Chapter 124 .｡.:✧ Tour (6) ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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‘So, he had a reason to be confident, after all.’

Why would commoners willingly put shackles on themselves and become serfs?

Because the further one was from civilization, the greater the threat of bandits, robbers, and monsters. That was why they sought the protection of a lord, even if the taxes were exorbitant.

However, this village was built in a remote area with no proper roads. It was proof that they had a protector powerful enough to forgo the lord’s protection.

‘I didn’t know there was someone brazen enough to set up shop in my territory.’

This was an era with more uncharted land than developed land. And the central government’s administrative power grew weaker the further one was from the capital.

Why else would they grant hard won land to vassals? They lacked the ability to manage it directly, so they sent representatives to collect taxes.

I digress. What I wanted to say was that there were quite a few scoundrels who took advantage of these gaps.

‘Rootless men who call themselves nobles.’

They built castles in remote areas that no one cared about, and with their followers, they occupied the land and declared themselves nobles.

However, even such nobles could be incorporated into aristocratic society if they expanded their power and became too powerful to ignore.

In that respect, it was fortunate that I had discovered them early. The village before me, with a population comparable to a small city, seemed to be on the verge of that.

“Sir! Are you mad? Throwing a spear out of the blue!?”

Archbishop Racheni, hurriedly, rushed over and raised his voice.

Meanwhile, the blue-eyed, hairy man I had attacked was having his arm bandaged with the help of those around him.

He glared down at me, his eyes as fierce as a wild beast. So fierce that I wanted to pluck them out.

“They are criminals who have fled.”

I raised my voice so that all the villagers on the palisade could hear.

“That’s just a guess! You didn’t even know this village existed, did you? So how…”

“You don’t have to see something to know it. You, of all people, should know that I don’t exploit my subjects like other nobles. On the contrary, my territory is the best place for innocent people to live. And yet, they have chosen to build their nest in this remote area, turning their backs on such a village and city. Why do you think that is?”

“That’s…”

The archbishop couldn’t answer. The faces of the people on the palisade also changed.

“And they’re even pointing their weapons at me, the rightful owner of this land. How long must I tolerate these thieves acting like the masters of the house?”

“But there might be a reason… to just kill them is…!”

“Who said anything about killing them?”

I asked, as if I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“You didn’t even listen to them and threw a spear!”

“I simply made a rude man pay the price.”

“Give me a chance. I’ll investigate the situation, and if they are guilty, they will be punished accordingly.”

“It won’t be easy.”

If they were willing to listen, wouldn’t they have opened the gates and knelt before me long ago?

I shrugged, as if to say, “Be my guest”. It would be a different story with the archbishop.

And as someone who needed labor for the construction of a new capital, I welcomed the prospect of a small city’s worth of labor.

Archbishop Racheni, having received my permission, slowly approached the palisade. The bows of the men on the palisade turned towards him.

“My name is Racheni! I am, though unworthy, the head of a diocese! There seems to be a misunderstanding. I will mediate. Please open the gates.”

The people on the palisade looked at each other. Despite hearing the name of the archbishop, a name known even to a snot nosed child, they didn’t relax. On the contrary, their faces turned pale, and their eyes trembled.

My instincts screamed at me. Something was wrong.

“Fiore!”

I spurred my horse. The startled horse galloped forward. The new horse I had received as a reward for the mock battle quickly closed the distance to the archbishop.

The archbishop, realising I was there late, opened his eyes wide. He even held up his hand as if to tell me not to come over.

That fool…

I clicked my tongue inwardly and reached out, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. I then pulled on the reins, turning the horse in the opposite direction.

I used the momentum to throw the archbishop backward. Fiore, who had started at almost the same time as me, caught him easily.

“Got him!”

“Gah. Let me go!”

Just as the archbishop began to struggle, an arrow struck the spot where he had been standing.

The archbishop’s face, which had been about to scold me again, turned pale. He looked up at the people on the palisade, his face in shock with disbelief.

“Why…?”

Considering his reputation, this must have been the first time he had been treated this way. The blue eyed, hairy man who seemed to be the leader pointed his sword at him and shouted…

“We don’t welcome outsiders! You’d better leave while you can!”

The people on the palisade echoed his sentiment with heated voices.

“Just you try! We’ll kill you all! We’ll kill you all!”

“You fucking nobles! You fucking priests! Take one more step and we’ll slit your throats!”

“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”

Fiore, having brought the stunned archbishop to a safe place, asked me…

“What’s with their confidence?”

While there were quite a few people on the palisade, their weapons were no better than a farmer’s. In other words, they were a force that couldn’t even stop a single proper knight.

“Are they relying on the palisade?”

Even for a knight, it was difficult to deal with an enemy with a palisade taller than a man.

It would have been a different story if we had ladders. But as we were, we had no way to attack the enemy. That must have been why the mere farmers were so brave.

An ordinary knight would have returned with siege weapons or more troops. But… I was not an ordinary knight.

“I’m going ahead.”

“Huh? Hey!”

I ignored Fiore’s shout and spurred my horse. The horse galloped forward again.

“H-He’s coming! He’s coming!”

The enemies on the palisade were clearly surprised. They hadn’t expected me to charge recklessly.

“Stay calm! He can’t get over the palisade on his own!”

The blue eyed, hairy man who seemed to be the leader pointed his sword at me. At his signal, the archers shot their arrows. The sound of the arrows cutting through the air was eerie.

I lowered my stance and spurred my horse again. The horse accelerated once more. Arrows flew over my head.

“Don’t let him get any closer! Throw whatever you can!”

The hairy man’s voice grew more eager as I quickly approached the palisade.

Various farming tools and stones rained down from the palisade. The horse didn’t slow down. On the contrary, it made a final spurt, as if to leap over the palisade, which was taller than a man.

