The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 234 ?Folklorist? Mogers (4) - South Gate There are two checkpoints in the Ostern Palatinate. Of these, the checkpoint at the north gate is popular among soldiers as a profitable posting, but conversely, the checkpoint at the south gate is considered a very boring and unprofitable place. In fact, it had to be that way. Those coming from central continent including the Hasht Sacred State use the north gate when entering and exiting the palatinate. Conversely, when people from the palatinate go to central continent, they likewise use the north gate. But the south gate? The Ostern Palatinate is the southern extremity of civilized society. That means there are no cities or villages south of the palatinate. Since there are no customers, merchants have no need to go further south, and travelers don't cross the south gate to see the empty frozen wasteland unless they're quite eccentric. Therefore, those who use the southern gate are only soldiers going on outpost duty or hunters from within the palatinate. For gatekeepers, it's a very boring place since there's nothing to extort. "Haah, damn it. Not even an ant in sight." Max, a soldier of the Ostern garrison, yawned lazily and grumbled with irritation. He found his current situation of standing guard here extremely unpleasant. According to the original plan, Max should have been enjoying his day off and having fun instead of working at the south gate today. However, Centurion Hoffman discovered that Max had previously skipped outpost 4 duty, so he cut the vacation of Max and his squad members and forced them into duty. Even this was only the extent of it because another centurion whom he had previously bribed covered for him, but Max's mood remained thoroughly unpleasant. "Morana. That fucking monster bitch dared to snitch?" Strictly speaking, Morana had never snitched, and hoping not to get caught after completely abandoning a day's duty was unconscionable in the first place, but such sound reasoning wasn't important to Max. He simply needed someone to take his anger out on from the start. True to the saying that birds of a feather flock together, the colleagues who hung around with Max were mostly similar people, so they joined in the malicious gossip about Morana. "Exactly. When the higher-ups asked questions, she should have handled it well by saying 'I really, really wanted to work, so I asked them to let me!'" "Why is that bastard Hoffman protecting that Bel bitch in the first place? What's the problem with that monster standing guard a bit more? Did they hook up or something?" "Ugh, hooking up with bitches who eat raw monster corpses? Wouldn't that rot everything down there?" "You never know. I heard there are guys up in those grasslands who fuck horses." While Max's group was giggling away with insulting and vulgar sexual jokes. Vanya, a Belastok with silver hair tightly bound behind her head, approached the south gate. Max's group, who had been dying of boredom, quickly exchanged glances and showed malicious smiles. "Hey there, halt." Whoosh. Vanya frowned at the weapon suddenly thrust in front of her face. Due to the environment where blades break easily from the cold, southern soldiers prefer blunt weapons like maces over swords. The weapon Max held was also a polearm with a mace head attached to the end of a wooden shaft, so it didn't have an edge, but still, no one would like having a proper weapon brought up to their face. "What are you trying to do?" "There's a checkpoint right here, so you can't just try to pass through." "Hah." Vanya let out a hollow laugh as if she was dumbfounded. "First time seeing a hunter going out to hunt? You usually just let us through without a word, so why are you making a fuss?" "That was because the guys in charge then were idiots. Diligent workers like us do the job properly." Max said while poking Vanya's large leather bag on her back with the end of his polearm. "Possession inspection. Pour all the bag contents here on the ground. And take off your clothes too." "Are you crazy!?" Checking the bag contents was annoying and unpleasant, but she could accept it for now. But being told to take off her clothes was clear sexual harassment and humiliation. When Vanya blushed and got angry, Max and his colleagues cackled with laughter. "Crazy? We're saying we need to investigate because you might be hiding something suspicious on your body. You guys don't get cold anyway, so you don't need clothes, right?" "These bastards really…!!" Just as Vanya, finally reaching the limit of her patience, was about to reach for the handle of the dagger at her waist. "I say. May we pass through the gate?" As if blocking Vanya's way, Mogers stepped forward and spoke. And at the same time, Morana, who had approached from behind Vanya, grabbed her hand and shook her head left and right. At the sudden intrusion of the two people, Max's group frowned. "What are you supposed to be?" "Ho ho ho, your manner of speaking really shows you weren't properly educated. If we came here, naturally we have business beyond this point, don't we?" "What, what?" Max seemed flustered for a moment, but soon realized he was being mocked and made a menacing face. He roughly swung his polearm and thrust it up to in front of Mogers' nose. "What did you just say. Try babbling one more time." "Oh my, now I see your hearing isn't good either." "This bastard!!" Max tried to strike Mogers' face by thrusting the polearm in his hand forward, but Mogers grabbed the polearm with his hand first. "Urk! Ugh!" Even though he twisted and pulled with all his might using both hands, the polearm didn't budge an inch. Struggling desperately to somehow extract his weapon from Mogers' grip, Max must have slipped, as he couldn't overcome his own momentum and tumbled on the ground. Crash bang! "Hey, Max! Are you