Chapter 110 - 106: Barrett Returns
Chapter 110: Chapter 106: Barrett Returns
Two figures walked at a steady pace along a dirt road bordering the Gray Sea Marsh.
The figure on the left was agile, their steps light. Long, black hair was held back by a simple leather cord. A mask covered their face, leaving only a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes visible.
One-eyed Barrett, by contrast, was far more casual. He clapped Kael on the shoulder.
"Don’t give me that look, Kael. I know this place is so remote it might as well be a corner of the world forgotten by the gods."
Kael didn’t respond, merely scanning the desolate landscape around them.
"The domain is newly established, so Lord Velin is naturally a bit strapped for cash," Barrett said, defending the lord he was about to introduce. "But he’s a good man, a true scholar, completely different from those swine we’ve seen posing as nobility. This place has potential, I promise you."
Kael finally stopped and pointed toward the horizon. Below a dark silhouette lay a checkerboard of green fields.
"What’s that?"
Barrett squinted.
"That’s the wall of Newly Town... It’s the Stone Skin Soft Vine I told you about. Impressive, right? And below... looks like Sea Salt Potatoes. Damn, they’ve already planted a huge field of them!"
As they drew closer, the black silhouette grew clearer and taller.
It looked less like the defenses of some impoverished frontier town and more like the bulwark of a border fortress, looming silently over the wasteland.
Kael’s eyebrow rose slightly. ’A lord who’s strapped for cash couldn’t build a wall like this.’
Just then, a muffled roar of voices drifted from the direction of the town.
It wasn’t an alarm bell, nor the shouts of battle, but a frenzied cheer, as if a grand celebration was underway.
The two exchanged a look and quickened their pace.
As they rounded the wall and entered the town, a thick stench of blood and rot hit them in the face like a heavy punch.
Even for two men hardened by the battlefield, the smell was enough to make them frown.
The quiet, hardscrabble, dusty town Barrett had expected was gone.
In its place, in the town square, was a mountain... built from the corpses of monsters.
Dark green Scale Armor glinted in the sun. Countless flies swarmed and buzzed over the mountain of carcasses like a black cloud.
A team of people was busy hauling away the most massive Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile.
That Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile was covered in ivy-like vines, its original shape almost completely obscured.
Under the scorching July sun, countless dark red flowers bloomed all over the giant crocodile’s body, swaying gently in the breeze—a beautiful yet eerie sight.
Barrett felt his scalp tingle.
"A Level 4 Magical Beast," Kael’s voice was calm, but his gaze was grave. "And... many other powerful ones."
He pointed to a few slightly smaller bodies in the corpse-mountain, which also radiated the aura of Tier Three Peak.
Barrett’s mouth fell slightly open, his one remaining eye filled with incredulous shock.
This was a completely different world from the one he had described on their journey.
"Let’s... go grab a drink first," Barrett’s voice was a bit dry. "And find out what’s going on."
Kael nodded and asked no more questions.
Inside the town’s "Sea of Fog" tavern, the ruckus was loud enough to tear the roof off.
When Barrett squeezed through the door with Kael in tow, the boisterous tavern fell silent for a moment. Dozens of gazes—dazzled, curious, and greedy—fell upon Kael.
Kael’s eyes grew cold, and his hand slowly drifted to the shortsword at the small of his back.
’This scene was all too familiar. Usually, this would be the part where I’d have to cut down a drunk or two who didn’t know their place.’
However, to Kael’s surprise, after a brief silence, the clamor in the tavern erupted once more. The gazes scattered, as if they had merely been confirming that the newcomer wasn’t anyone dangerous.
The men went back to their loud boasting and heavy drinking. No one bothered the pair at the door.
’This place... is interesting,’ Kael thought, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
He only showed his eyes, but you know how men are. A single pair of bewitching eyes like that was more than enough to stir up a crowd.
Barrett finally managed to guide Kael to a corner table.
At the next table over, a young Knight was gesticulating wildly as he boasted to his companions.
"You should have seen it! Lord Velin’s potion vial, WHOOSH! The ground froze solid! All of that beast’s spawn were trapped outside!"
A man across from him who looked like a sailor took a swig of his drink, his face full of disbelief.
"Get outta here, kid! That was the Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile! And there were over sixty of ’em! The square only has thirty, so what happened? You eat the rest?"
"It’s true!" the Knight insisted, his face flushing red. "We didn’t even bother with the small ones! The Bader Dung Beetles lured them away. Our target was the leader from the very beginning! As for the missing crocodiles? We scared them off, of course!"
Barrett felt Kael’s gaze fall upon him, a gaze full of probing questions.
But he himself was just as confused.
’What the hell are Bader Dung Beetles? A raid on the Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile’s nest? When did all this happen?’
Just then, a familiar voice cut in.
"Hey! Barrett! When did you get back?"
It was a member of Barrett’s own Gray Wolf squad. He pushed through the crowd and slapped Barrett heavily on the shoulder.
Upon seeing Kael beside his captain, he couldn’t help but give the newcomer a thorough look-over before turning back.
"You missed out, chief! You missed one hell of a hunt."
Barrett grabbed his arm.
"What the hell happened? Those bodies in the square..."
"We did that!" the squadmate’s eyes were shining. "Lord Velin led us! That shorty Ola almost got torn apart by the leader, but Lord Velin..."
He lowered his voice, his face filled with a kind of reverence.
"Lord Velin used the vines to make it explode from the inside! Green vines poured out of its eyes, its mouth... The sight of it... incredible."
Barrett swallowed hard.
He couldn’t picture the scene.
When he left, Velin was still a young scholar focused on his research, one who would occasionally frown over his lack of lab materials.
’Using vines to blow up a Level 4 Magical Beast from the inside?’
’What kind of Magic is that? Necromancy?’
Kael had been listening silently the whole time. He raised his cup, took a sip, and his gaze swept over everyone in the tavern as they excitedly discussed the battle.
He saw the young Knight at the bar with a brand-new belt, several artisans ordering large portions of roasted meat, and even a weather-beaten farmer ordering a mug of ale.
Behind the frenzy, worship, and awe lay generous rewards.
This was the true measure of a domain.
"I heard them say," Kael finally spoke, his voice low, "that the expenses for this operation exceeded a thousand Golden Suns."
Barrett’s heart gave a sudden lurch.
A thousand Golden Suns.
He and his Gray Wolf Mercenaries could toil for two years and not even earn a fraction of that amount.
"When I left..." Barrett tried to explain, but his voice sounded incredibly weak. "When I left, Lord Velin was still worrying about scraping together a hundred Golden Suns for alchemy materials. This place... it wasn’t like this."
Kael set down his cup and watched him.
"Barrett."
Kael’s voice wasn’t loud, but it made the one-eyed man’s body tense up instinctively.
"I’m not saying you lied to me," Kael said.
"You said he’s a scholar, a good man, different from the other nobles. I believe that."
Kael’s gaze swept across the faces of the zealous townspeople before returning to Barrett.
"But you left out the most important part. Or maybe, you didn’t even see it yourself."
Kael’s eyes took on the dangerous glint of a beast sensing a threat.
"This Lord Velin you’re recommending me to... he isn’t strapped for cash."
"He simply... takes the last Copper Plate in his domain and turns it into a poisoned needle to stab his enemies in the eye."
"He’s using this entire marsh as a whetstone, sharpening a blade to shatter his shackles. And as for people like us..." He glanced around the tavern. "...we’re just the first blood groove he’s carved into the hilt."