Episode 60: Fantasy Clichés
“Official Knight Jung Yong and apprentice knight Seop Baek. No issues found. You may proceed.”
Not long after, we managed to enter Markeiteuriseu, and shortly thereafter approached the Markeiteuriseu immigration checkpoint.
The light of the magic circle surrounding me and Seop Baek gradually faded. Then, the waiting guards saluted along with their deputy.
I briefly glanced at the two of them and nodded.
“Thank you for your hard work. Then, we’ll be on our way.”
“Not at all. Loyalty!”
Knights are generally exempt from immigration checks. After all, they’re the ones supposedly summoned to save the world. Especially for official knights, there’s no body search or passage tax.
Additionally, there are minor perks akin to sign-up bonuses for new credit cards, but nothing too crucial.
Yeah. What I’m interested in isn’t those minor details.
“Um, sir knight.”
“Yes?”
“Could we also verify the identity of the white-haired woman behind you?”
“…”
“Of course, as your companion, she isn’t likely to be a threat… but there are formalities and procedures to follow.”
Drat.
So much for trying to sneak Ruci through by hiding her behind me.
Apparently, these guards take their jobs seriously. Who would’ve guessed?
As I stood there flustered, Ruci, who was cloaked behind me, began poking my back.
“Hey, knight. What are you going to do now? Are we in deep trouble?”
“We are in trouble, so just shut up and let me think.”
“You’re such a loudmouth whenever someone tries to help.”
“Like you’re any better.”
“Hmph. Whatever. Sort it out yourself. If things go wrong, I can always pinprick you with a dagger from behind to send us back.”
“Don’t say creepy things like that.”
Even as we whispered back and forth, the guards were slowly approaching.
Voom. The deputy guard slowly began a magic incantation. A magic circle slowly moved along the ground toward Ruci.
‘There’s nothing I can do about this…’
I usually try to avoid such underhanded tactics.
But at this point, it seems I have no choice but to use my trump card.
“Excuse me.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“In fact, this is not a good time to be conducting searches like this. I’d like to pass through quickly.”
As soon as I said that, the atmosphere tensed.
The guards, with hardened expressions, began fidgeting with their weapons.
“Are you saying you refuse to undergo this checkpoint inspection?”
“Let me show you something first.”
I stepped in front of the approaching guards and immediately handed over a letter.
The guards, first looking confused by the old letter, then unfolded it and their eyes bulged in surprise. Quickly, they bowed their heads.
“Forgive me! I didn’t recognize you!”
“Hmm. That’s enough. Can we pass through now?”
“O-of course! Loyalty!”
And just like that, we successfully bypassed the checkpoint.
We’ve encountered similar inspections in every village and city we’ve passed so far.
Once our status as official knights was confirmed, inspections usually became lax. Even when they were strict, our trump card was always enough to quickly resolve the situation.
“Sir knight.”
After walking for sometime, Ruci walking beside me suddenly tugged on my sleeve.
I turned my head slightly and looked at her.
Her red eyes, like strawberries buried in the snow, stared directly at me.
“Why.”
“What did you show them that had them frozen in place? Did you write an insult toward their ancestors?”
“To put it simply…”
I wagged the old letter I had carefully stored. It read in Paraiso’s common language “From Count Halsenberg to my dear Adrang (赤狼).”
I smirked and delivered the cold reality that also held true in the Alternative World.
“I’ve shown you the power of blood, proximity, and school connections.”
*
By the way, our journey was quite pleasant, with one of the major contributors being Seop Baek’s cooking skills.
“Leave it to me. I would like to ask Mr. Jung Yong for assistance with gathering ingredients around here?”
True to her claim of being a good cook, she truly excelled in the kitchen.
As a result, we enjoyed luxurious meals while camping, which were sometimes even better than what we could buy in regular villages, making camping something to look forward to.
“Ahhh, not really…”
I remember her cheeks turning red and liking it as I showered her with endless praise.
Though she acted modest, her dinner that night was especially well-prepared. From then on, using various elegant phrases to praise Seop Baek’s cooking to bring out her best became part of our daily routine.
After all, regardless of anything else, people should eat well to live well.
After a few more days had passed since entering Markeiteuriseu,
we arrived at the small city of Kern, near the border.
“Woah, it’s been a while since I’ve felt like I’m in a proper city.”
“Indeed.”
“Hmph. An insignificant little place.”
As the Demon King said, Kern was smaller in scale compared to the Halsenberg estate.
However, Markeiteuriseu itself is significantly smaller than other countries, about four times less in area. From this border city, Kern, to the capital takes about a week on foot.
So, to be exact, it’s not actually a small city for Markeiteuriseu.
And there’s something else.
It’s a place where one quickly understands what the changing baron said about the significant cultural differences between countries.
“Woah, the architecture here is similar to my hometown! How nostalgic!”
