My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 19

§ 19 – The Strange Lord (1)

How much time had passed?

Amelia and Lucas were soon able to regain their senses.

Though still dazed,

they managed to move and arrive in Ruben.

However.

“W, w, what on earth….”

Amelia was nearly out of her mind at the sight before her.

The scene unfolding before Amelia’s eyes.

“Hey, hurry, hurry up. There’s still a mountain of things to dismantle!”

“Wait! What if the value drops if we rush?”

“Yeah, or the Lord will throw a fit again.”

It was a scene of the territory residents dismantling hundreds of demon beast carcasses.

Demon beasts piled up like mountains.

The problem was that just a while ago, they had sold off hundreds of goblins.

But how long had it been since then…?

Even if the Dark Forest was swarming with demon beasts, how could this….

Just then.

“Today’s hunt wasn’t very good.”

“Ah…. If I had caught just one more, I would have been exempt from training!”

A commotion of murmurs came from behind.

Looking there.

A group of people was entering Ruben.

Equipped with weapons, they seemed to be Ruben’s soldiers.

But did Ruben have soldiers?

Just as she was thinking that.

“Oh? Isn’t that Lady Amelia?”

The approaching soldiers discovered Amelia standing blankly.

“You’ve been visiting often these days. It must not be easy to come to this dangerous place.”

“It must be because of these guys, right?”

The soldiers chuckled, patting something they were carrying on their shoulders.

Something green-skinned and about 1 meter tall.

None other than goblins.

The soldiers were each carrying several goblin corpses on their shoulders.

The number of them gathered was again several hundred.

“This hunt wasn’t very fruitful.”

“After only picking off the weak ones, the goblins in the Dark Forest have dried up.”

“Ah…! If I had caught just one more, I would have been exempt from training!”

They chatted among themselves.

“…… Huh?”

And Amelia couldn’t understand what the soldiers were saying at all.

What was picking off the weak ones?

What was this training exemption?

And what, what?

Goblins in the Dark Forest have dried up?

Although goblins were evaluated as the lowest of the low-grade monsters, that was only the case when they were ‘monsters.’

The goblins they were talking about now were not those goblins.

Demon beasts residing in the Dark Forest.

As demon beasts with records of hunting ogres, they were impossible to handle with any ordinary level of power.

But what was this now….

“Ah, right. You’re a busy person, but we’re holding you up for no reason. You’ve come to see the Lord, right?”

Then one of the soldiers shouted loudly to the back.

“Hey! Has anyone seen the Lord?”

Then the soldiers each began to say something.

“The Lord? Hmm? He was picking off the weak ones with us earlier, then went somewhere alone.”

“He said he was going to chase after the goblins that were running away.”

“Ugh, I’m honestly still scared to face goblins alone. What’s with the Lord….”

“I felt he was unusual when he faced the hobgoblins… Somehow, he seems to have grown even more lately.”

“Why did the rumor of him being a scoundrel even start? If the Lord is a scoundrel, is there anyone in the world who isn’t?”

“You have to see people for yourself to judge them.”

Hahahahahahaha!

The soldiers’ laughter spread.

Then the soldier who spoke to Amelia said with a gloomy expression.

“It’s not good. Because the Lord swept away all the goblins, I didn’t get my exemption ticket.”

“Hahahahaha! Well, what can you do, Duras? You’ll have to work your butt off!”

“Ah…! I only needed to catch one more!!”

The soldier called Duras grabbed his head.

And after a while.

Duras soon asked the soldiers again.

“Anyway, no one’s seen the Lord, right?”

“No. We don’t know.”

Soon, Duras shook his head.

Then he turned his head back and said to Amelia.

“Then you should go to the training grounds. If he went back to the territory first, he’s probably there.”

#

Amelia didn’t head straight to the training grounds.

First, it was a priority to examine the goblin corpses.

And as expected, the quality was top-notch.

Amelia examined the goblin corpses for a while.

Then she went to find Cyan, moving inside Ruben.

Arriving in front of the soldier training grounds.

“Is it here…?”

It was more decent than she thought.

No, it wasn’t just decent, it was far better than the training grounds in most territories.

“When did they build something like this….”

Amelia slowly entered the training grounds.

“Hana! Dul!” [One! Two! In Korean, used for counting during training.]

“Hal Su! Itssumnida!” [We can do it! Sir! In Korean, a common military response.]

As soon as she entered, she heard the soldiers’ energetic shouts.

And looking there, the soldiers were receiving training.

“Don’t break formation! Trust your comrades next to you!”

“Haaht! Haat!”

A fairly systematic appearance.

Amelia didn’t know much about military affairs, but she could tell at a glance that it was at a considerable level.

