The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 163
Upon arriving in Larmen, I received the promised payment and parted ways with the merchant group.
The agreed compensation was 1,000 rilangs. If I were to convert it to our currency, well, it might be around 100,000 won.
In addition to this, I received an extra 4,000 rilangs, which was the share of the mercenaries who fled during the bandit attack, bringing my total to 5,000 rilangs.
After receiving the payment, I headed to a lodging in the city and decided to book a room under the name Wade.
This was to wait for Gaspar to come and find me.
Afterwards, I began inquiring around about the blue-haired female spearwoman who was said to have appeared in Larmen.
Results from the inquiries came quickly. When I asked a man who seemed to be a resident here, he responded, “Ah, that woman? Well, I believe she left a few days ago, saying she was going to look around the surrounding areas.”
“I see…”
Perhaps the timing wasn’t good.
“Would you mind telling me everything you know about her?”
I asked, handing over 100 rilangs. The man, as if he had stumbled upon a windfall, began to spill everything he knew, whether it was true or not.
The information I gained was what I wanted.
That the female spearwoman came from another land. That she had an attendant. That she was surprisingly beautiful.
Up to this point, it matched with Eonia.
It would be natural to think the attendant was Bisketa.
However, there was also some unnatural information.
“She said that all the people of the Salvation Alliance were weaklings, and challenged anyone stronger than her to come out. She said she’d take on anyone.”
“Did she really say that?”
“Yes.”
“…”
This didn’t sound like Eonia. Of course, Eo doesn’t avoid fights that come her way, and she can be easily provoked, but she doesn’t tend to boast about her martial arts skills.
Moreover, it bothered me that she seemed to know a lot about the Salvation Alliance.
“By the way, are you from Ramdamen?”
“Ah, yes. How did you know?”
“I heard that a merchant group from Ramdamen was coming today. But I’ve never seen your face before. Wow, are you some noble’s son? The ladies keep looking this way.”
“Haha…”
“Anyway, if you have business with that woman, why don’t you wait a bit longer? This place has a well-established transportation network. She might come back here. That’s why people who are after her are waiting here too.”
“People after her? You mean there are more people like me?”
“That’s right. She made such provocative statements after all. This is the territory of the Salvation Alliance. There’s a bunch of guys who want to make a name for themselves. If someone appears insulting the Salvation Alliance and causing a disturbance, of course they’d want to punish them.”
“I see.”
I was planning to stay for a few days anyway, waiting for Gaspar.
I was hoping she would appear during that time.
They say speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Around lunchtime that day, the surroundings started to get noisy.
The people in the restaurant exclaimed excitedly:
“That woman has appeared again!”
“Oh ho, she’s walked into her own grave!”
“Let’s go watch!”
The citizens, thirsty for entertainment, all headed towards the square where the woman was said to have appeared.
I too joined the crowd, leaving my half-eaten lunch behind.
‘Eonia…’
My feelings for her were as strong as those for Yumir. It just so happened that I was transported to this world on the day I became intimate with her, and I was worried because she seemed more vulnerable compared to the other vassals.
For instance, I worry less about Gaspar or Master Ilya. I have faith that they can manage well on their own and won’t easily be deceived or threatened by others.
On the other hand, I worry about Eo in these aspects.
So I wanted to reunite with her as soon as possible.
But had I used up all my luck in finding Gaspar?
The woman standing proudly in the square was not Eonia.
While they shared the trait of being beautiful, their appearance and personality were different.
“Hmph, so many spectators…”
A woman with long blue hair reaching down to her waist.
She started tying her hair as if preparing for battle. The men were captivated by her movements as if under a spell.
She seemed to be just about twenty years old.
‘Sigh, I came here for nothing.’
I couldn’t help but sigh.
Still, since I was already here, I thought I might as well watch her skills.
The woman planted her spear in the ground with a thud and announced to those around, “Let anyone confident in their skills come forward! I, Lucretia Akasha, will be your opponent!”
As this was the first time she revealed her name, the crowd buzzed with excitement.
“Akasha? Isn’t that the name of a famous noble family from the Kingdom of Ellan? The one led by Robarin Akasha…”
“Robarin Akasha? You mean the one who subjugated the vicious dungeon Farella!”
Aware of the family’s reputation, some of the men who were about to challenge her hesitated and backed off.
‘Really, whether here or there, why is family name so important.’
Well, I might also flinch if Juras’ son suddenly came at me.
It seemed this Robarin Akasha had a similar status.
“Excuse me for a moment!”
The one who boldly stepped forward was a middle-aged man.
He glared at the woman with a stern expression.
“I understand that you are a remarkable person, but why did you make statements insulting the Salvation Alliance?”
“I never insulted them. I merely asked if that level of skill was all the people of the Salvation Alliance were capable of.”
“Haha… I don’t know what grudge you hold against the Salvation Alliance, but…”
“…You don’t know? That’s quite shameless. Have you forgotten what you did five years ago!”
At the mention of an incident from five years ago, the citizens looked bewildered.
The middle-aged man frowned and retorted, “Th-that matter was settled back then. Don’t you know that even mentioning it is a violation of the treaty?”
“The treaty also included a clause stating that all members of the Salvation Alliance would be fully informed about that incident! But as I looked around here, not a single person knows about it!”
“Shut up!”
The man, seemingly at a loss for words, shouted angrily and drew his weapon.
* * *
Tension filled the square.
“If you’re so itchy for a fight, I, Frieden Holson, will be your opponent!”
“Hmph, that’s exactly what I wanted.”
Frieden seemed to push for a duel, as if to say ‘don’t speak any further’.
