Chapter 130
When the man opened the door and appeared, Holkman thought.
Is it an intruder?
No, that can’t be.
Traffic in the vicinity must have already been prohibited.
There are even soldiers guarding right in front of the tavern.
Then how did that man get in?
For better or worse, he couldn’t continue his contemplation any further.
“The guild is under attack!”
“What!?”
“The city guards are attacking the guild!”
Along with the man’s shout, a knife flew from somewhere and stabbed the mercenary’s neck.
The situation spiraled out of control.
“Kill them!”
“You bastards! You’re trying to rip us off now!?”
“Filthy mercenaries! How dare you plot treason!”
The mercenary side swung their swords claiming the Lord had betrayed them.
The Lord’s side swung their swords claiming the mercenaries had committed treason.
Clang-! Crash!
The not-so-spacious tavern quickly turned into chaos.
Since everyone gathered here were powerful individuals who could handle magic, the flames of battle only grew fiercer.
“Damn it…!”
Holkman cursed while gripping his sword.
Though he didn’t know what was going on, what he had to do is clear.
He must protect the Lord.
Holkman shouted while blocking the approaching mercenaries.
“My Lord! Protect the Lord!”
Bang!
At that moment, a small explosion occurred behind Holkman.
When he urgently turned his head, he saw the Lord flying through the air.
“Huh…?”
Perhaps because he was too shocked.
For a moment, time seemed to flow slowly.
Everything appears in slow motion.
The Lord slowly flew through the air.
Coincidentally, mercenaries were waiting where he was flying toward.
“Waaa-!”
“It’s the Lord-! Kill him-!”
The mercenaries swung their swords and axes as if they had been waiting.
The Lord was instantly cut into dozens of pieces.
Blood and flesh scatter on the floor.
“Kuhahaha-!”
“Serves him right! Kehehe!”
Along with the mercenaries’ laughter, the slowed time returned to normal.
“M-My Lord!”
“Those damn bastards!”
The knights who lost their Lord in an instant were greatly shocked.
Now neither group had any choice.
With the Lord dead, they had to kill everyone on the other side somehow.
In such a situation, Holkman calmly steadied his breathing.
“I don’t know what’s going on…”
He gripped his sword tightly.
“But you all need to die.”
He won’t let anyone here leave alive.
***
“Kuhak, heuk…!”
Holkman breathed heavily.
The surroundings were devastated, and the floor was sticky with pooled blood.
The sight of meat chunks that were once people strewn about reminded him of the past war with demonkind.
“Who are you…”
Holkman turned his head to look beside him.
There stood a knight with a sturdy build.
Including Holkman, they were the only survivors here.
Among both knights and mercenaries, only these two remained alive.
“You’re quite skilled…”
“You think so?”
The voice coming from inside the armor was strangely familiar.
“Who are you? I don’t remember having such a talented person in our knight order…”
Suddenly Holkman’s eyes widened.
“N-No way…”
“Oh, you figured it out?”
As the visor of the helmet lifted, the face was revealed.
“You old man wasn’t bad either.”
“Why are you here…!”
Upon seeing Choi Hyun-seok, Holkman finally realized.
“Everything was your doing!?”
Though he didn’t know how it was done, it was clear that Choi Hyun-seok had created this situation.
Realizing this, anger welled up inside him.
“You…! How dare you…!!!”
Looking at the extremely agitated Holkman, Choi Hyun-seok shrugged his shoulders.
“Calm down. I took care of the lord as requested, what are you unhappy about?”
“Don’t run your mouth as you please!”
What good is it that the Lord died?
Kiton is finished.
With such a massive tragedy occurring, all sorts of people from both the royal court and the mercenary guild Union would come.
Who would be the first person that those crying out for truth to be revealed would question?
It would be Holkman.
Taking over the territory was now impossible, and now Holkman had to worry about his own life.
“You ruined everything… You…!”
Holkman muttered like a madman.
As he was about to swing his sword.
Crack!
Choi Hyun-seok, who had suddenly rushed over, grabbed Holkman’s head and slammed it against the wall.
“Kuhek!”
Even while groaning from the heavy impact, Holkman was puzzled.
