I Became a Swordsmanship Genius in the Game

Chapter 42. You Could Come in as You Pleased, but…

I wanted to leisurely check the awakened Cheonbyeondo, but there was no time for that.

Because I had to dispose of the Lafre corpses.

If the corpses piled up, it would become uncontrollable.

However, everyone was moving to rest.

Among them, Hyunwoo approached one knight.

The knight who had come to support them at the gate.

He, of all people, would not ignore my words.

“A moment.”

“…Huh? What is it.”

“We need to clean up the Lafre corpses before we rest.”

“Is there a reason we have to do that?”

As expected, the knight, who was frowning, recognized me and listened.

“Of course, if the Lafre give up on attacking the castle after this, it doesn't matter if we clean them up later.”

“…Are you saying there will be another raid?”

“Yes. It will definitely happen.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“A hunch.”

“A hunch…?”

“I have a good gut feeling. Thanks to it, I was able to go to the gate in advance and block it.”

“Hmm….”

I mentioned something like a ‘hunch’ without any particular evidence.

However, it was a word that worked on those whose profession was battle.

Because everyone would have a memory or two of having their life saved thanks to that ‘hunch’.

For a moment, the knight, who was contemplating with his chin in his hand, nodded.

“Your contribution in this battle was great, so I can't just ignore your words.”

“Then…?”

“We shall do as you say. A rest will be sufficient even after that.”

“Thank you.”

“If, as you say, the raids continue… I will report this matter to the lord as well. Everyone, listen up―!”

The knight amplified his mana and raised his voice.

“We will rest after we have cleaned up the Lafre corpses!”

Cries of protest were heard from here and there, but there were no soldiers or gladiators brave enough to go against the knight’s words.

It was a matter that a single knight could decide on his own.

It wasn't a job for the knights anyway.

The knights simply headed into the castle with questioning expressions.

Hyunwoo bowed his head once to him and moved.

‘It went according to plan.’

I succeeded in appealing my merits while doing the necessary task of cleaning up the Lafre corpses.

A moment later, all the forces that were about to take a rest were given something like a rake and driven out to the front of the gate.

Hyunwoo and Lucas were, of course, included among them.

Lucas spoke with a disgruntled expression.

“Why do I have to be doing this crap.”

“Well, I agree with you on this one.”

“It looked like you were talking about something with the knight who gave the order earlier.”

“He said I did a good job.”

“Hmm… I see.”

At Hyunwoo’s words, Lucas tilted his head.

Did I hear wrong?

I was sure I heard something like ‘corpse’….

Seeing his nonchalant facial expression, it seemed I had been mistaken.

Having come to that conclusion, Lucas began to move, irritably clearing away the Lafre corpses.

Hyunwoo, who was glancing at the departing Lucas, swept his chest in relief.

‘Phew… if he found out I ordered this, I’d get beaten up.’

Lucas wasn't the only problem.

The place was filled with dissatisfied cries from all over.

They hadn't even fully recovered from the fatigue of the battle, yet they were consecutively cleaning up the mountain of Lafre corpses, so it was only natural they were full of complaints.

However, it was a job that someone had to do.

‘If we leave the evolved Lafre corpses, they’ll become nutrients for Anesta.’

Corruption was the source of Anesta's power.

The more the land around the Sylvester region was corrupted, the greater its power became.

Therefore, I couldn't leave the Lafre corpses and had to suggest it directly to the knights, but….

I couldn't deny that it was a troublesome task.

One rake, then raise my head to stretch my back twice.

While Hyunwoo was slacking off with a suitable amount of skill, a commotion was heard from afar.

“Please save me! I am not a suspicious person!”

“Why were you loitering nearby? Follow me!”

The soldiers were dragging someone away while intimidating them.

Hyunwoo, who was watching them with an interested expression, soon opened his eyes slightly, put down the rake he was holding, and headed toward where the commotion had occurred.

The creature, whose green body was starkly revealed as if even his clothes had been taken, was a familiar sight.

“Pierre?”

Pierre was being dragged away with his limbs bound.

Hyunwoo hurriedly approached the soldiers.

“Just a moment….”

“Mr. Hyunwoo-!”

Pierre, with a face that looked like it would burst into tears at any moment, showed a look of relief.

As I blocked the soldiers who were trying to enter the castle, they glared fiercely.

“What are you, punk.”

Just then, one of the soldiers saw Hyunwoo and wore a slightly surprised expression.

“Wait. I think it's him.”

“Who?”

“The two gladiators who blocked the gate. I heard one of them is a human.”

“What? This guy is…?”

Not even half a day had passed since the battle ended, but rumors about Hyunwoo and Lucas were already rampant among the soldiers.

