Chapter 198

Chapter 198 - I Have Been to that Continent!

Dry City, the only ice-free port in the Land of Snow, was in the middle of a festival.

"Please have mercy!"

"I will serve this city for the rest of my life! Please just spare my life!"

A festival by the name of execution, that is.

Stripped naked, criminals shivered on the platform in the plaza. With both hands tied to the pillar above their heads, even the minimal posture of wrapping their bodies to keep warm was impossible.

"Aaargh!"

Every time passersby threw stones, a pitiful scream rang out.

In an era lacking entertainment, this kind of show was the supreme entertainment. The method of the Land of Snow was to hang them naked in the plaza and freeze them to death.

"Everyone! These guys are not only dirty in their minds but their bodies are dirty too. The stench is too severe! Naturally, we should wash them, right?"

"That's right! That's right!"

Receiving the cheers of the spectators, a member of the city council approached holding a bucket full of water.

"N-No! Please!"

The prisoner on the outermost edge twisted his body while crying. At that pitiful sight, the onlookers cheered and mocked.

"If you stay still, the comrades next to you won't get hit by the water!"

"Sacrifice your single body and protect everyone."

This winter was on the rather persistent side. Although spring had come, the weather was to the extent that ice was frozen solid everywhere.

Whoooosh!

Moreover, Dry City is a region where the sea breeze blows in head-on. If drenched thoroughly, an unmoving statue would be created by tomorrow morning.

However, it seems today was not their destiny to die.

"Count Meyer has arrived!"

The city guards announced that Eugene's army had appeared outside.

* * *

"Entry permission still hasn't been granted?"

"I-I apologize!"

The city guard captain, who came out personally to receive them, bowed 90 degrees. He was so nervous that cold sweat could be seen flowing down his neck.

It was baffling for Eugene as well. He didn't expect hospitality, but to think they would be blocked at the entrance.

"After hearing the notice of His Excellency the Count's visit, the council is continuously debating."

"To think a decision hasn't been made yet. Is there perhaps some problem?"

"Th-That is..."

The guard captain couldn't bear to tell the truth.

- Does it make sense that he comes all the way here from Britannia to find some painting? Landing a large army at that? It is absolutely a lie. It's a deceptive tactic aiming for conquest!

That there was a council member suspecting Eugene as an invader, that is.

Only 2 out of the 9 council members were suspicious, but due to the characteristics of a free city, the entry of an outside army required a unanimous vote.

Even now, with the army having arrived in front of the city, pros and cons were going back and forth.

"The texture of the wall is peculiar? Is it built with mud?"

"...That is so. Excellency."

At the sight of Eugene stroking his chin and scrutinizing it, the guard captain became restless. Because it felt like he was probing prior to a siege.

Due to the barren environment, Dry City had low walls and was a soft castle. If the Dwarven army in front of his eyes stormed in, it would be hard to last even a few days.

Fortunately, the debate in the council was entering its final stage.

"They say that passing through the fiefs until now, everyone amicably exchanged gifts."

"Is that all? In Chief Hakon's fief, they subjugated Yetis, and in Chief Shrine's fief, dire bears. Because of that, everyone is anxious wanting to invite the Count."

Those wanting to accept and treat Eugene were fiercely pressuring the opposition faction.

"No matter how I think about it, to say he came just to collect paintings is utterly..."

"Damn it! Let's forget about that painting! So what if there's another purpose? There must be circumstances making it difficult to say. Why in the world would such a great lord covet a city at the end of the world feeling a lack of anything!"

According to common sense, if Eugene had wanted a broader territory, he would be waging a war of unification in Britannia by now.

Even if he occupied a city this far away, managing it would be difficult with nothing to gain for the effort.

"Let's open the gates quickly. The opponent is the real power among the real powers of Britannia. How are you going to handle the aftermath acting like this?"

"They are not desperate for us, but if trades are cut off with them, it's the end for us!"

70% of the Land of Snow's foreign trade targets southern Britannia.

Because commerce is developed, land productivity is excellent, and they can come and go via the safe western sea route.