Amelia looked around, searching for Cyan.

But for some reason, no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t see Cyan.

‘He said he’d be here….’

Just then.

“Hans! Push them a little harder! The buff isn’t applying.”

Cyan’s voice was heard in an instant.

Amelia naturally looked towards the place where the voice came from.

And.

“……?”

Amelia tilted her head without realizing it.

Because the place where Cyan was.

That place was none other than where the soldiers were rolling around.

Cyan was mixed in among those soldiers, rolling around here and there.

Bumping into the soldiers.

Being pushed here and there.

“Lord! What nonsense are you talking about! It’s already hard enough!”

“That’s right, Lord! Are you trying to kill someone!”

The soldiers screamed in horror at Cyan’s shout.

But Cyan said as if it was nothing.

“Shut up. Why do you think no one died while you were picking off the weak ones? It’s all because you trained hard. The sweat I shed today is the blood I shed tomorrow. Don’t you know?”

“We know! We know very well! But isn’t there blood coming out of my face instead of sweat right now!”

The soldier pointed to his face.

And there was really blood coming out where sweat should be flowing!

How hard do you have to train for blood to flow instead of sweat?

But.

“Don’t worry. We have Ellie, right? If you get hurt or sick, Ellie will heal you all. Maybe it’s because she’s been healing you, but your skills have been improving rapidly lately?”

“Ah, no!!”

“Aaaaah! I only needed to catch one more! Just one more!!”

The soldiers began to train while screaming.

Just then.

“Take a break!”

Hans, who was pushing the soldiers, shouted.

“Huh? Hans, why all of a sudden?”

“Lady Amelia has come to visit.”

At Hans’s words, the gazes of the soldiers, including Cyan, turned to Amelia.

A sudden concentration of attention.

“Ah… I….”

As she was panicking, not knowing what to do.

“Aaaah…! Thank you, Lady Amelia!”

“You are our life savers!”

The soldiers began to rejoice with tears in their eyes.

The soldiers’ expressions were as if they had received a sacred grace.

“Ah, right. You came earlier.”

Soon, Cyan jumped up and approached Amelia.

Looking at Cyan, he was truly a wreck.

Hair disheveled and dirt smeared everywhere.

He looked like he had been rolling around somewhere.

As expected, there was no dignity as a lord.

He didn’t even show the minimum level of dignity as an aristocrat.

If someone didn’t know, they could believe he was a street thug from the back alleys.

“Haha… I was just doing some training.”

Cyan awkwardly laughed, patting the dust off his clothes.

Amelia looked at Cyan and asked.

“Why… are you training with the soldiers?”

Cyan didn’t even look at Amelia, answering while shaking the dust off his clothes.

“Ah, the additional effect doesn’t apply if I do physical training alone. It only applies if I learn from Hans.”

“Yes, yes?”

“There’s something like that.”

Only then did Cyan look at Amelia, waving his hand.

“Anyway. What’s the matter? …Or is it too obvious to ask?”

Cyan shrugged his shoulders once.

Then he soon brought up the story related to the demon beast carcasses.

Amelia was able to talk about the disposal of the carcasses without any other preamble.

And as expected.

“Then don’t forget to give me 1.5 times the labor cost this time!”

She was thoroughly fleeced for labor costs again this time.

“Let’s see, constructing various infrastructure….”

Soon, Cyan’s muttering was heard.

“Come to think of it, Grayson said the movements of the orc groups are unusual. Then the defense of the wooden fence won’t work, so if we upgrade this… Damn it. No money again?”

Cyan frowned, muttering.

And Amelia was dumbfounded at Cyan’s appearance.

Because the money Amelia had to pay for the transaction was nearly 10,000 gold.

But as soon as he received that money, what was he saying?

That he had no money?

“The goblins have dried up these days, so it’s hard to pick off the weak ones. Haa….”

What was he possessed by to be so greedy for money?

He wouldn’t be like that unless he was crazy about money.

‘Lords are greedy, but….’

Even with a lot in their hands, they were greedy people who wanted more.

At times like this, Cyan showed a lord-like aspect without filtering.

“Anyway. Then I’ll go back to training.”

Soon, Cyan turned his back.

Amelia was lost in thought for a moment at Cyan’s appearance.

Amelia couldn’t understand Cyan at all.

Amelia, who had dealt with countless people while working as a merchant.

After exchanging a few words, Amelia could roughly grasp the person’s tendencies.

However.

‘I still don’t know what kind of person he is.’

She couldn’t figure out Cyan at all.

The Cyan Amelia initially thought of was an incompetent loafer.

The rumor of him being a scoundrel from the Marquis family that was known to the world.

