episode_0045

When the new warrior party, who had experienced miserable failure, returned to Belont City, the capital of the county.

Rumors of the series of events had already spread throughout the county.

More than 80% of the suppression force lost their lives, and the dwarven clan and mines of Mount Hammau were completely buried.

If we were to calculate the losses suffered by the Baekjakryeong in monetary terms, the amount would easily exceed several hundred thousand.

Hyunwoo kissed the other party members and quickly submitted a report containing his excuses.

The reality at Mount Hammau was not his own mistake, but the mistake of the suppression force leader, Gunther, who attempted an unreasonable attack…

He and his party members tried to stop him somehow, but their timing was off.

Of course, Gunther’s brutal offensive was also a major factor in pushing the dwarves to resort to such extreme measures.

…..etc. etc.

but….

More than a week after submitting the report, the Count did not send any reply, and Hyunwoo began to run around anxiously, trying to somehow earn points.

Search for and subdue groups of monsters and bandits within the county.

Donate the items you farm in the dungeon as a donation.

Participating in military training to train soldiers, etc.

For about a month, the old Choi Hyun-woo was working with a level of passion that would have been unimaginable, and he tried to somehow turn things around.

Western Outskirts of the County–News has arrived that the Demon King’s large military beast has invaded the Granaul Fortress.

Hyunwoo, thinking that he couldn’t miss this opportunity, urged his party members to march forward in a relentless, forced march toward the Granau Fortress.

By the time we arrived at Granau Fortress, four adventuring parties had already gathered there.

They are all adventurers with a B rank or higher and have a certain level of experience and skill.

Hyunwoo suggested that they form a united front.

Ismas was a powerful demon who had been infamous on the Northern Front several times, and each party leader, who judged that a raid-level attack was necessary, accepted Hyunwoo’s proposal without much argument.

And after some discussion, the leader of the raid was decided to be the warrior Choi Hyeon-woo.

It seems likely that the fame he had built up over time, his title as a warrior, and the fact that he was the leader of the party that Count Goldbaul’s daughter was a member of had all played a major role.

After that.

The raiders were enthusiastic about the strategy meeting and exchanged various information, but…

There are no records of it being completely repelled yet, and all that is known about Ismas is that it is slow and clumsy, but has very high attack power and a regenerative ability that makes it nearly invincible.

Hugo, the leader of the party , suggested that rather than repelling the bastard, they should focus on defense as much as possible to buy time.

Party ‘s staff member, Barbara, suggested that they focus on attacking Ismas’ weak points that have been identified so far, and figure out when his regenerative abilities slow down.

After a long meeting.

Hyunwoo concluded the meeting with the conclusion that, as always, ‘We’ll use an all-out offensive to kill him in an instant without even giving him a chance to display his regenerative abilities.’

Of course, it goes without saying that I overheard the opinions of other party members throughout the operational meeting.

Party members from other parties raised objections that this was an overly reckless strategy, but the timing was right before Ismas stormed in.

There was no room for change in strategy, and they ended up going straight to the front lines.

The problem is.

The fact that Ismas is a boss that is so difficult to conquer that if Isshin was in this party, he would have chosen to .

The bastard has 12 hearts placed all over his body, and you have to destroy them all within a certain amount of time to activate the damage time.

Some of their hearts even move, and their outer shells are very hard, making it difficult to inflict penetrating damage.

Moreover, if you deal a certain amount of damage without destroying its heart, it will go berserk and there is even a pattern where all abilities increase in proportion to the number of hearts remaining, so it is almost suicidal to challenge it without knowing the locations of all the hearts in advance.

However, Hyunwoo judged Ismas to be a ‘mediocre boss’ after seeing only his dull movements and monotonous attack patterns, and went for a quick attack and kill strategy…

About 8 minutes after the start of the battle.

I only managed to destroy one heart in the left foreleg that I was lucky enough to get.

Ismas, who was hit with a berserk attack while still having 11 hearts intact, started going wild.

Rapidly accelerated movements, unstoppable attack power, and a chain of hidden patterns.

Even if you challenged it with a perfect grasp of the strategy, Ismas had transformed into an extremely difficult boss that would be impossible to clear, and most of the raiding party lost their lives in an instant.

and….