Eastern Britannia, Gord, Barcia, and other minor kingdoms were also decent trading partners. But trading with them meant passing the eastern sea route infested with pirates and vikings.

"I understand! I just have to agree, right!"

As the opposition declared surrender, Eugene was able to step inside the city.

* * *

"It seems the meeting ran long?"

"I have committed a grave sin! To leave Your Excellency shivering in the cold, even if I strip my clothes right now and hang in that plaza it wouldn't be enough..."

"I'm not angry, so calm down."

"Your grace is immeasurable!"

Saman, the trade guild master who came out as the council representative, had an excessively polite posture. Despite being a big shot of the city in his own right, he promptly prostrated himself and planted his face in the snowy field.

"Stop and stand up."

"Because I am so sorry."

As Eugene raised him up, hot tears were even flowing down heavily due to the eye drops he had put in beforehand.

"It is fine since you reflected that much."

Eugene instinctively noticed it was a show, but decided to let it slide roughly.

The time he waited outside was merely about 30 minutes. Eugene patted his subordinates who were glaring at the city harboring murderous intent.

If taking down something, it would be another story, but searching required the heartfelt cooperation of the locals.

"What are those people hanging in that plaza?"

Thus, he changed the topic to a conspicuous sight.

"They are death row inmates. To think we showed Your Excellency the sight of dirty bastards. We will clear them away immediately."

"What sin did they commit to be like that?"

"They are pirates."

"They are bastards deserving to die. Just leave them hanging. There must be an order of this place here."

Pirates are a category considered the most vicious among all criminals.

"But isn't that man too old to make a living as a pirate?"

Among the pirates between their 20s and 40s, there was a man who alone looked to be in his 60s.

"That guy is a smuggler. He was captured by pirates, but we decided to dispose of him together while we're at it."

To those in power, the difference between a pirate and a smuggler was merely the level of a biting cockroach versus a non-biting cockroach.

"If it's alright, I would like to try speaking with that man."

"Understood."

Saman didn't ask an obvious question like 'What do you intend to speak about with such a lowly fellow?'.

If told to do it, you do it.

Even if curious, you endure it.

This is the wise way to conduct oneself when facing a great noble.

* * *

After enjoying the formally held banquet, both sides directly got to the main point.

"We have gathered what Your Excellency mentioned in advance."

"I will remember the kindness of the city."

Although the council debated whether or not to let Eugene's army in, regarding the preparation of gifts, it was unanimous from the beginning.

In the large room Eugene was guided to, works of art related to the new continent beyond the ocean were displayed.

- We don't know what the Count truly wants, so just scrape together everything for now!

Not only paintings but there were also several statues or items claimed to be brought from the new continent.

When Eugene gestured, the mercenaries gathered only the paintings in one place. The number was close to 20 pieces.

"Hmm."

"Is, is there perhaps some problem?"

As Eugene scrutinized the paintings with a perplexed expression, Saman wriggled his fingers.

"The landscapes are too varied?"

A paradise filled with warm wheat fields.

A plateau full of rocks.

A beautiful forest.

A desert where no life could be found.

A snowy field exactly like the Land of Snow.

To say they depicted the same place, it was too full of individuality.

"Though the topography could differ depending on the landing location, this is severe."

"Ahaha... haha..."

'These damned braggarts!'

Saman, who couldn't inspect them because he was busy, cursed the families that provided the paintings.

These paintings were drawn as evidence by explorers claiming to have found the new continent in the past.

It's unknown whether they are real or fake. But anyway, they were praised as a great achievement.

- For a painting half a year old, the paper seems too new though.

- Shh! Be quiet and just clap for them.

Those capable of undertaking an ocean exploration were mostly from powerful families. Even if suspicious, it was necessary to save face moderately.

So this kind of problem arose when gathering paintings all at once from such families.

Of course, Eugene had no expectations from the start so he let it be.

"As announced beforehand, can you sell these paintings? I will pay a reasonable price."

"Who would dare refuse the honor of helping Your Excellency?"

The amount Eugene presented was practically a windfall for the families here. Since there were many fallen families, no one would refuse if they could receive gold coins.

