A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 229



Only Noblemtl

Episode 229. Sherwood’s Secret Weapon

I couldn’t hide my embarrassment as I looked at Princess Lilia sitting across from me in the carriage.

“No, Princess. Were you going together?”

Princess Lilia folded her arms and looked at me with her confident emerald eyes, somewhat impudently.

“I told you to take good care of me.”

“I thought you were just saying.”

“By the way, are you going to keep calling me princess so formally? I told you to just call me Lily.”

“Princess. No matter what, Lily―”

“Mond sir. Quiet.”

“… … .”

Monde, who had meddled in vain and lost his original intention, licked his lips in displeasure and turned his gaze out the window.

“Well, would you like to sing it?”

“… … .”

“It’s really okay, so don’t refuse.”

I looked at the three impudent princesses in front of me.

Bright blonde hair flowing down the lines of her slender face, and emerald eyes that sparkle with a strange light.

He reminded me of someone I met at Blake.

However, there was a difference in that that someone had blue eyes.

Age… I think he was around 15 or 16. He definitely didn’t look like he was twenty.

‘The impression is… … .’

I don’t know if I should say this to the princess, but she seems to be very disobedient.

Maybe it’s the face of a rascal.

If you leave it alone, it seems like it will bounce around here and there and end up in an unimaginable place and cause an accident.

But sometimes, when I looked into his serious, sinking eyes, I could catch a glimpse of his inner world firmly established within.

‘Even if they’re young, they’re still royalty.’

He also added his praise in a tone that said, “Cheonmado is interesting.”

[You look smart.]

The princess, unaware that she had been praised by the extremely picky Cheonma, looked at me with sparkling eyes and urged me on.

“Come on, Lord Ashvan. Call me Lily.”

“… … .”

“Just once. I told you it’s not that difficult.”

After thinking for a moment, he said.

“You can call me comfortably too.”

Let’s say that, Lilia smiled brightly.

“Okay, Ashvan.”

“Yes, Lily.”

“Wow!”

The princess jumped for joy just by calling her name.

“Hey, can you call me one more time?”

“I don’t like it, Lily.”

“Whoa!”

Monde, who was sitting diagonally across from him, looked at the princess with an expression that said, ‘Here we go again,’ and then said to me.

“You said Ashvan. I understand. Once our princess gets hooked, she’ll fall for it endlessly.”

“Why me?”

Mond shrugged.

“How would I know that? Even the princess herself doesn’t know the reason.”

While we’re on the subject, I asked.

“Hey, Lily.”

“yes?”

“There must be many other capable people, so why did you specifically ask me to do it? Judging from the number of people going, it seems like you were only planning to go with a small number of people.”

Princess Lilia was now, so to speak, on the run.

And he only took that one guardian knight with him, without any other servants or escorts.

Our princess left the palace at night under the pretense of giving a wedding speech, came to District 3, and is currently heading north in a carriage that was prepared in advance.

Even the carriage looked like it had been given some attention.

It wasn’t flashy and didn’t stand out that much, but it was sturdy and strangely quiet and comfortable, and it didn’t seem like an ordinary carriage.

As proof, Linda and Schmidt are sleeping soundly next to me, their heads resting on each other’s shoulders.

The green dress she wore to the wedding is nowhere to be seen, and she is currently wearing a warm-looking fur coat wrapped tightly around her neck.

Lilia answered my question with pride.

“It’s a secret, but I have a special ability.”

“Special abilities?”

Even though no one else was listening, Lilia suddenly came closer and whispered while covering her mouth with one hand.

“Yes. Would you believe me if I said it was just my feeling?”

“It’s a feeling. Is it a woman’s feeling or something like that?”

“Um… That’s a bit different. It’s a bit hard to explain.”

Lilia leaned back against the soft backrest and looked at me.

“When I saw Ashvan, I had a feeling. Ah, this is the warrior who will save the kingdom of Maia from the crisis! I knew it right away.”

“… … So, you chose me based on simple feelings?”

“yes!”

As I looked at the flying article to confirm, he yawned and nodded.

“Our princess is a little bit unique.”

“It’s not just a little bit.”

Isn’t this a weirdo even worse than the Black Prince?

The Black Prince may be sinister and cruel, but he is also cautious and careful.

But this helpless princess runs away in the middle of the night based on simple intuition and heads north, where danger lurks, with a man she has never seen before.

And that too at a time when the worst monster wave was expected to descend.

Yeah, that’s true.

Even so.

“Is there a need for a princess of a kingdom to go north herself?”

Then Lily placed both hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and spoke confidently.

“Boost morale!”

“Increasing morale?”

“If the noble princess of the kingdom goes to the North Wall in person to cheer us on, wouldn’t our soldiers be greatly encouraged?”

“… … Is that so?”

“That’s it!”

I guess so.

[I see.]

Even Cheonma was persuaded.

… … If you look closely, it seems like Mr. Cheonma only shows his weak side to young kids.

[no.]

