NOVEL NEXT chapter 18
18 – Salt Delivery Commotion (5)
“Prison? What’s this all about?”
“It seems words won’t get through to you.”
In the blink of an eye, the man’s hand moved and slammed the table.
Suddenly, a sharp dagger was embedded deeply in the table.
“Ugh?!”
Liana staggered back in her chair, clutching her chest.
The man growled, baring his teeth.
“Shut up.”
“It’s not nonsense. And put away your knife.”
I tapped the blade of his knife with my fork, and in a flash, the man reached out and grabbed my collar.
But I was faster.
As the man’s hand was about to be pierced by the fork that had already risen in front of my neck, he quickly recoiled his hand.
“What the hell?”
The soldiers behind me pressed hard on my shoulders and the back of my head.
But I didn’t flinch and stood tall, which seemed to surprise them.
“I don’t know what language you speak, but let’s resolve this calmly through conversation. It’ll be troublesome if we resort to violence out of the blue.”
With that, I raised my hand and one by one, I pried their hands off.
“Ugh…!”
Those who had their hands held by me groaned and turned pale.
“We found the ring in the wyvern’s nest and sold it to the jeweler because we needed money. That’s an undeniable fact. Let’s start the conversation with this premise.”
The soldiers, who were affected by my strong grip, retreated fearfully, and the man grew angrier.
“Beat that bastard down right now!”
Understanding the situation doesn’t necessarily lead to emotional clarity; rather, emotional clarity is needed to understand the situation.
However, that doesn’t mean I should respond in the same way.
I exerted force, wedging the blade of the dagger still stuck on the table between my fingers.
As the blade snapped, screams erupted from the people who had been secretly watching us.
“I broke the sword with my bare hands…!”
Throwing the broken blade at the man’s feet, I spoke up.
“Let’s settle this peacefully through conversation.”
“Commander, wouldn’t it be better to temporarily withdraw and bring in reinforcements…?”
A soldier behind me whispered to the man, who suddenly became furious.
“What reinforcements are you talking about when I’m taking care of this guy alone! Step aside, I’ll handle it.”
The man drew a club from the soldier’s waist.
“I am the Captain of the Tussenne Guard. It’s not too late to surrender.”
“Whether you follow or not, you’ll find out what crime I committed. All I did was answer where I got the ring from, and it’s troublesome when it comes out like this.”
I tried to explain logically, but it seemed like the man had already made up his mind to overpower me.
The man charged at me, shouting.
“Erka!”
Liana tried to put up a protective barrier, but the Captain was faster.
In an instant, he reached right in front of me.
I grabbed his throat and slightly turned my body in the direction he was running, making a half-circle motion as I slammed him down onto the ground.
As a chair completely shattered, the Captain rolled a few times and sprawled on the ground, his limbs outstretched.
Everyone in the inn could only stare at us, alternating their gazes between Liana and me, unable to utter a word.
For me, it was a necessary action to teach them a lesson, but from the perspective of humans, it must have been a quite shocking sight.
“I think he’s dead…!”
Only Liana, pushing the chair aside, got up and rushed towards the Captain.
Liana, who had exerted her divine power to the fullest, pressed hard against the chest of the head of the guards.
“Cough! Cough…!”
The head of the guards violently coughed and jerked his upper body up.
“I didn’t intend to kill you. You just momentarily lost consciousness.”
“aaah!”
The head of the guards, upon seeing me, suddenly screamed and backed away, sitting down.
“Don’t come closer! Don’t come!”
Since he didn’t move an inch from his chair, I simply stared at the head of the guards.
The head of the guards was completely terrified, his face pale. I had no intention of arguing with him any further.
“Just go away. Just leave.”
As I waved my hand as if annoyed, the head of the guards staggered and stood up.
Then, suddenly, Liana, who was standing next to him, tightly grabbed his collar.
“Just a moment! Pay up!”
Liana, holding onto his clothes with both hands, shouted.
The head of the guards hesitated for a moment, looking at Liana, who was demanding something he couldn’t understand.
“What money…?”
“Since you disturbed our mealtime, you should compensate us! One gold coin!”
“What kind of nonsense is this? You stupid woman with only a big chest!”
“Give me the money!”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
The inn doors swung open as if they were about to be smashed, and additional soldiers poured in.
What are those guys again?
The commander of the guards glanced at the newly arrived soldiers and brushed off Rianna’s hand.
“Just in time! Capture these guys immediately!”
However, the soldiers did not respond to the commander’s order.
“Captain, we were sent here by the lord to find some travelers who are here.”
“What? The lord? The lord has already returned?”