‘Wh-when…?’
He was so swift that Holkman couldn’t even track his movements.
The difference in skill was dizzying.
At this point, even Holkman had to realize.
That he had been played by Choi Hyun-seok from the start.
“You thought I wouldn’t know your intentions?”
“Kuheok…!”
“If you’re old, you should keep your heart pure.”
The grip strength of his hand gradually increases.
In the pain that felt like his head would be crushed, Holkman squeezed out his last strength to open his mouth.
“W-why… Like this…”Â
“Why go this far?”
Holkman’s fading eyes were asking.
Why?
Why did he come to Kiton, where he had no connection, and do such things?
Choi Hyun-seok’s answer to that was simple.
“Because I’m a Hero.”
Magic power and demonic energy collide in Choi Hyun-seok’s hand.
Kwajijik-!
As the magic explosion was used, Holkman’s head burst.
[Hero Quest completed]
[Gained 1,000 Hero Points]
[Gained massive experience!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
….
[Additional objective ‘Elimination of evil forces operating in Kiton’ has been achieved nearly perfectly!]
[Existing rewards are doubled!]
[Gained additional 1,000 Hero Points]
[Gained massive experience]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
….
Amidst countless alerts, Choi Hyun-seok smiled contentedly.
“This is why I’m a Hero.”
***
Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson quickly left Kiton.
Having caused such a big incident, they needed to leave before drawing attention.
“Will you be alright?”
“Yes. I’m used to walking.”
They got rid of the horse and carriage.
Since they didn’t know how to drive anyway, walking seemed better than hiring a coachman.
Choi Hyun-seok bought a magic backpack from the Hero shop and set out on his journey with the necessary items packed inside.
“Hero! Why did you leave all the money behind!?”
On the way out of Kiton,
Rachel shouted with her cheeks puffed up.
“Rachel. Being too greedy usually leads to trouble.”
“Even so, there was no need to only take twenty gold coins! You could have taken at least a few more…”
As Rachel said, Choi Hyun-seok only took twenty gold coins that originally belonged to the group.
He threw the rest at the tavern where the Lord and the mercenary Guild Master had fought.
“Tut-tut, this hero has his deep reasons, so just accept it.”
“Tch…!”
Choi Hyun-seok didn’t leave the money behind without thought.
‘I can’t leave traces of my presence there.’
You never know when the Holy Empire’s trackers might follow.
In this situation, he didn’t want to take even the slightest risk.
The money he left behind would serve as an excellent smoke screen for outsiders.
– The Lord and the mercenary guild fight over money obtained from clearing out criminal organizations!
Though it sounds like a third-rate scenario, these cheap stories usually work better.
“This amount of money is enough. We also have money from selling the horse and carriage.”
“That’s true, but…”
Rachel still seemed to regret the gold coins left behind.
That’s when Choi Hyun-seok grinned and pulled something out from his chest.
“Here.”
Rachel’s eyes went wide as she received the item.
“M-macarons!?”
“I bought one while packing travel items earlier.”
“Hero…!”
Rachel looked up with tears welling in her eyes.
Feeling awkward for no reason, Choi Hyun-seok scratched the bridge of his nose.
“What are you waiting for? Don’t you want to eat it?”
“I’ll eat it right away!”
Rachel smiled brightly while holding a macaron bigger than her head.
“Aang~”
She takes a big bite.
The first thing she feels is the chewy yet soft texture.
The sweet fragrance pierces her nose.
Soon, the ultimate sweetness spreads throughout her mouth.
“Ahh…”
The happiness is brief.
The soft macaron disappears like a mirage, leaving only a slight sweetness lingering on the tip of her tongue.
Rachel swallowed and took another big bite.
“Delicious… So delicious…!”
Before she knew it, Rachel was devouring the macaron with her face buried in it.
Watching from the side, Choi Hyun-seok couldn’t understand at all.
“Is it really that delicious? I thought it was too sweet and not that great.”
He wasn’t particularly fond of sweet things to begin with.
That’s why he had only tried macarons once on Earth out of curiosity.
‘It was somewhat edible though…’
Actually, the macarons came in a box of eight.
