522

Episode 522 You can see the contract, right? (2)

Claude spoke again to Erenes, whose mind was momentarily at a loss.

"No, I guess you don't understand now… … The Chieftain has to work with us for '30 years'?"

"Why, why?"

Erenes stuttered at the unexpected turn of events. This was truly the first time such an absurd experience had occurred to the noble elven chieftain.

Claude shouted loudly.

"Why? Because that's what we signed the contract for!"

"… … ."

"You can just look at the contract, right?"

Dduk dduk!

A tree trunk sprang up from the ground, weaving itself together. Soon it spread out and produced a scroll.

Chomp!

Erenes unfolded the contract with an anxious expression. And then she finally saw it.

It says 30 years in very small letters.

"What, what is this… … ."

Erenes turned his head sharply and glared at Giselle. Giselle shrugged her shoulders and opened her eyes wide. Her expression was innocent, as if she had no idea what he meant.

'Come to think of it... ... .'

Jiselle had just glanced over the contract and signed it, meaning that he didn't know what was going on either.

'Surely this wasn't in the first contract I read. Surely... ... .'

That guy named Claude was chattering away next to me and completely losing my mind. He wrote me a second contract, saying that I had scribbled something strange.

I remembered that I had a headache and signed the second contract without even reading it.

That's when it happened. That's when it was clear that he was being sarcastic.

Erenes looked at Claude and shouted.

"Are you the one who scammed me?"

Claude also shouted with a look of injustice on his face.

"No, you saw the entire contract! Did I threaten you with a knife to sign the contract?"

It wasn't a wrong statement. After all, it was he who signed it. But I just couldn't accept it.

"This, this guy… … ."

Who would have thought that there would be a human being who would cheat me, the noble elven chieftain! In all my years of living, this was a first for me.

Erenes couldn't hold back his anger and raised his spirits.

Ddddddddddddd!

Unable to resist the energy, the entire castle began to tremble. Then, the knights who had been waiting outside rushed in.

"Are you alright, Grand Duke Zuanhaaaaaaa!"

Everyone was excited that the northern country bumpkins had entered the capital and were serving the Grand Duke.

Jiselle put her hand on her forehead and waved her hand to ward off the knights.

"Oh, everyone, don't act so recklessly. Erenes, stop for a moment. If you get angry like that here, the castle will collapse."

"Ugh, ugh… … ."

Erenes calmed down and glared at Claude.

In fact, she could have ignored the contract if she wanted to, because she had the power and authority to do so.

And honestly, isn't it half a scam?

I could have asked Giselle to nullify the contract. No, I tried to do that.

But the problem was the mouth of that guy named Claude who was muttering in the corner.

"I knew this would happen. You said Mother Nature would guarantee it, but you don't even acknowledge that you personally signed the contract. You said there's no one you can trust in this world… … Elves too… … Mumble, mumble, mumble… … ."

"Ugh, ughhhhh… … ."

My head started hurting again. That kid talked too much. I thought I was going crazy.

In any case, it was true that I had personally signed the contract, so I couldn't just ignore it. That would be like breaking a promise with Mother Nature.

I couldn't allow rumors to spread throughout the human world that the elven chieftain had signed the contract but not kept it.

That kid will definitely exaggerate the rumors with that pitiful mouth of his.

"Ugh… … ."

Erenes grabbed his head.

'30 years!'

Although it was not much time for him, he could not be held back for 30 years during this busy time.

Humans really were… … a vicious race. That guy Claude in particular was like that.

Somehow, from the moment I first saw it, I felt a gloomy, deathly aura.

Erenes, who was rolling his eyes and sweating profusely, opened his mouth with difficulty.

"Phew, phew, phew… … ."

Claude sensed her weakened energy and quickly approached her.

"Huh, what is it?"

Erenes said with his eyes tightly shut.

"Phew, take a vacation."

"Of course, I can give you that much. You are a public servant of this kingdom."

At the generous answer, Erenes opened his eyes and looked at Claude.

