Chapter 93 – The Return of the Prodigal Son
After saying goodbye, we rode a wyvern and left the castle, heading straight to the Hamburg Fortress across the border.
Just a month ago, Dorothea was the commander-in-chief, so the soldiers stationed here greeted us warmly.
And we started after changing the means of transportation from Wyverns to horses with the feeling of transferring there.
It’s been a long time since we met, but Goldrun still had a beautiful golden mane.
The figure fluttering in the wind certainly had a strange charm that caught people’s eyes.
“Come to think of it, what happened to Hamburg after I left?”
Then Dorothea, who had been quietly following him, shrugged his shoulders and answered.
“The situation itself hasn’t changed much. The faction that supports Rachel, the legitimate heir to the family, and the faction that supports her younger brother are in a tense contest.”
“It’s nonsense.”
Rachel, the legitimate heir, should be stuck in a dungeon by now, waiting for her death.
“The fact that the warrior party was wiped out is not known to humans yet. It could be.”
Saying that, Dorothea brushed her hair under his ear, saw my gaze stuck to her finger, and smiled mischievously and waved his left hand.
“And the seal of the family is also on me.”
As Dorothea said, the 80-carat diamond ring, which was originally a symbol of the Hamburg family and could only be worn by the head of the household, became hers.
In fact, to become a legitimate successor to the Hamburg family, you need that ring, but since it is in the hands of the enemy, the Four Heavenly Kings, they will have no choice.
He must have thought he was missing in the first place.
“It’s not like there’s no way at all. Just make a counterfeit ring.”
“Where do 80 carat diamonds come from?”
I shrugged her shoulders at the ignorant Dorothea in reply.
“These days, alchemy has developed a technique for making fake jewels, right? Even if you can’t copy the hardness, you should be able to copy the appearance similarly.”
Of course, you can’t create something out of nothing, so it will cost a lot of material to make it, but the Hamburg margrave family is one of the five best signs in the kingdom.
Even if it cost a lot of money, it was easy to recover if you sat in the seat of the family head, so there was a possibility of investing.
“To want to take power to that extent, humans are frightening after all.”
“I think so too.”
While chatting with Dorothea to relieve boredom, I suddenly realized that Vanessa, who was chasing me from behind, was strangely quiet.
‘Am I not fit in the story?’
She turned her head just in case, and Vanessa was dozing off her horse’s saddle, to her ingenuity.
Being able to be carefree like that is a talent in a way.
It seems that if you have served in the military for more than 300 years, you will naturally learn such a rare weapon.
Ah! The deceased is so scary!
***
“It’s rice!”
It was late afternoon when we arrived at Hamburg’s southern gates.
If I made a mistake, I almost ended up sleeping outside, but fortunately, the soldier I saw the other day recognized my face, so I was able to come over with a free pass.
Dorothea held out her ID from when she was still a member of the Ruby Tower, and Vanessa presented her suitably forged ID.
“Free Knight? It’s rare around here.”
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary article, so there was no special touch.
Although it seemed that the soldiers were lenient with the standard because it was my party in the first place.
I stabbed the soldier with some silver coins as a token of appreciation.
After that, my party unpacked at the 10-silver-per-night inn where I stayed the other day.
It’s quite expensive, but it doesn’t matter if you spend this much luxury.
It’s because the Demon King took care of the military funds quite well.
As long as I didn’t spend money like water, I thought I’d be able to enjoy a fairly comfortable life for a while.
After unpacking and coming down to the restaurant on the first floor, Dorothea, who had already thrown off her robe and changed into a light outfit, greeted her and shook her hand.
“Hey! It’s here!”
Dorothea is an incredibly beautiful girl when viewed objectively.
Although her breasts are a bit small, her hips and her overall line are quite good, and she looks cute.
She herself says that she is cumbersome when using magic. Even in the middle of winter, she insists on wearing sleeveless shirts and shorts.
Vanessa, who was sitting next to her, was also taking off her tin-shaped helmet, perhaps because it was her indoors, but when she kept her mouth shut, she was a neat-looking beauty.
Two beauties with completely different styles occupied the center of the restaurant, so attention was focused on them.
