CH 119

“…!”

Warking’s death sent shockwaves throughout the entire battlefield as both foe and ally alike stopped in their tracks. The only difference between the two would be the fact that the allied forces were surprised while the enemies were horrified.

However, Siegfried was actually the one who was the most surprised.

‘Huh? He’s dead?’ 

Siegfried was taken aback about how easy it was for him to severe Warking’s head.

In addition, he didn’t really do anything special. Hamchi simply buffed him, and they exchanged just a single blow with their hammers before Siegfried used Megingjord’s ability to swap into his spear and stab Warking in the abdomen before exploiting the opening to test Sword Emperor Betelgeuse’s secret technique, Quick Draw.

However, he could have never imagined that Warking’s head would go flying so easily.

All of a sudden, Siegfried recalled Betelgeuse’s words.

“Young Master, this technique is my ultimate technique, and it cut offs the enemy’s head in a flash. That is why I named it Quick Draw.’

Siegfried’s impression of Betelgeuse was a muscle-brained old man unfortunate enough to mess with Deus and was forced into becoming a manservant.

However, it turned out that his impression of the Sword Emperor was way off the mark.

The old man got beaten to a pulp because he met Deus of all people, but the Sword Emperor, Betelgeuse, was indeed a Master with a powerful secret technique.

[Quick Draw]

[A secret technique of the Sword Emperor and one of the Five Star Heaven, Betelgeuse.]

[Quickly unsheathes the sword to deliver a single lethal strike.]

[Cooldown: 24 hours]

[Mana: 30% of total mana]

[Effect: Executes targets below Level 200 (The execute level threshold increases the higher the user’s level).]

Quick Draw had a not-so-disadvantageous disadvantage in the form of a long cooldown like Torrential Flower Rain, but Siegfried could tell from the skill’s description that it was incredibly powerful.

The Nordic Marines were greatly shaken after their general fell in battle.

“G-General Warking has fallen!”

“General Warking has fallen in battle!”

“Oh my god! General Warking has been beheaded!”

The ‘Bloodlust’ buff that was likely the key to their invasion disappeared when Warking died, and their morale subsequently plummeted to the ground.

“Now’s our chance! Attack! Push them back! Kill them all!” the commander of the Masavara Forces seized the initiative and rallied his troops.

Ten minutes later, the Nordic Marines started frantically running away from the harbor, and this reversal was caused by just one skill, Quick Draw.

“Ack!”

“Argh!”

“R-Retreat! Retreaaaat!”

***

The retreat of the Nordic Marines was fast, and they lived up to their name as marines even as they retreated from battle. Most of them sped through the beach and hopped onto their ‘Aqua Runners’ before speeding off into the horizon.

“We won! Victory! We won the battle!”

“Waaaaaaa!”

“The enemies have retreated!”

“Look at them running away with their tails tucked between their legs! Hahaha!”

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Frost Dragon’s Foot’!]

Siegfried picked up the hammer dropped by the enemy general, but he had no plans to let the battle end this way.

“Let’s go, Hamchi.”

“Kyu!”

Siegfried and Hamchi ran toward the beach.

Whooosh!

Siegfried ran at breakneck speeds as he zipped past everything thanks to the artifact ‘Mercedes Speedrunner’ Lieutenant General Overlock gave him. He ran toward the waters and jumped, landing on one of the retreating Aqua Runners.

In short, he had no plans of letting the Nordic Marines run away.

“…!”

The Nordic Marines were surprised at his sudden appearance…

Bam! Bam! Bam!

They were shocked because he was wielding Warking’s trademark weapon, the Frost Dragon’s Foot, and he was bashing the heads of the marines one by one with it.

[Alert: You have successfully captured an ‘Aqua Runner’!]

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

[Alert: You now have command of the ‘Aqua Runner’ you are on!]

Messages popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

He grabbed the handle of the Aqua Runner without hesitation and chased after the rest of the Nordic Marines.

“Wait for a second, owner punk!” Hamchi shouted.

“What?”

“Hamchi will drive this thing!”

“You? How?”

“Like this!”

Poof!

A cloud of white smoke appeared as soon as Hamchi was done speaking.

