The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 16

Episode 16

Sleuth.

As the sun set, the figures of three men wearing cloaks appeared like a mirage through the shadows of the trees.

A bow slanted over the shoulder. The main dagger sheath on his waist and the daggers stuck tightly into his leather vest were noticeable.

Among those hiding in the tree trunk, the man at the forefront stared into the forest with sharp eyes.

‘That’s the place.’

He lightly traced the marks on the floor with his hand, nodded slightly, and kicked out of his seat.

Tadat.

Surprisingly, his appearance, which immediately jumped onto a 3m high tree branch, soon became blurry like a shadow.

His name is Pierce. He was a knight belonging to the Golden Bear Knights of the Earl of Ashton and one of the three regular knights guarding Raoul.

Pierce stayed hidden on a tree branch and used the newly learned skill [Perception]. With a strange feeling of mana rushing into my eyes, new things came into view.

A small rock wall about 50m away. The rock wall covered with vines took on a dark red color and shimmered like a haze.

As I focused my mana a little more, hidden things became clearly visible.

What I thought was a rock wall had large wooden doors on both sides, and two men with bows were hiding in the bushes in front of them.

‘Fantasy magic circle? Barrier? Anyway, it’s really just as Confucius said.’

Pierce was deeply impressed and reported the current situation to Raoul via guild communication.

Pierce was told to wait as they would arrive in about 5 minutes, so he put down the bow he was aiming at and relaxed his stiff body.

As I leaned against a tree and watched the rock wall, a memory from a month ago suddenly came to mind.

The Knights Templar was no different from the army. You must absolutely obey your superiors’ orders, and if an order is given, you must follow it unless there are special circumstances.

So, when they heard that the count’s youngest son, Confucius, was going to the academy in the capital, most of the knights were reluctant.

The youngest prince, Raoul.

Even though he is the child of a famous warrior family, Banpoon is not good at swordsmanship and is mentally weak, so he cannot even train properly.

From the perspective of knights who revered nothing and wanted to succeed, Raoul was no different from the hair of a dog.

The heir to the count’s family had already been designated as the 1st prince Dillon, and the 2nd prince Lawrence was a swordsman genius who had already reached the level of expert.

Who would want to get involved with the third prince, Raoul, leaving behind two princes like that?

Was that why? The Third Prince’s escort mission received an unusual number of applicants.

The knights who heard the news that the Third Prince had asked the Count to personally accept applicants were heartbroken, while some laughed at Raoul.

No matter how much they won the swordsmanship tournament, they had seen too much to wash away their previous image.

In the end, no one applied even after several days, and that included Pierce.

‘But I never thought you would come visit me in person.’

Raoul visited the knights’ training grounds for a while and had individual interviews with several knights.

Everyone said it was useless, but it didn’t take long for Pierce to change his mind.

“Sir Pierce. Don’t you want to jump over the wall? “I will help you.”

Words that can only be heard as the child’s childish voice.

However, Raoul personally demonstrated Pierce’s sword skills and pointed out the problem.

Of course, Pierce didn’t take it seriously. A kid who has just reached the level of a sword user is giving advice to an expert intermediate swordsman?

However, Pierce, who started training again after Raoul passed away, felt uncomfortable and thought back on Raoul’s words and tried his sword skills and was surprised.

Wouldn’t it be that advanced swordsmanship, which normally doesn’t flow smoothly, unfolds much more smoothly?

All three movements that Raoul pointed out were like that, making it difficult to think that it was just luck.

As I realized that, other stories Raoul had told me also came to mind.

“It will be difficult for Sir Pierce to succeed if he learns the Bear Crush (Earl Ashton’s sword technique). Because light has the advantage of agile movement rather than strength. And isn’t it too wasteful to bury the Lord’s other specialties as they are?”

In fact, Pierce was excellent at swordsmanship, but he was also skilled at archery.

This is because his father was a famous hunter, and he learned hunting under him before becoming a knight.

However, since becoming a knight, there has not been much use of the bow. The main weapon of the Golden Bear Knights was a two-handed greatsword, and the bow was only a secondary weapon.

And in the first place, it was difficult for the arrow to pierce the thick armor of a knight or the leather of medium to large monsters.

So, few people within the knights knew of his bow skills, but somehow Raoul knew about it.

‘Perhaps Prince Raoul has been keeping an eye on me for a long time… Otherwise, how could he have figured out the problems with my swordsmanship and learned about archery?’

For some reason, Pierce felt that Raoul was acknowledging him, and he had hopes that maybe Raoul could really help him improve his stagnating skills.

And the next day. Pierce decided to join Raoul’s escort.

Now, a month later, Raoul has kept his promise.

Pierce, who was at the intermediate level of Sword Expert, entered the advanced level without even realizing it.

And he was able to further hone his special skills through the skill book provided by Raoul.

‘It was truly the best choice. Those who rejected Confucius’ offer will hit the ground running and regret it later.’

The Prince Raoul he saw was a genius in swordsmanship, better than his second brother Lawrence, a great leader who could bring out the strengths of his subordinates, and was also a messenger of God who received the power of God.

