Chapter 151: Chapter 151

“I brought the fragment!”

Kukri, who had become Jeong-hoon’s subordinate, obediently brought the fragment.

[Fragment of the Old Warrior’s Mark]

– Type: Material

– Grade: Epic

– This is a fragment of the Old Warrior’s Mark.

– If you gather all the fragments, you might learn how to use it.

It was indeed the Fragment of the Old Warrior’s Mark.

[You have acquired the Fragment of the Old Warrior’s Mark.]

[You currently possess ‘2’ fragments.]

With this, Jeong-hoon had two fragments in his possession.

Now there were five fragments left.

“Kukri.”

“Yes! Speak!”

Kukri didn’t even let out a groan, despite having been beaten up.

Was this the resilience of a leader?

“I’ll heal you first.”

Since he had become a temporary subordinate, this level of welfare was necessary.

[Using Advanced Healing.]

Like other skills, Intermediate Healing (Epic) had also been upgraded to Advanced Healing (Unique).

A more intense light burst forth, and Kukri’s wounds healed rapidly.

“Huh…?”

Kukri’s face was filled with astonishment.

This was because only the people of the Holy City, who were at odds with the City of Mages, used healing magic.

And Kukri didn’t like them.

To receive healing from them, one had to pay an absurdly high price.

But the healing Jeong-hoon was performing had far greater healing power than theirs.

“Now, explain. What was the reason for bothering the tenant farmers?”

“Th-That’s…”

Kukri hesitated, then confessed everything.

It was three months ago.

He was returning from a bandit raid as usual when he discovered a half-buried box.

It was an old wooden box, and he would have passed it by, but the moment he saw it, Kukri felt a compulsion to take it.

“Is this the box?”

“Yes…”

The wooden box Kukri brought.

Inside the box was a note.

[Location where the Fragment of the Old Warrior’s Mark is hidden]

The note contained vague coordinates.

The coordinates pointed to the fields where the tenant farmers were working.

“So this is why you’ve been harassing the tenant farmers more viciously lately.”

“I have nothing to say…”

“Bring the rest of them here first. Let’s heal them and talk.”

“A-Alright.”

Kukri, whose pain had completely disappeared, hurriedly brought the groaning bandits before Jeong-hoon.

[Uses Advanced Healing]

Jeong-hoon healed all the bandits, and they reacted the same way as Kukri to his amazing healing power.

“Gasp… Healing!”

“Wow, this is way better than the healing those bastards in the Holy City do.”

“You crazy bastard! How dare you compare the boss to those damn guys?”

“He’s just saying he’s that good, you idiot.”

The bandits growled at each other as their wounds healed.

Normally, Kukri would have stepped in to suppress them, but Jeong-hoon was standing in front of him now.

So he couldn’t act rashly.

“If any of you say one more word, I’ll kill you all.”

A low voice flowed from Jeong-hoon’s mouth.

“……!”

“……!”

The murderous voice froze the room instantly.

Jeong-hoon nodded in satisfaction and continued.

“Now, there’s something I need you to do.”

“Something?”

Kukri opened his mouth cautiously.

“Yes. Go down to the city right now and find one person.”

Jeong-hoon took out a memo pad and wrote down the name of an NPC.

“Liandor…? You don’t mean Verd’s master, do you?”

“You know him well.”

“W-wait a minute! No one knows where Liandor is. How are we supposed to find him…?”

Even Verd didn’t know exactly where Liandor was, so how could they find him?

“From now on, you will search the areas I tell you.”

Unlike the hint Verd had given him, Liandor didn’t just stay in the city.

In his previous regression, James Marcus had found Liandor in a cabin near the City of Archers.

And the time he found him was much later than now.

Therefore, it was also possible that Liandor had been moving around.

Jeong-hoon narrowed down the likely candidates to three and wrote them down.

The first priority was the cabin where James Marcus had found him.