It wasn’t just because of the title of scoundrel.

The nobles Amelia had met.

Especially, the lords had one of two attitudes towards Amelia.

Ignoring or lust.

So when Amelia learned that Cyan was the lord of Ruben.

And when she learned that his surname was none other than Elandur.

She thought Cyan would also be the same kind of person.

But he wasn’t.

Cyan didn’t ignore Amelia because she was a woman,

nor did he harbor lust.

He only treated her as a merchant.

Cyan was different from the nobles Amelia knew and had experienced.

He was different from the lords.

So she thought Cyan was a little different?

“It’s a big problem. Where do I make money now…?”

But he was so crazy about money….

No, well… Seeing him like money, it didn’t seem like that.

A person who was really hard to figure out.

“Excuse me….”

Amelia called out to Cyan, who was leaving, without realizing it.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

Cyan turned his head at Amelia’s sudden call.

“Ah… that….”

Amelia was momentarily flustered.

What should she ask?

No, why did she call him?

“Why… are you training with the soldiers?”

Amelia blurted out whatever came to mind.

“I think I told you earlier. What are you curious about?”

Cyan’s eyes narrowed slightly for a moment.

As if asking why she kept prying.

Amelia slowly opened her mouth.

“So… that… Don’t you think it’s vulgar…?”

“Vulgar? Who?”

“The soldiers…?”

Then Cyan’s expression hardened.

Cyan’s two eyes stared silently at Amelia.

“Ah, no. Not in that sense. That’s….”

Amelia seemed very flustered.

Of course, she said that, but it certainly didn’t mean that Amelia actually thought so.

If she thought so.

If she really thought the people of Ruben were vulgar.

Amelia had no reason to come to Ruben at all.

She could just not care whether the vulgar territory residents of Ruben lived or died.

However, Amelia risked danger and came here for the sake of the territory residents of Ruben.

The reason Amelia asked that was simple.

The many lords Amelia had met.

The former lords of Ruben, who had been acting high and mighty, were thinking like that.

They thought of themselves as noble people.

People who were fundamentally different from nobles and commoners.

So they only regarded their territory residents as tools.

Saying they were vulgar.

They ignored them, saying how could a noble person like themselves be with territory residents.

Commoner rabble.

Tools that had to serve and sacrifice themselves for the noble themselves.

To them, the territory residents were neither more nor less than that.

But Cyan didn’t seem like that at all.

Look at him now.

He was rolling on the ground with the soldiers,

and they were joking with Cyan in a joking manner.

A scene of him getting along with the territory residents without hesitation.

That was completely breaking the image of the lord and noble that Amelia had been thinking of.

That’s why she asked, but….

“Lady Amelia seems to think so?”

Somehow, Cyan seemed to be thinking in a different sense.

“No! Absolutely! Not in that sense at all…!”

“Duras!”

Cyan shouted, cutting off Amelia’s words.

A shout filled with spirit.

The soldiers who were resting seemed startled at Cyan’s shout.

Soon, a soldier jumped up from among the soldiers.

Then he ran towards Cyan.

“Did you call me!”

A voice full of military discipline.

He was the soldier Amelia had encountered in front of the territory earlier.

Cyan looked at Duras and opened his mouth.

“Who are you.”

“……?”

Amelia wondered what it was for a moment.

And that was the same for Duras.

Because he had just called him by the name ‘Duras’.

But suddenly, who are you?

Amelia looked at Duras.

Duras was also embarrassed by Cyan’s question.

“D, Duras….”

Duras answered in a trembling voice.

Although they were said to be rolling on the ground together until just now, Cyan and Duras were fundamentally different people.

A mere soldier who was just a commoner.

A noble of the noble Elandur and the lord of Ruben.

These two were fundamentally different people.

There was an unknown anger on Cyan’s face.

So fear-based tension was rising on Duras’s face.

And the name Duras.

It was a name that could be commonly found in the Empire.

A commoner’s name without a surname or any meaning.

A name that could only be felt as vulgar to someone.

Cyan stared silently at Duras.

Without any reaction, Cyan looked at Duras.

“Who are you.”

And Cyan asked again.

Duras’s expression was dyed with embarrassment.

But that was only for a moment.

Duras’s eyes became determined in an instant.

As if he knew what to answer.

No, not knowing, but instinctively, Duras opened his mouth.

“I am.”

And the voice that was heard.

“I am the sword of Ruben. I cut down the enemies that threaten Ruben and protect the foundation of Ruben.”

A gaze that was looking.

Duras opened his mouth again.

“I am Ruben’s strongest sword and shield.”

Cyan nodded calmly.

Then he lightly patted Duras’s shoulder.

Soon, looking at Amelia.