Hyunwoo and Shin Yongsa Party barely managed to escape Granaul Fortress using the Ring of Return.

After arriving at Yeongdo in a miserable state.

Hyunwoo, consumed by frustration and helplessness, spent his time indolently, absorbed in alcohol, drugs, and sex, as if trying to forget everything.

He received several calls from the guild office and the Earldom Private Army, but he ignored them each time, making excuses like being tired or recovering from an injury.

So… about a week had passed.

A letter that even Hyunwoo could not ignore arrived at the dorm.

A red letter with the seal of none other than Count Goldbaul, meaning .

After quickly washing up, getting ready, and getting dressed.

About two hours later, Hyunwoo was able to enter the Count’s office.

— Squeak….

As he opened the door hesitantly and went inside, he got up from his seat and greeted Hyunwoo politely.

“Are you here?”

“Oh, yes. That’s… Sorry I’m late.”

“Haha… Don’t mention it. Now, take a seat over there.”

A middle-aged man with a warm impression.

Count Goldpaul–Rovan Anfoni Goldpaul.

He is Rosemary’s father and can be said to be the material and spiritual pillar of the new warrior party.

— Clink clink….

After offering the top seat to Hyunwoo.

He took some liquor from the cupboard and poured it into a glass.

“…Thank you.”

Hyunwoo accepted the glass with a bitter expression.

Why is that?

Even though I thought he was just an NPC in the game.

Hyunwoo couldn’t shake off the awkward feeling he had whenever he encountered the Count.

Even though he’s just a bastard who’ll turn into a piece of meat with just one swing of his sword…

Every time I look at his narrowed eyes and subtly distorted lips, I feel strangely intimidated.

“I heard you’ve been resting at your accommodation for several days…. It seems like your injury is serious?”

“Yes. That’s…. Sorry. I was seriously injured in the last battle…. So I can’t move around easily.”

“I see…. There is a bishop I live with. He is renowned as a master of sacred magic. I will tell him to come to the dormitory soon.”

“Ah, no… I don’t think you’ll do that…..”

He slowly avoided eye contact and trailed off.

Hyunwoo picked up his glass again and opened his mouth.

“I apologize for many things. I never thought I would cause trouble to the Count with these repeated failures…..”

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. I don’t care at all, so don’t worry and focus on recovering from your injury.”

No matter how you think about it, it’s just lip service.

Hyunwoo nodded, feeling as if a little bit of a burden had been lifted from his mind.

“Yes…. Thank you.”

Yes, after a few drinks.

The count opened his mouth slightly and brought up the main topic.

“Hero.”

“Oh, yes. Go ahead.”

“Actually, the reason I’ve arranged this place today is because I have something I want to ask of you, warrior.”

“Please…?”

— Ugh…..

After nodding with a serious expression.

The count took out a piece of paper from his bosom.

A young man’s face, drawn in a fairly elaborate montage.

“I would like you to assassinate this person.”

Three days later, around 2 a.m.

— Thud, thud, thud…

Hyunwoo crossed the deserted road with his black hood pulled down over his head.

A few days ago, the Count handed over a request.

It was a request to assassinate the leader of the , a cult that has recently been gaining popularity in the eastern part of the county.

He is said to have captured the hearts of the people by using his natural gift of gab, charisma, and mind control through sorcery, and his influence is growing by the minute, reaching a point where even the count cannot just sit by and watch.

The most certain way would be to thoroughly eradicate them by linking up with the religious order and mobilizing the heresy inquisitors and punitive forces…

The count explained that given the current state of affairs in the county, it would not be wise to start a military conflict, and that he would like to avoid any casualties of innocent civilians if possible.

Hyunwoo is also a human being with at least a minimal amount of sense and thinking ability.

He understood that his position was not secure enough to refuse the Count’s request in the current situation.

In the end, I accepted the request with a heavy heart.

Since it was something that could not be seen by others, he instructed his party members to wait in their quarters, and now he is heading to his destination alone.

“Haa….. My fate is really strange….”

— Huh…

“This is my first time doing something like assassination… What’s the big deal? Just sneak in without getting caught, kill someone, and leave. If I get caught… Well, I can just kill the guy who got caught. What’s the big deal about assassination? If there are no witnesses, it’s all assassination. Damn it.”