[Alert: Hamchi has used ‘Grow!’ and grew larger in size!]

The cloud of white smoke receded.

“Kyu!”

Hamchi grew to the size of a large dog and grabbed the controls of the Aqua Runner.

“Just trust Hamchi, owner punk! Hamchi is good at driving! I’m the best driver! Kyu!”

“I-Is that so…?”

“Yeah, that’s right, so you better hold on tight. Here we gooo! Let’s gooooo!”

When Hamchi shouted, the Aqua Runner shot forward ferociously.

‘Who’s going to believe that I was involved in a high-speed chase on the water riding a vehicle driven by a hamster…?’ Siegfried thought.

He found the entire situation to be absurd, but he did not dislike it at all. He had no complaints at all whether the driver was a hamster or a squirrel as long as he could catch up to the fleeing Nordic Marines and turn them into experience points.

“Step on it! Cut them off! We will start hunting them down from the front!” Siegfried shouted excitedly.

The chase—no, the hunt started right there and then.

***

“I-Is that even possible…?” an Adventurer muttered in disbelief while staring at the sea.

There was an Adventurer riding on an Aqua Runner driven by a hamster that was presumed to be his pet, and he was massacring the Nordic Marines who were running away.

The Adventurer threw his hammer and sunk the pirate ships waiting out in the sea, and he even boarded the pirate ships to fight the Nordic Marines face-to-face. In addition, he even threw green shurikens and mercilessly massacred the ones who jumped overboard to run away.

“W-Who is that Adventurer?!” shouted the commander of the Masavara Forces, Major General Cherokee while pointing at Siegfried.

“Not only did he behead the enemy general, but he is chasing those pirates! Where did that powerful Adventurer come from? Hey, adjutant! Go to the Mercenary Guild at once and investigate that Adventurer’s identity!”

“Yes, sir!” replied the adjutant. He then sprinted toward the Mercenary Guild as fast as he could.

***

Thirty minutes later, Siegfried triumphantly returned to the harbor while riding on the Aqua Runner being driven by Hamchi.

The accolades he earned in this single battle were the following:

- Killed the enemy general, Warking.

- Captured nineteen Aqua Runners.

- Destroyed seven Aqua Runners.

- Killed 112 Nordic Marines.

It was hard to believe that a Silver III mercenary earned such achievements in his first battle here!

However, there was an issue elsewhere.

[Rowdy Northern Shores]

[Type: Special Quest]

[Description: Subjugate the pirates infesting the waters of the northern port city ‘Masavara’ and bring peace and order to the region.]

[Progress: 0%]

[Rewards: Autonika Workshop Random Box × 15]

The quest progress was still at zero, even though he earned so many achievements.

‘What’s going on? Why is the progress at zero? I think this should have risen by a few percent at the very least…’ Siegfried wondered if there was a mistake or something.

It didn’t make sense that his quest progress was still at zero despite annihilating an entire group of pirates.

“Waaaaah!”

Clap! Clap! Clap! 

Clap! Clap! Clap!

While Siegfried was deep in his own thoughts, the Masavara Forces started cheering and clapping.

“Great job! Great job, indeed! We would have suffered heavy damage if it was not for you! Thank you very much!” Major General Cherokee exclaimed as he greeted Siegfried with open arms before continuing. “A pleasure to meet you! I am Major General Cherokee, and I am the commander in charge of the Masavara Forces.”

“Welcome, Siegf—” Major General Cherokee was about to utter Siegfried’s name that he obtained from the Mercenary Guild.

“Sieg. My name is Sieg,” Siegfried quickly interrupted before whispering, “I have my reasons, so please keep my identity hidden for now and call me Sieg…”

“Ah, is that so? Alright, I will do as you said,” Major General Cherokee coolly agreed.

“Thank you very much.”

“Anyway, we were able to win an overwhelming victory thanks to you! You were truly outstanding! I will be formally thanking you on behalf of our city of Masavara pretty soon! So, I was thinking, are you interested in enlisting—”

“Thank you for the offer, but I will have to respectfully decline it.”

Siegfried had just returned from serving at the Arachnid Temporary Outpost, and he had no plans of becoming a soldier again anytime soon.