As Seop Baek had said, the architectural and dress style in Markeiteuriseu was a mix of fantasy and Eastern influences, a drastic difference from the more traditional fantasy-like appearance of Halsenberg.
The bustling people around had polychromatic hairstyles like mages, but their appearance had a forced martial arts vibe.
‘Something seems interesting.’
I too, in amazement, greedily memorized the sights of the people around me.
‘Eye of Mimir, activate.’
Naturally, what I’m memorizing isn’t limited to what’s visible on the surface.
This is one of the things I always do when visiting a new village: gathering information about the place.
Information is important.
The reason I could break through the sewers of Leira, eradicate the Eldritch, and escape from Halsenberg was because I had more information than my opponents, based on knowledge from my previous life.
‘I understand better than anyone the importance of information.’
Our group knows almost nothing about Markeiteuriseu beyond the fact that it’s a country attached to the western edge of the continent.
Therefore, it’s necessary to learn more about this country itself.
As I focused on looking, detailed information panels about the country floated up.
[Detailed Information – Markeiteuriseu]
[1. The last Giant tribe, Crosphaed, established Markeiteuriseu as the Land of Knights. The entire nation values martial prowess and has developed a technique called Qi Kong Shu that transforms magical power into physical strength.]
[2. The core of the nation consists of 100 elite knights known as “Kavalier”. Each Kavalier possesses the strength of a thousand men. Every four years, the national Martial God Competition selects these warriors based on their performance, and these Kavaliers also have electoral rights and power in politics.]
[3. While Markeiteuriseu officially has no class system outside of the Kavaliers, people are often categorized based on their martial abilities. Those who haven’t undergone the evaluation test are not treated as humans in Markeiteuriseu.]
[4. Martial classes, regardless of weapon type, follow this order from lowest to highest:Projectile, Warrior, Master, Supreme, Martial Saint (武聖), Martial Immortal (武仙), Martial Deity (武神).]
‘A nation of fighting men.’
Every four years they don’t hold elections; they appoint politicians by fighting. Wait, thinking about it… isn’t Hell-Joseon not much different? It might be better to just fight it out and pick the winner.
‘… Should I gather a bit more information?’
The general country profile is good enough. It’s time to gather more detailed information.
I stared piercingly at the passersby one by one to bring up their status windows.
[Character Info]
[Name: Kallek]
[Alias: Wandering Spear Master, Warrior.]
[Level: 31]
[Name: Tricksee Wintergard]
[Alias: 127815932nd Hero, Frontier Witch, Supreme]
[Level: 113]
[Name: Owl Sedric]
[Alias: Skilled Qi Gong Practitioner, Master]
[Level: 77]
[Name: Germy Balkin]
[Alias: 151668943rd Hero, Apostle of Cassas, Master]
[Level: 92]
Among the pedestrians, there were heroes and ordinary citizens, with levels varying widely.
The striking feature, however, is that the levels of the regular people here are notably higher than those in other regions. The national reverence for martial arts isn’t an empty claim.
And there’s another important feature.
‘They really do have ranks attached.’
At the end of their aliases, a martial rank is inscribed.
It seems inhabitants of this place, especially heroes that have settled here, have all undergone the evaluation test.
‘After all, they don’t treat you like a person if you don’t take it…’
For now, we don’t know how long we’ll stay. After buying necessary travel supplies, we should immediately go take that test.
Having set that immediate goal, I nodded and led Seop Baek and the Demon King down Kern’s streets.
“It’s cheap, come buy!”
“We have just arrived from the capital with top-quality silk!”
We immediately headed toward the market to gather depleted travel supplies.
A sign of our growing familiarity with traveling over this past month would be that making sure to replenish consumables first upon entering a town has become a habit.
And as we entered the bustling marketplace that looks straight out of a martial arts novel,
[Your Eternal Return Point has been updated.]
[Date – Continental Year 1108, January 12th, 10:10 AM]
[Location – Markeiteuriseu. Upper region of the Promised Plains, Kern Market District 1]
“…”
Suddenly, such a panel floated up in front of my eyes.
Caught off-guard, my mind went blank, and I instinctively stopped in my tracks.
“Uh… what…”
I first tried denying reality.
I blinked a few times, but the panel still appeared. I pinched my cheek, and it hurt.
This is real. No doubt about it.
“Why are you standing there like a daze, knight?”
Since I was so stunned, Ruci following behind me asked.
Deciding to hold on to the last shred of hope,
“Hey, Ruci, did you reset the return point upon entering?”
“Does magic just come up when you dig the ground?”
“…”
Fair point.
Meaning the reset of the return point wasn’t due to the Demon King’s intent.
What that means, in other words, is…
‘…Danger is approaching?’
Having glanced at the befuddled faces of the Demon King and Seop Baek,
I calmly observed the bustling market scene with icy eyes.
