High-capacity quick-draw magazines (1)
It must have been about 5 minutes since Chris encountered the minions of the Church Alliance.
The interior, which was already bland, became even more unfriendly because of the fresh corpses.
The temple of the evil gods, who are said to be making a name for themselves, wouldn’t be as hideous as this.
Chris, who was feeding blood to the demonic sword that played a big role in the ruins this time, scratched his head when he saw the guy suddenly stop eating.
The demonic sword, which had absorbed about half of the blood of the poor victims, somehow showed restraint and stopped vibrating.
“What, are you not eating any more?”
“See if you are full now. Or maybe your hunger is satisfied and you want more delicious blood.”
With a humorous look on his face, the king of singers added that the latter was likely, and walked out of the field of corpses.
Chris and the others hurriedly leave the ruins following him.
When the four people who were almost running through the passage came out of the cave, the entrance that had been intact collapsed.
They made up their minds to prepare for an additional surprise attack by the Church Alliance, but fortunately that did not happen.
This is because the base camp where the explorers of the ruins stayed was ruined by Nakboros and other guards.
The watchmen, who were finally released from their duty to protect the ruins, left the ruins and went their own way.
Confused adventurers tried to stop the monsters, but it was difficult to catch them all scattered. Chris and his party tried hard not to see Nakboros waving his thanks as he disappeared over the hill.
“uh… It looks like you did something wrong.”
“It’s not our fault.”
Chris shook his head at Tyrone’s words and prepared to escape by calling a ghost horse.
King Singer steps away from them and bids them farewell.
“Then I’ll just go for it. Thanks for the nice viewing.”
“Go carefully.”
Since the king of singers is the representative of all bards, it would be difficult for him to oppose the religious union.
Chris took that into account and gladly sent him off.
As soon as he disappears, Chris and the others hurriedly leave.
However, without the reward of quickly avoiding the body, he could feel the eyes on the back of his head.
Like Chris, Tyrone noticed the tailing and asked in a slightly worried voice.
“Eh… Isn’t this one or two guys? how will we do it?”
“Killing them here will make you tired. Let’s run away for now.”
The eyes of the denominational union are all over the place.
If you kill the pursuers here, new ones will follow soon.
In Chris’ experience, it’s best to hide in the crowd at times like this.
Once blended into the crowd, changing faces, names, and clothes a few times can drive off even skilled shadowers.
Of course, that doesn’t mean going into a nearby city.
The priests of the denomination union will have similar thoughts to Chris, so it must be assumed that a trap is already laid in the nearby city.
Chris ran quickly, heading northwest.
Illesis, noticing his destination, asks to confirm.
“Are you sure you want to go to Basilonia?”
“okay. Since the Church Alliance was suppressed by Breton and not involved in the war, the relationship between the two must have deteriorated quite a bit now. If you get that far, no matter how much they get there, they won’t be able to chase you anymore.”
“aha”
Illesis nodded in admiration for Chris’ quick decision.
Then Tyrone put on his words and asked a question.
“Then do you want to go to Elrom’s place?”
“no. I can’t just visit him and cause trouble. It would be better to go to the direct jurisdiction of the King of Basilonia.”
Naturally, the territory of the King of Basilonia was not limited to the capital.
The place Chris wants to head to is a city that is not accessible to nobles because it belongs to the king.
It is the heart of Basilonia, famous for its huge salt mines and fertile farmland.
Tyrone only noticed the name of the city and responded with satisfaction.
“If it is under the direct control of the king… It’s the big city ‘Vektor’. Are you going to rest there until it gets quiet?”
“okay. It seems like I’m just resting these days, but I’ll have to get away from the eyes of the Church Alliance.”
Illesis and Tyrone disagreed with Chris in the slightest, but followed him in silence.
After leaving the Ruins of Argal, the party, who had been running non-stop, prepared to sleep at night.
Of course, the tailing hadn’t fallen yet, so I couldn’t rest in peace.
Chris set up Tyrone as a night watch for the exhausted Elesis.
“You can stand for 4 hours and I can stand for 4 hours.”
“I-I can stand guard too… … .”
Chris shook his head when Illesis said as if he was complaining a little.
“It’s okay because we have the health of the status window. Sleep and don’t overdo it.”
When it came to this, even the slimmer Tyrone had to agree with him.
Chris lay on the cloak spread on the cold floor and looked up at the overly bright moon.
‘This isn’t very good… … .’
The moon, which had gradually waxed over the past two weeks, is now almost full.
And when the full moon rises, the ferocity of the monsters wandering outside the city becomes noticeably stronger.
Because of this, Chris has avoided sleeping on the full moon as much as possible.
However, there is quite a bit of distance left to this destination, Vector.
Chris and Elesis would have no problem using the ghost horse, but Tyrone couldn’t.
In the end, Chris moved as fast as possible with minimal rest.
As if such efforts were not in vain, they were able to reach their destination quite narrowly.
In the city surrounded by high walls, a salty smell was already emanating.
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Most of the surrounding trees seem to have been used for firewood, so there are no trees to be seen near the castle.
As Chris and his party reach the gates of the city, the Cult Alliance’s minions finally give up the chase.
When the exhausted man held out his mercenary plaque, the guard’s expression strangely changed.
Chris just wanted to say goodbye.
‘Oh, is this too much? I’ll show you something else… … .’
But now I can’t go back to my pursuers.
Chris put on a calm face and waited for the guard’s reaction.
However, the guard who was inspecting the mercenary plaque suddenly uses an honorific title and runs somewhere.
“Now, please wait a moment. I will call someone right now.”
“No, it’s okay… … .”
Tyrone asked anxiously as Chris made a puzzled expression.
