Chapter: 19
“Maybe? I’m not completely sure, but… isn’t the entire empire like this right now?”
The adjutant replied in an uncertain voice.
“In any case, the Mage Tower believes it’s best to wait until summer, when the monsters completely disappear. Activating it now would be too dangerous—there’s a risk of a much larger accident.”
“Do you really believe the monster waves will vanish once summer comes?”
One of the knights standing beside the adjutant grumbled.
“Have we ever seen anything on this scale before?”
“Well… the timing and scale are unusual, but the monsters themselves haven’t changed. That’s what the Mage Tower announced, at least.”
Leopold did not interrupt the conversation between the adjutant and the knight.
He merely narrowed his eyes.
“Sir Leopold?”
The boy slowly turned his head beyond the ridge.
His golden eyes swiftly scanned the distance.
“There’s a harbor over there.”
It wasn’t the vast, blue sea of the eastern coast, but the western lands also stretched all the way to the edge of the continent and bordered the ocean.
“Monsters don’t usually appear near the sea, so there’s no real need for us to go—”
That was when it happened.
A breeze carrying an unusual scent swirled around them.
It was the ‘Tracking Scent’, an emergency signal possessed only by key figures of the western region.
Enemies couldn’t detect it, but western knights—trained for years—could recognize the special mana-infused fragrance.
Whoever it was, the signal had clearly been sent to the nearest unit.
“Move out.”
The boy rose without hesitation.
He didn’t know who the sender was, but anyone carrying the Tracking Scent was undoubtedly a major figure.
Why such a person had come all the way to this remote corner of the western territory was unclear, but one thing was certain—they had to be rescued.
Leopold mounted the black horse that had been waiting obediently for him.
He urged it forward, following the Tracking Scent.
Before long, Leopold’s black horse vanished into the darkness, with the knights charging after him in a rush
3. Leopold Nozen
Wow.
An illegal warp had already been prepared under the baron’s patronage.
As expected… everything was already in place.
In the original story, I and the knights all die together, drowning in the sea. There is no ocean in the central region, and all official warps had been shut down.
The sentence in the novel had been brief, but I could roughly piece together what had happened.
An illegal warp was installed. The knights followed us, which means it wasn’t far from the barony. They let the knights follow because they could sell them one by one…
And the only people capable of installing illegal warps were dark mages.
I had already heard something similar at the capital academy—rumors that all dark mages had fled the Empire’s pursuit and escaped across the sea to the Kingdom of Sebon.
Originally, I should have passed through this warp and been sold off a month ago.
But now, it had already been two months.
I held out much longer than in the original.
That was only natural. Our territory had food.
No matter how much the higher-ups tried to block trade, the people below always resorted to barter. We, too, survived by sharing things like salt and perilla seeds from the Harwin barony.
When the common folk acquired food through barter, it eventually made its way to those above them.
Either way, we had endured together—though we were now at our limit.
And once we pass through the warp…
I boarded the warp together with Baron Harwin, the knights, the intruders, and Baron Forman.
Baron Harwin had also brought along a considerable number of knights, claiming they were for his protection.
The warp shook violently, but it was tolerable. Illegal warps were the result of forbidden experiments, so they weren’t heavily affected by monsters.
“Hoo…”
At the end of the warp, the smell of the sea hit my nose.
Noisy voices echoed all around.
“Wow, another group just arrived!”
“Where from? Where this time?”
“Looks like Harwin? That tiny territory in the central region!”
“The central lands? All their plots are the size of a fist.”
When I opened my eyes—closed tightly from the dizziness—a dark harbor came into view.
As I looked around, people rushed toward us, their faces marked with the sigil of dark magic covering half their skin.
That eerie mark could never be erased.
Which meant they couldn’t live among ordinary people. They couldn’t hide who they were. It was the price they paid for touching forbidden magic.
Having dealt with them more than once, Baron Harwin stepped forward with practiced ease.
“I brought the people as promised. You didn’t forget our agreement—one sack of wheat for every two people, did you?”
What?
I was completely stunned.
Half a sack of wheat per person?
The dark mage immediately waved his hand.
“Hey now, hey now.”
He cleared his throat and spoke arrogantly.
“That was the price a few days ago. These days, people are being brought in from all sorts of territories. The market’s flooded, so the price dropped.”
The gagged intruders had fallen into panic, screaming silently. Of course, not a sound reached us.
They had never imagined they would truly be sold like this.
The moment they smelled the sea, the reality finally sank in.
Being sold as an experimental subject to a dark mage was among the most miserable deaths imaginable.
The dark mage grinned as if such reactions were nothing new.
“One sack of wheat for four people. That’s the going rate these days.”
I let out a long sigh.
This was beyond tolerable.
Stepping forward in front of Baron Harwin, I spoke.
“The more I listen, the more outrageous this sounds. Are you truly human?”
I stared him down, my voice icy.
With everyone watching, I lifted my chin and protested.
“Who cuts the price in half after only a few days? Make it one sack for three people.”
The dark mage looked at me suspiciously, then asked Baron Harwin,
“And who might this young lady be?”
Ignoring him, I continued.
“There are knights mixed in. They’re quite sturdy. Can’t you count one knight as a full sack?”
Thankfully, that caught his interest.
“No exceptions. Headcount only.”
I scoffed at the standard.
“So you’d count a dying old man as a full unit too? That’s irrational.”
Their labor value was different. Even the amount of food they consumed was different.
While I led the conversation, I saw Baron Forman stirring in the distance.
They were already surrounded by dark mages, but it didn’t matter. I had deliberately ordered the knights’ ropes to be tied loosely.
Right. This is the west.
They would definitely release tracking scent. And if they did, the nearest western knight order would come without fail.
I guessed it was the western sea the moment the original mentioned boarding a ship.
Crossing the sea from the west led directly to Sebon.
Since intercontinental warps hadn’t been developed yet, travel by ship was mandatory.
The north is blocked by glaciers, and the southern islands are cursed with eternal sleep—no one can go there lightly.
Just as monsters roamed the plains in the west, sea monsters infested the eastern seas. There was no reason to use an eastern port.
Which meant this illegal warp had to be connected to a western harbor.
“So this illegal warp really connects to the western port of Milfen, doesn’t it?”
“No. It’s Delpoven Harbor.”
I didn’t know which port it was, so I named one at random.
I also wanted to mention “the west” to shut Baron Forman up.
As expected, Baron Harwin fell for it and revealed the exact location.
So I was right.
I absolutely needed to bring Baron Forman along. His tracking scent was essential to draw the western knights.
If he hadn’t been eavesdropping outside the door, I would’ve dragged him along by force—even if it made things far more complicated.
But he’s a former intelligence agent. I knew he wouldn’t miss a night like this.
The old man truly earned his keep.
The plum I gave him for dessert wasn’t wasted.
That was the highest praise I could give.
Now, all I had to do was stall for time—until the nearest western unit arrived.
