Chapter 275 – Horseman of Death (1)
It was while I was training at home that I received the letter from the young lady.
─Kong-Kong-Kong!
“It’s the mail carrier! Please open the door!”
While practicing the Absolute Sky Zone—of course, it was a windmill practice because you can’t destroy a house—I stopped training when I heard the delivery man knocking on the door.
Check the rune stone at the entrance before opening the door.
No reaction to runes installed by Veronica.
It was an intercom with detailed conditions worthy of rune magic, activated only when a person with hostile or murderous intentions visited the house. No response here means the courier has no intention of harming us.
When I opened the door, a tired-looking young man was scratching his head.
“Is it mail delivery? You have worked hard since morning.”
“Ah, yes. Please sign the payee here. And another year-end tax notice, don’t forget.”
“A tax notice?”
The fucking tax collection is systematic. It was a part where you can see well what kind of people are used to develop technology in another world.
“But I don’t pay taxes.”
“Four?”
Take it, Sargadis limited duty-free card!
Thanks to the tax exemption certificate I received for defeating the Dark Evolution Dark Unicorn, I am canceling year-end taxes. Since it is issued per family, you don’t have to pay even the portion of Danas and francs.
This is sweet A year’s worth of taxes is a few silver coins.
“Goodbye.”
“Yes.”
While seeing off the courier, I saw birds perched on a nearby tree. It’s a face everyone knows.
“Kukkoko—. (Hello—.)”
The pigeon flapped its wings to greet me and chased after the delivery man.
It is to track down and monitor whether that delivery person is suspicious or not. He must have been sneaking around on the way here.
“The CCTV performance is certain.”
Not only those guys, but also the Nyangnyang drone project with Teresa as the head was on track. In Sargadis, daytime speech is heard by cats and nighttime speech by pigeons.
Anyway, as I read the young lady’s letter and called her family, Dana giggled.
“Thanks to my husband, it’s nice that I don’t have to pay taxes. Praise our bitch.”
“Khehehe. I don’t think the lord knew that I would lose three portions of tax because of the tax exemption card he gave me.”
“Uh? Aren’t there four people?”
“… Fran. Is that what I was talking about? Huh? Are you talking about me?”
Fighting, Deutsche Illegal Goddess.
Tax evasion is an addition to our attendant’s criminal record. If Veronica is taken as a slave, I’ll have to sell the elixir and buy it.
“Senior~? What do you say Young lady? Did you start right away?”
Ralilura, who was at home because of the party’s power reinforcement, asked.
I told him not to make it difficult for me to be a part of my house, but this guy packs all his belongings and decorates the spare room.
It was odd that he took care of himself and even delivered the rent to me.
“Uh. They supported the transportation and transportation expenses. You take it from the bank.”
Since it was the end of the year, research funds from academia must have come out. Let’s see if the money came in. Veronica leaned back on the sofa.
“It’s fortunate that they didn’t even provide transportation.”
“Since we have schedules, it must have been money. I need to talk to the lab staff too.”
“What do your sister’s subordinates say about her always going on business trips?”
“This bastard became a freelancer, but she forgot her memories of being a slave in the high school lab. Isn’t it best that the boss isn’t there?”
Cogan is right. I charged the acceptance gauge to 400%.
“Besides, since it’s a business trip sponsored by a lady from this neighborhood, they told me to go quickly.”
“Anyway, salary earners.”
It would be fine if Dana didn’t gossip. Well, if a high-ranking person gives a decent salary and doesn’t bother you, there’s nothing to criticize. If there’s a bastard saying something, then there’s a problem with that bastard.
Fran muttered a little worriedly.
“Let’s leave tomorrow as well. I’m worried about Mr. Tyrsi.”
It was heartfelt sympathy. If the lord’s daughter couldn’t find it even if she spent money, it must have been no ordinary thing.
That’s how we got on the ship to go abroad again after a break that wasn’t a break for two months.
***
The young lady had prepared the wagon to the southern coastal city of Britannia.
There are people in this world who have transcendental powers like people in another world, and people who don’t. The carriage called by the young lady was pulled by a horse that looked strong like a nobleman.
So we arrived at the port in only two or three days, got on a boat that was leaving that day, and landed at Gorgalia.
There were no problems on the way. Both in the carriage and on the boat.
‘Because even monsters become quiet in winter.’
Britannia’s cold is hard for non-experts like me.
The cold itself is nothing compared to Korea, but it is because the cold weather equipment is expensive. I know this well because I went through high school in the beginning of my life in another world. Fuck.