No matter who sees it, it is not suitable for covert action.
‘It will turn.’
Touching my forehead, I gasped for a moment and approached the table where the two were sitting.
Dorothea, who flirted with her and put her arm around me, passing me the beer jug she was holding in her hand.
“Are you going to have fried chicken as a snack? I ordered it in advance.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Dorothea knew very well about my taste buds, perhaps because she drank on a fictional day.
Engraving the fact that her chicken and beer is always the truth, I looked at Vanessa with a curious eye as she ate the boiled peas that came out as a side dish.
“Can Durahan eat beans?”
Then Vanessa shrugged her shoulders and replied calmly.
“It doesn’t matter because eating it converts it into magical power. Usually, individuals born in nature consider food to be their favorite food, but since I’m a human, I like to eat.”
“Yes?”
I took a sip of beer, slightly widening my eyes at the unexpected fact.
“Ugh-“
“Why?”
“No, lukewarm beer is not my taste.”
Most of the people here drink to warm up.
That’s why I don’t have the idea of eating it cold, but I prefer the cold side as I’m from Korea, where ice beer was the mainstream.
As I turned my magic to my body, cold air rose from the glass I was holding in my hand.
When it was about the right amount of ice, I cut off the magic that was circulating, and I gulped down the chilled beer and tore off the large chicken wings.
“Great! This is delicious!”
Eating chicken and beer together at this time is truly Yasu.
It could be said that happiness is made up of calories.
As we were chatting with the two and eating chicken and beer for a late dinner, the seat next to us suddenly became noisy.
“…Card activation! As a result, the Barbarian King’s ATK increases by 500 points! With this, the total ATK is 4500! Go! Barbarian Slash!”
“Aagh!”
Rattle!
The chair is pushed away and the man, who is playing cards in the middle of it, is thrown to the floor.
I blinked my eyes in a familiar situation, and checked the face of the Warrior who had just ravaged the battlefield with a graceful combo.
If I’m not mistaken, it was a man named the leader of the Black Bear Mercenary Corps whom I met the other time when I came to this inn.
‘This baby, isn’t this a bamboo stone?’
It’s not even a tavern NPC, so why is it there every time I come?
In the meantime, the leader of the black bear mercenary corps, who met my eyes, waved his hand with a happy face.
“Brother! We meet again!”
Maybe he came alone today, but he didn’t see the subordinates he saw last time.
Dorothea, who had been eating stew in front of her, asked curiously.
“Do you know each other?”
“Uh… A little?”
I couldn’t say that we became close while playing cards.
It is because it was a bit of a shame play that it was revealed that he was fighting a tribal war with ‘seriousness’ at this age.
But this kind of lingering gomtan who didn’t know my situation was glad to see Dorothea and Vanessa sitting with me.
“Brother, who are these great beauties?”
I am extremely ashamed of the subject of looking like a bandit.
Whoever sees it will know that he is a male bachelor.
… Ah, can you?
I looked at my companions, Dorothea and Vanessa, wondering what to do with this guy.
The two seem to be curious about how I will introduce them.
I explained with a small sigh.
“This is my girlfriend, and this is a co-worker.”
“Whoops…”
“Hmm.”
The joys and sorrows of the two were mixed.
No, aside from Dorothea, why are you making such a sad face when you have no relationship?
The leader of the black bear mercenary corps, who looked like a mercenary, looked at Vanessa with bright eyes, as if she was the type to fall in love quickly, but I had no intention of joining the skit any more, so I got up first.
“You must be tired from coming a long way, but let’s break up here today. We have to move early tomorrow too.”
“Huh? Ah, that’s right.”
“Is that so?”
Fortunately, both of them agreed with my opinion, probably because they were not blind.
The leader of the Black Bear Mercenary Corps, who was watching from the sidelines, mustered up the courage to apply for an after-sale to Vanessa, but Vanessa said, “I have eyes too, but you’re a bit…” And resolutely rejected it.
As if those words were quite shocking, I collapsed clutching my chest on the inn floor.
Well. It seems that if you become a sword master, you can cut people with words.
What a feat.
