episode_0062

Splish, splash!

“You’re really walking on water?!”

“At first, I thought it was a good idea, but now that I think about it, I feel bad because it feels like I’ve become a machine for carrying people.”

Using 【Water Surface Movement】, I held Baek-ryeon and Seol-rin in a princess carry and crossed the Baekgang River.

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any obstacles while crossing, so we successfully crossed and turned our backs on the Baekgang River and started walking.

“By the way.”

After walking for a while, Seol-rin asked with a voice mixed with curiosity and a strange excitement.

“You said that the place we’re going to is Baekdu’s Chui Hill, right?”

“That’s right. But why?”

“I’ve heard of Baekdu. It’s one of the largest mountains in Jo. But what is Chui Hill?”

Baek-ryeon and I laughed simultaneously at Seol-rin’s reaction.

When I think about it, Seol-rin has never been outside of Yeom, and because of the characteristics of Sichuan, there’s no need to know about areas outside of Yeom, so it’s normal that she doesn’t know much about outside of Yeom. In that situation, she unintentionally came out of Yeom, so she can’t help but be curious about outside of Yeom.

“I’ll explain that to you, Miss Seol-rin. First of all…, as Miss Seol-rin said, Baekdu is one of the largest mountains in Jo. It is also a mountain said to be sacred and touched by the energy of the sky. At the same time, it is also known as the mountain where the White Tiger, the founder of my family, resides.”

“Hee…, I see.”

“As I said before, Baekdu is a place filled with sacred energy, so many monsters and divine beasts live there. Among them, Chui Hill is a place where monsters that eat tigers…, Chui, gather.”

“Monsters that eat tigers?”

The look and expression on Seol-rin’s face, who was listening to Baek-ryeon’s explanation, quickly changed from curiosity to worry and anxiety.

“If it’s a monster that eats tigers, isn’t that a bad match for Baek-ryeon?”

Baek-ryeon is a beastman who inherited the blood of the White Tiger.

But in the end, the origin is a tiger beastman.

The White Tiger himself is a divine beast that transcends the ordinary tiger species, so Chui can’t dare to covet him, but a beastman who inherited the blood is different.

Of course, she’s stronger than a normal tiger beastman, but…, in the end, the fact that she’s a tiger beastman doesn’t change.

In other words, the compatibility is not good for Chui, a monster that eats tigers.

“That’s right. That’s why even our Baek family doesn’t easily touch that place. We’re just preventing the various monsters staying in Baekdu from crossing into the human realm.”

“I see. The Baek family was doing something very important.”

Indeed. They were doing something very important.

I heard that the Baek family had some influence in Jo’s military, but…, I didn’t know that they were acting as a deterrent against monsters.

….Huh? Wait a minute.

Feeling something strange, I looked at Baek-ryeon.

Seol-rin also felt something strange and looked at Baek-ryeon.

“Why are you all like that?”

“No…, Didn’t you say that Baek-ryeon’s family was destroyed?”

“That’s right, but?…”

“….If the Baek family was preventing monsters from crossing over from Baekdu…., and if the owner of Baekdu, the White Tiger, disappeared…..”

Baek-ryeon also stopped talking at my words.

Then she said in a trembling voice.

“But, still!… Until I came out, there weren’t any big problems here!….”

“Well, at that time, there was no way to be sure whether the Baek family had completely disappeared or whether the White Tiger’s influence had disappeared.”

“That’s!….”

The moment Baek-ryeon was about to say something, a sound came from afar.

The sound of cold weapons clashing.

The sound of people screaming.

The sound of ferocious beasts roaring.

And….

“The smell of blood….”

“Tsk.”

I increased the speed of my steps.

Until now, it was a speed of about jogging, but from now on, I started running at high speed.

Soon, a castle began to appear.

However, the castle gate was broken as if it had been attacked by someone, and the screams of people wailing in pain could be heard.

“Baek-ryeon! Seol-rin!”

“I know!!”

“I know!!”

Thump, Wham!!

I stop walking once and put strength into my legs.

And at once, I exploded the power gathered in my legs and accelerated at once.

Leaving Baek-ryeon and Seol-rin for a while, what I saw after crossing the castle gate first was the corpses of many people. Also, monsters taking on various forms. And soldiers desperately resisting those monsters.

【Space Slash】

“Heup!”

I swing my sword.

Through the effect of 【Space Slash】, which eliminates the distance between the sword and the target, I lightly cut down the monsters that were attacking the soldiers.

“Huh?!…”

“Wh, what?!…”

Tat!

The monsters were cut down by an invisible slash, but the soldiers, who didn’t know the situation accurately, looked at each other in bewilderment, but it wasn’t the time to care about them. I decided to leave the ins and outs to Baek-ryeon later and immediately climbed the castle walls and looked at the entire city.

“Sa, save me~!!!”

“Kyaaaa!!!!”

The situation in the city as seen from the castle walls was not good. The number of monsters was more than I thought, and the number of soldiers was small compared to that. Still, it seems like they are resisting desperately, but it seems like their strength alone is not enough.

