The Overlord of Blood and Iron - Chapter 17

Chapter 17. Someone has their eyes on our land (2)

The 'scout hawk' was a one-time use scout that was sold in the 'Sovereign Store' for 10 gold. The Sovereign that sent the hawk would be looking at Kang Chul-In's land by using the spirit eye.

10 gold.

Converting one 10g of gold (97.8% purity) into Korean currency would be about 4,000 dollars, which meant the Sovereign who had sent the scout hawk invested 4,000 into this intel.

'Stupid idiot, doesn't know how to use his gold.'

Kang Chul-In snorted, looking at the imprudent scout hawk that was circling above his head. The scout hawk was only operable for an hour, and the distance that it could travel was about 20km, making it not worth its price. It was not an advised option except for urgent and pressing times like during war.

"Bow, does anyone have a bow and arrow? If not, a gun will work as well."

"Here, my Lord."

At his words, the one soldier who had a bow and arrow amongst the Royal Guard, handed them over.

'4000 dollars, I'll dismember it in the air.'

Kang Chul-In was going to shoot the hawk and bring it down.

Of course, he was not just going to shoot it without thought. It was built with magic, so it was impossible to intercept it with plain physics.

'It's been a while… I wonder if I will hit it.'

Kang Chul-In thought as he tugged at the bow.

He could not remember clearly the last time he had shot a bow and arrow.

He was a man of the military arts, but he was a swordsman. He was not too familiar with the use of arrows.

'Well, that is doable.'

But he was not completely diffident in himself either.

Although he could not be an expert archer, he had excellent foundation for all martial arts. One scout hawk was nothing. Kang Chul-In was confident in his ability.

'Aim, fire.'

Whoos.h.!.+

The arrow that had left its bow became a glint of light as it shot towards the scout hawk.

Eeeeeeeek Eeeeek!

The scout hawk that had felt the impending danger let out a distinguished sound, but did not attempt to dodge the arrow. It was as if it was mocking Kang Chul-In, saying 'What can you do to me with an arrow?'

'Stupid.'

Seeing this, Kan Chu-In smirked.

Kang Chul-In had not shot "just an arrow". He put a bit of magic on the tip of the arrow and shot. It was not strong magic, but the scout hawk was extremely weak in taking attacks.

It was a secured win if the arrow hit its target.

Crack!

In the stomach of the scout hawk, the arrow hit its target and lodged.

Squeak?

In the beak of the hawk, a confused cry came.

As the magic from another interceded with the body that was made of magic, sparks began to form, and with a bang, the hawk disappeared without a trace. It had blown up. A 4000-dollar scout!

"Woah!"

"You are amazing!"

"The Sovereign is also good with a bow!"

The soldiers who had seen this, applauded and praised his skills.

'It will hurt a little.'

Kang Chul-In smiled, satisfied, not caring about his troops' praises.

A scout hawk has a mechanism where it is connected to its Sovereign mentally, so the moment it is destroyed, the Sovereign would also receive the same damage.

It was a penalty of sorts, and the reason why one must be cautious when using the scout hawk.

Although he couldn't see for himself, the Sovereign who had sent the scout hawk would be holding his stomach and groaning. Painfully… as if he, himself was shot with an arrow.

"All troops, return to base."

Kang Chul-In ordered.

"Already, my Lord?"

James asked.

"That is a scout that another Sovereign has sent. Therefore, it means that there is another occupied land within 20km."

"Ah!"

"I don't know what the Sovereign's intentions are, but they might attack suddenly, so it is right to go back to headquarters and prepare. It might just be a routine patrol…"

And Kang Chul-In tapered off. He stopped himself from saying, 'In Pandemonium, only the war-crazed are everywhere.'

It was true.

It was paradise for conquest Sovereigns, the war-crazed, and the devils. It would not be out of the ordinary or strange for them to start fighting and ripping each other apart.

"Tell the workers and farmers to retreat as well. It doesn't hurt to be careful."

"Yes, my Lord."

It bothered him that the farming would cease for a couple days, but something told him to do so. If the enemy invaded, innocent lives would be lost.

"Ugh!"

Deep within a tunnel in the northern plains, the Sovereign of the Burrow lands clenched his abdomen and groaned.

"Sovereign! Are… are you alright my Lord?"

The advisor of the Burrow lands, Timothy helped his Sovereign. Timothy was a Goblin with a large white beard.

"Ugh….!"

"Oh, Lord! Did your scout hawk get ambushed?"

The Sovereign of the Burrows despite the questioning of his advisor was unable to answer for a while. It was difficult to be in the right mind as pain of an arrow penetrating his abdomen consumed him.

His pain lasted for 30 minutes. As the pain subsided, the Sovereign of the Burrows grinded his teeth in anger.

"Retched b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

"Are you okay, my Lord? Here is some cold water. Please drink this."

"Shut up!"

Timothy brought cold water and served it to his Sovereign, but the Sovereign hit Timothy's hand that was holding the cup. The cup dropped to the ground, soaking it.

"You ugly Goblin! I told you to not call me Sovereign! Call me Shogun, I said!"

"Ah, yes! Yes, Shogun!"

"Stupid idiot! Are you stupid because you are a Goblin! You old disgusting thing! Ha… why is my advisor a Goblin of all things…"

The Sovereign of the Burrows, Kimura Hideki, criticized his advisor Timothy and poured his rage on him.

"Useless idiot… why did I get a stupid Goblin… it would have been better if it was a girl!"

"What, is that expression? You, you have a problem with what I said?"

"Ah, no! No, not at all, my Sovereig… no, Shogun!"

"What do you mean no?"

Kimura yelled.

Slap–!

With a loud noise, Timothy, the Goblin advisor's head turned.