'This kid... ... .'

Suddenly Claude looked very large. He was looking down at himself with a very evil, triumphant smile on his face.

As expected, living in the human world would inevitably lead to a dirty nature. I realized once again why my ancestors told me to avoid humans.

Erenes said, glaring at Claude.

"You will face my wrath in thirty years."

Claude nodded with a leisurely smile.

"I just follow the rules… … If you don't like me, Chieftain, then do as you wish. I am always ready to accept it."

'Yeah, if I die in the 29th year, that's it. I don't want to live as a slave for over 300 years anyway.'

That was Claude's honest feeling.

Erenes bit his lip and turned around. He had to go fill out the vacation paperwork.

The person who signed the vacation documents was the director, Claude.

* * *

Erenes received permission to take a vacation and left the castle to take care of business. Several people came out to see him off, but among them, Parniel followed him quite a distance.

"What's going on? There's no need to send me off like this."

In response to Erenes' words, Parniel suddenly said something unexpected.

"They say the heart of a saint is the will of a goddess."

"I know."

In fact, it was a word created to justify the actions of a saint who moved around without permission. That way, authority would be granted to the religious order.

But Parniel seemed to truly believe it. She said with a sly smile.

"I strangely wanted to fight you from the moment I first saw you."

"I have no intention of fighting with you. Such meaningless matters are outside my interest."

"I know, but… … I have a feeling that we're going to fight someday. My mind keeps telling me to do so. I wanted to say that."

"… … ."

Erenes glanced at Parniel. The two glared at each other again.

After a while, Erenes shook his head several times and turned around to say.

"I hope that doesn't happen. I don't want to kill you, the 'saint.'"

It was a tone that seemed to emphasize the title of saint. Parniel answered with a smile.

"I really want to fight you?"

Erenes did not answer. She just walked away without looking back.

Parniel watched her moving away for a long time. When Erenes completely disappeared from his sight, Parniel muttered softly.

"If you are the 'elf' mentioned in the secret lore of the church."

* * *

The Turian Kingdom. A country in constant battle with monsters that endlessly descend from the Shadow Mountains.

After Giselle returned from her activities in the Turian fortress 'Ironcliff', Kaor and the hunters obtained a lot of hides from here and sent them to Rutania.

No wonder Kaor was even given the nickname of the Leather King of Ironcliff.

Before the civil war broke out in Rutania, Ironcliff, which had been a barrier to monsters, was empty. It was the same with other fortresses.

"Kaaaaaaah!"

"Koooooo!"

The mad monsters screamed and ran through the empty fortress, heading towards the center of the kingdom.

However, the monsters were unable to reach their desired location due to the area being filled with blue smoke. This was because a crack had formed in the middle of their path to the capital.

So, funny enough, a situation arose where the monsters coming from the Shadow Mountains and the Crackers fought each other.

Thanks to this, some cracks could be left alone, but not all of them.

"Stop it!"

"We have to hold on somehow!"

"Damn, what the heck is this much!"

The soldiers fought hard to block the area of the rift.

The Turian Kingdom also formed an army of only the strongest to deal with the rift. It was the job of other soldiers to hold back the expansion until they arrived.

Even as they encouraged their soldiers to fight hard, the commanders could not shake off their gloomy expressions.

"Hmm, this is a big problem. We're lacking supplies and support."

"The area around the palace is also desperate to stop them."

The cracks weren't the only problem. The nobles who had joined hands with the Salvation Church and prepared for rebellion long ago were also a problem.

As those nobles raised an army and started rebellions in various places, military power had to be dispersed in that direction.

The Turian Kingdom was also engulfed in war, although its situation was slightly better than that of other kingdoms due to the monsters.

"The fall of the kingdom cannot be avoided."

All commanders thought so.

The Turian Kingdom was not a very wealthy country to begin with. It must have been so bad that they even gathered criminals who had escaped from other countries and made them into hunters.

They were already having a hard time just fighting the monsters.

