Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 230: Childhood Friend – A Strange Person
229. Childhood Friend – A Strange Person
On the day when the announcement was suddenly made that Elzeor de Lognum, the second prince, would be elevated to duke, Lev left Nevis.
His battalion of swordsmen, numbering over a hundred, left with him, led by Cesar.
Cesar generously paid the innkeeper for their overdue lodgings, and Lev did not stop him.
The innkeeper was grateful.
He had expected these armed ruffians to leave without paying a penny, so he offered Cesar a handshake. Cesar smiled and promised to return.
“Cesar, have you registered the mercenary group?”
“Yes, and I’ve already secured some work.”
Cesar replied, taking out several contracts. Most were simple tasks like delivering mail, but one contract involved escorting a small merchant group, which earned him Lev’s praise.
“It can’t have been easy for a new mercenary group to secure a contract with a merchant caravan. Good work.”
“Haha, if it weren't for these letters, I wouldn’t have been able to convince them. I was lucky.”
Cesar laughed, tapping the mail loaded on the cart. As he said, it was indeed lucky.
A week ago, there was an announcement for Prince Athon de Lognum.
Although the news of his becoming the heir had already been spread nationwide through the church’s communication, that was only a verbal transmission of information, so the Lognum royal family sent out official documents nationwide.
However, the people to whom these official documents had to be delivered and the places they had to be stored—municipal offices in each city, lords (or governors) and military commanders in each region, border posts, ports and fleets, and countless small villages—numbered in the tens of thousands.
It was an impossible task for the Lognum royal family to handle directly.
Therefore, the royal family passed this task on to the kingdom’s bureaucrats, and the bureaucrats, who worked tirelessly with quill pens until their fingers nearly broke, outsourced the delivery to the private sector.
Cesar managed to secure a portion of this work. This was a chance to establish the credibility of the newly formed “Cesar Mercenary Corps,” and Cesar went a step further by convincing a merchant group.
Merchant groups, no matter how cheap, do not contract with mercenary groups lacking credibility. If the mercenaries turned into bandits, the merchants would be defenseless.
However, Cesar said,
“If we commit robbery while carrying royal documents, we will face extermination.”
He leveraged the might of the Lognum royal family.
Without you needing to become wandering spirits to curse us, the Lognum royal family will not leave us alone. Unless we have six lives, what courage would allow us to do such a thing? He reasoned and secured the contract at a low price.
The mercenary group gained experience, and the merchant group saved money—it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
“He’s certainly good at his job.”
Lev smiled faintly. He praised Cesar’s cleverness without reservation and told him to depart when ready.
While the accompanying merchant group did business along the way and the cart loaded with mail gradually became lighter, Lev accelerated his teaching of swordsmanship to his students.
The average swordsmanship skills of the battalion he created were still poor.
Rugged, barbaric youths.
To outsiders, they might seem impressive enough to elicit a “Wow, amazing!” but at least to Lev, they were not.
At best, they were as skilled as well-trained soldiers. With this level of skill, they could not make a noticeable impact on the battlefield.
Lev believed they needed to be at least of the junior knight level, but a junior knight wasn’t just anyone’s child.
Early in the betrothal scenario, Lena Ainar was on the verge of becoming a junior knight. Even with several months of teaching, despite their talents and each being a promising warrior in their respective tribes, it wasn’t a level easily reached.
Lev decided to weed out more of his students. He selected the ten most outstanding ones for one-on-one guidance, and for the rest, he focused on mastering swordsmanship centered on defense and counterattacks.
*
I live, then I kill.
**
First, they had to survive to attack. Of all the swordsmanship Lev knew, Noel Dexter’s style, which concealed the leisure of a single move, best fit this philosophy.
On the road to the Holy Kingdom of Jerome, his battalion of swordsmen was gradually taking shape. On a day when the southern scorching heat was at its peak, Cesar’s mercenary group parted ways with the merchant group and arrived in the border area, and Lev ordered Cesar to raid.
Their target was...
“Oh dear~ what a damn hardship this is. Do you know we’ve wasted a year of our youth on the road, boss?”
“Shut that mouth of yours.”
“If you just wanted to sell near the Kingdom of Bellita, you didn’t have to insist on selling in the Holy Kingdom of Jerome... If you don’t give us generous bonuses, I won’t stand for it.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get at least three times more, so the bonus is... Wait, what’s that?”
It was the Theovic family’s weapon caravan.
Four hundred thugs were slowly approaching, pulling carts laden with various weapons.
While Cesar issued orders, Lev charged ahead, shouting, “Charge!” He didn’t use the Aura Blade.
“Follow the boss!”
Reuben Bizaine shouted exuberantly.
The hot-tempered warriors drove their horses forward, while Vanne Bizaine clicked her tongue and made a large circle. She attacked after forming an encirclement, her mouth agape with admiration.
“Look at our boss. A Sword Master truly is... a superhuman.”
*
[Achievement: First Murder - Leo feels less guilt over killing.]
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[Achievement: Defeated ‘302’ Thugs - More powerful when facing thugs. Min(10)]
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*
[Achievement: Monster Hunter - ‘1’, Mana faintly imbues the body.]
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[Achievement: Expert - Leo’s physique becomes stronger.]
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[Achievement: Sword Master]
*
Massacre. Lev was literally massacring the thugs.
His unbreakable sword swung as if possessed by a deity, with no hesitation in his movements. There wasn’t a single thug who could withstand even one exchange, rendering their numbers useless.
The thugs lost their will to fight.
If a small, young man was like this, how terrifying must the burly swordsmen driving their horses towards them be? They imagined the worst and fled in all directions.
“Chase them down! Don’t let a single one live!”
“No! Let them escape!”
