episode_0123

“Umm… Ugh.”

“Tei.”

“I’m an investor…”

Tei, who seemed to be sleeping as if dead, tossed and turned before getting up.

With a pleasant smile, Tei hugged my thigh, gently pinching my cheek for a moment.

Suddenly, he stiffened.

“Did you sleep well?”

“It was a dream… right?”

Sigh.

Tei quickly got up and knelt down modestly.

His face blushed in embarrassment.

“Um! I didn’t say anything silly while I was asleep, did I?!”

“You were mumbling that you like the investor.”

“R-really?!”

“No. I was kidding.”

“It was a joke? Really? I didn’t say that, did I?”

“You didn’t, so that’s that.”

“Ugh…”

He must have been really exhausted to fall into a deep sleep and talk nonsense.

Although his snoring was a bit cute.

I decided to refrain from mentioning it as he might go crazy with embarrassment.

“But how did I fall asleep? I remember hearing that the investor was here, taking the elevator down. But after that, I don’t remember…”

“You ran out, hugged me, giggled, and fell asleep. So, I just let you sleep. Were you very tired?”

“Yes… Extremely. I’ve been working so much lately that I couldn’t even sleep properly. Looking back, I was so busy that I might have been possessed somewhere. But how many hours did I sleep?”

“10 hours.”

“What?!”

Surprised, Tei felt his body to check.

Only now did he notice that he had taken off his work apron.

He must have taken it off because it was uncomfortable to sleep in.

‘It’s a relief that my memory is fuzzy.’

It seems like he has forgotten everything he did unconsciously under Magi’s influence.

He probably won’t remember knocking me out.

“Are you okay? You’ve been here for so long. You must be busy.”

“Your health is the most important. You seemed to have overworked, but you look fine now. Do you feel dizzy or have a headache?”

“No… Thanks to you, I slept well. I feel so refreshed.”

I patted Tei’s head and checked his complexion again.

The blush earlier was just due to embarrassment, not a fever.

It seems that Magi from Velfegor didn’t do anything to Tei’s body.

“I’m sorry for talking about work as soon as you woke up, but I brought some high-quality magic stones.”

“Oh! No, please tell me! You came to entrust me with something. It’s my fault that I fell asleep.”

“I’m sorry, but this time there are no black magic stones.”

“Haha. Really? I should be disappointed, but since you said there are none, I feel relieved. Ah! Every time I work on those, I tremble like I’m going crazy! Excitement and fear at the same time? Do you understand?”

“I think I get it.”

His strange obsession with black magic stones seems to have disappeared.

Tei wants the opportunity to work on black magic stones, but when it comes down to it, he feels burdened, showing his weak-heartedness.

This is Tei.

The Tei I know.

“Ugh!”

“I was worried you wouldn’t wake up.”

“There’s no way that would happen.”

“True. There’s no way that would happen… But I couldn’t leave because I was worried. I’m really glad.”

I hugged Tei tightly.

He has grown quite a bit, but he still hasn’t completely shed his girlishness.

Just the thought that something bad could happen to this little boy was mentally draining.

And this time, it was my responsibility.

Judging by the situation, Velfegor approached Tei at the point when the complete barrier was set up in Basel.

Then Velfegor followed me all the way to Basel, so my existence is definitely confirmed.

If Tei had made a mistake, I would have lost sleep for several nights and fallen into deep regret.

“I just fell asleep because I was tired. You’re worrying too much.”

“Is that so…”

“You entrusted the highest-grade magic stone to a rookie apprentice blacksmith? Why are you so worried? Hehehe. Don’t worry. I’m stronger than I look. Actually, dwarves as a race are much sturdier than humans. Maybe you’re worrying too much based on human standards.”

“I see. I overreacted. But thanks to you, I got a good rest for the first time in a long time. It’s been a long time since I sat still for 10 hours and did nothing.”

“Really? Then how about having a meal while you rest?”

“Sounds good. Can you cook?”

“No, my employees are good at cooking. I’ll place an order now. It’ll be ready soon.”

Tei chuckled awkwardly and picked up the phone.

Yes, let’s take proper rest while we have the time.

I need time to review Velfegor’s settings and think about his weaknesses.

“Yujin, do you like delicious food?”

“Of course, who wouldn’t like it?”

“Then, would you like to learn cooking from me?”

Mijung suddenly blurted out something strange after being quiet for a long time.

She wants to learn how to cook.

It seems like she gets interested in strange things from time to time.

Even though she can’t eat the food she cooks herself.

“I’ll teach you whenever I have time. I can cook a bit too.”

“Okay.”

Mijung seemed to have a faint smile on her lips just now.

Maybe it’s just my imagination.

After a bustling meal, Mijung and I headed to Tei’s workshop.

I had the highest-grade magic stones sold so that Tei could process them as he pleased and sell them.

