## Chapter 1169 – A Tumultuous Tour of Foreign Lands

Showing the identification card that Kadia gave me allowed us to pass through the gate without any problems, no lies.

The soldiers weren’t checking people like us, but mostly merchants.

They seemed to be collecting money from the merchants, probably receiving bribes on top of legitimate taxes. Apparently, they couldn’t do that to a foreign noble like me, so it was a free pass.

“If it’s this easy at the border gate, we should be able to travel without any incidents from now on.”
“Hehehe, you’re right.”

If it’s this lax at the border, it’ll probably be even more relaxed inside.

And so, we entered the Kingdom of Mercudia through perfectly legal means. We had already obtained a map of this place from the capital. It was a road we were traveling for the first time, but with a map, there wouldn’t be any problems. We just followed the road straight ahead.

We used the main roads, enjoyed the rural villages that appeared along the way, and moved towards the largest city in the vicinity.

The city scenery was, well…

Just ordinary.

“Even though it’s a foreign country, it’s not that different.”
“The world is pretty much the same wherever people live.”

Lisztina said, covering her mouth with a fan.

“I thought it would be a little different.”
“Don’t be so provincial.”
“Unlike you, Karin, I didn’t make a fuss about breathing, so what’s with the ‘provincial’?”
“Shut up.”

Was she still a little upset about the breathing incident?

Anyway, since we had to cross this country as well, we gathered some information.

It was just a matter of going into shops or guild buildings and paying money or buying drinks in exchange for information, but it was still quite useful.

According to what we heard, this country was a bit weaker than the Kingdom of Karga. Its territory was only about a quarter of the size.

We already knew all of that, and there was no need to know about local specialties, so we ignored that part.

Just a neighboring country.

“It seems like the royal authority isn’t that strong here.”

Winnia, who had gone to the mage community in the city to gather information, began to explain.

“So, it feels like the nobles have more power than the nobles living in the Kingdom of Karga. I don’t know about their actual power, but it seems like the nobles are treated better here.”

A normal feudal society, then.

In fact, the Kingdom of Karga was abnormally strong in royal power.

“So, apparently, there are quite a few nobles who act like kings. Roughly speaking, most of the nobles with large territories are powerful, so we should be careful when entering their territories? There are rumors of nobles who are nasty or violent.”
“Careful, huh.”

But even if they’re strong, they probably aren’t stronger than me.

And when dealing with violent bastards, being even more violent is the way to go. That’s fusion Confucianism.

“As expected of the mage community, the level of information is high. But does a city like this really have something like that?”
“Any city of a certain size will have similar organizations or gatherings, right? And since this place is near the border, they seem to be a bit more lenient towards foreign mages. They were very helpful.”

As expected, the world was a good place to live as a mage.

But the reason they were so helpful wasn’t because they were lenient.

“I think it’s more like they answered because four beautiful women went to ask.”
“Is that so?”

Winnia, Risha, Karin, and Lisztina had moved together, so I figured that most guys would have told them everything they knew, ready to give up their liver and gallbladder.

Whatever the reason, we had to go as quickly as possible.

The feeling of being in a foreign country was fleeting. After resting for a day, we crossed the Kingdom of Mercudia to get to the next country.

As Kadia had said, crossing this kingdom was no problem at all. I had considered using a different route, thinking there might be some trouble, but it was so peaceful that we could just travel along the main roads without any worries.

* * *

So, one day, as we were happily crossing the Kingdom of Mercudia…

We were just a few noble territories away from reaching the next country, the Kingdom of Gabelin. We were moving very quickly, and after entering a city and securing a room at an inn, we came outside to find…

“Ugh, uwaaaaaaah!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaah!!”
“Run awayyyyy!!!”
“Help!!! Save meeeeeee!!!”
“Mommy!! Mommy!!! Mommyyyyyyy!!!”

The outside was quite noisy.

People who appeared to be ordinary residents were running away in a panic from all directions. It was like watching a swarm of rats. They were all shouting for their lives, a tsunami of weak human beings fleeing.

Even the little kids, so small that it was doubtful whether they even properly understood the concept of life and death, were sprinting as if fighting for their very survival.

What the hell?

What the fuck is going on?

That thought briefly crossed my mind, but I didn’t care at all. I had to find out about the next kingdom, the Kingdom of Gabelin, so I ignored everything and headed towards the city center.

Whatever was attacking was probably just a bandit group from somewhere or a noble from the opposing faction.

Those kinds of guys weren’t even worth my attention. Unless a great demon had invaded, I would just do my job. I didn’t want to cause trouble in a foreign country, so I would just take a quick look and make a judgment.

—Waaaaaaaah!
—Kuaaaaaaaaah!!

But already, the sounds of battle cries and the scent of blood were starting to waft over.

It seemed like something was really fighting.

At this point, I couldn’t help but check the situation. The merchants in the city were all essentially my informants. It would be troublesome if they died.

—Swish.

And so, I entered the plaza in the city center.

I witnessed a bizarre sight.

“Die!!! Die, you Temtua bastards!!!”
“Kill all those Veintar pigs!!!!”

It was a small war.

Dozens of warriors, each wearing unified uniforms, were fighting each other in a bloody mess. Judging by the fact that their uniforms were divided into two types, it seemed that two factions were fighting each other.

—Slash!
—Thwack!

“Oh, fuck.”

Bloodshed everywhere.
It was quite a violent war.

The level of the soldiers was decent.

