A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! - Chapter 72: (2)

‘Stairs?’

Behind the small door is a staircase leading down into the underground. What is surprising is that the stairs aren’t illuminated by torches but by small artifacts emitting a gentle light. There are dozens of them, if not more.

[Kaiyan! Can you believe someone put artifacts here? Even one would be enough, but using so many like this!]

Kaiyan agrees with Riaka’s words. This is beyond extravagance. Even if they’re low-grade artifacts, each one would cost at least several gold coins, and they’ve used dozens of them just to light up the stairs.

Descending the stairs for about a minute, Kaiyan reaches the end. Similar to the entrance, there is a small door. The difference is that while the door above is shabby, the one below looks very luxurious.

Clang.

Even without knocking on the door, it opens on its own with a sound.

[Wow… who would have thought they’d be this foolish.]

‘I can’t argue with that.’

Through the open door, a dazzling interior was visible.

It’s so ornate that one could mistake it for a noble mansion. In fact, it’s even more dazzling and overflowing with opulence than anything Kaiyan has ever seen. What surprises Kaiyan the most is the sheer scale of the place, as though they managed to create this enormous space underground.

“Tarien-nim?”

“Ah, let’s go in.”

Answering Salmos’s call, Kaiyan closes his gaping mouth and takes a step inside. As he passes through the door and enters a familiar face appears, greeting him.

“Have you come, Tarien-nim? I apologize for last time. I never imagined you would visit us as a mercenary.”

‘Jansen…’

Unlike before, the rich beard of his had been traded for a colder expression as Jansen forced a smile. Perhaps he didn’t need to wear a mask anymore.

“Well, the circumstances were different then… But what about the others?”

Kaiyan looked around, but aside from Jansen, he couldn’t spot anyone else. The invitation indicated that several noble lords were supposed to be at this gathering.

“Ah, the others will be here shortly. Since they’re all coming from distant places, it’s taking them some time. Please come this way.”

“I see…”

As Kaiyan took a step to follow Jansen deeper inside,

‘Knights? Quite a number.’

Through his always-alert senses, he felt that in the direction Jansen was indicating, there were over twenty people hidden, each at the level of a knight or higher.

Of course, it could be assumed this was for contingency purposes, but pondering how he would feel if he were genuinely a noble and he discovered this fact, the answer came to him easily.

‘Not guarding the outside, but hiding within? This is strange.’

If he were really Tarien, finding out such a fact would have ignited his anger. And even if it was for the sake of being prepared for emergencies, it would have been courteous to inform him of such matters beforehand.

“Salmos, when will he arrive?”

Conscious of Barvan, Kaiyan whispered to Salmos in a hushed voice.

“He should be at the entrance by now.”

“Could it be that you and Ecrin are the only ones coming?”

“For the time being, but the Shadow Knights will be here shortly. It should be fine.”

‘Shadow Knights.’

He wasn’t sure how strong they were, but if they were called the Shadow Knights, they must be numerous. In that case, even if there were twenty knights inside, it would still likely align with Barvan’s plan.

‘Yes, they probably did well on their own.’

Barvan should understand how crucial this opportunity is; unless he’s a complete fool, he must have prepared thoroughly.

Pushing aside the tangled thoughts, Kaiyan grinned at Jansen, who was looking back with a relieved expression and approached him.

” Tarien, I’m truly grateful for your visit. I thought Tarien-nim wouldn’t come here.”

“What are you saying? We made a promise, and we should keep it.”

“That’s true. But what I promised back then wasn’t with Tarien but with Mr. Kaiyan. So, I thought you wouldn’t come. In the end, I brought this significant gift… Puhaha!”

“….”

Seeing Jansen burst into laughter, Kaiyan’s expression hardened.

When did that guy find out? Could he have met Tarien in the meantime? Or did he get the information from the Blatan Mercenary Guild? It’s unlikely; they didn’t have any reason to reject my proposal.

So how did he find out about my true identity? And a significant gift at that?

“Could it be…”

The various jumbled thoughts in his mind gradually aligned, forming a clear picture.

“…Is it a lure for Bavran?”

“Kukuku, daring to casually mention a noble’s name under the guise of a mercenary leader. Well, if it’s Barvan, he won’t be an issue for much longer.”

‘But… why?’

One lingering question remained: if he knew, why didn’t he escape?

From his words, it seemed like Jansen had plans to capture Baran, but Baran wasn’t coming alone. The Shadow Knights Salmos mentioned should be arriving shortly, too. How did they plan to handle them?

Crash!

“Oh, the protagonist has arrived.”

Looking behind, he saw the ornate door shattered, and ahead of it, Baran and Ekrain stood, swords drawn.

Barvan, stepping on the broken door, slowly approached one step at a time.

“Jansen, hiding in a place like this. You truly are a rat-like bastard.”

“Kukuku, no need to worry. After today, you won’t have a reason to say that anymore.”

“That’s right. You won’t escape my grasp today. Let’s end this tiresome fight, Jansen.”

“Who dies, that’s something we need to watch for, don’t you think? Kukhaha!”

“He’s completely gone mad. Salmos, subdue Jansen.”

When Barvan gave the order to Salmos, he unsheathed his sword. At that moment, Kaiyan’s senses went haywire.

——————— –

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