Chapter 177: A Road to Sampo

The moment Balagu and his group entered through the castle gates, he spoke to the guard waiting behind the door.

“Provide these lowlives trailing behind us with a suitable place. And if anything disgraceful that will tarnish my reputation arises… I won’t let it slide. Understood?”

Orders from a superior were to be obeyed without question—especially when that superior was a temperamental noble.

The guard disappeared like the wind, taking the kids and women along with him, while Balagu led Joseph’s group and Finel toward the Count Palatine’s castle.

Dovan offered to guide them, but Balagu deliberately took the lead.

And once inside the castle, he headed straight for the Count Palatine’s office because if, by chance, the Count Palatine was still inside, they would need to ambush him.

Seemingly aware of the plan, Joseph and Finel remained on guard until they reached the office.

For Dovan, trailing behind them was torture.

Thankfully, the office was empty. Balagu let out a quiet sigh of relief, naturally took a seat at the desk and said.

“Dovan, relay this to the guards: Go outside the castle, ensure security is maintained in the area, and bring any homeless lowlives they come across back to the castle.”

“Pardon?”

Startled, Dovan stared at him in disbelief with eyes open wide but quickly bowed when Balagu glared at him.

“What? Do you have a problem with my orders?”

“N-no! There’s no problem at all!”

As if trying to hide his surprise, Dovan responded in an overly spirited voice.

Fortunately, he either didn’t seem to recognize Balagu’s voice, or was too befuddled to notice.

Regardless, deceiving a friend wasn’t a pleasant task, but Balagu still continued with his act.

All this was necessary to atone for his past mistake—and for the sake of Cheon Yeomyeong.

“Oh, and deploy all but the minimum number of guards required to maintain security. And if I catch even one of them slacking off, I’ll punish you personally. Understood?”

Spreading out the guards was the final strategy to take over the palace.

Of course, Dovan, oblivious to the scheme, asked.

“But then who will protect this castle and you, sir…?”

“Did you not see the dragon fight earlier? What’s even there to protect at this point?”

“…”

“And besides, if it’s about defending this place, these people are more than enough.”

Improvising, Balagu shot a glance at Finel. Taking the cue, Finel unsheathed his sword and enveloped it in Sword Aura.

A menacing, translucent Sword Aura emanated from the blade.

Seeing this, Dovan shrank back, his head bowed low.

“Understood, sir. I’ll carry out your orders.”

As soon as Dovan finished speaking, Balagu waved him off dismissively.

Dovan immediately shut the door behind him and left. Once the sound of his footsteps faded, Finel commented.

“Ha… Who would’ve ever thought that this plan would work?”

“Sometimes, outlandish plans are the most effective.”

Joseph and the burly men chuckled in agreement. As the laughter subsided, Balagu let out a sigh and said.

“But it isn’t over yet. We still don’t even know if the Southern Count Palatine is alive or dead.”

Finel shrugged his remaining shoulder and replied.

“So what? That old man has already lost his allies and base.”

“He might have lost his allies and base, but at the end of the day, he’s still a mage. And quite a skilled one at that.”

There was no harm in being cautious, Balagu added as he began inspecting various parts of the office.

Joseph and Finel simply stared at him, wondering what he was up to. Balagu, as if offering an excuse, said.

“Well, given that old man’s personality, he must have at least one secret passage in his office. So I thought it’s be wise to find it just in ca—”

However, Balagu’s words were cut short.

Just as he was about to continue, clunk!—the bookshelf in the office slid to the side.

Staring at the now-open bookshelf, not only Joseph’s group but even Finel was left speechless.

And from beyond the bookshelf emerged a familiar young man and three girls.

“…What’s this? Why are all of you here?”

It was Cheon Yeomyeong and his party who had left the inn much before them.

Spreading his arms wide in a joyful greeting, Balagu froze mid-step, his expression stiffening as he alternated his gaze between Yeomyeong’s face and his hand.

Held firmly in Yeomyeong’s hand was the blood-soaked Southern Count Palatine.

