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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 150: Returning Home (2)
***
Anyone who hadn’t met the Mercenary King, Karl Hopper, in person can’t help but be surprised.
The age of Karl Hopper known to the world was 70 years old.
However, Karl Hopper actually had the appearance of a young boy.
It is said that those who reach the pinnacle of Master class can regain their youth, but Karl Hopper’s youth had nothing to do with that.
It was because of the secret of Karl Hopper’s bloodline.
“I am Karl Hopper. I am better known by the name Mercenary King.”
Karl Hopper said with a hint of pride. Unlike his young face, his actions were those of an old man.
Just looking at this, he was incredibly unmatched. He looked even more harmless because he was so defenseless.
However, Damien knew very well that all such feelings were an illusion.
Karl Hopper was a strong man above Masterclass. There were less than five people in this world who could kill Karl Hopper.
“Oh, you’re not surprised to hear my name. Are you courageous? Or are you just a fool?”
“Mercenary King, what brings you here?”
Damien asked, putting away Dawn. The Mercenary King looked at Damien with an amused expression.
“Look at this guy? Speaking so boldly. Didn’t you tarnish my name recently?”
Yes, there was.
A few weeks ago, Damien had crossed swords with the Mercenary King’s granddaughter over a matter related to his sister Louise’s fiance.
In that battle, he defeated the Mercenary King’s granddaughter and cut off both of her wrists.
“I have tarnished your name, but it doesn’t seem like you came to me because of that.”
“Oh? What kind of nonsense is that? Do you really think I need to cut your throat here to come to your senses?”
“You are not the kind of person who is free enough to move just because a blood relative who is not even acknowledged as his kin has been humiliated.”
The Mercenary King was a man with a great sense of pride in his bloodline.
It was understandable. After all, each and every one of the Mercenary King’s children had exceptional talent.
However, the Mercenary King did not recognize them all as blood relatives.
He only recognized those who were even more outstanding among the outstanding blood relatives, the geniuses who could be called monsters.
And he called them ‘Purebloods’ and treated them with great favor.
“Hahaha!”
The Mercenary King laughed out loud at Damien’s words.
“That’s right! You’re right! I don’t care about anything as trivial as those insignificant things! You know me very well!”
Even though they were his own blood relatives, the Mercenary King called them ‘insignificant things’.
Is it because he doesn’t care about his blood relatives?
No, it was because he had too much pride in his bloodline.
It was a pride that had its own reason. The blood of a dragon flowed through the body of the Mercenary King, Karl Hopper.
Half-dragon or a dragon hybrid.
Karl Hopper’s mother was an ordinary human, but his father was a dragon.
The reason Karl Hopper doesn’t age and all of his blood relatives are geniuses is because of the dragon’s blood flowing through them.
“Still, thanks to that trash, I got to know about you. I heard you’re a genius who rose to the high class not long after picking up a sword?”
It hasn’t even been a year since Damien regressed.
In that time, Damien had become known to the world as a high-class swordsman.
“Well, I’m sure you were training with the sword before then. I know everything.”
Of course, there were quite a few who didn’t believe it, like the Mercenary King.
“Anyway, it’s not common to reach high class at your age. I didn’t think I’d be satisfied until I saw such an interesting guy for myself, so I personally came to the Apple Kingdom.”
The Mercenary King was an individual akin to a king of a kingdom, perhaps even more powerful.
Even though such a big shot had come, Damien didn’t feel anything special.
That’s because he had already met him in his previous life, and even killed him with his own hands.
“But I couldn’t find you at all. I was going to wait another week and leave. Fortunately, I heard that you were seen in the capital and came running.”
Damien clicked his tongue inwardly. He hadn’t expected to be caught by the Mercenary King because he had visited the capital.
“I had my men attack you to test you, but… I never thought they wouldn’t even be able to touch a hem of your clothes.”
The Mercenary King’s gaze turned to the man and woman who had attacked Damien first.
While the two were talking, the man and woman were healing their wounds with potions.
“It seems the rumors were not false. You have a remarkable talent. I mean that in a good way.”
The Mercenary King’s eyes lit up slightly.
“Would you like to be hired as a freelancer in my mercenary group?”
***
Damien’s face was filled with question marks at the sudden proposal.
A freelancer was a knight who was hired by another family to do work.
They were called freelancers because they did not make a pledge of allegiance and were only employed on a contractual basis.
Of course, the Mercenary King had no need to hire freelancers. He had more than enough talent under his command.
“Cynthia, did you see that? That’s not the usual surprised face.”
The Mercenary King spoke to the woman with the bow. The woman seemed uninterested and was only fiddling with the bowstring.
“Why are you offering to hire me as a freelancer?”
“Why do you think, you brat? Because I need your strength!”