At that time, a commotion arose outside.

"Catch that guy!"

"He's heading to where His Excellency is!"

It was the panicked voices of the Dwarves.

"W-Wait! Don't shoot, capture him alive! His Excellency said he has something to ask!"

"No, fuck! Why is his footwork so fast?!"

Homi drew her dagger and blocked the front of Eugene. In front of her, the mercenaries acting as guards formed a wall once again.

Bang!

What appeared as the door burst open was the smuggler who had been hanging in the plaza.

"You fellow! How dare you cause a commotion in such a safe place..."

"I have been to that continenttt!!!"

Saman's shout was dispelled by the smuggler's roar, which was several times louder.

Immediately after, the Dwarven warriors who crashed in slammed the smuggler to the floor.

In that short time, the smuggler smiled. Because he caught the young great lord looking intrigued by his shout.

* * *

"I apologize, Excellency. Please bestow punishment."

The Dwarven decurion who had been escorting the smuggler knelt.

"You are warriors and combat engineers. Since you haven't done things like prisoner escort, there can be mistakes. Remit it by devoting yourself further hereafter."

"However, Your Excellency!"

"Enough. Do not discuss this matter further."

The Dwarf with a face where gratitude and apology coexisted stepped back quietly.

Eugene scanned the smuggler. Looking closely, he didn't seem that old.

Having a good physique and being solidly muscular, he looked in his 50s at most generously. Because he had seen the sunlight so much on the sea, it seemed his premature aging was severe.

"You would have faced me anyway, was there a reason to forcefully crash in like this?"

"Since a distinguished guest visited, I thought you were trying to execute the punishment immediately."

"It could be misunderstood like that."

The smuggler had a wronged look. If he just stayed still, he would have faced Eugene anyway, but he committed a discourtesy.

- Does the new continent really exist?

- His Excellency surely has some thought in mind.

- ...!

Hearing the stories of the Dwarves during his transfer, he dashed frantically thinking it was his final chance.

"Those friends are not that sloppy, how did you escape?"

Eugene put aside the questions regarding the new continent for a moment. Because deep interest arose in the smuggler in front of his eyes.

Instead of answering, the smuggler showed his two hands. There was a wrist dangling with the joint dislocated.

"Ah, it was that method. It's a skill I owed to in the past as well. It seems you overexerted freeing both hands in a hurry."

Eugene, smiling slyly, grabbed the smuggler's wrist.

"It'll hurt a bit, so clench your teeth."

Crack! With the sound, the dislocated part returned to how it was in one go.

"H-How do you know this trick?"

The smuggler didn't have the time to feel things like the pain in his wrist. Because it was shocking that a great noble radiating noble air knew a Rogue's skill.

"Your name?"

"I am Octo. My partners call me Octo for short."

The expressions of the mercenaries acting as guards changed.

"Looks like this guy is a mercenary too."

"Among the many nicknames, you use something like an octopus?"

When using animal names as aliases, mercenaries preferred species that gave a nimble, venomous, or other dangerous feeling.

However, despite being mocked, Octo remained calm.

"Having lived a long time on the sea, I found there isn't a bastard as cunning as an octopus. It hides well, has strong patience, knows how to deceive, and is smart."

Octo shrugged his shoulders.

"It is a lowly creature but an organism with much to learn from. So I decided to borrow its name."

"Oh! It makes sense."

It was a short conversation, but Eugene liked Octo. It seemed he caught a glimpse of the secret to surviving doing dangerous jobs like smuggling for a long time.

"Where did you mainly operate?"

"I've been everywhere a ship could reach. Even the continent beyond the ocean Your Excellency is interested in."

Since Octo was a destined to die anyway, he attempted the gamble of a lifetime.

"Is the landscape you saw among these paintings?"

"Not at all. I can't be certain if they are fake, but it's not the landscape I saw."

Octo looked straight at Eugene.

"I know the place where a real painting containing the new continent is."

"Good. If you guide me, I will request a pardon in my name."

"Thank you!"