Most of them were skilled warriors, and quite a few of them could manipulate mana. Their combat power was similar, and the number of soldiers seemed to be about thirty on each side.

There were already quite a few corpses lying around.

“Kuaaaack!”
“Die! You Veintar trash!!! What gives you the right to wreak havoc here!”
“Shut up!!!”

Those guys were swinging their swords and slamming down warhammers, creating a battlefield.

Looking at the emblems, it seemed that the fighting parties were both nobles.

Come to think of it, I think this city belonged to the Tem… Temtri? Temtua? That earldom, I think. The young noble who seemed to be standing there, raising his sword, was shouting to kill the Temtua bastards, so it was certain.

I roughly understood the situation.

It was a dispute between nobles.

Judging by the fact that there were young nobles standing at the back of both factions like leaders, it seemed clear that those guys were the root cause.

But, are these guys fighting like this in the city plaza? I heard that the nobles here were a bit violent, but I didn’t know they would be this crazy.

Still, it probably wasn’t unusual for nobles to fight each other.

Since it was their problem and there was no need to get involved, I was trying to move towards the edge of the area to get out of the scene when…

“Who is this guy!!!”

Suddenly.

“What are you looking at! Get lost!!!”

The young noble shouted at me.

—Swish.

Then, two warriors in front of him glared at me while pointing their swords at me… I couldn’t help but freeze for a moment at this absurd situation.

What the hell is wrong with these guys?

“Are you… are you talking to me right now?”

When I asked that, the noble blinked his eyes.

“Wh-what? Th-that crazy bastard dares…!”

He stuttered, pointing at me.

This guy isn’t in his right mind.

That’s why he’s swinging a sword in a place like this.

“Hey, you fucking bastard. Am I your mom, you unfilial son? You just started calling me a crazy bastard as soon as you saw me?”

As I walked towards him, the warriors reacted frantically, and the noble thrashed around, spewing insults at me.

“H-how dare you insult me!!! Who are you to dare insult Amel Temtua, the heir of the Temtua earldom!!!”

The heir of the Temtua earldom.

Ah. So he was the son of the owner of this land.

Whatever the case, it was clear that his parenting was fucked up. In that case, I had no choice but to guide him with the heart of a parent. Today, I am that guy’s one-day father and teacher.

“You’re the one who suddenly started cursing at a passerby, you uneducated bastard. Do you even have any common sense?”
“Th-that impudent bastard dares to make our duel into a spectacle and then raise his voice!!!”

So this was a duel.

“Ah, fuck. Then you watch because you might get hit while they’re fighting. Are you going to keep being a pain in the ass? I have to block it if something flies at me, you son of a bitch.”
“S-son of a bitch!”

Nobles are always like this.

—…

At some point, the fighting stopped. The opposing faction gathered together and looked at us, and the guys on this side formed a battle line in front of the noble, aiming their weapons at me.

“What the hell is all this? Is this how your dad taught you?”
“To insult even my father! I won’t stand it any longer! Kill him!!!”

Finally, he started talking about death.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

At the same time, the warriors in the battle line let out a shout and charged.

“This isn’t even a fucking kids’ game. I can’t help it, you son of a bitch. You come here. No. I’ll go.”

I didn’t really intend to cause trouble, but if I got caught up in something like this, I had no choice but to cover my travel expenses.

Since he’s a noble, he probably has a lot of money. I’ll just beat him up a bit, get some compensation, and be done with it. I’m being lenient because this is a foreign country. If this was the Kingdom of Karga, I would have fucked him up.

“Die!!!”

Soon, the warriors reached me.

I opened my palm and shot it towards the face of the guy in the front.

—Thwack!!

“Duwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!”

The guy who was hit in the face flew straight like a missile, and the guys behind him were all hit by the projectile and bounced off, flying into the sky.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaack!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!”
“Oaaaaaaaack!!!”

More than ten guys flew like that. I watched it happen, deploying my protective aura and taking the incoming blades on my bare body.

—Crack!
—Kuuuuuung!

“Uh… uh oh?”

Dismay filled the warrior’s face.

“Hehehe, you bastards.”
“Uh…”

Of course, there was no way that attacks from these weaklings could work on my current body.

—Crack!
—Kuuung!

The warriors surrounding me were very busy trying to stab my back, shoulders, chest, and abdomen with their swords, but none of it could cause me any pain. This was just a soft caress.

“Did you think those things would work on me?”

—Grasp.

I immediately reached out and grabbed the wrist of one of the warriors.

“Aah!”

—Whoosh!!!

I grabbed the guy like a mace and swung him around, sweeping away the guys who were surrounding me.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaack!!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!”

Weapons and enemies screamed in unison.

It didn’t take a total of 10 seconds to clean up these weak little kids.

What remained on the scene were the battered warriors and…

“Uh, uh. Uh uh…”

…the noble, who was staring at me with his mouth wide open.

“How dare this son of a bitch not recognize the hero of humanity and act up?”

That bastard dared to not recognize me, the hero of humanity, and act like a crazy dog, committing rudeness. This was already an international issue. I approached him to immediately hold him accountable. The guy sat down on the spot and looked up at me.

“Is that how you treat someone you’re meeting for the first time? Huh?”
“D-don’t come closer!”

I’m already close.

“Shut up, you bastard.”

I grabbed his ear and pulled him up.

“Ack…! Ack!! Aaaaaack! Stop! Stop!!!”