The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 757

Episode 757 Let’s do that too. (1)

The Yulien Mercenary Corps had become quite a famous mercenary corps.
This was especially true for the figures of the Salvation Church. Several of their projects had failed because of the Yulien Mercenary Corps.
The owner of the voice asked again.
“I know that the Yulien Mercenary Corps’ abilities are quite outstanding. But wouldn’t your skills have been enough to handle it?”
“Yes, they were definitely on the verge of success. They sacrificed four judges and seriously injured the elven chieftain. If they had pushed a little harder, they would have definitely succeeded.”
“But why did they fail?”
“I don’t know how to explain it. Something that could be called a miracle happened.”
“……A miracle?”
“There was a priest in the Yulien Mercenary Corps. He instantly drove away the energy I had planted and healed the elven chieftain from his serious injuries. That’s why I had no choice but to retreat.”
“Who is that priest?”
“I think he’s a low-level priest who’s with the Yulien Mercenary Corps.”
“……A low-level priest created a miracle? Is that possible?”
“I don’t know. No matter how strong the divine power, it would have been impossible……”
The owner of the voice fell silent again. It was because he simply could not believe it.
The Pope himself did not come, and the matter was ruined because of a mere priest. And because of a nameless low-ranking priest at that.
Rahamod spoke in a firm tone.
“Prophet Taghmah. I know that my words are hard to believe. But you must believe them. Otherwise, other things may fail as well.”
Paaaaak!
The darkness gathered and the one called Taghmah appeared.
He was a middle-aged man who looked quite old like Rahamod. The only difference was that he looked very fierce.
Taghmah looked into Rahamod’s eyes for a moment and nodded.
Rahamod was not a man who would lie. He was not a man who would see something wrong.
So what he said must be true.
Taghmah had been here for a long time. That was why he was even more ignorant of information than Rahamod.
“The fact that the Yulien Mercenaries are involved in this incident… means that their previous interference wasn’t a coincidence?”
“I don’t know for sure. But it seems inevitable that we’ll clash now.”
“Why?”
“The Yulien Mercenaries will come to the aid of the dwarves.”
“…Are you sure?” “
There’s a high probability that they will.”
“Why do you think so?”
“It seems like they’re acting under the Pope’s orders. After handing Ismogen over to the Empire, they headed straight for the Elven Forest.”
“Then…”
“As the Pope’s envoy, the only reason to visit the elves is the Holy Stone. Since they’ve shown favor to the elves, they must have received a promise to return the Holy Stone. It’s obvious that the dwarves will be next.”
Rahamod didn’t think that the Yulien Mercenaries would have received the Holy Stone directly. It was such an important item.
He just thought that they’d received a promise from the Pope to hand over the Holy Stone.
Taghmah’s expression hardened at the mention of the Holy Stone.
“The holy stone…? Are you saying that they figured out how to use the holy stone?”
“That can’t be true. If they did, each race would have already cooperated. It seems that the Pope couldn’t give up his foolishness and entrusted the work to a famous mercenary group.”
Tagmah let out a small sigh of relief. The power of the holy stone could deal a fatal blow to their ‘holy ground.’
Even the leaders of the Human Union didn’t know how to use the holy stone. They didn’t know what to do with it.
However, the high-ranking priests of the Salvation Church knew what could be done with the holy stone.
Now that Tagmah had heard that they were going around looking for holy stones, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed by the Yulien Mercenary Group.
“Is the Yulien Mercenary Group enough to ruin a great cause?”
“You could say that they are a powerful variable. In particular, Astion, who has reached the level of a superhuman, is also excellent in black magic. He summoned as many as 100 Death Knights.”
“Black magic? Are you saying that the humans and elves left him alone while he uses black magic?”
“He said…… he was a warlock of justice.”
“…….”
“I don’t know what happened either.”
“…….”
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Taghmah couldn’t understand it at all, but Rahamod couldn’t have been joking.
Taghmah coughed a few times and nodded.
“Um……. Yes, that’s annoying enough.”
“I’ve told the warlocks nearby to stop them if they make a move. Executor Munaref will spread the word everywhere and come here.”
“With Ismogen caught and you failing, we can’t stay in hiding any longer.”
