste of time..
Besides, the boy didn't come here just to get a small amount of money. I didn't ask my brother-in-law and sister to equip me for a small amount of money, and I learned martial arts from Uncle Brund, a retired mercenary..
Before I knew it, Eisbovald was so close that I could almost grasp it. The city walls were not as high as the boy imagined. However, it was extremely thick and gave the impression of being sturdy..
‘certainly.’
Egon's eyes were shining brightly as he looked at Icebovald..
I heard that the nine knights guarding that city were once commoners. Just like the boy is like now.
Egon took a deep breath and walked briskly..
Comments