29

Id used his outstanding quick footwork to avoid the unfamiliar weapon of his opponent, but the hook of Daniel’s halberd managed to graze his armor as he was not used to the attack patterns of the halberd. Daniel saw a faint blue aura appear on Id’s armor when he did manage to land a superficial attack.

“You’re wearing magic armor.”

Id stepped back and examined his armor but found no trace of the halberd’s hook grazing it. Id himself was also surprised by the effect of the Anti Physical Force engraved on the armor, Id replied to Daniel, being somewhat at a loss, unable to explain the current situation.

“Although I’m wearing Oleg Kozlov’s magic armor, Baron Kozlov gave it to me without the magic stone. Knight Commander Aleksey told me it does not function as magic armor currently.”

Id turned around and showed Daniel the empty socket. Daniel tilted his head after checking with his eyes that the magic stone was indeed not plugged in place. Although he watched the signs of magic being activated by the armor with his own eyes, Daniel had no choice but to dismiss it as a mistake since he had never heard of magic imbued into equipment manifesting itself without a magic stone. Regardless, Daniel, the experienced Knight Commander, was well aware that it was not the armor but the opponent’s distinct Aura Blade, which he should be concerned about.

It was well known that no matter how high-level diagrams for Anti Physical Force were carved on an armor, it would be useless if the Aura Blade of an advanced swordsman struck it directly. Initially, magic armor was produced not due to the need of the Anti Physical Force but the necessity of the Anti Magic Force. Since casting spells took a certain amount of time for sorcerers, it was almost impossible for them to win a one-on-one match against advanced Knights. However, from the Knights’ point of view, there was plenty of possibility of being subject to long-range magic attacks or consecutive attacks by multiple sorcerers. So, most of the advanced Knights wore magic armor. Daniel was known as the best Knight in northern Scandia, and his armor was also magic armor with an Anti Magic Force diagram engraved into it.

When Daniel started attacking again, Id counterattacked this time. Id worried that Daniels halberd might contact his armor again, reactivating the Anti Physical Force, so he charged in, passing by the halberd's attacking range, stepping faster. Having approached his opponent, standing almost face-to-face to him, Id used the hilt of his sword to strike Daniel’s left hand which held the bottom of the halberd’s shaft. Daniel responded by turning his halberd around and attacking Id’s head, dropping his left hand and holding the halberd only with his right hand, their weapons crossed. The next moment, the halberd’s head flew about five meters and fell to the ground. The rest of the shaft that remained in Daniel’s hand was sharply cut at the top. Taking advantage of the sword’s rotational power, Id turned around and kicked Daniel’s abdomen with his right foot. Daniel flew backwards, but Id no longer chased him. He sheathed his sword, spoke matter-of-factly as Sasha approached him positioning himself behind Id, ready to run at a moment's notice should the need arise.

“Now, let us go as promised. We have neither reason nor intention to intervene in your feudal war.”

Daniel told his men, looking at his halberd’s shaft in his hand.

“We’ll let them go. I’ll issue a pass so that they don’t have any problems getting through our territory. Prepare for it.”

Looking back at Id again, Daniel asked.

“In which direction are you planning to go?”

“If possible, we want to go south through both the Kozlov Barony and Korolyov Viscounty, and then to Scandia City via Pleo Grand Canyon.”

After checking the pass brought by a Knight, Daniel handed it to Id.

“Within our territory, you only have to show this to the guards and will be able to pass the checkpoints without a hitch. It was a good match. Good luck with you.”

“Thank you for your consideration. Then we’ll get going now.”

Giving Daniel a slight nod, Id and Sasha quickly escaped through the south gate of the Kozlov Castle and moved further southward. The two traveled along the forest path close to the Pleo Mountains, which was on the western border of the estates. Eating and sleeping in the woods, hunting for small animals to cook their meals, they passed through the two estates in three days and exited the southern boundary of the Korolyov Viscounty. Their destination was the small town, Chernobugor, at the entrance of the Pleo Grand Canyon.

