Episode 131: Almond Duchy (1)
This is a dream.
As he gazed at the sky painted with the colors of dusk, Damian was certain of it.
The dull senses, the unsettling feeling of floating—everything pointed to the fact that this was a dream.
“You’re late.”
A familiar voice drew his attention. Under the crimson sky stood a man.
He wore a crisply ironed black suit, his hair slicked back with pomade, and held an elegant cane in his hand.
He looked like a nobleman who had just stepped out of a high society gathering.
“I’ve dealt with the Cherry Blossom Knights.”
The man stepped aside, revealing the bodies of the knights.
They lay torn apart, limbs scattered, their torsos burst open, spilling their insides.
“They were nothing special, really. Hard to believe they’re one of the Empire’s elite.”
The man gestured with his cane toward a woman impaled with weapons.
“The captain was pathetic too. I was cautious because she was supposed to be a master class, but she was no match for my death knights.”
His voice brimmed with pride.
“Why would he entrust such a simple task to you? Why ignore me when I offered to handle it?”
Gastal turned to Damian, his pale skin and sunken cheeks giving him the look of a venomous snake.
“I just don’t get it. Why does he trust you more than me? Favor you over me?”
He struck the ground with his cane, and black smoke enveloped the area. From it emerged skeletons clad in armor and wielding weapons.
“If I crush you here, maybe he’ll finally see that I’m far superior to you.”
Gastal struck the ground again.
The skeletal army charged at Damian, their eyes glowing blue.
Just before they reached him, Damian awoke. At first, he didn’t realize he had left the dream.
He blinked repeatedly, taking in his surroundings one piece at a time.
The first thing he noticed was the interior of a large, roofed carriage, rattling as it moved.
Inside, along with Damian, were several others, each clutching a weapon.
“Right, we’re on our way to the Almond Duchy.”
With that realization, Damian remembered where he was headed.
He had given his family various excuses and set off for the Almond Duchy.
“Since it was going to take a while to get there, I decided to travel by carriage.”
The Almond Duchy was adjacent to the Macadamia Kingdom.
Originally, the Almond family was part of the Macadamia Kingdom.
However, after producing a master, they gained many rights from the kingdom and declared independence as a duchy.
Given the great distance between the Apple Kingdom and the Macadamia Kingdom, hitching a ride on a merchant’s carriage was more convenient than riding a horse.
Everyone in the carriage was traveling from the Apple Kingdom to the Almond Duchy.
“Ugh…”
Damian stretched.
Despite the strange dream, he felt refreshed after a good sleep.
If he had ridden a horse, he wouldn’t have been able to rest so comfortably.
“Of all things, why did Gastal appear in my dream?”
The dream he had was a memory of a real event from the past.
Gastal was always envious of Damian, who was favored by Dorgo, and constantly picked fights with him.
The incident with the Cherry Blossom Knights was the culmination of that jealousy.
Gastal had volunteered to deal with the knights first, but Dorgo assigned the task to Damian.
Out of spite, Gastal wiped out the Cherry Blossom Knights and attacked Damian.
“He was a fool who didn’t know his place… but a dangerous one.”
Great mages or dark mages were considered on par with master classes.
But that was only in the sense that they transcended human limits. In terms of combat power, master classes were much stronger.
However, not all great mages were weaker than master classes.
Some, through relentless research, achieved combat power equal to or greater than master classes.
Gastal was one of them.
During the War of Destruction, Gastal’s power was formidable enough that even a master class couldn’t easily handle him.
He had obliterated the Cherry Blossom Knights, one of the Empire’s elite forces.
“He’s someone who shouldn’t be left alive. I must kill him this time.”
Though he hadn’t yet reached his full potential, it was only a matter of time before he did.
It was only prudent to eliminate anyone who could become a threat to Dorgo.
Thus, Damian was determined to kill Gastal this time.
As Damian resolved this in his mind, a voice interrupted.
“Did you sleep well?”
A man sitting next to him grinned, revealing a few missing front teeth.
“Yes, I slept well for a change.”
Since the man was a stranger, Damian responded nonchalantly.
“You looked quite peaceful while sleeping. So, are you also heading to the Almond Duchy to explore the ruins?”
In his past life, people flocked to the Almond Duchy around this time because of newly discovered ruins.
The existing ruins had already been fully explored and opened to the public, leaving nothing to gain.