If the city was sane, they wouldn't be able to refuse the request of a great lord from southern Britannia. Beyond simply the difference in power, it was a relationship of prime contractor and subcontractor, the strong and the weak.

"Thank you for sparing my life. My real name is..."

"It's fine. We should observe the unwritten rules of mercenaries."

"You are benevolent like no other."

It was simply astonishing that a great noble like Eugene knew and even respected the customs of lowly mercenaries. To a death row inmate at that.

"How did you get captured by pirates?"

"I was betrayed."

"Betrayal? Does it mean you were in league with those bastards?"

"No!"

Octo hastily waved his two hands.

"I occasionally worked together, but... we are not in league."

"Is this guy making a fool out of Your Excellency? Will you come to your senses only after seeing blood?"

Eugene pushed away the fists the mercenaries thrust forward menacingly.

"I suppose you also doubled as a fence?"

"You are sharp."

Octo admitted meekly.

"I succeeded in a considerably large deal, so there was a lot of wealth on the ship. While returning, I saw pirates I had known as acquaintances. I became a bit more greedy wanting to see if there was anything worth trading."

"You are a seasoned sailor. You must have approached because they were reliable guys in their own way."

"There is no reliable pirate in the whole wide world."

The mercenaries nodded as if it was obvious. Selling out comrades for a silver coin is what mercenaries do, but compared to pirates, they are the greatest men of loyalty on earth.

"It's just that the captain of the pirates had been a 20-year associate of mine. We weren't close enough to entrust our lives, but we had faith that we were the best in our respective fields. However, when I boarded the ship, the captain had changed in the few months I hadn't seen them."

Octo made a gesture of stabbing someone's back with a hand holding a dagger.

"Isn't that a common occurrence among pirates?"

"Because he hadn't suffered that common occurrence for 20 years, he was the guy I traded with."

"Those doing dangerous jobs need the sense to realize their luck is running out."

Octo looked at Eugene with peculiar eyes. He must definitely be of an incomparably noble status than himself, but for some reason, he felt like an associate.

"The guy who newly became the boss welcomed me enthusiastically. In a single moment, my entire fortune was robbed and I became a prisoner."

"Why didn't they kill you?"

"Because I was very useful. Since there would be few who know the back alleys of the sea better than me."

"If you are very useful to pirates, you would be very useful to me as well."

Eugene nodded.

"Do you have any intention of working under me?"

"I am a smuggler and a fence, would you be okay?"

It was an era applying strict punishments to crimes, and among them, the kinds touching the rights of the lord were far stricter.

If caught secretly processing grain without going through the mill or millstone owned by the lord, a heavy punishment was received.

Smuggling without paying taxes and trading, people like Octo were classified as felons more vicious than murderers.

"It's not something done in my fief, so I don't need to be angry. Besides, it doesn't seem like you lived getting blood on your hands either."

"The only blood I've gotten on my hands is fish blood."

The reaction of a great noble treating him this pliably was something Octo couldn't even imagine once in his life.

Since seeing the scales of a Sea Serpent approaching cutting through the water currents 10 years ago, it was the greatest surprise.

"Are you truly forgiving me?"

"Rather than forgiveness, it would be better to call it a repayment. That would put your mind at ease too, right?"

"That is certainly so."

"I have various talents, but no one well-versed in the shadows and the sea."

Octo smiled slyly.

"I am the one who lived looking at the moon more than the sun all my life. And I've looked at the moon floating on the water more than the sky."

Living in the back alleys, sometimes an unexpected hit. There are times a turning point that overturns a life comes.

It could become a lump of gold discovered by chance, or high-grade information that could be sold expensively.

However, instances where it approached in the form of ties with a noble like now were rare.

And Octo had dreamed of such an opportunity all his life. Because he had a wife and children he wanted to bequeath the light of the sun to.

"I will guide you to where the painting is."

Octo said with an even more extremely courteous attitude towards Eugene, who was now his lord.

"Where do you intend to guide His Excellency?"

Saman, who had been standing reading the room like a dead mouse all this time, asked.

