Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Extended Chapter

When hed first heard the results of the second obstacle, Nergui had doubted his ears.

"They got beaten? Those horse thieves? That must be a lie, right?"

"Yes, thats."

The news was that the territories they had occupied had been taken away by another group whod come suddenly at dawn. Right before the timer ran out.

A late night attack wasnt particularly unexpected. It was also the time for the great migration, when those who hadnt decided on their affiliation until the end, began to choose.

It didnt matter if the attack came an hour before the end of the test or a minute. The important point was that they couldnt stop it. That their flag had been pulled out.

Nergui bit his lip.

"Was it that guy with the squat jaw?"

It wasnt some riffraff whom he had put forward as the occupant of the peak. It was one who had cleared up all the horse bandits in the central region and had ascended to the position of the great chief all by himself.

It had been about two years since when Nergui had recognized his skills and started getting close to him. The amount of gold he had spent so far to make that guy his own subordinate was incalculable.

That man definitely wasnt some chaff to be easily swept aside.

"Oh, no. It was the Great the Great General who occupied the peak."

"What?"

"G-, General Mong."

""

Nergui was speechless for a moment when that name suddenly came up.

General Mong?

Of course, Nergui already knew that the man was there. Because he always moved as Khans shadow.

But he couldnt figure out why he did it, or how.

So,

"The fourth prince seeks an audience! Your Majesty, may I please come in for a moment?"

Creak.

He had no choice but to visit the owner of this gorgeous palace, who smirked as soon as Nergui entered his sight.

"Your Majesty, are you well?"

"Is that you, Son? Its been a long time."

" It seems that the ministers have all left already. Your tone is too casual."

"Haha, cant you ever stop nagging? My son came to visit after such a long time! Do I still have to keep up the formalities?"

"So, did you enjoy your trip?"

"Ah, thanks to you, I was able to enjoy it until the end."

""

Nergui took one long breath and then continued.

"By the way, you seemed to know I was coming? The guard at the door didnt even block me."

"Im not an idiot after all. And neither are you. Isnt that so?"

""

Troubling. This was turning out to be a mess.

Nergui silently rebuked himself for having come here so prematurely, driven by his own emotions and doubts.

"Since you seem like you know everything, theres no point in playing games. Can I ask you something directly?"

"As you like."

"What are you after?"

Even though he asked a question in a somewhat curt tone that would immediately offend those who valued good manners, Khan only gave an inexplicable smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Why make the Great General occupy the third peak?"

Then Khan cast him a somewhat puzzled look.

"Youre asking something obvious."

And the answer that followed was, indeed, quite fitting.

"Yeah, because I thought itd be fun."

""

Nergui again silently sorted out his thoughts. To have a conversation with this man, he had to get rid of all unnecessary emotions. If he let himself loose, it was him whod end up being the idiot.

"Then what did you do?"

"What?"

"I heard that the general entered as your subordinate, Your Majesty Did you change the rules? How did you not drop out together"

""

"But, tampering with the rules of the Warriors Path, even if its you, Your Majesty"

Nergui paused.

Somehow, he felt a strangeness in the other partys gaze.

When he looked up, he saw Khan staring at him with a frown on his forehead.

He was quite familiar with the expression, and on his own face it wouldve signified only one emotion.

Frustration.

"Hmm. Of course not, but"

After a small pause, Khan clicked his tongue and continued.

"Tch, did you become an idiot in this little while that I havent seen you?"

Khan had returned to his original tone at some point. A tone of speech that was no different from that of a gossiper on the streets. It was how he behaved at his core.

""

"No. Should I say that youve become bold? To change the rules of the Warriors Path Man, I never even thought about it."

Nergui felt his face flush for an instant.

To the hells with this guy!

"And is that really what youre curious about? Its a little disappointing."

"What are you talking about?"

