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229. Crossing Paths
With Dan’s guidance, Min-Cheol headed for Mars’ estate.
It wasn’t that far away, but the two of them did not forget to use Mass Stealth Jutsu.
The nobles of Larkenta did not know what Min-Cheol and Dan’s faces looked like.
It was true that they didn’t know exactly how Swesi fell and that Morse had died, as well as what these two individuals were up to.
The nobles who had received orders from the castellan were only focused on Demon, who was famous for being the king of the festival.
However, the reason why the two of them were going under stealth while traveling was because of Demon.
Min-Cheol and Demon had an overlapping goal.
There was a chance that Min-Cheol and Dan could be ambushed on the way to Mars’ estate, or it could be that Demon was already hidden inside the estate, ready to pounce.
After arriving at the estate, Min-Cheol swung the door open.
The massive doors opened, and the two of them headed inside.
As expected, a dreadful scene similar to Morse’s estate they just came from greeted them.
A corpse that could no longer be recognized as such and artifacts such as armor were strewn all over the floor.
Only destruction lay in the wake of Demon’s passing.
Shifting their attention away from such a scene, Min-Cheol and Dan began to search the rest of the estate from top to bottom.
However, they could not find any traces of Demon or the nobles.
“Dan. You should return now.”
“Yes, I understand. Master. Please remember what I’ve said before. Mars is an old crafty bastard.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“And here is the accounting book page. Then I shall be off…”
Unlike before, Dan did not stick around and immediately headed for the inn that Min-Cheol was staying at.
Following Dan’s departure, Min-Cheol summoned the 5 clones and began his wait for the owner of the estate to return.
Even if Demon entered through that door instead of Mars right now, Min-Cheol had no reason to fear.
Even though Demon had consumed many of the slaves’ power, there was no way that the festival’s king could face off against Min-Cheol and his 5 clones.
Not only that, but while Min-Cheol was defeating the nobles that had traded with Swesi before, he was hoping to run into Demon by chance along the way.
Since Min-Cheol was almost fully positive that Demon was Barub, what would be the point of waiting until arriving at the celestial plane to finish up business.
Instead, it could be settled here.
The reason for Min-Cheol to push the plan earlier than intended after seeing Demon stir up a ruckus was simple.
Min-Cheol was currently far stronger Demon was.
While being nearly even in a one to one fight, considering the cloning skill, the difference was incomparable.
Right now, as long as Min-Cheol could keep up with the rate that Demon was obtaining strength, there was no way he could lose.
There was no need to get greedy or overexert myself.
The plan for Min-Cheol was to stay as safe as possible and not let the status quo change for the next 19 days.
Min-Cheol also needed to keep up with Demon’s growth, preventing a gap in strength from appearing being the main goal.
To put it simply, as long as Demon didn’t steal the power of all the Larkenta’s nobles, Min-Cheol’s victory was guaranteed.
While I was lost in thought for a brief moment, there was the sound of movement outside.
The one to notice that wasn’t me, but the firstborn clone.
The firstborn clone quietly walked close and tapped my shoulder.
It was to let me know that he had detected movement outside.
After that, I thought that he was returning back to his original spot, but instead did something that I could not even think of.
“Here.”
“Hm? Yeah. Thanks. Huh? Did you just speak?”
“Alone. Not. Two.”
“I-I see…”
Despite having only communicated using body language before, he had spoken.
While it was very curt, it was definitely major progress.
Even though only a few hours had passed, the first clone was now able to communicate using speech instead of just body language.
However, the fact that a clone was able to speak wasn’t important right now.
The enemy had just arrived.
And it wasn’t just the footsteps of one, but two.
The firstborn was able to notice that perfectly and give me notice.
Min-Cheol’s eyes had went wide after witnessing an unexpected behavior from the firstborn clone.
While there were many things he wanted to ask, he instead readied his battle stance and paid close attention to the entrance.
In his hand was a half written scroll just in case, with King’s Marble, Status Denial, and Warp at the ready.
All things needed for escape and survival were on his mind.
Their footsteps came closer, arriving at the estate’s doors, then the door knobs were pulled.
Min-Cheol and the clones. Mars and another count.
With their eyes meeting, each of them held a great amount of caution.
For Min-Cheol, he wasn’t sure if they were the owners of this estate, and for the counts, this was the first time they’ve met Min-Cheol and his clones.
The surprise of the nobles was to be expected, since they expected the king of the festival, Demon, to be present at the estate, if any.
The first one to break the silence and speak was Min-Cheol.
“Mars?”
With the short noble with the height of a pair of pants asking a question to his compatriot, the two of them started to talk amongst themselves.
While ignoring Min-Cheol completely, they continued the conversation between them.
“Count Mars. Did you ask for backup from the castle’s elite knights or something?”
“No. Even if I did ask the castellan for assistance, do you think he’d oblige? He does not care for my wellbeing.”
“Hm… I was hoping for Demon… Some crazy person showed up instead, waiting for us.”
“It seems so.”
Both counts had an expression filled with disappointment.
Since the reward for catching Demon was quite high, they had hoped that the intruder was Demon.
Their expressions and actions showed that they did not care much for Min-Cheol.