The monsters that move during this season are the goblins who starve if they don’t move, or the offspring with high resistance to the cold.
Cock-eating monsters like kobolds go into hibernation in the fall with enough nutrition.
‘Conversely, it means that those who move during this season are really strong monsters.’
The probability of encountering monsters has decreased, but in return, it feels like only boss monsters that have gone berserk due to lack of food are left.
Fortunately, we arrived at Gorgalia without encountering such a monster.
Meeting a monster while on a boat trip is as rare as a plane crash. If that happens often, how the hell do people in another world live?
Anyway, it was very late that night, so I went to sleep after getting the entry permit.
The next morning, I went to buy a map. I need to find out where Gorgalia’s Holy Forest is.
“How much is the map?”
“Besides 8 Cooper.”
“No shit, no world map.”
“So it’s 8 Cooper.”
They’re like fucking gourd babies. Drop a meteorite into the store.
We bought a map at half price after running around and chasing each other. Dana opened the map and asked Veronica a question.
“Veronica. You don’t know exactly where you are?”
“You can’t tell the difference with human maps. Because of the curse, I also traveled by relying on my feet and eyes.”
“Is that so? Hehe. Tell me about the scenery nearby.”
“So, you can see the river right in front of the forest, and behind the meadow—”
“No. According to you, this is probably—”
Our clever wives specified the location after a calm discussion.
It was good until I found the place like that. However, the problem was that there was no carriage to go to the nearby village.
It can’t be helped, even in a district with developed infrastructure, subways and buses are rare in the countryside. You should hope for a different world medieval land where the means of transportation is made up of feet, horses, and carriages.
After thinking about it, we entrusted the work to the experts. He asked a question to the person working at the carriage station.
“Rent a peddler’s wagon. There must be someone who will accept you if you pay a lot of money if you are sure of your status?”
We accepted the suggestion of a man with a shaggy beard.
Since peddlers who went straight to the countryside were rare, we looked for a wagon that could drop us off on the way.
Incidentally, it was Lalilura who had saved the wagon.
“Listen. The basics of business counseling is to take the initiative. Let’s start by reassuring Dana with her ID, saying, “I am this kind of person.”
“Did you find the carriage?”
“Det?”
While we were designing the plan like building Jenga, Lalilura grabbed the wagon like catching a taxi.
She’s like a brat who boasts unrivaled fighting power in a party of two you girls, foragers, and busty timid girls. I nodded in awe.
“Hmm, it’s easy. After all, people born in 2000 are different no matter what.”
“Aha♡! Senior, did I do well?”
“Yes. Oh oh oh, well done Our human capybara.”
“Capybara? What a cute name! What animal is it?”
“Rodents.”
I handed the prepaid fare to the peddler while being hit by the furious Lalilura. The peddler who picked us up was a young man in his 20s or 30s. Same-year volleyball with me.
Haha! I’m just happy to be able to ride these beautiful girls!”
“All three of them are my wives, so don’t take your eyes off them. If you don’t want to fight for life with me.”
“Tsubeol, is it true? It’s like fucking life.”
He, who will work as a coachman for a few days, was a bit excited about the ride of the beauties, but went out of his mind at my words and went to samba samba with his horse.
“Wait a minute? I don’t really want to be seen with those eyes, but the attitude that I’m not interested in the first place is a little annoying, right?”
“Little girl. A sane adult doesn’t pay attention to a child.”
“If I endure for a few more days, I will become an adult!!”
Larry Lura argued and listened as if crying, then she started to whimper as Veronica hugged her. It was a complaint about how old he was.
Still, the peddler didn’t ask us to get off, and that day he was able to leave right at lunch.
Is it because this is also the Britannia race? I hate to mention the meal eaten before departure. It was the first time that Veronica, who was acting out of curiosity, met me and left food for the first time.
Open, mint sardine pie. What on earth was the person who came up with such food?
Could it be a fairy of ingredients that destroys the sense of taste?
***
The peddler’s name is Victoire.
“Yeah. What about when you work as a peddler? Speaking skills are very important, but opportunities to speak are few and far between. I ended up even having small talk with Mercedes.”
“A Mercedes?”
“It is the name of our horse. Isn’t it cute?”
Looking at the big pack horse, I thought about how far cuteness goes.
Well. If this is called cute, then even a forager like me can be called cute.
─All right, all right!!
The pack horse was as strong as its size. There is also the luggage of the wagon, but the appearance of running without hesitation makes me wonder if this young ancestor had an eight-legged horse.
The coachman was very talkative, probably not having a chance to speak as he moved along at his own pace.
