Chapter 60 - Ionian Plains 3 (1/2)

‘Is he a smuggler?’

There were indeed a few smugglers who acted illegally, providing goods that were deemed as contraband and sourced from free cities. They were the core of what was known as the black market.

Weapons, drugs, slaves, magic books, etc.

They would deal with anything so long as it meant they made a profit.

‘It’s worth looking into.’

Unlike Erica’s merchant group, these smugglers wouldn’t have any qualms dealing with all kinds of criminal organizations. It was very possible that they were in some way conected to the rebellion.

“Let’s intercept that carriage.”

Woohyuk jumped on to his horse and kicked its flanks.

Neeeeigh!

The swift horse blew from its mouth as it galloped forth.

Seeing Woohyuk approach at great speed, the smugglers dropped the act.

“We’ve been discovered!”

“Quickly, maximum speed!”

The coachman whipped the horses frantically, but the gap between the two continued to narrow. Finally, Woohyuk’s swift horse had arrived at the carriage’s side.

Whiriic!

The Vampiric dagger flew out, sinking into the coachman's ribs.

“Kuhuk”

As the coachman slumped down, the carriage lost its conductor and began to lose control.

Seeing that they wouldn’t be able to escape, the guards turned to look at Woohyuk, then charged towards him.

“You insolent whelp!”

“How dare you!”

In these guards’ eyes, Woohyuk was but a young pup, still wet behind the ears.

A fatal lapse in judgement. These guys weren’t able to recognize the veteran that stood before them and the result was a terrible ending.

“Uhaaahak!

“Kuhuk!”

Seeing that their guards were useless, the smugglers’ eyes widened in worry.

‘Who is he?’

This man appeared to be more of a mercenary, rather than a knight serving under Count Huntington.

A young man with red hair.

Although he wasn’t able to recognize him, the smugglers chose to flee since they knew that his opponent was quite skilled and that they wouldn’t be able to best him.

“Yah!”

Of course that was just their wishful thinking.

After summoning Irene to take the coachman's place, Woohyuk chased at full speed. It wasn’t long before he caught up, brandishing Grandia and causing a few heads to go flying.

“Please, spare me!”

The only survivor pleaded desperately for his life.

Woohyuk grabbed him by the neck and yanked him down from his horse.

“What are you guys carrying in your carriage.”

“That….”

“If you don’t answer right now, you’ll regret it.”

As Woohyuk showed him his Vampiric dagger, the blood drained from his face.

“Eeh! We transport slaves! If you want, they are all yours. Please show mercy….”

The man fell down to his knees as he bowed his head.

Woohyuk signalled Jung Sanghoon to deal with him, as he went to inspect the carriage.

‘Is it some sort of concealment magic?’

He was quite certain that he couldn’t hear any sounds coming from inside. It could still be a trap, so they first had Undine undo the magic array.

“It should be fine now.”

Although she was a water spirit, they would always think of her as an adventurer like them. She was currently going the route of a Cleansing mage. It was all due to Song Anna entering a contract with her, which allowed her to obtain a physical body.

“Keep an eye out.”

Leaving the group behind, Woohyuk went ahead to open the doors. Upon looking inside, his forehead began to crease.

‘It’s only children.’

To be more precise they were all young girls, so their destiny wasn’t hard to fathom. First stop was a free city, and then some remote location where they’d be sold off as sex slaves.

There were some nobles with certain peculiar tastes that would pay good coin for these young women.

“Please don’t hit me.”

“I won’t ask for any more food….”

The children dressed in rags shrunk back in fear as they begged for his mercy.

“Woohyuk reached a girl with brown hair which sat closest to him.

“Come here for a bit.”

“....Okay.”

The brown haired girl trembled noticeably as she reached out and held his hand. A gaunt appearance, clearly she hadn’t been eating her fill.

Woohyuk stroked her head to reassure her.

“Where do you come from?”

“The Erutonia province.”

Erutonia was located just south of Ionia. No doubt she had been kidnapped and was now headed towards the free city of Media.

“What is your village’s name?”

“Denber, but it's gone now. Some bandits came and burnt it to the ground.”

Even if she were released, she would have nowhere to go now that her parents had been murdered.

As the brown haired girl sniffled, Woohyuk took out an apple from his pouch.

“Here, have this.”

“Tha... thank you.”

She was so famished that she bit into the apple on the spot.

Woohyuk spoke to them once more after giving each of the children an apple.

“You won’t be sold into slavery.”

“Really?”

“You’ll just be sent to a merchant group in a free city where you’ll be asked to do a few house chores.”

Erica wouldn’t treat these orphans badly. At the very least he never that they wouldn’t be treated as sex slaves.

Upon closing the carriage door, Woohyuk turned to the middle aged man.

“Who did you have dealing with on Count Huntington’s side?”

“Ah, it was sir Andrew.”

Andrew was a fairly high placed vassal within the Count’s retinue, however it seemed that he had a hand in smuggling orphans from the Ionian plains.

“What about the clans? Surely some of those people that walk around with watches just like these have also been your customers, right?”

As Woohyuk showed him his Adventurer’s watch, the middle aged man nodded back frantically.

“Ye...Yes, I was going to sell then some information.”

Ionia’s latest developments as well as any military weaknesses. Because they were looking to learn as much information as possible, the Hwarang clan made use of the many smugglers scattered across the kingdom.

These smugglers could easily obtain all sorts of information through their many contacts and customers.

‘The Hwarang clan.’

As Woohyuk heard what the middle aged man said, he looked up to the sky.

It was a name he had seen many times in the clan rankings. Still, because in the past they had been very far apart, he had never had the opportunity to face them.

By the time Isaac took power, their clan had already been dissolved.

“You’ll have to come with me for now.”

Now that a traitor in his circle had been uncovered, it was time to have a face to face chat with the Count.

After knocking the man unconscious and placing him on the back seat, Woohyuk turned his head.

* * *

Count Huntington was furious upon learning of the nobles’ intention to revolt. It had been a year now that the Crown Prince, John, had assumed the throne.

He had known that the power struggles had intensified in wake of king Frey’s death, but he hadn’t expected them to be aiming for the throne.