44
Minhyuk looked down at the elves who had interfered with his hunt.
Most of them had died from Teydon’s forelegs, with only five barely surviving.
Even if he executed them, it would not compensate for the losses suffered by the expedition.
<You can earn 10 seconds of Return Time by executing an elf.>
In terms of earning Return Time, they were also insignificant.
Even if he killed them all, he would not earn even a minute.
Therefore, at times like these, one must prioritize practicality over anger.
“Commander!”
An officer ran up to Minhyuk and reported.
“The elves have arrived. They are unarmed.”
Jeriah and 30 other representatives of the elven race had come to find Minhyuk.
They had belatedly learned that some of their kin had plotted to disrupt Asdel’s expedition to hunt Teydon.
They had hurriedly tried to rectify the situation, but it was already too late.
Thud-
Jeriah knelt before Minhyuk.
Then, the other elves also knelt before Minhyuk and bowed their heads.
“Some of our kin harbored foolish thoughts and committed a grave error! It is my fault for failing to manage them properly! Therefore, I beg you to punish me!”
Minhyuk asked Jeriah with a cold expression.
“How do you suggest I punish you?”
“I will atone with my life!”
Jeria was already prepared to give up her life to pay for the crimes of her people.
The elves who heard her words exclaimed with wide eyes.
“Jeria! You can’t do that!”
140 years old, relatively young for an elf, Jeria was able to become a leader because of her extraordinary charisma.
The 30,000 elves in this forest, which had been divided into dozens of factions, were able to unite as they did now thanks to her efforts and talent.
If she were to disappear, the elves would split up again and turn their swords against each other.
Jeria was that important to the elves of the Konoe Forest.
“Please take my life and forgive the wrongs my people have committed!”
Despite the elves’ dissuasion, Jeria once again begged Min-hyuk for mercy.
Min-hyuk ignored her request and called the quartermaster.
“How much damage did we suffer in this incident?”
The quartermaster checked the inventory records and reported to Min-hyuk.
“We consumed 60,000 bottles of Superior Red Potions. If the elves hadn’t interfered, we wouldn’t have had to waste a single bottle.”
During the head-on confrontation with Teidon, an average of 15 bottles of Superior Red Potions were used per soldier.
It was an amount equivalent to 2,000 plates of eggs.
The quartermaster continued his report.
“And we consumed 12,000 Small Mana Orbs.”
In order to automatically repair damaged armor during battle, soldiers consumed an average of 3 Mana Orbs each.
It was an amount equivalent to 1,000 Gift Set No. 1 of canned ham.
“And we consumed 400,000 crossbow bolts.”
100,000 men had used a whopping 4,000 bags of cotton swabs.
In fact, the metal crossbow bolts of the Star were very sturdy and didn’t break easily.
Most of them could be collected and reused.
However, there was no need to reveal such trivial details at this point.
The quartermaster was doing a good job understanding Min-hyuk’s intentions.
He reported all the consumption of other minor military supplies as well.
Jeria and the other elves just listened to the officer’s report with blank expressions.
They couldn’t grasp the value of the consumed supplies.
“That is all!”
When the quartermaster finished his report, Min-hyuk asked him.
“How much is that in Krones?”
“Calculated at the current rate, it’s 10 billion Krones!”
Gasp-
The elves made faces as if they had been struck by lightning.
The Krone was the currency used throughout the Rania continent even before the Cataclysm.
So the elves had some idea of its value.
One of the elves muttered in a small voice.
“A glass of honey wine sold in Asdel Fortress costs 7 Krones, right?”
The elves of this forest would sometimes sneak into Asdel Fortress and sell the medicinal herbs they collected in the forest to earn Krones.
And with that money, he bought necessary supplies and brought them to the forest.
If he covered his ears well with a hood and hat, there was little chance of being discovered by humans.
Minhyuk spoke to Jeria again.
“You’ll pay for this with your life? Is your life that expensive?”
“Th, that’s…”
Just a moment ago, she had been wearing a desperate expression, willing to give up her life, but now she couldn’t hide her bewilderment.
Minhyuk approached Jeria and looked down at her as he spoke.
“I won’t demand compensation for mental damages. That would make the calculations complicated. Just pay me a clean 10 billion Krones.”
Even if he wiped out the meager livelihoods of the elves living in the forest, he wouldn’t get even 1 billion Krones, let alone 10 billion Krones.
“We don’t have that kind of money!”
“Is that so? Then you’ll have to pay with your body.”
“My… body?”
Minhyuk presented Jeria with the conditions for repaying the debt.
“Firstly, all the elves in the Konoe Forest must provide labor when I require it. In addition, the scope of labor includes not only gathering but also hard labor, hunting, and conscription.”
He meant that whenever he needed, he would have the elves gather resources from the forest, and mobilize them for construction, hunting, and even war.
“Secondly, until you provide labor worth 10 billion Krones, I will hold you and other representatives of the elf race as hostages in Asdel. If the elves revolt or disobey orders, the hostages will be executed immediately.”
Minhyuk held out the bracelet to Jeria.
It was the gift she had given him to commemorate the eternal friendship between Asdel and the Konoe elves.
