How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 269

300. Too Many Villains (7)

After receiving all the necessary support and unfolding the map inside the newly acquired carriage to check the route to the capital…

“Haa… At this rate, I wonder what Her Highness the Princess will say later…”

“Why are you sighing like that?”

I rebuked Yoon Han, who was in the driver’s seat, with an absurd tone.

“What’s wrong with getting some support from that lord?”

“Is that support? You were deliberately extorting him! Weren’t you?”

“Geez, be quiet.”

All I did was squeeze out a bit of extra money.

And since it came from the lord’s personal funds, there shouldn’t be any problem.

“What do you think, Kruse?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. Demanding payment for the abilities you used is justified.”

See? Kruse agrees.

“However, Aileen, I think you could have squeezed more out of him there. You could have proven the magic you used and charged extra for it. I can’t deny that you were sloppy.”

“…No, I’m not that evil. What more could I have squeezed out of him there?”

As expected, a wizard’s thoroughness when it comes to money matters.

I’ll give you that one.

“Anyway, what’s done is done, let’s check the road ahead. Geez.”

I checked the map again, searching for the way to go.

Unfortunately, the Empire’s territory is damn wide.

Teleportation itself is blocked, so it’s uncertain how long it will take to keep pushing on like this.

“Even if we go straight, it might take more than a month…”

“Haa… If only we could use teleportation, it would be quick.”

Kruse said, looking troubled, as if he didn’t like the long journey ahead, having relied on convenient magic.

“Well, we have no choice but to go step by step. Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of supplies. We won’t need any resupply if we keep going like this.”

“Come to think of it, Aileen, weren’t you using Aura?”

Yoon Han asked, as if he just remembered while we were talking.

He’s probably recalling what he saw while I was fighting the vampire.

“Then if I run with you…”

“Rejected.”

I immediately rejected his suggestion.

“Are you out of your mind? Do you want to run a super-long-distance marathon to the capital with you? Are you crazy?”

“But… wouldn’t that be faster than this carriage?”

He stuttered, a little intimidated, but I didn’t give him any leeway.

That’s something you’d deserve to be beaten for.

“First of all, I don’t have a hobby of running to death with you.”

“Ugh…”

“And what’s the point of arriving exhausted? There are villains all over the place. We’ll be killed as soon as we arrive, you know?”

“Ugh…”

“And am I supposed to be left behind? The Empire’s knight?”

The last one was Kruse’s objection.

In the end, Yoon Han, who was condemned by us, went silent in the driver’s seat for a while.

“Anyway, all we can do is go step by step. Not rushing is the right answer.”

Rushing won’t make things work.

If it doesn’t work out? We’ll think about it then.

If it doesn’t work out then, it was hopeless from the start.

“First, let’s steadily head to the capital and gather information along the way. That way, we can get a sense of what we need to do in the future.”

“Yes…”

“Yoon Han, just hold the reins of the carriage properly. Got it?”

“Ah, yes, I understand.”

And we’re not the only ones worrying.

So, we can’t jump in rashly.

* * *

The heart of the Forellos Empire, the most splendid city: the capital.

A considerable number of bats infiltrated the city.

The bats headed for the Empire’s Imperial Palace.

However, the Imperial Palace, which proves the Empire’s splendor, is somewhat different from what it is now.

The current Imperial Palace has allowed the invaders’ tyranny, and the traces of the battle are blatantly revealed.

Part of the Imperial Palace has collapsed, and the beautifully cultivated garden has been burned to ashes.

In addition, the bodies of soldiers who lost their lives fighting against the villains on the day of the tragedy were left uncollected, rolling around.

A sight that is no different from having one’s pride trampled on.

The bats roamed through the Imperial Palace and finally seemed to have reached their destination, landing in one place and beginning to overlap.

The bats gathered together to form the shape of a human.

Vampire Lord Elsaria.

He barely gasped for breath as he raised his body.

“Kugh… Damn it.”

“[…Truly pathetic. You lost so many individuals, and less than 30% remain?]”

A voice that seemed to genuinely look down on him.

Lich, Kmelz Alfrens, appeared, expressing a sense of absurdity.

And…

“Filth. I do not agree with your assessment. It is truly a wretched sight. If you were a general, I would have held you accountable long ago.”

Similarly, Empress Halpheneas also sighed in disbelief, revealing herself from the opposite side.

“Are you unable to fulfill even the role you were assigned?”

“Shu… Shut up…”

Elsaria seemed resentful but had no excuses, clenching his teeth as if his fangs would break.

It is true that he was defeated and fled.

He knows very well that it is ugly to say that he was careless, underestimated his opponent, and that it will not happen again next time.

More than anything, he was defeated by humans again.

The very fact brings unbearable humiliation.

“[Well, it’s better that even you returned. If everyone had been defeated, it would have been a lot of work to scrape them all together and revive them.]”

The vampire glared at Kmelz’s sarcastic remark, but he couldn’t even tell him to shut up.

It is also true that he owes him a debt.

It was Kmelz who regenerated the current Elsaria based on the remains that were nothing but ashes.

Aside from the debt, he cannot underestimate the knowledge and skill of the Lich who made it possible.

“Come on. Don’t tease him too much. Puhuhu… Even if he lost, he’s still an ally. Shouldn’t we cover for him out of loyalty at times like this? You guys have no heart.”

And lastly.

Epileot, the person who gathered them in this place, jumped down, uttering words closer to mockery than mediation.