"Arent you able to guess at least half of it? You mustve prepared a few cheating ringers in advance to bear their flags for you. Or, if I had to guess, you mustve given them a rough disguise with your abilities. Even though to the outside it seems like you dont have any subordinates there at all. Its a pretty simple tactic. You knew whod participate, and the tests of the Warriors Path were prepared painstakingly over several months within my lands, so they couldnt be hidden from you. Knowing everything in advance, didnt you prepare?"

""

"Tell me. Was it difficult for you?"

""

Why did he always feel stuffy, like he was at the losing end, whenever he talked to this man?

Dont be angry, be calm.

Nergui tried to calm himself down again.

And he had something to say in response.

"Even so, I wouldnt have thought of mobilizing the general. Isnt that a bit of a foul? If it werent for him, the people Id planted must be"

"Ah, you mean that gang of horse thieves at the third peak? Those guys who ran away at the first sight of Mongs face?"

Khan grinned and then burst into laughter, clutching his stomach with both hands.

"Are you saying they ran away?"

"Why, whats the difference if they ran away instead of losing a fight? Does all that gold you fed them now feel like a waste?"

""

"Wow, youre still a long way off from maturing. Did you think you could control them like puppets from afar, without ever standing next to them? With that dull brain of yours?"

""

He was indignant.

But Nergui couldnt come up with any objections.

Because it was all true.

"Of course, I have to admit it. Its true that I didnt intend to make Mong the occupant from the beginning. It was unplanned. But dont think that I was forced to use Mong to dispose of your toys. Youve got it all wrong. He has nothing to do with you. What can a gang of horse bandits do? That Squatjaw No, the princess wouldve smashed them all with just two of her fingers."

" Princess Thermis, is it."

Yes, hed heard the rumours about her too. That shed won a tug of war contest against hundreds of Khans subordinates. Including even the general himself.

To be honest, hed thought it was a bunch of exaggeration, but it seemed now that that wasnt the case. If the person concerned, who was habitually without a single touch of embellishment, said something like that it might be right to think that the rumours didnt even scratch the surface.

And at that moment,

"Phew"

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the second obstacle had already finished, the chapter end message hadnt appeared until then.

So I gladly dove into it, and

" Hmm?"

It was a little different from what I was expecting.

[Chapter 24 The Second Gate of the Warriors Path in the Skull Empire has ended]

[Starting the extended chapter]

An extended chapter?

It was the first Id ever seen the like.

Puzzling.

"Huh is this some sort of trick?"

A chapter type thatd never even appeared in the original. If I wanted to find something similar a gaiden?

[Adventure King serialization resumed]

[Chapter 24# The Final Gate of the Warriors Path in the Skull Empire]

[Belongs to the realm of the ongoing chapter]

[Hiro is the subject of character evaluation in this chapter]

[You have been given the leading point of view]

What is this are you just going to tack on a # to the chapter number and call it a day?

Since it was a chapter that didnt exist in the original, the style seemed feasible. Or rather, the author could afford to be completely arbitrary.

Hmmm.

But, well, I thought I could understand why.

I could only conclude that the readers werent satisfied seeing only the second obstacle, but caving in and giving me another big chapter was too much, so this was the compromise. For some reason, a scene of the author himself sighing deeply sprang to mind.

Of course, it was a little disappointing that the compensation was going to be delayed.

Thered been a few quite unique and eye-catching elements, in my humble opinion. Didnt I even become a ghost once?

So, to be honest, I had some reasonable expectations something of some real substance.

However, what if the final obstacle had gotten its own, separate chapter? That wouldve been great. The rewards would be rolling in twice.

Oh, am I being a bit greedy?

But on the other hand, I thought that the current situation wasnt so bad either.

Once the amount increases, the number of rewards doesnt seem to make much of a difference. Consider awareness, which is a cumulative number. And rather than splitting the chapters and dispersing the impact, you get it all in one shot! Boom! It might honestly be better this way.

Or am I just self-hypnotizing?

Well, anyway, the fact that the leading point of view remained with me wasnt a bad sign.