And the second priority was the slums in the city.

Since the city was so large, it wasn’t fully managed, and as a result, slums where the poor gathered began to appear one by one.

He had heard that Liandor lived with them and helped them whenever they were in trouble.

Lastly, there was a mountain far away from here.

It was a place where no one lived, but Liandor had built a small house on this mountain and moved there periodically.

“All of these places…?”

Kukri’s eyes trembled slightly.

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“N-no!”

“Okay. Then let’s go.”

“Right now?”

“Then when are you going?”

“We’ll leave right away!”

Kukri hurriedly divided the bandits into three groups and sent them off to their designated locations.

And he was about to join the group heading to the cabin, whose destination was clear, among the three groups.

“You follow me.”

Of course, Jeong-hoon didn’t let it slide.

“Yes…? Why?”

“You were the boss, right? So go to the tenant farmers and apologize, saying you won’t bother them anymore.”

“Uh… If we do that, we won’t be able to continue our banditry…”

If the source of income is cut off, how will they manage the maintenance costs?

“Are you defying the boss’s orders now?”

Jeong-hoon took out Leviathan from his inventory and held it.

Kukri hurriedly bowed his head.

“I-I’m sorry!”

“If you understand, let’s go.”

“Yes…!”

Kukri reluctantly followed Jeong-hoon.

* * *

Jeong-hoon, who had made the bandits his subordinates, returned to the shelter after confirming their departure.

Sors was pacing around the shelter, trembling with anxiety.

As soon as he saw Jeong-hoon, he rushed over.

“H-how did it go?!”

“I took care of them all. They won’t bother you anymore.”

“Really…?”

He took care of all those bandits alone?

“If you don’t believe me, look at the guy behind me.”

Jeong-hoon pointed his chin backward.

Sors’s eyes followed the direction, and he was startled, falling backward.

He was the leader of the bandits who had tormented them so much.

It was Kukri.

He said he took care of them, so why did he appear so unharmed?

Could he have failed and was trying to lie?

Sors’s eyes were filled with suspicion.

Then, Kukri knelt down.

“…I’m sorry for what happened.”

“Wh-what?”

Sors’s eyes trembled at the sudden apology.

At the same time, anger welled up.

Did he think a simple apology would make everything okay?

“Here, take this.”

Jeong-hoon held out a club.

“Why…?”

“Does it make sense to end it with just an apology? Hit him as much as you want until your anger subsides.”

“Excuse me…?”

“Is that okay?”

Jeong-hoon asked, looking at Kukri kneeling.

Kukri’s eyes trembled madly.

But he couldn’t disobey Jeong-hoon’s will.

“Yes… Of course!”

Kukri nodded with an awkward smile.

“He says it’s okay.”

“…That’s alright. I’m angry, but if I swing this club, I’ll be no different from him.”

An exclamation mark blinked above Sors’s head as he said this.

[Quest Completed]

[The trust of all tenant farmers in the City of Warriors has greatly increased.]

Upon completing the quest, the trust of the tenant farmers increased significantly.

“Is that so? Then give me the club back.”

When Jeong-hoon reached out to take the club back, Sors shook his head.

“No. This is just my opinion. Other people might think differently.”

The tenant farmers were fed up with the bandits’ plundering.

If given the choice, many would choose to use the club.

“Then gather all the tenant farmers in one place. So Kukri can apologize in person.”

“…Thank you.”

Oh, no…

Kukri despaired.

* * *

While Kukri was dealing with the tenant farmers, Jeong-hoon headed to the fields.

Perhaps the word had already spread, as no one tried to stop him.

[How am I supposed to find it in this vast field?]

‘It’ll take forever.’

The field was too wide.

The coordinates indicated on the note were very rough, and it seemed like he would have to search the entire field, which spanned tens of thousands of pyeong.

“It’ll be over soon.”

Jeong-hoon took out a shovel that had been neglected in a corner of his inventory.

