My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 74

74. Kusla Mountains (2)

The Kusla Mountains in the west.

This long mountain range, connected to the coast, was nicknamed the waist of the west.

Monsters poured out of this area endlessly.

The ships entering and exiting the coast were blocked, paralyzing the west almost instantly.

Fortunately, Sian had brought some stability to the west after his previous actions.

However, the area around the mountains remained dangerous.

The only way to enter the mountain range was through a specific gateway.

More precisely, it was the only way to reach the area they intended to investigate.

Sian paused, concealing his presence.

In the distance, he spotted a large gathering of monsters.

They appeared to be a goblin horde, numbering around 3,000.

3,000 wasn’t a small number, but it wasn’t overwhelming either.

More importantly, goblins were considered the lowest-level monsters.

The Royal Knights could easily handle them, simply breaking through their ranks.

Yet, Sian chose to hide. The reason was simple.

Alex approached Sian cautiously.

“If the goblins guarding that gateway spot us, a massive wave of monsters will pour out of the mountains.”

“Ah…”

Sian exclaimed softly, understanding the implication.

“Are you saying those goblins are acting as scouts?”

“It seems so.”

Alex nodded slowly.

Monsters acting as scouts wasn’t unheard of.

Goblin scouts within goblin groups, orc scouts within orc groups – monsters often had designated roles within their own kind.

However, this only applied to monsters of the same race. A goblin scout wouldn’t warn an orc group of danger. Such cooperation was highly unusual.

It suggested that someone was controlling the monsters.

“So, you were trying to investigate the Kusla Mountains.”

Alex had also recognized this implication.

“The problem is, if we’re discovered, all the monsters in the mountains will swarm us. Every moment of the investigation would be interrupted by attacks… making it virtually impossible to proceed.”

“Hmm…”

“To investigate properly, we need to sneak into the mountains, avoiding the monsters at the gateway. But…”

The sheer number of goblins made it nearly impossible.

3,000 pairs of eyes were hard to deceive.

Moreover, the gateway wasn’t wide, increasing the risk of detection.

“So, I tried to quietly eliminate the goblins, but…”

Again, their numbers were too great.

Silently dispatching 3,000 goblins was an impossible task. Even if one escaped, it would alert the others.

Besides, the Royal Knights were knights, not assassins.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I should have brought Kerner.’

A top-tier assassin from the underworld. While not as skilled as Leia, he was certainly capable.

However, Sian quickly dismissed the thought.

Even the best assassin couldn’t eliminate 3,000 goblins without raising an alarm.

“Hmm…”

Sian fell into thought.

Alex spoke to him, “It’ll be alright. We have the full team assembled this time, and you’re here too. It’ll be difficult, but we can still continue the investigation.”

Alex emphasized the difficulty, not the impossibility.

Sian shook off his worries. Ruminating wouldn’t solve the problem.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, an idea struck Sian.

After organizing his thoughts, he turned to Alex.

“I have an idea. I think I have a way to eliminate those 3,000 goblins.”

“R-really?”

Alex asked, surprised.

Sian nodded.

“Sir Alex, can you have the Royal Knights spread out around the area, without being detected by the goblins? Their mission is to intercept any goblins that might escape.”

“That’s not difficult, but…”

Alex nodded, a meaningful look on his face.

Sian’s request was simple enough.

However, there was a limit to how far the knights could spread out without being detected. Access to the area behind the gateway was impossible.

If goblins escaped in that direction, there was nothing they could do. Even intercepting them had its limits. If thousands of goblins scattered, the Royal Knights couldn’t possibly stop them all.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think any will escape, but it’s just in case.”

Sian reassured him.

Alex looked at Sian and nodded slowly.

“I understand.”

Sian was the one who had stabilized the west against all odds. He trusted that Sian would find a way.

He didn’t know what it was, but Alex had faith in Sian’s abilities.

Alex ordered the Royal Knights to spread out around the goblins, discreetly, within a safe range.

Given their expertise, it wasn’t a difficult task.

With the preparations complete, Alex returned to Sian.

“I’ve deployed all the members as you instructed.”

Sian nodded at Alex’s words.

Even if something went wrong, the Royal Knights would be there to contain it. All potential variables were accounted for.

Sian turned slightly to the waiting soldiers.

“Load all the arrows into the Singijeon [Korean rocket arrow launcher].”

“Yes, Lord.”

At Sian’s command, the soldiers moved efficiently.

