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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 132: The Almond Country (2)
***
“Just now, what did you say? Would you care to repeat it?”
The man asked, and Damien made a face.
“Well, it appears your ears are merely ornamental, for they surely don’t serve the purpose of listening. Fear not, since you struggle to comprehend simple words, I’ll graciously take on the role of educator to enlighten your dim mind.”
At Damien’s words, the man burst into a hollow laugh, glancing back at their companions. The companions too chuckled along.
“In the next instant, the man revealed a machete, its sharpened edge covered in aura gleaming menacingly.”
As Damien attempted to strike the machete with his club, the man scoffed.
“You fool! Did you think you could stop me with that…?”
Damien twisted his club, altering the trajectory of the machete.
The machete, aimed downward in a diagonal thrust, shot upward into the sky. In the wind’s force, the machete slipped out of the man’s hand.
“Huh…?”
The man looked bewilderedly at his empty hand.
“H-how…?”
Instead of replying, Damien swung his club down onto the man’s head.
“Bonk!”
With a scream, the man’s head hit the ground. Foaming at the mouth, he convulsed.
“Brother!”
“How dare you lay hands on Brother!”
Two men drew weapons and charged at Damien. Like the man, their weapons were also covered with an aura.
“Seems like you don’t understand the concept of learning.”
As Damien parried the two men’s attacks, the trajectory of their weapons diverted once again, slipping out of their grips.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Bonk!!
Bonk!!
Damien struck each of them on the head with his club. The two men collapsed onto the ground like frogs.
“Ugh, my head… my head…!”
“Aaah! I think my head’s cracked!”
“Mom… Mommyyy…!”
Each of the three men groaned, clutching their heads. Watching them, Damien spoke gruffly.
“Stop crying. Your heads are fine.”
Only after hearing this did the three men realize their heads hadn’t actually been injured.
“W-what’s this…?”
“I-I was sure my skull was cracked…?”
Damien walked over to the three bewildered men. He slapped their palms with his club and said.
“The beginning of repentance starts with admitting fault. All three of you reflect on your actions. You won’t oppress others with your feeble strength anymore.”
“Who would follow such nonsense…?”
Bonk! Bonk!
Immediately, Damien struck the foreheads of the three men with his club, this time twice each.
“Aaargh!”
“Aaargh!”
“Ughhh!”
The three men grabbed their heads and rolled on the ground.
“If you don’t get up right now, you’ll get more next time.”
At the stern warning, the three men promptly rose to their feet. Unconsciously, they knelt before Damien.
“We reflect. We won’t oppress others with feeble strength anymore.”
Casting glances at each other, the three men shouted.
“We won’t oppress others with feeble strength anymore!”
At their resounding answer, Damien nodded in satisfaction.
“Now, you’ve adopted the right attitude for rehabilitation.”
***
The middle-aged man, Thibaut, thought he was dreaming.
He had lived his entire life as a third-rate mercenary at best. But he had seen enough to know how dangerous a person who used aura was.
After all, he was a monster who could massacre dozens of people with a single weapon.
“Roll to the left. Roll to the right. Oh, you’re too slow?”
“I, I’m sorry!”
And yet, such beings… not one, not two but three of them were powerless against a single man.
“What are your names?”
“Ah! My name is Aleksandrovich Asenko Leweiner!”
“That’s too long. You’re number 1, he’s number 2, and that guy is number 3.”
No, it wasn’t that they were powerless. They were too frightened, even cowering to move.
“I’m a little thirsty.”
Damien muttered, rubbing his throat. Thibaut quickly handed over a water bottle at his words.
“H, here you go!”
Damien took the water bottle with a strange look on his face at Thibaut’s actions.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“No! I’m doing it because I want to, so you don’t have to feel burdened!”
It wasn’t that Thibaut was acting out of pure kindness.
This man was it.
This man was the one who would change his life, the one who would be his lifeline.
