Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 304



Only Krnovel

Episode 304. The Eyes That Chase Gold (5)

“What do you mean… … you think the top position will be yours to decide?”

“It’s up to you whether you accept it or not. But if I go to Bellman Becia’s presence and lower Leonora’s status, who do you think will be the next owner? Of course, I’ll have my say.”

Isaac’s words were basically, ‘I’ll give you the choice of who will become the next Pope of the Church of Light.’ It was absurd, but you had to make a deal that seemed absurd in order to shake the opponent’s firm resolve.

And Isaac, a poor Grail Knight with no money, had to shake this much bait to bribe Sherlock.

‘If we kill Sherlock, not only will the mercenaries be resentful, but the Golden Idol Group will also be dissatisfied. Leonora may even resort to more extreme measures… … It would be best to bribe someone like Sherlock.’

The question is whether or not he can fool Leonora into thinking he will succeed, but that is up to Sherlock.

And Sherlock had long since begun calculating how much he could sell for the ‘next top pick’.

When he came up with an amount that seemed like he could live off of writing plays that wouldn’t sell for the rest of his life, Sherlock nodded as if it was difficult.

“The unjust contract with evil has been broken in front of a knight of greater good and honor. Well, if it is okay to do as I have been doing… … .”

Credibility as a mercenary? Sherlock never had that from the start.

Besides, if I get the amount I expect, I won’t have to do the mercenary work I hate for the rest of my life. It might not be that much if I divide it among the members of the troupe, but it was worth the risk.

If it had been a demand to take Isaac’s side, Sherlock would not have accepted it. However, if he could just do what he had been doing without crossing the line, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

“May I swear before the golden idol?”

It is a warning that if you break the contract, your nose will break while you sleep and you will get vomited while drinking water and drown.

Isaac shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“You can swear it. Just don’t forget that the contract will be concluded after I arrive at Odrif.”

Isaac could have gotten away without stopping at Odrif, but then the Golden Idols would only continue to harass him. The only thing that would benefit from the expedition force going against the wishes of the merchants responsible for their supplies would be the enemy.

“Okay. Then let’s put on a show.”

“Then let’s consider the contract concluded… … Now there’s just one more thing to resolve.”

“One thing?”

As Sherlock looked back curiously, Uchiura White Tiger walked out in front of the village chief’s house, growling.

Even though he was covered in blood, his bulky body and the intimidating aura unique to Baekhojang were still there.

Sherlock hesitated and took a step back.

“You have to resolve the conflict with that friend with your own hands.”

“No, what… … .”

Before Sherlock could say anything, Uchiura ran towards him, screaming.

Isaac gave Sherlock a pat on the back and sent him forward.

Even though Sherlock and Uchiura were bare-handed, the orc had enough brute force to kill an adult male with his bare hands. It goes without saying that the orc was Baekhojang.

The moment Isaac lifted his head, Sherlock rolled across the yard as if he had lost his footing. Uchiura’s hand brushed the air. Sherlock slipped and pushed his leg with his back, knocking him off balance.

As soon as Uchiura fell, Sherlock got up like lightning and immediately put his hand into the nape of his opponent’s neck.

In his bare hand was a large dagger. Uchiura’s blood gushed out from the back of his neck and soon he fell limp.

Finally, he was freed from his body and returned to his hometown.

“Oh, I’m sure they confiscated the weapon… … ?”

Hesabel, who had clearly confiscated the weapons before dragging him in, looked surprised. It was surprising that she, an assassin, had hidden the weapons from her.

But Isaac wasn’t surprised because he had expected it. There were probably three or four more weapons besides that one.

Sherlock glared at Isaac with a tired expression, then sighed deeply. Then he spoke to Hesabel calmly as if nothing had happened.

“A man always carries a solid weapon hidden away.”

“Hmm, that’s worth noting.”

“Hesabel, that’s a sexually harassing remark. If you say anything similar, cut me off.”

He didn’t say specifically where he wanted to cut. Isaac hid his true feelings, thinking that because his sense of dialogue was like that, the play wouldn’t sell…

Sherlock looked away with a stinging look.