It had been a long time since he last used it in Idenharc.

‘How much I dug through the fields to find that fragment…’

James Marcus had gone on and on about the fragment, as if asking for recognition of his hard work.

That story included the location of the field.

‘He definitely said it was this field, right?’

Jeong-hoon stopped at a field where green beans were growing.

He was certain, as it was said to be a field where beans that looked exactly like kidney beans were grown.

Since he wasn’t told exactly where in the field to dig, it was now a race against time.

But before that.

“Are you the owner of this field?”

Jeong-hoon briefly called out to the owner of the field.

He was someone named Luras, around the same level as Sors.

“Yes. But why the shovel…?”

“Would you consider selling this field to me?”

“Selling the field…?”

“Yes. I’ll pay you three times the market price.”

“Th-three times…?”

“Yes. Just sell it to me for a few days. I’ll sell it back to you at the original price later.”

It was too sweet an offer.

Luras nodded without hesitation.

“If you’re willing to do that, I have no reason to refuse.”

“Thank you.”

After purchasing the field, Jeong-hoon went to a secluded corner and started digging with the shovel.

* * *

Among the three groups of bandits, Rob, who was the first to get beaten up by Jeong-hoon, was in the cabin group.

The cabin was located far from the City of Warriors, near the territory of the City of Archers.

“Will there really be a cabin in a place like this?”

“I don’t know either…”

Naturally, Rob took the lead of this group.

He had been a bandit the longest and had the highest rank.

Of course, he had dropped a rank after getting beaten up by Jeong-hoon, but he was still the leader in front of these guys.

“It’ll be a pain in the ass if we run into those archer bastards.”

The City of Warriors and the City of Archers were right next to each other, so they had a very bad relationship.

The place they were standing now was the territory of the City of Warriors, but just a few years ago, it belonged to the City of Archers.

However, Verd started a war and led it to victory, and now the City of Warriors had taken over the territory.

Because of that, those guys were probably gritting their teeth and preparing for the next war.

“If we meet them, we’ll just beat them up.”

How could one claim to have the blood of a warrior if they were afraid of archers?

Rob led the bandits forward.

And in front of them, there was indeed a small cabin standing alone.

“There it is! The cabin!”

“Huh… There’s a cabin in a place like this?”

The cabin, simply built and looking like it could collapse at any moment, had a faint human warmth.

“Can we go in?”

“We have to. If we go back after just finding the cabin, do you think the boss will let it slide?”

Rob pushed open the door of the cabin.

An old man appeared from inside, leaning on a cane.

“Who dares to enter without permission?”

His voice was low and rough, as if his throat was sore.

But his eyes were like those of a great tiger.

Rob and the other bandits were overwhelmed by his gaze and their bodies froze.

“W-well, that is…”

Rob stammered.

He was convinced that this man was Liandor.

“If you don’t have a good reason, you won’t leave here alive.”

The old man slowly raised his cane.

The cane transformed into a pure white sword.

“We came to see Master Liandor…”

Rob managed to speak his purpose, squeezing out all his strength.

“Me…?”

At that moment, the old man’s eyes softened.

Only then could Rob and the other bandits relax their stiff bodies, sit down, and take deep breaths.

“Phew… Phew…”

Their bodies were drenched in cold sweat.

Some of them even peed a little.

“Alright. Why did you come to see me?”

“Our boss told us to find Master Liandor…”

“Boss? That Kukri guy or whatever?”

“Y-you know our boss?”

“Of course. Though he probably doesn’t know me.”

Liandor grinned.

“Well… the boss isn’t him anymore. It changed recently.”

“Changed?”

“Yes… It’s someone named Hoon.”

“I’ve never heard of him. Is he a foreigner?”

“Y-yes.”

“Is that so? Did he tell you that I was here?”

“Yes.”

Rob nodded.

“Hmm, is that so?”

Liandor’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

———