“I’ve been watching the situation. Geez, you’ve been through a lot. Hahahaha. Certainly, those guys were more, more like monsters than us, right?”

“Are you mocking me? You half-baked thing…”

“Huh? Puhup. Certainly, those guys are humans and you are monsters, but I am neither. I have nothing to say.”

In some ways, it is a word that is no different from inferiority to him.

He is not human.

But he is also mediocre as a monster.

The current him is just such an existence.

“I got hit by that guy too. Let’s take care of each other as fellow losers? Huh?”

“…Shut up. I’ll go for revenge as soon as I recover.”

Yeah, yeah, good luck with that.

Epileot shrugged his shoulders as if mocking him and distanced himself.

Anyway, let’s tease him moderately.

We can’t cause trouble right now.

“Let’s put the jokes aside and talk seriously. …Honestly, isn’t it time to stop teasing a poor guy? No, more than that. What about the other guys?”

“[The fact that they didn’t come is obvious. You’re being ignored quite a bit.]”

Kmelz chuckled as if it was funny.

“It’s a fuss over a few lowly flies. Is there any reason to make a fuss and summon them one by one?”

The Empress clicked her tongue as if she didn’t like it.

“I don’t expect you to understand. First of all, I’m the one who set up this meeting. I have the right to share information and discuss countermeasures, don’t I?”

“[I don’t care. I agree with your opinion this time.]”

For some reason, Kmelz let out a light sigh as if he understood Epileot’s opinion this time.

“Oh? Are you finally understanding? As expected, a learned Lich is good.”

“[Shut up. I’m not sympathizing with your actions. I’m just agreeing with the fact that the intruder is annoying.]”

He already knows the information about the intruder.

It was Kmelz who put up the spatial interference barrier throughout the capital.

Of course, he also set up a plan to grasp the information of those who intrude.

Even Kmelz described the intruder as annoying.

Even the Empress, who had been ignoring Epileot’s words, changed her attitude a little.

“…Filth. Is that person that annoying?”

“[Oh, yes, indeed. No, let me correct myself a little. It’s more than a little.]”

Kmelz immediately revealed the information he had grasped without hiding it.

Because that’s what he was going to do anyway.

There are three intruders in total.

“[One is not even worth considering.]”

The man who is considered a knight of the Empire is nothing special.

Even if he is skilled for an ordinary human, he cannot be their opponent.

The reason he was allowed to escape was because he was just a rat that was not interesting enough to catch.

“[The other one… seems to have quite a bit of talent. He seems to have considerable knowledge of magic.]”

“…Hoo? I thought the Red Tower had already been crushed?”

“[Looking at the method of the spell, it’s from the White Tower. He’s acting alone, so it doesn’t matter.]”

However, even while sharing opinions, Kmelz’s tone did not feel very threatening.

Then the human he said was annoying must be the third one.

“What about the rest?”

“[Hmm… Even this Kmelz has a hard time explaining it in a few words.]”

The Empress makes a face as if she doesn’t understand the words.

“What do you mean? If you’re going to make up nonsense…”

“[That’s not it. He’s a really strange kid. Simply looking at the surface, there’s nothing there. And his words and actions. Intelligence… Even if you think about everything, he’s no different from the ones scattered everywhere.]”

A common third-rate.

That is the honest assessment of the third human, Aileen.

“[The problem is the strange results that kid brings out.]”

Although he doesn’t seem to be anything special on the surface, he was no ordinary person, considering the human’s actions.

“[Basically, he uses elemental magic and has mastered basic knowledge of magic.]”

“…Is that so?”

“[I don’t know the source, but he has acquired several other abilities.]”

“Multiple abilities. Could it be related to that old hag in the north?”

“[That alone is not the case. At least, as this Kmelz sees it, there was no connection between that hag and that kid.]”

“…”

Only Epileot turns his head slightly as if he knows something.

Of course, there is no way that such actions would not be noticed.

“[Epileot, you certainly asked me to eliminate Sylvester Difrex…]”

“Hoo. Yes, that’s right.”

The people gathered here also cooperated, but all those who did not gather in this place and acted separately had their own purposes.

Among them, Epileot revealed his purpose was to eliminate a person named Sylvester.

Elsaria flinched at the name Sylvester.

Of course, he remembers.

Because he is the boy who killed him once.

“[As this Kmelz understands it, Aileen and the boy you want to eliminate have quite a few things in common.]”

“So, you’re telling me to come up with a countermeasure?”

“[At least it would be good to tell us what you know.]”

Epileot was openly hiding something.

That was a fact that not only Kmelz but also others had noticed.

However, the reason they don’t bother to ask is that they are not interested in other people’s inner thoughts.

They only want to achieve their own goals.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. Aileen is a headache. His whims are unpredictable, and his power is not easy to guess.”

“[I hope that’s not a lie.]”

“Anyway.”

Epileot shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and pretended not to know.

The Empress and Elsaria also didn’t like his attitude, but they didn’t bother to ask, thinking it would hurt their pride, so they shouted.

“I don’t care. I won’t tolerate anyone who gets in my way, no matter who that kid is.”

“…I’ll pay you back for this humiliation next time.”

If they get in the way, they will just eliminate them first.

“[…Good. But it is true that the outside world knows the situation and that there are intruders interfering.]”

It is possible to limit the movement within the Empire to avoid the leakage of information to the outside world, but that is also the limit.

“[Let’s hurry. This Kmelz too. And you guys better move quickly too.]”

As if in response to Kmelz’s last words, their figures disappeared at the same time.