Chapter 185 Man-Made Disaster (3)
‘It’s the Ewin Allied Nations…’
It was a paradise built by the elves and beast-people on this continent dominated by humans. On the ring-shaped continent of Seheranbad, it was located around the two positions. For reference, the Levane Neutral country was the only island nation residing in the center of the sea.
‘Well, that’s not bad.’
While planning this trip with Lee Soo-yeon, they planned to arrive at Levane in seven days, wherever their starting points were. Ewin was good enough because it was right on the border of the Kartan Empire, which had the largest port on the continent.
‘If I start here, I need to go straight to Protanian Port.’
Now that he knew his current location, the next destination had been decided. From there, he could take a regular trade ship. However, the problem was that he didn’t know the directions to his destination. Of course, this too was a problem that could be resolved quickly.
“Where should I go to get to the Protanian Port?”
Yoon-seok looked down at a beast warrior and asked. This friend was rude at first, but now he had become a person who knew the utmost kindness and consideration after tasting Cheon-ma’s style of socializing.
“Y-you can go to the west. If you leave the forest, you will see the sea. You will find it along the coastline, after a few villages!”
He pointed his finger to the west and gave detailed directions. Although he stuttered a bit, he seemed to understand Yoon-seok’s dislike of wasting time and delivered the information as simply, clearly, and quickly as possible. Yoon-seok was amazed again. As expected from the leader of a thousand demons, every single one of her teachings was useful.
“Does strength make people kind…?”
The warrior opened his eyes wide at Yoon-seok’s murmuring and hit his forehead against the ground.
“Oh, I apologize for what happened earlier. So please spare my subordinates!”
Yoon-seok wasn’t some kind of killer, and it made him feel a little strange, but… he also received the information he wanted. It would be a win-win for him to leave quickly.
* * *
Did it take about twenty minutes? As the warrior said, after leaving the forest and passing a few villages along the coastline, he came to a port town. It wasn’t the typical kind of port that Yoon-seok knew, however. Like a fortress, a huge wall was blocking the outside, and in front of the gate, more than a hundred carriages were waiting for their turn through.
Of course, Yoon-seok didn’t have to wait. Even if he had waited in the first place, he didn’t have an ID, so that he couldn’t enter the port normally.
Tap-tap.
Yoon-seok hid his presence and crossed the wall as if climbing a school fence. Then, the vast port hidden within the wall came into his view. Although it projected a completely different atmosphere from the ports on Earth, Yoon-seok could feel that this city was developed and wealthy.
‘It’s completely different from the Middle Ages I’ve imagined.’
The streets were clean, and the people seemed free. Yoon-seok took off his mask and put his two swords away before walking down the streets. Watching new cultures and life was Yoon-seok’s little pleasure. Anyway, as he was walking around like a tourist, there was one particular thing he noticed.
‘There are more Challengers than I thought.’
Challengers wandered around without feeling uncomfortable among the general public. What was surprising here was that it wasn’t limited to those from Seheranbad. Some were obviously from Moorim, and some were suspected of being from Earth.
“Then, shall I get started?”‘
Yoon-seok, soon arriving at the dock, collected information in earnest. Now he had to find one of these thousands of ships heading for Levane. Well, if he wanted, he could jump in the sea and go there himself, but… it was difficult to find the right direction in the sea, even for Yoon-seok.
‘I heard that it’s a regular trade ship with a golden wave pattern on it.’
Yoon-seok walked to the end of the dock. He had to board Levane’s regular trade ship, a kind of magic ship, to travel the full distance in five days.
‘There aren’t many of them.’
There were seventeen ships with the patterns Lee Su-yeon told him, and only three of them were preparing to depart.
‘Still, it would be better to look for the strongest if possible.’
Yoon-seok chose the largest ship among them. On top of being giant, its appearance was splendid compared to the other trading ships. He could feel dozens of challengers aboard the vessel. He heard that it became common for Seheranbad to use the challengers as bodyguards because of the invaders pouring in from the rifts, so they were probably working in that capacity.
‘If it’s thorough like this, I’ll arrive without any incident, right?’
