Golden Mage - Chapter 51

Volume 2, Chapter 21

“In a word, the loyal vassal family. The ancestral Viscount Rubius laid the foundation for the revival of the Rubius family, which was on the brink of collapse, with his outstanding management skills. His only daughter, Rowelin Rubius, has reached the highest level of sword expertise at the age of twenty-two with her genius swordsmanship. Not only is she a masterful swordsman, but her ability to manage territories is excellent, and her beauty is also breathtaking, making the second son of the Terrandel Viscount set his sights on her. If he marries her, the Rubius family will naturally merge with the Terrandel Viscount.”

“I see…”

Upon King Redolph’s words, El fell into deep thought.

He had no idea that the Rubius family was in such dire straits. And the cruelty of Duke Einhart, once again, made him tremble with fear.

Duke Einhart not only brainwashed El’s father, Ryan Rubius, but also dealt a deadly blow to the Rubius family by mobilizing the power of his own family.

No matter how prestigious the Rubius family was, they couldn’t compare to the Einhart family, the most powerful family in the Empire.

Unable to respond adequately to the overwhelming power of Duke Einhart, the Rubius family faced a near-fatal blow.

If the central army had not stayed in the territory to stop the monsters pouring out from Troll Valley at that time, the Rubius family would have been completely swallowed up by the Terrandel Viscount.

With that in mind, El was able to make up his mind to help the Rubius family.

El broke free from his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“It seems that I can’t retract the three-year period. Building the Matap is a task that definitely requires that much time.”

“But…”

As King Redolph tried to speak with a regretful expression, El smiled and interrupted.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of clearing Troll Valley for you.”

“….!”

King Redolph’s eyes widened in an instant. He thought he must have misheard El’s words.

“You mean you will clear Troll Valley? That land of death?”

El chuckled at his surprise and pointed to himself.

“You seem to forget who I am sometimes. I am a Level 7 mage. I possess a Knight Golem that rivals the Grand Master. Is it still impossible?”

“Ah…”

King Redolph realized his mistake. Yes, the young man in front of him was a Level 7 mage. And he was not just any Level 7 mage; he was the strongest mage in the world, surpassing even Sword Masters.

If he were to join forces with the Grand Master and the Golem Knight, nothing would be impossible. They could conquer Troll Valley.

Seeing King Redolph’s expression brighten, El continued speaking.

“There are a few things I want from you in return.”

“Tell me anything.”

King Redolph readily agreed.

How could he refuse? If this young man could clear Troll Valley for them, he would gladly give him anything he asked for. The damage caused by the trolls pouring out from Troll Valley had been astronomical.

“Then…”

Having heard that, King Redolph thought deeply for a moment.

After a while, he opened his mouth.

“There’s no problem with the other conditions, in fact, they are good conditions for the kingdom. But the last condition seems a bit difficult.”

“I see…”

Seeing El sighing slightly, King Redolph explained.

“Frankly, I have no problem granting you permission, but those areas are already tightly controlled by other nobles. There is no way to infiltrate them.”

El’s expression brightened slightly.

“Is that the reason?”

“That’s right, but…”

Seeing King Redolph looking a bit downcast, El smiled.

“If that’s the only concern, then it’s not a problem. I’ll take care of everything.”

King Redolph’s expression brightened.

“If you say so, then it’s fine.”

“That’s all I need from you.”

With that, El stood up from his seat. Seeing him like that, King Redolph followed him with his gaze.

“Are you leaving like this?”

“After all, now that I have a clear plan ahead, it’s time to go. I have someone waiting for me.”

“Oh…”

Seeing El leaving the audience room, King Redolph mumbled to himself.

“He’s seventeen years old… One year older than Eris, hahaha!”

King Redolph, who had obtained a Level 7 mage and found a promising suitor, burst into hearty laughter.

And from this point on, the King of Tollyan would experience a tremendous change.

It was all thanks to Ellimist, the Tower Lord of Gold Tower, who would bring about such a transformation.

Later, the story of the incredible storm that swept through the western part of the continent would come to an end.

Chapter 7 – Troll Valley

Monster Land.

One of the three major danger zones of the continent, created when the former Demon King descended to the Levathan Plateau and left behind Dark Souls that attracted millions of monsters.

The Levathan Plateau, which is called the western end of the continent, was extremely wide, but it was overcrowded with monsters that exceeded its carrying capacity.

What followed was the law of survival of the fittest among monsters.

The strong monsters constantly killed and devoured the weak ones. As a result, the weak monsters began to avoid the Levathan Plateau and move further away.

As a result of the strict law of survival of the fittest, the ogres and trolls completely left the Levathan Plateau.

The ogres, who were considered the weakest group among the monsters, were driven out, and the trolls, who were part of the middle group, left the Levathan Plateau following the appearance of Troll Kings that emerged every few hundred years.

Troll King.

With a size twice as large as an ordinary troll and tremendous strength that could crush even an ogre, the Troll King possessed the ability to dominate all trolls on the ground with a gem embedded in its forehead that glowed with a faint red hue, containing the power of the Dark Soul.

But the true terror of the Troll King lay in the fact that it could harness the power of the Dark Soul.

An average adult troll was equivalent to a sword expert knight. Even if about a hundred trolls charged at once, they couldn’t do anything to the Troll King. In other words, the Troll King was more powerful than a hundred sword expert knights, which meant it possessed a power that surpassed that of a Sword Master.

Of course, even this level of power was just an estimation, as no one knew the true extent of the Troll King’s abilities. No one had ever seen the Troll King. So, the above estimate was considered to be minimal.

As the Tollian Kingdom couldn’t just rely on assumptions and send Sword Masters to face the Troll Valley, the Troll Valley became the territory of the trolls completely, and now, over fifty trolls resided there.

However, Troll Valley was not only inhabited by trolls.

The area was filled with treacherous valleys, precipices, and cliffs, but there was only one place where trolls and humans could enter, and that was Troll Valley’s entrance.

Many people lived there, escaping from the clutches of the evil lords of the Tollian Kingdom.

But there weren’t many people living in Troll Valley. Some villages were wiped out completely by the trolls’ raids, which occurred quite frequently.

However, humans are resilient. They began to gather to survive, and that’s how about twenty villages were formed in the early part of Troll Valley.

Ken Village was one of those places. With just over two hundred residents, Ken Village had a population of just under a thousand.

Though they had gathered together, if there was no knight-level skilled warrior, one troll would be more than enough to overwhelm dozens of humans.

So the villagers always had to be wary of troll raids.

But today, perhaps because it was the day of the trolls’ annual expedition, Ken Village faced an uproar as over twenty trolls attacked.