Chapter 52 – 14. Alchemy Cult and First Mission (3)
The initial mission of the reserve platoon. It consists of the pair selecting various mission requests from the platoon headquarters.
The purpose of the mission is to gain experience for the reserve platoon members. However, the Golden Wings, which Chloe and I belonged to, had a wide range of mission choices, befitting the highest tier.
I read the request that Chloe brought.
—————–
[Reservation platoon mission request]
* Grade: C
* Confirmed monsters: Up to 3 type 4 monsters
* Location: 20KM north of Teria, the ecliptic. It is located in the Lutier estate.
* Recommended Tier: Silver or higher Dongbit
—————–
Chloe handed me the request and put on a confident expression. He didn’t even cover his face with a fan, as if he thought this request was the correct answer.
“It’s a bit far, but you can easily go by carriage from the imperial capital to Lutier’s territory. And Baron Iaron, the lord of Lutier, has a close relationship with our family. So the Count should be able to go back to his mission in peace.”
As Chloe said, when I checked the request, the map to that direction was drawn in detail. It seemed that the road to the place called Lutier Mansion was well paved.
But not all roads in the Holy Empire are like that. Any insignificant territory, even with a lord, was no different from a medieval mountain village.
In particular, there was no regularity in the appearance of the monster.
If the Demon Beast appeared in an unpolished outskirts or countryside, accessibility is obviously not good. If it was a mission in such a place, the cadets from high-status aristocracy had no choice but to be reluctant.
‘Besides, if the traffic is bad. Of course, the place to stay will not change. If I don’t do it, it could end up in a rural area without an inn.’
Chloe emphasized that fact.
“If you go on a mission here, you can spend the night in a very ‘aristocratic’ way, so it’s great. The Baron of Luthier will give you a good lodging. Besides, if I had my skills at least three type 4 monsters… No, with Count Julian’s and my skills, I could handle them lightly.”
As if there could be no better mission than this, Chloe looked at me proudly.
But. The one thing I always scolded Chloe for was that it was against the etiquette of aristocrats. So, in Chloe’s opinion, the current mission must be aristocratic.
But I screamed again.
“What a lousy bitch! What on earth do you think of the Golden Wings mission?”
“Yeah? What do you mean…?”
“The reason why Golden Wings is the top tier doesn’t mean that you have to choose missions according to your convenience like you did. Rather, it has a great meaning that it will surely perform even difficult missions that other tiers cannot go through. You don’t seem to have any pride as a gold person.”
Chloe’s expression softened for a moment. In fact, she cared about me as much as she could.
Earl Julian, the last player in the first year who never went on a combat mission. In line with that, he picked a decent C-class mission.
In addition, all difficulties such as inconvenient traffic lines and poor accommodations, which were unbearable for high-ranking nobles, were excluded.
However, since it’s a criticism that comes back, you’ll get a fever. As expected, I tried to hide my expression with a fan, but I put up with it for now.
Chloe replied.
“Eh… But the Count has no experience in combat missions, so the first mission is as safe as possible…”
“That statement also disrespects me. I am also a reserve platoon member with the same qualifications as you. What do you see me as?”
“That… That’s not it! I will never disrespect the Count’s skills, but taking on an uncomfortable task that would normally be taken on by commoners is a noble demeaning thing…”
“Bullshit. Byun Byung-baek’s authority was created because the members of the family took the lead in protecting the people of the territory from the beast. Not to mention, other nobles and lords were no different. Are you saying you don’t know that even though you’ve become a marquise’s daughter?”
Chloe looked even more flustered. Rather than not knowing the meaning of what I said, the expression seemed to ask why it was you who said it.
But what I said was the theory.
Of course, the reality is that there are far more high-ranking aristocrats who only enjoy the privileges of aristocrats than their duties.
Still, Chloe had nothing to say because that was the heroic myth that my maternal grandfather, Marquis Wilhelm, had created all his life.
Chloe had no choice but to bend her back 90 degrees again.
“Sorry. Count Julian. My thoughts were short.”