“Oh, by the way, now that we’re in a gang, I have something to say, but I’m not sure if it’s right for the Isacrea Dawn Army to go to Odrif.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lichtheim officially declared the Dawn Army and began to advance eastward. The procession of the Pope’s carriage, bishops, and priests was a spectacular sight. They say there are already clashes with the Black Empire. Aren’t we going to lose everything if we keep going like this?”

“Hmm, I guess I should hurry.”

Odrif was originally a transit point for Isaac.

Even if Lichtheim moved, nothing would change from the plan. However, the strength and supply of the main force of the Dawn Army far surpassed that of the Isacrea Dawn Army. Isaac could not maintain a steady advance speed like they did. So he had to hurry.

“Oh, but I don’t think there’s any need to worry too much. I heard that while the Holy Grail Knight was in the mountains, the Dawn Army led by Siero planned a reckless operation in this area and suffered a huge blow.”

“what?”

“There were many people comparing the priests of Siero and the Knights of the Holy Grail, but isn’t it a good thing that the other fell first?”

“… … I really have to hurry.”

Isaac did not rejoice at his competitor’s voluntary destruction. Rather, a cold sweat broke out on his spine.

The enemies that the Sierra Dawn Army faces are the undead. The incompetence of our forces does not end with mere tactical failure. It will immediately lead to an increase in the enemy’s power.

This meant that Isaac would have to deal with more undead.

***

After the negotiations are concluded.

As soon as Sherlock got out of the village, he gave a signal with both fingers indicating that he was safe.

Before long, people began to appear one by one in the forest where there had been nothing. Not a single one of them was wearing the same clothes, so it was questionable whether they were mercenaries or even their identities, but they were all skilled enough to break the neck of an adult male with their bare hands.

“Sir, why do you keep sending that signal when no one can understand it?”

“If you want to stand on stage, you need to memorize at least some hand signals! Haven’t you memorized them yet?”

“Even the leader of the receiving signal can’t memorize it, so why memorize it when he keeps making new ones? By the way, what was the rumored Holy Grail Knight like? When you first saw him from afar, you said, ‘We can’t beat that guy. Let’s run away for now.’ But when you said you’d go for him this time, I thought you’d given up.”

“I thought I was seeing things wrong because you kept running away.”

“I guess I was wrong since you came back alive, right?”

Sherlock stared into the distance for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

“No, you saw it correctly.”

Sherlock’s ‘talent for pricing’ is a bit more sophisticated than Isaac realizes.

He sets the price not only on the bounty, but also on the price when sold as a slave, or when selling only the organs, or when taking them as a hostage and receiving a ransom.

And this talent becomes more sophisticated the closer you look at it, the more detailed it becomes. If you put your mind to it, you could even value each finger.

Seeing Isaac up close for the first time, Sherlock was able to put a better price on him.

The results are not measurable.

It meant that there was no one who could pay the price.

You could take it to mean that calling is expensive, but before that, there is no one who can or wants to buy it.

There are usually two cases like this.

One is a truly worthless piece of trash. But it’s unlikely that a Grail Knight, a famous figure in the Empire, would do that.

The second is the truly absurd, enormous case of being under the protection of a divine being.

In this case, it is impossible to value it because it is not something that can be backed up by an earthly being. The only beings that Sherlock has valued as immeasurable are Dera Heman and the immortal emperor Beshek, whom he saw from afar.

The bounty Leonora set?

It seemed to Sherlock that Leonora didn’t really think she could catch Isaac.

He just used himself as bait to harass Isaac.

‘Does this girl… … think I’m a fool?’

If I hadn’t had the talent to value Sherlock, I might have been fooled without a second thought and ended up as one of the thugs who tormented Isaac.

But he was able to survive thanks to lying flat on his stomach.

Of course, Sherlock had a secret weapon. However, he gave up on the idea after seeing that Isaac had seen through his talent at a glance. It seemed like Isaac would destroy even his secret weapon in an instant and cut off his head.

