The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 309

Episode 309

“Sorry, but you can’t go in here.”

In front of the gray gate.

After changing portals three times, we arrived at a place where a group of people were already in formation.

‘…is that symbol of the Batar Church?’

Raoul immediately realized the identity of those blocking his path.

Among the denominations, the only one that engraved the sword and shield symbol was the denomination that worshiped Baatar, the god of war.

“What do you mean you can’t go in?”

Kane asked the head of the church with a puzzled expression.

“It’s literally true. “Our church’s punitive force has already entered the gate, so no one else can enter.”

In general, when attacking the gate, it was an implicit agreement that if a punitive force from one force entered, the other area would be conceded.

However, in a special situation like now, it was not normal to block entry even when the church (Holy Empire) had directly requested cooperation.

“What should I do?”

Kane asked Raoul with an embarrassed expression.

It was possible to break through by force, but conflict with the church was never a desirable choice.

“Do you need any help? “Now that we’ve come this far, I’d like to lend a hand in suppressing the gate.”

Raoul spoke directly to the person in charge.

But he was stubborn.

“The person in charge of our subjugation asked us not to let anyone in. “Thank you for taking the long journey, but please leave this place to us, Count.”

Seeing the person in charge bowing his head and refusing, Raoul eventually had no choice but to back down.

“What happened, Kane? “Didn’t you say that our agent discovered it?”

“sorry. I don’t understand either. “I’m sure he didn’t reveal it to anyone but me…”

The reconnaissance agent who met him directly also explained it with an expression of disapproval.

“I definitely discovered it on my own. And then I rode straight to the branch and reported. But I never thought the church would send troops first…”

There was no particular route for information to leak out.

Nevertheless, the church took the lead first and even entered the punitive force.

A thought passed through Raoul’s mind.

‘no. ‘It’s not certain yet, so let’s not make too many leaps.’

He shook his head and instructed Kane.

“First, build a camp nearby and observe the gate even from afar. “If the situation changes, we will enter right away, so prepare thoroughly.”

“Yes Master.”

I didn’t expect that I would be halfway across the continent and not even get to see the inside of the gate.

Four or five hours passed like that.

“Master, please come out. “The gate…”

As Raoul left the barracks at Kane’s call, the faint image of the gate in the distance caught his eye.

And dozens of people were leaving through that gate.

“It looks like the subjugation was successful.”

As Kane said, all those who appeared to be part of the church’s punitive force escaped, and soon after, the gray gate disappeared in thin air.

But among them, I saw some people who looked somewhat familiar.

‘Are they…?’

Kane had already realized that fact and was moving first.

After a while.

“It’s been a while, Count Raoul.”

It was Asher and Regan who appeared in front of Raoul.

Members of the warrior party who visited Raoul’s territory as per the church’s investigation and were with him during the Battle of the Wall.

“It’s been a while, Lord Asher. And Wizard Regan.”

More than four years have already passed since that meeting.

And that was enough time for Asher, a fledgling warrior, to grow into a full-fledged warrior.

‘I feel like there is a lot of prayer. Should I call him a hero after all?’

I could sense the scent of a superhuman from Asher, and wizard Regan also seemed to have overcome the barrier of the 6th circle.

“I never thought I would see you here again, Count. “I kept hearing news from afar.”

“I knew that he would become great, but now there is no one on the continent who does not know the Count’s name. Even if I knew the Count, not many people would believe me, haha.”

Asher and Regan greeted Raoul happily and exchanged updates on their current situation.

Saint Kiera, who was in the same party, said she left the investigation team and returned to the church.

And Simar, who was a guide.

“I wasn’t so lucky. “I never thought I’d meet an S-rank guardian there.”

It seemed like he lost his life to an unknown monster at some gate.

“And we continued suppressing the gate by reorganizing the party several times.”

“And not long ago, I joined a large-scale punitive force. But the atmosphere is so….”

Since the recent story was brought up, the two’s expressions didn’t look so good.

Apparently, the punitive force that attacked this gate was created by gathering all the warrior parties operated by various religious denominations.

