Chapter 146

Chapter 146

146th Episode: Part 2 – Prologue Laila disposed of all the spoils she had hunted, including the troll’s hide and core, at the Adventurer’s Guild. Dkan didn’t bother her with unnecessary questions, such as what kind of traps she used to catch the troll, and the transaction proceeded as quietly as ever. After selling all the monster materials she had acquired over the past four days, Laila returned to her room at the inn. She sat on the bed in her room and took out the bundle of letters that Dkan had given her from the pouch tied around her waist. Rustle. The first letter taken from the bundle had the name Emily Artion written on it in black ink. [Hi, how have you been? I’m still doing well. And Kali seems to be doing well too, so you probably don’t have to worry.] The letter, which began with a simple sentence, contained updates on what Emily had been up to. Most of them were ordinary stories without anything special, but Laila read her story with an interested expression. There was no need to try to find deep meaning in the currents of time flowing like a river. Conversations and memories are originally more valuable because they are ordinary. ‘Looks like she’s doing well.’ Laila smiled faintly as she read Emily’s letter. Emily Artion, one of her friends who had been reincarnated into this world with her, had stayed in the capital of the Typhon County, unlike Laila. At first, she was a little worried, but she had not shown any signs of hardship in the letters she had sent so far. [Oh, and El has gone all the way up to the north. I think it was near some mountain range… I don’t remember exactly. Anyway, there are a lot of goblins in such places, right? So it seems like he’s having a hard time. Anyway, El says to say hello to you. I guess it’s a mountain village there, so letters don’t reach Yurkin.] ‘If it’s the Arltarkin Mountains… is that the border with the Astaltin Empire?’ Laila frowned and tried to recall as she read the letter. If it was near the Arltarkin Mountains, it was much further north than Yurkin, as well as Trithia, where Emily was staying. It was also a border area between the kingdom and the empire, and although there were no monsters, the entire mountain range was teeming with wild goblins. She could easily guess why El had gone up there. ‘It’s probably because of the Blood Shadow Demonic Art.’ It was a blood-sucking technique that gained internal energy by consuming the blood of others and a demonic art optimized for it, but there were several problems with training it on humans. El in the past had said that he hadn’t actually sucked the blood of humans that much for that reason. The Blood-Sucking Technique itself could be trained with the blood of animals, but goblins, which grew naturally in the mountains rather than livestock and were overflowing, were perfect for training. ‘He’s going to hate it so much.’ Laila smiled slightly as she imagined El grimacing while drinking goblin blood. [Oh, and Lutrisia is coming back soon. She looked very tired, so come and comfort her sometime.] The letter ended with concern for Lutrisia. Laila put down Emily’s letter and stared at the other letter in the bundle. The name Lutrisia Lante was written on it in an antique font. Lutrisia Lante. She was a friend from her previous life who had the name Kim Ah-ram in her previous life, and was now living as the second daughter of the Lante baronial family. She was twelve years old when she met her, but she had passed two birthdays in the meantime and was now fourteen years old. “….” Twirling the ebony hair that fell over her shoulder with her fingers, Laila recalled the past, including her time with Lutrisia. // About a year and a half ago, Laila and her party arrived at the Lante baronial family and met Lutrisia Lante. Unlike Laila or El, Lutrisia was living a fairly ordinary life. The knowledge she gained from her previous life was the Winter Queen, Seol Im-rae’s, techniques, which, like other martial arts, were a type of technique that was impossible to use in this world without natural energy. Taliman Rebote – Yoo Tae-jin, one of her friends from her previous life – was in the same situation in that training was almost impossible, but Taliman was able to develop his skills by training his external skills and senses, and learning the Nordic Style, a unique martial art in this world, while Lutrisia’s own strength was no different from that of ordinary people due to the limitations of techniques as a field of study. The manifestation of techniques is similar to magic, but its origin comes from martial arts. Unlike magic, which can manipulate external magic power, techniques are fundamentally based on the manipulation of external energy through internal energy. In the end, techniques are bound to be more restricted in this world without natural energy than martial arts. Returning to the main point, Laila’s party met Lutrisia at the end of their journey, but the time they spent with her was not very long. About two months later, Lutrisia entered Perrezanta University in Karsinium, the capital of the Kilkard Kingdom, at the order of her father, Baron Lante, and Taliman Rebote, who had introduced her, also left for Karsinium to serve Count Typhon. Because Taliman and Lutrisia had left, Laila, Emily, and El had no reason to stay in the baronial territory any longer, so they moved their residence to Trithia, the capital of the Typhon County, and separated for their own reasons. And the main reason for that was to train martial arts. Unlike Laila, who had a core in her body and could replenish her internal energy, the two of them could not replenish their internal energy on their own. There was such a background to Emily staying in Trithia and