CH 277

[Witch’s Talisman]

[A talisman belonging to the Legendary Witch Oswalde, a Master of installation-type magic.]

[Type: Accessory (Necklace)]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Effects: Installation-Type Skill Limit +1]

There was no way Siegfried’s mouth could stay shut after reading that.

Why?

The increase in the limit of installation-type skill meant that he could place another debuff field.

What did that mean?

“T-This… It’s going to let me place down two Blaze Fields, no?”

The ability to place down two Blaze Fields was already a huge boost, but what if both of those Blaze Fields were enhanced by Discharge?

‘This…’ 

Siegfried started racking his brains, trying to come up with ways to utilize the Witch’s Talisman.

‘I could cover the entire battlefield or easily cover a small fort with this. I still wouldn’t be able to match Chae Hyung-Seok’s range, but this will be more than enough to overturn the tides of the battle.’

Siegfried had been troubled by the limitation of his skills, but the Witch’s Talisman resolved that problem for him.

‘This is really awesome! But how should I use it to maximize its efficiency? What about the mana cost? Argh! I want to test it out right now!’

Siegfried was itching to test out what he could do with the Witch’s Talisman, but the civil war had entered a lull, and it would take a bit of time before it resumed.

“Ah… Where can I test this out?” he grumbled while itching for a fight. It was understandable—any gamer would want to use a newly obtained skill or item right away!

“I should return to my regiment and see if there’s any skirmish I can join,” he muttered and decided to go back to his barracks.

‘Also, I need to go see Miss Luna, too.’

He did not forget to go and meet the benefactor who gave him such items.

***

Siegfried arrived at the corner of the military camp where the refugees from Aria City were staying.

“Ah! Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Thank you for visiting us, Your Majesty!”

“Please sit here!”

The dozens of female NPCs that he had rescued from Aria City immediately welcomed him.

“Please wait, Adventurer-nim! What is the name of that esteemed person?”

“Hmm? Ah, my hyung-nim? He’s the King of the Proatine Kingdom. Haha!”

The women learned from Seung-Gu that their savior was the king of a small kingdom called the Proatine Kingdom, but…

‘Frederic, that son of a bitch…!’ Siegfried was enraged.

The state of the refugees was utterly pitiful. They were wearing old tattered clothes that were supposedly their uniform as medics, and their feet were covered with boots riddled with holes all over.

What enraged Siegfried the most was that he witnessed one of the women eating gruel made out of nothing but flour from a dirty wooden bowl.

‘This is the food they gave to these women who barely made it out alive?! Those bastards!’ Siegfried started cursing the emperor inwardly. He understood that the imperial faction was going through a rough patch financially, but this was beyond inhumane.

These women needed at least a day or two of rest, and they had to be fed nutritious food to recover. However, they had already been deployed to work in the military camp while being served what looked like an inedible mush.

“Scribe Gringore. I know you’re here, so please show yourself,” Siegfried said.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” Gringore emerged from out of nowhere.

“Omo!”

“K-Kyah!”

“Heok!”

The women shrieked out of horror. Most women would be captivated by his handsome beauty after laying eyes on him, but these women weren’t in the state of mind to admire him.

“Scribe Gringore.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Take this and buy a few things, and make sure you get ample food,” Siegfried said as he passed a pouch filled with gold coins.

“I understand,” Gringore replied and took the pouch before leaving the tent.

Siegfried decided to delay testing out his new item after seeing the women’s conditions.

“Thank you for hanging on. I promise you that better days will come soon,” he told the women.

This was the best he could tell them.

“Ah, also, Miss Luna?”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Can I speak to you for a second?”

“About…?”

“I wish to speak to you in private.”

“Ah, yes! I will do whatever you ask me to, Your Majesty!”

Siegfried took Luna aside and explained to her.

“Miss Luna, I think I will have to reimburse you. You gave me too much,” he said.

“It is fine, Your Majesty,” she replied.

“Huh?”

“Your Majesty saved my one and only sister. What else could be more valuable than a person’s life in this world?”

“Still…”

“If you truly wish to reimburse me, I would be so shameless to ask you to help at least my sister leave this warzone. I am fine, so please, just my sister…”

“Hmm…” he pondered for a moment before replying, “I will let you know soon.”

He immediately went to see Emperor Frederic.

“What is it? I thought you went to rest, King Siegfried?”

“Ah, I had a favor I wished to ask, Your Majesty.”

“What is that favor of yours?”

“May I take the refugees I rescued from Aria City with me?”

“No,” Emperor Frederic cut him off before explaining, “We’re already lacking medics, nurses, and cooks. I would’ve easily agreed if we weren’t short on manpower since I get to save money on taking care of them.”

“…”

“But using them as medics, nurses, and cooks is far more beneficial in our current situation. Ah, of course…” Emperor Frederic said before he flashed a sheepish grin and added, “If you’re willing to pay for them, then I’d consider selling… no, letting them seek refuge in your lands. Haha!”

‘Are you a slave trader, you fucking bastard?!’ 

Anger welled up within Siegfried after hearing what the emperor said.

He could not understand how a ruler could treat his own people like mere goods for sale, but he knew that this emperor was indeed a scumbag.

‘All right, I guess I can’t force the issue if you don’t want to hand them over. I can’t save everyone, so let’s not get carried away…’ Siegfried decided to give up on taking all of the women with him.

“Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

“Then, how about if I pay for only the sisters, Luna and Lucy, instead?”

“Hmm?”

“I have some personal issues with them… Haha…”

“Sure, go speak to my minister in charge of my finances and make a deal with him.”

“I thank you for your abounding grace, Your Majesty.”

