Chapter 94

Chapter 94:  Chicken-head Hunt. (1)

In the middle of a rocky mountain blanketed in thick fog.

“Huff... Huff...”

“Good grief, what kind of godforsaken mountain is this?”

Led by Hardin, more than a dozen knights of Daphne each walked up the steep slope with a horse in tow.

Everyone looked utterly exhausted—sunken cheeks and deep shadows under their eyes.

Then, Hardin shouted.

“Hey, hurry up! Are we planning to stay out here all night?!”

“Understood!”

Damn it...

Grumbling reluctantly, everyone picked up their pace.

Mikkelsen let out a loud sigh and asked Beryl.

“Brother Beryl, what exactly are we trying to do here?”

“You think I’d know?”

“Grrrrrgh...”

What in the world is he up to this time?

Mikkelsen scratched his head furiously.

It had already been two full weeks since they left the Daphne territory.

In the meantime, Hardin had been dragging the knights all over the place.

‘What the hell is this for?’

‘I don’t get it. Not at all...’

The problem was... no one here had a single clue about his intentions.

 Hey, throw this in the backpack.

 …Isn’t this just a chain? What’s it for?

 I’ll tell you when the time comes, just pack it in.

Out of nowhere, they stopped by a free city, bought chains, and were told to stuff them into their packs.

Then, another day...

 Gather all the herbs around here. Then crush them with stones like this, mix them with oil, and put the mixture into a flask.

 Grrrrrgh, understood.

Passing through a forest on their route, they picked herbs at random and brewed some sort of mystery potion.

And the most torturous part of it all...

 Not here. Next mountain.

 Huh? We’re leaving already? But we just got here.

 This isn’t the destination.

 Can’t you at least tell us what exactly we’re looking for? Or maybe let us rest for a bit...?

 There’s no time to rest! Move it!

For almost ten days straight, they scoured mountain after mountain without a moment’s rest, like they were on a rat hunt.

No one had the faintest idea what he was after or why he was in such a rush.

All they’d been doing was dashing around from one mountain to the next like madmen...

‘Even a mutt’s training isn’t this bad.’

At this point, Mikkelsen had lost count of how many mountains they’d climbed.

With a face full of despair, Mikkelsen continued.

“Brother, what the hell does any of this have to do with building a breakwater?”

“Beats me... Maybe he’s looking for some kind of rare mineral?”

“Mineral? What kind of mineral?”

“Something that helps build breakwaters faster... isn’t there something like that?”

“What nonsense. Nothing like that exists in the world.”

“Then maybe... he’s trying to recruit some genius craftsman hiding out in the middle of nowhere...?”

“Grrrrrgh, well, that at least kind of makes sense.”

Still, come on. If he wants us to work, he could at least tell us something.

Since they weren’t given any explanation, speculations and arguments had been flying nonstop.

Then it happened.

“Whatever it is we’re doing... what does it matter?”

“Hmm?”

Manton, who had been walking just behind the two, suddenly cut in and tossed out a remark.

“What are you on about now?”

When Mikkelsen asked with a twitch of his eyebrow, Manton answered immediately.

“There’s always a reason behind what the Young Master does. But questioning it and constantly running your mouth—that’s not the conduct of a proper knight.”

“Ah, sure, sure.”

There he goes again.

Ever since the Mudside incident, the man completely lost his mind any time the Young Master’s name came up...

Even as Mikkelsen shook his head, Manton kept going.

“Furthermore, when the Young Master moves with such urgency, it is our duty as his vassals to—”

“Enough.”

“What do you mean enough? I wasn’t even done—”

“Anyway, your point is that we just need to follow the Young Master’s orders, right?”

“Hrmm, yes. That’s right.”

Such an obvious statement...

When Mikkelsen stared him down and snapped back, Manton replied with an awkward smile.

Then Mikkelsen turned back toward Beryl and said,

“Still, at least this time it doesn’t seem like we’re in any danger. That’s a relief.”

“Yeah, we should be grateful for just that much.”

Beryl nodded in firm agreement.

So far, the most dangerous things they’d faced were some orcs, goblins, and a few groups of bandits.

Compared to the territorial war, the Kreveion subjugation, and everything that happened at the Ruslan Fortress...

‘This is nothing.’

At least they weren’t at risk of dying.

It was just then.

“Ugh, there’s another one.”

When one of the knights muttered in exasperation, everyone turned their heads in that direction.

