Episode 120
Chapter 23 Survivors (2)
‘Am I just going to march in this state?’
The 4th Battalion finished supplying materials through us today.
Therefore, you must join the battle of Kalom Castle according to the instructions of the headquarters.
The problem is that the battle near La Creole Valley, where the barracks were built, was too intense.
‘I’ve heard that the damage to the Knights is great.’
The news of the 4th Battalion’s hardship reached the rear where I was.
When I heard the news, I thought of Jerome, whom I had known through Aglio.
It was because I had a memory of hearing a glimpse of the unit he was assigned to in the reorganized church army.
If there is a palao priest or paladin in the 4th battalion, it is not difficult to talk in real time.
I contacted Jerome through the priest Palao, who accompanied the 4th Battalion, for the confession of the soldiers.
And through him, I was able to sneak a poke at Baron Volbita, who was in charge of the 4th Battalion.
‘How about accompanying the players to the next battle?’
It wasn’t difficult to mock the work.
Although the results are not very good.
“Whoa.”
There was no way I could swallow the sigh that came out of me.
The reason I did the escort mission was to accumulate contribution.
However, there was a different reason for choosing the convoy mission to the 4th Battalion out of many, many convoy missions.
‘I thought it was an opportunity.’
According to what I found out through Jerome, the 4th Battalion lost nearly 20% of their knights.
This means that there is a need for reinforcements.
‘But it’s impossible.’
In the first place, the training of new recruits in Bihar was not smooth.
‘The population is hopeless, but what about recruits?’
Squads are ordained every year, but more knights die.
The number of those who volunteer as soldiers continues to decrease.
What is the meaning of recruiting troops in such a situation?
Since I know the current state of Bihar well, I sneaked into the story of the player.
It must have been a tempting proposal for Baron Volbita, who had lost nearly 20% of his knights.
In fact, his mind, which he peeped through his conversation with Jerome, was inclined.
Baron Volbita was closer to wanting to reinforce his forces somehow.
That’s why I took four days to come here.
‘Why haven’t you decided yet?’
What did you hear in the last four days? Was there pressure from the church?
The exact reason was unknown unless the baron was directly asked.
But even without knowing the reason, it wasn’t difficult to understand the situation.
With so little time left, if the baron continues to postpone decisions, the consequences are obvious.
‘mockery.’
If Baron Volbita finally advances without accompanying players, the last four days will be lost.
Even if you hunt closely on the way back, the time once wasted will not come back.
“Tsk.”
In the end, I couldn’t stand it and had to click my tongue briefly.
“I have no face. I wanted to help you, but… … .”
At that, Jerome looked at me and apologized.
“It’s not Sir Jerome’s fault.”
I was the one who suggested it in the first place.
From nob le mt l dot com
Jerome, who was willing to help with something that might be inconvenient, was not something to apologize for.
“It would be nice if it worked, but if it’s impossible, you can find another way.”
“still… … Let me say it more positively.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
I’m an outsider, but Jerome is an insider who has to keep seeing Baron Volbita.
If you make the position of the other side difficult with unreasonable requests, your network will become useless.
You have to take care of the other person’s convenience as well, so that you can become a network that gives and receives the necessary requests at the moment you need them.
So I brought up a completely different topic to prevent Jerome from bringing up the same subject.
“By the way, what about Kalom Castle?”
There are things that the Palao Church tells me, but it was my habit to gather information from various fields when the opportunity came.
“I think it is still too early to gain the upper hand.”
I don’t know why, but despite the religious pressure, the enemy’s main forces are not moving.
Although there is a clash between the evolutionary species and the main force outside the castle walls.
It was just a war of attrition, meaningless in predicting the future.
‘It looks like there are an awful lot of meat shields.’
The conversation with Jerome became quite long after that.
But everything has an end.
“If you see them at the garrison, let’s have a meal together.”
“That’s good. When you return, please contact me through Sir Alio.”
“Yeah, then I’m off.”
After promising the next meeting with Jerome, on the way back to the party members, I thought a lot again.
The reason I spend so much money trying to make room for myself by doing all this behind-the-scenes work is because there are so few ways for players to accumulate contributions.
‘I don’t know if it was judged that I was still immature or not trustworthy.’
There was no movement to throw players into all-out war.
Thanks to this, the number of deaths was not high, but there was a problem that the role of the player was limited.
Whether you look here or there, all the players can intervene in is a secondary area.
‘It’s not a good picture.’
In this state, no great reward can be hoped for.
However, the rounds of the main scenario, which are divided into chapters and acts, are limited.
‘Recapturing Calom Castle is not a repetitive mission.’
Once the opportunity comes, you should get the biggest reward as possible.
If you quietly step back like you are now, you will lose an opportunity from the player’s point of view.
However, Palao, who can actively reflect my opinion, has a weak voice.
‘It’s said that followers are coming back because of their recent success, but they haven’t regained their former glory yet.’
So what should I do? I have to intervene on my own.
When I heard the news of the 4th battalion, I thought it was a really good opportunity.
‘If it fails, I’ll have to go through another route.’
I’ve been thinking about how to build contributions again.
“brother! The soup cools down quickly!”
At that time, I heard Kim Yul’s urging, and at the same time I felt a strange gaze scratching my nerves.
I raised my eyes and strode toward the rock right next to me.
However, when I turned around the corner of the rock to check, there was nothing.
I looked around, frowning.
I didn’t forget to use magic detection, of course, to concentrate magic in my eyes.
It didn’t mean that it didn’t exist.
After staring at a place where no one was there for a while, I turned around with a guilty heart.
‘It’s strange.’
After coming to Robole because of the main scenario, I could feel the glances circling around me.
