Chapter 10

­ Guest to the House of Mogrian (6)

‘So this is the end of my life.’

The great landlord, Marcus Mogrian, shook his body sorrowfully.

What a shame, death at the hands of goblins.

All the nobles and bards would make fun of him and his house.

‘I should have saved my son, Labi, at least.’

Hunting monsters was just a hobby to him.

He had never expected that this hobby would ruin the future of his house.

“Kiiikk!”

He could see the goblin in front of him.

It was different from other goblins.

It had pink skin, big body and was skilled in combat.

Furthermore, it lead these goblins.

There was an ambush, and his troops had been defeated by the countless goblins.

‘The province must be informed….’

He observed hundreds of goblins, and the pink coloured goblin which lead them.

They were prey no more.

They were like dangerous bandits now.

*smash!*

When he was about to give up on everything, he heard something smashing to the ground.

“Frost Nova.”

And then he heard the voice.

It sounded like a young boy’s voice.

Before he fainted, he tried to see who the boy was.

He could only see the back of the young boy.

‘That boy must be….’

Freezing hell has been spread.

The valley was filled with the desperate screams of goblins.

When he couldn’t believe his eyes, the boy looked back.

“Daddy!”

Hmm? Daddy?

The voice wasn’t the boy’s.

Then where was it coming from?

“Daddy!”

The landlord opened his eyes.

He couldn’t see the boy, any goblins or the freezing hell anymore.

The familiar room, was his bedroom.

“Margaret…?”

Margaret called her father desperately,

Since she saw the fainted daddy’s body start to move.

“Oww…., What happened?”

A question which contained much confusion.

“Mr. Mage saved you, and brother as well.”

“What about the others? Are they ok?”

“Well….”

People who were captured by the goblins all survived.

However, the soldiers who were assaulted at the very beginning, there were no ways to save them.

Even a mage couldn’t revive the dead.

“How long have I been passed out?”

“You have been unconscious for two days. We were all worried about you…”

“Bring Hrothgar to me.”

Hrothgar was the name of the old butler.

“Huh? But you better meet mom and brother…”

“I will. But there is something I have to do first.”

Margaret stopped arguing with him.

Instead, she left the room to bring the old butler.

“That’s weird, I haven’t seen Margaret  this obedient.”

Some time later,

The white bearded old butler ran into the room.

“Sir landlord! Thank God you are well!”

“You must have had a hard time aiding me.”

“N, no! It was just my duty. I’m just pleased that you woke up and are well”

The old butler was enthused.

The landlord patted his back.

“How many have died?”

“Sir….”

“I’m ready. Tell me the number.”

“Twelve soldiers, and sir Lotten….”

Too many precious lives were sacrificed for his hobby.

What would have happened if the goblins wanted to execute everyone when they were assaulted?

Everyone who went for the hunt wouldn’t have been able to avoid death.

‘That’s horrible.’

The landlord shortly paid silent tribute for the victims.

He was a calculative man.

However, all of his calculative actions were for his province and the people who lived there.

Many loyal people, who spent their life for the province, were dead.

He felt the heavy responsibility for that.

“Ok, has our house awarded the bereaved?”

“Yes. We awarded them with our best.”

“Well done…. Urgh!”

The landlord groaned while nodding his head.

His body hadn’t recovered yet, he still suffered a headache.

The old butler looked at him with worry.

While shaking his head, he continued speaking.

“You said a mage rescued me, was it Mr. Marco?”

The landlord assumed it was Marco who saved him.

He saw a young boy in his memory, but he couldn’t figure out if it was just his dream or not. Furthermore, Ian was just a kid. Even if he contained an enormous potential within him…..

“No, sir. Because Mr. Marco left the province for another mission, I requested aid from Mr. Mage.”

So it wasn’t an illusion or dream.

“He saved us all.”

“…..”

Now he realised the freezing hell that he saw was made by Ian.

Now he understood all the favor Ian received from the emperor.

‘I can see.’

The reason that Royals and Ivory Tower wanted him so much.