Choi Hyun-seok had eaten seven of them and given Rachel the last one.
‘They disappeared as I ate them one by one… Well, Rachel is small, so one should be enough!’
There was no need to tell her this fact.
She was already happy enough with just one macaron anyway.
“Mmhmm~! It’s so delicious!”
***
An unprecedented incident occurred in Kiton.
The Lord and the mercenary Guild Master perished after a dispute.
An investigator from the Kingdom of Domis came down to uncover the details of the incident.
“The mercenary Guild Master is dead! What nonsense is this!”
The mercenary guild union wouldn’t stay quiet either.
Their executives barged into Kiton, saying they needed to know the truth.
Thanks to this, head butler Gibson was having a terrible time.
“How… How did things end up like this…”
In fact, Gibson was at the center of all these events.
He was the one who had originally planned to seize the territory by instigating Knight Commander Holkman.
“How long are we going to just watch the Lord’s tyranny?”
“Peros has a young son. We’ll put him up as the Lord and control everything from behind.”
Holkman, who was in charge of the territory’s military power.
Gibson, who was in charge of the territory’s internal affairs.
If the two of them joined forces, it was entirely possible.
âI’ll leave the Lord’s handling to Sir Holkman.â
âDon’t worry. It won’t take long.â
After getting confirmation from Holkman like that.
Until just a few days ago, he had heard things were going well.
And now this is the result that finally came out.
“Where’s all that confidence from before? What am I supposed to do when everyone’s dead!”
The Lord and the territorial knights, as well as the mercenary Guild Master and core mercenaries, were all wiped out in an instant.
Rumors quickly spread that the Lord and Guild Master had fought during this dirty deal.
The incident had already grown too big to cover up.
Thanks to this, Gibson’s life was also in danger.
They would keep him alive for now to handle the investigation and stabilize the territory.
But what would happen once things settled down?
Gibson thought he wouldn’t meet a good end, at least.
‘I need to leave Kiton quickly. Either go down to some countryside or perhaps hold out at the Demon Boundary for a few years.’
He planned to disappear until people forgot about him.
If necessary, he could live in exile in another kingdom.
He had secretly saved up quite a bit of money, so he wouldn’t lack materially.
Creek-!
Just then, the door opened behind him.
Gibson sighed without turning around.
“Sigh… I told you I’ve already said everything I know, didn’t I?”
Step, step
The person who opened the door approaches.
“It’s inconsiderate to do this at this hour. Do you know how hard it is to handle this chaotic territory’s internal affairs alone!?”
Gibson turned around while shouting irritably.
“Huh…?”
There was no one there.
Though the door had clearly opened and footsteps were heard, there was no one in the room.
A cold sweat ran down Gibson’s back.
“What’s going on…”
At that moment, someone covered Gibson’s mouth.
“Mmph, mph…!”
Though he struggled violently, the arm holding Gibson didn’t budge at all.
It felt like a huge piece of iron was choking his neck.
“Shhhh…”
A man leaned his head next to Gibson’s.
The uninvited guest with cold eyes put his index finger to his nose.
“Shut up. If you don’t want to die.”
Gibson quickly nodded.
‘I’ll do as he says for now…’
Gibson wasn’t a fool.
By this point, he had to realize something was wrong.
This man wasn’t an investigator sent from the capital.
He definitely wasn’t an executive from the mercenary guild either.
“Wh-what do you want…”
“In this incident, weren’t there perhaps a man and a woman involved?”
“What are you…”
“Think carefully before you answer.”
Gibson immediately realized who this intruder was talking about.
“Th-there were! Some mysterious people who were eliminating the territory’s criminal organizations…!”
“Shhh…”
When the man glared with cold eyes, Gibson lowered his voice.
“I don’t know who they are, but it’s true that some man and woman turned the territory upside down…”
“Do you know their physical descriptions?”
“That much…”
“Is there anyone else who knows about them besides you?”
“There shouldn’t be anyone.”
“I see.”
Suddenly, the man’s hand tightened.
Crack-!
Gibson’s head was twisted nearly 360 degrees in an instant, and he died right there.