The atmosphere of the soldiers, who were whispering something amongst themselves, changed.

One soldier spoke up.

“What can I do for you?”

The tone of the soldier who had been intimidating him had changed.

It seemed they had received some kind of instruction from a knight.

With the much softer atmosphere, I felt that things would be resolved easily.

Hyunwoo pointed at Pierre with his finger.

“He’s a Goblin I know.”

“You mean this guy…?”

“Yes. He probably brought the items I ordered.”

“Yes, yes! That's right! I brought the items Mr. Hyunwoo ordered!”

“You shut up!”

“……”

The soldier snapped at Pierre and exchanged glances with the other soldiers.

Then he wore a contemplating expression.

Just then, a knight who had spotted the gathered soldiers approached.

“What's going on?”

“W-well, that is….”

“Speak clearly.”

The soldiers explained the situation to the knight.

The report about Pierre, who was found around the castle, and Hyunwoo continued.

The knight looked at Hyunwoo for a moment and then gave an order to the soldiers.

“Untie him.”

“But… regarding someone whose identity is not certain….”

When the knight frowned, the soldiers were startled and untied Pierre's bonds.

When Hyunwoo looked at the knight closely, he was familiar.

‘He’s one of the knights who rushed out to block the gate.’

The knight before me was one of the ones who had joined the fray at the gate later.

I was lucky.

He opened his mouth.

“Return all the confiscated items as well. I will vouch for him.”

The soldiers with reluctant expressions unwillingly handed over Pierre’s clothes and bundle of belongings.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Pierre, as if he had no interest in the clothes, hugged his belongings first and repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

The knight gave Hyunwoo a brief nod and left.

It seemed he felt a sense of gratitude towards Hyunwoo for blocking the gate.

Hyunwoo also made brief eye contact with the departing knight and then looked back at Pierre.

He was busy rummaging through his own belongings.

Hyunwoo found a small pouch in his luggage.

‘He has a subspace pocket?’

No wonder his luggage seemed too small….

It seemed Pierre had also profited quite a bit from the information I gave him this time.

“Hoo……”

Pierre, having confirmed that all the belongings he brought were safe, let out a sigh of relief and opened his mouth.

“Mr. Hyunwoo! Thank you for saving me.”

“Sure. Did you have any trouble getting here?”

“Aigoo. Don't even mention it! The entire Sylvester region is in an uproar because of the Lafre. An uproar!”

Pierre chattered on about his heroic tales on the way to Sylvester.

As expected, the situation outside wasn't good either.

According to him, the area around Gert Castle was also swarming with Lafre.

Hyunwoo, who had listened to Pierre's heroic tales for a while, nodded and held out the rake.

“This is…?”

“You're done talking, right? You help too.”

“Yes…?”

Hyunwoo pointed to the scene in front of the gate with his finger.

The soldiers and gladiators were frantically cleaning up the Lafre corpses.

“You have to do it too.”

“What? Why me…?”

“You don't want to go back home?”

“N-no, I do!”

“Then stop talking and do it.”

“Yes!”

Pierre, without knowing why, took the rake in his hand and moved.

The remaining Lafre corpses were countless, but if everyone worked together, they could probably clean them up before the creatures attacked again.

Pierre had a face full of questions, but he didn't stop raking.

Following Hyunwoo's orders was already an act imprinted in his instincts.

* * *

“Ugh…”

Pierre, whose appearance was a complete mess, collapsed onto the floor with a face that looked like it was about to cry.

Fortunately, they were able to clean up all the corpses before the sun set.

Hyunwoo, using the rake as a staff, spoke to Pierre, whose limbs were trembling.

“Let's go in.”

“…Yesss.”

Hyunwoo led Pierre into the castle. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelꞁire.net

As if only his limbs were tired, Pierre’s mouth, which was stuck to his side, chattered non-stop.

He seemed excited by the adventure he had experienced after a long time.

“Really… I almost died, I'm telling you! I can't believe how many of those huge Lafre there were, all over the place!”

“Yeah, yeah. You must have had a hard time.”

“But, who am I?”

“…A Goblin?”

“Not just any Goblin! The Black Market Merchant Pierre, who's seen everything there is to see in the Demon World! Isn't that me? I know a lot of safe paths, so I avoided the eyes of the Lafre… ah, they don't have eyes, but anyway….”

At his endlessly continuing words, Hyunwoo just nodded perfunctorily and moved his feet.

He might be talkative, but it was probably true that Pierre had suffered.

‘I thought he might not make it in time, or in the worst case, not at all.’

I was even thinking of looking for other measures, but he happened to show up.

Hyunwoo, who arrived at the barracks, sat down roughly on a sleeping bag.

“Take out all the items you brought first.”

“Yes!”