I don’t need any more magic stones anyway.

“Thank you to all the employees! Investor!!!”

“Oh my. What a surprise. You almost gave me a heart attack, Vell.”

On our way out, the employees gathered on the first floor, blocking the way and bowing their heads in gratitude to me, saying that Tei had been pushing himself too hard lately.

They were all surprised that the person who had refused to sleep was now sleeping in front of me.

They all found it strange why he only slept in front of me.

They probably wouldn’t believe it if I told them that he had fainted, not just fallen asleep.

So I didn’t say anything.

After hearing that, I went up the elevator and got Tei to promise not to work more than 16 hours a day.

That way, I could feel a bit relieved.

No matter how busy a person is, they need about 8 hours of rest to recharge.

“Let’s start with König.”

The direction where Velfegor’s main body is.

König is the closest city to the west, the former capital of the Holy Kingdom.

So I plan to stop by König first, see Cornelia’s face (and get additional rewards), and then visit Hameln and other cities.

“Please make a handle for the sword. It should fit this scabbard. But make sure it’s not too tight, and it comes out easily.”

“What kind of handle is that? You’re asking for a strange item.”

“And please ignore any voices coming from the sword.”

“Voices? What voices are you talking about?”

“…Before I left, I stopped by the carpenter’s shop to make a cover for the magic sword. Holding the magic sword, the carpenter tilted his head in confusion, questioning. Traveling around Basel and asking several people, the response was consistent. None of them could hear the magic sword’s voice.

“Mijung, am I going crazy? Am I a lunatic talking to my sword?”

“······Yeah. I hear you too, Eugene. Sometimes, you act like a lunatic, but you’re not actually insane.”

What is the difference between me, Mijeong, and the others?

Is it the difference between being a shaman or not?

It’s still difficult to make a definitive judgment.

“It’s completed.”

“Thank you.”

After depositing the Magi Sword in the scabbard.

When you put the completed cover into the protruding scabbard, it will look like an ordinary sword handle from the outside.

It’s too flashy to just carry around the scabbard, so I made this cover.

Even if I throw away the cover when fighting and grab the scabbard to strike.

And most importantly, if you have the cover, you won’t accidentally touch the scabbard and hear the voice of the Magi Sword.

It’s a penalty sword that you have to hear a damn voice when fighting.

It feels kind of like a cursed sword.

‘I have to stay alert. There’s a possibility that Velfegor will show up right away in Cologne.’

You never know.

Will there be a battle as soon as we get off the train?

Let’s simulate the situation at that time.

First of all, Velfegor has a characteristic that was not in the original, Jump.

The explanation window should be something like this from what I remember.

[Characteristic: Jump]

[Move to a position 5 meters away from the hostile target. If there is an object at that position, you cannot move.]

It’s literally teleportation.

At first, I struggled a lot too.

But when you don’t know, it’s scary, but when you know, it’s not that threatening.

First of all, the 5-meter limit is too big.

Since you can’t attack immediately after teleporting, teleporting is like going to commit suicide.

Still, you can’t let your guard down.

To overwhelm Velfegor’s main body, I have to be at my level, so other people won’t be able to do it.

So, in a 1v1 situation, I am at a disadvantage, not to mention if there are crowds.

All those people will become hostages.

‘But that’s the same no matter who you face as a villain.’

Citizens being taken hostage, it’s a headache no matter who you face.

The problem is Mijeong after all.

Mijeong will be with me wherever I go.

When facing Velfegor, I must stick Mijeong right next to me.

The moment the distance widens even a little.

Velfegor will teleport behind Mijeong and it will be a disaster if he cuts her throat.

‘But why is Cornelia’s contact so scarce these days?’

As we get closer to Cologne, I think of Cornelia.

Come to think of it, she used to send letters almost every day.

At some point, the contact became scarce.

No. It’s not scarce, it’s completely cut off.

“Uh······?”

Only then do I realize.

There’s no way Cornelia would cut off contact for no reason.

Something must have happened to Cornelia.

Damn, I just realized it now!

“I’m going crazy.”

Since when?

Since when did the contact stop?

After moving the base to the Leaf City, there hasn’t been any communication from Cornelia through Linda.

So it’s been about ten days.

Oh my god. Cornelia hasn’t sent me a letter in ten days.

I realize how serious this is.

But at least I’m heading to Cologne now, so that’s a relief.

I hope it’s not too late······.

“We’re almost there. Let’s get off.”

“······Yeah.”

The train passes through vast wheat fields and enters the inner side of the old city walls.

The gloomy urban landscape unfolds before us.

We have arrived in Cologne.

As soon as we get off, I should go find Cornelia.

Isn’t it the season for the Cologne mayoral election now?

Should I go to Cologne City Hall, or should I go to the Brium Mansion?