“But actually…”

Just when Asher was about to say something with a slightly dark expression.

“Hey Asher! Once the battle is over, shouldn’t we clean up after ourselves? “I still can’t come to my senses from hanging out there.”

Asher bit his lip when he heard someone’s voice.

Jump and jump.

A group of people walked towards Raoul and Asher.

“Are you already kidding me about how long I’ve been asking you to join me as a chore worker?”

“Huh….”

“Why? Are you trying to attack me? Okay, see.”

A man looking down at Asher, who is about 185cm tall.

His physical appearance, with his large size and bursting muscles, is like.

‘It’s like seeing my big brother.’

He looked no better than his eldest brother Dylan, who was said to have the best body not only in the Ashton family but also on the continent.

Asher, who seemed to be filled with anger for a moment, eventually lowered his head and greeted Raoul.

“sorry. “Under the circumstances, I think we’ll have to share the rest later.”

And then he went back to base with Regan.

The man, who had been looking at them with his arms crossed in an arrogant manner, turned his head to look at Raoul and grinned.

“I never thought I would see the continent’s greatest celebrity right in front of me like this. “It is truly an honor, Count Raoul.”

He bowed his head and seemed to show respect, but neither the tone nor the atmosphere seemed polite at all.

“It looks like you are the person in charge of this punitive force, is that correct?”

“Haha, yes. “My name is Noel, and I am a hero who received the blessings of Master Baatar and the leader of the Holy Empire’s subjugation force.”

Then, as if provoking me, I offered to shake his hand, but Raoul accepted it without any change in his expression.

There was no childish testing of hand strength, but that brief time spent shaking hands.

An invisible energy passed between the two people.

‘It sure looks like his skills are good…’

Just his momentum alone is at the advanced level of a master.

Since he said he received God’s protection with his own mouth, he must be hiding something.

Isn’t that why they came out after defeating the unidentified gate so cleanly?

Noel, who let go and stepped back, took a step back and asked.

“I heard that construction work is busy because you are expanding your power here and there, so why did you come all the way to this remote area? Oh, if you have trouble answering, you don’t have to say anything.”

And the way he looked at me as if he knew everything was quite annoying.

“I came here because I was worried about the gate, but I feel relieved to see that the church seems to have sorted it out well. “I wish you all the best in the future.”

However, Raoul was not so shallow as to show it on the outside.

From the looks of it, he seemed to be a hero supported by the Batar Church and the Holy Empire, so there was no need to pretend.

Of course, the other person didn’t seem to think otherwise.

“ha ha ha. Do not worry. Unlike others who are busy growing their power, my colleagues and I have been fighting against Gate behind the scenes for several years. “Wouldn’t it be okay for each of us to continue to live in a way that suits us?”

“No, this person dares to ask someone…!”

Kane, who was next to him, was about to get angry and Raoul raised his hand to stop him.

Seeing Kane’s appearance, the warriors standing behind Noel were already putting their hands on their weapons.

“Now that the Gate is gone, there is no reason for it to remain. “You worked hard, so please rest well.”

Raoul turned around with his men.

-Pretending to run away. As expected, I will believe the rumors…

-You covet the power of a god even though you are not a believer. As expected, the author is no different from other greedy lords…

As the distance grew further, I could vaguely hear the sound of chattering behind me.

The tendons on the backs of the hands of the knights guarding Raoul twitched, but Raoul simply quietly left the scene.

“I looked into it. “It appears that there was a hierarchy among the so-called warrior party.”

A few days later, Calypse Saint Raoul’s office.

Kane came and reported with a slightly flushed face.

“And it seems that the power called God’s protection was inherited from that place. That arrogant subjugation leader named Noel.”

Kane’s information gathering ability was still outstanding.

In just a few days, we have been able to dig up information about them.

‘So that’s it.’

The members of the punitive force who were there at that time.

Each and every one of them, numbering more than a dozen, possessed superhuman-level strength.

This is probably the result of receiving God’s blessing and working as a warrior party for several years, honing their true skills.

