𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗: 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 (1)

𝐀𝘥ᴠ𝑎𝙣𝐜ẻ̉𝘥  ℂ𝙝ả̉𝚙𝕥𝐞𝙧s  𝚔ỏ-𝘧𝙞.𝚌𝕠ᴍ/𝙖𝑤𝙚𝘣𝘴𝑡𝚘𝕣𝘪𝐞𝙨  𝐩ᴀ𝐭𝘳𝚎𝘰𝙣.𝕔𝙤𝚖/𝘼𝚠𝘦ʙ𝘴𝙩𝐨𝚛ỉ𝑒𝕤  

“Hmm. . . . Did you miss the trail at the Vatican City?”

“Yes, my Lord Earl.”

“Why do you think he went to the Vatican?”

“I checked everywhere the young master had been, and it was as if he was preparing for a war against the undead.”

“War?”

“Yes, he purchased 100 gold worth of Blessed Silver Bullets, 10 gold worth of Silver Shotguns, and 20 gold worth of Holy Water.”

“I see. Let’s look into this through the information guild. ”

“My apologies, your Lordship.”

Shadow Hound leaves. . . . Soon after, the butler enters.

“My Lord.”

“What is it?”

“A telegram has arrived from the Imperius Imperial Academy.”

“What does it say?”

“They have lifted the young master’s suspension.”

“What?”

“It seems that the train terrorist incident has become known.”

“Hmm. . . . Summon the Winchester branch manager of the information guild.”

About two hours pass. . . . The Winchester branch manager of the Imperial Information Guild, Orion, visits the Earl.

“Long time no see, my Lord Earl.”

“You look well. I heard you were moving to the central headquarters?”

“Hahaha. Well, I am a candidate for the headquarters, a candidate. ”

“But isn’t it somewhere to be a candidate?”

“Rather than that, why have you called for me?”

“I’d like you to find my runaway youngest son.”

“Is he really a runaway? I heard you kicked him out, your Lordship?”

“Hmm, I was angry, but I never thought he would actually run away.”

Chuckle. . . . . .

“Do you know his last whereabouts?”

“An inn called ‘Where the Bear Smokes’ in Vatican City.”

“Can you handle this as a special request?”

“I will.”

“First, the down payment is 50 gold.”

At that, the Earl immediately took out a pouch containing 100 gold from his magic pocket and handed it over.

“I’ll give you 100 gold. Since it’s a matter of time, I’d like you to do your best.”

“Hahaha, I can’t help but do my best when you’re taking care of me like this. I’ll make sure to get you news within three days.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“It’s a job that pays.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

𝘢𝔴𝐞𝕓𝕤𝔱𝔬𝕣𝐢𝚎s.𝐜𝘰ṁ

Oswald boarded the train from the Vatican Station to Central Station.

The Troll King’s location was the border area with the northern Principality of Kiev. To be more precise, the Troll Forest was the destination.

The Principality of Kiev was a vassal state of the Empire, originally the territory of the Barbarians, but it was incorporated into the Empire by the Duke of Kiev who conquered them.

However, since many barbarians were still resisting, there were many inconveniences for the Empire, so in order to solve this, the Duke of Kiev was appointed as the Grand Duke and his territory was made independent as a principality.

“While I’m heading north. . . . I should also get the Druid’s Necklace.”

The master-class artifact, the ‘Druid’s Necklace,’ was an artifact that would be of great help to him, who had no magic power and could not use certain skills. In particular, since he had decided to use firearms, he needed a familiar to assist with sub-damage and tanking.

In the Winchester family, wolfhounds, a breed of large hunting dogs, were raised as familiars. . . . Oswald, who had zero magic power, was unable to use the familiar skill as a child, so he did not have a trained wolfhound.

‘𝘞𝘰𝘭𝘧𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵. . . . 𝘐𝘧 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧.’

The wolfhound was a breed created by crossbreeding the Imperial Hound, one of the Empire’s large dog breeds, with the Gray Wolf. Thanks to this, it possessed both the wildness of the Gray Wolf and the loyalty of the Imperial Hound, and thus gained prominence as a hunting dog.

Dire wolves, beasts of the large beast class, that even monsters could not touch recklessly. The average size of a wild wolf was about 90 cm(2.9ft) in height and 180 cm(5.9ft) in length (from nose to tail tip). And the dire wolf was a huge creature that was 150 cm(4.9ft) in height and 300 cm(9.8) in length.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.’

Back on track, Central.

The city closest to the Troll Forest was Erengrad, a five-day walk away.

“One third-class ticket to Erengrad Station.”

“The next train to Erengrad is in three days. Is that okay?”

“Is that the fastest?”

“Yes, since the last train terrorist incident, the trains have been inspected. . . . The departure has been delayed.”

Tsk. . . .

Oswald clicked his tongue and purchased a third-class ticket for the train to Erengrad departing in three days.

“Yeah, while I’m at it, let’s register as a mercenary with the mercenary guild. I’ll make some money on the side. . . .”

Since there were many skaven and kobolds living in the sewers of the capital Central, if he received a request, he would probably make a good profit. In addition to that, including the gangs based underground. . . . There would also be quite a lot of bounties.

Oswald, who had left Central Station, could see the carriages and steam cars parked in front of the station. Steam cars were the up-and-coming taxis these days, and carriages were hansom cabs, two-seater carriages with a coachman riding in the back. Both of them played the role of taking customers to their desired destinations.

Of course, the carriages were cheaper. After all, steampunk technology was a more expensive technology. . . . For now, it’s safe to say that steam cars are still in the minority. Of course, there were passengers who used taxis, which were smaller, more stable, and faster.

The place he arrived at by carriage was the world’s only mercenary guild that operated throughout the continent. That was why it used the name ‘Mercenary Guild’ as its guild name without having to use another alias.

Occasionally, some mercenaries would try to create new guilds in order to see beyond the stronghold of such mercenary guilds. . . . However, they could not surpass the stronghold of the mercenary guild that was already intertwined with each country and institutionally.

‘𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.’