A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 256
Only Noblemtl
Episode 256. Prove Your Qualifications
After a long meeting that would decide the fate of Tudra and the Kingdom of Maia.
The Duke ordered Sherwood’s captain to be brought to him.
To request the Sherwood Mercenaries based on the meeting results.
No matter how you think about it, the Sherwood Mercenaries’ power was essential to stopping this third wave.
The third wave will be on a different scale than the second wave.
The objective numbers brought by the reconnaissance party and the records of the number of people who have flocked there every year prove this fact.
In addition, a S-class special entity that is said to be able to destroy an entire country single-handedly has appeared.
If those monsters reach the barrier, it will crumble like a sand castle.
The barrier that protected the kingdom of Maia from the White Hell for hundreds of years has collapsed.
What happened after that was horrible to even think about.
They will roam all over Maia and turn all of Maia into a white hell.
Of course, if the Duke of Elsevier himself were to come forward with the turquoise sword Aurora, he would be able to break one of the two entities.
Because he is the absolute ruler of the North and the Eight Swordsman.
Moreover, if all the knights of the mighty Tudra come forward, the remaining individual can also be defeated somehow.
But in that case, who will guard the barrier?
Even after putting our heads together and discussing solutions by making various assumptions, we still came to the same conclusion.
I need Sherwood’s help.
-The leader of the Sherwood Mercenaries has arrived.
“Let me in.”
The Duke looked at the red-eyed man who appeared in the conference room with an expressionless face.
He did not elaborate on the reason for making this request.
The Duke spoke to him out of the blue.
“Eliminate the S-class special entity, ‘Snowman’.”
He wasn’t surprised.
Even though he had been given the most difficult request in the world, his face was still expressionless.
“What about the compensation?”
He was the one who calmly mentioned the reward, as if he had already guessed it.
“Is there anything you want?”
Ashvan stared blankly at his waist in response to the duke’s question.
“That sword. Let me hold it.”
“… … !”
The eyes of those in the conference room widened.
“How rude!”
The knights of the North who had been silent suddenly rose from their seats.
No matter how much effort was put into it, this was excessive language and an impolite request.
Duke of Guillermo Elsevier.
He was the absolute ruler of the North, known as the King of the North, a leader revered by all the Northmen, and the guardian of the noble Wall.
Also, he was a knight before he became a monarch.
How dare you take up the sword, which is also called the life of a knight?
Moreover, in a situation where both parties know that the sword is not an ordinary sword.
It was a word that could never be spoken lightly, and it was a word that could not be taken lightly.
The Aurora, the blue-green sword, is one of the nine great swords forged by Ophis, the incarnation of the blacksmith god Volund.
The sword hilt of the Aurora, the blue-green sword, could not be given to anyone, not even to his most trusted knight or his family.
The only person he had ever allowed to hold a sword was Guston the Greatsword.
But the red-eyed man did not take his eyes off the duke, no matter whether the knights got up or not.
“Isn’t that possible?”
The peacock silently raised one hand without taking his gaze off Ashvan’s clear eyes.
Then the knights who had stood up shut their mouths and slowly sat down.
The duke asked.
“Why?”
Ashvan answered in a calm and composed tone.
“I guess you could say it’s a very personal, small goal to break free from the boring daily life.”
“It’s a small goal.”
“I will meet the Eight Sword Masters and hold their swords one by one.”
“It will be fun.”
“yes.”
“It’ll be hard to live long, though.”
As he said this, the duke’s eyes sparkled.
In an instant, an enormous amount of pressure burst out from the peacock.
“Ugh… … !”
“Ugh… … !”
The soldiers looked as if they were going to faint under the pressure of being crushed, and the knights broke out in a cold sweat.
In contrast, the red-eyed man simply stared into the peacock’s piercing gray eyes with unchanging eyes.
An eerie silence ruled the space.
The two men looked at each other for a long time.
