Ch 13

Cain couldn't raise his head and soon tears streamed down his face.

"Heuk…! Heuk…!”

Even if the kid seemed to act unlike his age, in the end, he was still a kid. But I couldn't look at him sympathetically. It would have been fine if he was a kid from an ordinary family, but for the child of a high family, wasn't showing tears the same as saying, "I'm vulnerable, please take advantage of me"? As Cain cried, Caesar and Arietta hurriedly tried to console him, but I raised my hand to stop them. It was not good for the kid's growth to comfort him here. It was cruel, but it was better for the child to experience this early. I nodded towards Caesar, then the kettle. He sighed softly, got up and began to boil water. As I waited silently, Cain slowly put himself together and wiped away his tears. Caesar poured some tea and gave it to the calmed little boy.

"Sorry… Oh, thank you."

Cain drank slowly and settled himself down. Once he seemed completely calm, I spoke in a low voice.

"That was pathetic. Now you said you were your father's representative. That means you carry the same duty and authority. You should have tried to negotiate using the authority given to you, not cry at my questioning."

Cain blushed and lowered his head again, embarrassed by my harsh remark.

"Now, give it a try. We happen to have overlapping paths. How much can you pay us?”

I began negotiating with the little boy, satisfied with the lesson I taught him.

* * *

When the sun had fully set, Cain and Damian seemed quite exhausted and quickly fell asleep in the tent I set. Arrieta went into the tent with Arwen, and Caesar and Tristan circled around to install the barrier magic tool I gave them.

"Good job. I guess no one was alive."

Hillis sat next to me and looked bitterly at the bonfire.

"Most of them seem to have died instantly. It didn't take long to bury them using magic, but it took me a while because I wanted to give them a proper funeral prayer."

"Well done. I don't know about the dead, but the two who survived must have been comforted."

Funerals were mostly for the living. Whether the soul went to heaven with God or was reborn like me, the moment someone died, that was the end of that person.

Hillis said, putting more firewood in the bonfire, "That may be the case… Oh, come to think of it, I heard you seriously ripped off Cain."

"Even if I did, he is still better off than if we didn’t protect him and he lost it all.

We had agreed on ten kilograms of gold and silver, one-hundred-thousand periks of Republican money, first class tickets for the ferry to Dimitrion, and most valuable of all, a blank check for use at the Asteria Market. Of course, the core of the compensation was the blank check. Even if I escorted the kid, there was no way he would have a lot of money in a place that wasn't even his home. Therefore, even if he couldn’t pay immediately, it was good to have something that could be used as compensation.

"Well, I guess so. But how much money is a hundred-thousand periks?"

I smiled at Hillis's question.

"It's not that much money. Roughly thirty-seven-thousand pelks? No, there was a war a while ago, so maybe it would be higher than that?"

As there were price differences between countries and changes in the value of money caused by currency reform over the years, my estimate was probably inaccurate, but it seemed enough for her to understand.

"Your salary was a little over three-thousand pelks, so I guess it’s like a middle manager's salary," said Hillis.

"We won't be in the Republic for a long time. I decided to just get enough money for us to spend right now."

Although I had no choice but to receive it as deferred payment due to the situation, she didn't show any concern because she knew well that I wasn't one to be scammed.

"Anyways, it's late, so go to bed in the tent. Don't worry about being on guard." I said.

Hillis slowly narrowed the distance between us and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"A little later."

"… All right."

Hillis and I stayed by the fire for a long time.

* * *

As dawn broke, Tristan came back with a number of bird eggs bigger than a fist from somewhere and boiled them in a pot.

"These are jetrembe eggs." I noticed.

The meat of the bird smelled bad and tasted bad, but its eggs were high-quality, with a subtle, sweet taste.

Tristan whistled, impressed. "Ohh, as expected of Master. You know about jetrembes? I had only heard that they also live in the Olympus Forest, but it turns out they really do."

I never told him that, so it seemed to be knowledge from five-hundred years ago.

"You said ‘also lives in the Olympus Forest’, does that mean it lives in other forests, too?”

Tristan nodded with a nostalgic smile.

"Of course. They also lived in the forest in my hometown. If you look at the map, it seems to be one of the areas of the Demon’s Territory now, but it used to be a forest located at the end of the Holy, no, the Republic. Although, I don't know if they'll still be alive because of demons.”

"Well they’re surviving in the Olympus Forest, so I’m sure they’re doing just fine there, too."

"Ahaha, I hope so."

There was one egg per person in the pot. As the sun rose and shone brightest, they started crawling out of the tent one by one with disheveled hair. Everyone washed themselves with boiled water, and groggily ate the boiled eggs that Tristan made. I looked at Damian, feeding the horse with grass, and said, "Let's release that horse, it'll get in the way."

"What?! But wouldn't it get too slowed down if the young master and I also ride in that small wagon?"

I grinned. "Don't worry about that and get in."

Damian seemed uncertain, but perhaps because he had seen Arwen catch a gogmagog by herself, or due to the thought I would break my verbal contract to escort them if he didn't follow instructions, he got into the wagon obediently. Tristan sat in the coachman’s seat, and everyone else climbed in, except Arrieta and I. I summoned the two green deer.

"I don't mind riding on that deer." said Caesar.

Arietta laughed cheerfully, "Ahahaha! It is fine. Just focus on controlling your internal injuries."

Arietta and I each climbed onto a deer. After I was fully mounted, I realized that I had inadvertently taken out the deer that I was used to riding.

"Ah, is a horse more comfortable than a deer?" I asked.

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Arietta smiled, “No. Horses are faster, but deer are better because they can move organically from side to side. We cannot go at full speed anyway."

"Good point. Now! Let's have dinner tonight at Peritzbay!" I announced.

With that, Tristan prodded the horses and got the wagon moving.

