Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 134

Border Village (1)

three months ago.

When Dallen left the Holy Knights, Lucia decided to stay at the headquarters for a while for training.

‘The leader said I could follow Dallan if I wanted… but if I did that, I don’t think I would even have time to organize the insights I have gained so far thanks to Dallan.’

These were the words she said with a gloomy face two days before we said goodbye.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand. The time the two spent together was a journey worthy of being included in any legend book.

By defeating the demon and the corrupted paladin in the labyrinth, he recovered the holy sword and stopped the witch’s plan to exterminate the city’s residents.

After fighting for several days while passing through ancient ruins underground, they were able to infiltrate the depths of the vice-captain’s rebel forces and engage in resistance.

It is truly irrational to throw away the dense knowledge accumulated through heroic actions without preserving it.

Rather, it felt strange that she was out again after such a short time.

‘But…is a hero a hero?’

Only 3 months. No, considering the journey to the labyrinth city, it was a shorter period of time than that.

Even though it was too short a time to accomplish something, Lucia’s momentum was completely different.

Even Dallon couldn’t distinguish her presence until he saw it with his own eyes.

The appearance of the trainee knight, who had been disheveled in many ways, was completely erased.

All I can feel from her now is pure, unwavering, pure white divine power.

Her strength, which felt like a shining sword, was reminiscent of the noble paladin seen on the other side of the monitor.

‘It seems like you’ve absorbed all that enlightenment. ‘Is it true that the hero’s understanding is different?’

I can’t even borrow the power of the status window like Dallan, but I can’t believe I’ve grown so rapidly.

The potential of the heroes who shone even in the midst of the apocalypse was certainly something that even he could not carelessly judge.

Sweet.

“In response to requests for support from each country, the Holy Knights have decided to expand their scope of activity again.”

Inside the blacksmith’s reception room again.

Lucia sipped the tea Penny gave her and opened her mouth.

“As you know, the Holy Knights once established branches and dispatched troops throughout the continent to exterminate demons and monsters. “Thousands of demons were hunted, and dozens of demons were extinguished or sealed.”

“And I captured and killed as many nobles as there were demons sealed. Including the Duke of the Empire.”

“…yes. According to the records, they were all devil worshipers, but records made by human hands are difficult to trust.”

Lucia nodded. It looked impressive. It is clear that it is a past that is difficult to easily admit as a Holy Knight.

“In the end, the leaders of each country who felt that their national sovereignty was being infringed asked the Knights to show self-respect. “It has led to this point.”

The rise and fall of the Holy Knights. This was a setting that Dallan was familiar with.

Until a few hundred years ago, the prestige of the Holy Knights was incomparably higher than it is now.

Even nobles from other countries were captured, imprisoned, or killed under the pretext of being the devil’s agents.

In a political world where the interests of each country are intertwined, such simple boasting of power is unlikely to last long, regardless of justification.

In the end, the Knights, who were checked by countries on the continent 300 years ago, ended up in a position where they could only protect the cracks in the main order.

‘But now things are different.’

As the end approaches, numerous monsters begin to appear throughout the continent.

It is not easy to protect a large area of land with only the troops that previously maintained security.

Additionally, the troops trained to deal with humans felt an inevitable sense of fear as they hunted extraterrestrial beings.

In the end, many countries had no choice but to borrow the help of experts once again.

The hands of those who have expertly hunted demons and monsters for over a thousand years.

“Then I guess the reason we visited the mithril smelter was because of supply.”

“you’re right. It is not easy to find a blacksmith shop outside the headquarters that can manufacture white silver steel. “The Mithril Refinery will exclusively supply weapons made of white silver steel to the troops dispatched to the central part of the continent, including the City Alliance.”

[Hmm, that’s surprising. He seemed to care about the blacksmith, so could this have been planned?]

Red Spear quietly entered the image. Dallen just shrugged.

It was true that he was aiming halfway, but he didn’t expect that the shackles of the Holy Knights would be lifted so quickly.

Jeokchang smiled meaningfully and said how he received such a reaction.

[…It really is unusual. I will look forward to the promise you made in the future.]

“Actually, I did prepare my heart.”

“…hmm? “What do you mean?”

Dallen tilted his head. Did I miss the context while talking to the insidious Dragongari?