“Haha! No need to thank me over such a small matter! It’s a shame that you’re not buying them in bulk, but I guess it can’t be helped since you’re probably cash-strapped, too! Keke!”

Emperor Frederic seemed to have misunderstood that Siegfried was the king of a poverty-stricken kingdom, so he had to personally come and work part-time to make ends meet.

“I will give you a one percent discount! I’m giving this because it’s you, so you better be grateful! Haha!” Emperor Frederic exclaimed as if he was doing Siegfried a huge favor.

“Thank you very much, Your Majesty!” Siegfried exclaimed in response while brightly smiling, but he was pouring out all sorts of curses at the emperor inside.

‘You fucking scumbag… You could’ve fed them properly if you skipped a bottle of booze…’ 

The emperor was drinking an alcohol called Vampire’s Tears, which was known as one of the top-tier wines on the continent. A single bottle of Vampire’s Tears was two hundred fifty gold.

It was quite an expensive bottle of wine if taking into consideration that two hundred fifty gold was equivalent to eleven million won in South Korea. How could he give such treatment to the refugees when he was sipping on such an expensive bottle of wine?

Siegfried was convinced that the emperor wasn’t poor at all. No, it was not an issue of having enough budget or not; the emperor simply treated his people like a bunch of cattle.

‘I want to beat him up… I want to beat him up… hold it in… hold it… just close your eyes this one time…’ 

In the end, Siegfried had to clench his fists and meditate to prevent himself from lunging at the emperor.

***

Siegfried immediately went to Luna after paying for both of them.

“I’ve bought you and Miss. Lucy,” he said.

“R-Really?”

“My Aqua Runners are still stationed at the Hudson River. Take one of those to reach my kingdom, and I will instruct my subjects to provide you with food and shelter for now.”

“Thank you! Thank you very much!”

“In return…” he said before pausing for a moment and then continuing, “…please keep this a secret from the other women.”

“Huh…?”

“I’m sure they want to get out of this hell too, and they will be envious if they hear about it.”

Siegfried was worried about that since she seemed quite compassionate.

“Please do not trouble yourself about that, Your Majesty.”

“Ah, okay…”

“Thank you very much… my…”

“…?”

“My king.”

Luna got down on one knee and repeated, “Thank you very much, King Siegfried, my king.” Lucy followed suit and bent her knee as well.

They were now citizens of the Proatine Kingdom, and they were paying their respects to their new king.

“I hope you will be happy in my kingdom. I will do my best to make sure that both of you will only have happy days ahead,” Siegfried promised before passing them over to his marines.

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—Emergency! Emergency!

—All forces! Prepare for battle!

—I repeat!

—Emergency! Emergency!

—All forces! Prepare for battle!

The magic speakers installed all over the camp suddenly blared out noisily.

“Damn it… I wanted to log out and get some sleep. Tsk… I guess I have no choice,” Siegfried grumbled and clicked his tongue before rushing back to his regiment.

***

The papacy reorganized and attacked not only Crane City but three other strategic locations of East Constantine despite having their supply storage burnt to the ground.

Siegfried was stationed as the regiment commander at Vaper Fortress, which was the smallest yet most dangerous one among all of them. It was at that moment that Siegfried and his regiment of Adventurers entered Vaper Fortress…

“It’s the enemy!”

“The papacy’s dogs are here!”

“Prepare for battle!”

The papal forces swarmed toward the fortress.

“This is… are they seriously asking us to fend off all of them with just this much troops?”

Siegfried was flabbergasted at his current situation.

Vaper Fortress only had roughly ten thousand troops stationed in it, but the oncoming papal troops seemed to number in tens of thousands. The only silver lining in his current situation was that the fortress was equipped with anti-air cannons, which made it safe from any time of bombardment from the air.

However, the situation still looked quite grim for Vaper Fortress.

‘They want us to fight this? How’s this any different from sending us to our deaths?’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly.

He was correct.

Emperor Frederic concentrated most of his troops at Crane City and the second most important strategic location, Tenshall Territory.

Why?

Emperor Frederic’s strategy in this civil war was to sacrifice his troops and people to obtain victory. He knowingly sent fewer troops to Vaper Fortress while bolstering his main forces in hopes of counterattacking when the opportunity arose.

The troops and civilians in Vaper Fortress had one task—stall the enemy forces with their lives on the line. In other words, everyone in Vaper Fortress was doomed from the start.

‘Yeah, it’s understandable for him to make such a decision if he’s desperate.’

Surprisingly, Siegfried tried his best to understand why the emperor made this choice.

The imperial faction was already greatly disadvantaged in this civil war, and it was imperative that Vaper Fortress hold back the enemy forces for as long as possible with their lives on the line.

The civil war stemmed from a petty power struggle between two corrupted rulers, but this was a matter of life and death for Emperor Frederic, so he had to come up with the strategy with the highest chance of winning.

Of course, there was no reason for Siegfried to try and understand the emperor’s position. However, the reason he still tried to understand the emperor was simply because he was knee-deep in this war and could no longer leave.

He had to make sure the empire did not fall into the hands of the papacy, so this had also become a matter of life and death for him.

“You dirty heretics!”

“Heathens possessed by the devil!”

“Be cleansed!”

The papal forces started their siege of the fortress.

“Ah, whatever… I’ll just fight for as long as I can,” Siegfried muttered and shook his head before jumping down the walls.

He slammed his +15 Gaia’s Fist into the ground upon landing.

Boom!

Splitting Heaven and Earth!

Siegfried’s Splitting Heaven and Earth signaled the start of the Siege of Vaper Fortress.