“I just need to know. Then let me choose the request myself. I don’t think I’ll bring you the right thing if I leave it up to you.”
At the final sarcasm, Chloe could not stand it any longer and covered her face with a fan.
***
I accepted the request from the platoon headquarters and left immediately.
The means of transportation is a horse. The platoon headquarters provided sturdy horses for the cadets’ duties. It was a good horse that was close to a famous horse.
And my riding skills far surpassed Chloe’s.
“Isn’t knowing how to ride a horse a basic requirement as a nobleman! But you seem to have neglected that knowledge as well.”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. Count.”
He was talking like crazy. The new request I chose was as follows.
—————–
[Reservation platoon mission request]
* Grade: B+
* Confirmed monsters: Up to 1 type 3 monster, 3 type 4 monsters.
* Location: 25KM east of Teria, the ecliptic. Located in a small village near the Nevers estate.
* Recommended Tier: Golden Wings
* Caution: Not far from Guhwangdo. Poor accessibility.
—————–
In terms of distance, it was no different from the mission request form Chloe had brought. However, a caution about poor accessibility was added.
As soon as they got off the road from the ecliptic, the situation on the road quickly deteriorated. So the difficulty of driving the horse went up significantly.
“I’m going to take a break for a while. Seeing how you did in the past four years, if you force yourself to do it, you’ll collapse before you even reach your mission.”
“I… I’m fine… Oops!”
Chloe’s horse jumped ferociously to avoid the rough stones on the floor. Chloe groaned as if her crotch had been stimulated.
“You don’t look all right. I’m going to rest for a while.”
Of course, it wasn’t that he was considerate of Chloe.
Rather, it is a clever trick that puts pressure on Chloe and emphasizes that you are nothing but a burden. As expected, the humiliation caused Chloe to bite his lip.
I got off my horse for a moment and kindly stroked the dark horse I was riding. Right now, the high-ranking noble scion trait is active.
Besides, it may be the title of successor to the demon king, but the dark horse I rode absolutely obeyed me as soon as I made eye contact.
Well, when you think about the essence of what demons mean in Island. It wasn’t anything particularly strange.
‘Heterogeneous races such as elves, dwarves, and dragons. According to the worldview of Demon Kingslaughter, those intelligent beings became demons.’
Jedin, a human god, and the gods of a different race, called demon gods by humans. In the war of the gods, Jedin won.
So, the gods of the different races lost their qualifications as gods and were demoted to demons. The different races were also downgraded to demons by humans.
The demon king was the ruler of the demons who worshiped such demons.
In other words, it was said that the blood of the demon king that Julian possessed also flowed from a different race. An animal like a horse would have instinctively recognized the blood.
Of course, looking at my face, it’s fortunate that I don’t have dwarven blood.
Awakening the body of a non-human demon like this was one of the important quests of killing the demon.
While I was lost in thought for a moment, Chloe, who calmed the pain in her crotch a little, stood next to me.
I told her
“Well, since I’ve been running diligently like that. Before the sun goes down, you should be able to reach the place called Nevers Manor written here. Of course, if Chloe had good horsemanship, she would have arrived sooner.”
Chloe didn’t say anything to my beating. In fact, her riding skills were not bad at all, befitting her aristocratic daughter.
However, the road to Nevers was not so good. And it was only compared to my riding skills.
However, for her high self-esteem, her humiliation would have been overwhelming. Even when she encountered steep ditches and roads she could not cross, even in her words. I was more active than she, her famous alchemist.
‘It was the same method as in Professor Elmair’s last lecture.’
In fact, there was no way for me to beat Chloe in a confrontation with delicate and sophisticated alchemy right now.
The giant stone golem I made in the last lecture. It was the result of pouring out a lot of mana, which was left over as a quest reward.
‘My basic mana after awakening was sufficient for the mana consumed by the attribute. That’s why I spent a lot of the surplus reward mana.’
At the normal cadet level, you should have a lot of mana, about 120MP. But I had over 500MP of mana accumulated at the time.
He poured that mana into stones to create a giant stone golem. The result was a complete victory without question.
And today. It was the same while riding a horse.
