episode_0118

“It’s really amazing. Not far from here was a desert full of sand. But this place is a plain with fresh grass.”

“Yeah. Thanks to that, it’s nice and not hot.”

We are walking through a plain after escaping the Gold Road Desert.

After getting out of the desert, the heat definitely subsided, and Baek-ryeon and Seol-lin’s conditions returned to normal.

Thanks to that, we regained our original speed and succeeded in stepping into the territory of the Magic Kingdom in one fell swoop.

“Hmm….”

“What’s wrong?”

“Umm. It’s nothing. This place…, there are many traces of artificially distorted natural energy. It seems there are quite a lot of sorcerers here.”

“Of course.”

The Magic Kingdom is home to more than half of the world’s magicians.

They must have experimented with this and that for the sake of various magic research or fostering future generations, so it is only natural that traces of it remain.

But can you feel those things?

I can’t feel anything.

“You can even know that? Amazing.”

“I’m a guardian spirit. As a being born from the world, I’m sensitive to these artificial changes.”

“Really?…. Amazing.”

Baek-ryeon, who inherited the blood of the White Tiger most strongly, doesn’t seem to feel anything, so is this a characteristic only of guardian spirits?

“Ah! Hero! I see a fortress over there!”

Levia shouts energetically.

If you move your gaze along Levia’s fingertip, you can see a gray fortress.

“That’s one of the border cities of the Magic Kingdom. Lyuum.”

“That’s Lyuum!….”

“First of all, no one here has ever been to the Magic Kingdom, right?”

Everyone nodded at my question.

“Lucy, what about you? You haven’t either?”

“The Magic Kingdom is a place that’s a little difficult for a priest to go to unless there’s something special.”

“Ah…. Is that so.”

Come to think of it, the disposition of the Magic Kingdom and the disposition of the Holy Kingdom were said to be incompatible with each other.

The reason why the technologies of the Magic Kingdom are not widely spread throughout Philgrea is also largely due to religious reasons by the Holy Kingdom….

“Then is it okay for you to come here?”

“There are no regulations that directly prevent me from going. Isn’t the path the Hero takes the path I take?”

“You’re good at talking.”

I shrugged and looked at the group.

“I’ll tell you a few things to keep in mind when traveling around the Magic Kingdom. Especially since you guys are overflowing with magical power…. So you have to be extra careful.”

“Is that so?”

“What a strange place.”

In fact, there are only a few things to keep in mind.

“Don’t follow suspicious people.”

“…?”

“Are you looking at us like kids?”

Baek-ryeon, not knowing what she just heard, and Seol-lin, looking at me as if she was absurd.

“Ah, I understand!….”

Only Levia nodded at my words with a tense expression.

“I think I need to explain….”

“That’s right. You can’t understand if you just say don’t follow suspicious people without rhyme or reason.”

“…So. I don’t mean to demean the Magic Kingdom…. To be honest, more than half of the magicians are full of strange people. Among them are mad scientists…. So there are some crazy guys. Those guys, if they see beast-people like you, they might be curious in many ways and try to use you for various experiments.”

In fact, one of the sub-stories of the Craftia Magic Kingdom was about catching a crazy magician.

Leon and his party, who were investigating a series of missing persons cases, eventually find the culprit magician at the end, but ultimately fail to catch the magician.

“So be careful. Especially Seol-lin, who can’t hide those horns on your head. You be the most careful. Of course, if you have the skills, you’ll be able to subdue them in reverse with your mediocre skills…. But there is a possibility.”

I’ve said it several times, but this place is the country of magicians where more than half of the magicians of the Philgrea continent are gathered.

There’s no way to say that there aren’t any magic tools among the various magic tools they’ve created that can suppress Baek-ryeon and Seol-lin.

There’s no need to go further, since there are shackles that seal the energy of warriors in the Yeom Kingdom, there’s no way to say that there isn’t anything more than that.

“So refrain from acting alone as much as possible, and when you move, walk around together.”

“Umm…. I understand for now.”

“I understand. I think it’s unnecessary worry but….”

“I, I’ll be careful.”

Good. Then shall we go now.

After delivering all the precautions, I headed to the border city of Lyuum, which was visible in the distance.

As we got closer to the city, the fortress that guarded the city began to become more clearly visible.

“But now that I see it, it seems like there are strange pillars around…. What is that?”

“That’s probably…. A guardian golem?”

“A guardian golem?”

“Yeah. So it’s like an automatically moving guardian doll.”

Baek-ryeon looked at my answer as if it was amazing.

“Don’t touch it.”

“Ugh…. I understand.”

It looked like she was going to touch it no matter what, so when I warned her, Baek-ryeon reluctantly withdrew her hand.

“But if you install so many guardian dolls, does that mean there are many wars happening here?”

“Ah, that’s not it. As I heard it…. There was a magician who was researching golem technology in the old days, but he made too many golems, so they took up space, and it was annoying to manage them, so he just donated them to the country.”

“…What kind of sorcerer is that.”

Seol-lin looked at the golem pillar in dismay at my explanation.

“Even if it’s a golem, they’re made for various purposes. After thinking about how to utilize them, they modified the golem and made it a guardian golem that protects the Magic Kingdom from external forces.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Well, that’s the story, so if you just pass by quietly, there’s no problem.”

Kugung

“Huh?”

Just as we were about to pass by, the golem pillar around us moved.

