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Chapter 34: The First Mission
Several months had passed since Eurius’s ceremony in the north, which had gone smoothly without any trouble.
‘So far, so good.’
The first thing that changed after the ceremony was the atmosphere of the knights who dealt with him.
Of course, the knights of the north were loyal to the imperial command.
But that was different from following him with their hearts, and Eurius’s relaxed attitude during the ceremony period had left a strong impression on them.
‘It seems that His Highness did not come here just to earn some merit.’
‘The knights who came with him are also adapting well, right? Especially Sir Heinz, he looks like a nice person and a hard worker.’
Among the others, Sir Heinz was the one who stood out the most. He was a talented person who had followed an elite course with his skills, but he had also faced the barrier of being a commoner.
Naturally, he had a lot in common with the knights of the north, and he also had a gentle personality that made him likable.
“Your Highness, did you sleep well last night?”
“Sir Heinz, do you want to spar with me today?”
They welcomed him with a much warmer mood than when they first entered Valdes Fortress.
Count Anderson was also like that. He was satisfied today as well, as he received a report from Sir Linfield about Urius.
“He is indeed a graduate of the Savior Academy who majored in military science. He learns very fast. I think he can perform his duties as a squad leader soon.”
“Hmm
”
The count read the report several times with a pleased expression and then asked a question.
“Where do you think would be the best place for His Highness’s first mission?”
Sir Linfield seemed to ponder for a moment and then gave his opinion.
“In my personal opinion, I think the Loki Forest on the west side of the mountain range would be good. I don’t think His Highness would be very happy if he faced barbarians on his first mission.”
“That’s exactly what I think too. You have a good point.”
Valdes Fortress was located at the front line of the north and also served as the command center of the knight order.
There were two threats that lurked in the north. The first one was the invasion of barbarians.
After the road connecting the central and northern regions was completed, several pioneer villages had been established, but the barbarians who invaded them for plunder were their biggest threat.
The second threat was monsters and spirits.
The north had more monsters than usual due to its mountainous nature, and strangely enough, some of them had evolved into powerful beings called spirits after living for a long time.
The invasion of ordinary monsters could be prevented by having strong defenses and guards in the villages, but in case of spirits, the knights had to intervene.
Of course, they also patrolled regularly to reduce the number of monsters in places where they appeared, so that such situations would not occur in the first place.
This was the mission that they wanted to entrust to Eurius.
“His Highness’s martial skills are outstanding. Even Sir Heinz, who is a former royal guard, has few rivals here.”
Sir Linfield thought that there would be hardly any threatening situations for Eurius if he just cleared out some monsters.
“Is that settled then?”
Count Anderson rubbed his large hands like a pot lid and gave his final request to Sir Linfield.
“No matter what, there is always a possibility of an emergency. Please take good care of His Highness.”
“Of course.”
That was how Eurius’s first activity in the north was decided.
‘Monster hunting, huh
’
“I was bored of just receiving training for months, so this is good.”
Eurius got up with a faint smile. He actually wanted to contact the northern immigrants and find out about Nuada’s situation, but he couldn’t be greedy at first.
If he gradually built up his merit, the duke would eventually give him more important missions, even if he was a prince.
“How is the formation?”
“It will be centered around Your Highness, with about twenty knights and five hundred soldiers. I think I will be the deputy leader.”
Sir Linfield scratched his head as if he was embarrassed.
“Actually, Sir Heinz is much better than me in terms of skills, but the duke seemed to value my knowledge of the geography of the north.”
“What are you talking about? Heinz and I are still novices in the north, so don’t worry about it.”
Sir Heinz also nodded his head readily, as if he liked Sir Linfield’s modest attitude.
“I also felt that I couldn’t assist His Highness alone. I trust Sir Linfield.”
Even though they followed the command system, knights were also warriors.
It was not a pleasant thing to go under a lower-ranked warrior of the same knight status, but Sir Heinz didn’t care much.
“I appreciate your consideration, Sir Heinz.”
‘As expected, Sir Linfield is also a valuable talent for me. I have to gain more favor from him.’
Eurius also reaffirmed his determination as he listened to their warm conversation.
The preparation for departure was done in no time after the formation was decided.
“Even though Your Highness’s skills and the accompanying knights are enough, you still have to be careful.”
“I thank you for your concern, count.”
After a brief greeting, Eurius finally left for his first mission in the north.
The formation consisted of twenty skilled knights chosen by the count himself and about five hundred soldiers. It was actually a safe choice considering the difficulty of the mission.
It was the count’s consideration for him to succeed in his first mission.
Loki Forest was a fairly large forest that was about five days away from Valdes Fortress.
“The main monsters that appear are ice trolls. There are also goblin tribes and occasionally a few ogres roaming around. Ah!”
Sir Linfield’s explanation was cut off abruptly.
A day after they started their journey to Loki Forest, they finally encountered a group of monsters.
“Grrr
”
‘His Highness is new to real combat, so I have to take charge.’
“Splat!”
“Kieeek!!”
But before Linfield could give an order, Eurius’s sword sliced off the arm of a monster that ran towards him.
Then Eurius calmly ordered the knights.
“Ice trolls, huh? They have high regeneration abilities, so knights should pair up and distract them before cutting their necks or aiming for their heads!”
‘That’s an appropriate response!’
Linfield was inwardly astonished as he dodged the attack of the charging ice troll and slashed its leg with his sword.
No matter how remarkable the troll’s regeneration was, it couldn’t heal quickly from a deep wound. As its movement slowed down slightly, Heinz, the knight behind him, pierced its head in one breath.
The other knights were also veterans who had gone through numerous battles.
They divided into teams and faced their opponents. The ice troll pack, which had been about twenty in number, soon became cold corpses lying on the ground.
