Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Chapter 335: Legend of the High Elves (1)

Kimchi stew is! A sacred food!

Louder.

KIMCHI STEW IS!! A SACRED FOOOOOOOD!!

Put more heart into it.

Hurgh K-Kimchi stew

Tears flowed down Viscount Velens swollen cheeks. The bar had become an absolute mess. Knights that had been recruited using large amounts of money were all sprawled on the floor with all their limbs broken, and the bar that had been shabbily but neatly decorated was in shambles.

Do it right. Oh Kang-Woo frowned in displeasure.

Viscount Velen yelled the words again with his face pale.

Tsk, Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and brought over a chair to sit in front of Viscount Velen.

He then placed his foot over the hands of the viscount, who was crying with his head on the ground.

Bastards like you are a waste of page space. Were you all made from a factory or something? How do you all say the exact same shit?

Whether it be Earth or Aernor, every single extra had the exact same personality and tone of speech, as if the author could not be bothered to give them any interesting characteristics.

Are they like Nurse Joy?

Kang-Woo looked down at Viscount Velen in exasperation. Crunch. He trampled on the back of the viscounts hand. Screams echoed out.

Stricken by fear, Viscount Velen said, P-Please listen to me. There is a reason why I

No, dont say anything. Just keep your mouth shut.

It was a waste of page space.

I can tell who you are and why you got off your fat ass to come all the way here without you telling me.

There was only one reason why the lord of a territory would come all the way to a shabby inn.

For gold.

Kang-Woo had purposefully revealed the enormous amount of gold that he possessed when he had gone to exchange it at the bank. It had not been because he lacked caution.

Theres no need to be cautious.

Kang-Woo leaned back on the chair. He would not lose even if this entire city no, this entire nation were to attack him all at once. A nation made up of mere humans would be no match for him, who used to have the entire Nine Hells under his foot.

Not only that, Kang-Woo had gotten stronger than his former self; there was absolutely no need for him to be cautious over a mere lord of a territory when he had defeated a being of godhood that possessed Divinity, with just his demonic energy.

Th-There seems to be a misunders

I told you to shut up, my fucking friend.

A-Apologies!

Kang-Woo put one leg over the other and crossed his arms. His plan of covertly gathering information in the bar had gone out the window because of this fatass.

What should I do now?

He wondered if he should go somewhere else. As he was left with his thoughts, he shook his head.

No, I should make use of this opportunity.

Kang-Woo looked down at the trembling Viscount Velen. He could gather information at a bar anytime he wanted; it would be more effective at the moment to rip high-quality information off of a man in a leadership position.

Let me ask you a few things, Kang-Woo expressed.

Y-Yes! A-Anything!

What are your thoughts on Princess Iris?

Pardon? Viscount Velen became wide-eyed at the unexpected question. I-I believe she is worthy of respect. She is fair and just, and is taking care of the empires citizens in the place of the bedridden emperor.

I can hear the gears turning in your head from here, man.

Kang-Woo smirked. Viscount Velen seemed to have mistaken Kang-Woo for someone associated with the imperial family.

She is fair and just, you say? Kang-Woo asked.

A-Ahem! Y-Yes, thats correct! Viscount Velen answered between coughs.

It was obvious to anyone that he was lying.

I guess I have my answer just from his reaction.

Princess Iris did not have a very good reputation among common folk, and even among the nobles. Since the emperor was bedridden, it was highly likely that Princess Iris was the one handling political affairs.

In that case, could Princess Iris be why the Arnan Empire is in such a terrible state?

Kang-Woo could not be sure; whatever the public thought, one could never have the whole truth unless they met with the person directly.

I mean, its none of my business.

He already had his hands full in search of the Demon Gods corpse; he did not have the leeway to meddle with the empires affairs.

But it doesnt hurt to know.

Since he was in this world, it was better to know how it was turning.

In other words, youre saying that you nobles are having a blast thanks to the incompetent princess.

N-Not at all! I would not dare say such a thing about Her Highn

Bullshit. Kang-Woo chuckled. I actually had an inkling from the moment I heard what the guard said.

The guard at the entrance of the city had told them that they would be disposed of in accordance with Velens laws if they caused a commotion.

That was weird.

It wasnt the laws of the empire, but Velens laws. In other words, Viscount Velen had created laws of his own preference to be followed in his territory. It made no sense that a mere lord of a remote territory would have enough authority to wield laws however they wanted.

This nation is going to the shitter.

Kang-Woo did not know why, but he could clearly see the signs of the empires imminent collapse. It could not be called anything else, since a mere viscount was acting like a king in his own remote territory.

