IMYL 19

Chapter: 19

“Perhaps? I’m not certain, but isn’t the entire Empire in this state?”

The adjutant replied in an uncertain voice.

“In any case, the Magic Tower seems to think the best option is to wait until summer, when the monsters completely disappear. They say operating anything now would be too dangerous—there could be an even greater disaster.”

“Can we really trust that the monster waves will disappear once summer comes?”

One of the knights standing beside the adjutant grumbled.

“Have we ever seen anything on this scale before?”

“Well… the timing and scale may be the problem, but the monsters’ fundamental characteristics haven’t changed. In any case, that’s the official announcement from the Magic Tower.”

Leopold did not join their conversation.

He merely narrowed his eyes.

“Lord Leopold?”

The boy slowly turned his head beyond the hill.

Golden eyes sharply scanned the distance.

“There’s a harbor over there.”

It wasn’t as vast and blue as the eastern sea, but the West also bordered the ocean at the edge of the continent.

“Monsters don’t usually appear near the sea, so there’s no need for us to go that way—”

That was when it happened.

A breeze carrying a peculiar scent drifted around them.

It was the West’s emergency signal, the Tracking Scent, possessed only by key figures of the region.

A special magical fragrance undetectable to enemies’ senses, yet recognizable to Western knights who had trained with it for years.

Whoever had released it, it was clearly meant for the nearest unit.

“We move.”

The boy rose without hesitation.

Whoever it was, anyone capable of releasing the Tracking Scent had to be someone important.

He didn’t know why such a person had come to this remote corner of the Western territory, but regardless—they had to be rescued.

Leopold mounted the horse that had been patiently waiting for him.

He pulled the reins, following the scent. His black horse soon vanished into the darkness, the knights charging after him in a rush.

3. Leopold Nozen

Wow.

The illegal warp gate had already been set up in the backyard of the baron’s estate.

As expected, everything had already been prepared.

In the original story, the knights and I all drown together in the sea. There’s no sea in the Central region, and all the warp gates have stopped functioning.

It had been described in a single simple sentence, but I had roughly pieced together the situation.

An illegal warp was installed, the knights followed, so it couldn’t have been far from the baron’s estate… They let them follow because they could sell them by headcount…

And those capable of installing illegal warps were black mages.

I had heard something similar at the capital’s academy. There were rumors that the black mages had fled across the sea to the Kingdom of Sebon to escape the Empire’s pursuit.

Originally, I should have already passed through this warp and been sold a month ago.

But it had already been two months.

I held out much longer than in the original.

Naturally so. There had been plenty of food in our territory.

No matter how much the nobles tried to block trade, the commoners still bartered among themselves. We survived by sharing things like salt and perilla seeds from Baron Hawin’s lands.

When the lower classes obtained food through barter, it would inevitably be shared upward.

In any case, we endured together. Though now we were reaching our limit.

And once we pass through the warp…

I boarded the warp along with Baron Hawin, the knights, the invaders, and even Baron Foreman.

Baron Hawin had brought quite a few knights as escorts as well.

The warp shook violently, but it was bearable. Since illegal warps were born from forbidden experiments, they weren’t greatly affected by monsters.

“Whew…”

At the end of the warp, the air smelled of the sea.

Noisy voices echoed around us.

“Whoa, another group just arrived!”

“Where from? Where are they from this time?”

“Looks like Hawin! That tiny territory in the Central region!”

“The Central region? All their lands are small anyway.”

When I opened my eyes, dizzy from the journey, a dark harbor came into view.

As I looked around, people with black mage markings engraved over half their faces rushed toward us.

Those chilling marks could not be erased.

That was why they could not blend into society. They could not hide their identities. It was the price of accessing forbidden magic.

As if he had dealt with them before, Baron Hawin stepped forward confidently.

“As promised, I’ve brought the people. You haven’t forgotten that you agreed to pay one sack of wheat for every two, have you?”

What?

I was extremely startled.

Half a sack of wheat per person?

The black mage immediately waved his hand.

“Oh, no, no.”

He cleared his throat and spoke arrogantly.

“That was a few days ago. Lately, many territories have been bringing people, so the price has dropped.”

The invaders, their mouths gagged, had already fallen into panic and were shouting—though none of it could be heard clearly.

They hadn’t truly believed they would be sold like this.

Now that they smelled the sea, it must have finally sunk in—they were really being sold.

Being sold as a black mage’s experimental subject was one of the most miserable deaths imaginable.

The black mage grinned as if their reaction amused him.

“One sack of wheat for four people. That’s the current market rate.”

I let out a deep sigh.

This was truly intolerable.

I stepped forward in front of Baron Hawin.

“This is outrageous. Are you truly human?”

After pointing it out coldly, I glared at him.

With everyone watching, I lifted my chin and protested.

“Where have you seen prices slashed in half in just a few days? Make it one sack for three.”

The black mage looked at me suspiciously and asked Baron Hawin,

“Who is this young lady?”

I ignored him and continued speaking.

“There are knights among them. They’re sturdy. Would you value a knight at one full sack?”

Fortunately, that caught his interest.

“We don’t do that. It’s strictly by headcount.”

I scoffed at such a standard.

“Then would you count a dying old man the same as a healthy adult? That’s irrational.”

Their labor value was different. Even the amount they ate was different.

While I led the conversation, I saw Baron Foreman stirring in the distance.

They were already surrounded by black mages, but it didn’t matter. I had deliberately ordered the knights’ ropes to be tied loosely.

Right. This is the West.

They would certainly release the Tracking Scent. And if so, the nearest Western knights would inevitably come.

From the moment it was described that we boarded a ship, I guessed it was the Western sea.

Crossing the sea from the West led directly to Sebon.

Since intercontinental warp gates had not yet been developed, they would have to use ships.

The North is blocked by glaciers, so ships can’t sail there. The southern islands are cursed with eternal sleep and can’t be approached carelessly.

Just as monsters roamed even the plains in the West, in the East monsters appeared in the sea. So they wouldn’t use an eastern port.

Therefore, this illegal warp had to connect to a western harbor!

“So this illegal warp connects to Milfen Port in the West, correct?”

“No. It’s Delphoben Port.”

I didn’t actually know which port it was, so I just threw out a random name.

I also intended to silence Baron Foreman by mentioning “the West.”

Naturally, Baron Hawin fell for my ploy and revealed the exact location.

As I thought.

I had insisted on bringing Baron Foreman along. We needed his Tracking Scent to summon the Western knights.

If he hadn’t been secretly listening outside the door while hiding his identity, I would have summoned him myself. That would have made things far more complicated and difficult.

But as a former intelligence agent, I expected he wouldn’t miss a night like this.

Indeed, the old man worked diligently. He certainly earned his keep.

The plums I gave him for dessert weren’t wasted.

That was the highest praise I could offer.

Now, I simply had to stall for time until the nearest Western unit arrived.