I Became a Swordsmanship Genius in the Game

Chapter 79. The Mount

I managed to get information about the path to the Kerno Gorge.

‘The things I'll need in the gorge…’

Thinking about the next plan, I came out of the restroom to find the food on the table completely gone.

“……”

“Buurp— You're here. You were late, so I ate everything before the food got cold.”

“The dish I ordered was a cold one, what are you talking about, you pig.”

“You should have come out sooner then.”

The deal had taken longer than expected, and I hadn't come for food in the first place.

With a small sigh, I headed for the door.

“Alright, if you're done eating, come out.”

“Are you really leaving without dessert?”

“Do you think we came here for a food tour?”

“A food tour? A good word.”

I shook my head at Van’s goofy grin and left the restaurant.

Lucas got up to follow and spoke.

“One cannot escape their vulgar nature.”

“…What are you talking about. You unlucky bat.”

Van, still disappointed about the dessert he couldn't eat, licked his lips and reluctantly got up from his seat.

* * *

Pitter-patter—!

The ‘Random Weather’ changed on a daily basis, so it was still pouring rain outside.

Van, who came out last, approached me.

“Are we leaving the city now?”

“Not yet. There's something to do.”

“What in the world is there so much to do…”

Van grumbled and moved away from my side.

Lucas frowned, as if bothered by the rainwater.

Neither of them said anything, but they were tacitly acknowledging that I was the leader.

‘First, I have to go to the Kerno Gorge… so there's a lot to prepare.’

The fastest way to the Montis Rocky Mountains was through the Kerno Gorge.

However, there was a reason Lotus didn't recommend it.

Various preparations were needed to pass through it, but the most necessary thing was a ‘mount’ that could get through.

‘Because the Demon World is harsh.’

It wasn't a harshness in the sense that the roads were just unpaved and rough.

Those were the basic options, and then there were the wild creatures and environments one could encounter on the way.

All of them were hostile to living beings.

That's why even the lands ruled by demons were only a part of the vast Demon World.

‘Simply put, if you’re not strong, don’t wander around.’

Because the Demon World was this kind of environment, ordinary things like carriages were insufficient to be used as ‘mounts’.

Furthermore, the destination was the notoriously difficult ‘Kerno Gorge’ even in the harsh Demon World.

It was only natural that the required ‘mount’ had to be a good one.

Fortunately, since we were in Bellatus City, it was easier to find a mount.

I thought of a place where I could get a mount and took the lead.

“Let's go.”

“Where?”

“To the house of a guy you both know well.”

After a moment's thought, Van spoke.

“…The Goblin?”

I nodded and started walking.

“We’ve come this far, we can’t just not visit his house.”

I’m sure Pierre would welcome us.

He might even be happy about the unexpected visit.

* * *

Pierre leisurely blew on his tea in his new home.

He closed his eyes, savoring the peace he was enjoying for the first time in a while.

‘I probably won't see them for a while.’

The arrogant Orc, the scary vampire.

And….

‘…A human more like a demon than a demon.’

I remembered the conversation I had with the human when we parted last.

[Stay healthy and be careful!]

[Yeah. I'll be back soon, so earn a lot of mana stones.]

[Yes! Don't you worry!]

He had answered cheerfully and, thinking it was the last time, had given him a lot of mana stones.

He was a human who always tormented him, but he didn't hate him.

A Bronze gladiator who looked like he would die tomorrow, and a insignificant black market merchant.

It had taken less than a year for the Bronze gladiator to become the champion of the Arena, and for the insignificant black market merchant to become a major merchant traveling between Bellatus and Sylvester.

It was an undeniable fact that all of this was thanks to the human.

Thanks to him, he was able to get such a nice house in the city.

A tiresome but fateful connection.

“Hoo…”

Pierre, with a smile on his lips, slowly sipped his tea.

He was a human who had helped him, but honestly, he didn't want to see his face again.

Just then.

Slurp—

Bang—!

At the unannounced opening of the door, Pierre spat out the tea in his mouth.

“Pfft—!”

Van, who had pushed his way in at the front, waved his hand and naturally approached Pierre.

Behind him were Hyunwoo and Lucas.

Pierre slowly blinked his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming.

“……”

“Why are you pouring tea from your mouth? What a strange fellow.”

Pierre wiped his mouth and rubbed his eyes.

A dream…?

No, looking again, the green lump in front of him wasn't disappearing, so it was reality.

The three lumps, soaked from the rain, pushed their way into the house.

“Why… no, how did you find me?”

“How else, you told me where. Van, your clothes are dripping, so dry them first.”

“Alright.”

Hyunwoo was taking off his shirt and wringing out his wet clothes like a rag.

…Inside the house.

Dirty water mixed with rainwater seeped into the expensive carpet he had bought with a big heart to commemorate his new house.

Pierre's eyes twitched.

“No, no! You said you were going far away! I told you to visit later, not so suddenly…”

“Aren’t you glad to see me again so soon? Nice house.”

“Bring out the tea first. Your hospitality is terrible.”

“Though the words of an unlucky bat, I agree this time.”

“……”

As the words of Hyunwoo, Lucas, and Van rained down on him, Pierre felt his head spin and was at a loss for words.

Van casually threw off his clothes and plopped his wide bottom onto the living room sofa.

“Oh! This is softer than the one in the dormitory.”

“I’ve never seen this kind of tea leaf before.”

“Give me a cup too.”

“Pour it yourself.”

“A place like this would be nice to stay for a few days.”