Turning back time a little to just after Yeomyeong placed the nuclear missile into his inventory.

Upon seeing the missile disappear all of a sudden, a similar thought crossed both Neti’s and the Saintess’ minds.

What on earth was going on?

It was clear that Yeomyeong had done something, but what exactly? Magic? Martial arts? Or was it divine power?

While the two were tangled in their endless doubts, Seti smiled meaningfully.

“Ah, so that’s the ‘bag,’ huh?”

“…What?”

How did you know? When Yeomyeong asked back, Seti stepped forward and whispered in his ear.

“Actually, I’ve been watching from the start.”

From the start? Just as Yeomyeong was about to ask her another question in response, the Saintess abruptly stuck her head between the two of them.

“Hold on, stop.”

The Saintess said while wrapping her arms around Seti’s waist as if to block Yeomyeong and Seti from getting any closer.

“First, explain. What’s this ‘bag’, and where did you send that nuke?”

Sensing this would be a long explanation, Yeomyeong briefly recalled the list of items in his inventory.

Then, out of the hundreds of items, he picked something unusual and reached into the thin air.

In the next moment, a small can of cola appeared in Yeomyeong’s hand.

“Huh?”

Hearing the Saintess’ small gasp, Yeomyeong stored the cola back.

Then he summoned it again, retrieved it, summoned it, and retrieved it once more…

The mana required to retrieve a can of cola was minimal, suggesting that the inventory retrieval ability depended on the distance and size.

After repeating this a few times, it was Neti, not the Saintess, who clapped her hands in understanding.

“Ah! I get it now. It’s a subspace, right?”

“…Correct. That’s the answer.”

And though this wasn’t a quiz show, Yeomyeong tossed the cola to Neti as a reward.

While Neti marveled at the cold can in her hand, the Saintess, having finally understood what just happened, tilted her head in confusion.

“A subspace that can retrieve a launched nuclear missile? I’ve never heard of a subspace being used like that.”

“…”

“But I also can’t deny what I’ve just seen with my own eyes….”

The Saintess stared at Yeomyeong with a complicated expression. After all, this wasn’t the first time he had shown abilities far beyond her expectations in this way.

Of course, regardless of that, a nuke was still a nuke. Choosing her next words carefully, the Saintess spoke up.

“…Yeomyeong, can you promise me one thing?”

“Promise?”

“Promise me… that you won’t use the nuclear weapons we just recovered on innocent people. Ever.”

Had she used Foresight? No, it seemed more like she was recalling the vision she had seen with Yeomyeong in the past.

The vision of him and Seti turning Yeouido into a sea of fire and sweeping away the National Assembly building.

He didn’t hesitate. Glancing alternately at the Saintess and Seti, Yeomyeong answered.

“I’m not some type of crazed murderer… And if it’s about that, I’ll promise as much as you want.”

“…Thank you.”

As soon as the Saintess replied, Neti raised her hand enthusiastically.

“Brother-in-law, brother-in-law! How much more can you fit into the subspace?”

“…What?”

“It’s nothing big… It’s just that those Rat Beastfolks ran off in the direction of the armory and a tank warehouse, right? I was thinking, while we’re at it, why not pick up a weapon or a tank?”

“…”

A tank? Unable to comprehend what she meant, the Saintess tilted her head. But on the other hand, Yeomyeong narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin.

Weapons and tanks—that wasn’t really a bad idea.

Unfortunately, the armory had already been looted thoroughly.

In the large armory, all that Yeomyeong was able to recover were a few dozen rifles and some boxes of bullets—what more was there to say?

However, there was no real disappointment as Finel had already informed them that the Rat Beastfolks had cleaned out the armory.

What mattered was the tank. With that in mind, they headed toward the tank storage…

“This place is also stripped clean.”

The tank storage was completely empty. No fuel, not even a single part was left behind—it was utterly spotless.

“Oh no! My tank!”

Regardless of Neti’s reaction upon seeing that, Yeomyeong simply tapped his lips in contemplation.

