CH 51

‘Hoho. I don’t know who you are, but you appear to have gotten on the wrong side of Evergrove. Well, it doesn’t really matter to me.’

No one would care if a knight from the outside died in the evil lands. Moreover, Baron Beogalan would receive 100 gold coins in return. He didn’t even need to think about it. According to the letter, it appeared that the knight had some reputation in Maren, but the Carls Baggins Peninsula and the Philia Ruins weren’t as easygoing as Maren.

“I hope he doesn’t piss his pants after seeing the wyvern. Hahaha.” Baron Beogalan chuckled amusingly while taking a large sip of wine.

The door opened with a knock, and the guard captain stepped into the room before giving a report.

“My lord. The knight commissioned by the Palin Association has arrived with his group.”

“Is that so? Give him a decent treatment and tell him to rest.”

“Ah, yes, my lord. But… there are more troops than we expected.”

“Hmm? How many people are there?” Baron Beogalan asked half-heartedly. 

“There are more than forty.”

“…..!” However, shock and disbelief filled his face after hearing the guard captain’s answer.

***

“I am Jan Eugene. It is an honor to meet you, Lord Beogalan.”

“I see. It’s nice to meet you, Sir Eugene.”

Baron Beogalan stared at Eugene with a sour expression. The knight was way younger than he had imagined. According to the letter from Jevin Evergrove, the young knight had recently gained quite a reputation in the Maren area. But from the looks of it, he was basically just a young child. Moreover, it was as if he was purposefully wearing black plate armor to make himself look intimidating.

And what was with the soft, fair appearance? The young knight would have looked no different from a noble young master without his armor. It was evident that he was ignorant of what real hardship was.

‘Perhaps the levels of knights are subpar in that area.’

It was entirely possible to discern Maren’s standards for knights from the young man. If such a knight was able to gain fame, the rest of them were bound to be trash. On the contrary, the burly knight standing behind the young man appeared much stronger.

‘I won’t have to worry too much about the knight. However…’

Baron Beogalan raised his eyes and observed the troops lined up behind Eugene.

‘I thought his group only has about ten people, including the slaves. What happened?’

Confusion was evident on the baron’s face.

Eugene calmly spoke. “By the way, I heard that you will not be hiring any additional troops. Is that true?”

“That’s right.”

“Does that mean I have to subjugate the ruin with my troops alone?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then I will have to ask you to increase the compensation.”

“What?” Beogalan answered with a bewildered expression. 

Eugene shrugged. “Isn’t it only fair? I heard from the branch manager of Moffern that the two recent subjugations ended in failure in succession. Each time, there were two or three knights in addition to more than thirty mercenaries. Is that correct?”

“That’s true.”

“Then would we not need even more troops this time around? Naturally, I thought that would be the case when I accepted the subjugation commission.”

“…..”

“To be honest, I thought you would have hired at least fifty troops. But since I will be entering alone with my troops, I think we deserve more compensation. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for.”

“Hmm.”

Baron Beogalan licked his lips awkwardly. The young knight definitely had a point, and the baron had a good reason to ensure Eugene’s entry into the ruin. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to hold up his end of the bargain after receiving 200 gold coins.

‘There’s no helping it. He does have quite a few mercenaries, but they won’t succeed anyway.’

In the end, Baron Beogalan nodded with a boisterous laugh. “Hahaha! You are straightforward and good-natured just as your reputation suggests. I will accept your proposal. Half of the materials and mana stones from the ruin will be yours. Butler.”

The butler quickly wrote up a document, and Baron Beogalan stamped it with his seal.

“Here it is.”

“Thank you. You are truly generous and reasonable, just as I have heard.”

Eugene bowed politely. Although he didn’t mean any of his words, it didn’t cost him anything to give compliments. Baron Beogalan quickly puffed up proudly. “Haha! It’s the least I could do for a brave knight. Anyways, will you be good to set out tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

“Very good. I will provide you with a guide early in the morning. I will have them empty the annex, so go and relax until then.”

“Yes, thank you.” Eugene bowed politely before heading to the annex with his troops. A smile appeared on the baron’s face as he watched the group leave the room.

‘Hoho! Whether it’s forty or fifty, it won’t make a difference at all. You won’t get anywhere unless you have a knight capable of single-handedly facing a high-rank monster.’

But why would such an outstanding knight go around taking commissions from merchant associations when it came to subjugating evil lands?

‘It doesn’t matter. With this, I’ll be getting another 100 gold coins.’

Baron Beogalan couldn’t help but grin with joy.

***

“Master, the baron’s expression just now looked strange. He looked way too relaxed for a lord who has suffered two consecutive subjugation failures. It also bothers me that he didn’t prepare any additional troops.” Galfredik spoke with a frown after entering the annex.

Eugene nodded in agreement. “I felt the same way. That’s why I asked him for an increase in compensation.”

“Half of the materials and mana stones will be an incredible sum. Even so, something’s off. It feels like he’s up to something else.”

“Does that really matter? Since we will be by ourselves, we can act however we want.”

“Like when we first met and entered the dungeon in the Tywin territory?”

“Exactly.”

