Chapter 97

The three quickly bowed in greeting, then subtly exchanged glances between Dunstel and Errol.

“…”

Dunstel understood the meaning of their gaze.

“She really is my biological sister, so don’t look at her like that.”

“S-sorry.”

“No need to apologize. It’s true she’s exceptionally pretty among our family. Hahahaha!”

Errol, who had been listening quietly to their conversation, frowned slightly.

“Brother.”

Dunstel quickly cleared his throat, stopped laughing, and continued, “Ahem, but… as you can see, her personality is like this. I wonder who will take her…”

“Brother!”

“Alright, alright, stop glaring.”

“Oh, for goodness sake…”

Princess Errolomine sighed deeply at her immature, doting brother, then turned to the three bewildered individuals and said, “Thank you once again. However, we are currently in a hurried situation and are simply sorry that we cannot properly entertain you. We hope you will understand this.”

As she spoke politely and bowed once more, Song Dong-jun scratched the back of his head and immediately replied, “No, it’s nothing much we’ve… Ugh!” But he couldn’t finish his sentence. Lee Min-seo, who was listening beside him, elbowed him in the ribs.

“…”

She’s into hand-to-hand combat, alright. Her power is no joke. Song Dong-jun gasped in pain, clutching his side, unable to speak, only groaning and looking at Lee Min-seo with a “why did you do that?” expression. But Lee Min-seo ignored his gaze and quietly said, “Thank you for your words. We are humbled that someone of your high standing would treat people like us so kindly.”

“Nonsense. You are the ones who saved my brother and his family. How could I treat my family’s benefactors disrespectfully?”

“We simply carried out the task we were asked to do.”

Errol quietly nodded, then said, “I hesitate to ask this of people who have just finished a task, but may I ask a favor?”

“Speak.”

“As you can see, we are marching to the Heavenly Bridge to crush the enemy’s pursuit force and drive out the forces of darkness ravaging the north from this land. Would you kindly assist us with your excellent skills?”

Lee Min-seo thought for a moment, then replied, “First, we also need to return to the Heavenly Bridge, so we will accompany you. As for what happens afterward, we will discuss it with our companions who remained there and then let you know.”

Errol immediately agreed, “Very well. Let’s do that.”

Errol bowed slightly to Lee Min-seo, offering a simple gesture of respect. She then bowed to Song Dong-jun and Ju Gwang-myeong in turn, then took her adjutant and returned to where her horse was. The Chinese military officers who had followed her chuckled at the three players, then muttered something among themselves and followed Errol.

Dunstel, who had been quietly observing the entire situation, spoke to the three, “Are those people foreigners from a different place than you?” Lee Min-seo immediately replied, “Yes, though they are from a neighboring country.”

“I see.” Dunstel nodded in understanding, then said, “At any rate, it seems we’ll be together for a while longer.”

“We look forward to it. However, there’s just one thing I’d like to ask…”

“What is it? Speak your mind.”

“Is there a more comfortable carriage?”

Dunstel chuckled at Lee Min-seo’s words and replied, “Don’t worry about that. Conveniently, a royal carriage is included in the supply train, so you can ride in that.”

“Oh, thank you so much.”

“Then I’ll send the carriage right away.”

“Yes.”

As Dunstel withdrew, Song Dong-jun, who had been quietly observing their conversation, asked Lee Min-seo, “Why did you do that earlier?” Lee Min-seo replied, “Haven’t you ever done a sub-quest?”

“No, well… not really.”

“Hoo…”

Lee Min-seo sighed deeply and continued, “Sub-quests are different from other quests; the reward changes depending on how you speak. You have to actively ask for rewards other than experience points.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Hidden quests usually give a separate reward box when they’re fully completed, but sub-quests don’t have that.”

“Ah…”

“If you had said what you said earlier, and the princess had really said, ‘Then since you did what was expected, you don’t need a reward,’ you would’ve gotten nothing but experience points. You’d literally be sucking your thumb.”

Song Dong-jun nodded in understanding. “Ah, so that’s why you said you simply carried out the task you were asked to do.”

“Exactly. It’s like a polite way of saying, ‘Give us our reward,’ you know.”