No, that’s not true.

I looked at the Monde.

“Shouldn’t I become a Guardian Knight and prevent such dangerous things from happening?”

Nallari shrugged.

“If you stop me, you will be the kind of person who will leave me behind and go secretly on your own. I will only follow the princess.”

Lily grabbed Monde’s arm and linked arms with him.

“Our Mond Kyungdo. I was about to be kicked out of the Royal Knights, so I brought him in as my guardian knight. I felt pissed.”

“Why did you get cut?”

“There are many. Drinking, leaving the workplace, violating the code of conduct, skipping training without permission, refusing missions, assaulting nobles… .”

“Assault on a nobleman?”

It’s a good thing that he was cut off from the Royal Knights.

“No, Princess. What if I ask you that and you answer straight away?”

“Why, it’s all in the past.”

Monde looked out the window, shaking his head slightly as if he couldn’t stand seeing the princess’s laughing face.

I was bored, so I took a bite of beef jerky and looked at the princess across from me.

“Even so, it is still like that. Does it make sense for the princess to go to that dangerous north herself? And with only one guardian knight?”

“Why? There are some solid Sherwood members here, including Ashvan.”

When I looked next to her at her words, there was a dumb and a mute sleeping soundly with their heads resting on each other’s shoulders.

By the way, Dauphin is standing on the stables, squeezing the cold wind.

The princess is excluded because she doesn’t know how to drive a carriage, and the Nalari Guardian Knight is excluded under the pretext of always being by the princess’ side.

Linda, Schmidt, and Dauphin played rock-paper-scissors and Dauphin won.

“And I can use that magic too.”

“……magic?”

“Yes. Do you want to see it?”

As I nodded, Lily closed her eyes and began to move her hands noisily, mumbling something unintelligible.

After a moment, he opened his closed eyes and shouted.

“yap!”

A tiny spark emerged from her fingertips.

The sight was like a tiny candle raised up with its finger as a candle.

“How is it? How is it?”

“Oh… That’s great?”

I was purely amazed.

A princess who knows how to use magic.

The princess laughed like a rascal.

“Hehehe. You shouldn’t be surprised here.”

She closed her eyes again and moved her hands and mouth busily as before… … .

“Yay!”

This time, a cold chill rippled through my fingertips like smoke from a blown-out candle.

The princess poked the back of my hand with it.

“Oh, the car.”

“How is it? Isn’t it great? I can use both attributes. Fire and ice, opposing attributes! Isn’t it great? Isn’t it great?”

Monde Kyung put his horse on the horse.

“It may look a little shabby, but it’s really difficult. There are only a handful of wizards who can control opposing attributes. When it was revealed that the princess could control two attributes, the magic tower was turned upside down. They said it was a talent that only comes once every ten years.”

“Oh.”

“It’s just something you’re born with. Among wizards, it’s said that you’ve been blessed with mana.”

Lillia, who had been praised, punched Monde on the shoulder, saying, “How sloppy! How sloppy!”

“Is that so?”

Without thinking much, I raised the Seolji Cheongyeomgong and released each attribute into both hands.

In my left hand, a cold, white chill is scattered. In my right hand, a crackling blue flame.

As I had reached the Seventh Level of the Snow Branch Green Flame Skill, it was no longer difficult for me to use the two opposing energies simultaneously.

Lilia and Monde’s eyes widened when they saw that.

“… … !”

“What, what is it?”

Lillia brought her hand close to the white cold and blue flames, and her mouth fell open.

“Oh, it’s true, right?”

Of course, that century was nothing compared to what the princess had produced.

Lilia looked at me with a dumbfounded face.

“Ashvan. You were a wizard?”

“It’s not a magician. It’s a martial arts skill.”

“… …Is it black magic?”

“Well… let’s say it’s similar.”

Mond was still frozen like a statue, staring at my hands with wide eyes, while Lilia was fussing as if she didn’t understand at all.

“No, what the heck… …! It’s surprising that he was able to create fire and cold without any spells or seals, but he used them at the same time! And with such great power! How is this possible?”

“hmm?”

He tilted his head.

“Can’t Lily do both at the same time?”

The princess shouted.

“Who would do that! Even the Red Witch wouldn’t be able to do that?”

“Oh, really? It was really hard. I thought my eyes were going to roll over. It took a long time to even smoke it at the same time.”

“It’s not that it’s difficult, it’s that it’s impossible!”

I answered with a stern face.

“I, Ashvan. There is no such thing as impossible in my dictionary.”

“I really… … .”

Lilia laughed like a deflated balloon.

It was a weak, muffled laugh.

“Come to think of it, wasn’t Ketel’s miracle also possible because Ashvan was watching over society?”

“hmm?”

“I know you all know. When everyone was shocked and fell over, Ashvan looked up at the night sky and smiled calmly. Then, as if Ketel was smiling back, a crescent moon appeared and disappeared immediately.”

… … You were watching that?

Was I the only one who was watching?

She was a princess with keen observation skills.