Cesar blocked Reuben, who was excited after seeing blood. The warrior, who had a strong voice in the group, clashed with Cesar, who had suddenly been appointed as the leader, but Lev called Reuben over, waving his hand to settle the matter. Roughly more than a hundred thugs had escaped.
Reuben had a puzzled expression, not understanding, but Lev gestured toward Cesar. Cesar nodded, making a motion full of gratitude and understanding, and then ordered the swordsmen.
“Gather the spoils. There are plenty of weapons, so switch to those that fit your hands, and put on armor. Is everyone ready? Then, some of you will transport these carts to the estate of Marquis Guidan. The rest will return to Nevis!”
Cesar’s mercenary group split into three factions.
One group was tasked with driving the forty large carts. These would be used to arm the barbarian warriors from each tribe who would return as soldiers after training, so the carts slowly retraced the path they had come from.
Another was Cesar's mercenary group.
Having successfully completed their first mission, delivering official documents and escorting the merchant caravan, they swiftly rode south. Fully armed and gleaming, they appeared to an unfamiliar eye as if they were a knightly order.
The last group headed north.
Lev’s ten selected disciples.
They did not wear armor. They simply exchanged their dull swords for new ones and crossed the border with Lev in their simple swordsman’s attire.
As Lev passed through the gates of the Holy Kingdom of Jerome, he felt that many things had changed.
It was his first time crossing this gate legitimately.
The first time he crossed this border, he couldn’t get through the gate. He had been traveling with a weapon caravan when he encountered a crusader stopping weapon smuggling, got the mark of holiness on his head, and was forced to break through the border on his short-legged mare, Woody.
The second time he crossed this border, he wasn’t in his right mind.
As a disciple of Barbatos, he killed every human he saw, stained the land he passed through red, and declared it Barbatos’s territory. To him, borders held no significance.
And this was his third time.
It would probably be the last.
His ten disciples guarded him securely, and just as he knew the weapon caravan would arrive here in the summer, Lev easily predicted what would happen in the kingdom ahead. All that was left was time. All he had to do was wait for the right moment.
Lev lowered his head and made a vow.
Lena. I’m coming. I’ll be there soon.
This will be the last time I meet you as a friend. Next year, I will be a king, become Lev de Bizaine, and propose to you.
You will surely be delighted.
Finally, we will be happy.
Lev raised his head. With a deep smile, he shed the scars of the past. Even so, he did not let his emotions consume him. He intended to remain vigilant until the very last moment.
The summer sun was at its peak, reflecting the vibrant green of the forest. The wind from the distant sea tickled Lev’s cheeks.
---
Leo Dexter had not yet arrived in Lutetia. Having been discharged for his achievements on the battlefield, he was now likely on his way to the Holy Kingdom with Lena Ainar, so there was plenty of time left.
Lev decided to do what he had not been able to before. The day had come to remove the sharp thorn embedded in his heart.
He had to save Enen.
He had not forgotten the girl from the Uena tribe who had been horribly killed by a roaming beast called Oantahu. He had never forgotten.
The girl’s end was so horrific that it felt like God had torn her apart just to torment him, leaving a part of his heart in darkness. Now he was going to cleanse that.
He had known for a long time that once a beast was caught, it would never appear again. For a really long time.
If he had visited the Uena tribe village even once and caught Oantahu, it would have been resolved, but despite knowing that Enen would be brutally killed each time, he couldn’t find the time.
It was because of distance and time.
The Holy Kingdom of Jerome was far from the starting point of each scenario... Well, I won’t lie to myself with excuses. Lena was more important to us.
No, that was a lie.
We had the strength and capability to visit the Holy Kingdom of Jerome while protecting Lena in each scenario. Yet, the reason we didn’t do so was simply because of that.
*
[19/23]
*
It was because of that round limit, marked in red at the bottom of his vision. I was afraid of wasting an entire round, so I made excuses about distance and time, and efficiency. That’s why it was more painful. It wasn’t a justification, but it couldn’t become an excuse either.
Lev silently climbed the mountain path.
When he began to smell a subtle mushroom scent, he was almost there.
The disciples wore expressions of confusion, not knowing why their leader had set this forest as their destination, but upon entering the Uena tribe village, they thought, “Ah, the leader is trying to liberate the natives here too.”
They held a misunderstanding that did not fit the reality of the Holy Kingdom of Jerome. The Holy Kingdom of Jerome did not discriminate against or oppress barbarians. They simply allowed them to live autonomously. The natives of this land, where slavery was prohibited, were content.
Disappointing the expectations of his disciples, Lev went to see the village chief and said, “We are travelers. We like the scenery here and wish to stay for a while, so please provide us with food.” He had plenty of money.
After some discussion, it was agreed. As the armed outsiders staying in the village could cause the natives unease, Lev set up a log cabin outside the village.
Lev didn’t build it himself; his disciples did. After deciding where to build the house, he dressed lightly, leaving his sword with the disciples, and wandered toward the mountainside where Euta often went.
He heard a “ping!” sound.
A boy wanting to hunt had hung a target on a tree and was practicing archery. Lev had fond memories with this kid and was glad to see him, but...
Lev’s eyes scanned the surroundings. Over there, in the bushes, he saw Euta’s sister, Enen, catching insects.
She looked so carefree.
Soon, she would head into the forest.
“Who are you?”
Euta asked. Lev responded,
“A traveler.”
He introduced himself as a traveler. It had been a long time since he had returned to this place.
A cautious boy and a thoughtless girl.
Lev sat down as he watched Enen rummage through the bushes again. “Your archery skills are pretty good. Are you planning to hunt?” he casually asked Euta, like a man with nothing better to do. Euta removed the target from the tree and returned to the village with his sister.
Thinking he was a strange person.
.
!
Chapter 230: Childhood Friend – A Strange Person
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