“Hey, aren’t we in trouble?”
“are you okay. It won’t matter if your identity is found out.”
Right after the war with the Breton Empire ended.
Chris and his party left without attending the victory celebration.
It must have been very unfortunate for the Basilonia Kingdom, which wanted to recruit them somehow.
Now that their identities are known because of Chris’ mistake, the city’s manager will try to finish the last failed attempt.
So, if you are treated as an honored guest, you will receive it, but you will never be kicked out.
As Chris explained his calculations, Tyrone swept his chest and praised him.
“You didn’t come here for nothing?”
“of course.”
Chris, who regretted whether to show off another mercenary pack, was cold inside, but tried to answer Tyrone’s words as if it were natural.
As soon as their conversation was over, the half-closed castle gate opened completely, revealing the people inside.
Wearing high-quality clothes, befitting managers of the estate, they bow their heads to Chris and his party and salute them in unison.
“Meet the owner of this city, Count Vector!”
“Welcome back to the territory, lord!”
“yes?”
I knew I would be welcomed, but I never thought it would be this much.
Chris let out a dumb noise when he realized something was terribly wrong.
Then a middle-aged man at the head of the procession approaches him and bows his head again.
“I am Baren, who has been managing the territory as the lord’s representative until now. Can I take you inside first before I give you a detailed explanation?”
“Wait. Are you Count Vector? This is the direct jurisdiction of His Majesty the King of Basilonia.”
When Chris answered questionably, Baren, the skinny lord’s deputy, nodded very calmly.
“It was until the end of the war with the Breton Empire. However, His Majesty the King gave Chris this land and title as a reward for his service.”
“Nonsense!”
Illesis, who was well versed in the aristocratic society as a student of Seid, muttered weakly. But no one in this room could blame her.
It is possible enough to give a title to Chris who has made an outstanding major.
It would not be impossible to lower the territory to capture him.
However, it was difficult to accept that the territory was called Vector, the yolk land of Basilonia and the king’s direct jurisdiction.
The salt mines of Vector are one of the pillars of the royal family’s power.
Profits from this land must account for about 10% of the kingdom’s total budget, but to give it to a mercenary player.
It was clear that Elrom and Frederick’s influence had worked on this.
Baren seemed to understand the party’s reaction, and invited them inside again.
“You’re not going to stand in a place like this, so go to the lord’s castle. I built a new castle for Count Vector.”
“Hey, shall we go?”
Following Baren’s earnest request, the party entered the small but well-decorated lord’s castle.
When the three people who left the horse settled down in the lord’s office, Baren closed the door and held out a piece of fine paper.
“This is the Count’s letter of appointment. It is about appointing the Count as the rightful ruler of this land according to the order of His Majesty the King. Sir Frederick and Sir Elom performed the ordination ceremony by proxy.”
“Well then… … .”
When Chris heard the truth from Baren’s mouth, he touched his temple with an astringent expression.
This time, Frederick, the living ghost of Basilonia, must have pushed for the capture of Chris and his party.
It is a calculation that once you are given a title and given the yolk land, you will stay on this land even if you don’t like it.
But no matter how much it is, it’s a gift of a real exhaust land like vector.
Chris didn’t understand that, so he asked Baren.
“I’m not given all the powers of Vector, right?”
“First of all, 30% of the tax revenue must be given to the royal family, and 20% of the salt mine products must be circulated domestically. Of course, responding to His Majesty’s convocation order with the highest priority cannot be left out.”
“also.”
It is too much of a burden to give all of Vector’s income to Chris, and since salt is a kind of strategic commodity, it must be managed at the national level.
However, all other rights belonged to Chris.
‘Am I trying to be a king without going too far?’
Certainly, at this point, Chris couldn’t just say he didn’t like it.
Being a nobleman in Basilonia was a bit daunting, but the money from Vector was too much to refuse as usual.
Tyrone was already looking forward to the tteokgomul, and he was going to go to Baren.
“Then, roughly how much tax income is here for a year?”
“Last year, it was this much, but starting this year, we have to pay 30% to the royal family and promote post-war restoration projects, so this year’s expected profit is roughly this… … .”
When Varen tapped the abacus roughly and showed the result, the faces of the three hardened.
Doubt came before joy at a much larger amount than expected.
Baren seems to reduce the number a little to them.
“Of course, there is quite a bit of money going out for the management of the territory, so this is the budget the lord can use freely. Oh, by the way, the amount of money currently stored in the manor… … .”
“Yeah, but there are so many.”
“What if I empty the manor?”
Chris asked the question again, pretending not to see the delighted Elesis.
No matter how big a profit was expected, being caught on a leash by the King of Basilonia was a refusal.
However, Baren responded promptly to put Chris’ concerns to shame.
“In the meantime, I will be carrying out my duties as the lord’s deputy. Just like it used to be.”
“Are these conditions too good?”
Presumably, Baren would have been managing this land as the lord’s representative from the beginning.
He smelled like a person from the royal family, and he was too knowledgeable about the situation in the territory.
So it was enough for Chris to come back from time to time and play lord or use the saved budget to his heart’s content.
He pretended not to be able to overcome the eager stares of Tyrone and Elesis, and was about to speak to Varen when he suddenly came up with a good idea.
Originally, Chris did not stay in one place for long, but if he managed this place well, it seemed that he could become a base against the Prime Minister in the future.
“Um… Shall we try something like this, lord?”
I don’t know if it was handed over to a territory that is in very bad condition.
I entrusted you with such a worthless piece of land, but it’s hard to just throw it away and leave.
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Most of all, I really liked it because I felt that my opinion was respected.
Baren bowed again to the new lord and prepared a grand feast.