“I was really amazed by Your highness’s quick judgment.”
“I just remembered the characteristics I saw in the Monster Encyclopedia before.”
Eurius answered with an indifferent expression and urged them to move on.
In this way, the squad led by Eurius had quite a few battles before they arrived near Loki Forest, but they were able to arrive safely without a single casualty.
‘Your highness has no significant combat experience, as far as I know, but surprisingly, you have excellent command skills.’
Linfield and the other knights couldn’t help but be impressed inwardly.
Of course, they were among the elite knights who were entrusted with the emperor’s escort mission, but Eurius’s command was swift and rational every time a monster appeared.
Even Linfield, who had been active as a squad leader in the north for several years, admired him. How much more so for others?
‘For now, I have to show off my command skills here.’
Eurius intended not to reveal his powerless side too much in his first mission.
What he wanted was contact with the northern immigrants, and to do that, he had to go as a commander to a bigger battle than these trivial missions where he led troops into combat.
‘To do that, it’s faster to be recognized for my ability as a commander rather than my personal strength.’
Eurius’s command skills were not as great as those of a famous general like Devon, but they were quite decent for an emperor who had rolled around in many battlefields in his previous life.
Especially this kind of small-scale elite activity was very familiar to him. It probably wouldn’t take long to reach the standard that Anderson Marquis wanted.
“This is Loki Forest.”
“Then let’s camp here for today.”
A few tents were set up quickly.
If they circled this Loki Forest and cleared out a few large monster groups, Eurius’s first mission would be completed.
But Eurius’s intention to order camping was far from rest.
‘It’s time to catch the tails of those rats.’
Eurius sneaked out of the barracks at midnight and checked if all the knights except the sentries were asleep.
“Yawn.”
The sentry at that time was Linfield.
“You look tired.”
“Ah! Your highness, I’m sorry for showing you this shameful sight.”
“No. You’ve been working hard to assist me.”
Eurius chatted with Linfield about this and that before getting up.
“I’ll go wash up at the lake over there before I go to sleep.”
“It’s dangerous by yourself. Let me escort you
”
‘Sorry, but just sleep for a while.’
“Huh?”
Thud!
Eurius knocked out Linfield in an instant and started to distance himself from the campsite at a fast speed.
The reason why he knocked out Linfield was because he was worried that his whereabouts would be exposed if he had a knight’s sense even if he distanced himself.
‘If it was an ordinary soldier, there would be no problem.’
Eurius moved using the Counter-Ear Technique, which made it impossible for a normal soldier to notice him.
In the meantime, he leaked some traces to make it easier for the ones he wanted, those who were following his trail, to find him.
‘This should be enough to have a fight without making any noise.’
Eurius stopped at a clearing in the forest that looked empty and shouted.
“Why don’t you come out now?”
Swoosh.
As if they were waiting for his words, black shadows began to appear in the forest.
They looked like they were more than twenty in number. It was amazing that no one except him knew that this many people were following Eurius’s group.
Their stealth was incredible.
‘They look like they’re shouting “I’m an assassin!” with their outfits.’
Eurius clicked his tongue and drew his sword.
The freaks who covered everything except their eyes with black masks and cloaks!
They were a group that had given him a lot of trouble in his previous life.
Unless they were superhuman-level warriors, it was almost impossible to detect them when they were stalking with determination.
“Is it Daegong? Or Wallace?”
The freaks didn’t answer Eurius’s question at all. They silently surrounded him and approached him.
‘It seems impossible to get anything out of them by asking.’
Swoosh.
The freaks who surrounded him drew their swords first. They were crescent-shaped blades that the warriors of the southern desert liked to use.
Clang.
Eurius’s sword and the freaks’ crescent blades collided with sparks and friction sounds.
In an instant, more than ten clashes occurred, and the first ones to spill blood were the freaks.
Several of them fell to the ground bleeding.
The leader of the assassin’s, who was watching the situation from afar, silently raised his hand.
“
”
Each of the assassin’s attacks seemed simple at first glance, but they were intricately coordinated attacks to overwhelm a minority.
The fact that he broke through them so easily meant that the target’s skill was beyond expectation.
‘Send in the second team.’
That was what the leader’s raised hand meant. The real terror of them was about to begin.
A fierce killing intent filled the eyes of the freaks who surrounded him. There was no retreat for them once the order was given.
Shriek!
If it was a confrontation where they crossed weapons with each other until now, this time they jumped in without sparing their bodies to block his movement.
‘You have to give them credit for being persistent.’
Eurius’s sword moved at a dazzling speed.
No matter how many they were, it was practically suicide to rush in recklessly against an opponent who was far superior to them.
Every time his sword moved, another assassin’s corpse was added without fail.
However, that was exactly what the freaks were aiming for.
Before Eurius could recover his sword strike that dealt with the last freak who rushed in, dozens of blue lines popped out of the forest and surrounded him in an instant.
The lines traced a lightning-like speed and twisted into a net shape, wrapping around Eurius in a flash.
‘This is the end.’
The leader of the assassin’s confirmed his victory inwardly.
That net was a special product prepared by their sect to deal with warriors above a certain level.
The net, which was infused with force and tougher than ordinary steel, was hard to cut even for a master-level warrior.
He couldn’t count how many outstanding warriors had gone to the other world because of this surprise tactic!
‘You must have been confident in your skills since you deliberately lured us in, but this is
’
Boom!
“
!?”
But contrary to the leader’s expectation, the net didn’t wrap around Eurius at all. It exploded into pieces with a loud noise.
‘I guess this is enough for reconnaissance.’
“Shall we start the second round now?”
Eurius smiled wickedly and pointed his sword at them.