There was no exit. So, how did they manage to move the tanks?

And the answer to that question appeared as soon as they stepped out of the storage facility.

Right in front of the door, on the other side of the storage, was a swirling mass of mana, big enough to dye the surroundings red.

Its true nature was a Dimensional Portal—large enough for a tank to pass through.

“First nukes, and now a Dimensional Portal…”

At the Saintess’ lament, everyone turned to look at Yeomyeong.

Their expressions were all asking the same question: Are we going to chase them through the Portal?

Yeomyeong shook his head without a moment’s hesitation.

It wasn’t fear or lack of preparation holding him back.

The main issue lay in the mana emanating from that Portal itself.

It was far too similar to that of the crimson arm he had fought in frozen time.

“We will retreat here.”

It was unfortunate that they were unable to kill Bykov, but they had managed to stop the nuke. So, there was no need to risk everything now by going after him.

With that thought in mind, Yeomyeong stepped back as the crimson Portal began to dissipate with a crackling sound, as if it had been waiting for him to fall into its trap.

“…Wow, what sort of a country was the Soviet Union to even leave behind something like this?”

Following Neti’s brief remark, the group turned and headed down the corridor the Southern Count Palatine had fled.

If there was any consolation, it was that while Bykov, who had fled using the unnatural method of a Dimensional Portal, the Southern Count Palatine had left plenty of traces behind.

Footprints, bloodstains, and even blatant traces of mana.

Unable to stand the thought of losing Southern Count Palatine, who had played a hand in aiding Ekaterina’s spear throw, Seti was at the forefront of the pursuit.

Anyway, she diligently tracked the Southern Count Palatine all the way through the city streets outside the armory.

As they wandered through the chaotic back alleys of the city for quite some time, the group eventually found a wooden door between two alleyways leading underground.

After opening the door and descending, they found themselves in a storage cellar packed with whiskey barrels.

The faint smell of alcohol and wood mingled with the dissipating scent of blood, while the footprints had long since disappeared.

Even the traces of mana could no longer be detected. Was this how their pursuit would end?

While Seti sighed in frustration, Yeomyeong suddenly began knocking on the barrels.

Tap-tap, tonk-tonk, thuds-thuds.

Each wooden barrel made a different sound depending on the amount of alcohol inside. The closer the sound was to a sharp tap-tap, the more filled the barrel.

“What are you doing?”

As the Saintess tilted her head curiously, Yeomyeong replied while tapping the barrels.

“There’s something odd about this. Just give me a moment.”

A moment later, he stood in front of a storage rack stacked with barrels that made a series of sharp, full sounds.

And then, in the very next moment—

He pushed the rack, and with a rumbling noise, a hidden passageway behind it was revealed.

“What the—? How did you figure that out?”

As they stepped into the hidden corridor, Seti asked a question, to which Yeomyeong replied casually.

“When whiskey is stored in wooden barrels, the alcohol gradually evaporates over time, so the volume naturally decreases.”

“…And?”

“However, all these dusty barrels were filled to the brim? And not just one, but the entire rack? Pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

Hearing his explanation, Seti smiled faintly and asked.

“…Documentary?”

“Documentary.”

Here we go again, saying things only I don’t understand. The Saintess grumbled quietly as she followed behind. Neti reassured her, saying, It’s okay, I don’t get what they’re saying either, to comfort her.

While both were talking, they discovered a small, luxurious room at the end of the corridor.

It had a wardrobe, a mirror, and a ladder leading upward.

And in that very room was the Southern Count Palatine, vigorously scrubbing blood off himself.

When he saw Yeomyeong’s group, his eyes opened wide from the sheer terror, as if he’d seen a ghost.

“How did you…?!”

And before he could instinctively grab his staff, Yeomyeong delivered a sharp Flying Kick technique to his jaw.

It was a precise spinning kick that shattered his molars.

With the Count Palatine subdued in a single blow and groaning in pain, the group’s cleanup was concluded.