According to the royal decree, families of the nobility above the rank of baron must send at least one elite knight to the subjugation force biennially.
Of course, there were exceptions. That was the Riley family.
The Duke of Riley voluntarily sent two elite knights every year, and in the last subjugation, the police force, not the Guardian Knights, had come…
So, it was standard for the White Knight Order and the monster researchers to participate in the subjugations, as well as knights from the Riley family?
As I picked up a grape, I took a close look at the two knights from the Riley family. Next to them was a monster researcher from the royal family.
Those sitting far away from other knights were whispering among themselves.
I’d witnessed such scenes more than once. As if they were sharing secrets that others shouldn’t hear, they would gather and converse.
“Rosebelia, let’s stop here.”
“Yes, senior.”
Those three certainly had more luggage than the others…
I understood why the monster researcher had many bags. They usually took water from the ‘Red Spring’ for research purposes during subjugations.
But why did the knights have so much baggage?
It was rather annoying.
[Star Icon]Before dawn the next day, the subjugation force that came out of the castle marched towards the ‘Abandoned Mountain.’
“Vice-captain, is that the mountain?”
“Seems so.”
“It’s not called the ‘Abandoned Mountain’ for no reason.”
As the Guardian Knights said, the mountain had a rather eerie atmosphere. Although not very wide, the mountain was quite tall.
This mountain was close enough for the monsters living there to reach villages near the outskirts of the capital?
After all, it wasn’t that far from the capital.
As we approached the base of the mountain, Gabriel turned to look at the subjugation force.
“Everyone must know by now, but the goal of this subjugation is to scour a large area and kill as many monsters as possible.”
When Gabriel’s stern voice rang out, the atmosphere tightened. He made eye contact with each member of the subjugation force as he continued.
“From the base to the summit, and then down the other side. It will be a journey many times harder than now. We must be on guard at all times, as we don’t know where the monsters might appear.”
“Yes.”
The subjugation force answered in unison. Their faces looked solemn as they stared at the towering, desolate mountain.
“What’s that?”
Breaking the somewhat heavy silence was Vanessa. Her finger pointed to something—a black shape—on the mountain.
What is that…
The shape vanished for a moment, and then the ground seemed to ripple.
Could it be a Scorpion?
“Everyone, assume defensive positions!”
“It’s a Scorpion!”
Everyone was thrown into chaos by the sudden appearance of the magical beast. The first beast we encountered happened to be the troublesome Scorpion.
“Rosebelia!”
Stunned for a moment, I snapped back to reality at Gabriel’s shout. Drawing my sword and following behind Gabriel, the Scorpion that had suddenly emerged from the ground raised its body menacingly.
It must be around 4 meters.
The Scorpion clacked its pincers as if threatening us.
This is real.
Realizing that fact, the fingertips gripping my sword tensed up.
“Do you know the Scorpion’s weak points?”
“Yes.”
The Scorpion’s exoskeleton was too hard to inflict fatal damage with one strike. One had to aim for its relatively weaker exoskeleton. Was it the joint between the pincer and the torso, and the lower part of the torso?
Gabriel usually said it was between the chest and the belly, so it must be there.
I stared intently at that part, a chill running down my spine.
“We need to finish it in one strike.”
“Understood.”
The Scorpion, which had been moving its pincers as if measuring the opportunity to attack, suddenly froze. The clacking sound ceased as well.
Why is it doing that?
The Scorpion seemed to look back the way it came before it disappeared into the ground.
“The Scorpion just left?”
“Could it be running away?”
At Lucas’s question, Gabriel shook his head decisively.
“If it wanted to avoid us, it would have done so from the start. I’ve never seen it come like it’s going to attack and then run away like this.”
“It’s a first for me too.”
A magical beast researcher who had come close by spoke. Just when everyone was puzzled, a knight from the Riley family interjected.
“First time or not, isn’t it good that we avoided getting hurt?”
“Is it? We have to climb to the top of this mountain; we’ll have to face it sooner or later. It might have been better to deal with it earlier.”
At Rinat’s statement, the knight from the Riley family awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Let’s move together for today. Once we get used to it, we’ll split the search party in half.”
“Yes.”
As we all climbed the mountain following Gabriel’s order, smaller magical beasts appeared several times, but there were none as large as the Scorpion.
“Commander, look at this!”
Just when I thought we were getting somewhat clear of the mountain’s entrance, Lucas, who was walking ahead, called out to Gabriel in a desperate voice.
“What is this…”
“It’s the corpse of a magical beast.”
There were the corpses of the Scorpion we had encountered at the mountain’s entrance and another slightly smaller one. Pushing through the crowd gathered in front of the corpses, I walked closer and furrowed my brows.
Is this even possible? If I’m not mistaken, this is…
It was aura energy.
Others might not know, but I could clearly sense it. A faint aura energy was emanating from the corpses.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