He spouts out nonsense that would make professional assassins sick and bedridden if they heard it.

Hyunwoo walked towards his destination with a leisurely gait.

About an hour later.

Hyunwoo arrived at his destination–the headquarters of the Luagat Church.

Should we really say that this is the home of a social group?

A dark, distorted building with a bizarre asymmetrical shape.

The hanging objects reminiscent of skeletons or human corpses, obscene patterns painted on the walls, and religious decorations hanging upside down truly exude an extremely evil aura.

It really looks like they want to advertise that ‘this is a temple of a social group.’

— Swish….

After taking a quick walk around and assessing the situation.

Hyunwoo approached the rear of the building, referring to the structural diagram the Count had provided.

Then he cut the window lock of the back warehouse with the Holy Sword and rushed inside.

— Clang…. rattle, clank….

No matter how generous you may be, it’s hard to see this noise as infiltration.

Hyunwoo smiled triumphantly, thinking that he had managed to sneak in quite quietly, and then he left the warehouse and walked down the hallway.

The destination is the innermost part of the temple–the leader’s bedroom.

— Thud, thud, thud, thud….

I walked for a few minutes, trying to silence the sound of my footsteps and looking around closely.

— Damn….

“Huh…?”

At some point.

Hyunwoo ran into a priest who was approaching from the opposite direction.

“……….”

“…………”

I should have rushed in and killed him right away, but because it was an unexpected situation, I was temporarily frozen.

The priest asked the question with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Who… who are you? This is a place where anyone can come in…..”

— Blame….!!

Only then did I come to my senses.

Hyunwoo hurriedly drew his holy sword and stabbed it at the priest’s neck.

— Phew….!!

The priest died without even being able to erase his bewildered expression.

But for a moment, my gaze was stolen by that person’s good-looking face and blank eyes.

Hyunwoo shook his head roughly to shake off his distracting thoughts, then moved the body to a corner of the hallway.

And then he walked quickly towards his destination again.

About twenty minutes later.

Hyunwoo arrived at his destination, the leader’s bedroom.

It wasn’t originally supposed to take this long, but…

Because I got lost and wandered around for a while in the middle, it took more than twice as long.

— Squeak….

As I carefully opened the door and went inside, the sight of the luxurious room caught my eye.

There are treasures, jewels, trinkets, fancy-looking bottles of liquor and clothes strewn everywhere.

On the table, there are glasses of alcohol, various tools, women’s clothes, and traces of sex, indicating that he had been playing with women before falling asleep.

In many ways, it reminds me more of the room of a rich man with bad taste than the room of a cult leader.

“Tsk…. This religious kid is really fucking dirty….”

From the cult leader’s perspective, it was just nonsense that could be called hypocrisy.

Completely unaware of the contradiction, Hyunwoo approached the bed and checked the sleeping face of the cult leader.

A blond young man who appears to be in his mid-twenties.

He is a handsome young man who would make any woman fall in love with him at first sight.

“Well, I’m better looking…..”

While talking nonsense that didn’t make sense, Hyunwoo took out the montage and checked the face once more.

And then he pulled out the holy sword.

It just felt like I was dealing with an NPC in a game.

Hyunwoo stabbed the holy sword into the man’s chest.

— Phew…!!

— Swaying….

In the midst of a sudden feeling of dizziness.

I stumbled a few steps, then barely managed to hold on to the desk for a few seconds.

Hyunwoo realized that the scene in the room had completely changed.

A bedroom that feels simple and neat, not like the squalid nouveau riche room it was just a moment ago.

There isn’t much furniture, and you can’t find anything like a bottle of alcohol or women’s underwear no matter how hard you look.

And on the bed in one corner of the room–

Instead of a blond young man, an old man with white hair was dead.

“Huh…. Huh? Huh? What is this…? What the…. is happening?”

and.

The old man in front of him was someone Hyunwoo also knew.

When they first came to this world, they were told about the Goddess’s choice.

After going through several trials, he presided over the ceremony of inauguration of warriors at the Great Hall and blessed their journey.

The supreme leader of the Goddess Cult, Pope Wedemeyer.