The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 207

Episode 207:

Tap, tap, tap.

About 20 knights on horses were running somewhere across the wasteland.

They were none other than Raoul and the members of the First Knights who served as his guard.

“Hey~! “I’ve only heard about it, but it’s truly huge.”

Josh, who was running his horse, raised his head, looked ahead, and stuck out his tongue.

Near the distant horizon, an incredibly long man-made structure came into view.

It was the ‘Wall’, known as mankind’s largest structure.

But what disturbs the eyes even more than that is the huge mountain range rising high into the sky through the clouds.

The huge mountain range that seemed to have split the planet in half was literally a natural barrier that denied entry to humans.

I couldn’t tell whether Josh’s admiration was directed at the ‘Wall’ or the ‘Great Canyon of Despair’, but it was true that he was completely overwhelmed.

Otherwise, his mouth, faster than his eyes, would have been pouring out words without stopping.

“It looks close when you look at it like this, but it won’t be until tomorrow afternoon before we actually get there.”

“oh my god. “I’ve been running for a day and I have to go that much further?”

After hearing what Jake said, Josh overreacted by holding his head.

It was probably an attempt to lighten Raoul’s tense mood a little, but it didn’t seem to have much effect.

Raoul was just holding the reins and staring at the barrier as if he couldn’t hear anything.

“But if you’re in such a hurry, can’t you get on the portal right away? Why do you have to ride a horse for more than two days to get to the wall?”

Josh asked curiously, and this time Kane answered.

“There are many incredibly complex magic circles and various organ formations installed near the wall. And for various military and political reasons, teleportation is prohibited within a certain range. Even if a real war breaks out, the portal will not be opened unless it is a truly urgent situation.”

It was like that.

As Kane said, if you wanted to get to the wall, you had no choice but to use the ground.

For decades, the Empire has been targeting the Wall through various means such as teleportation, flight magic, and tunnel magic.

It was a kind of rule established not only to prevent such tricks, but also to prevent any false ideas in each kingdom.

“Hurry a little more.”

As Raoul spoke, the warm mana wind that spread from his body enveloped the group.

Raoul unleashed an aura of brilliance.

Thanks to this, the tired horses found stability in their breathing, and the drivers also felt vitality returning to their temporarily exhausted bodies.

“Hey!”

The group spurred their horses and galloped toward the wall.

* * *

Tak tak.

Speeding up, the group arrived at Porta, a city bordering the wall, much earlier than expected.

“Wow… this is unexpected?”

Josh was probably thinking of a huge barracks or fortress city.

However, when I actually entered Porta, it felt more like a trading city or tourist city with a huge crowd of people than a military city.

“Surprising? “Everyone who visits for the first time has that look on their face.”

The structure of the city itself was simple.

A structure in which a very large city is surrounded by a single wall.

What’s unusual is that one side is in contact with a wall and there is a relatively small fortress structure in front of it.

Excluding the fortress, it would be no different from a hugely prosperous trading city.

“In fact, more than 90% of those living in this city are civilians with no connection to the military. And most of the floating population is made up of merchants and mercenaries. how is it? “Do you have any feelings?”

“Now that I think about it, it seems to have a similar feel to the count’s fortress.”

The reason was simple.

This was because of the rare by-products that could only be obtained beyond the wall and the spoils obtained from battles with the empire.

And there was another political reason, but Jake didn’t bother to mention it.

“We’re heading straight to headquarters.”

“Yes Master.”

As Raoul spoke with a stern expression the whole time, Jake took the lead and led the group.

‘Now that I think about it…’

As I rode, I learned another unique thing about this city.

It’s a huge boulevard.

Not only was the city large, but the roads were wider than anywhere Josh had ever been – even the kingdom’s capital.

And while carriages that appeared to be on the upper side of the road were moving around, the middle side was being used as a marching path for cavalry and soldiers on horseback.

“Are there usually this many cavalrymen?”

