Kingdom's Foundation (2)

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- - Yusen POV - -

Count Fihatri really did lead his soldiers and retreated as he declared, Yusen was impressed with him.

"Wow, there are nobles like that too. Just like the lord."

Givens felt the same way.

"We have things to do. Leave the protection of the territory to the guards and let's go in the mountains."

Yusen unfolded a map in his office at the lord's castle.

"According to His Excellency, it's somewhere around here. We need to focus on this area and see what we can find. First, let's talk to the people who know the geography of the area. Meanwhile we'll employ the people to begin creating the new houses."

Julius only knew the approximate location from the game.

Of course, there was still a big difference between knowing and not knowing.

Fortunately, he was able to narrow down the range to a certain extent, and he made the map for Yusen.

"Gather the village chiefs."

"Understood."

Givens acted on Yusen's orders.

Thanks to Count Fihatri's efforts to calm the people, things went on unhindered.

Sometime later, three old village chiefs came to visit Yusen.

"Have you seen any iron in these mountains?"

It was an isolated territory so it was hard to imagine that the information would leak out.

Even if it leaked it would probably be after Julius declared his independence.

For now, the soldiers of Lunan couldn't be informed, but they had to get the cooperation of the people, that was Julius's directive.

"I don't know. I've never heard of such a thing before. It's just that the area is..."

"What's in that place?"

Yusen realized that there was something wrong from the look on the village chief and asked back.

Then the village headman shook his head and answered.

"I've never been there. It's a mountain tribe camp."

"A mountain tribe?"

"Yes, it has always been their territory. It has been passed down from generation to generation that we should stay away from that place, so we have never been to that area."

Hearing this, Yusen suddenly stood up, something clicked in his mind.

Even more so because the area where the mountain tribe was said to be located matched the area that Julius had mentioned.

Yusen asked the village chief for details on how to get to the mountain where the tribe was located, and left with Givens.

"What's a mountain tribe?"

"It's an indigenous tribe. They're guarding the place, so there must be something there. Let's hurry."

"I didn't realize the captain was such a smart guy...Are you impersonating His Excellency...?"

"Shut up and follow me."

Givens got hit once again for talking nonsense.

Struggling up the mountain, they finally stepped into the area the village chief had mentioned.

Then three men with only their lower bodies covered and faces painted green, came down from the trees and blocked the way.

"Karagatell!"

"What's he saying?"

Yusen and Givens couldn't understand what the men were saying but they weren't friendly.

"Captain, from the vibe I'm getting, I guess they're telling us to get lost right now."

"I suppose you could say that."

At the same time, the mountain people attacked.

Yusen had no choice but to draw his sword.

"Givens, don't kill them. If you do, things could get very complicated."

As soon as Yusen gave the order carefully, the battle began.

A warrior of Yusen's calibre is quite a powerful warrior, the three mountain tribesmen were knocked out in no time.

"Who are you people? How dare you attack us!?"

At that moment, another man came down from the treetops.

This time the man was, fortunately, speaking the official language of the continent.

"It was a misunderstanding! They attacked us first, so we had no choice! It was self-defense."

"You were the ones who entered our territory!"

Eventually, a battle ensued again.

The man who attacked them this time was different in size from the previous men.

Not only that, but his strength was also different.

For a while, Yusen fought the man with his sword.

When Givens tried to help him, Yusen immediately shouted.

"Don't come any closer! Stay there and watch!"

After a long battle, the winner was Yusen, but he was very tired.

"I mean you no harm. We just came here to ask you some questions!"

Yusen said to the man he had defeated while catching his breath.

"Captain, you're looking even more regal in that black armour!"

"I see. Huh. No, no, no, no. I don't care about that. Did you see that, Givens?"

"What?"

"The iron armour the man I just fought is wearing. To make iron that thin, that's a hell of a technique."

"What? That's iron?"

Givens shouted in surprise.

Then the man who had fallen suddenly got up and ran away like a stabbed rat.

"Captain, he's gone. Let's go after him!"

Givens said, but Yusen shook his head.

"It's a trap, no matter how you look at it. There's no point in following him."

"But..."

"We're going around that way."

After tying up the knocked out men with some rope and gagging them.

The two of them took a detour and headed towards the direction where the mountain leader had disappeared.

They wandered through the mountains for hours, and then came to a strange place.

"What is this place...?"

In front of them was a huge stone wall.

In addition, there was a mana formation drawn on it.

"How the hell did something like this end up in the mountains?"

When Yusen tried to approach mana formation with a surprised look on his face.

"Barkarkarkha!"

Another group of mountain people appeared on the other side.

This time, they were quite huge.

"We can't fight those guys, let's retreat for now!"

Fortunately, by taking a detour, they were not surrounded and were able to escape along the path they had come.

Once they were some distance away, the mountain tribesmen stopped chasing them, as if they couldn't leave their own area.

"Givens."

"Yes, sir."

"Are you tired?"

"Of course I am."

"But you'll have to move. You must return to Aquitania immediately."

"What's the rush?"

"There's something strange about the place they're guarding. Even a mana formation was present there, this is beyond my abilities. So you'll have to go and inform His Excellency. You can't leave such an important job to someone else, can you?"

"That's true, but...What do you intend to do in the meantime?"

"I need to gather more information. That's why you have to follow His Excellency's instructions. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Givens nodded at Yusen's order.

And so on his orders left his captain behind alone in the mountains, returning to the Lord's Village to inform the Aquitania forces there of the present danger and to send a squad to reinforce Yusen.

While he acquired a pair of horses and made his way at a breakneck pace toward Aquitania.