Tsk, Kang-Woo clicked his tongue in displeasure.

Aernors bad political state was not good news for him in the slightest.

It might become a hassle while going around.

Although he had not been to any other territories yet, if they were no different from Velen, it would become an extreme hassle to gather information about the high elves while going around the continent. The closer the nation got to collapse, the more the people in power would get ahead of themselves.

Kang-Woo asked some more questions after that, and Viscount Velen answered them all while kneeling. However, there was no other useful information.

Well, then.

Kang-Woo slowly raised his hand.

Time to wrap things up.

He needed to extinguish the fire that was the huge commotion before it grew any bigger.

Eek! Seeing Kang-Woo raising his hand, Viscount Velen clenched his eyes shut and slammed his head on the floor while trembling in fear. P-Please, spare my life!

Sheesh, dont get the wrong idea. Kang-Woo crouched down in front of the viscount and grabbed the back of the viscounts neck. Do I look like the kind of person to kill people left and right?

Ah O-Of course not! You are the paragon of righteousness and generosity! Viscount Velen sucked up to Kang-Woo as much as he could for his own survival.

Good, very good.

Kang-Woo smirked and slowly drew out the Authority of Fear.

You know that you cant tell anyone about what happened here, right?

Of course I do! I will take it to my grave!

It was a lie; Viscount Velen would most definitely spill to everyone about Kang-Woo as soon as he let him go.

And youll pay for this bars repairs, right?

Yes! I will even have it fully remodeled!

It was a lie; Viscount Velen would likely have the boy and his older sister beheaded to vent his anger.

Oh, and while you do that, lower the damn taxes. Capiche? Youve stuffed your face enough, so I dont see why you have to collect more.

Yes, sir! I will abolish the plans to raise taxes next month!

It was all too obviously a lie.

But

Kang-Woo was not displeased, since he did not hate people that could become unsightly without a second thought for the sake of their survival.

Good, good. Youve made the right choice. Kang-Woo nodded.

Darkness enveloped Kang-Woos hand that was holding Viscount Velens neck. He activated the Authority of Fear, an Authority that turned the target insane by dropping their soul into the pits of fear that they could never escape from.

Live a long life, Kang-Woo stated. Im sure even a pitiful life like yours will have an upside one day.

A-Aaaahh.

Viscount Velens eyes widened. He trembled crazily while wetting his pants. He screamed with the last remaining sense of reason that he had.

Oh. Kang-Woo canceled the Authority after having thought of something. He realized that he had not asked the most important question. Without having his hopes up, he asked while sighing, Well I doubt that youd know, but do you know anything about high elves?

Kang-Woo had asked just in case, but he doubted that a mere lord of a remote territory would know something that even Uriel and Vaal Zahak did not.

Oh Yes! I know something about high elves! Viscount Velen exclaimed.

Yeah, I didnt think you w Wait, what did you say?

T-To be more exact, I know a mage that knows much about high elves. He spent decades researching high elves, so Im sure he would know a lot about them.

Kang-Woos mouth fell open from the unexpected profit.

And where is this mage?

H-He lives in a small tower located a few days away from Velen in the direction of the Nightmare Forest. His temper is like no other, but since he had once been the head imperial mage, Im sure that theres no one more knowledgeable about high elves than that geezer.

Hah Kang-Woo chuckled.

He recalled seeing the small tower that Viscount Velen was talking about while flying here on Echidnas back.

What a score!

It felt like having gotten an SSR character after rolling a free gacha pull without a speck of hope. Although there was no guarantee that mage would know where the high elves were, it would be better than blindly searching for information.

Wow. Thanks, man. I never expected to get such valuable information in a place like this, Kang-Woo said.

Hehehe. I-Its nothing, Viscount Velen answered with a smile.

He seemed to have been relieved after having been of help.

Umm In that case, I will excuse myself

Viscount Velen did not know what Kang-Woo had been trying to do to him earlier, but he could instinctively tell that it had been extremely dangerous. He got up while thinking that Kang-Woo wouldnt do anything to him since he had been of help to him.

Kang-Woo smiled and activated the Authority of Fear again while grabbing the head of Viscount Velen, who was staring at him with a pale face. Come on, where do you think youre going? Were not done here, are we?

Kang-Woo broke Viscount Velens mind with the Authority of Fear.

A-Aaaahh.

Viscount Velens eyes lost their light. Kang-Woo snickered. It was true that Viscount Velen had been a big help to him; one could argue that he had given Kang-Woo core information for their Aernor expedition. However

This and that are two completely different things.