The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 55

Episode 55

Security Platoon Commander Bill’s prediction was exactly right.

As soon as Asen’s horse entered, it went crazy and started running wild, injuring several soldiers.

The moment the four horses, including the knights riding them, swept through the camp and disappeared somewhere, trouble began.

Asen, who does not usually exercise much, had to go around the gate while being carried on his back like a piece of luggage by one of the drivers.

The bigger problem was that there were huge casualties during the attack.

The knights had no choice but to stay where they were to protect Asen, who was speechless and did not know how to fight properly.

The battle had to be left entirely to low-level mercenaries and soldiers, but their training was so poor that one or two people were killed or seriously injured every time they encountered a monster.

The monsters that appeared were, at best, kobolds, goblins, or mutant wild animals.

Since the number of the group could not exceed ten, it was normal for a force of one hundred to take them down without harm.

In the end, on the first day, they barely managed to capture the gate, but as many as twenty mercenaries and soldiers died and nearly half were injured.

This result was not just the result of this gate.

Nearly 1,000 casualties occurred at a total of 35 F-class gates that day alone.

Fortunately, there was no place where the attack itself failed, but it was by no means an understandable situation.

There were several reasons why this damage occurred while barely processing an F-grade gate.

The quality of the troops mobilized.

No one knew what would happen at the gate of their territory, and no noble would send elite troops to the capital.

Most of them were sent with hastily mobilized conscripts and low-level mercenaries.

Second, the capabilities of the commander.

Each family sent mostly young children to be responsible for this work.

There was a need to maintain balance with Raoul, who was active, and honestly, there was a risk in sending the territory’s main force.

Thanks to this, knights often did not participate in battle to protect their young superiors, which led to direct losses.

There may be many other reasons, such as lack of preparation such as information gathering, lack of actual combat experience, etc., but the conclusion is that the first day’s attack ended with great damage.

However, most families did not consider this to be a major loss.

As if to prove this, the next day they entered the gate again with the same number of troops as the previous day.

Since troops and mercenaries were just expendables anyway, the idea was that it would be enough to just get the results of clearing the gate.

“What kind of trouble is this?”

This was already the fourth gate.

Asen complained at the weight of the unfamiliar armor and took heavy steps.

I never thought I would have to sweat in an unknown place like this.

‘What on earth is this gate?’

When it first appeared, people were sucked in, but now everyone is taking care of themselves, so there are almost no gate victims.

And I don’t know what will happen in the future, but hasn’t a monster come out of the gate yet?

It doesn’t seem like there will be any problem if you just leave it alone, so why all the fuss??

In fact, even the main family had not touched the gate yet.

I’m just keeping a siege and just watching.

In a way, it was as if he was the first to attack the gate.

Of course, each media outlet and temple magic tower continued to send warnings.

‘If you leave the gate unattended, it could come back with great danger in the future.’

‘We confirmed that if you do not attack the gate, the number of gates around it will increase by up to three times.’

‘The horsepower measurement values of the abandoned gate are increasing. On the other hand, once you finish conquering even a high-level gate, the magic level is reset.’

All kinds of news was spreading, but honestly, I wondered what it mattered.

Anyway, there are still monsters hiding all over the territory, but it wasn’t a problem.

Rather, isn’t the reality that the nobles of the neighboring estates who are always looking for an opportunity are more of a threat?

Of course, they say that the haze surrounding the neglected gate is getting darker and more ominous, but that’s only appearances.

“damn! “I thought I would at least bring some pocket money…”

In addition to himself, there were his older brother and younger brother who said they would come. However, I somehow insisted and came forward, but now I regret it so much.

During the raid, loot worth money often appeared.

Unlike the monsters outside, some of the monsters inside the gate often had mana stones in their heads, and the corpses of the transformed monsters were so valuable that they could be sold to wizards.

Even when he was assigned here, didn’t he receive requests here and there?

But everything was in vain. Items obtained here could not be taken out.

The moment the gate disappears, the items you packed with you also disappear.

Isn’t this really the point in attacking the gate?

And after this fact was relayed to the main family, instructions were given to attack the gate while conserving the troops since there would be no more reinforcements.

‘Did you say you were planning to let go of the gate soon?’

I was glad that I didn’t have to do stupid things like this again, but I had no choice but to suffer if I was going to survive until then.

He said that since the knights had to take the lead in battle, he had to move his body himself.

‘If you think about it, this is all because of him.’

Raoul de Ashton.

I don’t know where it came from, but this kid suddenly appeared and instantly became the star of the capital Turium.

‘If only that guy hadn’t run amok…’

Actually, at first, I was very jealous and greedy.

Everyone thought that unless they were fools, there was no way they would be so obsessed with the gate, even taking losses.

There’s clearly something to be gained, so they hire a thousand expensive, high-quality mercenaries to target the gate.

Otherwise, it means that you have so much money that you can’t control it, so you’re making a mess of it.

“You cheater.”

Either way, thanks to him, he was the only one suffering.

