CH 317

“Who are you?”

“The conversation I heard was very informative, by any chance, Count Le.…?”

The user had been hiding and listening until now. He roamed Radcliffe where no living being could roam. A race close to Kuzgunak’sh approached without paying attention to his question.

“Are you ignoring me? You dare-”

“Tsk, tsk, let’s get a feel for the atmosphere. Don’t you know who that is? Cough, right, how did you get here?”

As the Lizardia knelt down, Bluebeard looked at him with a grin. The Lizardia user who knelt down between Bluebeard and Kuzgunak’sh also smiled as if he could see it. He was delighted that his gamble was right.

“I greet you. I am someone who seeks the path of demons. Necromancer-”

The lizardia’s tail swept across the floor. The user who chose to approach the devil instead of fighting it spoke his nickname.

“-Faust. Even though I am weak, I want to be the Count’s strength.”

“My strength?”

“Summon Undead.”

As the kneeling Lizardia chanted lightly, the ground began trembling.

Puk- Puuk- puuk-!

Zombies and skeletons came out after breaking the hard ground. The number easily exceeded one hundred. Perhaps because the chimeras did not recognize the undead as living beings, they only bumped into them and spewed poison, but did not swallow them.

“The chimeras…”

If it was a normal skeleton, it would have returned to the soil as soon as it touched the corrosive liquid. However, ranker Faust’s reinforced skeletons were somewhat resistant to the chimera’s corrosive liquid.

Even though Kuzgunak’sh admired it for a moment, Bluebeard, which Faust wanted to follow, smacked his lips as if it was a shame.

“Tsk, it’s not to the extent that it is unusable, but it’s too weak …”

“That’s right. I am weak right now, but if the count takes me in and guides me…”

“Hmm. “

It was no coincidence that he came here. Faust, who made a defensive wall with the Alchemist Crowley throughout Minis, had been looking for Bluebeard after learning the reason why the war abruptly ended. He was also a top 10 ranker, someone who can fully analyze the meaning of Middle Earth, job flows, and hints. The reason he was looking for Blue Beard was simple.

What must a necromancer do to become stronger? 

Where did the job that handled the undead start? 

In a sense, it was natural for a necromancer who used corpses, curses, and demonic magic to take a different path from normal users. Isn’t learning from the beginning the fastest way to grow?

“Today seems to be a day for me. The red dragon Kuzgunak’sh, as well as a necromancer, came. Did you say your name is Faust? Can you do what I will ask you to do?”

The Lizardia, who was the same race as Biyemi, had a distinct appearance with white dead skin like an albino lizard, nodded.

“Of course. Count-nim.”

Shwaaaak-! Babam-!

In an instant, a quest window and a new achievement appeared in front of Faust. Faust struggled to hold back his laughter. With the pride in his heart that the path he had thought of was also a correct answer, he started making plans to clear the quest given by Bluebeard.

“Chuckle,  give it a try. I am not close to smelly things, but I have a friend who’s pretty good at things like corpses and magic dolls. If you get things right, I will put you in touch with ‘Pirote – Kokri’. Well, I guess I have to figure out where that friend is first.”

“Yes, thank you. Count-nim.”

Among the users, there was a person who sympathized with the Demon King’s army.

However, when it came to jobs dealing with demons, there were still a lot more besides a necromancer.

***

After finishing his business in Hell Anvil, Leeha immediately headed for the Musket Academy after getting back to the capital. Since the quest completion notification hasn’t popped up yet, it meant that neither Kidd nor Luger found any trace of Bluebeard.

‘I’m sorry, my friends. However, the world is cruel.’

Only those who clear the quest first can receive stat points! It was only natural for Leeha to search for Browless.

“Director-nim~? Hmm?”

However, in front of the locked door of the director’s office, there was only a piece of paper stuck to it.

[I have a business in the Royal Palace]

Leeha once again felt the difficulty of having a musketeer as a job.

“……Director-nim…… how can those low-level users looking for you enter the Royal Palace…?”

There was no way that low-level users who only caught bats and spiders in the Lightless Forest could enter the palace.

Players with no contribution nor reputation would have to use unusual verbal skills or all sorts of tricks against the guards in order to enter the Royal Palace.

“Looking at things like this, musketeers still have low preference. It really has the worst difficulty.”

Could it be said that it was fortunate that there was no significant change in the level of difficulty even after the facilities of Musketeer Academy improved and the atmosphere has brightened?

Leeha shook his head, recalling the time that already felt like the past.

After opening the Three Musketeers’ Friend window to confirm the locations of Kidd and Luger, Leeha immediately headed for Fibiel’s Royal Palace. Of course, he did not forget to check the location of another person in the palace.

‘Nara-ssi is still there. Will her level rise if she stayed in there all the time? How does she maintain her ranking?’

The way she grew after becoming a member of the Knight Order was unimaginable to Leeha.

“Stop, stop. What are you doing here?”

“I am here to meet Browless-nim, who is in the palace.”

“Please put your hand on the crystal ball.”

Leeha put on a rather pleased expression as he watched the guards who were still fiercely inspecting him.

‘Right, no matter how well-known and high the reputation is, inspections of major places must always be thorough.’

In particular, in Leeha’s eyes, who was a former soldier, this was the correct action. He touched the 

crystal ball, but after a while, the crystal ball’s reaction made Leeha to cause an uproar.

“Oh, w-what?”

Paaa-!

It was because a brilliant golden aura emanated from the crystal ball.

There was only one reaction when he put his hand on the crystal ball. It emitted a light blue light.

There was a time when a red light came out when he entered Castle Van Cowl, but it did not happen this time.