“Then what should we do?”

The members of the theater asked with concern.

They too had doubted Sherlock’s sanity when he had said he was going to capture the warrior who had defeated Khan’s army, the great warrior of Elil, and the saint of resurrection chosen by the Code of Light. And now that they had learned that those honors were not empty, they were worried about their enemies.

Because there is no property more precious than life.

Sherlock remained silent for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“It doesn’t seem like 100,000 won is going to make a difference.”

“then……?”

“I’ll have to ask Miss Leonora for some extra money.”

Sherlock raised the corners of his mouth.

Isaac said that as long as he kept to the line, he could do as he always had. Then, he could carry out Leonora’s orders, receive money, and settle Isaac’s price at the end.

A business that can rip off both parties, it can’t get any cooler than this.

“Last time, I told you that a sword master with great sword skills came over from Elril. I should tell him that I need some money to seduce him.”

***

Isaac turned slightly from the direction he was heading to O’Drift, heading east.

It was a bit of a detour, but it wasn’t a bad distance to stop by. Especially since Elril-kun was expected to arrive there around this time, it was worth stopping by at least once.

After passing countless snow-covered mountain ranges, a dark wasteland suddenly appeared.

Even as I was flying through the sky, the smell of burning hit me. The smell of burning grain, wood, and corpses.

Isaac ordered Nell to lower the altitude.

A cold wind blew sharply against my ears. The air here was dry, as the Gelliford Mountains blocked the moisture rising from the south. The absence of snow allowed me to see the devastation clearly.

Soon, Nell came down close to the ground, raising a thick cloud of dust. Isaac frowned as he looked around. The entire place was a battlefield. It seemed as if a huge battle had taken place here. However, surprisingly, there were not many corpses, but only scattered at regular intervals.

‘That means… … .’

As soon as Isaac got off, the corpses around him began to move and squirm as expected.

They were sleeping zombies.

Instead of rushing at me as soon as they woke up, the zombies screamed.

The shouts that started from one or two people soon turned into shouts from dozens and hundreds, and they resonated loudly. Isaac felt annoyed and hit the neck of one of the zombies nearby.

‘Siren Zombie.’

They were zombies who laid out corpses captured by the Immortal Church as mines. Their role was similar. When a living person approached nearby, they would immediately rise up, alert the surroundings, and attack. There were hundreds of them laid out around this wilderness.

‘Then that means there are people living nearby.’

The presence of an alarm system means that an intruder is present.

“Ohhhhhhh!”

The zombies continued to rush forward, screaming. Isaac took out the Ruaddin Key and aimed it at the zombies rushing towards him. The Ruaddin Key was more effective against the undead than the Cachulain.

The flickering flames of the sword cut down the zombies like reeds.

The flames that rose from the Ruaddin Key spread quickly, biting and burning the zombies as if they were living creatures under the influence of Isaac’s sword energy.

Then a scream was heard from somewhere beyond the zombie horde.

A lone warehouse in the middle of the wilderness was being attacked by a horde of zombies. It seemed like Isaac had been hiding from the Siren Zombies and was waking them up, causing them to attack as well.

Isaac gestured to Nell at the sight of the ruined house that looked like it could collapse at any moment.

“Kururururu!”

Nell took a deep breath and exhaled a lightning breath in one breath. The zombies, who were split in half in one breath, staggered and fell down, unable to withstand the lightning. Isaac ran quickly along this newly created path.

As soon as the door burst open, another scream was heard. Inside, people with the appearance of defeated soldiers wearing only ragtag armor were crouching. A trident was suddenly extended and stabbed Isaac, but it did not leave a single scratch on his armor.

“Seo, Paladin?”

Someone barely noticed and opened their mouths. Just as Isaac was about to suggest to them, ‘We can’t hold out here until we kill all the zombies, so let’s get out,’ he noticed a man in priestly attire hiding at the very back of them.

Isaac knew who he was immediately.

“Ciero?”

[Serial] The Knight of the Dead God