* * *
Several days passed, and Philip got on a carriage heading to the capital, where the headquarters of Youssef Firm was located. The trip was quite comfortable thanks to the finest carriages and exclusive maids sent by the Chamber of Commerce.
“As expected, traveling is more fun when luxury and pleasure come together.”
Pribia sipped the finest wine and spoke to Philip. She sat across from Philip, with her legs stretched out on Philip’s lap.
“Don’t you think that enjoying what others cannot enjoy is the reason humans strive?”
“Why did you suddenly become such a philosophical dragon? I don’t know. I don’t want to enjoy anything special, and as long as I live comfortably, that’s enough.”
Originally, this kind of conversation was the best way to pass the time. That’s why Philip decided to go along with Frivia’s small talk.
“Have you ever thought that you lacked ambition compared to your abilities? I’ve never seen a guy as handsome as you in my life. Wouldn’t it be possible to put all humans under one’s feet if you put all the effort you put into your personal development?”
“I don’t have to do that, do I? It’s enough for people who are impatient to do something like a king or a feudal lord. I am satisfied as of now. I like the position where I have rights without responsibility.”
“Hmm… okay. Yes, this is it.”
Privia nodded as if she understood Philip’s answer. Feeling as though he was undergoing some kind of psychological test, Philip threw his eyes out the window with a wry smile.
Then I met the eyes of a maid sitting in a corner. The maid, who was in her late teens, was holding back a laugh as she listened to the conversation between Philip and Privia.
‘… It was a conversation that wouldn’t sound like it if others heard it.’
Philip understood her mind, so he forced himself to ignore her.
It wasn’t too far from the academy to the capital. The basin where the academy was located belonged to the royal family in the first place, and in case of emergency, it had to be close enough to dispatch troops led by the royal family.
The distance is about two villages, and it takes about half a day by carriage.
We had already run for two hours, so we would arrive in about four hours. Philip and Pribia leaned against the backrest, feeling the wagon’s vibration.
After about twenty minutes, there was a commotion outside the carriage.
“… Who are you?… yes? What is it? … ah… All right.”
I heard the driver shouting something, and the carriage stopped. The place was in the middle of the coffin road, and Philip got off the carriage feeling unusually strong.
“Sorry for causing a fuss. b*tch, young lady. Because these people are blocking the pipe… .”
I saw a group of people wearing fancy plate armor and riding war horses blocking the way. Anyone could see that it was a group of wandering knights.
There were four of them, and one was even armed with a jousting spear. The magic spear was originally like that, but it was a more terrifying weapon in this world. A knight who knew how to handle an aura would have the power to destroy a carriage at once.
“Who are you?”
Philip looked at them and asked, and one of the knights stepped forward.
“Ah, there is no need to be wary. I was just wondering if any noble person got on the road I was passing by.”
At that insincere introduction, Philip felt himself laughed at.
“Then, if you feel comfortable, do you want to do some robbery? Do you even know who you know as an idiot?”
When their intentions were revealed, the knights’ expressions instantly turned cold. It was because Philip’s attitude was strangely confident. The knight with the demon spear fiddled with the handle, while others put their hands on the sword.
In the immediate situation, the coachman shuddered, and the war horses began to snort excitedly.
“What are you doing? Why don’t you just kill them all?”
At that time, Privia opened the carriage door and came out. Despite the situation full of urgency, everyone in the place looked at her.
“… Now I think I know why our bodyguard, Naseuri, was so sensitive. If I had a lady like that in the carriage, I would have done the same.”
The knights exchanged glances with each other. Philip sighed and drew his sword. Robbery knights like that usually roam the Guando pretending to be ordinary knights, but turn into robbers when people are rare, and they used to appear quite often in the original work.
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The main targets were nobles coming up from the countryside, or merchants who had no connections from far away expeditions.
When the knight in the front gave the order to attack with a hand signal, the robber knights rushed at Philip in unison. A blue aura made of aura rose from Phillip’s sword.
The knight with the highest rank moved as if he expected Philip to use his swordsmanship. Philip realized that his sword skill could not subdue his opponent’s aura, and realized that the sword he was holding was a magic sword.
‘The magic sword is good.’
It seemed to have been obtained by killing a certain nobleman.
Philip felt strong power emanating from the magic sword. Quite a few knights had such strong repulsive power that they would fall out, and when Philip’s stance collapsed, the knight smiled with joy and aimed at the opening.
It was a cut that felt the will to sever Philip’s upper body at once.
Philip lightly parried the slash and fired forward at the knight holding the jousting spear. The knight with the spear reacted quickly, but was unable to avoid Philip’s sword.
“Ah!”
The knight’s plate armor was greatly cracked and blood splattered. His teammates couldn’t even grasp Philip’s movements properly, so they panicked and aimed at Philip at once.
Then an arrow flew in from afar and pierced a knight’s armor.
‘Piercing through plate armor?’
It was a difficult thing to do with a normal arrow. Of course, a well-trained knight could not lose his fighting power with just one arrow, but the location of the arrow was not very good.
The knight’s face turned pale as if an arrow had pierced his heart, and he fell off his horse and died.
Soon, a hooded figure emerged from a nearby tree.
“The one who wants to die next, come out.”
It was a low, harsh female voice. Philip recognized the woman’s identity when he noticed her black skin and ears sticking out of the hood.
‘Dark elf. Is that Aisha? Oslei Youssef seems to have paid quite a bit of attention.’
In an instant, two of the four fell, and the two remaining robber knights faced each other. As if they had promised, they kicked the horse’s spurs.
“What the f*ck! Did you touch it wrong?”
“Disperse! You sick bastard! Why in the same direction… 100 million!”