“Waa, what changed? It’s never done this before-”

Leeha, who admired the splendid effect, tried to ask, but the guards moved faster.

Everyone—attention!

Papak! At the guard captain’s shout, the guards’ movement became in perfect order.

To the recipient of the Medal of Honor— at one’s beck and call 

—— Sword!

The guards simultaneously raised their swords at 60 degrees and raised them. It was a custom action without even 0.1 seconds of error.

When two rows of guards lifted their swords at the same time, it became a pathway made of swords.

“Uh……uh…”

“Welcome, hero of the national war, Ha Leeha-nim! Browless-nim is in the Central Palace!”

“Ah, that- yes. Thank you.”

Leeha couldn’t help but be perplexed when he saw the passageway that the guards who were conducting the inspection had made facing the entrance of the palace.

‘This, what- it’s embarrassing! The Chief of Staff wasn’t even treated like this! I have only seen it once, this was what my army mates did at Captain Jung’s wedding!’

Leeha’s thoughts were all over the place while walking under the sword salute, which was literally a protocol for an event.

The faces of the NPCs with their swords raised were solemn and unshakable, but the national hero walking beneath them, worthy of respect, was sweating profusely.

“It won’t be like this every time I come, will it?”

It was only after passing through the gate that was dark and deep like a cave and entering the Palace Garden, that he was now quite familiar with, that Leeha was able to shake off his embarrassment.

‘In this beautiful garden…”

Although the garden had a geometric shape, Lotzac’s trap was still laid in unknown locations.

When Leeha reached those thoughts, he felt wary of Lotzac again.

‘It’s quiet even during the national war, and even though Bluebeard is making a fuss, he’s still staying still? Is he in fact an NPC with nothing?’

Was he not a mainstream-level NPC, but only an NPC related to the musketeer quest?

‘No, it can’t be.’

Leeha had gotten curious about Lotzac’s identity.

He was the one who took the lead in concealing the facts about Mr. Brown and Miss Elizabeth, he also now holds the position of being the Chief Magician in the Royal Palace.

Judging from his past actions and current position, Leeha had a vague feeling that he wasn’t just a passing quest NPC.

‘Just by looking at his appearance, he looks like the white wizard from the ‘Ring’ movie, but there must be something more.’

It was just that he had no idea when, how, or where he was moving.

“Leeha-ssi!”

“Oh, Nara-ssi!”

“You should’ve told me you were coming! I just got notified and found out.”

“What notification?”

“Hehe, I didn’t know, but when the recipient of the Medal Honor enters the Royal Palace, the Royal Palace will be notified. Hurry up, did you come to see Browless-nim?”

Shin Nara smiled brightly and naturally crossed her arms with Leeha.

Leeha’s eyes widened as she performed the bold move casually.

“Quickly, quickly. Browless-nim has been waiting for you.”

How…… will he be able to say that it seems his arms seemed to touch something?

Due to the nature of his job as a Fencer, and as a member of the Sacred Knights, she wore a half-plate armor, but even though she was wearing metal armor, Leeha clearly felt something(?).

“Oh, oh- that-”

Leeha was dragged away by Shin Nara, hoping his face would not turn red.

“Are you leaving today as well?”

“What?”

“I am asking because I think you will leave to go somewhere again after talking to Browless-nim. Didn’t you suddenly disappear from the banquet hall the other day?”

Leeha had a happy smile as she saw Shin Nara’s pursed lips and slightly disappointed tone.

“I’m sorry. It was because there was a sudden urgent quest.”

“Really…… I understand because it’s me, but if it’s another woman, they wouldn’t be able to stand up to that.”

Even though she was angry, she complained in a soft tone to Leeha.

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“Did you forget again?”

As Shin Nara tried to raise her voice, something came to Leeha’s mind.

He even told himself to never forget! Leeha deliberately responded with an exaggerated gesture.

“No way! Did you set the date with Bobae-ssi?”

“Yes. I heard she would be available for lunch this Saturday. How about Leeha-ssi?”

“I’m okay with it. I will confirm with Kay.”

“Okay! Hurry up and ask. No, should I ask him?”

If Kijeong said no, Shin Nara might kill him. Leeha suddenly shook his head, worried for the safety of his cousin.

Most importantly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Kijeong was looking forward to this meeting the most, so there was almost no chance of him saying no.

“No, it’s okay, I will ask him.” That bastard is still a student.”

“Oh, so he’s a college student.”

If Kijeong was beside her, he would have asked  ‘Is that surprising? Don’t I look like one?’.

From the time they met at the Palace Garden, they walked together, having a pleasant atmosphere until they arrived at the Central Palace and climbed the stairs. It was after arriving in front of a room that she released Leeha’s arm, which he had held all this time.

“Browless-ssi is in this room. These days, he comes almost every morning. We also talk a lot.”

“What is he doing?”

“It seems that he is having trouble in persuading the nobles and the king. They are not agreeing on terms of the peace treaty.”

The Pope’s power had the power over the truce and peace treaty, but could not be involved in finalizing its content.

Therefore, the countries involved would wrap it up, however, they were still fighting over where the border should be and what the damage compensation should be.

Browless was struggling with it. In order to prevent incurring bigger losses by pursuing small profits.

“Ah…”

“T-The users are also having problems about that…. Some users are saying, “Let’s get this over with”, while other users are saying “No, we should at least get a few cities”.And they aren’t coming to an agreement because of that,  to be exact, the majority of users want to just get one last name and finish it, but Ram Hwayeon wants to get a little more-”

“Did Ram Hwayeon do that?”

Hearing this for the first time, Leeha was startled and asked.