"Yeap! Understood!"

Damian initially complained that he was leaving his horse behind, but quickly quieted down when he felt the speed of the wagon.

* * *

After traveling for a long time, the sound of seagulls could be heard from afar. As we left the forest, the sea appeared, and when I turned my head along the coastline, I saw a port city.

"We really arrived in Milion in less than a day." Damian exclaimed in disbelief.

Normally, the journey would have taken several days. When I saw the city, I reduced the speed of the wagon to a normal level, and Arietta and I also boarded. It was cramped to ride in the luggage compartment with six, much less seven, so I sat on the coachman’s seat next to Tristan. Although soldiers were placed along the road to the city, they seemed to just be directing traffic rather than inspecting. Since it was a port city developed into a large-scale trading port, inspecting each traveler would cause a major stall so it was only natural. Entering Milion without any obstruction, we slowly drove the horses into the adjacent Peritzbay.

"It's a little early for dinner, so where should we head? The kid’s villa?" asked Tristan.

"We should probably do that. I need to put him somewhere safe and meet Lan...”

Before we even finished speaking, I felt a slight martial aura aimed at us. Shortly after I felt it, a man in a black hooded cloak drew a weapon and ran at me from the crowd. Instead of using the conspicuous Holy Sword, I drew the sword tied to Tristan's waist to counter the attack.

Clang-!

"What?!"

When I blocked his attack, I was overpowered and rolled out of my seat. How could I lose in a battle of strength? Although my posture was one that made it hard to leverage strength, I was still surprised that I was overpowered and straightened up, alert.

"The kid's safety is our first priority!" I shouted.

At my command, Caesar and Arietta pulled out their swords, Tristan nocked his bow, and they each scanned the surroundings for additional raiders. I don't know what kind of guy the attacker was, but I didn't expect that he'd make an open raid on this busy street. He was definitely a crazy person. He swung at me again and I raised Tristan’s sword to block it.

Clang-!

"Ugh!"

I was pushed back again, this time a half step backwards as I slid his weapon away. I successfully blocked the attack, but my hands were numb. He was clearly overwhelming my strength. I was surprised by the unexpected power, but before I could say anything, he swung at my neck, now emitting a terrifying martial aura. I dug forward, letting the attack slide off rather than facing it from the front.

Clang! Clang! Claaaang-!

The man in the black hooded cloak and I exchanged strikes dozens of times in a blink of an eye. The sound of clashing metal made the people around retreat in panic and fright, and someone shouted to call the guards.

“Enlightenment! Cutting the woodpecker!”

“Oh! Cutting the leaf!”

The man in the black hooded cloak and I scattered dozens of afterimages as we exchanged attacks. As a result, I managed to slide off one of his attacks and bring my sword right under his neck.

"A total of fifty-one blows to overpower me with pure swordsmanship, without magic. Your skills have decreased a lot just as the great elder worried, Denburg." he whispered.

I grinned, withdrew my sword, threw it to Tristan, and answered in a low voice, "I said I wouldn't let myself get rusty, but that's what happened, Uncle Hermes."

I was wondering what kind of crazy guy he was to draw a weapon in the middle of the city… Turns out it was my own family! They drove me crazy.

Uncle Hermes took off his hood and smiled playfully. "When we last met, you won within twenty moves. Where did the skills from that time go? What happened that made you worse than when you were fifteen years old?”

When it came to pure sword skills, I was at my best just before leaving the village. I was the best among those under the age of thirty except for my second brother, and even in the entire village, I was definitely in the top fifty. I had a narrow advantage over Mac hyung just before leaving the village. Of course, fighting could not only be done with pure swordsmanship, so without magic, I was not the best fighter. In fact, Uncle Hermes' weapon, which I had just won against, was not a sword, but a huge hammer as large as a human body. It wasn't that impressive that I beat him, since he was relying entirely on just his weapon skills.

"Ahaha, I guess I have used the Holy Sword too much. Anyway, it has been a while. Has it been about four years?" I asked.

"That's about it. I haven't seen you since you ran away from home."

I waved my index finger and corrected him, "It wasn’t running away, it was going out! It's called independence. But why is the person who should be in the capital… oh, emergency congress?"

The emergency convocation of the congress meant that there was a quasi-war situation, so it made sense that the ambassador of the Crow tribe, who cannot be left out of a fight, was called here.

Uncle Hermes looked at me in surprise. "Oh, how did you know? As expected of Anemone’s son, you are smart."

"My first and second brothers are also my mother’s sons."

My uncle chuckled at my point.

"They're my brother's sons."

I could not deny that I was also my father’s son. I followed Hermes with a chuckle and approached my party, introducing him with a small voice. "Everyone can put away their weapons. He is Hermes Blade, my uncle who is in the Republic as a foreign ambassador for the Crow tribe."

At my explanation, my party all casually murmured in agreement that they knew he was too strong to be a mere raider, but Cain and Damian’s jaws dropped in shock.

"A-ambassador?!"

The Republic was much more influenced by the Crow tribe than by the Empire. Olympus Forest and the Alps served as a breakwater for the Empire to some extent, but there was no such thing in the Republic. So, it was just my uncle, Bloody, in the Empire. But about a dozen officials, including Uncle Hermes, were dispatched to the Republic.

I could see guards in charge of security approaching from afar.

"What are you going to do?" I asked Hermes, pointing to the guards.

Uncle Hermes smiled awkwardly.

“Ahahaha, well I can't just run away, can I?”

“Of course not.”

My uncle searched his pockets and shrugged as if nothing could be done, took out his ambassador's ID and greeted the guards. I got into the wagon and said to Tristan, “Let's run before my uncle comes after me.”

“Yeap! I'll hurry!”

Tristan prodded the horses and rode off quickly.