“Yes. Time is running out. All kingdoms are rapidly becoming more alert. Therefore, we must succeed in the dwarf matter and return to the Holy Land. That is why I left the Yulien mercenary group behind and came here.”
Tagmah nodded. They were not yet ready to attack the dwarves, but the situation was urgent, so there was nothing they could do.
“Understood. We are not fully prepared, but it will be okay if you help us.”
Tagmah closed his eyes.
They must kill the dwarf king and destroy the Eternal Furnace. If they succeed, it will deal a great blow to the Human Alliance.
One of the pillars of the Human Alliance will collapse.
And… …
“They will never be able to awaken the power of the Holy Stone.”
That was their true goal.

* * *

There are many dwarves scattered throughout the continent.
They usually live in cities built in mountainous terrain or deep underground where rich mineral deposits are hidden.
The most famous of these is ‘Valskrum’, where the dwarf king resides.
Valskrum is a huge fortress city built deep in the mountains, with the outer wall and the mountain interlocking like a single wall.
Inside the fortress, there are numerous dwarf villages, workshops, and mining sites.
The entire mountain is literally a city and fortress.
There is also a human city below the mountain for trading with the dwarves. The size of the city is also much larger and more massive than the average human city.
Dwarves are different from elves.
They do not store the items they create for display. A work of art is only complete when it is used.
Therefore, the dwarves actively interact with humans who highly value their creations.
Since the high-quality dwarven products can be easily obtained, many merchants from all over the continent flocked to this place.
The dwarves also obtained high-quality grain, clothing, and magical tools made by humans.
Since both sides obtained what they needed from each other, the city naturally grew.
And now, the Yulien mercenary group arrived in the city.
“Aaaah! We’re finally here!”
“I thought I was going to die from exhaustion!”
“Seriously… this journey was the best ever.”
The mercenaries sat down and chattered as soon as they arrived in the city.
In fact, their appearance was so dirty that they would tell refugees to go away. Even Erenes, who was always neat and tidy, had become a beggar elf.
Kyle muttered with a tired look.
“I never knew there were so many warlocks in the world. Where did they come from when they were usually invisible?”
It wasn’t just the warlocks. The monsters and bandits commanded by the warlocks also continuously appeared.
The journey was not easy. The level of the enemies was low, but they fought and moved without rest, so they were extremely tired.
Giselle smiled briefly, pushing her disheveled hair back.
“We’ve arrived. Was it fun?”
It was truly an enjoyable journey. The enemies weren’t that strong, but fighting for days without rest was a form of training in its own way.
Everyone stared blankly at Giselle. Erenes, who had been hoping for an intense adventure, was the same.
Regardless, Giselle immediately started walking.
“Come on, let’s find a place to rest. It’s too dirty. Fortunately, the invasion hasn’t started yet.”
The dwarven fortress was famous for being impregnable. It seemed that the Salvation Church was taking some time to prepare since it wouldn’t be easy to conquer it either.
The group slowly began to tour the city.
The streets were bustling, and the sound of hammering metal could be heard constantly in the workshops.
Shops lined both sides of the neatly paved stone road that divided the area. There was even a separate space where people could try out weapons and equipment.
There were also many human merchants doing business with dwarven artisans.
This is a city created by humans to trade with the dwarves. Nevertheless, the dwarves were naturally hanging out as if they were part of the city.
Some dwarves were in the bottle of grain, and some dwarves were surprisingly holding on a human man who passed by.
“Hey! This belt is made by the dwarf!
“I don’t live! What belts are so expensive!”
“Is it made by Dwarf?”
“Where did the dwarf didn’t make in this neighborhood! And it’s drunk, so it’s a mess.”
“Oh, I’ll pass it to a bottle of grain.”
The man still refused. He ran away from the dwarf’s arm.
Then the dwarf sweared at the back of a man running away.
“X -nom’s baby! Why is it so tricky on human themes!
As they had a lot of experience, Jisel and her party quickly figured out the situation.
“Making things while drunk and selling them.”
“So that’s what happens when dwarves and humans mingle.”
“The humans are at fault.”
Still, it was both interesting and fun to see so many different races living together
so lively. While everyone was looking around and looking for a place to stay, they came across a crowd of people on one side.