That's why the Turian Kingdom couldn't join the coalition forces. They didn't have the capacity to send support.

The soldiers grew increasingly exhausted. The fighting was endless, dealing with both the Cracks and the rebels.

Even if they had eaten their fill, the kingdom's finances were already at rock bottom.

'it's tough....'

'I think it would be better to just die.'

'Why was I born into a world like this… … .'

At first, they were hopeful. They waited for a hero to appear and save them.

But now, in a world where even such dreams have become a luxury, it is no different from living without being able to die.

Despair is contagious. The mood quickly spread throughout the kingdom.

In many places, the number of people taking their own lives increased, and the number of people surrendering to the nobles who had rebelled also increased.

In this way, the Turian kingdom was slowly falling apart.

Then, a man appeared.

A man with black hair and dark eyes like an abyss. His skin was as white as snow, as if he had never seen sunlight.

There was not a single trace of smile on her beautiful face, which seemed to have been created by God himself. No one dared to speak to her because of her cold expression, which seemed to be devoid of any emotion.

Srrrrung… … .

The man pulled out his sword. A blinding blue light hovered over the sword.

The old man who was accompanying him bowed his head slightly and said.

"Your Majesty, are you really going to leave this tower?"

"I am not a prince. Don't call me that."

"...yes."

The man was the heir to a kingdom that had been in hiding for a long time.

He showed a genius talent for swordsmanship from a young age. His body was so strong that it was said to be blessed with mana.

Even though he had not learned the Mana cultivation method, he had mana naturally accumulated in his body since birth. After he got a little older, he was a genius who even modified the royal mana cultivation method to suit his body.

But he was abandoned by the royal family because the king hated him so much.

The king had been blazing with hatred at the sight of him since he was born. People simply assumed that it was because the queen had died giving birth to the prince.

Not wanting to incur the king's wrath, everyone avoided the man and kept quiet. As the days went by, ominous rumors spread, and more and more people began to feel uncomfortable with him and hate him for no reason.

There were even several attempts to assassinate him, which were permitted by his father.

The man survived all the ambush with his amazing talent, but his heart also closed.

He handed over the throne to his half-brother and locked himself in the royal tower.

He didn't meet anyone or build relationships with anyone. All he did was quietly read books and practice swordsmanship in the tower.

Because that was the only way he could live in peace.

The man who had been so silent finally decided to come out into the world.

The old man, the only attendant who cared for him, spoke with a worried expression.

"His Majesty will not remain silent."

"It doesn't matter."

They say that monsters are swarming everywhere. Even though he had cut off all ties with the world, he couldn't just sit still after hearing that news.

He just wanted to save people.

So he came out into the world with only a sword. The man went into the crack alone and fought.

Kaaaaaaah!

The Crackers could not stop him. Every time they touched the sword, they turned to dust and disappeared.

However, the man alone could not eliminate all those cracks at once. He returned injured, rested, and entered the crack area again, repeating this process.

The soldiers who had formed the barrier clicked their tongues when they saw that.

"You're crazy."

"Why are you doing such crazy things?"

"I know you're very skilled, but you'll be dead soon."

No army that found out his identity helped him. They were all uncomfortable with the man and did not want to get close to him.

Some people thought it would be better for him to just go in and die, knowing that he was a prince abandoned by the royal family.

The man was so lonely, but he didn't care. He was always alone, so nothing changed.

I just fought the cracks silently.

Fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting again, even though my whole body was covered in blood and I was exhausted.

He kept fighting for days on end.

Impressed by his appearance, soldiers gathered around him one by one, treating him and giving him food.

Kaaaaang!

And after a close fight that lasted half a day, the man finally cut off Equidema's head.

He dragged Equidema's corpse out of the rift before the blue fog had even dissipated.

To give hope to everyone.

It was truly a great feat. No one on this continent could remove the rift alone.

All the soldiers, amazed by the wonder, knelt before him.

He was called this in Giselle's previous life.

saver.

And… …the first of the seven continents.

The best sword on the continent.