Chapter 16.1: ๐๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐ (๐)
Chapter 16.1: ๐๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐ (๐)
โCome if you dare.โ
ใ ค
Johan picked up Karamafโs longsword instead of his broken one. It was admittedly a bit uncomfortable, but better than wandering weaponless. Moreover, unlike the plate armor, Karamafโs longsword was ordinary and unremarkable, likely to go unnoticed by most.
ใ ค
โ๐โ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.โ
ใ ค
However, the black wolf did not attack. It lowered its head and approached slowly. It wasnโt threatening at all.
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โ?โ
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Johan was puzzled.
ใ ค
A trick?
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Would a monster resort to such tricks?
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But it wasnโt a trick. The black wolf knelt before Johan and shook its head.
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โ. . .Are you trying to butter me up?โ
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Johan was astonished. The memory of wolves attacking mercenaries was still vivid.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ. . .โ
ใ ค
Johan reached out and scratched the black wolfโs chin. He was ready to strike if it bit, but the wolf didnโt. Instead, it wagged its tail happily and even exposed its belly.
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โ. . .Hungry?โ
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Johan pointed to the bodies of Karamaf and the horse. The black wolf started tearing into the horse with excitement. Its large size corresponded to its appetite; it quickly exposed the bones.
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โ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด. . . ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ?โ
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With such damage, no one would recognize the bodies. Johan quickly collected items before the wolf could consume Karamaf entirely.
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A longsword, a silk pouch containing six empire gold coins and twenty silver coins (almost forgetting his grudge against Sir Karamaf), and a ring bearing a family crest.
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It was a modest yet luxurious haul. Johan clutched the pouch tightly. It was more money than he had ever owned.
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Empire gold coins were roughly equivalent to twenty silver coins. Additionally, Empire silver and gold coins were highly trusted, usable throughout the Empire and even in other kingdoms.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?โ
ใ ค
The family crest ring. It would be a dead giveaway, even more so than the plate armor. Johan pondered burying it too but eventually kept it, thinking of future uses.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ.โ
ใ ค
Having finished thinking, Johan approached the plate armor. Its shattered and torn state was pitiable.
ใ ค
๐๐ก๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐๐คโ
ใ ค
โ!โ
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As he tried to remove the plate armor from the body, exerting force, it moved as if alive. The fastenings whirled around and released on their own.
ใ ค
โ???โ
ใ ค
Though Johan didnโt know in detail how Earth people wore plate armor like Plate Armors, he knew this wasnโt the usual method.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด? ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ? ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ? ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.โ
ใ ค
Such technology would be several times more convenient than the real thing. The armor fitted itself to the body and loosened on command, even adjusting its size to fit.
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Still functioning despite being split and torn.
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โ๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.โ
ใ ค
Johan buried Karamafโs armor and left markings only he could recognize.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซโ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ. ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ.
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While wooden markings were temporary, stone ones were permanent. Johan finished his task and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. . .โ
ใ ค
๐๐๐โ
ใ ค
The gaze of the black wolf was palpable. It drooled over the sight of Karamafโs corpse.
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โ. . .Want to eat this too?โ
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It was evident that the black wolf understood speech. It promptly bit into Karamaf, devouring it. Its appetite was so great that only bones remained. Johan could tell that this black wolf was unusual, even if he didnโt know how well wolves generally ate.
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It was uncommon for only bones to be left so cleanly in just a few minutes.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ? ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. . . ๐๐ฐ. ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด.โ
ใ ค
They had already eaten the mercenaries; what difference would it make?
ใ ค
Johan asked the black wolf.
ใ ค
โHmm, I hope you havenโt attacked the serfs in that town. Itโs okay to attack those iron-smelling mercenaries, though.โ
ใ ค
๐๐จ๐โ
ใ ค
โ. . .Do you really understand what Iโm saying?โ
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Instead of answering, the black wolf licked its front paw. Johan frowned and then stood up.
ใ ค
โ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด.โ