“well. “It wasn’t like this when I was there…”

Jake answered with a puzzled expression.

As far as the eye could see, there were close to hundreds of horsemen on the march leading to the headquarters.

Even if only 1/5 of them were knights, it could not have been a significant number.

The atmosphere of the city seemed unusual.

A total of twenty knights accompanied Raoul on this trip to the wall.

Among them, the most senior executives were Kane Jake Josh.

Of course, Kane came along to gather information and track down his missing second brother, Lawrence, and Jake joined because of his experience working at the Wall.

As the chief knight, Josh was the platoon leader of the remaining 17 armor users who were expert intermediate level or higher, but in reality, he only participated to help Raoul.

“Stop. “You can’t ride horses from here on.”

Before we knew it, we arrived at the main gate of the fortress, where armed knights and soldiers were politely welcoming visitors.

Although the city was large, the actual fortress in front of it was by no means small.

When the group got off their horses, the gatekeeper approached and asked.

“Where are you from?”

The flag bearer was holding a flag with the emblem of the First Viscounty engraved on it, but the gatekeeper did not seem to recognize it.

That’s because it hasn’t been that long since the First Viscounty was known, and its knights have never been dispatched to the Wall.

“This is Viscount Raoul de Ashton and his party from the First Viscounty of the Kingdom of Leuven.”

“First Viscounty…? If you say Ashton, do you mean Ashton?”

“Yes, Viscount Raoul, you are also the third prince of the Ashton family.”

“ah…!”

The knight in charge of the gate turned slightly toward Raoul, raised his fist, placed it on his chest, and saluted Raoul.

“You are Sir Lawrence’s younger brother. I am truly sorry to hear this sad news. “He was a really great driver.”

“Thank you at least for your words.”

When Raoul bowed, he nodded and gave orders to the soldiers behind him.

“Open the way.”

Drurr.

The iron barrier blocking the entrance to the fortress was pushed aside.

“If you go inside and go to the first floor of the 4th Annex, you will find the members of the Ashton family. I hope you achieve good results….”

Judging from the knight’s attitude, it seemed that his second brother, Lawrence, had a very good reputation.

* * *

“Welcome, Viscount.”

“It’s been a while, Baron Carlo.”

The person who welcomed Raoul and his group when they arrived at the annex was none other than Carlo de Ashton, the commander of the Silver Bear Knights.

He must have worked hard to sharpen his skills since the last civil war in the count family, and his level seemed to have reached the highest level.

‘Fortunately, the main family’s power is going up smoothly.’

After the last civil war, Raoul persuaded his father, Count Melvin, and his eldest brother, Dylan, to hand over 50 positions of Tio in the First Guild to the Count’s family.

It was important for the first guild to grow, but the growth of the count family that would support it was also necessary.

And in the short term, in order to increase power, it was more efficient to give up positions to the count’s high-ranking knights whose skills were stagnant.

Baron Carlo seemed to be even more humble towards Raoul as if he knew this.

Once I personally experienced the ‘blessing of God’ that had been rumored, I couldn’t help but feel good towards Raoul.

“Did your father say anything else?”

“yes. He asked me to cooperate with Viscount Raoul as much as possible. And there was something Dylan wanted me to tell you.”

“Big brother?”

“Yes, ugh. ‘Be sure to bring that stupid bastard back!’… The head of the family and the leaders barely managed to stop him from coming to the wall himself.”

Well, my eldest brother Dylan deserved it.

Unlike Raoul, who was always bickering, the eldest and second brothers grew up bickering quite a bit.

If Raoul, who had a large age gap between them, was like a child or a nephew, Lawrence would have been a real brother to him.

I felt like I was interfering with him, and I could understand how he felt when I saw the word ‘I believe’ written in the guild communication chat window, which I rarely used.

‘Sigh, my heart aches even though I haven’t actually seen his face, but what about my brother and father?’