“Ho, hold on!! Support will be here soon!!!”

“Fire the cannons!!!”

“Protect the people!!!”

While evacuating the people to the inner castle, they restrained the monsters through cannons.

The power of the cannon itself was enough to silence the monsters, but the problem was that the monsters were agile and didn’t simply get hit by the cannon.

“Tsk…, I have no choice.”

The characteristic of 【Space Slash】 is that it extends the range of my sword to within my sight.

Therefore, the higher I am, the more extremely the range of my sword increases. Just like now.

However, 【Space Slash】 can only reduce the distance once per swing. In other words, it is impossible to attack enemies at completely different angles with one slash.

“Hoo….”

【Space Slash】+【Sword King Secret Art Modified】

Therefore, what is needed is a series of attacks.

It is a series of attacks that can cut down all the monsters in front of me.

“Rampage.”

I draw countless lines.

So that everything in a certain space can be filled with the flash of the holy sword.

And it cut down all the enemies in front of me.

* * *

After the monster attack was somehow calmed down, we were able to meet the magistrate of this place who survived and have a conversation.

“Could it be, Miss Baek-ryeon?!”

“Ah!…, are you Yong-dol! Are you the magistrate here? You’ve changed so much that I thought you were someone else.”

“Haha, somehow I became a manager who is beyond my capacity. Miss Baek-ryeon is still beautiful.”

He looked older than Baek-ryeon in every way, but he treated Baek-ryeon with respect and came out in a humble manner.

Baek-ryeon is currently a wandering swordsman, and he is a local official, so his rank should be higher, but the way he treats Baek-ryeon made me roughly guess how much influence the Baek family had in this Jo country.

“But Miss Baek-ryeon. Who are the people in the back?”

“Ah, they are my companions. This is Master Leon. He’s from the Western Regions beyond Yeom. And this is Dang Seol-rin. She is a princess of the Dang family in Yeom.”

“I’m Leon. I don’t have a surname because I’m a commoner.”

“I’m Dang Seol-rin. Please take care of me.”

I think things might go smoother than I thought.

“More than that, what on earth is going on?”

“That is….”

At my question, the one called Yong-dol glanced at Baek-ryeon.

Baek-ryeon noticed Yong-dol’s gaze and nodded slightly.

“It’s okay. Rather, I want to ask too. What on earth happened while I was away?”

“….Then I’ll tell you. After Miss Baek-ryeon left…, the monsters of Baekdu seem to have noticed that the Baek family, who had been binding them, had disappeared. They started showing uneasy movements while slowly putting their feet in the human realm…, and soon they started attacking small villages.”

“As expected….”

It was as expected.

Since the deterrent of the Baek family has disappeared, they must have looked at the humans who kept them confined to a narrow land with quite a displeasure.

“Still, this is the first time there’s been such a big attack. Even the soldiers who were guarding near Baekgang because of the preparation for monsters were all pulled back….”

“Ah.”

So that’s why there wasn’t a single soldier on the Baekgang side.

I wondered why they didn’t do anything other than collect the ships that could cross the Baekgang River even though the national isolation order was issued.

“In the end, this is what happens.”

“Did you tell the court?”

“Yes. I told them. So I received a story that they would support the troops…, but I never thought that something like this would happen before the support came….”

Yong-dol, as if in agony, groaned and grabbed his forehead.

It seems like there won’t be time to meet the king. When I subtly sent a glance to Baek-ryeon, Baek-ryeon noticed my gaze and nodded.

“Yong-dol, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it? Just tell me. Miss Baek-ryeon.”

“I heard that Jo has issued a national isolation order.”

“Ah…, did you hear that? That’s right. Something dangerous happened to His Majesty the King. If it wasn’t for a guest from the Western Regions, something really big might have happened. Oh, come to think of it, Miss Baek-ryeon. How on earth did you get here? You wouldn’t be able to come because of the national isolation order….”

What is that supposed to mean.

Who came from the Western Regions? Who??

A question arose in my head, but that wasn’t important right now.

Baek-ryeon took out the document she received from me and said.

“We came here as envoys of Yeom.”

“Yo, you mean as envoys of Yeom?…, what on earth are you doing in another country, Miss Baek-ryeon?”

“Um…, I can’t tell you the details, but…. we have to go to this place…, more precisely, Baekdu’s Chui Hill.”

“You mean Baekdu? No. Do you know what the situation is like in Baekdu now….”

“Please. My parents and the enemies of my family might be there….”

At Baek-ryeon’s sincere words, Yong-dol closed his mouth.

Then he let out a faint sigh and said.

“…I understand. But first, I’ll let the court know. If they hear the story that Miss Baek-ryeon has returned, His Majesty the King will be happy too.”

“Um. I won’t say anything about that much. Just let us investigate Baekdu’s Chui Hill.”

“Avenging your enemies is important, but…, please take care of Miss Baek-ryeon’s body.”

“Thank you for your concern. But don’t worry. Because I have…, good companions.”