Pierre started pouring out glass bottles from the subspace pocket.

The glass bottles piled up in one corner of the barracks totaled 200.

It was the number Hyunwoo had ordered.

Pierre took out a small ring separately and handed it to Hyunwoo.

“Poison Dragon of Lerajah. That's the artifact's name.”

“What's with the grand name.”

“It's said to be able to block a fatal corruption curse a total of 3 times.”

Hyunwoo put the received ring on his finger.

He felt it was an excessive name for a single-use artifact.

Looking closely at the ring, he could see that the two intertwined strands were in the shape of a dragon.

“You did well.”

“You must not forget my hard work!”

“Of course not. So, about that hard work. Let’s put it to more use while we’re at it.”

“…What?”

Hyunwoo naturally picked up Pierre’s subspace pocket that was next to him.

“This is a subspace pocket, right?”

“Y-yes, it is, but.”

“Let me borrow this for a bit. I'll return it after I use it.”

“What? No, that’s….”

“You don't want to go back home?”

“……”

Pierre, who examined Hyunwoo’s serious expression, realized it was no use.

Words didn't work on this human.

“The situation has changed now.”

“…What kind of?”

“You saw a lot of Lafre on your way here, right?”

“So what?”

“How are you going to get back?”

“Of course, I was planning to go back with Mr. Hyunwoo…”

“Ah, really? That's a good idea, but we can't leave here for a while.”

“…What?! What do you mean by that?”

“By now, the number of Lafre outside the castle has probably doubled or tripled.”

“……”

You may have been safe on the way in, but not on the way out.

As Hyunwoo shook his head from side to side, Pierre's expression hardened.

It seemed he had finally realized that something was going wrong.

“…What should I do?”

“What do you mean, what should you do. We have to get rid of all of them. And for that, I need this subspace pocket.”

“Even so…”

“Are you going to live trapped here forever? No, well, it won't be that long. Do you think the Lafre will leave this place alone? You saw the corpses just now, right?”

Although the numbers weren't that high, there were definitely soldiers and gladiators who had been killed by the Lafre.

Perhaps because Pierre remembered that as well, fear flickered in his eyes.

“……”

“That's why I said I'll use it well and return it.”

Having Pierre's subspace pocket would indeed be a slight help when going to hunt Anesta.

Of course, there was a spoonful of greed mixed in.

It was a secret that the spoon was the size of a ladle, though.

“B-but that subspace pocket… is my entire fortune!”

However, this time, Pierre, who had resolved not to give in so easily, squeezed his eyes shut and shouted with difficulty.

He'll just use it for a bit and give it back?

He could bet that he would never get it back from that human bastard.

“……”

However, Pierre’s resolve was short-lived.

Seeing Hyunwoo staring at him with his mouth shut, his tail naturally went down.

Pierre, looking at Hyunwoo’s burning gaze, realized.

That guy was definitely planning to get his hands on the subspace pocket.

“I invested all the money I earned this time…”

Pierre nodded with difficulty and squatted down in a corner of the barracks.

As if the shock was quite large, the guy had the lifeless eyes of a dead fish, buried his head between his legs, and muttered to himself.

“What kind of glory and riches am I trying to enjoy… why am I doing this crap…”

Leaving the guy, who was sighing as if the ground would collapse, behind, Hyunwoo took out the glass bottle containing the golden beetles from the subspace.

In the meantime, the golden beetles, which had continued to multiply, now filled the bottle with dozens of them.

He carefully put one golden beetle each into the glass bottles piled up in one corner of the barracks.

He didn't forget to put Lafre seeds in each one as well.

The golden beetles would now multiply on their own with time, and there was nothing more to be done with the Corruption Resistance Artifact.

Now, what remained were swordsmanship and Cheonbyeondo.

‘Status Window.’

⌜Name: Kim Hyunwoo

Title: Super Rookie

Skills: ■Sabla Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M), ■Skirma Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M), ■Po Dienda Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M), ⊠

Unique Traits: Swordsmanship Synthesis, Master of Copy, Swordsmanship Genius, Pain Tolerance, Oxygen Tank

General Traits: Physique I, Swiftness I, Balance I⌟

Finally, I had mastered Po Dienda Swordsmanship.

Not all swordsmanship skills of 2-star or higher had a general trait.

Po Dienda Swordsmanship was a skill that did not have a general trait.

However, there was no need to be disappointed.

‘Because now, I can obtain something even greater.’

Hyunwoo, filled with anticipation, activated the trait.

“Swordsmanship Synthesis.”

⌜Sabla Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M)⌟

⌜Po Dienda Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M)⌟

⌜Synthesis Synergy: High⌟

⌜Would you like to synthesize?⌟

It was finally the moment to greet the first 3-star swordsmanship.