It seemed too excited. I patted the horse’s neck and then leaped from its back.

-Neigh

The horse, finally slowing down, looked at me with its bright eyes, as if asking, “Aren’t you going to jump over the palisade?”

It was a fast and clever horse.

“Watch me.”

The enemies on the palisade looked down at me, dumbfounded, as I stood in front of the palisade gate and drew the Trolls Blade.

They must have been thinking, “What can he do with a sword, not a siege weapon, against a thick palisade?” That expression changed completely after I swung my sword.

-Bang!

“Uh…?”

With a sound like an exploding bomb, a large hole appeared in the palisade. As I raised my sword again, the people on the palisade grew frantic.

“W-Wait! Everyone, get back!”

Before the enemies could retreat, my full powered swing struck the palisade again.

“Agh!”

The palisade’s lower section was shattered and it swayed unsteadily. It looked as if it would collapse at any moment.

Some of the enemies who had been trying to flee fell, while others clung to the wooden posts. I kicked the hole to widen it and then calmly entered the village.

-Neigh…

Leaving the horse, which was staring at me in disbelief, behind.

The enemies on the palisade, surprised, turned to look at me, and the people inside pointed their various farming tools at me, their tips trembling.

I took in the village scenery. All the houses were made of wood. There were no buildings made of plaster or stone. It was proof that they had no contact with the outside world.

In the center of the village was a two story building with a conical steeple. It was usually the location of a church, but instead of a cross, there was a triangle with a red circle inscribed in it.

“A cult?”

It was the symbol of a cult that appeared in the game when the monotheistic religion had reached the peak of its corruption.

Come to think of it, wasn’t there a special event related to a cult in this area?

It was an event I had ignored because the reward was unsatisfactory, and they were harmless as long as they weren’t provoked.

But it seemed someone had triggered it. Probably the hairy man who had dodged my spear.

“Who are you…!?”

Just then, the man looked down at me in disbelief and asked. The fact that he was still looking down on me from the palisade really bothered me.

“You’ve set up shop on my land, and you don’t even know who I am?”

I swung my sword as I turned. The palisade, unable to withstand the superhuman strength combined with the rotational force, collapsed.

The man leaped just before the support beams gave way. Despite having jumped from a palisade taller than a man, he landed as smoothly as a cat.

Knowing what the reward for the cult event was, I was certain. He had triggered it.

“The Giant Slayer! I thought it was just an empty title…!”

“So you knew this was my land, and yet you committed such an outrageous act.”

“Hmph, you’re just a human with a little more strength. Why should I, who has been blessed by a god, be afraid of you!”

The man charged forward. His speed was faster than anyone I had ever met.

Even in my slowed perception, his movements felt “agile”. He reached me in an instant and thrust his sword.

He was focused solely on piercing me, disregarding his own defense.

Well, at this speed, most opponents wouldn’t even be able to react.

The smirk on his face, as if he had already won, was amusing. I had seen his limitations in his reckless attack.

He had clearly never been properly trained. He was just a lucky man who had stumbled upon a reward.

Or should I call it luck?

I had raised my sword above my head as soon as he charged, and I immediately swung down.

The man’s eyes widened as he saw my much faster sword. He had noticed my attack. His reflexes were better than I expected. Of course, that didn’t mean he could dodge it.

“Gah…”

The man was thrown back at twice the speed he had charged.

He stopped only after hitting the palisade, which he then used to pull himself up. A new gash had appeared under his eye.

A little deeper, and he would have been dead.

“It was shallow.”

Just before my sword reached its target, the man had retrieved his sword and used it as a shield, using the recoil to barely escape the attack range.

As expected, his speed was comparable to mine. He glared at me in disbelief.

“H-How…!”

“You are weak, and I am strong. That’s all.”

I tightened my grip on my sword and approached him. His sword had been shattered in the last clash.

The faces of the people on the palisade filled with bewilderment.

“Dophin-nim, in one blow!?”

“N-No! We’re all going to die. We’re going to die!”

The man seemed to think the same, his face turning pale. He looked around for an escape route, and as I approached, his body trembled.

I knew it was all an act. If the reward for the event was just a little more speed, why would I have ignored it? It wasn’t far from my base, and it wasn’t a difficult event.

So I started acting too. I smirked arrogantly and pointed my sword at him.

“It is not I who will kill you, but your ignorance and arrogance.”

As if on cue, the man’s eyes gleamed, and he charged at me. Instead of a sword, his outstretched fingernails had grown long and sharp, like a beast’s.

His forearms had also doubled in thickness, and his skin and shaggy hair had turned a grayish color.

“Roar! Die!!!”

He must have thought I was off guard, but I simply took a half-step back diagonally, dodging his attack, and smirked at him.

At the same time, I assumed a stance with the tip of my sword pointing downwards and aimed for his outstretched arm, swinging upwards. It was a fluid combination of evasion and counterattack.

“Gah!”

His severed arm flew through the air, followed by a spray of blood. The man, after rolling a few times, grabbed his shoulder and stood up, glaring at me.

“Y-You monster…!”

“I don’t know who’s calling whom a monster.”

I sneered, looking down at the monster’s arm on the ground. The man’s face contorted.

“You’ll regret this!”

I didn’t try to stop him as he fled without looking back. I had aimed for his arm instead of his neck, even though I had a perfect opportunity, because I wanted him to escape.

I had business at the event location where he was heading to gain even more power.

A cult, a man who had turned into a monster, and an event location with traces of an ancient god. These were all things that would surely delight the archbishop.

“We must capture that minion of the devil!!”

As expected, the archbishop, having confirmed the man’s escape, rushed over and shouted.

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