There, a few dwarves were calling out to the crowd with their loud voices.
“Come on, if you solve this engineering puzzle, I’ll give you the legendary sword ‘Gramdir’ that is only known to us dwarves as a prize! If you don’t want the sword, I’ll give you 100 gold!”
At first glance, the sword they had hung up as a prize looked extremely plain and ordinary. It didn’t have a single jewel or even any common decorations.
No, even the word ordinary was too much. The dark blade was covered in rust, so you could tell it wasn’t properly maintained.
Still, it was a sword that the dwarf confidently handed over. Seeing that the blade was darker than normal swords, there might be a hidden secret.
The merchants and knights who knew a lot about swords carefully examined ‘Gramdir’ with such anticipation.
However, soon they muttered in disappointed tones.
“Hey, it’s really just a rusty sword, right?”
“Of course, a legendary sword wouldn’t be rolling around on the market floor like that.”
“The dwarves who come here are getting more and more boastful.”
“But it looks sturdy, so I guess I can get the price of iron.”
You could buy a better sword than that at any workshop. So it was much better to get 100 gold instead of the price of iron.
The engineering puzzle that the dwarf presented was a spherical mechanical device.
There were seven metal rods surrounding the round device.
There were numerous holes all over the machine, and numbers and various symbols were marked on the holes.
When the people did not understand what it was, the dwarf began to explain.
“This machine can be turned sideways by holding it up and down! The positions of the numbers and symbols change each time it is turned sideways! Each rod also has numbers and symbols written on it!”
“So what do you want me to do with it?”
When someone with an impatient temper shouted, the dwarf clicked his tongue and replied.
“This is about finding hidden rules and solving them! In other words, you logically find hidden patterns between the numbers and symbols and insert the rods! If you put them in the wrong places, the rods won’t go in properly!”
“Isn’t that a scam? They might have made it so that none of them go in! There was a dwarf who was caught scamming with another item a while ago! There have been quite a few scam dwarves lately!”
At this, the dwarf suddenly got angry.
“Hey, you ignorant humans! How can you say such things to me! Watch carefully!”
The dwarf grabbed the top and bottom of the mechanism and started turning it several times.
Kick, kick, kick.
Every time he turned the mechanism, the positions of the numbers and symbols above the holes really changed.
The dwarf, who had been carefully examining the numbers and symbols written on it while holding up a metal rod, slowly inserted it into the mechanism.
Click.
With a refreshing sound, the rod was inserted into the mechanism and connected. Anyone could tell that it went in well.
The dwarf grabbed any rod and inserted it into the machine again. The rod went in a little bit, but then it seemed to be blocked by something and wouldn’t go in.
The dwarf shouted with a triumphant expression.
“See? If you calculate correctly, you can insert it! If you’re wrong, it won’t go in like this!”
“Oh…….”
Only then did the people look at the machine with wonder.
The dwarves’ engineering knowledge was the best on the continent. It meant that it wasn’t strange for them to make something like that.
Of course, it would be difficult to find a pattern among all those numbers and symbols. It would be difficult for anyone but a very smart person to do it.
The dwarf looked around at the people and shouted again.
“The entry fee is 1 gold! You have three chances! That means you’ll be forgiven if you make three mistakes! Just in case, those who can use mana, don’t try to force it in! Even if you use mana, it won’t go in, but even if it does, if it’s in the wrong place, the magic circuit inside will explode!”
People hesitated for a while. The entry fee of 1 gold was very expensive.
However, since there were three chances and if you succeeded, you could earn 100 gold, so it was worth a try.
Soon enough, several humans who were proud of their intelligence began to challenge.
“Fail!”
“You failed too!”
“Oh! Fail!”
Everyone who tried failed. The dwarf smiled and looked at the coins piling up beside him.
Several more tried after seeing the people who had failed before. The merchants who came to this city had a lot of money, and they all believed that they were quick at calculations and smart.
However, no one succeeded. Everyone failed repeatedly, and the pile of money next to the dwarf grew bigger and bigger.
Someone was making a fuss about whether it was really a scam, but when the dwarf demonstrated it again, everyone was silent.
After watching the dwarf make money for a while, Giselle said,
“Let’s try that too.”
His eyes began to sparkle.