“Yes. By the way, what are you doing here?”
“These people had the missing little lord’s ring!”
“What?!”
The soldiers looked at each other in confusion at the commander’s words.
“How did the people who were supposed to bring the lord look?”
“A tall man with black hair and a short woman with a large chest… um…?”
Their eyes turned to me and Rianna.
“Excuse me, but… are you the ones who visited the lord’s castle earlier today? You said you caught a wyvern…”
“That’s correct.”
The soldiers spoke to the commander.
“Captain… I think these people… might be the ones the lord is looking for.”
“What…? No, what in the world…”
They just stared at each other in silence.
So in the end, I had to step forward and sort out the situation.
“So, as the chief of security, seeing the ring that came into the jewelry store, you thought we had done something bad and came here, and the new ones who just arrived came under the orders of the lord to bring us, right?”
“Ah, yes…” “That’s correct.”
“Well, since the lord is higher than the chief of security, don’t you think it’s appropriate for you to escort us instead of taking us forcefully? What are your opinions?”
“Ah, yes…” “That’s correct.”
They repeated the same words like fools.
The chief of security, who suddenly came to his senses, quickly bowed his head politely to me.
“hehehe… Teacher. Then… we will escort you.”
We grabbed the bag with the wyvern’s eggs and claws and followed the soldiers.
At that moment, a staff member who had been hiding on the other side rushed out and blocked our way.
“Teacher…”
“Yes?”
“Um… the chair… you need to compensate…”
“Ah…”
I turned around and saw a chair in pieces on the floor, stabbed by the chief of security. Without saying a word, I looked at the chief of security, and he sobbed as he took out a silver coin from his pocket and handed it to the staff member.
* * * * *
Inside the lord’s castle, it was quite splendid with a wooden theme.
The corridors were adorned with white marble, and golden frames with unknown paintings adorned the walls all the way to the other side.
There were also human-sized pottery, sculptures, and small fountains, and so on.
“How can they live so well on their own themes…?”
Riana whispered quietly as she followed behind the head of security.
“Being a lord, wouldn’t they be rich?”
“Not all lords are wealthy. If they have their own themes, just running the domain should barely break even…”
“Really? Then what could it be?”
“I’m not sure… Even the private soldiers of the lord’s decree wear plate armor… Maybe there’s some money coming in through a backdoor…”
Riana murmured to herself, tilting her head, and finally fell silent after the head of security requested her to be quiet as it was late at night.
They went up to a floor in the lord’s castle and entered a room.
The door was much larger and more luxurious than the other rooms, indicating that it was probably the lord’s room.
The spacious area was filled with furniture that seemed to be of great quality, and the display case on the wall was densely lined with small gold statues.
“They must have a lot of money.”
Riana whispered quietly upon seeing it.
“Welcome.”
A middle-aged man, who seemed to be of noble birth, greeted us.
“I heard you visited the lord’s castle this afternoon. You hunted a dragon… or rather, a wyvern?”
“That’s right. It was someone who was mistaken for a wyvern.”
“Hmm. I see. A wyvern… Please have a seat for now.”
The noble gestured for us to sit on the sofa.
“Go and call Ijano for me.”
“Understood. But…”
The commander of the guards hesitated at the end of his words in response to Zajak’s command.
“Didn’t you call for the people who handed over the small lord’s ring to the jeweler?”
“That’s right. Have you found them?”
“They are these people…”
Zajak looked at us silently for a moment.
Deep wrinkles formed on his forehead, as if he was deep in thought.
“Understood. Now, bring Ijano here first. We’ll investigate thoroughly afterwards.”
“Yes, understood.”
The commander of the guards left, and one of the servants brought warm drinks in a tea set according to the number of people.
Zajak sat across from me and Liana, observing us slowly.
“What an odd combination, indeed. They don’t seem like travelers, and certainly not a couple…”
“I’ve heard those words several times.”
“I heard that you have evidence of hunting a wyvern. Is that true?”
When I took out the wyvern’s claw from my bag and handed it over, Zajak examined it closely.
“So, this is a wyvern’s claw… I’ve never seen it before…”
“Of course, you’ve never seen it before. Anyone who saw the claw up close like this would have died.”
“hahahahaha! That’s true. Indeed, among those who have climbed the mountains, there probably isn’t anyone who knows exactly what a wyvern’s claw looks like.”
At that moment, the door opened and someone entered.
“My lord, it’s Ijano. I heard you called for him.”
“Come in. There’s something I need to confirm, including with you.”
Liana, who saw a person entering the room, was startled and made a strange sound.
“Ugh?! “