Judging so, Yoon-seok boarded the vessel using the repurchased Hiding as advised by Lee Su-yeon. It was the only way he, who had no money and whose identity was unknown, could board.
‘Even though it’s illegal, it doesn’t cause much damage.’
It may seem like he was justifying himself, but it wasn’t wrong. If their magic rank differed by three grades, it was on par with invisibility. No one would ever find Yoon-seok, who already had the highest level of mana in the system, and there would be no harm to anyone if he just hid in the luggage compartment.
“You know how much they cost! Can’t you be more careful carrying it?”
After spending some time hiding in the luggage compartment, the door was locked for security. Yoon-seok immediately sat down and crossed his legs. With none to interfere, he planned on meditating until their arrival. But the moment the ship started sailing-
“…?”
The board on the outer wall of the luggage compartment was torn apart, and a dozen unidentified men soaked in the water broke into the luggage compartment through the small gap. They weren’t like simple thieves, so what the hell were they doing?
“Nobody’s here.”
Unaware Yoon-seok was watching from afar, the suspicious man who had finished searching the luggage compartment sorted the luggage and ripped open a box.
“They kept their promise.”
The box was filled with disguise outfits, weapons, and gunpowder for the suspicious men to use.
“Okay, we’ll wait here until night.”
Yoon-seok didn’t know what they would do at night, but… it wasn’t something he should let them get away with.
‘Why is this happening again?’
He sighed.
* * *
Thieves? It was okay. No matter what they stole, Yoon-seok wouldn’t have intervened. Smugglers? The same remained true. Although it would be noisy along the way, he would have tolerated it. However…
“Everyone, keep that in mind. No one’s coming for rescue. After the ship burns down and sinks, we all die. But the reward promised by the Empire will certainly be paid.”
Were they going to destroy the ship? That wasn’t acceptable. Yoon-seok had to arrive at Levane Neutral and meet with Lee Su-yeon.
“Again, the plan is perfect.”
Their plan may have been fine, given that they were confident and no one was coming to the luggage compartment. But in the end, the success of their work was determined by heaven.
“This is the price for a free ride.”
No words were needed. Yoon-seok released his Hiding, struck the man in front of him in the back of his head, and stunned him.
Puck-!
“…W-who is it!”
The rest panicked at the unexpected attack and pulled out their weapons, but it didn’t mean anything.
“Are you the one sent by the Third Prince? Reveal yourself!”
Yoon-seok slapped each one on the head. They wouldn’t believe it if he told them that he was a stowaway anyway.
Puck-!
It didn’t take long. Before long, a dozen men fell to the floor, leaving only their leader. Did he realize their overwhelming difference in force? He stepped back and shouted.
“I-I don’t know how you got your hands on us, but none of us will open our mouths!”
It seemed that he misunderstood that they were stunned for interrogation. The only reason Yoon-seok suppressed them like that was that he didn’t want to smell blood for five days. Nothing more and nothing less.
Puck-!
He wasn’t particularly curious about their stories, and he didn’t intend to get caught up in useless things. Yoon-seok, quickly clearing up the unidentified men, threw them into the sea one by one through the gap in the torn boards. Most would die, but he didn’t care. Those trying to kill hundreds couldn’t be good, and some even had signs of evil.
“It’s going to be quiet now.”
As if nothing had happened, Yoon-seok went back to his seat earlier and meditated. Around the time the sun began to set, the luggage compartment, which seemed to have found peace, was again engulfed in commotion.
* * *
“Search all over.”
The luggage compartment door, which had been locked, opened without warning, and knights poured in. They said it was a perfect plan, though…
But, as if they had obtained information on the terrorists, they searched the luggage compartment thoroughly.
Crack! Bam!
The boxes containing the cargo were treated violently by the knights, and what lay inside was revealed. Among them, the several cargos prepared by the suspicious men earlier were also found.
“Gunpowder! It’s gunpowder!”
“Be careful!”
Their eyes grew even fiercer. Yoon-seok activated Hidden and waited for the commotion to end, but… contrary to his wishes, the search didn’t stop even after opening all the boxes.
“There are signs of intrusion into the ship. Since we can’t see them, they must be hiding inside! Find them somehow! We must find out who is behind it!”
