The Grand Prince Has Run Away - Chapter 35

Climbing along a serpentine road stretched between the steep slopes, I could see the vast plains and the fortress wall.

This familiar landscape reminded me of old memories.

During the early days of the Era of Destruction, I fiercely fought against demons at this Polkin Gateway for nearly half a year. The battle continued every day for six months and I fought many days without even sleeping.

‘Well, I never thought I would come back but here I am.’

After I arrived at the front of the fortress gate, I saw a long queue of merchants. They were undergoing inspection. Fortunately, Armida and I could enter the gate right away thanks to one soldier who was already waiting for us.

Along the fortress gate, there’s a dozen of meter-long underground passageway. Also, there were iron doors and bars everywhere with guard soldiers right next to them. These soldiers were ordered to fight until death to defend their positions during enemies’ invasion.

Once I fully passed through the gate, I could see the vast plain surrounded by high cliffs in every direction. And there was a crowded city where 50,000 civilians, 3000 soldiers, and 200 knights lived together. The number of troops could seem little given the fact that it’s the world’s most impregnable and largest fortress. However, the number of troops didn’t matter.

With just five hundred soldiers, the Polkin Gateway could defend itself against one million enemy soldiers.

Seriously, who could climb up those 90m-high fortress walls? Even artillery weapons could not break those walls made with at least 60m-wide granite and most of the archers’ arrows could not reach the top of the walls. No matter how big an army would be, the Polkin Gateway was unconquerable by a frontal attack.

“Welcome, Master. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Three warriors of the Verbe’s Merchant Guild came to greet us. Their job was to oversee the Alon Mercenary Guild and they’re supposed to give me information about Alon and his underlings.

“Who is Shane?”

A brown-haired man who appeared to be in his 30s stepped forward.

“I am Shane, sir.”

“How many are they?”

“About fifty, sir.”

“Only fifty? Quite a few.”

“Yes sir. When leaving Kara, Alon brought only his royal underlings in secret.”

“Then what about other underlings?”

“They were abandoned in Kara, sir.”

“Why did he abandon them?”

“Maybe he didn’t want to share his money with all of his underlings, sir.”

Alon was a fu***** bastard who had no fidelity. When I met him last time, he had at least 300 underlings and he brought only 50 here. He’s very cocky so I knew what kind of a person he was but he’s even worse than I thought. Anyways, it’s good news for me. I could kill all of them without feeling guilty at all. I really hated traitors.

“I see. Then you should go to the officer whom you bought off and ask him to lift the blockade in the west gate. I am gonna wait outside the west gate. Once they come out, I will kill all of them except Alon on the mountain road.”

“Sir… that’s…”

“What’s up?”

“Sir, I think your plan is not executable.”

With a concerned face, Shane started to explain why my plan was inexecutable.

Currently, Alon and his underlings were staying in an inn called the ‘Travelers’ Shelter’. They rented the whole place to establish their base. And the problem was that Alon and his underlings became very weary since they’re the only ones who’re not allowed to pass through the west gate which led to the Kingdom of Robros. So they could certainly notice that something was going wrong for them. After the second day they arrived here, they didn’t even look towards the west gate and rarely stepped out of their inn.

I chuckled. Even though Alon was a piece of shit, he surely was a veteran leader of a mercenary guild who had been doing his job for a long time.

“Haha. They’re like little squirts but they are pretty quick-witted.”

“Sir, it’s not so funny. Unless we quickly capture and bring Alon alive, the heir of our merchant guild might lose his life. The Great Desert bandits are not patient like Alon and his underlings.”

“Don’t worry. I can capture him in no time.”

“How could you do that, sir?”

I slightly drew my Yojo.

“I will get rid of those scumbags and make this place clean. This is actually an easier way.”

Shane was shocked.

“Master! You should not use a sword to solve this matter.”

“Why not?”

“Sir, the commander of the gateway will never overlook if you kill Alon and his underlings right here. If you cause a bloodshed by slaughtering many people and the commander finds it out, our merchant guild will never be able to step inside this Polking Gateway. And that means we will go out of business. So please find another solution, sir.”

“Really? Who’s the commander?”

“Duke Malthus is the commander of the Polkin Gateway.”