It was unclear why he had kept his skills hidden until now, but it was clear that once he began to move in earnest, it would not take long for Prince Raoul’s true colors to become known to the world.

And just as I was thinking that it might be today that we begin to take that great first step.

Whirling.

Pierce, who had jumped from the tree, sat down on one knee and bowed his head.

“Are you here, Prince Raoul?”

* * *

Raoul looked at the distant rock wall with pale golden eyes.

〈Unknown Thieves’ Hideout〉

Grade: ???

Scale : ???

Status: A 3-circle illusion magic circle that manipulates a person’s vision. There is a 3-circle avoidance magic circle that prevents access. Destroy the magic circle or enter its interior to obtain additional information.

Raoul nodded slightly. It was clear that he was looking for a place.

‘It’s still the same. I heard that even though the cities are different, the hideout has a similar structure.’

It was said that his identity was unknown, but Raoul knew. The fact that this is the hideout where spies of the Kranen Empire operate in secret.

He is now in Mira, the starting city of the Ruben Kingdom, but before his reincarnation, Bae Do-hyeon first started in Ignet, one of the starting cities of the mercenary kingdom of Marcus Kingdom.

It wasn’t much different from Mira either. The typical way for players to grow was to level up by receiving quests in the city and hunting in the surrounding plains and forests.

In addition to monsters, there were also bandit robbers hiding in the forest, targeting the city and players.

However, some of the thieves were often not just thieves.

For example, a slave trader who kidnaps city residents at the instigation of a nearby noble family.

A group of mercenaries who neglect their main job and aim for a quick hit.

They were spies from each faction trying to recruit or kidnap players and threaten them.

However, the worst and most threatening of them all was the Kranen Empire’s intelligence department [Imperial Hound]. They did whatever they could to hinder the players’ growth.

Although he directly hunted players, he constantly worked to prevent them from uniting through kidnapping, threats, incitement, and cajoling.

In the end, the Imperial Hounds were greatly influenced by the large guilds at the end of the game that betrayed the kingdoms and colluded with the empire, so from Raoul’s point of view, they were people who could never be ignored.

“Lord Pierce.”

As Raoul instructed, Pierce hung two arrows from a bow at the same time on a tree branch and aimed them at the rock wall.

Shhh~ Fu shoot!

The foreheads of both guards were pierced by arrows at the same time and they died.

After confirming that no one was left around the entrance, Raoul walked forward at a brisk pace. Then he took out two small scrolls from his pocket.

It was a 3-circle magic dispel scroll that I had obtained in advance from the magic guild.

Raoul, who was about to tear the scroll to dismantle the magic circle, paused for a moment and glared at the magic circle.

‘Do you think you can do it?’

The two eyes I acquired during reincarnation accurately showed the flow of mana that made up the magic circle in front of me.

Translucent mana streams extending from the back of the door were circulating in the air in front of the rock wall, drawing geometric patterns.

Raoul put away the scroll and took out the main mangoche from his belt.

Then, with the mana in, lightly stab it into the air a couple of times.

Damn it.

The pattern floating in the air cracked and collapsed.

Raoul, who got a sense of it, once again stabbed Mangoche into the area where several mana stems intersected at the highest point of the remaining magic circle, and the magic circle was completely broken.

‘I learned something good. It will cost less money to buy a scroll.’

Magic scrolls were too expensive compared to their utility. Raoul was secretly happy because he was able to save money, even though he already had a lot of money to spend.

“Jackson and Neil, lure the fire moths as planned. “The entry time will be announced through guild communication.”

“Yes, Confucius.”

The two soldiers next to Pierce lowered their heads and disappeared between the bushes.

They planned to retrace the path Raoul and his group came from, erasing their traces and holding on to the pursuers’ footsteps through fake traces.

When the two soldiers disappeared, only Philip Jake Pierce and the three knights remained by Raoul’s side. However, these three were the best talents of the knights chosen by Raoul.

Maybe that’s why Raoul didn’t look nervous or afraid at all even when he was faced with the empire’s hideout.

Rather, its eyes were shining like a wild beast with delicious prey in front of it.

“There is no need for prisoners. Hunt them all down. And don’t forget that you have to finish with ‘this’.”

Raoul said, waving the sharp rapier he had taken out in the air.

“I don’t know why we have to use an iron skewer like this, but we will do as ordered. “I don’t think I’ll need a weapon to catch the thieves anyway…”

Jake answered, pounding the floor with his rapier as if he was displeased. Raoul ignored Jake and spoke to Pierce.

“Lord Pierce, first determine the location of the kidnapped people. In particular, Miss Nakia’s younger sister ‘Nikki’ must be saved at all costs, so find her as the top priority.”

“Please leave it to me.”

Finally, Raoul nodded slightly to Philip and turned. Because he was a trustworthy man who didn’t need any instructions.

“Then let’s enter.”

Raoul opened the door silently using telekinesis and entered the cave in the rock wall.

There seemed to be faint screams and a bloody smell coming out of the chilling wind.

(Continued in the next part)