## Chapter 150 – 150. Wavehill (2)
#150. Wavehill (2)
“Assaulting a guard, help! Help!!!”
At the skinny man’s cry, fully armed guards swarmed out of the checkpoint like disturbed bees.
There must have been at least thirty of them.
But since they were all ordinary people who couldn’t use magic, I wasn’t too worried.
More concerning were the two unexploded balls down below.
Maybe he sensed my murderous intent, because the skinny man looked startled and protected his crotch with both hands.
‘That won’t do you much good.’
The guards surrounded Iris and me.
I had two choices here.
Subdue all the guards, get out of here, and then climb over the walls when night fell. Then, sneak into the lord’s castle and threaten the lord.
Or just get caught here.
There was no reason to choose the latter, so my deliberation was short.
Once I confirmed that the people in line had moved back, I channeled my magic and glared at the guards.
It would take me five seconds to subdue them all.
“Stop!”
But I stopped at the voice from behind the guards. It was faint, but there was magic in the voice.
A middle-aged man walked through the guards. The name tag around his neck looked fancier than the other soldiers’.
He glanced around for a moment, then approached me.
“I am Valan Herschel, captain of the Wavehill gate guards.”
From his voice to his gaze and even his minor gestures, he was polite in a way that was different from the others.
He glanced at the soldier collapsed on the ground with his balls burst and sighed deeply.
But he didn’t blame me for it. Rather, he seemed to be watching my reaction.
“Kang Hyun-woo.”
“…It seems my men have made a mistake.”
I lightly shook hands with the guard captain.
I didn’t have a hobby of holding hands with men, but I could tolerate it to some extent if the other person was wearing gloves.
“Could you come with me for a moment? It would be good if your wife could come too.”
“What reason do I have to trust you?”
I pointed with my chin at the man sprawled on the ground.
The man who had lost the most precious thing in his body was foaming at the mouth and unconscious.
“…I understand your distrust of the guards, but I swear on the name of the guard captain that there will be no more unfortunate incidents like this.”
“What about the inspection?”
“Just answer a few questions and I’ll let you in right away.”
The offer itself wasn’t bad at all.
It was just a matter of whether I could trust him, the guard captain.
After a moment of consideration, I nodded.
Sneaking into the lord’s castle in the middle of the night to threaten the lord might seem easy and fast on the surface, but I didn’t want to disappoint Iris, who was secretly looking forward to seeing the city.
“Thank you.”
When the guard captain waved his hand, the guards surrounding Iris and me lowered their weapons with reluctant expressions.
They took the man who had fallen to the ground and retreated.
“Wait.”
I gathered magic at my fingertips and threw it at the skinny man’s Achilles’ heel as he tried to sneak away.
It was a 1-circle common magic, Magic Bolt.
Thwack!
“Aaaagh!!”
With a rather loud noise, the man screamed and fell.
“Your comrade paid the price for his sins, but you’re trying to run away alone. You have no sense of loyalty.”
“Sir, sir, please forgive me just this once!”
“You’ve already crossed the line.”
Crush, I gently pressed down on the man’s crotch with my foot.
“Ugh…?!?!?!”
Overwhelmed by pain that easily exceeded his limits, the man soon fainted. Blood dripped from his crotch.
The other guards watched the scene with terrified expressions.
“Let’s go now.”
“…Haa.”
The guard captain, looking at the chaotic situation, let out a heavy sigh.
***
Iris and I, who had headed to the guard captain’s office, were treated to black tea like guests.
Of course, the taste was cheap.
The guard captain, who had brought us here, sat at his desk, rummaged through documents, and asked us questions.
“I’m curious why someone as skilled as you came to Wavehill.”
“I came to meet the lord.”
“The lord…? Are you perhaps a noble?”
“Of course not.”
“…Then it would be good to call him Lord. He’s not a very benevolent person.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Slurp, I took a sip of black tea. I drank it out of courtesy, but I wouldn’t put it to my lips again.
“What are you trying to do by meeting the lord? In the first place, the lord is not someone you can meet just because you want to.”
“That’s my business.”
“…I suppose so.”
The guard captain’s questions weren’t much different from the questions I had received at the checkpoint.
After 5 minutes of Q&A, I was able to receive my ID.
“Is this all I need to be okay within the Veilhaven Republic?”
“Well. I’m sorry, but I can’t say for sure. There are quite a few places that play around with IDs for money.”
To roughly interpret the guard captain’s words, it was theoretically valid within the Republic, but in cities that played around with IDs for money, I would have to pay a fee again and get a new one.
It was exactly as I expected, so I wasn’t surprised anymore.
“I hope you don’t cause any trouble in the city. If someone as skilled as you is arrested, and there’s a gap in the security forces, the guards will be dispatched to fill it.”
“Well… I’ll try.”
“I appreciate you saying so.”
Clink, Iris put down her teacup and gave a faint smile.
“Thank you for the nice black tea.”
“…It was nothing, ma’am.”
The guard captain, who seemed to have a personality that didn’t show his emotions well, lowered his head, as if it was too much to face Iris’s smile.
With the business finished, I got up from my seat.