Eugene had explained the events of the Tywin dungeon’s subjugation to Galfredik after taking in the burly knight as his vassal. Galfredik was surprised but quickly understood why Eugene had taken such actions.

“Anyways, we will get that wyvern for sure.”

“We can also take down a lot of monsters on our own.”

“Of course. Hehehe.”

“Wizard. Make sure you prove yourself this time around.”

Eugene suddenly turned his face to Romari while grinning along with Galfredik. 

Romari flinched. “T-that goes without saying. Controlling monsters has always been my specialty, so you won’t be disappointed with it.”

“I will give you the benefit of the doubt. The amount and types of materials you get will depend on your performance, so do your best.”

“…Yes.” Romari answered with a sullen expression. Although Eugene worded it nicely, he essentially threatened her to prove her worth.

***

Early next morning, Eugene left Baron Beogalan’s castle with his troops. Baron Beogalan simply watched from the spire as Eugene’s group left. He turned and spoke to the guard captain as if something had crossed his mind.

“Bring Sir Oleg.”

A few minutes later, a small knight with a thick neck and bulging muscles stood in front of the baron.

“Did you call for me, my lord?” 

The knight said in a husky voice, and Baron Beogalan took on a satisfied expression. Among the three knights of the barony, Oleg was the strongest and the sturdiest. The only flaw with the muscular knight was that he was a little, or rather, quite stupid. As such, he was an incompetent commander of troops.

His mental inclination led him to be excluded from evil land subjugations. After all, no one wanted a leader that would always rush into a battle against monsters regardless of the circumstances. But still, no one could rival his raw power.

The knight Oleg had complete faith in his lord and his loyalty stood as tall as his faith. Perhaps being stupid wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Yes, Sir Oleg. You will be going out to hire mercenaries?”

“Yes! I will be heading to Femile in the afternoon. Mercenaries who are very good at hunting roamers. There are many of them there,” The knight’s manner of speaking clearly revealed his intelligence. 

Baron Beogalan nodded. “Good. Will it take about two days for you to return?”

“If I go now, I will be able to return by tomorrow evening.”

“That’s great. Sir Oleg, don’t come back to the castle straight away once you’re done. Take the mercenaries and head to the entrance of the ruin.”

“Yes, my lord!” Oleg answered vigorously without even asking for the reason.

“Did you see the knight clad in black? He dared to insult me. So, sir, you will wait at the entrance of the ruin and…”

Boom!

“I will never forgive him! I will punish him on behalf of the lord. Please leave it to me!”

Oleg’s eyes were dyed red with blood as he stomped his feet. It was proof that he was extremely angry.

“Yes, yes. I will leave it to you, sir. And make sure to hire skilled mercenaries. Ah, are you taking any soldiers to Femile?”

“I will be going there with three of my subordinates.”

“I see. Good, good. Anyways, make sure you take revenge against the black knight for insulting me. Leave the others to the mercenaries. Understood?”

“As you wish, my lord!” Oleg shouted loudly while thumping his chest. 

Baron Beogalan gave a satisfied smile. ‘Just in case you’re still alive. ‘

A subjugation team would give up and return if more than half of their members were killed or were rendered incapable of further battles. Oleg would be more than enough to handle the weary survivors of the subjugation with the thirty battle-hardened mercenaries of Carls Baggins.

‘Moreover, Oleg once killed a baby troll by himself.’

Even if the opponent was a renowned knight of Maren, Baron Beogalan believed that Eugene would be no match for Oleg.

***

“Amazing.”

Eugene exclaimed as he looked down from the mountaintop. The group had spent the last two hours climbing. The Philia Ruins was located in a basin surrounded by high mountain peaks, and it was much wider and larger than Eugene had initially expected.

The ruined city was brimming with moss and vines as if to prove its history. The buildings and spires of the ancient city were built in a strange, wonderful architectural style. It was easy to guess how rich and prosperous the city had been in the past.

“You will arrive at the gate if you head down this road, Sir.”

The guides pointed to a narrow slope.

“Understood. You may return.”

“Yes, ir! We wish you the best of luck!”

The guides and the butler bowed before hurriedly scurrying away.

“Master, shall we enter right away?”

“Wait a moment.”

Eugene shook his head before calmly observing the ruin and the surrounding mountain peaks.

“Do harpies and wyverns cross mountains?”

“They might do so, but only very rarely. There are many monsters in the evil lands to prey on, and beasts do not approach the vicinity of evil lands. So most of them should almost always reside in the evil lands unless they were pushed out by competition.”

“But they would leave if there was a need to?”

“Sure. They are capable of flying and living in open spaces, so it’s entirely possible. Why are you asking?”

“I was thinking about it, and…” Eugene started explaining in a low voice. 

Galfredik’s eyes widened with astonishment a moment later. “That’s not bad. No, rather, I think that will definitely work! Why did no one try that before?”

“So you are saying that it’s possible, right? Then let’s try it.”

“Hahaha! I like it!” Galfredik roared with laughter before gathering the troops, who were looking at the two knights with puzzled expressions. Then, he gave orders according to Eugene’s plan.

“…..!?”

The soldiers turned their eyes toward Eugene. It was clear that they were confused and hesitant, but they didn’t dare to question their master.