Song Dong-jun replayed the conversation between Princess Errolomine and Lee Min-seo, shaking his head. Ju Gwang-myeong, however, who had been listening to their conversation with a blank expression, utterly failing to grasp what they were talking about, looked at the princess on her horse, giving orders to her adjutant, and said, “Wow… You know, on the internet, princesses don’t always look pretty, but that young lady, her figure and face are just so good, it makes me feel energized just looking at her.”

It was the highest praise he could muster, but Lee Min-seo sighed deeply and glared at Ju Gwang-myeong.

“If you don’t want a direct confrontation with those cavalrymen, never say things like that in front of them, Gwang-myeong.”

“S-sorry.”

As they talked, a carriage approached. Considering they were in a battle zone, it wasn’t ostentatiously decorated, but it was a sturdy-looking four-horse carriage that seemed impervious to most shocks. When the carriage stopped, a man who appeared to be a servant quickly dismounted and welcomed them.

“Prince Dunstel sent me. Please get in.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Min-seo stepped forward to greet the servant, then got into the carriage with the two men.

Meanwhile, from a distance, Tamarel, the commander of the Iron-Blooded Silver Knights, who was mounted on his horse, quietly asked Princess Errolomine, who was observing the three.

“May I humbly ask why you requested their company?”

Despite his rather bushy beard, the commander exuded a profound aura. Errol replied nonchalantly, “Just because.”

Tamarel frowned at her unenthusiastic reply. “General Tamarel is not as brilliant as Your Highness. Would you perhaps indulge me a little?” At his words, Errol smiled and replied, “Let’s just say it’s preparation for contingencies.”

“Preparation?” Tamarel glanced at the armored vehicles lined up behind them and continued, “Does Your Highness not trust them?”

“No. In many ways.”

“Because of the tragedy at Sharindel, then.”

Errol silently looked forward and nodded. “That’s right.”

“Hmm…” Tamarel nodded. He recalled that a week ago, when Sharindel, the northern capital, fell to the forces of darkness, similar foreigners were present with them. As Dunstel had told him, those foreigners with their steel carriages were wiped out without putting up proper resistance against the enemy’s leader. Of course, the new foreigners had many more steel carriages and far more powerful weapons, but that alone wasn’t enough to feel completely at ease.

Moreover, that wasn’t the only problem. What if these powerful foreign individuals harbored ill intentions? For Eshtalen, already reeling from the forces of darkness, it could face an existential crisis. While they were cooperating out of immediate necessity, absolute trust in these newly appeared foreigners was incredibly dangerous. Her statement about “not trusting them in many ways” carried that meaning.

This was why Errol insisted on taking the three seemingly unexceptional individuals with her. Although they didn’t seem particularly strong, according to Dunstel, their comrade who was currently defending the bridge was a strong individual capable of eliminating dozens of monsters instantly on his own. Of course, that person was equally difficult to trust unconditionally, but in a war where the future was so uncertain, the more hidden cards one had, the better.

“Preparations for the refugee evacuation are complete,” the messenger reported. Tamarel immediately replied, “Order an immediate departure.”

“Yes.”

As the messenger ran off, Tamarel spoke to Errol, “Your Highness. We will depart now.”

“It’s difficult for you to say such things to me. You are the commander of this vanguard unit, and I am merely a regular knight.”

“…”

Tamarel gave a wry smile. Was she truly unaware? The fact that most of the members of the Iron-Blooded Silver Knights, including himself, were captivated by her. But Tamarel quickly wiped the smile from his face, raised his hand with a serious expression, and shouted, “Glory to the shining silver blade, move out!”

“Glory to the shining silver blade!”

The knights raised their hands in response to the cry, then slowly formed a formation and began to advance again. Beside the knights, all eleven armored vehicles began to move, followed by a line of carriages. Among them was the carriage carrying Lee Min-seo, Song Dong-jun, and Ju Gwang-myeong.

“To think they’d bring something like this here… It’s truly amazing.”

“Indeed.”

Song Dong-jun nodded, and Lee Min-seo asked again, “If there are eleven of them, roughly how many troops would that be?” He stroked his chin, calculating the troop numbers in his head, and immediately replied, “Roughly… one squad rides in one armored vehicle, so even excluding command and recovery vehicles, I’d say it’s just under a full company.”

Then Min-seo quietly said, “Dong-jun.”

“Yes?”

“Do I look like a man who’s been to the military?”

Of course, how could Min-seo, who hadn’t served in the military, know the number of personnel in a company?

“So, you can think of it as roughly around a hundred people.”