In other words, I just needed to finish it properly.

Just then,

Those whove been waiting, please leave your rooms.

A call came to signal the start of the final obstacle.

I followed the instruction and walked out.

Then,

"Ooh!"

"Its a peak lord!"

"Its that Squatjaw!"

"Thats Mong! The general!"

A great cheer rose all around me.

There was a plaza where the ceremony was to be held, and the whole place was full of people except for the podium in the centre where the speakers stood.

Now that the bulk of the campaign was over, the candidates would go to the Warriors Land, and this great crowd was to be the audience. Theyd all rushed here to watch, carrying their food and luggage with them.

I could see how this was the setting of a national event.

"All peak occupiers to the centre!"

Proceeding towards the centre following the guides voice, I could see the princess and that guy named Mong standing side by side from a distance.

The man named Mong had a different appearance from when Id seen him last. Compared to that time, the body itself was much bigger and thicker, but the overall aesthetic impression still seemed unexpectedly very good.

And there was another.

A man standing on a high podium, looking at the two with a smile, caught my eye.

Bumio Khan.

The current emperor of the Skull Empire, a human whod entered the Warriors Path while hiding his identity, causing all kinds of disturbances before running away. Somebody who had no compunction winking at me casually like that, despite how hed fucked me over last time.

I frowned.

Oh.

I quickly turned my head.

Either way, I couldnt compete with that guy in shamelessness.

"Everyone forward! The Khan will give a speech!"

Khan nodded as he saw me, the princess, and Mong all gathered together, then started talking in a loud voice.

"Listen, people! Before the ceremony starts, I have one thing to say! I know that there are many discussions about the generals participation this time. Is it right for him, who has already passed the Warriors Path, to walk the Path as a current participant, and even as an occupant?"

As soon as Khan finished speaking, murmurs began here and there.

It seemed to be quite a contentious issue.

"As you all know, its not really his fault that General Mong is standing there now. It was all me. I admit it."

Then,

"Kkh kahaha."

"Cough, cough, kaha."

Everyone stopped murmuring and began to chuckle.

To be honest, I was a little surprised to see this scene. The emperor humbled himself, and the people laughed. Their culture was more frivolous than expected.

"So, should we kick him out now? But this also goes against the rules of the Warriors Path. Applying external pressure on a participant. Of course, he can voluntarily give up and come out, but I told him not to. Why? Because thats an insult to this ritual, a betrayal of those whove waited all night to see it, and furthermore, a great loss to the nation in that future that the warriors lose the opportunity to see and learn his strategies and tactics!"

Soon after,

"Oooh!"

"Yes!"

"Right!"

The crowd started cheering.

Mong was apparently highly popular.

"On top of that, the fourth prince said something recently. Wouldnt it be fine to tweak the rules once in a while? As long as it doesnt violate the long tradition of the Warriors Path, its okay to allow a little flexibility. I agree with that opinion, so I decided to include the general in this final checkpoint. Does anyone have any complaints? If so, come out now and tell me what you think! Come out and say it, why dont you!"

"Oooh!"

"Right!"

"No complaints!"

It was crazy. A bunch of nonsense. Who was going to step up in this atmosphere? No, why was the emperor even doing something like this in public?

That was then.

"However, this may be a bit unfair for those who have to face the general. We should also consider their situation. Its true that they cant help but be at a disadvantage compared to him."

Khan sneaked a glance at me and the princess in turn.

"Of course, I cant intervene in the competition itself. So, I decided to make an exceptionally outstanding compensation plan for them. That is all I can do."

Then he announced with an eloquent tone that couldnt even be compared to before.

"If one of them overcomes Mong and returns as the final winner of the Warriors Path! Regardless of who they swear their allegiance to, they will immediately gain the title of Great General of the Skull Empire!"

And before the crowd could even start shouting, the following words continued:

"And if you truly wish, I will let you dream of even more than that."

Editors Notes:

None for this chapter.