If it was a painting he didn't even know despite fully mobilizing the city's capabilities, it would definitely be in a suspicious place.

"It is a witch living secluded in the suburbs."

"A witch!"

Just as I thought! Saman scolded Octo with that face. Because if Eugene felt displeasure, it was obvious where those sparks would fly.

Although persecution was relaxed now, in the distant past there were days when they were put on the stake the moment they were seen.

It's witches that poor nobles who can't invite a mage seek out as a desperate measure.

"What would be a good gift? You recommend something. I suppose she would prefer herbs after all?"

"E-Excellency?!"

Therefore, Eugene's welcoming reaction was something Saman could not understand at all.

* * *

"Ever since my life was saved with her help when I caught scurvy, we have maintained a friendship."

"Sadet, was it?"

"That's right."

"Judging by the name she seems to be from the East, what sort of backstory is there to be at the end of the world from the end of the world?"

"That, I'm not too sure about either..."

"Indeed, it's an unwritten rule among people with many backstories not to ask about past affairs."

Eugene laughed patting Octo's shoulder.

As expected of a witch's hideout, the residence of Sadet they entered like that profoundly reeked of the scent of herbs and potions.

Cassandra and Homi, who followed, twitched their noses continuously. Analyzing and dismantling dozens of scents mixed with mystery was like a sort of puzzle game to them.

But the one sniffing the most here was the owner of the house, Sadet.

She was an old crone brimming with wrinkles, and as Eugene had only seen Dark Elves written as witches and read as beauties, the appearance of that stereo type was a welcome sight.

"To think an esteemed guest has come to this shabby place."

"You are remarkably polite today?"

Octo wondered.

The Sadet he knew was an old crone having clumped together every kind of nastiness of the world. Because she had the guts unique to the elderly that they had no regrets since they lived as much as they'd live, even more so.

But Sadet had a reason to be so.

'To think there was such a ridiculous person!'

Sadet saw the mystery of the workshop, concentrated with countless magic ingredients over decades, being driven out at once.

That was like thousands of small fish fleeing from a suddenly appearing shark.

"Look here, Octo. I am a witch."

"Why say anew what everyone already knows..."

"If I die, I will definitely fall to hell. That's unavoidable, so I've already made my resolve."

Octo was taken aback in front of Sadet speaking weak words uncharacteristically. Is it really time for this old hag to die?

"But the guest you escorted is someone who could throw me into the harshest place in hell. Probably, that is."

If possible, Sadet hoped her soul would be thrown to the outskirts rather than the center of hell.

"Because I am not beautiful like the witch lady next to you."

Sadet looked at Cassandra enviously. Not of her youth or beauty, but of the protection and blessing she would receive from Eugene.

"There is a misunderstanding. Just because you are a witch doesn't mean you fall to hell."

"Is that so? If it's empty words, you don't really have to say it."

"You can believe it. Because the one who feared that more than anyone was me."

Eugene recalled his happy childhood in Kingdom End.

- Repent before God! Otherwise, your soul shall be judged!

Even the slander poured out by priests jealous of his mother who was popular as an apothecary.

"When my mother passed away in my arms, I was terrified whether she might go to a terrible place."

Even Eugene, who had nothing to fear, shed tears drenched in sorrow and terror only during that time.

"But my mother departed to a peaceful place. Just as she had acted during her lifetime."

Whether this was an unexpected answer, both Octo and Sadet opened their eyes wide.

Whether they did or not, Eugene focused on a painting placed in one corner of the witch's residence.

"Is it that one?"

"Yes! Excellency!"

The painting was fully filled with nature. But that wasn't beautiful mountains or a fresh forest.

Venomous insects and toxic plants, misty air, muddy river water, fish with sharp teeth, and up to a large snake swallowing that fish in one bite.

A green hell, not a gold rush of dreams and hopes, was contained in the painting. It is exactly a jungle.

"Meeting a storm, we drifted far below our original route. But there were natives stacking up gold there! I swear on my soul!"

As Eugene showed a disappointed sign, Octo quickly added.

"It would be better not to swear such an oath in front of this person."

Sadet muttered unwillingly.