Cyan says.

“There is no vulgar person here.”

Cyan left with those words.

Amelia was frozen in that spot.

No, no thoughts come to mind.

Her mind is blank as if she had been hit in the head with a huge stone.

An emotion that tickles her heart.

Her heart feels strange with an unknown emotion.

“Okay, break’s over! Everyone get up!”

Soon, Cyan’s voice is heard.

Amelia could only stare blankly at Cyan’s back.

Then suddenly.

Without realizing it, suddenly.

Amelia had this thought.

No matter what strong enemy comes, Ruben will not collapse.

No, it may collapse.

Reality was cold enough to be cold.

However, if all the territory residents felt the same way Amelia was feeling now, this much was certain.

Ruben is no longer.

A spirit territory.

It was made possible by only one person.

So truly.

“Strange person….”

He was a strange lord.

#

Cyan was left alone in the training grounds, swinging his sword.

Whooong!

The sound of the air tearing apart echoed eerily.

Cyan’s sword did not contain the power of Aura.

However, the sword that was swung contained a momentum that was no less than the power of Aura.

“This is the last…!”

Swae-aek!

“End! I can’t do it anymore!”

Thud.

Cyan collapsed haphazardly at the end of the last sword strike.

His whole body was soaked with sweat, there was no place that wasn’t wet.

His muscles were trembling.

He really didn’t have the strength to move a finger.

Nevertheless, Cyan forced his body to move and took out the smartphone in his arms.

《Accurate Slash (斬) 3,000 times [3,000 / 3,000]》

《Accurate Thrust (衝) 3,000 times [3,000 / 3,000]》

“…… Achieved.”

At the same time as Cyan’s words.

Ting!

[Demon Soul Asura Sword (魔魂修羅劍) Initiation Progress Rate 1.7%(+0.2%)]

A notification window popped up on the screen that the progress rate had increased.

“Hoo….”

Cyan took a deep breath and put the smartphone back into his arms.

A body stretched out in a large letter.

“The progress rate doesn’t go up very much.”

Because the progress rate increased by almost ‘0.1%~0.2%’ per day.

Then, by simple calculation, the time required to achieve 100% is… about 500 days.

“I have to do this for over a year….”

Even that was the progress rate of the ‘initiation’ process.

That means there are processes other than initiation.

“…….”

The path of hardship was already clear to him.

But Cyan was not disappointed at all.

Because he was directly experiencing the level that had risen with the progress rate that could be thought of as only 1.7%.

“Hans was really surprised.”

A level slightly below the current Hans.

Of course, Hans was old,

and it had been quite a long time since he had quit mercenary work.

Compared to the level of Hans when he was young, it was miserable.

Nevertheless, Hans was still a considerable expert,

so it could be said that it was an enormous growth for Cyan.

“This is only 1.7%.”

That was also the progress rate in the ‘initiation’ process.

In the history of the vast continent.

The legendary realm that only 6 people had reached, Exceed.

And the strongest Arnaise, Kyle, which is presumed to be beyond that realm.

What will happen if he accumulates the progress rate in the future.

Cyan couldn’t imagine it at all.

“Well, it’s still a long way off.”

Cyan chuckled.

The sky of Ruben seen from the lying view.

“More than that….”

Cyan raised his body and sat down for a while.

“Now goblins are rarely seen.”

Cyan was able to earn a lot of gold through numerous picking off the weak ones.

But was the degree of picking off the weak ones too much?

Goblins were no longer seen as if the goblins had dried up.

Occasionally, small groups were seen, but even then, it was not easy to hunt because they ran away as soon as they saw Cyan.

And again, was it because of that?

“The movements of the orcs are unusual in the inner part of the forest.”

The situation in the inner part of the Dark Forest was turning out to be unusual.

Grayson said about this.

‘As the goblins disappear, they seem to think of Ruben as an area without an owner.’

To be exact, Ruben won in the area fight between the goblin groups and Ruben.

However, it seemed to the orcs that it was just land without an owner.

In the Dark Forest, humans were just prey.

‘It seems that the orc groups will soon flow into the area of Ruben.’

The face of Grayson, who was spitting out the words, was full of dark color somewhere.

Because there was a considerable difference between goblins and orcs.

Orcs were the kind that were truly called ‘monsters.’

In a word, it was not at the level of picking off the weak ones like now.

“Hmm….”

Cyan’s thoughts were only getting deeper.

To be exact, it was about to get deeper,

It was just then.

“Ah, I knew you’d be here.”

A clear female voice was heard from one side.

Looking there.

There was a slightly wavy red-haired beauty.

‘Amelia?’

None other than the head of the Truth Merchant Guild, Amelia, was standing there.