Fortunately, though, most knights left after the search through the luggage compartment was over, leaving only a few behind. As he listened to the conversations of the remaining knights in the luggage compartment, Yoon-seok laughed without realizing it.
“With this amount of gunpowder, even Levane’s trading ship could be destroyed. Hey buddy, what do you think will happen in the future?”
“Well. If the culprits don’t come out, why don’t we go back to the Empire once again? No matter how important this schedule is, we cannot expose noblemen to danger.”
Yoon-seok was bothered by some strange things. If the knights’ guesses were correct, the ship would return to port. After all, they wouldn’t be able to find those who were thrown into the sea no matter how they searched.
“Damn it. What should I do? Should I go back and take another boat to come back?”
The ship departed in the morning and sailed until evening. It would be morning when it returned to the port, and he would lose a day just like that. Above all, he didn’t want that to happen. His schedule had a deadline of thirteen days, and everything needed to be resolved before that.
‘Let’s check whether it’s true or not first.’
Nothing was certain yet. Wasn’t this just their guesses? What mattered was the opinion of the final decision-maker. Yoon-seok snuck out of the luggage compartment and went up to the deck. There was an unexpected commotion there to find the culprits.
‘They mentioned noblemen, right?’
Feeling the sea breeze, Yoon-seok expanded his senses. He decided that if it were the noblemen that the knights were talking about, there would be a considerable escort attached to them.
‘Is it there?’
Yoon-seok quickly identified a point. In the inner corner of the ship, even amid the chaotic search, an exceptionally large number of talented people gathered. As he went deep inside, avoiding the knights running around in the hallways, Yoon-seok knew immediately that he had come to the right place.
“Sir Kadov! What do you mean by turning around? If you do that, we won’t be able to meet the schedule!”
“However, it is my family’s duty to take responsibility for the safety of Her Majesty the Royal Princess. Please understand, Your Lordship.”
“What do you mean to understand? Didn’t you collect all the gunpowder thanks to the spy? You’ll find who’s hiding in no time!”
“But…”
“But what? If we don’t attend, only the people behind this will benefit! Are you sure you know that?”
In the room, the knights were guarding tightly; an untimely argument was taking place. It seemed this trading ship had some kind of envoys disguised for security reasons.
‘Even if I chose it myself, something like this…’
Yoon-seok let out a silent sigh. His purpose was just to go to Levane Neutral, but unwanted incidents kept happening around him.
‘Is this my fate…?’
Yoon-seok accepted it and listened to the story going on inside the room. The voices of the two confronting each other grew louder until they reached the point of boiling over.
“Everyone, stop! What kind of safety are you seeking to show this ugliness? Everyone, calm down and refrain from talking. This is for the Royal Princess to make a decision.”
Someone stepped in, and the Royal Princess, who hadn’t appeared throughout the meeting, calmly opened her mouth.
“…It is truly heartbreaking that there are people who want us to die here. That is proof that this meeting is important to them.”
“But if you come…!”
Now it was the Baron chiming in. Although he couldn’t look inside, Yoon-seok thought his expression wouldn’t be much different from his own.
“I’m not done speaking yet, Your Lordship.”
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
The Baron, rebuked, stepped down, and the Royal Princess continued talking with anger running under her voice.
“I can’t believe they planned it so poorly. This disturbance is also one of their ulterior motives. Don’t you know that? How thorough they are.”
It was a misunderstanding. Their plan failed, and the reason why the knights couldn’t find them was that Yoon-seok killed them.
“I am not afraid that I alone will die. However, my big brother will be left alone there.”
The Princess made her decision.
“Let’s turn the boat around.”
“We will obey your orders.”
Even those who opposed couldn’t express their disagreement over the Princess’s decision. It was the worst outcome for Yoon-seok. On the other hand, he also thought like this: he would only lose a day if he sat still anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to try something?
He made his decision as soon as he had the thought.
Clank.
After releasing Hidden and opening the door, people’s bewildered gaze moved to regard him.
“…W-who are you?!”
Yoon-seok calmly revealed his identity.
“Someone who wants this ship to go to Levane more than anyone.”
He was just an ordinary stowaway passing by.
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