"Dirty Goblin b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

"I am sorry… I am a Goblin…"

Timothy thought it was unfair he got hit for no apparent reason, but he said nothing.

There was nothing he could do.

He needed to endure it even if it was unfair, and even if it hurt his pride.

The destiny of the advisor was to endure it, again and again, regardless of what kind of human his/her Sovereign was. Who would have wanted to be an advisor to this savage? The only thing that Timothy could do was to accept that he just had a bad draw, that the roll of the dice was unfortunate. Compared to this, it could be said that Lucia, who met a wise and competent Kang Chul-In as her leader, was an extremely lucky case.

"Ha… the Sovereign in the farmland shot my scout hawk."

"He… he did, my Lord?"

"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d… I thought if I sent the moles he would give up the land… that stubborn b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

Yes.

The one who had sent the moles to Kang Chul-In and hindered him on his quest was Kimura. More accurately, Kimura, who wanted to escape his underground headquarters and have an above ground land to rule was advised by Timothy to target Kang Chul-In.

"Shogun, what are you going to do?"

Timothy asked.

"What do you mean what am I going to do! I will attack right now!"

"But…"

"What?"

"If the scout hawk got ambushed, that means they are able to use magic. There is a possibility that he won't be an easy opponent…"

"I got played. Me!"

"I, sir, completely understand how you feel. It is definite that you were surprised and hurt. But Shogun! A war is not play…"

"Shut up, shut up I said!"

Kimura had no intentions of listening to Timothy's advice, advice that would become flesh and blood. The thing that was most important to him was revenge against the man who had killed his scout hawk. For him, other facts such as Kang Chul-In's ability to control and use magic, was not important.

"Hey, Goblin."

"Yes, Shogun."

"Prepare my troops. I will invade his headquarters right now."

"Shogun… could you listen to my dearest wish just once, please?"

"Your wish? I need to fulfill your wish?"

Timothy accepted Kimura's scoffing and spiteful glare. That was the role of the advisor. No matter how badly they were to be treated, they were to serve their Sovereign with everything they had.

"Yes, Shogun. This Timothy, like you said, is nothing but a Goblin, but I am still quite useful. If you leave it to me…"

"What will you do then?"

"It isn't an overstatement to say that a war's victory depends on the intel. If you give me just two days, then I will give a full detailed report on the enemy's current military status and facilities. If I do that, don't you think the chances of a victory will increase?"

"Hm… so are you thinking that I am going to lose?"

"No…no, Shogun! It's just that it is said, 'if you know your enemy and if you know yourself, you will win a hundred battles'. I am just following the basic rules of war…"

"I know too!"

Kimura yelled.

"You think I don't know at least that much? I was going to do that too!"

Kimura shamelessly spoke as if Timothy's idea was his, and made a thoughtful expression.

"I will take all scouts available and a.n.a.lyze his potential."

"Oh, Shogun! You are so wise!"

"You dare shoot me? I will repay this debt… ha…ha…"

He was obviously way too into it.

Kimura Hideki who had found Tokyo Tower and then fell to Pangaea by coincidence was a high schooler who at first could not believe this situation that he fell into.

Anyone would have had a hard time.

One day, without warning, if you had been transported to a different world and then made to fulfill quests that you don't know who had created, and to rule over your land, you would have denied reality. However, Pangaea was reality, and Kimura accepted his status as Sovereign. As many j.a.panese, he quickly adapted to reality and adjusted. Kimura decided to follow the quest and defeat the monsters within his land, and then following the tendency of the conquest Sovereign, grow his land.

It was good until then.

However, a problem was that although he had accepted reality, he wasn't conscious of the actuality of the situation.

Death in Pangaea was equal to death on Earth. This was the way of nature, and the laws of life that if one was a living organism, one could not cross. Only the man called Kang Chul-In had used the Grand Sovereign's power of Soul Backup and returned to the past once.

Kimura wasn't conscious of this important fact.

Attacking another Sovereign with only the excitement of being a Sovereign, like a high-school gamer, was a prideful, stupid decision.

If one was to take the life of another, one should be prepared to also lose their own… but in the mind of Kimura, there was only the image of his grand self, after he had conquered Kang Chul-In's land.

It was a foolish act that did not consider the aftermath of a war.

However, after he would realize reality… it would be too late. He had chosen Kang Chul-In as an opponent of all people.

After that day, Kang Chul-In felt war clouds forming.

It became more frequent to see the scout hawks circling Laputa, slightly beyond the reach of an arrow, and within two days, there were about five or six scout hawks around Laputa. He had openly started to patrol and spy on Laputa. And it was visible to anyone that he was announcing an invasion.

'Although I'll need to push back my return to Earth for a couple days, but it's good it happened like this.'

Kang Chul-In smiled.

His land's economy was all over the place anyways.

The cost of any plain land was about 3-4 thousand gold. However, Laputa cost 9,800 gold. Due to the price that was almost three times that of a plain land, they were on the borderline of chaos. And in such a critical time, another Sovereign wanted to invade on his own two feet—he had to be thankful.

The Sovereign who won in a battle gained much.

He would take the enemy Sovereign's gold, land, people, and military. And in addition, they would be rewarded Sovereign points, along with leveling up—which meant it was a shortcut to being a Grand Sovereign. In Kang Chul-In's perspective, it was a gift from the heavens.

"Lucia."

"Yes, Sovereign."

"Soon, another Sovereign will invade."

"The one that sent the scout hawks, my Lord?"

"Yes."

"He is a stupid and foolish one."

"I agree."

"He is someone who will bring wealth to our land. We will welcome him well."

"Of course."

Kang Chul-In said, smiling.

A welcoming party?

He was going to go all out.

Very… harshly.