“Well, I’ll gratefully drink it.”
Damien put his mouth to the water bottle and gulped down the water. Thibaut stuck close to his side and flattered him.
“You really have amazing skills! To think you could deflect a sword infused with aura with just a club! I couldn’t believe my eyes!”
Damien didn’t say anything and just kept drinking. But Thibaut wasn’t discouraged.
“Have you heard of Damien Haksen? I hear there are ridiculous rumors that he’s recently reached the High Class… Even that man wouldn’t be able to fight like you, Damien! I mean, right?”
Thibaut didn’t really know if the man in front of him was stronger than Damien Haksen or not.
The truth didn’t matter right now anyway. What mattered was getting into his good graces.
“If you have any trouble in the future, please don’t hesitate to call me! I, Thibaut, will serve you with all my heart!”
Thibaut shouted sincerely.
“Well, if you really want to, I can’t help it.”
From then on, Damien’s journey became much more comfortable.
Thanks to Thibaut and Numbers 1, 2, and 3, he was able to take care of all the little things.
From meal duty to the simple task of setting up a sleeping place, all four of them took care of everything.
“Victor-nim emphasized teamwork, so why aren’t you doing anything… Ugh! Groan!”
Number 1 did make a small rebellion along the way, but it didn’t turn into a big problem. After all, he could just ‘rehabilitate’ them again.
And so, after a few days, the merchant group carrying Damien arrived at the Almond Country.
***
After a long journey, Damien finally arrived at the Almond Country, which was a very lively place.
Mercenaries and adventurers were seen everywhere, and merchants selling weapons and potions were scattered all over the place.
“There are a lot of people here.”
“That’s right. I heard that it wasn’t like this before. It’s been getting crowded since the ruins were opened.”
Thibaut explained to Damien.
Just then, a man dressed in luxurious clothes passed Damien with his knights.
“There are nobles too?”
“Since the ruins are profitable, nobles from neighboring countries as well as distant kingdoms and countries are gathering.”
“He doesn’t seem to need money.”
The nobleman who had just passed by looked very wealthy. He didn’t seem to need to explore a dangerous place like the ruins.
“Oh, you have a keen eye. In fact, most nobles are probably after the ‘Princess Freize’ rather than money.”
“Princess Freize?”
It was information that Damien didn’t know.
“Do you know that the previous head of the country here was a Master Class?”
“I know. That’s why it became independent from the kingdom’s duchy to become a county.”
“After the death of the Duke, his eldest daughter, Princess Freize, took over the county. It is said that the one who decided to open the ruins was Princess Freize.”
Thibaut continued his explanation.
“According to the Princess, the previous head of the family found a strangely shaped ‘relic sword’ while exploring the ruins. However, he failed to get his hands on it because a trap was activated.”
Damien focused on Thibaut’s story.
“So Princess Freize declared that she would marry the one who finds and brings that relic sword. That’s why the nobles are flocking here.”
It was a very intriguing story.
This was because if he married Princess Freize, he would not only become the head of the county but she was also said to be very beautiful.
It had all the requirements for nobles to flock to.
Of course, Damien had no interest in marriage, and the fact that there was a relic sword in the ruins was what appealed to him.
Jiiing.
At that moment, the dawn rang from his waist. It seemed to be protesting to Damien.
‘But what I can do? No matter how many good weapons I have, it’s never enough.’
Jiing?
At Damien’s words, the dawn now cried briefly. It seemed to be pouting.
“Let’s go to the ruins.”
“Yes? Are you going in already?”
“Of course not. I’m just going to take a look at the entrance.”
“I… .”
Just then, a weak voice caught Damien.
Numbers 1, 2, and 3 were standing with haggard faces.
All along the way to the Country, the three men had been used by Damien to the bone.
He had once made them catch crickets all night because they were disturbing his sleep, and he had also made them run through the forest hunting animals because he wanted to eat fresh meat.
“I, I think we should go now… .”