Rather, they were treating him as if he didn’t exist.
They instead thought that there was no way they could lose.
It was to be expected, because counts weren’t weak enough to be defeated easily by some nobody.
The opposite was true, as regular citizens and even decent Protectors feared them.
But that type of outcome depended on who they were facing.
Unaware of what their futures would be, the two of them continued their lax conversation.
“I think I’m right when calling you Mars. Who is the one standing next to you?”
“I am Leta. But pray tell, who are you so brazen to blabber without a shred of fear?”
“Leta. Leta… Was there someone by the name of Leta? Ugh… I don’t remember.”
“You little! Why aren’t you responding to my inquiry?”
“Wait a bit. Whether you die here or live is based on the messenger spell.”
“I should beat you to death myself! Hey, Count Mars. I’ll take him down immediately…”
“No need to lose your temper. Aren’t those with a death wish pretty common? Let’s not get blood on our coats and send him off his way with a chiding.”
Min-Cheol ignored what Leta and Mars said and contacted Dan.
As expected, the worried Dan was on standby and immediately received my messenger spell, welcoming the call with a surprised tone.
“Huh? Master. Is it over already?”
“No. Check for me if there is someone by the name of Leta in the accounting book.”
“Yes! As I had expected, Mars has brought another noble, right? Give me just a moment. Leta… Leta…”
“…”
“Here it is. His rank is that of a noble, and there are roughly 30 instances of trading with Swesi.”
“Is that so? Guess I can take them down together. Good. Please be on standby until I contact you again.”
“Yes! Please take care!”
“Will do.”
-ding.
“I thought it was going to get bothersome, but thankfully similar people stick together, I guess?”
“You little! Seems you’re too stupid to be afraid.”
“I was going to let you go because you had lost your mind. You really are asking to die an early death.”
“Take this first.”
Min-Cheol tossed a page of the accounting book to Mars.
Confirming the contents, he snickered while looking at Min-Cheol.
It was the same for Leta.
Since it wasn’t an unfamiliar page to them, they were able to recognize it right away.
“Right. Are you asking us what this is?”
“Can’t you tell? It’s a page from an accounting book. The accounting book that had information written on it each time you traded with Swesi. I wasn’t able to prepare one for Leta, since I had no idea he was coming. I’ll be showing it to you in the afterlife, so no need to fret.”
“Huhaha! You really are off your rocker. Hey Mars, it looks like that’s the one who obliterated Swesi… What do you think?”
“Kuha. It seems so. How fortunate of us. Even though it isn’t Demon, if we can catch him and offer him to the castellan, we may be able to receive quite the reward from the castellan. We have the page from the accounting book as proof, and if we can bring him there without killing him, we should be able to obtain a confession.”
“Don’t you think we should contact Marquis Millions first?”
“Hey, Leta. Can’t you read the situation still?”
“Hm?”
“Millions is finished. A star that has shone and is now burnt out. If we can defeat the cause behind this predicament, Demon, then not only would we be able to take Millions’ position, but his fame as well. And if we can catch that man over there, then it would solidify that even further.”
“Oho… I see. So we wouldn’t have to put up a fake smile for his disgusting mug anymore.”
“Millions… Are you talking about Demon’s owner?”
Min-Cheol’s focus was on the name Millions from the conversation between the two of them.
It was because Min-Cheol had heard the name Millions from the announcer back when he had attended the festival of blood.
As they had said, Min-Cheol also knew that Millions was a marquis.
While Min-Cheol could defeat a count with his eyes closed, it would be different when dealing with a marquis.
While he could technically defeat one, he would have to take quite the risk.
Thankfully for him, it seemed that they had no intentions of summoning Marquis Millions here.
For Min-Cheol, it really was most fortunate.
“I guess you could summon him here using Soul Messenger and Summon.”
“Are you talking about Millions? Pff. That won’t happen. You will be begging for your life not under Millions’ feet, but under ours instead. We can’t let him steal the glory.”
“Good. I hope that you won’t change your mind. The targets this time are two. Just another target added this time. As with before, kill them without mercy.”
“Understood.”
“…”
“…”
“Oh wow. Surprised me.”
Min-Cheol was surprised once more after giving the order to attack.
How could he not, when the clone he had expected to just nod was responding instead.
It seemed that he was still not quite used to it yet.
The clones each prepared themselves for battle and awaited Min-Cheol’s command.
A sword in each hand like the previous fight, many buffs and shields were protecting their bodies.
Min-Cheol did not plan to partake in the fight again.
After all, the clones would be able to take care of the two without Min-Cheol’s help at all.
To the clones taking in the surroundings and staring at their targets, Min-Cheol gave the command.
“Kill them in a single strike to make sure they do not get a chance to pull any tricks. It’ll be annoying if additional backup arrives.”
“Sure.”
“…”
“…”
“Y-Yeah. Go.”
The clones dashed forward like bullets.
****
“Hm? A summon request has arrived from Mars. But it’s not a message, but a request for summons… How strange.”
As this was happening, Millions was at a location where many estates of counts were concentrated at, awaiting a Soul Messenger message.
Seeing as Mars had contacted him, Millions accepted the summon.
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