I also knew Duke Malthus well. He was one of the commanders who fought together during the Polkin Gateway defense in the Era of Destruction. He was a mid-level Master Swordsman and chose ‘success’ as his way of swordsmanship. Thus, he valued success in his career as the most important thing in his life. And the problem was that he’s too obsessed with success in his career so he didn’t take any bribes. He thought if he took bribes, those would come back to bite him someday.

As Shane said, if I caused a major bloodshed at this Polkin Gateway, Duke Malthus would be really pissed off because it would impinge success in his career.

Of course, it was not my concern at all even if he got pissed off but my client would get into serious trouble. If the rumor came out that my client went out of his business because of me, it would certainly hurt my business as well.

“Dammit. Duke Malthus is like a pain in the ass…”

“Yes, sir. So you should be cautious.”

This job was pretty difficult. There were so many restrictions due to the client as well as other factors.

However, our Kaoyan Detective Agency put our first priority on friendly customer service. We always took care of the jobs which our clients request.

“Hey sis, how many times can you use your Teleportation Magic?”

Armida tilted her head on the side.

“Well, only about 30 times? It’s 8-Term level Magic so I need to use mana a lot.”

30 times was actually a lot. Even at best, an 8-Term level human magician could use it only 3~4 times a day.

‘Then 20 are left… Well, I think it would work out’

Duke Malthus was a success-oriented guy. If the news about an incident leaked out, he would be surely pissed off and made some kind of actions. But when things were ambiguous, he just covered up the whole incident together. Thus, if I made some plausible excuse, he would turn a blind eye.

Armida and I kept our eyes on the ‘Travelers’ Shelter’ from afar, watching what Alon and his underlings were doing.

* * *

I leisurely walked the roads inside the city for a while. It was unfamiliar to me since I could not see any destroyed buildings like in my past. I chuckled once I chanced upon a bar’s underground storage because I could recall my memory of making love with a freckle-faced daughter of the bar’s owner.

“Sarah. Come home and eat your meal, you good girl.”

I could hear a familiar voice. Oh, her name was Sarah too. She was 20 years old at that time so she’s now… Damn, just forget it.

[Hey little bro, three of them are going in your direction. You would meet them on the crossroads.]

Out of sudden, I could hear Armida’s voice.

She was watching the movement of Alon and his underlings on the rooftop of a temple building in the center of the city. She’s supposed to tell me via ‘Message Delivery’ Magic if she found any strange movement.

I wore my white half-mask and walked towards the crossroads.

“Wh… white mask?”

When they saw me who came out of nowhere, they were so shocked with their legs trembling in fear.

I pretended not to know who they were. Then I walked closer to them and said.

“Hey, are you guys mercenaries?”

“Yes…”

“That’s great. I’ve got some questions. Have you seen any of Alon’s Mercenary Guild’s members around here?”

As if on cue, they shook their heads simultaneously.

“No, sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Fu***** bastards. Where did they go? I surely heard that they came here.”

As I talked to myself, one brave mercenary stepped forward.

“Sir, what’s the matter?”

“Oh, you know what? The guild’s leader is Alon and he stole money and ran. So I got fu***** pissed off. Seriously, I am gonna kill all those bastards once I find them.”

I grabbed the back of my neck and drew my Yojo but put it back right away. Then the mercenary stepped backward.

“Oh, I understand, sir.”

“Anyways you guys haven’t seen them for sure, right?”

“Yes, sir. We have never seen them.”

“Okay then. Just go your way.”

“Yes, sir.”

Three mercenaries turned around at once and started walking back to where they came from. So, I followed them as if nothing was going on. Shortly after, two of them forced the other guy to go and talk to me.

“Sir…”

“What’s up?”

“Sir, why are you following us?”

I took a piece of paper and pretended to check the map.

“Oh, it’s just a coincidence. I am not following you guys. I heard that Alon and his underlings are staying at the inn called ‘Travelers’ Shelter’. So I asked passersby for directions and they told me this way.”

“Oh….”

“Do you guys know where that inn is located? They told me it’s around here but the roads are too complicated so I can’t find it…”

One mercenary pointed forward. It was exactly where the ‘Travelers’ Shelter’ was located. Such disloyal bastards.

“Oh really? Thanks.”

“No, sir. I am glad I was able to help.”

I passed them by and said one more thing which must be intimidating for them.