“It is rare to speak in the native language. When I go to work, I always speak Romanian.”
“It’s been a while since I spoke my hometown language.”
“Because you are Kitai. Still, if you go to Romania, there are many people from Kitay. I bought some amulets from them, a little to say this, but they didn’t help much! Haha!”
He looks like a talkative taxi driver.
Even though I don’t feel nostalgic because I’m young, the feeling is the same. I said while looking at the scenery behind the carriage.
“If the talisman didn’t help, you must have met a thief somewhere?”
“It’s better if it’s a thief. In Romania, people who steal are often spared if you hand them over, and you can avoid them if you run well. But monsters are a different story.”
“Monster. Isn’t that fine in winter?”
Haha! That’s why I am working through this cold.”
Having said that, Victoire opened his collar to see if the cold wind was blowing.
The days are a bit cold. I thought about asking if they would give me shifts later, but to be honest, the wind was seeping into the carriage and it was very cold.
Frank sewed up the gap in the wagon and I warmed the inside with 〈 Burning Hand 〉, and I was at least able to survive.
“Well, is there anything special in this weather? The monsters must have been starving as much to get out of the cold. Our Mercedes will never catch up with them.”
Victoire showed a little pride in his words, which I think was bad.
Why, in a movie, if you lay down this kind of ground food, something is always fished.
It is said that he does not air useless scenes because the filmmaker has to shorten the running time.
In this world where fate exists, it might not exist except for jokes called useless small talk.
─Stupid.
Fran suddenly raised her ears and looked back. The wedding ring on her ring finger lit up like a security system turning on.
“… The sound of hooves?”
At that murmur, I also rolled my eyes at the horizon behind the carriage.
Caravans were wagons whose lids were covered with cloth and roofs, just like the military Saodon vehicles. So we could see the outside view through the open back, where two black dots were running.
‘You mean?’
The two horses closed and opened their eyes and grew in size.
It was a blink of an eye to see the size of a small grain of rice, which was invisible unless he raised mana.
Not a thief There was no thief with such a swift steed, and no thief would attack a wagon with just the two of them. I inadvertently turned on the rune of ᚲ (Kenaz).
Then, he kicked off his seat with Fran and got up.
“Victoire!! Speed it up!!”
“Yes? Yes?!”
I put my hand on the end of the carriage without hearing an answer. I was thinking of concentrating mana into my eyeballs to see if I was seeing something wrong.
The horse running ahead was commonplace.
In the horse’s stirrups was a woman with emerald hair. Her good-natured face, with wrinkles around her eyes as if she was approaching middle age, was unmistakably beautiful.
To be honest, up to that point, I’m just a regular tourist. Except she’s running like she’ll die if she stops, and she’s dripping blood from her arm.
The problem was the creature that followed it.
Half man, half beast, man and horse all in one.
It was a terrifying existence that fit that description perfectly.
It didn’t look like a cool guy like a centaur. It was as if the upper body of a rough-hewn man had been thrust into the back of a horse. His arms held a strangely large scythe.
Creatures that seemed to have been sewn from horse and human corpses covered black dead muscle fibers with red skin. The skin attached to the muscle fiber flew backwards like a flag because it was not big enough.
Damn, if that’s a good, good creature, I’ll get my hands on it.
“Fuck!! What else is that?!”
– Wow! Victoire also checked the rear and hurriedly whipped her horse.
I grabbed the ceiling of the wagon and jumped up on top of it.
“… What?!”
The woman who was running away seemed to have noticed us with a distance of about 100 meters as if her vision had narrowed.
She bit her lip and turned her direction. It seemed that we were careful not to get caught up in it, but it seemed that the character of a woman could be roughly grasped in that trivial choice.
But of course, if you control the direction while running, you will slow down.
The distance between her words and her decreased even more.
‘If we run away from here, it looks like we’ll catch up soon.’
The wagon sped along, but it was impossible for the horses pulling the wagon to run faster than the men running for life and death. From earlier, the distance between them and us kept shrinking.
No matter what that monster is doing, it’s obvious that it will target us after the woman who runs away is dead!
Then there was no reason to look stupid here. I grabbed the wooden bracelet and pulled it.
─Sureung!
The bracelet transformed into a mithril spear as I drained mana.
Before I came to Gorgalia, I invested the remaining giant golem’s core and carved ᛒ (Berkanan) runes into the spear. It was primarily for portability.
“Avoid!! We will fight back!!”
─Kidduck!!
I shouted at the woman and threw my spear at the black, half-man, half-beast.