“Whoa… That many people at once…”

As Min-seo shook her head and clucked her tongue, Dong-jun added further explanation. “That’s what makes it amazing. From the start, with quests, no one knows who will be summoned this time. While it’s possible to do quests together if you form a party, for that many people to move with identical equipment at once…”

Dong-jun stopped speaking, his face hardening. Then Min-seo, who had been listening quietly, asked, “Why did you stop talking?”

“Hmm… That’s… a ridiculous hypothesis just came to mind. No, it might even make sense in China.” Min-seo saw Dong-jun’s expression, realized something was amiss, and asked cautiously, “What are you talking about?” Dong-jun quietly stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then cautiously said, “For around a hundred people to be summoned randomly, and for them all to have identical uniforms and equipment…”

“Ah!”

Min-seo then realized what Dong-jun was getting at, and her face also hardened. “Are you saying they forcibly conscripted returning players to create an army?”

“Probably. Otherwise, I can’t understand their equipment or their organization.”

“My goodness…” Min-seo bit her lip and looked at the armored vehicles kicking up dust outside the carriage. To be suddenly dragged into a tutorial, have her social life ruined by some unknown quest, and then to be forcibly conscripted into the stifling environment of the military… Min-seo was grateful for the first time in her life that she was born in Korea.

But Dong-jun was thinking of another hypothesis at that moment. What would happen if it became known that China was operating players in this manner, and it proved effective? Others would immediately try to follow suit. Totalitarian states would be the first to start, and if they did, other countries would try to imitate them. No, perhaps that process had already begun. For example, in the form of the alliance led by that congressman’s son.

“Phew…” How long had it been since he was discharged from the military? The thought of perhaps returning to that stifling life made Dong-jun feel as if his future was bleak. After all, his current life, where he could be called into a quest at any moment, wasn’t exactly free either.

“Wow… This really is gold. We really hit the jackpot. Hahaha.” Ju Gwang-myeong, huddled in the corner of the carriage, gleefully clutching the pouch of gold coins given to him by the servant, was almost enviable. If only he were as thoughtless as that, he wouldn’t have any worries.

Song Dong-jun gave a wry smile, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes. He remembered not having slept well due to the cold and intended to catch up now, but with so many scattered thoughts, it was hard to fall asleep.

Around that time, Jun-sang and Heness continued to drive the Humvee downstream along the Anjermang Grand Canyon. He was driving carefully, but the fact remained that they were off-roading in a Humvee with significantly poor ride quality.

“Ugh…” Heness had endured for quite a while, but her face was becoming paler and paler.

“Shall we take a break?”

“I-I’m fine. I’m… okay.”

Heness insisted, but Jun-sang stopped the car anyway. He then helped Heness out of the car. He had been using the Humvee because it was free, but perhaps it would be better to return it to Seo-yoon when he got back and get a new car with a better ride.

“Ugh…”

“If you’re feeling sick…”

“I-I’m fine!”

She had no choice but to get in the Humvee the first time, but she couldn’t possibly throw up with Jun-sang watching, could she? Jun-sang sighed at Heness’s firm reaction, then returned the Humvee to his inventory. He then sat in front of Heness and offered his back.

“Come on, get on my back.”

“What? B-but…”

“Or just go inside.”

“T-that’s not what I want!”

Heness hesitated for a moment, then squeezed her eyes shut and clutched onto Jun-sang’s back. Jun-sang slowly stood up with Heness on his back.

“A-am I heavy?”

“Not at all.”

Heness quietly wrapped her arms around Jun-sang’s neck, buried her face in his back, and closed her eyes. Her churning stomach somehow calmed down. Jun-sang began to walk with Heness on his back. At first, he just walked slowly, but once Heness got used to being carried, he slowly increased his speed.

Heness had her eyes closed, but she felt a strange sensation and slightly opened them.

“Huh!”

She was surprised. Perhaps it was just the perceived speed difference, but it felt much faster than when they were in the car. She probably shouldn’t be thinking this, but… Heness thought that being carried on Jun-sang’s back was much more comfortable and faster than the Humvee, the wolves, or even horses and carriages.

How long did they travel like that? Finally, a vast, dark wetland appeared before Jun-sang and Heness’s eyes. That was the Silent Wetlands, one of the continent’s hidden wonders, alongside the Forbidden Forest.