“By the way, I am very pissed off right now so I don’t think I can control my anger. If you guys were trying to go this way, I advise you to take a detour. If you wander around nearby, you might end up being killed as well. I could make a mistake since you guys are also mercenaries.”

“Oh, we understand sir. We will be careful.”

“Alright then. Go your way.”

“Yes, sir.”

Three mercenaries made their way down to a narrow alley and began to run. After they disappeared from my sight, I got a message from Armida.

[Hey little bro. Those guys went to the west gate and stood on the line behind the other merchants. It seems that they’re trying to go through the Polkin Gateway right away.]

I snorted.

Those three guys would be dead in no time. On the mountain road outside the Polkin Gateway, dozens of Verbe Merchant Guild’s warriors were waiting for them. Since Shane knew all those faces of the Alon Mercenary Guild’s members, they would be slaughtered as soon as they passed through the gate.

Yet, those three mercenaries were lucky because they wouldn’t be killed by me. It’s much better to be killed by a merchant guild’s warriors than myself. At least, they could be buried under the ground.

After they were gone, I sent some more mercenaries to the west gate by using the same tactic. Then I began to hunt down Alon and his underlings for real. I hosted a bloody feast with Armida’s magic skills and disguised accidental deaths for the dead mercenaries.

* * *

Late at night in the alley, a mercenary with a sword at his waist gave his arm to his fellow, who was hammer drunk, and they were heading to the ‘Travelers’ Shelter’. His fellow probably drank a lot of alcohol at a nearby bar.

“Damn you bastard. The boss told us not to go outside many times but you still went to a bar and brothel?”

“Oh man, I am so drunk.”

“Shut the hell up. Do you know how many of us disappeared today?”

“Man~ you still don’t get it? Only we are not allowed to pass through the gate so some of us have sensed that something is going wrong and they ran away. They would’ve run away anyway though.”

“Whatever! I think you should have some serious talk with the boss next morning. He said he’s not gonna let this slide because…”

Before the guy could finish his sentence, he fell down on the ground. The hammer drunk guy also fell on the ground and saw his fellow whose body was trembling. Also, his fellow’s head was awkwardly bent in the opposite way. The drunk guy was about to yell but his head got bent as well and he fell down on the ground.

With a happy smile, I dusted my hands off and rummaged through their pockets.

At that moment, Armida with an astonished face came from behind me. As things were going strange, she came back in a hurry by using Teleportation Magic.

“Hey, little bro. What are you doing right now?”

I answered her.

“What’s wrong? I didn’t use my sword, did I?”

“But the client’s request was not like that. You’ve been doing fine until now. So, why are you trying to mess it up all of sudden?”

“Oh really? I can’t even use my hands?”

“Of course.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that~”

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

She looked at me with sharp eyes.

I took a small bag of gold coins out of the corpse’s pocket and then said.

“It would be okay. And actually, we can’t drive these guys outside right now because the gates are all sealed shut at night.”

“But still… How are you going to take care of these dead bodies?”

“Of course you should take care of them.”

“Me? How?”

“With your magic.”

She blinked her eyes continuously.

“Oh well, then should we just burn these dead bodies?”

“No~ then we’re gonna leave a trace and it takes quite a lot of time too. Also, the corpse-burning smell will spread around. Just use Teleportation Magic and throw them away wherever you want.”

She made an embarrassed face.

“I didn’t bring the book of teleportation coordinates…”

“Still you can remember some coordinates which you often use, can’t you?”

“There are a few but… I don’t think it’s appropriate to throw away dead bodies in those places.”

“Where are they?”

“Kronos, the Sky City and the Hall of Divinity.”

“That’s good then. Throw them away in the Hall of Divinity.”

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“But that’s a holy place, isn’t it?”

“It is only holy for humans, not you. That’s the place where Valkyries keep their swords and books they used, right?”

She rolled her eyes. In fact, the Hall of Divinity was a holy place only for humans. For Valkyries, it’s just a warehouse which they built in the human world.

“Hmm, you’re actually right but…”

“Then what are you waiting for? Just throw them away quickly.”

“Alright. Just give me a moment.”

Shortly after, Armida sent the corpses to the Hall of Divinity by using Teleportation Magic. The priests would be shocked once they would open the gate of the Hall of Divinity around next year but it’s their problem, not mine. The only thing I needed was to complete my job without causing any trouble.

* * *