They cleared away the grass concealing the Singijeon.

A total of 10 Singijeon were revealed.

Sian had retrieved them from his inventory while Alex was away.

The soldiers loaded the arrows into the 10 Singijeon.

“Wh-what is that?”

Alex asked Sian, his expression a mix of surprise and embarrassment.

The Singijeon, which had vanished, had suddenly reappeared. And there were ten of them.

It was also the first time Alex had ever seen a Singijeon.

“Ah, it’s called Singijeon. It’s a… mass destruction weapon.”

“…Ma-mass destruction weapon?”

Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief. The term seemed… inadequate.

Sian understood. He’d initially thought the Mobile Lord [referring to the game or system] was crazy too.

Of course, he still thought so.

“Lord, everything is ready.”

At the soldier’s report, Sian nodded.

“Begin immediately.”

Without hesitation, he gave the order.

The soldiers took their positions at each Singijeon.

And then, for a moment.

Kiiiiiiiiiiing─.

A tremendous surge of magical power erupted around them.

The Singijeon’s power, amplified by the highest-grade mana stones, was terrifying.

“Wh-what is this…!”

Alex’s eyes widened, overwhelmed by the sheer force.

And then.

Shoosh Shoosh Shoosh!!

A rain of arrows filled the sky.

The arrows descended upon the goblin encampment.

Kwakwakwakwakwang!!!!

Kwaaaaang!!!

The ground shook violently with a massive explosion.

“Wh-what?”

“What’s going on?!”

The Royal Knights, waiting in the distance, were startled by the earth-shattering tremors.

A thick cloud of dust obscured their vision.

Sian nodded in satisfaction.

“Okay, everyone. Finish them off quickly.”

The soldiers raised their weapons and charged into the dust cloud, their swords crackling with aura.

It was astonishing that ordinary soldiers could wield aura.

“Wh-what are you doing!”

Alex didn’t have time to dwell on that.

He screamed in horror. They were supposed to sneak past quietly, but they were turning the entire area upside down!

It wasn’t just Alex. The Royal Knights were equally bewildered, looking at Sian with questioning expressions.

But damn it.

“I’m assassinating them.”

Sian’s statement was absurd!

“…What?”

Alex was beyond disbelief; he was about to spontaneously combust.

Where was the assassination in all of this? If this was assassination, then all the assassins in the world were failures!

Alex jumped to his feet. The monsters in the mountains would soon be upon them.

Alex drew his sword and shouted.

No, he was about to shout.

Alex froze at Sian’s next words.

“In the end, isn’t it okay as long as there are no ‘witnesses’ to let them know we came?”

Alex paused.

He opened his mouth to protest.

But the words caught in his throat.

Alex knew it was nonsense.

But when he thought about it carefully.

“…Huh?”

Wasn’t he right?

Assassination wasn’t the point. The goal was to prevent the goblin scouts from warning others about their presence.

That was the only objective.

But when you think about it carefully.

Whether you ‘assassinate’ 3,000 goblins.

Or ‘massacre’ 3,000 goblins.

Isn’t the result the same anyway?

So, if all those goblin scouts died in that bombing just now?

So, if everyone who knows that an intruder has come dies…?”

The dust settled.

The scene that greeted him.

“…”

3,000 goblins had been completely obliterated. Or rather, what remained of them was scattered across the landscape.

Of course, some goblins had miraculously survived.

“Ki, Kieeehk…!”

No, could you even call that surviving?

But there were still goblins who survived without dying.

But.

“Is this alive?”

Crack.

The soldiers of Ruben, moving with incredible speed, dispatched them without hesitation.

The situation was already over.

Even if some goblins had escaped detection, the Royal Knights were positioned to intercept them.

It was a perfect assassination… No, massacre.

No, assassination. No, massacre.

…Damn it.

“…”

Alex was speechless.

#

The 3,000 goblin scouts were dealt with swiftly.

Not a single one escaped alive.

Sian, having “assassinated” all the scouts, still had some concerns.

The Singijeon’s immense firepower and the resulting tremors might have alerted others to their presence.

He was worried.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. It seemed that whoever was in charge assumed the goblins had been annihilated in a battle with another monster.

Of course, they didn’t know who that monster was.

And they didn’t even know if that monster existed.

If someone was leading the monsters, they wouldn’t assume that 3,000 goblins had been wiped out, especially with no survivors.

Thanks to that, the investigation of the mountains proceeded smoothly.