The Mercenary King barked briefly. Then he laughed playfully and said.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to borrow your strength to take on a job.”
“Then where do you want me to use my strength?”
“I think my purebloods have been getting lazy lately, so I’m going to show them off.”
As soon as he heard those words, Damien realized the Mercenary King’s true intentions.
He had heard about it before. The Mercenary King was said to often invite so-called geniuses. It was to make the purebloods compete with those geniuses.
So far, it sounded like the Mercenary King was being considerate, trying to show the purebloods the breadth of the world.
But the reality was quite different.
“You’re trying to get me involved in something nasty.”
The geniuses who were invited by the Mercenary King returned a few months later, crippled.
The Purebloods.
They were crushed by the overwhelming talent of those who had the blood of the dragon flowing through their veins.
That’s why, at some point, a rumor started to spread that if you were invited by the Mercenary King, you should refuse.
“What, are you going to chicken out and run away too?”
Damien laughed at his provocation. The Mercenary King’s eyebrows twitched at his laughter.
“You laugh?”
“It’s funny. If you want to use me, don’t make such a low-level provocation and pay the price.”
“…What, what?”
The Mercenary King had a look of great surprise as if he had heard something unexpected.
“If you give me a reward that I’m satisfied with… I’ll be happy to be hired.”
In fact, Damien was secretly overjoyed when he heard the Mercenary King’s words.
In order for Damien to reach Master Class, he needed a legendary elixir.
The problem was that such elixirs were so rare that even a Kingdom-level power would have difficulty obtaining them.
‘But the Mercenary King is different. He’s a man who gets requests from all over the continent.’
In order to hire the Mercenary King’s company, you had to offer something of great value as compensation.
Among them, there was sure to be the elixir that Damien desired.
‘And the Mercenary King is a man who is obsessed with collecting martial arts books to the point of madness. If I’m around him, I might be able to get a good mana cultivation method.’
In order for Damien to reach Master Class, he needed to create a good mana cultivation method.
However, what he had obtained so far was so good that anything less than that would not be enough.
But the Mercenary King’s collection might be different. After all, if they were collected by a man who had surpassed Master Class, they couldn’t be ordinary items.
‘Above all, I had to go there once to prepare for the War of Destruction.’
In the not-too-distant future, the Mercenary King’s forces would collapse. Not by outside invasion, but by internal division.
The ones who planned the division were Pandemonium. Pandemonium used the Mercenary King’s lustful nature to provoke conflict.
As a result, the Mercenary King’s company was greatly reduced in size due to internal conflict.
‘Even with their weakened forces, they had a tremendous influence during the War of Destruction.’
When they appeared on the battlefield, they slaughtered tens of thousands of undead. Even the corps commanders were no match for the Mercenary King.
In the end, Dorugo had no choice but to have Damien kill the Mercenary King.
After two days of fighting, Damien was able to win by stealing all of the Mercenary King’s knowledge and skills.
“I need elixirs or herbs. Not the mediocre ones, but the ones that even high-class knights can see a big effect from.”
The Mercenary King laughed at Damien’s words.
“Look at this guy. He’s the first to ask for a price in front of me? You’re a really gutsy guy. You would have made it big even if you had lived as a mercenary.”
A smile slowly spread across the Mercenary King’s lips.
“Yes, those who are capable deserve to be paid properly. A mercenary shouldn’t break that rule. First, I’ll give you Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng as payment for hiring you.”
Snow ginseng refers to a mysterious herb that grows in the polar regions.
Its medicinal effects vary depending on the time it has grown, and in particular, there is a legend that the emperor’s ancestor reached Master Class after consuming Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
“I’ll pay you more depending on your performance in the future. Isn’t this enough?”
In fact, Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng was far behind the elixir Damien wanted.
However, Damien decided to bet on the price the Mercenary King would pay in the future.
Of course, he would make it so that the Mercenary King had no choice but to give him Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
“I’ll be in your care.”
Damien said, reaching out his hand. The Mercenary King burst out laughing.
“You’re a cheeky guy to the end.”
The Mercenary King also took Damien’s hand. In contrast to his young appearance, his entire palm was covered in calluses.
Moreover, the aura felt behind the Mercenary King’s skin was also extraordinary. It seemed as if lava was boiling instead of blood.
‘I knew it already, but… he’s really amazing.’
The Mercenary King was always mentioned when discussing the strongest humans. It was only natural, as he had dragon’s blood flowing through half of his body.
‘…But come to think of it, it’s a bit annoying.’
In the end, the Mercenary King’s actions were to sacrifice Damien and use him as fertilizer for the purebloods.
Even if he had dragon’s blood, it was clear that he would be far inferior to Damien.
“You’d better be prepared. Our kids are no pushovers.”
To the Mercenary King’s advice, Damien replied with a meaningful smile.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
***
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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