“The priests of the night said that it has been 300 years since Ketel performed a miracle. And this is the first miracle of this scale. It is something that has never been recorded. It means that the uproar over the temple of the night was not a groundless commotion. Well… Thanks to that, it was easy to sneak out.”

Princess Lilia looked at me with a strange expression.

“Ashvan. Who the hell are you?”

I smiled faintly.

“Sherwood’s secret weapon.”

* * *

Whioooooo―!

The north where pure white wind blows.

A massive wall, seemingly made of ice and steel, blocked the white land and the frozen city.

There was a man standing on the wall.

His hair was all ashen, and his beard and hair grew so thick that it looked like a lion’s mane.

He was wearing the skin of a beast that resembled a tiger, and his appearance gave off an unapproachable majesty and ferocious wildness.

His gray eyes stared beyond the castle walls, at the white land through which the endless snow wind blew.

Soon his mouth opened.

“What about the support troops?”

It was a hard, strict voice without any highs or lows.

But that alone gave off an overwhelming feeling of momentum over the opponent.

His adjutant reported.

“The royal family is still just repeating that we should re-examine. It seems like we can’t expect any support from the royal family.”

The man let out a small sigh.

“You useless, incompetent strays. If it were up to me, I would rather go south with the demons.”

“… …Your Majesty.”

“Yeah, what about the rooftop?”

“The Tower of Magic has responded that they will be sending a total of thirty-one battle magicians.”

“This is an unprecedented scale.”

“Yes. If they don’t want to give up and move to another magic tower, they’ll have to block the monster wave with all their might.”

“What else?”

The adjutant mentioned the knights and soldiers dispatched from the fiefdoms scattered throughout Maia.

The man spoke in a blunt voice.

“There are few.”

“… … Yes. It seems that they are doing so because they are keeping an eye on the royal family. On the surface, they said that they had to leave behind a minimum number of personnel to protect the territory from the evil spirits lurking nearby.”

“You guys are like cowards.”

The man nodded lowly.

“What about the mercenaries then?”

“Yes, I tried to convey the message to the mercenaries in the mercenary guild in various ways, avoiding the royal family’s eyes… … .”

“Just tell me the conclusion.”

“I’m sorry. The mercenaries… most of them seem to have chosen to flee instead of fighting.”

The man clicked his tongue lowly.

It was no surprise.

Originally, mercenaries, unlike knights, had no beliefs or justice.

It only moves with money.

But this time, we’re faced with the worst monster wave ever.

A situation where individual survival is uncertain, regardless of money.

If the demons break through the north wall and advance south, it will be Maia’s mercenary guild that will be in trouble, not the mercenaries.

Because they just have to go into exile in another country and wander around.

The man stared out beyond the wall in silence for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“What about ‘that guy’?”

“The last news was that the head of the Milestone Mercenary Guild branch went to persuade them in person.”

“That means we haven’t received a definitive answer yet.”

“yes.”

“Ha… … . If only he came, I could catch my breath.”

The man’s sigh dissipated into a hazy puff of breath.

“Oh, and.”

“Something.”

“The Sherwood Mercenaries are coming.”

The man’s eyebrows twitched.

For the first time, a change in expression was observed on the man’s face, which had been frozen hard, as if a crack had appeared in the ice.

He spoke slowly.

“It was dismantled, wasn’t it?”

“Recently, a man named Ashvan the Half-Sword has appeared and is said to be reviving the mercenary group and gathering together the scattered members. The scattered Sherwood members are said to be gathering one by one around him.”

“… … Ashvan? I’ve never heard of it.”

The man, who had been thinking for a moment, said:

“There’s no way the Sherwood guys would gather around someone they don’t know.”

“There is also a theory that he was a member of a unit.”

“Nonsense. If that were true, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

“There are also rumors that it is Sherwood’s secret weapon.”

When the man turned his head to look, the adjutant coughed in vain and avoided eye contact.

“I was suspicious, so I looked into it separately, and it seems that his skills are certain. I heard that he single-handedly defeated the A-class demon Hydra and became the new owner of the Platinum Badge.”

“hmm.”

“I heard from the new leader of the Sherwood Mercenaries that he would gather all Sherwood members to the north… … .”

“It’s still a situation that I’m not sure about.”

“Yes.”

At this moment, movement was detected beyond the castle walls, which were now completely covered in white.

Bonnie saw something approaching, drawing a red line through the snowstorm.

It was a man who was dragging a huge demon with one hand, leaving a red trail of blood.

The adjutant who saw him said.

“I told you to rest until the real wave starts, but you just won’t listen.”

“That’s what all Sherwood guys are like.”

The man spoke, looking at the long red line stretching across the pure white snow field.

“Leave it alone. He’s not the type of man to talk.”

“yes.”

The man muttered, fiddling with the sword at his waist.

“Sherwood’s resurrection… …is that the only place where we can have hope?”

The turquoise sword hanging from the man’s waist was shimmering with a mysterious light.