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Chapter 49 – Road to the Empire (1)
The mercenary group departed from Balgma and started their travel on the big road, towards the Empire’s direct domain. Because they were trying to cover the time that Urich spent sick in bed, they didn’t visit any cities or fiefs. It had been over three consecutive days of the mercenary group staying out in the wilderness.
Fahel would periodically receive swordsmanship lessons from Phillion.
“Your Royal Highness, with only those hand movements, you wouldn’t even be able to defeat me, someone who only has their left hand,” said Phillion while swinging a sword. Fahel was gasping for air in front of him.
“Damn it. Why are swords this fucking heavy?!” said Fahel, irritated. He had already received basic swordsmanship lessons as he was royalty, but the sword that he used then was a wooden one intended for practice. And even then, he would often skip those classes.
‘I can’t believe His Royal Highness would choose to receive swordsmanship lessons.’
Phillion, who was swept up by his emotions, had a content smile on his face. He once again swung the sword in his left hand.
CLANG!
The sword fell out of Fahel’s hand. Blisters could be seen on his palm.
“It might be best to end it here today, Your Royal Highness. You will get used to it soon,” said Phillion while putting away his sword. Fahel nodded in response.
“How strong do you think Urich is, Sir Phillion?” asked Fahel while resting and drinking water.
“A warrior of considerable level. Not only is he strong, he also has fighting skill unbefitting his young age.”
Phillion had already assessed Urich. During the times Phillion stood next to him, he watched the mercenary leader’s skills.
“Are there any knights in our kingdom that can defeat him?” asked Fahel.
Phillion became silent for a moment. He couldn’t easily give an answer to that.
‘It’s difficult to give a name of someone who can match him, but it’s too embarrassing to say that there aren’t any.’
While Phillion was still thinking about it, Fahel continued speaking.
“There probably isn’t one within our kingdom. Then what about in the Empire? Blademaster Perjen?”
“Blademaster Perjen is too old. He is over seventy years old now. No matter how skilled of a warrior he may be, there is no one who can overcome age. Blademaster Perjen is the living history of the Empire. Not only has he participated in the unification and conquest of the continent, but he has also participated in the barbarian subjugation. But even if we exclude him, if you look in the Order of the Imperial Steel Knights or the Order of the Sun Warriors, there must be men who can compare to Urich.”
Truthfully, Phillion wasn’t certain either. He was just the knight of a small kingdom. He spent his entire life guarding the royal family and protecting the royal castle. He doesn’t have a lot of real combat experience compared to his age.
“Sir Phillion, do you believe Urich will accept an offer to become my vassal after this request is over?”
The remaining heat on Fahel’s face subsided. He looked up towards Phillion with his sapphire eyes. His gaze shone with elegance and beauty befitting of a noble.
“I’m not sure. It’s difficult for me to say something as well because we have no idea what Urich the Barbarian’s goals are. At least from what we could tell so far, he doesn’t seem like the type to covet wealth.”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t ask you because I wanted to hear a specific answer. I just wanted for you to know what my intent was,” said Fahel as he looked at the bushes. The mercenaries returned from hunting. Because there was a forest nearby, those who were confident in their ability to hunt volunteered themselves to do so.
“Just go boil up some water. I’m going to remove the hide soon.”
The mercenaries caught five rabbits. They killed the rabbits on the spot and cut only the meat.
Fahel grimaced and turned away. He had a weak stomach.
“It might be good to get used to blood, Your Royal Highness. If you sincerely plan to learn swordsmanship,” said Phillion from the side.
“Oi, Fahel. Want to try it? It’s not that hard,” said Urich while dismantling the rabbit.
“U-Uhrm.”
Fahel hesitantly dismantled the rabbit with Urich.
“You just need to separate some of the hide and meat with the knife. And after that, you just need to pull it hard like this.”
RIIIIIIP!
Urich pulled on the hide and completely took it off, exposing all of the rabbit’s meat.
“Wait!”
Fahel quickly stood up and ran behind a tree. The sound of his heaves could be heard throughout.
“So you’re not shitting the food out of your butthole but throwing it all up out of your mouthhole? You deserve to starve, Fahel,” said Urich while chewing on a rabbit’s eye. The mercenaries laughed after hearing that. They put the rabbit meat inside the pot whole and cooked it in boiling water. Even if it didn’t have many other ingredients cooked with it, meat soup was still a source of strength for them.