The woman, seemingly not wanting to cause a disturbance by nitpicking about the incident from five years ago, agreed to his proposal.
Both of them took their stances.
They both held weapons. The man wielded a rapier that didn’t match his bulky frame. The woman held a spear.
They both exerted themselves, drawing up their aura.
“Oh! It’s Weapon Spell!”
“A battle between Weapon Spell users. This is rare!”
Something felt anticlimactic.
While people were amazed, from my perspective, the level of their aura was meager.
At best, it was about the level of Ruan Chase. It was even weaker than Aggert’s.
However, their movements were exceptionally fast compared to their aura level, perhaps due to the use of additional auxiliary magic.
‘I see. So this is how frontline warriors fight in this world.’
They use aura as a base, with magic as a supplement. In contrast, orthodox mages go all-in on magic to use powerful attack spells.
However, the latter requires magical talent, so not many excel as mages.
The ratio of orthodox mages among combat units is about one in five.
Clang! Clang! Given that it was a battle between a rapier and a spear, the woman had an overwhelming advantage in distance fighting.
The strength of a rapier lies in thrusting, but no weapon can match a spear in this aspect.
“Ugh!”
The man was busy retreating.
Eventually, he boldly dove in to make a decisive move, but he lost his grip on the rapier due to a swift triple strike that didn’t allow him to approach.
“I-I admit defeat!”
Frieden acknowledged his loss.
Cheers erupted in the square.
“Woah!”
“To think Frieden of the Golden Lion Alliance would lose!”
The others who were about to challenge the woman also backed down after seeing Frieden’s defeat.
“Amazing spearmanship!”
“It’s divine! Incredible!”
In response to such high praise from the spectators, Lucretia put away her spear with an expression that seemed to say ‘of course’.
I couldn’t hold back my sneer. “This is supposed to be divine spearmanship? Ha! Even a passing dog would laugh.”
I had muttered it to myself, but it must have stood out as a curse amidst the praise.
Lucretia narrowed her brows and turned her gaze towards me. “You, what did you just say?”
“Ah…” I realized only then that I had misspoken, but I’m the type of person who can say something isn’t right if it isn’t. Of course, I decided to apologize for the slip but also to bombard with facts.
“I’m sorry if it sounded unpleasant. It’s just that I found it amusing to call such mediocre spearmanship divine or whatever.”
“Amusing…? You mean my spearmanship?”
“Well, no. It’s not bad. I’d say it’s just starting to take shape. It’s at a level where you could teach soldiers, I suppose. If I had to choose between good or bad, I’d say it’s on the good side.”
That was the highest evaluation I could give.
Naturally, she didn’t seem pleased with my assessment.
“Who are you to evaluate me as if looking down from above?”
“I said I’m sorry if I offended you. But it’s definitely not at some divine level or whatever. You don’t think your spearmanship is at a divine level either, do you? I didn’t say it with the intention of fighting you, so don’t worry about it.”
Before I knew it, all eyes in the vicinity were on me.
Feeling the pressure of those gazes, I was thinking of leaving soon, but someone shouted, “Th-that’s right! If that guy steps up, you wouldn’t stand a chance! Don’t underestimate the Salvation Alliance!”
“Yeah!”
It was the mercenaries who had escorted the merchant group.
They began to exaggerate, praising me for how I had instantly dealt with the bandits and my ghost-like skills.
Hearing this, interest flickered in the woman’s eyes.
“Interesting. Draw your weapon! I’ll face you!”
“Sorry, but I don’t have any weapons with me.”
All I had on me was a small dagger for self-defense. In this world, there weren’t any people aiming for my life, so I didn’t need to carry weapons around.
Yesterday, I was armed thinking I might encounter bandits, but not today.
“I said I’m sorry if I offended you. So just pretend I’m not here.” I said that and tried to leave, but that’s when it happened.
“Khah, here are your weapons, Ars.”
“…!”
A spear and sword flew towards me. They were the ones I had left in my room.
Someone had thrown them to me.
There was only one person who could enter my room.
“Gaspar…!”
Gaspar was wearing a hood that covered his face, but his beastkin features were clearly visible due to the coarse fur all over his body.
He raised the corners of his mouth and spoke. “I went to your room but you weren’t there. Why are you wandering around without your weapons?”
“Haa… You’re something else.”
Well, I guess he brought the weapons because he was worried about me.
Lucretia frowned at Gaspar’s appearance. “A beastkin…?”
Of course, beastkin exist in this world too. Unlike our continent, they don’t even face discrimination here.
However, pure-blooded beastkin were quite rare.
Gaspar stared at her intently, then snorted and said to me, “What’s this, just a small fry. Ars, let’s quickly wrap this up and go talk about the rest.”
“Small fry…? How dare you…”
“I called a small fry a small fry. Got a problem with that?”
“…!?”
When Gaspar suddenly released his fighting spirit, Lucretia was startled and lowered her stance, ready for battle. Cold sweat ran down her face.
Gaspar spoke, “If you want, I could face you, but I’m not as merciful as Ars. If a duel starts, I’ll kill you in an instant. Well, the fact that I’m even telling you I’ll kill you shows I’ve gotten softer.”
“I-If you can, then try it!”
“Kuhahaha! An ignorant woman trying to climb high without knowing how tall the sky is. Fine. I’ll face you!”
I had no choice but to quickly intervene. “Calm down.”
Knowing Gaspar, he might really kill her. It was a hundred times better for me to finish this than to cause such an uproar.
“Haah…! I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll face you.”
Whish! Whish! After spinning my spear, I lightly took a stance and gestured to her. “Come at me. I’ll teach you a lesson.”
Lucretia’s expression contorted.
She took her stance and charged at me without hesitation.
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