“Wear this on your wrist and never take it off until you’ve paid off the 10 billion Krones!”
He was trying to turn the bracelet of friendship into a shackle of servitude and return it to her.
“What if I refuse?”
“I’ll burn your entire forest to the ground and kill every single one of your kin.”
Jeria could tell from Minhyuk’s expression and tone of voice that this was not a mere threat to scare her.
It seemed as if her kin would be wiped out tonight if she did not accept the conditions.
“I’ll do as you say.”
Jeria took the bracelet and put it on her wrist.
At that moment, a message appeared before Minhyuk’s eyes.
<You have acquired 30,000 elves from the forest east of Asdel.>
<You will earn Return Time when they slay beasts.>
It was possible to increase the number of troops under his command not only through loyalty but also through shackles.
‘So, that takes care of the elves.’
Now, all that remained was to deal with the Magic Bead.
Minhyuk stood before Teidon’s heart.
Boom-
A mysterious light was emanating from the enormous bead.
The brilliance of its light was on a different level from any other Magic Bead that Minhyuk had encountered so far.
‘Is it because it’s intermediate?’
From the bodies of the Crimson Mane Hyena Boss and the Two-horned Direwolf, small, fist-sized, low-grade Magic Beads had emerged.
And from the body of the Giant Duck, a large, low-grade Magic Bead about 60 cm in diameter had emerged.
However, from Taydon’s body emerged a gigantic intermediate magic bead with a diameter of over 2 meters.
There was a rank above ‘large’, ‘gigantic’.
Perhaps there was even ‘super gigantic’.
<There is not enough inventory space to put the item in.>
Taydon’s heart was too big to put in the refrigerator.
A commercial refrigerator was 1.9 meters in height and width, and 80 centimeters in depth.
Of course, a sphere with a diameter of over 2 meters could not fit inside.
<You can expand your inventory if you meet special conditions.>
If I expanded my inventory, I could put Taydon’s magic bead inside.
However, what kind of refrigerator would I need to put such a large bead in?
Perhaps a refrigerated container carried by a ship or truck would be big enough.
Minhyuk recalled the time he found a refrigerator-shaped stone statue in an ancient temple.
I wonder if there is a refrigerated container-shaped statue hidden somewhere on the continent of Rania.
Anyway, I couldn’t put the magic bead in the refrigerator right now.
So, not only could I not procure it in large quantities, I couldn’t even transport it easily.
I had to move the bead with manpower.
“Let’s go back to the fortress!”
Swish-
Several soldiers attached themselves to the magic bead.
The bead was not as heavy as iron or a boulder.
Its specific gravity was similar to that of wood.
And it was spherical, so it could be rolled to move it.
Rumble-
Watching several people rolling the large bead reminded me of an elementary school sports day.
.
.
.
Around dawn,
Asdel’s expedition arrived at Tamryn Fortress with Taydon’s heart.
Wow-
The soldiers who had remained let out a cheer of joy as they looked at the magic bead.
The princess ran over and stood in front of the bead.
Tears welled up in her eyes with emotion.
She had risked her life to obtain this.
An opportunity for revival had come to Asdel, which had been on the brink of destruction.
However, it was too early to celebrate.
From Noble mtl dot com
The expedition’s mission would only be complete once they had safely transported the magic bead to the castle and restored the Altar of Protection.
And in the process, they had to repel Melbeck’s army.
Minhyuk gathered the key members of the expedition in the barracks and held a strategy meeting.
“Where are Melbeck’s forces now?”
General Drake pointed at the map as he answered Minhyuk’s question.
“They are stationed in Gaon Gorge.”
There were several places where a large army could be ambushed between Tamrin Fortress and Asdel Citadel.
Gaon Gorge was one of them.
Professor Raymon provided a more detailed explanation about Gaon Gorge.
“It is the place where Urus, the god who created the continent of Lania, first met his beloved horse, Gaon. According to ancient texts, Gaon was a divine horse that could cross the continent in the blink of an eye!”
A horse that could run thousands of kilometers in less than a second. That was an exaggeration.
Well, it could be possible if it was the horse of a god of creation.
Anyway, the origin of the gorge’s name was not important right now.
General Drake spoke again.
“The King of Melbeck is hiding there with an army of 200,000, waiting for information about us.”
He planned to move only after his spies sent him information about the path the expedition would take to Asdel Citadel.
The King of Melbeck had no idea that his spies had already been captured and were feeding him false information.
He was overconfident in the shapeshifting abilities of the Kunas.
“How long does it take for the Heart of Teidon to dissipate naturally?”
Professor Raymon answered Minhyuk’s question.
“According to ancient texts, the dissipation of a large intermediate orb begins after 30 days. So there will be no problem if you use it within a month.”
“Then there is no need to rush the transport?”
General Drake understood Minhyuk’s intention and spoke.
“We will inform the King of Melbeck that our soldiers are exhausted from hunting Teidon and that we will depart after a few days of rest.”
Minhyuk nodded with a grin.
They would feed the King of Melbeck false information that the expedition would depart for Asdel Citadel in three days.
And tonight, they would ambush them.
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