BAOOOOOO.
A sentry blew on their horn. The mercenaries, who had been preparing to eat, all stood up with their weapons in hand.
“What’s going on?”
“Which direction is it?”
The sentry pointed towards the horizon. The armed warriors stood tall, facing it.
“Damn it, it’s supposed to be meal time right now. These bastards don’t have any manners.”
“Just raise your shield and pay attention to the surroundings. It could be a pincer maneuver. Concentrate.”
The mercenaries perfectly moved into formation.
“That’s strange. If they discovered us first, they should have ambushed us. But they waited for us to get into formation,” said Bakman while squinting his eyes.
“One person is coming from their side. Hey, prepare for battle! Don’t attack, and wait!” ordered Donovan while checking the mercenaries’ formation. An envoy from the enemies arrived and looked at Urich and the mercenary group.
“We are ‘Hroon’s Wolves’! A mercenary group.”
After the envoy finished his words, the mercenaries whispered amongst each other.
“Hroon’s Wolves? Has anyone heard of them?”
“Hroon is a Northerner’s name.”
After hearing that, Urich looked at Sven. Sven thought hard while rubbing his chin.
“Hroon, Hroon, Hroon, hmm… There were quite a number of warriors who used that name. Is it him?”
While Sven was thinking, Urich stepped forward.
“We are ‘Urich’s Brothers’. What business do you have?”
The envoy slowly opened his mouth after looking at the mercenary group.
“We want to take the one you are protecting. If you hand him over, there won’t be any bloodshed.”
Urich and the mercenaries laughed after hearing that. Their laughter spread far.
“Are you kidding me? Bloodshed? I don’t know where the fuck you guys are from, but if you are mercenaries, come at us with swords like mercenaries do.”
The envoy nodded as if expecting that response.
“We have similar numbers. Regardless of whoever the winner is, there will be a huge amount of unavoidable casualties. It’s Mercenary Leader Hroon’s policy to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. What do you think about engaging in a one-versus-one duel between the leaders?” proposed the envoy.
The envoy brought up a duel. Urich gladly accepted it.
“Wait, Urich.”
Donovan grabbed Urich’s shoulder then shouted while looking at the envoy.
“Give us some time to think as well. Whether to take on a duel or to face you guys head-on.”
After hearing Donovan’s words, the envoy turned towards his camp then answered,
“If you don’t answer quickly, our leader will come charging in. It looks like this place will soon be covered in blood.”
The envoy stood in place and waited for an answer.
Urich stepped back for a second. The mercenaries created a wall with their shields and glared at the enemies as Urich passed by.
“They must be mercenaries that Duke Harmati hired. As expected, we delayed too long at Balgma,” muttered Phillion to himself. He had no intention of blaming Urich but it was the truth. If they hadn’t wasted time in Balgma, this wouldn’t have happened.
“They gave up on the ambush and challenged us to a duel. It must be a mercenary leader who is extremely confident in their ability to win duels,” said Donovan while taking a glance at the horizon.
“I’ll just go kill him and come back. What are you thinking about? It’s a good opportunity. Do you think that I, Urich, will lose?”
“Think about it carefully, Urich. Don’t you also think that the reason they gave up on the ambush and challenged us to a duel instead is because their mercenary group’s combat power is low? We have rather high-quality mercenaries because we have a lot of former gladiators. They should also know that we successfully defended against the Silver Lion Mercenaries,” said Bakman. He put his brain to work.
“So because they’re not confident in facing us head-on, they’re challenging us to a duel because they think they have a higher chance at winning with that. Haha!” Urich slapped his knee as he laughed.
“Let’s just charge at them and sweep them up, Urich. We might have similar numbers, but there aren’t many mercenary groups who are stronger than us with similar numbers,” said Donovan while pulling out his sword.
“No, it’s fine. Let’s just do the duel.”
Urich waved them off.
Donovan and Bakman both scowled. It was a rare instance where their opinions matched.
“What the hell were you listening to? We’ll win by just fighting, Urich!”