Since no one knew they were there, encounters with monsters were rare.

Of course, that didn’t mean they didn’t encounter any monsters at all. The mountains were teeming with them.

But that wasn’t a major problem.

First of all, all the Royal Knights members were gathered.

“Lord, should we dismantle this one too?”

“No. We don’t have time now, so let’s move on.”

The soldiers of Ruben were running wild!

Squeak!

Crack!

The troll groups fell in an instant.

Even the trolls no longer regenerated.

“What the…”

“Is that an ordinary soldier?”

Alex and the Royal Knights were astonished.

Where did these soldiers come from! And he wanted to ask since last time, but all the soldiers were using Aura!

Frankly, it seemed that even if they fought the Royal Knights’ trainees right now, they wouldn’t be inferior at all.

They were nothing more than monster slaughterers.

They couldn’t be like that unless they only ate and caught monsters.

Also, they were amazingly good at targeting the monsters’ weaknesses…

Squeak.

Bang.

They even dealt with the monsters before they could even realize it.

It was none other than the techniques learned from Kerner at the Special Forces Training Center Lv.1.

Because of that, the level of hiding their presence was so terrifying that even the Royal Knights were startled.

The level of force was higher than that of a trainee knight.

And at times like this, they were no different from high-level assassins.

And that’s not all.

“Lord. The traces of the trolls here are strange.”

“Trolls tend to ignore these branches because they believe in their regenerative power… For some reason, there are traces of them passing carefully.”

“It seems that there is something in this direction.”

Their tracking ability was also outstanding.

It was a natural common sense for the soldiers who had been trained by Grayson, a veteran hunter who had lived in the Dark Forest for decades.

“No, what…”

“Are they soldiers of the territory?”

“Are they soldiers, knights, assassins, or rangers?”

However, the Royal Knights members who didn’t know that fact were just dumbfounded.

What is this.

Was it the soldiers of Ruben helping the Royal Knights’ investigation?

Or were the Royal Knights helping the soldiers of Ruben?

He couldn’t tell at all.

“D-did you say they were ‘soldiers’ of Ruben…?”

“That’s right.”

Alex asked just in case.

But Sian nodded without hesitation.

Alex shut his mouth tightly.

What kind of soldiers are like that!

The Royal Knights members also felt the same way as Alex.

In that way, the investigation of the Kusla Mountains was carried out very smoothly.

Thanks to that, it didn’t take long to get meaningful results.

“Stop.”

Sian slightly raised his hand.

At Sian’s action, not only the soldiers of Ruben, but all the knights of the Royal Knights stopped moving.

Sian slightly raised his gaze and looked straight ahead.

Then, the scenery that could be seen far away.

The trees, intertwined with each other like the scenery of the mountains, were densely packed.

However, all those trees were withered.

Like the ashes left after burning in a fire.

The trees were all blackened.

It was a landscape that was not natural to anyone.

And even the terrible energy felt within it.

“What on earth is that…”

Alex muttered, confirming the scenery.

Sian slowly moved his steps towards that place.

Like that, one step, one step.

The moment he stepped into the boundary of that landscape.

Eerie.

A cold sensation swept across the back of his neck.

At the same time, the instinct’s alarm strongly warned.

‘Danger!’

Sian hurriedly threw himself.

And almost at the same time.

Kwaang!

A powerful explosion occurred in the place where Sian had been standing until just now.

If the reaction was even a little late, he would have been swept away by the explosion.

Sian immediately regained his balance and drew his sword.

“Everyone be careful!”

The first to react to Sian’s cry was none other than Alex.

“Everyone prepare for battle!”

Alex shouted, drawing his sword.

Soon, the Royal Knights members and the soldiers of Ruben all drew their swords.

Tension was stretched taut.

Into that tension, an existence revealed itself.

A black robe fluttered in the wind,

And a dark black aura flowed around it.

A thick darkness rising.

An infinite fear felt through it.

The incarnation of a nightmare.

Or the incarnation of evil.

No matter what words you put forward, you couldn’t explain it.

The black robe was hiding the existence’s appearance.

However, what was visible between the sleeves was clearly a pure white and emaciated bone.

Flash.

A red light rising from the hollow pupils.

It was like something from the abyss had opened its eyes in the swirling darkness below where the light did not reach.

The dimension of the infinite abyss is divided.

The distorting fear.

【I didn’t hear a report that rats had crawled in.】

A gnawing hunger is revealed.