Chapter 519: Mysterious Iron Box

The troops were on the move. They had already left last night’s encampment, bypassing the Koso Mountain Range to take a wide, direct road toward Burning City.

Leech, riding on horseback, suddenly felt like he was on some grand, arduous pilgrimage.

It gave him a strong sense of déjà vu, especially when one of his soldiers rode off on his horse.

‘Master, Master! There’s a house up ahead. I’ll go get us some alms. Pigsy, Sandy, you two watch over the Master and wait for my return~’

‘That’s exactly the feeling.’

‘You carry the poles~ I lead the horse~’

‘I can’t believe I’ve managed to survive all these years without *My Own Swordsman* and *Journey to the West*,’ he hummed. He waited for the scout to finish his reconnaissance and report back.

“Did you get to the bottom of that big fire?”

“Yes, my lord. It seems some nobles were attacked by tribesmen, which started a huge fire. They say many noble ladies, who were on their way to a ball in Burning City, have gone missing.”

‘Another ball. Don’t these nobles have anything better to do?’

‘They’re either hosting a ball, attending a ball, or on their way to a ball. Is it really that fun?’

‘The entertainment in this world is just too barren!’

He even started wondering if he should buy a couple of theater troupes and have them rehearse some interesting stage plays.

‘Most importantly, I need to develop a game for entertainment. Magic is so miraculous; it would be a real shame not to create a card battle game.’

‘Imagine a tavern full of people playing Hearthstone. That would be quite a scene.’

This would be one of his next research directions.

The Soldier continued, “The fire from last night didn’t spread over here, supposedly because there’s a large lake near the forest where it happened.”

Leech listened to the scout’s report without paying it much mind. “I’d always heard there were tribesmen in the Giant’s Foot, but I’ve never seen any. I didn’t expect them to stir up such a commotion.”

The things he saw and the things he heard along the way were from two completely different worlds. Leech wasn’t sure if the Giant’s Foot had a great public relations campaign, or if the tribesmen were so suppressed by the noble factions that they were all hiding like rats. In any case… the roads were spotless. No trash in the bins, no one in the beds, no clothes on the racks, and no fallen leaves on the ground in the autumn of November.

He hadn’t encountered a single bandit, nor had he seen any mountain thieves in the sprawling mountain ranges.

It was as civilized and squeaky clean as accidentally sitting with a table of old ladies at a banquet.

“News has come from Porcupine Territory. There’s been a major breakthrough in Rune research, and even Magic Scrolls have seen revolutionary progress. Alchemy has also made huge strides.” Leech was in a great mood. He was eager to return, wishing he could fly back to East Gorge immediately to see the scholars’ research results for himself.

In this world, Magic was the primary productive force.

「…」

“Ladies, ladies! La! Dies!”

Amid the wailing, the man had to keep raising his voice, his gentle calls turning into a roar. “Stop crying!”

The crying subsided, replaced by sobbing.

Inside a hidden tribal village in the mountain forest, a man with ointment smeared on his body stared wide-eyed at the disheveled noblewomen locked in a cage. They hadn’t been harmed in any way. No one had snatched their jewelry or torn their clothes. But they just wouldn’t stop wailing, giving him a splitting headache.

“I am a gentleman! If you wish for me to remain one, then shut your mouths!” His head began to distort, taking on the aspects of an eagle’s, which stunned the sobbing noblewomen into silence. They gaped, unsure what to do.

“I gave you the chance to write letters, but to this day, I have received no replies and no ransom. My patience is limited.”

A noblewoman sobbed quietly and said, “You’re asking for too much. My family simply can’t afford 300 Jinri.”

There was something else she didn’t dare say: the ransom for a noble Knight captured in war was 100 Jinri at most.

The man rushed forward two steps, his body swelling rapidly, transforming into a white, Eagle-headed Bear covered in strange feathers. His short-sword-like beak opened. “That’s your problem! I’m only responsible for collecting the money!”

The roar and the blast of air sent the noblewoman’s hair flying and distorted her cheeks. Her mouth fell open as she tilted backward, fainting from sheer terror.

But the crying erupted once more, unable to be suppressed.

‘Looks like I’ve been too merciful,’ he thought as his body rapidly shrank, turning from the monstrous Eagle-headed Bear back into a bare-chested human.

He waved a hand at the man guarding the cage. “Drag one out and kill her.”

‘Only blood will quiet this lot.’ He was sick of these irritating women. He couldn’t understand why he had once coveted them so much, wanting to spend every day in bed with them.

“Heh heh, yes!” The tribesman beside him gave a savage grin, opened the cage door, and scrambled inside like a weasel in a henhouse, causing a commotion.

Soon, an unlucky lady was dragged out.

“You can’t touch me!” she shrieked, but no one paid her any attention.

She looked at the tribal leader and said in a low, hushed voice, “All is vanity, nature permits all!”

SMACK!

What awaited her was not ecstatic greetings or pleasantries, and certainly not a chance to kneel and beg for mercy. It was a slap.

A slap from a Transcendent was no simple matter. Blood immediately burst from her mouth, her nose was deformed, and several of her teeth even flew out.

“Once we have enough money, we can join Naturalism,” the leader said smugly. “The entire Eagle-headed Bear tribe will receive the protection of Naturalism.”

“You idiot! You fool! I’m a secret agent for Naturalism, entrusted with a great command from Saint Ron!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping this group of brainless Barbarians would understand her importance. But with her mouth swollen and several teeth missing, her words came out as an incomprehensible mumble.

A large hand grabbed her hair from behind, yanking her head back. She was forced onto her tiptoes, her throat exposed like a drawn bow.

The leader said cruelly, “You’re from East Gorge? I don’t believe those East Gorge bitches would spend money to ransom you back. They’d rather buy goats.”

He made no effort to hide his hostility toward East Gorge. Killing someone from an enemy region would make him even happier than earning 300 Jinri.

A short blade was pressed against the woman’s throat and swiped across.

A thin red line appeared on her fair, slender neck, and then blood gushed out, soaking her clothes.

The woman’s eyes widened in disbelief, but as her Life Force rapidly drained away, her eyes lost their light.

“Gurgle… gurgle…”

The body collapsed to the ground.

The tribal leader said, “Throw it out.”

“Yes!” the tribesman tasked with the killing happily replied. He could, while it was still warm… uh, take the opportunity to loot her belongings. Though they were just ornaments made of silver and small gems, worth no more than 1 Jinri, the leader might look down on such a paltry sum, but he certainly wouldn’t refuse it.

He dragged the corpse outside and patted it down, searching the whole body. He found a strange iron box. It wasn’t large, but it looked exquisitely crafted.

“What’s this?”

The tribesman tried to open the iron box, but he failed.

He then opened his mouth, intending to bite it open, but its sturdiness was far beyond his imagination.

So he gave up on the idea of forcing the box open. It would be better to find a chance to sell it. ‘After all,’ he thought, ‘anything found on this penniless woman couldn’t be worth much. It’s probably just a little trinket box or something.’

‘I’ll just put it away for now.’