Chloe is tired of riding on a horse because she can’t adapt to the rough road. Instead of her, I used alchemy to open a passage through the rough road.
‘That’s because it was easier than making a stone golem.’
It was overflowing with dirt and rocks everywhere, so mana was consumed less. I improvised something like a makeshift bridge.
Chloe’s eyes widened as she watched.
I used more alchemy than the famous alchemist Chloe. So now, Chloe must be feeling more humiliated than wasting her stamina.
It was clear to see that the hand holding the fan was shaking.
‘It’s almost time to explode.’
Mission for the two of you. And the night to come Chloe, who had been humiliated countless times by me, might not be able to let go of this night.
Of course, that was also what I was hoping for. After a short break, the two continued to ride.
And just before sunset. Finally, we arrived at our destination, Nevers Manor.
As the request document explained, it was a small, nameless territory on the outskirts of the imperial capital. But I remembered the name Nevers very well.
***
Anton, the lord of Nevers, gave both of us great hospitality.
“This… To think that such noble people would visit my estate in person. I don’t know what to do!”
Anton got down on his knees towards the two of them, and the rest of Young Jimin bowed down towards us.
‘Is it because it’s a rural estate? The atmosphere is different.’
Even the old conditions where people can no longer live. Even if it was the outskirts of the Imperial Island, the side close to Guhwangdo was deserted and was no different from the countryside.
Fittingly, Anton was a middle-aged man barely holding the title of knight, even if he were a lord. The manor was also literally a medieval rural village.
“You worked really hard to come to such a shabby place!”
That Anton was surprised to see that the two of us were platoon members belonging to the Golden Wings of the Pantheon, and almost fainted when he heard their real names.
“I and the people of the territory could not solve the dungeon that appeared near my territory. So I submitted a request to Pantheon! If I had known that these precious people would come in person… I’m sorry!”
He must have never imagined that the heir of the Marquis and the daughter of the Marquis of Aitern would come to such a rough place.
I could see Chloe’s nose, whose self-esteem had plummeted due to the courteous hospitality, rose again.
He spoke arrogantly as he sat on his horse, fanning his fan.
“What. It’s a surprise. However, it is also a duty as a high-ranking aristocrat to set an example like this. It is natural for a cadet of our status.”
Chloe subtly used what I said. However, the people here seemed to be much more interested in me, the heir of the hero Wilhelm, than Chloe.
In particular, Anton, the lord, praised me even more.
“Ohh… The successor of Marquis Wilhelm. As befits the heir of a hero, a radiance flows from his face.”
Anton said he was a lowly knight of the nameless order. But, he said, at the end of the Great War he took part in battle with Marquis Wilhelm’s Essenmund army.
“Indeed, he is a dignified figure worthy of his grandson! Besides, you came to such a remote place yourself! Yulian-sama is no different than a hero!”
“Stop it. Marquis’ bravery was only his great achievement. I’m just a student of the Pantheon. And I came here on a mission. So treat me like an ordinary cadet.”
At that, Anton lowered his head, as if he didn’t know what to do.
“To be so humble! After all, the blood of a hero cannot be faked!”
Annoyed by the reaction, Chloe covered his face with a fan.
From then on, Anton was as hospitable as he could be. He served dinner and finished a detailed explanation of the dungeons and monsters that appeared near the manor.
“Then you two must be very tired from riding. I will give you a room.”
Anton’s mansion is said to be the manor’s mansion, but it was smaller than my mansion in the imperial palace. Still, there were a lot of rooms, and Chloe and I were each assigned a separate room.
Chloe went into the room next to him. She was quiet throughout the meal, as if her country shabby food was not to her liking.
‘No. In fact, his head must have been busy decorating something more than that.’
Just as expected. After unpacking in my room and changing into comfortable clothes, Chloe came to visit me.
“I. Count Julian? Anton here gave me a light late-night snack and some wine. It’s also a way to resolutely prepare for tomorrow’s mission. Why don’t you two just eat and sleep?”
She smiled brightly and handed me a tray of her late-night snack. Chloe’s red eyes sparkled.