Although I wasn’t participating in an actual battle, walking for more than three hours a day wasn’t easy.

“Lord Marco, are we still far away?”

“That’s a little strange. It seems like there are too few monsters. It looks less than 1/5 of its usual size. We should have caught most of them by now…”

“What’s the problem? “It’s good if there are fewer monsters.”

“…I hope it’s rain, too.”

Marco couldn’t hide his uneasy feeling.

Asen and his party crossed the forest and arrived at a place presumed to be the goblin’s stronghold.

“It’s empty.”

“How did this happen? “Did you run away because you knew we were coming?”

The knights tilted their heads, but could not easily find an answer.

“What then? “Isn’t it over?”

When Asen asked, Marco said as if he was frustrated.

“To complete the gate attack, you must kill all the monsters. Of course it’s not over yet.”

“Then what are you doing? Find him quickly and kill him!”

Asen, irritated after walking for a long time, shouted.

“…All right.”

Marco reluctantly answered and walked towards the knights.

We couldn’t wander around in a forest like this without proper scouts, so we needed a solution.

But then.

Marco, who lifted his foot to check as if he had stepped on something soft, tilted his head in confusion.

“What is this?”

A slightly yellowish and slippery semi-solid substance had fallen to the floor.

When I looked around, I saw these things spread all over the village.

‘Monster slime? No, rather than that, this… is it really oil!?’

The moment he was shocked and was about to tell his colleagues about this.

Whirring!!

A fiery arrow flew from the forest outside the village and landed.

“Avoid everyone! “It’s a trap!”

Marco shouted belatedly, but the troops had already unloaded their bags in the village vacant lot.

“Ahh!”

“Fire!”

“Help me~!”

A civil war broke out.

In fact, the entire village did not catch fire at once, but the fire that spread around the strange semi-solid body gave off acrid smoke and threw people into confusion.

“Confucius! “You must avoid it quickly!”

“Cough, Marco! “How did this happen…?”

Marco’s fellow knights followed him as he ran out of the village, holding the arm of Asen, who was inhaling smoke and running down his nose.

The knights’ movements were certainly agile, and only some quick-witted mercenaries came to their senses and joined the escape.

However, they had no choice but to stop in front of the village’s main gate.

“Grrr.”

Unidentifiable monsters were besieging the village.

The momentum was on a different level from the monsters I had encountered so far at the F-class gate.

That’s because the monsters were ‘demon soldiers’, the empire’s biological weapons.

‘Today there will be more trouble than the road,’

Marco exclaimed, biting his lip tightly.

“Hit!”

No matter how they knew or how they set the trap or what it was, I had to live and see.

A sky-blue sword energy blazed from Marco’s sword.

* * *

smart.

“master. “The capital guard captain has come to visit.”

“Ask them to come in.”

As soon as Raoul finished speaking, the door burst open and the guard captain appeared, looking urgent.

“Prince Raoul, something big has happened!”

“yes?”

To be honest, I thought the guard captain would come visit me someday, but it was too soon.

‘I thought at least you would come after the investiture ceremony, but what happened?’

No matter how much we found out that the gate was an empty can, the family still had respect.

There was no way the nobles would leave the gate without even a week.

“The punitive force is missing!”

“What do you mean? Are you really referring to the punitive force that entered the F-class gate?”

When Raoul asked with a slightly puzzled expression, the guard captain nodded as if he himself was bewildered.

“That’s right. It may not make sense, but those punitive forces really went missing.”

“Wait a minute, you mean ‘punitive force’? Are you saying it’s not one?”

“yes. A total of ten punitive forces have not returned for two days since yesterday. “No, it’s gone!”

Raoul touched his forehead for a moment and was lost in thought.

‘Not one means that it is not a gate transformation… No, if there were three knights in the first place, it would be possible to attack an E-grade gate. ‘There is something!’

Sometimes, there were some gates whose grades changed. But at best, it’s only going to be one level higher. It had to be seen as having nothing to do with this incident.

“Has anyone other than the punitive force entered or entered the gate? “Especially the gate where the missing people are.”

“I already investigated, but the soldiers said that no one went in or out. And as you know, no one can come out until the gate is completely occupied, right? “Even if someone gets in, there’s no way they can get out without being seen by our soldiers!”

“Of course it is, but…”

It wasn’t that there was no way. But it’s possible that they have already appeared…?

At that moment, something passed through Raoul’s mind.

‘Could it be that they moved?’

Raoul slightly tilted his upper body forward and asked with sharper eyes.

“What happened to the gate where the disappearance occurred? Of course the rescue team was dispatched, right? Have you noticed anything in the field? “What is the situation at the gate now?”

“yes? yes??”

Raoul urged the guard captain in front of him, who was embarrassed.

“One o’clock is urgent. “Don’t forget anything you know and tell us right now!”

“Oh yeah. “I already wanted to let you know.”

The guard captain, overcome by the momentum, broke into a cold sweat and began to unravel the information about the incident.

Raoul’s eyes were slightly golden as he listened to the story.

(Continued in the next part)