After Id and Sasha left, Baron Kozlov was captured by Sergey and taken to Viscount Korolyov. Kozlov was expelled from his estate after signing the surrender documents. Traditionally, the lord, who lost the feudal war, was allowed to take a carriage of his goods and treasures with him. However, as Kozlov had been caught after abandoning all his men and fleeing alone, he was expelled with only a small travel allowance.

************

A loud voice broke out at a restaurant in Chernobugor. About a dozen customers in the restaurant paid attention to an old man sitting at the table close to the wall. The man in his sixties was a six-circle mage from the Icarus Wizard Tower, Benjamin.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Dima, a cold-looking mercenary in his early thirties, sitting opposite to Benjamin, responded to the outraged Wizard with a low voice. He was one of the first-grade mercenaries, who numbered less than thirty throughout the entire country.

“It means exactly what I said. If you want to go through the Pleo Grand Canyon, you have to pay one hundred golds. As you paid ten golds in advance, you need to pay me ninety more. You can pay forty now and give us the remaining pay when we arrive at the Empire's border.”

“According to our contract, I’m supposed to pay you thirty golds for hiring one first-grade mercenary and three second-grade mercenaries to escort me to the Empire’s border, and I already paid ten golds in advance. Do you think it makes sense to change the terms of the contract on the way?”

Dima said, taking out the contract and showing it to Benjamin.

“The contract says that you can cancel it or request a change in its terms when going to a place where special risks are expected. If you change your course to the southeast and go to the Empire via the Ur Kingdom, we can proceed according to the original contract.”

“It is widely known that it is difficult to get through the Grand Canyon. Isn’t it the reason why people hire escorts at such a high price? If you thought the Grand Canyon was a particularly dangerous place, you should’ve told me before we’d left Nordburg.”

“Anyway, we can’t go through the Grand Canyon where large monsters often appear after receiving thirty golds. Since you are canceling the contract, I can’t return your advance payment.”

A mean smile could be seen hanging on a corner of the mercenary’s mouth. As Chernobugor was a small town in the forest, there was no Mercenary Guild in town, let alone the Wizard Tower. If Benjamin terminated the contract, he would have no choice but to travel without an escort through the dangerous Grand Canyon. Even though Benjamin was a six-circle-master mage, Dima did not bat an eye. Even if Benjamin were a seven-circle Wizard, not a six-circle-master mage, magicians could not match him, an Aura Blade user at a short distance. Among the thirty or so first-grade mercenaries in the Scandia Kingdom, he was the only advanced-level swordsman who could use the Aura Blade. Looking at Dima’s languid face, Benjamin reached the end of his patience. Benjamin signed the contract after writing in a clause stating that he terminated it.

“I’ll surely report to the Nordburg Mercenary Guild about today’s incident.”

Leaving the disgruntled Benjamin behind, Dima left the restaurant with his colleagues without any signs of regret. Four mercenaries left Chernobugor and walked along the forest path in the direction of Nordburg. One of Dima’s colleagues, a second-grade mercenary, Vanya, said.

“Wouldn’t there be any trouble after doing this to a six-circle mage from the Icarus Wizard Tower?”

“Don’t worry. Dead men tell no tales. The mage has quite a lot of gold coins. In order to deal with our situation, we need the money. If he plans to walk back to Nordburg that mage has to travel past this forest path. We just need to wait for him in a good place around here and ambush him.”

Dima led a free mercenary company consisting of thirteen mercenaries, but about a month back on a battlefield, most members were killed by large-scaled attacking magic of several sorcerers, leaving only four of them. Having lost nine members at once, Dima could not operate his free company properly and fell into the current state, forced to act as a guard dog and escorting this mage. Having a lot of grudges against the sorcerers, Dima happened to see Benjamin’s heavy bag of gold coins and was overcome with greed. He decided to kill Benjamin and take away his money.

“Are you going to kill the mage?”

Dima’s other colleague, Volodya, who was rather timid as a mercenary, asked Dima.