After such a long and short time, the duke gathered all of his energy that he had poured out.
And then, the corners of his lips rose.
“… … !”
The knights and vassals who were watching were astonished.
Because it is rare to see a peacock smiling.
No, to begin with, it was rare for facial expressions to change.
The peacock looked at the man in front of him with his sharp gray eyes, the corners of his mouth raised.
The red-eyed man who never avoided her gaze for even a moment.
The peacock asked, showing the turquoise sword at his waist.
“You said you wanted to hold this guy?”
“yes.”
The turquoise sword Aurora was humming and spewing out turquoise energy as if it had heard my story.
“Can you handle it?”
Ashvan stared blankly at the Duke for a moment as he spoke.
I remembered his face, looking very tired after swinging the turquoise sword Aurora.
‘It seems like it takes a lot of mental energy.’
Nevertheless, Ashvan nodded confidently.
Because he had a memory of beating up the worst demon swordsman, Vlad, who was known for his ferocity, like a dog.
I’m not going to be the owner anyway, I’m just holding it for a little while, so what could happen?
If they try to harm you, why don’t you just beat them up?
“I’ll try, I can handle it.”
The peacock’s smile deepened.
How many people have been so impudent toward the Lord of Winter?
He was fearless. As if he had overcome death once.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that the man in front of me was not fearless because he was strong, but rather that he was strong because he was not afraid.
“A promise made only with words is empty. You can’t give it to just anyone to try.”
The Duke said as he looked at the independent man standing alone.
“Prove your qualifications.”
“What do you mean by qualifications?”
“Let’s just defeat the Snowman. Wouldn’t that be enough proof?”
The Duke spoke as he looked around the quiet conference room.
The knights remained silent, and the vassals raised no objection.
“That’s what I think.”
“okay.”
The red-eyed man smiled as if he found it amusing.
“I will prove that I am qualified.”
The smile was similar to the one that bloomed on the peacock’s face.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
The two independent men smiled in silence for a moment.
“For other compensation and request forms, please discuss them in detail with Finance Manager Hudmilla.”
After saying that, Ashvan turned and left the conference room.
Rattling.
After the conference room door closes.
“… …Your Majesty.”
One of the old retainers cautiously called out to his lord.
They were not unaware of the meaning behind the act of holding the Aurora sword.
To hold his sword is to carry out his will.
It meant the title of successor to the Duke of Elsevier, the King of the North and Guardian of the Wall.
“I don’t think that’s what he meant.”
“still…….”
Even if the other person didn’t think so, there was a clear meaning behind the action.
It was something of a nature that could not be easily ignored.
As if he had guessed the vassal’s intentions, the duke said.
“It would be a lie to say that I had no thoughts either.”
“… … What do you mean?”
“He is a rare man. It would be a shame to send him away without even making an offer.”
“… … !”
The eyes of all the vassals and knights in the conference room widened.
Be that as it may, the Duke muttered as he looked out the door through which the new leader of the Sherwood Mercenaries had exited.
“That would really be after I cut off Snowman’s head and stopped the third wave.”
If you couldn’t stop the wave, it was over.
All of this.
The Duke broke up the meeting, looking upon the loyal knights and vassals of the North in the conference room.
“The meeting was long. Let’s go and do what we discussed.”
“……yes!”
The knights and vassals, who had come to their senses at the duke’s words, hurriedly left the conference room to carry out his orders.
“… … .”
The peacock, left alone, was lost in thought, his hand furtively placed on the buzzing blue-green sword.
Thinking of a man who had once rejected his offer… … .
* * *
Time passed.
It didn’t seem to flow that fast, nor did it seem to flow that slow.
It just flowed at a moderate pace.
Meanwhile, the Adrian-type monsters beyond the barrier have grown in number at a frightening rate, as if they are breeding among themselves.
Linda’s poison research, after repeated experiments, reached a satisfactory level and entered mass production with the full support of the Duke.