And then they saw it—a village.

Dilapidated buildings scattered around, clearly abandoned for some time, with mist hanging over it all, giving it an eerie and desolate feel.

Beryl hugged himself slightly and spoke with a fearful expression.

“Haven’t we seen quite a few villages like this on the way here?”

“There’ve been about four or five.”

“Something must have happened… don’t you think?”

“I doubt it. There aren’t any proper fields around here, and nothing to live off of. They were probably abandoned naturally.”

“Hrmm. Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”

Looks like all the stress from the Young Master’s orders had made him extra jumpy.

Beryl let out a sigh of relief.

They kept climbing for quite some time after that.

“Aoooo, damn it! Finally found it.”

Hardin raised his head and let out a string of curses as he shouted.

Maybe it was from the grueling march over the past ten days, but his face clearly showed irritation.

“Huh?”

“What is that...?”

Everyone squinted and followed Hardin’s gaze upward.

What they saw was a massive rocky mountain towering ahead.

It was so large, they couldn’t even take in the whole thing at once.

Hundreds of holes were scattered across its surface, giving it an uncanny resemblance to the porous structure of a sea sponge.

‘What the hell is that? That’s what he’s been looking for?’

‘…I have no clue.’

As everyone just blinked in confusion—

Hardin curled his lips into a smirk and said,

“Tie the horses nearby and only bring the necessary gear. We’re going in.”

“…What exactly are we going in there for?”

When Mikkelsen asked, Hardin crossed his arms and replied with a confident look.

“I told you. We’re building a breakwater.”

“I don’t really get how that has anything to do with that thing…”

“The materials are in there.”

“Materials?”

“Yeah, materials for the breakwater.”

As Hardin’s eyes gleamed, the same thought crossed everyone’s minds.

A rocky mountain full of holes that looked almost like a mine.

And they were going in there to find materials for a breakwater.

If that’s the case, there was only one answer.

‘Is he trying to find a vein of ore?’

‘See? I told you.’

No one said it out loud, but inside, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

This could only mean one thing: mining.

And that confirmed one thing for sure—

‘This mission is… safe!’

They were almost certainly here to dig with pickaxes.

At least this time they wouldn’t have to deal with something insane like a Kreveion popping out mid-mission or fending off thousands of monsters.

Mikkelsen grinned as he tied his horse to a tree and spoke.

“Hahaha. Understood, Young Master. So what should we bring? Though... didn’t we forget to pack any pickaxes?”

“Just bring the chains and that potion we made earlier.”

“Chains? And the potion?”

“Yeah.”

…Chains? Why would they need chains to mine ore?

Mikkelsen tilted his head in confusion, but Manton suddenly snapped his fingers and exclaimed.

“As expected of the Young Master! Such deep foresight!”

“Come on, man. Care to clue the rest of us in?”

When Mikkelsen asked, Manton shrugged and replied.

“Isn’t it obvious? The chains are for pulling out the materials we extract… and the potion is either to preserve or neutralize them. Right, sir?”

“Well, that’s… close enough.”

“As expected! Hahaha!”

Manton burst into a pleased laugh at Hardin’s reply.

The others, however, still looked quite puzzled.

‘…Why go through all that trouble?’

‘This is weird.’

Wouldn’t it have been way simpler to just bring pickaxes from the start?

But that doubt didn’t last very long.

‘Well, if he says so, then maybe it’s true.’

‘There must be some unusual kind of ore we don’t know about.’

Knowing the Young Master Hardin... doing weird stuff like this was nothing new.

In fact, compared to everything they’d been through up to now, this was relatively tame.

Then Hardin, after packing the chains and potion, said,

“Quit yapping and follow me. We’re wasting time.”

“Yes, sir! Let’s go.”

“Ready when you are.”

Hoooo... This time, they might actually get to take it easy for once.

A faint smile spread across the faces of the knights following Hardin.

---

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Water dripped from the ceiling in a gloomy cave lined with bats hanging in clusters.

With no light source other than the ones they brought, and a strange chill lingering in the air, a group of people slowly made their way inside.

About a dozen Daphne knights.

Among them, Hardin and two or three others held oil lanterns to light the path as they moved forward.

“W-Walk a little slower, Mikkelsen.”

“…Brother, could you stop squeezing my arm like that? It hurts.”

“I told you, I’m scared.”

“AAAGH! I said that hurts!”