El going all the way up to the Arltarkin Mountains. Swish. Laila paused for a moment to recall her memories, then picked up the second letter. The letter, which had the name Lutrisia Lante written on it, consisted of only one page, unlike Emily’s. Excluding the lengthy greetings, the content of the letter could be summarized simply. [I’m planning to return to the Lante baronial family in the first week of July. Would it be okay if we could see each other?] She must be returning for a break after finishing her year at Perrezanta. “….” Laila put down the letter and looked at the calendar hanging in the room. There were about two weeks left until July. The distance from Yurkin to the Lante baronial territory was about a week. If she wanted to stop by Trithia, the capital of the Typhon County, on the way, she would have to leave within two days. ‘It’s not too tight.’ Thanks to having a subspace, she didn’t have to bother organizing her belongings. Two days was plenty of time. The third letter was from Mien. [There have been some problems with my research, so I think I’ll be a little late this time. Oh, and I heard from Emily. I heard you’re going to Trithia this time? If there’s anything, I’ll send a letter there.] Mien had come to Yurkin with Laila and had been teaching her magic for the past year. Thanks to this, unlike a year ago, Laila had reached a level where she could confidently say that she had learned magic. In addition, because Laila had learned martial arts, she was able to sense and analyze the properties of magic power in the realm of sensation, not calculation. Even Mien was impressed by her ability to read the subtle remnants of magic power from scrolls made of Fiji and write spellcraft accordingly. Laila was not yet a Wizard, but she was qualified to be a Magic User. “….” After reading all the letters, Laila put them back in the bundle and opened the subspace. Swish. She put the bundle of letters into the black crack that appeared in the air and closed it again. Then, she got up from the bed she was sitting on. If she had decided to leave, she had to start preparing. // Yurkin is a remote village located in the highlands of the Mesin Great Forest, but its atmosphere is a little different from that of a typical village where people form families and live. Most of the people who could be called villagers were merchants, blacksmiths, tanners, and other technicians and their families, and the adventurers who stayed in the village for weeks or months were the customers who fed them. If you were to pick the three most needed occupations in Yurkin, adventurers would probably answer: blacksmith, tanner, and merchant. And the first person Laila looked for was the one that corresponded to the first. “Please take care of this. And touch it up sometimes if you’re bored.” Laila handed Revan Shyk, the ‘self-proclaimed’ best blacksmith in Yurkin, a claymore that was as tall as she was. Revan Shyk accepted the claymore without much surprise and asked her a question. “Are you going far away?” “Yes, I think I have some business in Trithia.” When Laila replied simply, he nodded and agreed. “If it’s there, it’s safe to leave it, because there are no adventurers there.” “Yes, I took it there once, and they treated me like a crazy woman.” Unlike the base cities, ordinary cities in central Kilkard Kingdom do not allow adventurers to carry weapons inside the city. Therefore, Laila had to endure the suspicious glances of the soldiers while writing in the ledger and entrusting her weapons at the gate. Revan Shyk, who heard Laila’s words, sympathized with the Trithia gate guards in his heart, but he did not show it and asked again. “Are you planning to come back?” “Well, I’ll probably come back when I’m done.” “Then I can’t sell it. What a shame.” Laila chuckled at the blacksmith’s joke and looked around the corner of the store. There, weapons that seemed to have been left by other adventurers were neatly organized. As Laila stared at the swords with dull blades and the bent vambraces and arm guards, she heard Revan’s question again. “When are you leaving?” “In two days.” She replied briefly and turned around. Laila, who came out of the blacksmith’s shop, headed straight to the tavern. Strictly speaking, there was no need to go to the tavern, but having a drink after returning was a kind of ritual for adventurers. Laila didn’t think of herself as a thorough adventurer, but she didn’t want to ignore their customs. The sun was already setting. Her footsteps followed the traces of the sunset to the west. Before long, noisy voices permeated her ears on the wind. She looked up at the large store built a little further away. The simple store named ‘Where the Sunset Sets’ was one of only two taverns in Yurkin. As she walked towards the store, the noisy voices gradually took on a clearer form. This is also a familiar daily routine in Yurkin. Perhaps it is the daily routine of the entire eastern base city. Creak. When she opened the battered wooden door, which was worn out in places due to frequent disturbances, the scenery inside the tavern was revealed. Teams of adventurers cheered their return, and some of the residents who had finished their hard day chatted with glasses in their hands. In one corner of the store, some guards in light clothing, who seemed to have finished their work, were also seen. “Laila?” “She’s back!” Some of the people in the tavern exclaimed in surprise when they saw Laila. Laila chuckled at their appearance. It was a common sight to see when entering a tavern in Yurkin after returning. I won’t be able to see those sights for a while. She waved her hand cheerfully and moved towards the table where the adventurers were gathered. “It’s been a while, everyone.”