Although they were brothers who remained only in implanted memories, Raoul’s heart was even more bitter.

Even though I already knew that something might happen, I felt guilty for not being able to take care of my second brother properly using other busy schedules as an excuse.

If Raoul’s guess is correct, Lawrence’s disappearance will not simply be an incident.

Originally, there should still have been about six months left, but it was clear that his intervention had distorted history.

‘It shouldn’t be too late…’

“But why is the atmosphere in the city like this? “Does this have anything to do with this?”

Although news of Lawrence’s disappearance was reported, no further details were provided.

This is because the affairs within the Wall were treated as strictly confidential.

In a situation where it was already known that the empire’s spies were operating within the kingdoms, it was natural to withhold the most important information from the general noble families.

“Yes, this is a ‘large-scale disappearance case’ in which not only Lawrence but many people disappeared as a group.”

“…!”

When Jake asked, Baron Carlo stiffened his expression and answered.

“As you may have seen, not only us but many families from around the world have dispatched investigation teams and troops. Thanks to this, the annex inside the fortress is now completely full.”

I heard that a lot of knights were seen along the main street, so it seemed like that was the case.

It is said that the 20 annex rooms prepared to welcome visitors were already full, so if it had not been for Baron Carlo who arrived first, he would have had to find accommodation separately.

“Then did you hear what happened? “There is news from Lord Kane, but we need accurate information.”

“I think there is someone else who can explain that. Viscount Raoul, if it is okay with you, could you please join me to the commander’s office now? “After hearing the news that the Viscount had arrived, the Deputy Commander sent someone to visit.”

“By Deputy Commander, do you mean Lord Hansley?”

“Yes, it is.”

There were three sword masters at the barrier.

They were the commander-in-chief, Prince Julius, and his two second-in-commands, Prince Hansley and Prince Tavion.

They do not belong to any kingdom and only protect the Wall.

Therefore, even though they were not nobles with separate fiefdoms, they were shown respect by giving them the title ‘gong’.

Usually, one of the three men would remain at the wall and take charge of rear-end or administrative duties, and this role was often taken by Lord Hansley.

‘I never thought I would meet such a big person as soon as I came.’

I once again felt that this life was very different from my previous life.

In his last life, Bae Do-hyeon, no matter how big of a battlefield he participated in, all he could do was meet a working-level officer, let alone a second-in-command.

And although the name Earl of Ashton is not a light one, Duke Hansley will not meet him simply because he is the third son of the Earl of Ashton.

In fact, there were a huge number of children of high-ranking nobles who visited this place, but those who met the second-in-command were only a handful.

Perhaps because Duke Hansley frequently worked in the rear, he seemed to have a good grasp of the kingdom’s situation.

And maybe.

‘Brother Lawrence may have had some influence.’

I don’t know the details of what he was doing here, but I could roughly guess it by looking at the attitudes of the knights and soldiers.

Anyway, now that I was able to meet the person in charge, I thought I might be able to get help in the search for Brother Lawrence.

A moment later, the commander’s office.

“Welcome. “Welcome to the Wall.”

A gentle gentleman who appeared to be in his mid to late 40s welcomed Raoul.

Perhaps because he was wearing a suit, at first glance he looked like an ordinary administrative officer who had not learned swordsmanship.

However, without realizing it, Raoul was slightly strengthened by the huge, unknown energy hidden within.

“Hoo! indeed. “The rumors are not exaggerated at all.”

Prince Hansley, who must have sensed Raoul’s momentum that was revealed for a moment, looked at Raoul with a happy smile on his face.

But just as we were about to continue the conversation.

Clink ding ding ding!

“Oops… I think we should postpone this conversation for a while.”

It seemed like something happened outside.

“Do you want to go back and wait for a while? Or…”

“Do you mind if I follow you?”

When Raoul responded quickly, as if he had been waiting, Lord Hansley smiled and gestured.

“Follow me.”

(Continued in the next part)