The golem, moving with a heavy sound from its joints, transformed into a giant golem in human form and looked at us.

“Did you guys touch something?”

“N, no! I didn’t touch anything!….”

“I didn’t touch anything either!….”

Baek-ryeon and Seol-lin shook their heads in embarrassment.

So naturally, my gaze turned to White Tiger, Lucy, and Levia.

“Me neither.”

“Me too.”

“I, I didn’t touch anything either!!”

Of course, White Tiger, Lucy, and Levia also said they didn’t touch it.

Then that means they didn’t do anything hostile….

Why are these things suddenly reacting?

[High level of magical power exceeding the standard is detected.]

[High level of magical power exceeding the standard is detected.]

[Identification code, does not exist.]

[Judging as an external threat. Exclude it.]

“High level of magical power exceeding the standard?”

“If it exceeds the standard….”

Everyone’s eyes except Levia’s are on me.

…Am I the problem?

“I’m not a dangerous person. I’m a Hero, Hero. Don’t you know Hero?”

[Hero.]

[One chosen by the Holy Sword.]

[The current input Hero’s abilities are significantly different.]

“….”

Aish.

What should I do with this….

“So you’re saying you’re going to exclude me?”

[That’s right.]

[If not, please leave the Magic Kingdom’s territory as it is.]

[This is a warning.]

[We are equipped with Level 4 armaments.]

Level 4 armament….

They’re wearing pretty good equipment.

The Craftia Magic Kingdom classifies equipment from Level 1 to Level 9 according to its performance.

Level 7 to 9 armaments are also called low-level armaments. It is certain that they have better performance than weapons made by unknown blacksmiths, but they are armaments of a level that can be easily found within the Magic Kingdom.

Level 6 to Level 4 is about the level of a weapon made by a fairly skilled artisan. They are also called mid-level armaments, and you have to pay a considerable price to get them.

In other words, the armament equipped on this golem is a considerably high-level armament.

“I have to pass through here.”

[Dangerous person.]

[Exclude it.]

“….”

I was going to go nicely….

If I break this, do I have to pay for the repairs? But they were the ones who blocked me first.

“Sword Emperor Secret Technique.”

【Mountain Cleaving】

I swing my sword.

A white line drawn in the world.

The Sword Emperor’s secret technique that split the mountain is manifested and perfectly cuts off the guardian golem’s waist.

Squeak…. Kwaaaang!!!

The magical power furnace overheated and exploded as it was, causing a large number of guardian golems to stop functioning.

“As always, it’s a clean swordsmanship. Amazing, young master.”

“But is it okay to destroy this like this?”

“They attacked us first, so wouldn’t it be okay? To dare attack the Hero…”

I swung my sword once more to blow away all the smoke from the explosion.

Then, some people gathered on the fortress and were looking at us.

“A, an attack from the Demon King’s army?!”

“Everyone prepare for battle!!”

“Chant the magic in advance!!”

Perhaps because they saw the golem being neutralized at once.

The situation over there was quite chaotic.

To organize this chaos, I lightly flashed my eyes and opened my mouth.

【Sword Emperor’s Intimidation】

“My name is Leon, the Hero. The Magic Kingdom attacks me first even though I just want to use the gate of the Magic Kingdom…. Does the Magic Kingdom intend to fight the Holy Kingdom, and furthermore, the entire Philgrea continent?”

“!!”

“L, Leon the Hero?!”

“Could it be that he’s the one who defeated the fragments of the Demon King….”

Fortunately, perhaps because my voice reached them, the hostility over there has disappeared a lot.

And before long, the fortress gate opened and a group of magicians rushed out.

“T, it’s real. It matches the appearance of Leon the Hero!”

“Then is it really him?”

“Isn’t that the Holy Sword Machina he’s holding?”

I felt like I had become a monkey in a zoo, but I decided to move on for now.

It seemed like the situation was all settled, so I retrieved my sword and approached the group.

And a middle-aged magician who seemed to be the leader of the group walked out and bowed his head.

“It is an honor to meet Leon, the Hero, who has been rumored recently. My name is Albert Shoua. I am the representative of the magicians of this place, Lyuum.”

“Hero Leon. And these people here are my companions.”

“Companions…. That woman with horns over there?…”

“…She’s a beast-person. From the Yeom Kingdom.”

Oooooh….

There was a slight commotion in the group.

When the situation I had mentioned in advance actually happened, Seol-lin took a step back in disgust.

Confirming that, I let out a light sigh and said.

“As I said before, they are my companions. I won’t let anything happen to them.”

“Uhum…. I’m sorry. We have committed a rudeness. You said you wanted to use the gate, right? Since you can’t use the gate right away just because you want to…. Would it be okay to guide you to the city for a while?”

“I understand. It’s not like I can’t understand that much. But there’s something I want to ask. These golems. They suddenly attacked me.”

“Ah…, that’s….”

He looked at me for a moment and nodded, saying.

“The Hero’s magical power far exceeds the limits of humans…. So it seems like it recognized you as a hostile entity. Frankly, we’re also feeling a tingling sensation all over our bodies right now.”

“Really?….”

Are magicians sensitive to magical power?

I have to be careful about this. This has never happened before….

“I’ll be careful.”

“It’s okay. We can set up an exception. Then I’ll guide you to Lyuum. Come with your companions.”

And so, guided by Albert, the representative of the magicians of Lyuum, I entered Lyuum.