The problem was that the ‘power of God’, or divine power, was not felt very much in their bodies.

Asher was also puzzled because he didn’t feel any special divine power compared to when he first met me, but I thought I knew the answer.

‘It means that God’s blessings were given to one person.’

This was the reason why Noel seemed unrivaled even among the punitive forces.

And the reason they gathered their strength together like that may have been because of the thought that a stronger enemy might appear.

‘Or maybe the Holy Empire wants to make one of their own a coordinator.’

What is clear is that Noel is also one of the final candidates for coordinator.

And it was natural that I was aware of the content of the scenario.

Blocking the gate must have been a check to prevent other candidates from achieving achievements.

But Raoul found it all just funny.

‘If it seemed like trickery would change the outcome, it wouldn’t have been given the grandiose name ‘final scenario.’

It’s not like they’re selecting class presidents, and the selection criteria won’t be determined by processing gates one by one.

Moreover, in a way, the selection test is a sideshow and the real goal is to kill the enemies that will appear.

In a situation where the real enemy had not yet appeared, there was absolutely no reason to fight over the gate.

In any case, Raoul’s ultimate goal was simply to ensure the safety of his people, including his family subordinate Young Ji-min.

I just fought fiercely for him and had no intention of wasting my energy becoming an unknown ‘coordinator’.

‘It would be a good thing if they would sort it out on their own without me having to step in. ‘I ask you, hero, to work harder.’

Raoul chuckled and began to take care of the backlog of territory business.

* * *

“Do you think this is fair competition?”

“Is that really the first thing you say when you meet after a long time? Tsk tsk.”

“It would be best not to get too caught up in human emotions, Gray.”

A space of unknown location.

Three people were standing somewhere where a cloud of smoke lay on the floor and a translucent white curtain surrounded all sides.

Each of them is dressed in black, gray, and pure white robes.

They were none other than Grand Black Alfred Gray Zenas White, known as the Three Wise Men of the Continent.

“It’s the final exam. Intervening in a test that should be fair above all else. And if an error occurs, who is going to take responsibility?”

When Gray asked again in a disapproving tone, Black asked back.

“process? Well said. Do you think it is fair for the final exam to proceed as is? What is the meaning of a test that is already one-sided? At this rate, all we can do is simply approve the given answer. And I’m not even sure that the answer is correct.”

“That’s what I agree with Black. “If it’s an exam anyway, wouldn’t it be meaningful to compete under similar conditions?”

When even White agreed with Black’s opinion, Gray shook his head.

“Hasn’t the evaluation already been ongoing? The final exam is an extension of that. “If you don’t acknowledge what the candidate has built up and only refer to the final exam, then what were all the exams so far?”

“I’m not saying to deny that. “I just hope it can be verified a little more.”

Gray sighed and looked at the two people’s faces.

Black is stubborn and White is just smiling.

We have already experienced for a long time that there is no way to change one’s thoughts anyway.

And we knew very well what each other was thinking.

Black, who had been directly or indirectly suppressing the so-called Empire for a long time, was hoping that a pure Connect resident would qualify as a coordinator.

Those who have truly protected this continent for a long time are truly qualified for that position.

White, on the other hand, wanted a new character.

This is because I thought that change was needed rather than placing expectations again on those who had not responded for a long time.

And Gray himself.

‘What does origin matter? ‘You should choose the person with the highest probability of being qualified.’

And one person’s name was already engraved in his heart.

“In any case, we plan to continue disseminating information until the main exam begins. “In order to stop them, we need to encourage people’s greed.”

“I agree too. Even if they are not candidates, people need to take action. “What do you think, Gray?”

Gray couldn’t help but nod his head in response to White’s question.

Tests are important, but overcoming the connection crisis was a priority.

“I will agree, but keep in mind that excessive intervention is difficult.”

“Don’t you already know that you don’t have the power to do that? Now the rest will be up to the humans.”

The balance of power that had been forcibly maintained was already collapsing.

How will the future of Connect unfold?

Not even the three people here could know that.

(Continued in the next part)