“Ah… that is really a shame… tsk… We will be able to take care of those pesky Nordic Pirates and end the war in an instant if a hero like you is with us.” Major General Cherokee clicked his tongue.

“Huh? A war? I thought they were just ordinary pirates?” Siegfried asked with wide eyes.

“The Nordic Pirates are not your average pirates plundering loot at the sea. This side of the continent has a different culture and history from you mainlanders, so you should know that the group of pirates we are fighting could be considered a small kingdom from where you came from,” Cherokee explained.

“I got the short end of the stick if that’s the case…” Siegfried grumbled out loud.

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Siegfried felt like Cheon Woo-Jin had cheated him upon discovering the truth behind the pirates whom he would have to fight to complete the quest.

‘I thought I just had to subjugate a group of pirates? Do I actually have to fight against a group of pirates huge enough to be a small kingdom on the mainland? Isn’t this war instead of a subjugation? That damned bastard Cheon Woo-Jin lied to me. I got cheated…’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly.

The quest was called a pirate subjugation quest but Cheon Woo-Jin had basically sent Siegfried to a warzone. Finally, it made sense why the quest progress bar remained steadfast at zero despite what he did just now.

If Cheon Woo-Jin truly cheated him, then…

Grit…!

Siegfried gnashed his teeth the moment he remembered what Cheon Woo-Jin said.

“Oh, right, I won’t take any responsibility for the rewards if it becomes a chain quest.”

‘He shortchanged me…!’ Siegfried realized.

He initially thought that he emerged victorious in haggling the quest rewards with Cheon Woo-Jin, but it turned out that the bastard had already expected him to haggle and made plans to cheat him from the start.

“Then, I hope you will be able to stay with us for a bit longer and fight with us against the pirates—” Major General Cherokee was about to ask for Siegfried’s assistance.

However, Siegfried cut him off and replied, “I apologize, but I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I will have to leave right now.”

“Hmm? W-What do you mean…”

“Then, goodbye,” Siegfried bid farewell. He no longer had a reason to continue working on this quest.

***

“Hyung-nim! Why are we leaving? Aren’t we just getting started here?” Seung-Gu asked as he tilted his head in confusion after hearing that they would return to Proatine.

“I got scammed by that bastard Cheon Woo-Jin,” Siegfried grumbled in response.

“Huh?”

“So what happened is…” Siegfried recounted what happened and explained why he was giving up the quest.

“Oh… Cheon Woo-Jin hyung-nim did you dirty… Yeah, he did you dirty alright…”

“Right? You think so, too, right?”

“I agree with you on this one, hyung-nim.”

“So let’s collect those Aqua Runners I captured and head back.”

While Siegfried and Seung-Gu were preparing to pack up and leave, Oscar finally returned after finishing her business.

“Your Majesty.” Oscar greeted with a bow.

“Ah, Dame Oscar. Where were you this entire time?” Siegfried asked.

“I went back home.”

“Home…?”

“This is my hometown, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, so that’s why you wanted to tag along…”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I see, but we are going to be leaving soon.”

“We’re going back?”

“Yes, that is the plan. We came here after receiving a quest, but the quest turned out to be a scam.”

“I do not understand what Your Majesty means, but I will follow Your Majesty’s decision.”

“Haha… alright…”

“But, Your Majesty.”

“Yes?”

“May I request a vacation?”

“Vacation? Are you worried about your hometown? If that is the case, then—”

“I am a citizen of the Proatine Kingdom, and the kingdom is my home. The lord I serve is my lord, who is standing right in front of me rather than the Mayor of Masavara.”

“Then, why…?”

Oscar’s face turned ugly as she replied, “I just learned that my sister has been kidnapped by the Nordic Pirates.”

“What? Kidnapped?”

“I will return after rescuing my sister, so I implore you to graciously grant me some time off,” Oscar said with a bow.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: A chain quest has been added to the Quest – ‘Rowdy Northern Shores’!]

[Alert: The Quest – ‘Kidnapped Tomboy’ has appeared!]

At that moment, Siegfried realized it once more. ‘Ah, I got scammed big time…’

Now, it was impossible for him to abandon the quest and go back home.