Now, they are said to be researching a way to apply Linda’s poison to the magical projectiles that even wizards shoot from the barrier.
The northerners were busy trying to do whatever they could to help hold off the last wave.
Sherwood spent most of his time leisurely.
Hudmilla, the treasurer, was called to the Duke’s mansion to handle various matters.
Dauphin, who had been beaten up by Hudmilla and the Demon Swordsman and was groaning, quickly came back to life and exchanged greetings with the members he hadn’t seen in a long time. Then, he grabbed a new face – Shushuruta and started talking to him.
Shushuruta listened to Dauphin’s story with sparkling eyes and interest.
Maybe they feel some kind of kinship because they are both thieves. The two of them get along quite well.
Miho is sleeping on Scarlett’s lap, and her older sister is puffing on a long pipe with a languid expression, puffing on smoke.
And the seat next to him is occupied by a swordsman who is trying to get his older sister’s attention.
“Sister. Is your research going well?”
“So-so.”
“If you need anything, just let me know! I’ll pick the stars from the sky and bring them to you!”
“Thank you for even just saying that.”
“… … .”
It looks like the dog is wagging its tail.
In the first place, that guy was a big fan of his older sister, so it wasn’t that surprising of a sight.
Even if that’s the case with Hearts, even Sorou is like that…
Cheonma said as if he was surprised.
[Judging by the blue eyes, it seems to be from the Ice Age.]
“That must be right.”
[I thought you had a cool personality.]
“That’s how it was originally, but it only looks like that in front of my older sister.”
Now that I think about it, when that guy broke down the magic tower and escaped, the first person he met was you, right?
There was a past between us that I didn’t know about.
I sat down next to Scarlett, opposite the swordsman, and said bluntly.
“Sister.”
“huh?”
“You said you were going to take the magic stone to the Duke?”
“That’s right.”
The swordsman who had lost my attention in an instant glared at me, but I didn’t care.
“Where can I use the magic stone?”
“Because I need it for research.”
Research that requires S-class magic stones.
What kind of research is this?
“Boris must have done a good job of persuading me. My sister came in person.”
“It was Boris who brought me the news.”
Scarlett answered, exhaling smoke from her cigarette.
“It’s nothing special. I just happened to have some necessary ingredients.”
“aha.”
“I can’t say that it wasn’t for Boris’s help. He would be working hard in the restaurant instead of me by now.”
“With the captain?”
“huh.”
He was the guy who was so afraid of the captain.
Just the two of us working in a restaurant… … .
I felt a little sorry for Boris.
Soon I asked what I was curious about.
“Sister. What kind of research is this that involves using S-class magic stones?”
Scarlett looked at me and smiled.
“It’s a secret.”
“It’s always a secret.”
“When the time comes, you will know, even if you don’t want to know.”
Scarlett smiled slightly at my disgruntled expression and gave me a hint.
“It’s a study related to ‘time’.”
“What time is it?”
“Yes. Time is a very tricky thing, so you have to be very careful. Even the slightest twist can cause completely unexpected events. Isn’t it like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings?”
“no?”
“You idiot. Don’t you know that?”
Sorou, who had been waiting for an opportunity, immediately criticized me.
I thought about it for a moment and then snapped my fingers.
“Aha. So you finally figured out how to overcome the passage of time. Rather than delaying aging, you can turn back time… … .”
I stood up quietly from my seat, looking into my sister’s cold, murderous emerald eyes.
“Ahem. Should we go for a walk?”
As I was about to leave the inn, I heard Sorou’s serious voice behind me.
“Sister. Should I take care of it?”
“huh.”
“Hey.”
“You’re a piece of shit! I’ll have to offer your ugly head to my sister!”
I ran out of the inn and played tag for a while with the swordsman who had become the Red Witch’s faithful dog.
* * *
It’s been 10 days since the second wave hit.
The third wave has begun.
The Thousand Horses Are Stuffed in My Head Episode 257