“Phew…the number of times the Knights have provided silver sparks to outsiders is just a handful. I prepared my heart with the thought that maybe, just maybe, we would meet. But why…”

He lowered his head. A bright red blush is visible through the blonde hair that covers her face.

Thump thump. Thump thump. The high sensory levels sent her heart rate soaring. Dallen chuckled.

“If anyone hears it, they’ll think you’ve done something big.”

“Big big problem…?”

“Didn’t you just say hello? I heard it’s a tradition in my hometown to express gratitude. “I meant that too.”

“Oh, no, how can that be…no, that’s true, but…so…”

The paladin raised his head and cried with a blushing face. Dallen smiled lowly and sipped his coffee.

The noble demon slayer on the other side of the monitor showed a side he had never shown before.

It was a moment that made me realize once again that this world is not just a chunk of code made up of 0s and 1s.

***

Lucia said she plans to stay in this city and continue carrying out the mission of the Knights.

It seemed like she had a personal mission separate from winning the supply deal for the mithril smelter.

‘Well, it’s a waste to make fun of someone of that caliber. Considering recent growth, it is right to induce higher growth through challenging missions.’

Edgar Reinhardt, the leader of the Holy Knights, was a person capable of making such strategic decisions.

After Lucia left, Dallon ordered a new ax and javelin from LeBaron.

The short spear was reduced to dust after withstanding the power of the red spear, and the ax received from the knights was also close to scrap metal after going through many battles.

In fact, the durability of the hatchet was such that the knight commander himself boasted about it, but it would be without conscience to expect it to remain intact while tearing through the scales of a true dragon and the skin of a demon.

“ax? Come back in three days! I will make you a top-quality hatchet using the spark you gave me. How much? “You’d better stop paying for things at my blacksmith shop!”

When Dallon asked the price, LeVeron smiled brightly and said so.

It was a bonus that they gave me a small oak barrel of beer, saying it was a free gift for my main customer and benefactor.

The next few days were busy.

The first was to organize the compensation given by the Diamond Palace for the extermination of Calchas.

Jewelry worth five chests of gold coins, brigandine armor made of black iron, and even the winning bid at the golden auction house that Gawain had promised.

In addition, the Geumgang Palace provided a three-story house in a wealthy village not far from the square where the barrier tower is located in the center of the Sunyin district.

‘The plan is probably to use the asset of the house as bait to make enemies in Falcion.’

A conservative whose true intentions are clearly visible. But from Dallen’s perspective, there was nothing wrong with receiving it.

Considering the cost of land and building, this also meant that Geumgang Palace considered his price to be that high.

Besides, it’s impossible to stay in an inn forever after building up this level of fame.

Dallen, who visited his home, first prepared a space for training, then obtained a large amount of magic theory books through the Elgaia Magic Tower and placed them there.

Compared to swordsmanship or martial arts, magic is an ability whose theoretical aspect is especially important.

Since we wanted to break the mold of existing skills through unique skills, it was right to expand our own limits in every possible way.

A few more days passed like that.

The day after he stopped by Bjorn’s workshop and told him about the supply of gunpowder he had agreed to receive as compensation from the Tsar’s Special Forces, he calmed him down and said that he would make a special 12-barreled crossbow. The day after, he returned.

“The informants lost contact last night. And this note came to the bar.”

In the crow’s nest office he visited after receiving a call from Sienna, Dallon realized that it was finally time to make a move.

“’If you don’t want to be drugged and rolled over, crawl on your own, bitch.’ Hmm, that’s a classic threat.”

“It’s the bravado typical of back-alley people. “I left the place for a while, and some weird-looking guys started climbing up.”

Sienna spoke casually and waved her hand lightly.

Then there was the sound of wings flapping in the air, and translucent gray feathers seemed to melt into the letters on the desk.

“Is there liquid stuck to the letter? When we analyzed the magic power, it turned out that the blood of our informants was also on it. It looks like they are a threat to others, but it will be difficult for them to survive in the back alleys if they leave their tails this long.”

As she said that, she took out a few more reagents from the bottom drawer of the cupboard where the tea leaves were placed.

The image of him mixing things up and combining them in a small bottle is not a picture of information, but rather a picture of an apothecary or refiner.