Number 1 asked with earnest eyes. Numbers 2 and 3 did the same.
“Where are you going? You’re not finished with your rehabilitation yet.”
At Damien’s words, the faces of the three men turned pale.
“P, please, Victor-nim!”
The three men knelt on the ground. They begged as if they would even lick Damien’s shoes.
“I, we have firmly decided to change from today!”
“We have decided!”
“P, please forgive us just this once and we promise to be reborn as new people!”
“We promise!”
Damien stroked his chin and pondered at the three men’s pleas.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes!”
“Then go. Don’t bother people again.”
Damien gestured for them to go. The three men ran away without looking back.
When the three men disappeared, Damien said to Thibaut.
“Then let’s go to the entrance.”
***
The ruins were located behind the castle.
It was originally a forest, but after the ruins were opened, all the trees were cut down and it was being used as a forward base.
“That must be the door to the ruins.”
Thibaut said, pointing to the front. A huge iron gate was buried in the ground.
“This is my first time seeing the ruins in person, but it’s really unique.”
Thibaut looked at the iron gate with a curious face. Damien, on the other hand, looked indifferent.
In fact, this was not the first time Damien had been to the ruins.
As a Death Knight, he had explored many ruins with Dorugo.
“Get out of the way! Someone is dying!”
At that moment, four people came running out of the entrance with a stretcher. A man with a serious injury was lying on the stretcher.
Thibaut clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Tsk tsk, it looks like he went in deeper than his abilities allowed. How dangerous is that place.”
Thibaut said in a tone of regret.
“Do you know that? The level of danger varies from ruin to ruin, but the one in here is said to be incredibly dangerous. They say that out of 10 people who enter, only 2 or 3 come back alive.”
Damien felt a sense of strangeness at those words. The survival rate was too low, even for a dangerous place.
Among the ruins he had explored with Dorugo, there were not many that were as dangerous as that.
Moreover, such dangerous ruins were all thoroughly hidden from the entrance.
‘As expected, there must be Gathdal inside.’
Presumably, most of the dead were not actually killed in the ruins but were kidnapped by the Gathdal.
It was clear that they were being used as experimental subjects or consumed as material to strengthen the Gathdal’s army inside the secret space created within the ruins.
‘Just wait, Gathdal. I’ll find you and kill you soon.’
As Damien stared at the entrance and burned with murderous intent,
“What are you looking at… Ah, you’re looking at the ancient letters.”
Thibaut nodded as if he understood.
<┗╋┓┣━┳┣┓>
These letters were written at the entrance of the ruins.
“They’re strange letters. The mages are trying to decipher them, but they haven’t made much progress.”
Before he knew it, Thibaut had come closer and was chattering away.
“Did you know that? The ruins are said to be still functioning. They say that if you manipulate the ancient letters, secret spaces will open.”
Thibaut said with a regretful face.
“If we could decipher the ancient letters, we would be able to find the hidden treasures of the ruins…”
Damien looked at the letters on the entrance again.
<┗╋┓┣━┳┣┓>
In fact, Damien knew exactly what those letters meant.
That’s what it meant when translated.
The reason Damien knew the ancient letters was all thanks to Dorugo.
Surprisingly, Dorugo was able to perfectly decipher the ancient letters.
Many of the dark magic spells that Dorugo used also used ancient letters.
So when Dorugo instilled his knowledge of dark magic into Damien, the ancient letters were naturally included as well.
Dorugo never told even his confidantes about the ancient letters.
So probably the only two beings in this world who know about the ancient letters are Dorugo and Damien.
‘Workshop of the Master…’
Having explored several ruins with Dorugo, he knew very well.
A ruin that was described as a Master’s Workshop was no ordinary ruin.
In many cases, it contained special weapons created by the Master.
‘I was only thinking about Gathdal. I didn’t have high expectations for the ruins…’
Maybe he would be able to get a great treasure.
***
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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