okay?" "Let go of this!!" As if trying to hide the shame of his unseemly fall, Max roughly pushed away even the colleague who had helped him up and raised his voice. "You!! How dare you use violence against the southern shield!? Prepare yourself!! I'll make you rot in prison for life!!" The highly excited Max picked up a crossbow that had been carelessly left on a nearby railing and aimed it at Mogers, but his colleagues, apparently startled by his sudden action, tried to dissuade Max. "Hey, hey calm down! That's not right!" "Right, first put down the crossbow and..." "That bastard is treating me like an idiot!!" "What's all this commotion about?" Then, the door inside the checkpoint opened and the checkpoint commander came outside. He frowned when he saw the crossbow in Max's hands, but when he saw Mogers, whom the crossbow was aimed at, his eyes widened. Without realizing the checkpoint commander's reaction, Max spoke loudly. "Commander!! These bastards dared to use violence against us!! They're criminals threatening the peace of the south, so we should immediately subdue and punish them— Urk!" Max's words couldn't continue to the end. Because the checkpoint commander quickly snatched the crossbow from his hands and began beating Max severely. "Hey you crazy bastard!! Have you lost your mind!? Who are you aiming a crossbow at right now!!" "Argh! Commander, why are you doing this, argh!!" "Shut up and stay put!! Hey! You guys! Lock this bastard inside so he can't cause more trouble!! If I see you doing stupid things again, you're dead too!! Got it!?" "Yes, yes sir!" The fellow soldiers dragged Max inside without understanding what was happening, and the checkpoint commander hurriedly rubbed his hands together and bowed obsequiously before Mogers. "I'm sorry, Professor. Those idiots have committed a great discourtesy." "Ho ho, it's fine. How could it be your fault, Commander? I had weapons thrust in my face, was intimidated, threatened, received curses and threats of bodily harm, but it's the soldier who's strange, not your fault, right? Isn't that so?" "Th-that's right. That guy is the strange one." "However... No, let's stop. It would be unseemly for an outsider like me to babble about this and that." "No! Not at all! Please say whatever you want! I'll listen carefully!" "If so, I'll speak carefully. One specific soldier acting erratically is that individual's problem, but when several soldiers show similar behavior, isn't it a problem with the management system or the person in charge? Naturally, one would hesitate to invest funds in such a place." "Ha, ha, haha. That's right. Don't worry. That guy Max is just strange, but the other soldiers aren't like that." -Next time this kind of behavior is caught, there won't be any bribes or anything. What do you think will happen when your superior finds out about this? The checkpoint commander accurately caught the meaning in Mogers' words and promised to prevent recurrence while breaking out in cold sweat. After leaving the checkpoint, Mogers shrugged his shoulders. "Really, starting a journey is quite difficult." "As I mentioned before, as long as you don't stop associating with Belastok like us, similar incidents will continue to happen." "That won't do. If I lose a capable field guide, who would help with my research? It's better to deal with a few hassles." Compared to the harshness of nature, this kind of thing doesn't even count as an obstacle, Mogers joked. Then, Vanya, who had been watching the two from the corner, spoke up. "Morana. What are you... doing right now?" "Your question is difficult to understand, Vanya. Please be more specific." "Who is this outsider that those vicious humans are trembling and can't move, and why are you with him?" "Professor Mogers is a folklorist who came to investigate the peoples living in the frozen wasteland, including us Belastok. I was assigned guard and assistant duties, so I'm currently acting together with him. I don't know exactly why the checkpoint commander treats Professor Mogers that way either." "A folklorist? Investigating our people?" Vanya looked at Mogers with an expression as if seeing something very strange, then shook her head. "I don't know the details, but you'd better give up any thoughts about this clearing your debt or something like that. And if possible, get out of this damn land quickly. I'm warning you clearly." After speaking one-sidedly as if spitting out words, Vanya left with quick movements. Morana watched her retreating figure for a moment, then let out a sigh saying "Ah." "I'm sorry, Professor." "Hm? Why are you suddenly saying that?" "I thought of the concept of collective responsibility. Vanya's behavior just now is generally close to 'ingratitude,' so as someone of the same people, I apologize on her behalf." "Oh, ho ho ho. This is something I'm experiencing for the first time. Very unique." Mogers laughed heartily and then said. "It's fine. Looking at how those soldiers were behaving earlier, if she hadn't gotten caught up with them first, they would have picked a fight with us. If you consider it repayment for acting as a lightning rod, then as she said, there was no debt relationship from the beginning. So her behavior wasn't rude, and therefore you don't need to apologize, Morana." "Is that so?" "That's how it is." While Morana nodded, Mogers readjusted the pack on his back and said. "Well then, we can finally begin our journey in earnest. From here on, I'll have to rely on you a lot, so please take good care of me." "I will do my best within my abilities." After answering plainly, Morana began moving forward without hesitation. There was no confusion. Mogers' destination was the Bone Fragment Plain. As the name suggested, it was the area near outpost 4. That place, the coldest and most wind-swept in the entire surrounding area, was like a front yard to Morana.