The reason that they ordered House of Mogrian to protect him.

‘Otherwise, other countries or powers will try to take him away.’

After the era of war ended, it had been 60 years since the world divided to three big countries.

Each of the three countries had been focusing their money and power to raise mages as much as they could.

No one knew when the next war would occur,

The war which could occur at any time.

Even at this moment, each country was spying on the other countries.

‘They won’t assassinate him. They will try to persuade him.’

It was the era of mages. It was mages who will decide the result of the war.

Mages of other countries were priority assasination targets.

Especially for a mage with great talent.

However, Ian was a kid.

He was still young enough to be persuaded, before being assassinated.

‘I owe my life to an unimaginably important boy.’

The landlord opened his mouth after a short pause.

“So where is Mr. Mage? I want to meet him face to face.”

“Eh, it is hard to meet him right now.”

“Why is that? Was he injured severely?”

“No, he is fine. But…”

The old butler stopped for a while.

Then he continued his words with an embarrased face.

“He went out for …. selling.”

“Selling?”

While the landlord was awake in his castle, Ian was talking with other people,

at the valley which was once the den of goblins.

“All of theses corpses are of the finest quality! I haven’t seen anything like this”

A fat middle aged man, dressed in luxurious clothes, said to Ian respectfully.

“It should be. I froze them before they died”

“That’s right! What a wise decision you made.”

The middle aged man was a merchant, who operated the biggest trading company in this province, called the ‘Forian Trading Company.’

“How much would these be?”

Ian was trading now.

Why waste goblin corpses?

If it was left here, it would be rotten after it thawed.

It was better to sell it rather than just let it go to waste.

“Let’s see. Six hundred and twenty one goblin corpses of the finest quality, and then…”

Monster bodies were worth a lot.

Each part of the body was used by alchemists as precious ingredients.

And there were demands for it in other fields as well.

Of course, goblin corpses were not expensive.

It was a weak and common monster.

But this time, the number of corpses were huge.

“…. one hobgoblin corpse. Wow! I didn’t expect to see this corpse in this area, really!”

Ian also agreed with it.

It was very unusual that a hobgoblin appeared here.

It needed to be examined later.

“Anyway, it would be worth at least a thousand gold……”

The merchant carefully looked at Ian’s face while he mumbled the end of his words.

Although Ian was young, he was a mage.

A mage who massacred hundreds of goblins alone.

He didn’t dare to cheat him.

It might increase his benefits, but he didn’t want to risk his life.

“Of course, as I said ‘at least’ a thousand gold.’

Ian hadn’t changed his face at all.

Was the suggested price unsatisfactory to him?

“A, a, as I said, it’s ‘at least’….”

“Ah, I am satisfied with the price.”

The price the merchant suggested satisfied Ian.

He was just thinking about what he was going to do with the money.

“Is there,”

Ian had decided and he continued his word

“Is there any good alchemist in this province?”

“What sort of…?”

“I am looking for an alchemist who is good at brewing elixers.”

Few days ago, Ian didn’t consider elixirs to improve his level.

Because he hadn’t had any money.

But now, the situation had changed. Maybe it was impossble to buy the highest quality elixirs, but he would be able to afford a few elixirs with an average level.

“Of course there is. He lives in the Lloyd village over there, he came from the capital. He said he came to this north side to find a specific rare herb. His name is….”

The merchant paused to remember the name of alchemist.

“Ah! Ledio. He’s called Ledio.”

Alchemist Ledio.

Ian quietly spelled his name.

He couldn’t remember anyone in his former life.

“If you wish, I can make contact with him for you?”

“No, thanks. I will visit him myself later.”

After Ian finished the conversation, he left the valley.

Dinner time of Mogrian castle was about to start.

The atmosphere of the province castle was filled with grief.

People had died, and the landlord was unconsciousness.

‘I wish he would wake up.’

The sorrowful heavy atmosphere caused Ian not able eat his meal properly.

Also, he couldn’t leave his mother alone, in the castle with such grief.

Ian moved towards to the castle quickly.