That was also the reason why I couldn’t fall asleep while transporting supplies.
But even when I felt their gaze and checked it, I was just wasting my time like now.
‘Have you become sensitive… … .’
It’s embarrassing to dismiss it simply as that, but you can’t keep hanging on to this problem.
‘Let’s have dinner.’
Upon returning to their seats, Yang Tae-ho and Yul Kim immediately showed interest.
“what?”
Having already shared some information, both knew how things were going.
I answered while eating the half-cooled soup.
“Then it’s bullsh*t?”
Yang Tae-ho asked again, licking his lips as if regretting it.
To that, Kim Yul immediately refuted those words.
“It is too early to conclude that this is bullsh*t. Because it could just be.”
right. It hasn’t been decided yet.
“The baron will have to decide by tomorrow morning. Let’s wait until then.”
It meant not to relax too much and manage your condition so that you can join the advance anytime.
“If it happens, will you do it?”
Kim Yul asked to confirm, and I nodded without thinking.
“of course.”
In order to do so, he mobilized all of his unconnected connections.
“okay.”
“hmm… … Got it.”
There was no backlash. By the time the conversation was over, I had also emptied the soup bowl.
The party members who finished eating before me went back to the barracks that way.
Now is the time to distribute the spoils of the past four days.
As they sat around the barracks and took out the items they had stored in their lockers, Kim Yul spoke first.
“Did two artifacts come out this time?”
The spoils from Bihar are not limited to gold and silver treasures found in the field or rusty weapons.
There are also items that have a special power with a rare probability.
‘Things that are displayed as relics in the category displayed in the item window.’
It was usually an item with an explanation about someone’s story, history, or footsteps.
The Kerax series that Yang Tae-ho and I acquired last time also belonged to such a relic item.
‘And the shoes that came out this time.’
[Coward Yoril’s shoes]
• Classification: Artifact
• Obtaining Difficulty: Unique
• Rating: ★★★
• Description: These are the shoes of Yoril, who abandoned his comrades and ran away without even knowing that his shoes would come off. The gaze of the 7 gods who have watched his history dwells, giving him special powers. Following in the footsteps of Yoril, who finally managed to escape, the crisis can be averted only once.
• Number of uses: 0/1
A pair of leather shoes in good shape was lying in the corner of a rugged rocky area, so I picked it up and found it to be a relic item.
Artifacts that can be obtained in the field without a specific mission were generally limited in number of uses.
If you look at those characteristics, it’s similar to a magic stone, but the effect wasn’t the same.
‘Most of the magic stones belong to natural elements or phenomena.’
Relics, on the other hand, are a bit more event-focused.
That’s why there are really difficult things that I don’t know where to write.
A representative example would be another relic item recovered this time.
[Handkerchief of Pomir with Intellectual Impairment]
• Classification: Artifact
• Obtaining Difficulty: Unique
• Rating: ★
• Description: A handkerchief that Pomir’s mother gave him on the day he was drafted. Pomir used this handkerchief to wipe his tears until he died. The gaze of the 7 gods who have watched his history dwells, giving him special powers. You can use Pomir’s Tears in a handkerchief whenever you want.
• Number of uses: 0/3
“One sucks.”
At Kim Yul’s words, neither Tae-ho nor I denied those words.
Artifacts are one of the loot items with a low probability of appearing.
‘It’s strange that I found two of them during the convoy of supplies.’
In addition to the two artifacts that came out today, there are two artifacts I already had.
One was Kerax’s spear, and the other was an obscure object like a Pomir’s handkerchief.
‘I put it up for auction, but it didn’t even sell.’
Given this situation, it was ambiguous to distribute the artifacts.
After looking down at the loot for a moment, I made a decision.
“Yul gives me the means to escape.”
As long as you have stealth magic, you will have to go spying or scouting alone.
When I suggested giving him an escape machine just in case, Yang Tae-ho did not object.
“Instead, if someone else needs to take a solo action first before you use it, pass it on.”
“good.”
Kim Yul nodded politely and took his shoes.
And the handkerchief in question… … .
“I will prepare a safe for this in the party dwelling and put it there.”
It seemed that other artifacts that could not be sold at auction could be stored that way.
“Yeah, I have no complaints.”
“me too.”
Excluding artifacts, the distribution of other loot was also finished.
Rusted armor and dented shields may seem useless, but they can be used as materials for repairing equipment through the shop’s customization function.
It takes less mana to maintain equipment that way than to buy new.
‘It’s really magical from start to finish.’
After distributing without much disagreement, it was time for personal maintenance.
The first thing I did was check the equipment.
Usually, the cutlery has grooves to allow blood to flow easily, but after a battle, it is bound to harden with black blood on it.
So you have to dig that groove and reopen the way for the blood to flow.
Beyond that, there are many things to check.
Clean your leather or iron armor and check the number and type of magic stones you have.
It was a routine I got used to in just a few months.
After completing my personal maintenance, I immediately started training for magic power.
What I’ve been focusing on lately is shortening the time it takes to gather magic.
The result of waiting for Baron Volbita’s decision while undergoing maintenance and training.
The next day, as soon as dawn broke, I was able to meet Baron Volbita who came to the area where the players were staying.
After that, the same system window popped up in front of the player in the barracks of the 4th battalion.
MISSION
[Sub Scenario: Join the War]
Participate in the battle as a support force of the 4th Battalion belonging to the 2nd Regiment, 2nd Division, 5th Corps, 1st Army Headquarters in charge of the central part of the Church Army.
[compensation]
• 1000~2000 contribution to the main scenario differential payment
It was a number that made me think it was a good idea to gather up all the connections I had and those I didn’t have.