“There’s no way we can be sure that they’ll have a fair duel as well. They could try to do a sneak attack during the battle. And if you die, we’ll lose morale and the battle as well.”
Donovan and Bakman spoke after one another.
“We got caught like this because I was sick in bed, right? Then I should take responsibility and take care of it. Even if we win by fighting them head-on, some will die. It’s good to spill less blood. I decided on accepting the duel. If you oppose it, let’s put it to a vote.” Urich smiled as he spoke. Donovan spat on the ground.
“If we put it to a vote, of course they will choose the duel. Damn it.”
Obviously, the mercenaries would favor a duel between the leaders. There was no mercenary that would willingly choose to go to a battle they could die in.
“Let’s duel! Hroon’s Wolves! I am Mercenary Leader Urich!” shouted Urich. His booming voice reached the horizon.
“WHOAAAAAAAA!”
Mercenaries of both groups made noise by clanging their weapons together. The surrounding area was filled with men’s shouts and clashing metal.
“UWOOOOO! I am Hroon!”
A huge man jumped forth from Hroon’s Wolves. The man who announced himself as Hroon was taller than even Urich. His giant figure was exceptionally tall, even amongst the massive Northerners.
Step, step.
Urich and Hroon both stepped forward from their sides, towards the center. The mercenaries of each group both screamed out their leader’s name continuously.
“UUUUUURICH! URICH! URICH!”
“HROON! GO! HROON! HROON, THE BAREHANDED SKULL CRUSHER!”
“WELL, OUR LEADER CAN EVEN RUN WHILE CARRYING A HOOOOOOOORSE!”
“HOW CAN A HUMAN RUN AROUND WITH A HORSE ON THEIR BACK?! URICH’S BROTHERS ARE FILLED WITH LIARS!”
The mercenaries started fighting with their words.
“Ah! So it was him. It was that Hroon,” said Sven suddenly. The other Northerners also recognized him.
“Sven, stop talking to yourself and tell us,” the other mercenaries complained.
“He was quite famous in the North. I heard that he killed a bear when he was ten years old… But he’s working as a mercenary in a place like this. If it’s someone named Hroon who’s that big, it has to be him.”
“If it is that Hroon, wouldn’t it be a bit dangerous even for Urich? If it’s the same guy that killed a bear when he was ten years old, he would have stacked up a lot of accomplishments.”
The Northerners started talking amongst themselves. The other mercenaries started to worry after hearing that.
‘Can Urich really die?’
While the mercenaries trusted Urich, they were worried after seeing Hroon’s size.
“Kuhuhuhu. Urich’s Brothers. I’ve heard a lot about you. The mercenaries who defended against the Silver Lions,” said Hroon who had already lifted his halberd. The two leaders were close enough to see the details on each other’s face.
‘I can’t believe they fell for it so naively. It’ll be a piece of cake.’
Hroon’s Wolves collectively had low combat power. Other than Hroon, the mercenaries were practically a ragtag group comparable to bandits. While it was natural for warriors to join a mercenary group if they were highly reputed, even fellow Northerners became sick of Hroon’s temper and left.
“Fuuu, fuuu.”
Urich’s steps became faster. He controlled his breath, lightly kicked the ground, and dashed towards his opponent.
Hroon tightened his grip on his halberd and roared.
“UWOOOO!”
He swung his halberd in a wide arc.
SLICE.
Urich leaped and flickered past Hroon’s side. After taking a tumble, he kept walking toward Hroon’s Wolves without looking back.
“Ggguu… guurugh…”
Hroon fell while grasping his throat. He couldn’t contain the blood with his hands as it poured out onto the ground. His legs gave, and he kneeled on the floor. The sound of his massive body hitting the floor confirmed Urich’s victory.
The duel was decided in one attack. Urich shook the blood off his blade and raised his hand. There were no warriors who came forth to avenge Hroon, even after Urich’s taunting.
“Fuck off! Before we kill you! ‘Wolves’, my ass. You guys were just damned mutts!”
Urich’s Brothers erupted in shouts as if they were about to charge at them, and Hroon’s Wolves quickly sprinted away.
“I guess I worried for no reason.” Sven laughed and watched Urich as he walked back towards them.
After overcoming his illness, Urich was healthy and was still the ever-strong mercenary leader.
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