The high-end sofa, custom-made to fit Pierre’s body size, sank under Van’s weight.

Lucas, who had quietly sat down opposite Van, had somehow found the expensive tea leaves hidden in the house and was pouring tea.

Van and Lucas, sitting opposite each other on the sofa with the table between them, each saying whatever they wanted.

It was a scene Pierre had often seen, but the background was different.

This was not Hyunwoo's dormitory, but his own house.

It was a rampage that was happening before he could even stop them.

“Wait…! Ah……”

His eyes, watching his home being destroyed, lost their vitality moment by moment.

Hyunwoo suddenly appeared in his soulless field of vision.

“Why are those guys so excited, they’re not kids. Let's talk business.”

“……Business?”

“Yeah. There’s something I need.”

Pierre’s mind slowly began to return as he took the paper Hyunwoo held out.

The mastermind of the rampage was clearly the human in front of him, but there was no way to stop him.

The only way was to finish the business quickly and get rid of them.

However, as Pierre read down the paper, his eyes began to contort strangely.

“Do… you need all of this? The items I gave you last time should be substantial.”

“Ah, I got a destination, so I need a few more things.”

It was said that there is no harm in being prepared.

Since there were so many dangerous situations that could occur in the ‘Kerno Gorge’, he needed many things to prepare for them.

What was written on the paper Hyunwoo handed him were the basic items needed for survival.

The most important thing was a means of transportation.

“……A-a mount? This is something those necromancers handle. I haven't dealt with them before…”

“Never mind that, how long do you think it will take to get it?”

“……”

Pierre looked at Hyunwoo, who wasn't listening to him at all, and began to ponder for a moment while looking at the list of items.

What he had requested was not just an ordinary mount, but a ‘Ghost Horse’ that was said to be fast and never tire.

Aside from being expensive, he had heard it was a very rare item and hard to find….

He doubted he could get it right away.

“At least a… a month……”

“We’ll be staying here for a long time then.”

At Hyunwoo’s words, Pierre’s complexion instantly turned pale.

“…I-I think it might be possible in half a month!”

“Alright.”

Hyunwoo nodded and unpacked his things.

Following his lead, Lucas and Van also stopped what they were doing and began to unpack.

The house that Pierre had painstakingly organized began to turn into a pigsty in an instant.

Lucas grumbled.

“I like the tea… but I don’t like how small it is.”

“Bear with it.”

“Tsk. Can't be helped.”

Pierre, watching the guys who were calling his house small, made a decision.

He would get it within three days.

* * *

Three days later, at the entrance of Bellatus City.

The weather was clear with not a single cloud in the red sky.

Hyunwoo, who had been looking up at the sky with his hand shading his eyes, nodded.

“The weather is nice today.”

He felt good, as if the weather was blessing them on their way out to the Demon World.

Leaving the city was a dangerous thing.

Thanks to that, the deserted city entrance was occupied only by Hyunwoo, Lucas, Van, and Pierre.

Seeing the dark circles under Pierre’s eyes, it seemed he had worked hard.

No, wait.

He had said half a month at first, but finished the preparations in three days….

Wasn’t he just trying to be lazy and then rushed to prepare?

Hyunwoo looked at Pierre with a suspicious gaze.

“You could get it so quickly, why did you say it would take half a month?”

“…I was lucky.”

Grind—

“I hear the sound of teeth grinding somewhere.”

“…My teeth have been bad lately.”

“You should take better care of them.”

He caught a glimpse of white powder in Pierre's hand, but he just let it go.

He had done his job well, anyway.

The Ghost Horse Hyunwoo was riding shook its body greatly.

Neigh—!

The Ghost Horse was a spiritual monster with a transparent body.

It was ridiculous that a Ghost Horse, which didn’t even need to breathe, was making a breathing sound.

Hyunwoo stroked the Ghost Horse’s neck.

“Whoa… stay still. Why is only mine like this?”

Hyunwoo turned his head to look at the Ghost Horses that Van and Lucas were riding, and they were quietly bowing their heads.

“It must be happy to see you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“There’s a rumor that Ghost Horses like bad guys.”

“…Nonsense.”

For a moment, I thought I might have put in a setting like that.

Apparently, my memory was wrong.

Because I had no memory of doing anything bad in the Demon World.

“Stay still.”

Hyunwoo kicked the Ghost Horse's side with his heel.

Snort—

The Ghost Horse let out a snort and became quiet.

Thanks to his superior physical abilities, including Balance II, riding a Ghost Horse was an easy task even though he had never learned to ride.

Hyunwoo looked back at Van and Lucas and put strength in his legs.

“Let’s go.”

Hyunwoo's party, riding the Ghost Horses, slowly passed through the city entrance.

Leaving the city was an act close to suicide.

Thanks to that, there was no inspection at the entrance.

It was now time to go out into the real Demon World.

* * *

Swish—!

Watching the backs of Hyunwoo's party as they moved away from the city entrance, Pierre began to sprinkle salt.

‘Hoo… my hard-earned mana stones…’

He had used up all the mana stones he had earned so far to quickly get the things Hyunwoo wanted this time.

The Ghost Horse was expensive, but what was even harder to find was that damn ‘rope’.

It was a rare rope that even Pierre had never heard of, and he had to search through the auction houses of the underworld to barely get it.

Grind—

Pierre ground his teeth and glared at Hyunwoo's retreating back.

“A year, my ass… Just drop dead!”

Swish—! Swish—! For more chapters visıt NoveI~Fire.net

Pierre sprinkled salt everywhere, filled with his own resentment.