In fact, Sienna’s abilities were more versatile than expected, even though they were overshadowed by the two big signs of witch and information dealer.

This is because after being abandoned in the low streets as a child, he grew up receiving help from many talented people like Bjorn and Philopon.

“…Nox. Aheltar. Remet.”

As I drop the completed elixir into the letter and end the long chant, a clear and sticky energy flows out of the letter and begins to draw lines.

A loose curve that is invisible to the eye but is clearly drawn in the sense of breath.

The point of the line circling in the air and extending out of the door was clear.

“It’s a tracking technique I learned from Shania and improved upon. “If the blood is poisoned by drugs, its traces can be traced within three days.”

“Are you planning on going after me right away?”

“That’s right. “Because I can’t touch my people and let them die gracefully.”

Dallen nodded and stood up. He fastened the straps of his armor, re-tied his boots, and fastened the holy sword leaning on the table to his belt.

Sienna, who was carrying a 5-barrel crossbow and a thin short sword by her side, picked up a letter oozing magical power and spoke.

“The last place the informants headed was the lower streets towards the Western District. A border town formed between the Western District and the Southern District. “The warlocks must have settled down there.”

“It’s a low street.”

Dallen stroked his chin. It seemed like it would be my first time seeing a sewer in a long time.

***

Falcion is a huge city filled with the magic of the transcendental and has a population of millions.

However, even with the magic of a transcendental person who reached the 6th level, it was impossible to sufficiently accommodate all the population.

In the first place, it is absurd to overcome problems that could not be solved even on the 21st century Earth with medieval-level technological power.

It was inevitable that hundreds of thousands of vagrants would arise in this city divided into seven districts.

Snap.

The place where those who have been left behind are headed is this low street.

It was the poorest place among the city’s slums, created by turning part of the sewage system into a slum.

“…Whew.”

“Are you okay?”

“…Uh, it’s okay. Because it’s the smell, you’ll get used to it quickly. But has the stench here been this bad before?”

“well. “I just got here.”

“That’s right. “For some reason, it feels like we haven’t known each other for quite some time.”

“But I don’t think they felt it was wrong. “The number of back alley tramps has increased several times in recent years.”

As we exchange small talk, the ground level becomes lower and lower.

We had already descended several meters deep underground, so there was no sunlight, and strange-looking bugs were flying above the rippling water.

Dallen, who was walking about half a step ahead of Sienna, suddenly regained his senses and took a deep breath.

The air is several times more foul than the stench of the back alley. Rather than simply an unpleasant smell, the smell, which is closer to a poisonous one, penetrates the nose and lungs.

It is not easy to miss the strong scent of drugs amidst all the excrement and the smell of rotting corpses.

And in between.

‘Iron scent…?’

At the faint, sharp scent, Dallon reflexively raised his arm to block Sienna.

[Pky kick. You’re quick-witted. It would have been perfect if I had come in a little further.]

Then I heard a voice. It was a somewhat twisted voice that echoed through the complicated passages of the low streets.

[What happened? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to end it here. Even though the dramatic production is a bit lacking, I am not a very picky audience. Pheuhihihi!]

A voice that was once distorted by magical power and lost direction as it echoed countless times through the passageways.

Dallen quickly expanded his senses to find the source of the unpleasant voice.

“…Rotten.”

However, what caught my eye was not an unknown monster, but thousands of other signs.

“…Dallen?”

After seeing his reaction, Sienna expressed her doubts with appropriate tension. Dallon answered briefly.

“Sienna light.”

No need to say anything else. That’s a fact they both recognize.

“Nox! Linux!”

Paaah!

As the darkness of nearly a hundred meters in radius was instantly cleared away by Sienna’s spell, presences that had been hidden by some magical power instantly flooded out.

Squeak!

Kii! Jjiiik!

The shadows in the dark, realizing that they had been caught, stopped writhing and started rushing towards me.

It was a rat.

A flock of thousands of rats ranging from those as big as your forearm to as large as tigers.

Although they were of various sizes and twisted shapes, they had a few things in common that bound them together.

Gray hair as stiff as thorns.

Eyes flashing red with greed.

and.

[We found the corpse of a beggar who had been eaten by a swarm of dark moon rats.]

There was even a familiar notification window flickering above his head.

135