“Ah, I’m asking just in case, but do you know how to meet the lord?”
“…Are you serious?”
“I’m serious.”
“…It’s extremely difficult for you, who is neither a noble nor a merchant, to meet the lord. Of course, the lord occasionally puts out requests to the Adventurer’s Guild, but unless you’re at least a Gold rank, you won’t be able to receive the request. Are you perhaps an adventurer?”
“No.”
“Then this method won’t work either. Even if you have the skills, you can’t get a Gold rank in a short period of time.”
Besides that, the guard captain told me about various alternatives, but they were all unrealistic or took too much time.
“I guess I’ll have to find a way by selling my feet. Still, thank you for telling me all sorts of things. I’ll repay the favor if I get the chance.”
I was about to leave the office because it seemed like a waste of time to listen to him any longer. At that moment, the guard captain called out to me.
“Wait, then how about this?”
“Hmm?”
***
Wavehill, a border city.
Another name is the City of Slaves, Wavehill, where the largest slave market in the southern continent is formed.
With so many slave traders and hunters coming and going, the economy naturally became active and the scale grew, and thanks to that, it is now one of the leading cities in the Veilhaven Republic, according to the guard captain.
Of course, the other side of that dazzling growth would be stained with the tears of those who were unfairly enslaved.
Iris and I, who had left the guard captain’s office, headed straight for the city’s main street.
“Wow…”
There, there was a crowd of people that couldn’t be compared to what I had seen outside the castle.
“Fresh bread! Warm bread baked this morning, buy it here!”
“Here’s the finest silk! Half the price of the market over there! Come and take a look!”
“I didn’t do it!!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I saw you stealing it!”
“Oh, a Woong race. They caught something precious.”
“I’m jealous of those slave hunters at times like this? If you’re lucky, you can change your fate.”
The streets were filled with carriages and people to the point where it was difficult to even walk properly.
Iris seemed to be fascinated by the scenery of the city, and she couldn’t close her mouth for a while.
Looking at her reaction, I suddenly thought that it would be nice if we could walk around Seoul together someday.
I held Iris’s hand tightly and made my way through the crowd. If I didn’t do this, Iris would soon become a lost child.
While walking, I recalled what the guard captain had told me earlier.
-Do you know that the lord has a son and a daughter?
-No.
-…Anyway, how about meeting the young master or young lady instead of the lord? Maybe you’ll see a way to meet the lord directly. In particular, the young lady is said to have a strong interest in those with outstanding abilities.
The guard captain’s idea seemed reasonable to me.
But suddenly, a question arose.
-Why are you doing so much for me? Well, you said you would repay the favor. I’ll be looking forward to it.
The guard itself had been terrible from the first impression, but at least the guard captain was a pretty decent guy.
“Ah! Hyun-woo, look at that.”
“Hmm?”
There was a small stall where Iris was pointing.
There weren’t many customers, but it was a place where I had been hearing a sound like something popping since earlier.
“What are they selling?”
I was also curious, so I headed to the stall with Iris, who was urging me on.
“Welcome!”
“What are you selling here?”
“Hmm? Oh, are you travelers? Do you know ‘Dragon Breath Crisps’?”
“Dragon Breath Crisps…?”
“It’s a dish made by making slits between boiled potatoes and mixing in a sauce made by grinding dragon heart grass. It’s one of the local dishes that can only be found in the southern region.”
There were piles of boiled potatoes with blue sauce dripping down on the display stand.
“Give me two.”
“Thank you!”
I smiled at the owner’s polite tone as soon as the order was placed and took out a copper coin from my pocket.
The price wasn’t as expensive as I thought.
“Wow, the potatoes are hot?”
“I guess they were just boiled.”
I lightly took a bite.
Then, the potato began to pop in my mouth like popping candy.
I never thought I would feel this kind of texture in another world. It must be because of the sauce made with dragon heart grass, but it was a pretty realistic reproduction.
Besides, the taste itself wasn’t bad either.
“Heup?!!”
Iris, who was startled by the new sensation, stomped her feet.
“H, Hyun-woo! The potatoes are popping like flames!”
I couldn’t help but smile at her childlike fascination.
We finished our snack quite successfully and walked towards the lord’s castle with potatoes in one hand.
Of course, I didn’t expect the lord’s son and daughter to meet me, whose identity was unclear, right away.
But if they shunned me because my identity was unclear, I just had to show them more ability than that.
As the road widened, the crowd became even larger as we entered the downtown area.
I needed to be a little careful to avoid being swept away by the crowd.
Just as I was about to carefully pull Iris closer, something rolled and hit my foot.
It was the potato that Iris was holding.
“Iris?”
Iris didn’t answer. She was just staring blankly at something with slightly trembling eyes.
Sensing an unusual atmosphere, my gaze also turned to where she was looking.
“?!”
I couldn’t help but be shocked at the sight that could be seen through the huge crowd.
“Wow, they caught that…?”
“Heo… the auction house is going to be buzzing. I wondered why there were more nobles from other territories than usual.”
“I’m jealous, I’m jealous. Of the guys who caught them, and the guys who will buy them.”
There were elves being carried in a carriage surrounded by iron bars.