“······Inspection.”

But such thoughts are irrelevant.

What was waiting for us on the platform was armed guards.

What’s going on? Has Cologne’s border security been heightened recently?

I grabbed the young man sitting next to me and asked, “Was there something happening in König? What’s with the thorough inspections?”

“No one knows. For the past few days, they’ve been conducting thorough inspections on everyone entering and leaving the city… They haven’t given a reason.”

“Hmm.”

Seems like there’s no specific reason.

Could there be a murder investigation going on?

Still, since we have nothing to hide, we decided to respond confidently.

Even if Mijeong’s a vampire and might take up some time…

It doesn’t matter.

In the Leaf City, vampires who have extracted their fangs are recognized as slaves and legal property.

“Next, please. Are you a foreigner?”

“I’m a stateless mercenary.”

“Oh, troublesome. And what about your companion?”

“This guy is a vampire who has extracted his fangs.”

A combination of a stateless mercenary and a vampire.

Naturally, the inspection would take longer.

Behind us, people grumbled as they were moved to the next line.

“For now, there’s no issue with the vampire.”

The guard peered into Mijeong’s mouth and quickly signaled that there was no problem.

Surprisingly, Mijeong passed through in an instant.

Seems like Leaf City is particularly strict.

Then, just when I thought I would pass through without any problems…

“But, sir… um… You mentioned you’re stateless?”

“Yes.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m 22 years old this year.”

“If you have any special swordsmanship techniques, could you tell me the name of the style-”

“Why do you assume I use a sword?”

“Hahaha. Just in case. Just in case. If you don’t use a sword, we’ll skip that question…”

The guard looked back and forth between my face and a piece of paper, awkwardly smiling.

They must have disguised the Magi Sword as an umbrella.

I said I was a mercenary, not a swordsman, so why suddenly ask about swordsmanship?

The ratio of swordsmen among mercenaries is less than 30%, right?

“Do you have a record of visiting Petenbourg?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“It’s part of the immigration process.”

The absurd questions continued.

Most of them were irrelevant, but…

Some seemed like targeted questions.

“Um. Please follow us.”

“Are you arresting me now?”

“No. No. Not arresting you, just need you to wait for a moment. It’ll be quick. Please follow us.”

The guards suddenly tried to lead me underground.

Now I’m sure.

The guard had been looking back and forth between my face and the paper.

It’s definitely a wanted poster.

A wanted poster that looks exactly like me.

And there’s only one person who would draw my wanted poster and search for me.

“Oh, shit.”

I fell into a trap of questioning.

***

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

Elvengard Underground Fortress.

The sound of footsteps echoed on the cold floor.

“They said it was a creature believed to be from another realm?”

“Yes. It had very high intelligence. Many elves lost their lives falling into its traps…”

“My goodness. Why didn’t you request support all this time? Was it out of pride?”

“We are ashamed of that. We are now grateful to be able to publicly seek the help of the Tower.”

“Of course. The Tower’s research capabilities are unmatched. We will definitely uncover the secrets of the creature from another realm.”

A creature from another realm appeared in Elvengard, and they hunted it down.

They are keeping the body preserved, and if the Tower is interested, they can conduct research.

A month has passed since this letter was sent.

After verifying the authenticity of the letter, the Tower finally decided to send an investigation team.

About a dozen professors from the Tower arrived.

The elders treated them with great respect and guided them to the underground fortress where the spider creature’s body was being kept.

“Is this the place? The door is very thick.”

“Yes. It’s where we keep top-secret materials.”

A massive iron gate appeared as they passed through the corridor.

It was a gate surrounded by alarms and protective barriers.

Even if someone tried to break through, the 2,000 soldiers stationed in the underground fortress would quickly surround them.

It was a gate that could never be opened without destroying Elvengard.

At least, that’s what the elders of Elvengard thought.

“Sentry. Sentry!”

“Ah, oops.”

“What are you dozing off for?”

“Sorry. Uh, why was I dozing off…”

“Open the gate.”

“Yes, elder. I will do so.”

Startled by the elder’s command, the soldier guarding the iron gate quickly stood up.

He was so thin that his bones seemed to be sticking out.

The fact that an elf, who usually maintained a proper physique, was excessively skinny made the top executives of the Elvish Council momentarily puzzled.

But soon, as the massive iron gate began to creak open, all attention was drawn inside.

“Behold. This is the corpse we excavated from the collapsed dungeon. It appears to be a fusion of a spider and a human… Wait, what?!”

As the elder naturally stepped inside, his eyes widened.

The eerie chill inside.

At the tip of his pointing finger, there was nothing.

Although traces of something being there remained.

The freezer was clearly empty.

At this, all the elders paled.

“Close the borders! The corpse of the spider monster has been stolen!!!”

That day, Elvengard was put on high alert.