But the ruins in the Almond Duchy were different. Recently discovered, they were still full of treasures.
“Yes, I heard you can strike it rich by exploring the ruins.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes lit up at Damian’s words.
“You’re right. Ruins are places where even ancient toys fetch high prices.”
The man eagerly explained.
“Finding an ancient book or artifact could make you rich. And if you were to find a relic sword… well, that could change your life.”
Damian listened to the man’s words with one ear and let them pass through the other.
His goal wasn’t to explore the ruins for artifacts.
He was solely focused on finding Gastal.
In his past life, Gastal had significantly strengthened his army in the Almond Duchy.
He absorbed mercenaries and explorers who came to explore the ruins, and eventually massacred the duchy’s soldiers and knights to build his legion.
“Gastal is surely hiding inside the ruins.”
The ruins were the only place where Gastal could safely and comfortably amass power.
“By the way, what’s your name, young man?”
The middle-aged man’s question made Damian pause.
He couldn’t use the name Damian in the Almond Duchy.
Revealing his identity could make Gastal wary, complicating the pursuit.
And if a major incident occurred while tracking Gastal, using his real name could lead to troublesome situations.
Though he had a certificate as an honorary knight, that was only a last resort.
“Victor.”
“Victor, huh… It’s a common name, but a good one.”
“And what is your name, sir?”
“I’m Thiebaud.”
As the two conversed, a man sitting across from them slammed his fist on the carriage floor.
“Hey, you two. Did you rent this place? Can’t you keep it down?”
Thiebaud quickly shut his mouth, clearly intimidated.
“And what? Change your life by finding a relic sword? What nonsense. Do you think someone as weak as you can explore the ruins?”
The man mocked Thiebaud.
“Well, he’s not wrong.”
Damian silently agreed with the man’s words.
The ruins were far from safe. They were filled with traps and combat golems.
Without considerable strength, one couldn’t even set foot inside.
“Why don’t you just turn back instead of adding to the body count?”
“Have you said your piece now?”
Thiebaud snapped, but the two men beside the speaker placed their hands on their weapons.
Faced with their menacing glares, Thiebaud had no choice but to lower his head.
“Coward.”
The man sneered at Thiebaud’s reaction.
“And you, Victor, was it?”
The man turned his ridicule toward Damian.
“From what I see, you’re no different. If you don’t want to die young, you’d better stay away from the ruins.”
The two men laughed at his words.
Damian didn’t respond to the man’s taunts. Instead, he considered something else.
He could tolerate insults directed at others, but not at himself.
As he assessed the carriage’s layout and the people around him, planning to take down all three at once, the carriage suddenly stopped.
“Everyone, please disembark. We’ll be camping here.”
The driver called out to the passengers.
The passengers filed out of the carriage, including the man and his two companions.
Damian missed his chance for retribution but resolved to deal with them later as he stepped out.
Looking around, he saw people disembarking from other carriages as well.
“As mentioned before, we’re just giving you a ride. You’ll have to handle your own meals.”
With that, the driver headed toward the merchants.
The passengers in the carriage huddled together, deep in discussion.
“Since we’ll be traveling together for the next few days, how about we assign meal duties?” suggested Thiebo.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
‘What a bother,’ thought Damian, not particularly thrilled with the idea.
Damian had already prepared for the long journey by packing various foods in his spatial storage. He saw no need to trouble himself with something as tedious as meal duties.
“Duties? Do you really think we’d bother with something so annoying?” came a voice, dripping with irritation.
The three men who had previously picked a fight with Damian spoke up, their voices laced with anger.
“So, are you saying the three of you will handle your meals separately?” Thiebo asked, mustering the courage to speak.
One of the men chuckled, drawing a long sword from his back. The blade shimmered with a magical aura, and as he swung it, the ground split open in a long crack.
“How do we plan to handle our meals? Oh, there’s a simple way,” the man said, glancing around. The other travelers, including Thiebo, averted their eyes.
“If you don’t want to end up like this, you’d better bring us what we want. Got it?”
The man sheathed his sword and turned to leave with his companions.
Tap, tap.
A crisp, oddly irritating sound stopped the three men in their tracks. They turned to see Damian tapping a hexagonal club against his palm.
The sight made the man scowl. “Can’t you stop that? It’s driving me crazy…”
“Well, this could have been a hassle, but it seems things are looking up,” Damian said with a bright smile.
“I’ll turn you into diligent, cooperative people yet.”