The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 38.2

Chapter 38.2: Anytime, Anywhere (3)

Back to the present.

Cain and his party were leaving Count Lamaring’s territory and heading for Count Crowl’s.

They were too well-known to launch a surprise attack like before, so they moved openly.

The Count’s heir, the princess, and the knights.

Normally, they would have taken the train, but they walked.

They knew without saying that they wouldn’t have this kind of leisure again.

They looked like an ordinary party of adventurers. On the leisurely mountain road, Oleciren explained the kingdom to Abel.

“Crowl’s territory is the kingdom’s largest industrial area.”

“Industrial……what’s that?”

Abel tilted his head as if he didn’t understand what Oleciren was saying.

It was inevitable since he had just come to the human world after living in the forest.

She found such an Abel quite cute and explained kindly.

“Well, simply put, if there’s a factory, think of it as an industry.”

“What’s a factory?”

“It’s a place where many people gather and do their own work. And they make a lot of things.”

“It’s a little different from farming or hunting.”

Abel nodded.

He wasn’t stupid, just ignorant. He could understand roughly just by looking at Crowl in front of him and her explanation.

Then he suddenly reached for the sky.

There, gray clouds covered the blue sky.

“Is the sky a different color because of the industry?”

Oleciren smiled bitterly.

She gestured to Isoel, who was always guarding her back, and pointed to the manufactured goods she was carrying one by one.

“Factories make a lot of the same things, like these, and they inevitably pollute the surroundings.”

“Why…… inevitably?”

“Well.”

Oleciren pondered how to explain this and rested her chin on her hand.

What she took for granted was not easy to answer when Abel asked.

Just then, someone intervened.

“Because it costs less.”

It was Cain.

He was looking at Crowl with somewhat heavy eyes and stroked Abel’s brown hair.

“Let’s say you hunted a bear.”

“Yes.”

“We only need the meat, but when we catch it, we get bones, skin, and internal organs, right? What did you do with them?”

“We use as much as we can, but wouldn’t we bury what we can’t use?”

“Industry is similar. To gain something, something must be lost. As you said, if you ‘use it as much as possible,’ you’ll lose less, but it costs a lot of money.”

“So, industry pollutes other things to make money?”

Cain nodded.

He then removed his hand from Abel’s head and walked towards Crowl, saying,

“Not just industry, but people always move towards money.”

“What on earth is money? People die because of it, and our territory is starving because of it…… It’s strange that money is more important than hungry people.”

Abel’s voice gradually faded.

Until now, he had tried to appear composed and be treated as an adult by Arna, but as he got used to it, he occasionally showed his childish side.

Oleciren had a bitter expression on her face, unusual for her. Then she looked back at Cain.

She wondered what he, who always had a different answer, would say.

“Before money existed, people had to be strong to be free. And now, those with a lot of money are freer.”

“Is money freedom?”

“At least the money I know is.”

Oleciren was dumbfounded.

It wasn’t something that a renowned scholar or someone who had lived a long life would say, let alone a seventeen-year-old nobleman.

Even Isoel was a little surprised by the insight Cain was showing.

Abel followed behind Cain, engraving his words in his mind.

Both on the real road and in life.

The sky gradually turned gray.

The thick smog seemed to be a milestone indicating that this was the land of Crowl from now on.

Unlike Ethelred’s territory, where only the area around the Count’s castle was developed, Crowl was developed evenly throughout the territory.

Small cities had developed because each region was engaged in different industries.

Therefore, there was naturally a small city at the border of Crowl’s territory, and Cain and his party tried to enter.

Clank—

However, the guards standing at the entrance crossed their spears, blocking their way.

Cain, who was at the forefront, glanced at the two soldiers who had lowered their spears with cold eyes.

Through the small gap in the helmet, trembling eyes were the first thing that came into view.

It was transparently obvious that they were forced to commit such rudeness.

So he waited a while, and…

“Are you Lord Cain of Count Ethelred’s territory?”

Behind them, a middle-aged knight with a handsome mustache walked out.

Oleciren leaned in slightly and whispered to Cain.

“It seems like they figured it out from the start.”

“I wasn’t planning on hiding anyway. And neither were they.”

Cain pointed at the mustached knight with his chin. He was obviously the one who had given the order to the soldiers.

“Your name?”

“It’s Orphil Crowl Baytree.”

Cain’s eyebrows twitched.

The fact that they sent a knight who used Crowl’s name as his middle name from the border meant that they were reacting faster than he thought.

He felt that it might be a little difficult to just push through with force.

“Sir Baytree.”

“Speak, Lord Ethelred.”

Cain pointed to the spearheads blocking their way. Then he slowly grabbed Agweska on his left waist.

“Knowing that I am ‘Lord Ethelred,’ does this mean you want to fight or talk? It would be nice if you could be clear.”

“Of course we……”

Thump—

Sir Baytree’s mouth was shut.

He was about to smooth-talk his way out of it, but he was terrified by the chilly air that suddenly pressed down on the surroundings.

At the center of it was Cain.

“Personally, I prefer to fight. Crowl seems easier than Lamaring.”

“……?”

“Do you think Crowl can hold out if I destroy all the factories?”

Crowl’s territory was responsible for the manufactured goods of the entire Airian.

If the factories were stopped due to Cain’s attack, the entire kingdom would suffer a shortage of goods in an instant.

Of course, if he did that, Cain would also be criticized, but it was much better than Crowl, which would be completely ruined.

Sir Baytree instinctively felt that he was a ‘beast’ he couldn’t handle and hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Lower your spears—!”

Clank—

The way was opened.

However, Cain’s purple eyes continued to stare at him, and Sir Baytree felt a chill at the gaze that seemed to cut him down without emotion.

He barely managed a forced smile and bowed his waist.

“I tend to be forgetful as I get older. I apologize. Please come in. I have prepared a train to Crowl’s castle.”

Cain smirked as if amused.

He let go of Agweska, and he heard a sigh of relief from behind.

When Cain looked back, Oleciren, who had made the sound, was smiling. Then she spoke in a low voice, just loud enough for him to hear.

“I thought you were going to swing your sword again, like you always do.”

Cain shrugged and said to her.

“I don’t always do that. I only draw my sword when I have to.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’d prefer it if things could be resolved peacefully this time.”

Her wish, of course, was soon shattered.

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