A heavy arrow pierced the fleeing knight’s back. Philip laughed out loud when he confirmed that the arrow had a powerful aura on it.
‘If something like that flew in from far away, even I would be attacked.’
It was a technique that anyone could be defeated if they were not sufficiently prepared. The woman let the last remaining knight escape and threw herself to the ground.
As she descended from the tree to the ground, Philip took a few steps forward.
“Are you Philip Oswald? My employer told me to escort you.”
“What about your employer?”
“Osley Youssef. he sent me Looking back, I probably wouldn’t have to step out, but I can’t just wipe my mouth for money.”
Dark elves are a race that is even considered to have a different starting point from the elves living in the forest. Usually, elves live for a thousand years, but they have a lifespan of five to seven hundred years.
Instead of white and shiny skin, he had dull gray skin, but his appearance was not far behind that of the elves.
“That dark-skinned girl again… .”
When Privia, who was watching the fight in the middle of the fight, tried to say something, Philip hurriedly noticed her. There was something promised in advance, so Freevia kept her mouth shut with a disgruntled expression.
“You are a very rough-mouthed lady. If it weren’t for working, I thought I’d carve a burjang head on his body.”
The dark elf woman glared at Privia, then licked her lips and turned her head to Philip when she didn’t look particularly frightened.
―What is that fearless elf called?
Ego Sword Neria woke up when it touched human blood and murmured.
―That black girl will be my toy later. Are you dissatisfied?
Then, as Privia’s telepathy echoed in his head, Philip quietly shook his head. After all, that woman was not a very important person, and she was a murderer who killed dozens of people for money.
* * *
‘Jet-black Aisha’.
She was one of the strongest archers at the moment. Just by her presence, Philip was able to find out that Osleigh Youssef values the secret vault more than he could have imagined.
It was because he was an expensive mercenary, rumored to need a fortress for each move.
‘Certainly, even an Auror Master deserves a big blow if he doesn’t prepare. Dark elves can move silently in the dark, and the action of shooting an arrow was extremely short. I would have been in trouble if I hadn’t come with Pribia-sama.’
Under the escort of that powerful mercenary, Philip and Freevia were able to reach the secret passage leading to the headquarters of Youssef Firm.
Following the guidance of Aisha, I opened the suspicious-looking back door and entered, and I saw the ladies of the salon who were in full swing.
The smell of cosmetics and perfume made Philip feel dizzy.
“Oh, what a wonderful boy!”
“Come visit us later!”
Philip didn’t even look at the girls in their underwear blowing kisses and flirting with them. Privia, who confirmed that, nodded with a satisfied expression.
‘okay. That’s how it should be.’
Passing through the corridor of the salon and entering the stairs leading to the cellar, I saw an elderly man in a robe and a familiar woman. The man greeted Philip and Pribia with a torch.
“You are a little later than expected. It is this way. lord of the seal Who is next to you?”
He was Oslay Yousef, the owner of Yousef Corporation. The woman standing next to her was Rizriel Youssef, and she gave Philip a slight bow of her head, looking uneasy.
“This is a wizard I know personally. They are like family, so it’s worth sharing a secret with them. You can go back if you don’t like it.”
When Philip introduced Privia, Osleigh Youssef gave an uncomfortable expression for a moment, then nodded.
“Since this person is also planning to join the mercenary, how about one more person?”
In response, Philip was sure of one thing.
‘I dug a trap.’
It was far from just showing boldness that Oslei Yousef, who could be considered the best person on the continent, to be prudent, just left a magician-like variable alone.
He said that if he didn’t think that it didn’t matter who followed him, this wouldn’t be the case.
“Follow me.”
Osleigh Youssef led the way with a torch.
After going through a number of secret staircases and passages undiscoverable without codes and mechanisms, they reached a large cellar.
“There is a secret safe beyond this.”
Philip looked at Osleigh Youssef’s expression as he spoke calmly. It was so natural and imposing that it seemed like there really was a secret safe out there.
But Philip already knew where the secret safe was. And Philip even knew what kind of space this basement was.
‘I’ve been here several times.’
“ah. Is that so? I also thought the Lord had set a trap here. Seeing that the wizard didn’t say much even though he accompanied you, there must be something like a gin that interferes with magic casting. And since you hired a dark elf, you’re going to put out the torch soon, right?”
Osleigh Youssef, seeing that Philip did not lose his composure, smiled.
“Did you even know?”
“I came to know. Would someone like you readily share the treasures of the Chamber with me? Even my pretty youngest daughter told me not to trust the merchant too much.”
“… You’re bluffing. It’s clear that I only noticed it when I came this far.”
“If you think so, why don’t you put out that torch? Do you want to bet what will happen after that? If you believe in that Dark Elf Archer.”
Osleigh Youssef glared at Philip. I couldn’t tell if the young man was bluffing or not.
Philip Oswald’s power level was less than an Auror Master even at maximum. And this basement was lined with traps to subdue an Auror Master level enemy.
‘Is such distribution possible at that age? If he became a merchant, he’d be a great guy.’
He snapped his fingers thinking so. Then, the glowstone embedded in the basement emitted a bright light, and the surroundings soon became brighter.
“… The owner of the seal deserves a ride with this person. Now let me guide you to the real secret vault.”
Osleigh Youssef has decided to stop testing with interludes. The young man in front of me was worth investing in.
Meanwhile, the Dark Elf woman, who was watching the situation from behind and tried to move the moment the torch went out, shed a drop of cold sweat. Even though she was behind Philip, she felt as if huge eyes were watching her.
‘If there had been a fight, I would have suffered a great loss.’
The jet-black Eisha was able to recall the feeling of relief after decades.