Beryl clung tightly to Mikkelsen’s arm, who was holding a lantern, causing Mikkelsen to twist his body in discomfort.

Watching the scene, Hardin finally couldn’t hold back and asked,

“Sigh… What the hell is wrong with you now?”

Beryl answered with a tearful face,

“Wh-What do you mean what’s wrong? Doesn’t this place feel like a ghost might pop out any second?”

“Can I say one thing?”

“What is it?”

Hardin narrowed his eyes and said,

“Honestly, don’t you think the ghost would be more scared of you?”

The knights silently nodded in agreement.

‘To be fair… Brother Beryl’s face does have that level of destructive power.’

‘Still, we should hear the ghost’s side too, just in case.’

The unfortunate thing was, the person in question had no idea what they were implying.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“...Forget it. We’re busy, let’s keep moving.”

“No, seriously, what do you mean by that?”

“I said forget it.”

Do you really need someone to spell it out for you?

Hardin shook his head and picked up the pace.

At that moment, Manton quietly sidled up beside him and asked,

“Um, Young Master. Would it be alright to tell us now?”

“Tell you what?”

“What kind of ore we’re here to extract.”

“Ore? What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you say earlier that we’re here to mine ore?”

Magic stones? Opals? Or maybe… some other rare gemstone?

Whatever it was, if the Young Master was after it, it had to be something extraordinary.

Manton’s eyes sparkled with expectation.

“Hey, when did I ever say we’re here to mine ore…”

Just as Hardin was about to say something in disbelief—

“Eeeek! B-Bats!”

“AAAGH! My arm! I said it hurts!”

“Young Master, please slow down! Let’s take it slow!”

Beryl’s scream from behind made Hardin and Manton flinch for a moment.

“Jeez, scared the hell out of me.”

Manton furrowed his brow and yelled toward the back.

“Shut up! Making such a fuss only gets in the way of the Young Master’s scouting!”

“What am I supposed to do if I’m scared?!”

Beryl protested with a face full of injustice.

“What’s there to be scared of, anyway? You’re a unit commander, for crying out loud…”

But Manton continued scolding him, clearly unable to comprehend how someone could be so pathetic.

‘Well said, that one.’

Hardin nodded firmly in agreement.

Still, Beryl kept on mumbling.

“I told you! It feels like some ghost is going to jump out of the darkness!”

“Why the hell would a ghost be here?”

“What do you mean why?! Ghosts love dark places!”

“Haaaa… There’s no such thing.”

Even Manton’s long sigh wasn’t enough to stop Beryl’s worrying.

“And how can you be so sure about that?”

“When something doesn’t exist, you don’t need a reason to say it doesn’t.”

“And what if you’re wrong? What if there is something? Then what?”

“If something actually shows up… I’ll become your little brother or something.”

That such a pathetic man could be called a knight...

Manton shook his head in disbelief.

Then, just as he started walking forward again—

 Screeeeeech!

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from the other end of the passage, loud enough to split ears.

Everyone instinctively turned their eyes toward the source—and then they saw it.

“What is that…”

Six glowing red orbs, floating in midair, both large and small.

“Wh… Wh-Wh-What?!”

At that moment, Beryl started trembling violently and stumbled backward, pointing with a shaky hand.

“G-Ghost! It’s a ghost!”

“No, we don’t know that yet—”

“Do something, little brother Manton!”

“Since when the hell did I become your little brother?”

“You said you’d be my brother if a ghost showed up!”

A ghost actually appeared? No way, that couldn’t be…

While Beryl was panicking out of his mind, Manton floundered, his mouth opening and closing in stunned silence.

Thwack!

“Augh!”

Just then, Hardin furrowed his brow sharply and kicked Beryl’s shin as he snapped.

“Goddamn it, shut up already. My ears are splitting.”

“But it’s a ghost! A ghost, I’m telling you!”

“Cut the ghost crap. Draw your sword.”

“Huh? What do you mean by—”

It was at that moment—

Screeeeeech!

Another chilling shriek rang out.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Heavy footsteps echoed closer, and the red lights began approaching with them.

Hardin raised his lantern higher, illuminating the far end of the tunnel.

And then...

“…What is that?”

It was a massive chicken.

Glowing red eyes, a body the size of a bull.

And on its tail, three snakes flicked their tongues menacingly.

“Basilisk?”

What the hell is that doing here?

Everyone’s eyes widened like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

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