Chapter 43. Outside the Town Walls (1)

Translator: Aura

After he arrived at the walled border town of the Staron Kingdom, Krasue found himself in a somewhat irritating situation.

“Go away, brat! That’s no place for you.”

He was arguing with a man who used to lead a corrupt agent to those who wanted to secretly pass the town walls.

“I’ll pay double.”

From Krasue’s perspective, the current situation was absolutely absurd.

Although he would pay like others who used this alternative, the man refused because he was a child.

“Ha, brat. You don’t know what it’s like outside the walls, right?”

You could see in the man’s eyes that he was fed up with Krasue.

“The route that officially connects the Empire and the Staron Kingdom is the only safe way to avoid the erosion of the world. Every day any trace of erosion is removed there.”

Everyone knew that. The official route was normally used by merchants and travelers.

In contrast, most of the people who used the secondary route were criminals or people who needed to hide their identities.

“On the unofficial route there is no control over the erosion of the world. Corrupt agents guide those who want to use the alternative route. The erosion of the world is circumvented as far as possible.”

He stared at Krasue as he spoke.

“By the way, the erosion of the world tends to terrify even the bravest.”

People basically had an aversion to the erosion of the world. In fact, it came from the survival instinct.

It was deeply engraved in everyone’s body not to expose themselves to danger.

“If even adults are afraid in such life-and-death situations, what do you think would happen if a brat like you panicked? It would result in your death like the agent’s.”

Krasue could not object to his words. There was no reason for an agent to take such a risk, no matter how much money he offered.

‘In the end, this appearance is the problem.’

He was pleased to return to his teenage years because he could train well and did not have any painful curses.

However, this appearance caused trouble everywhere he went.

“I assume your goal is to participate in the empire’s martial arts tournament. Whether that’s the case or not, it is better that you use the official route.”

“If I could use the official route, I wouldn’t be here.”

“What do you want me to do? No agent will want to guide you. Find another way to reach the empire.”

That said, he turned around and left.

Krasue was about to punch him, but restrained himself.

‘Fuck, I can’t believe it’s been treated like this when I’ve been in the forbidden areas.’

This could be considered a significant disadvantage of regression.

Crimson Garden, who watched from the side as a spectator, asked,

“What will you do?”

She seemed to find this situation funny.

“Crimson Garden, isn’t there some spell to turn me into an adult?”

“I don’t think there is. If you want to look like an adult, you’ll have to tear off someone else’s skin to cover your body.”

She often said horrible things lightly.

Krasue put his hand to his forehead. He remembered once again that she was an erosionist of the world.

“Hey, little one.”

Just as Krasue was thinking about what to do, he turned towards the voice that seemed to call him.

There stood a short-haired woman in her twenties, she looked at Krasue and smiled,

“Do you want to go outside the town walls?”

“Yes.”

At Krasue’s honest answer, she became less cautious.

Despite the winter, she only wore a thin shirt under the open coat.

“In that case, your older sister here could help you.”

“Are you a corrupt agent?”

“I’m not a corrupt agent, but a merchant.”

A moment later, Krasue realized what she meant.

“Do you want to take me hidden among the merchandise?”

“Yes. The merchandise that I normally transport is not checked because I use the secondary route.”

It wasn’t a bad proposal.

“What’s the price?”

“Ten times what you would have to pay a corrupt agent.”

She immediately said an absurd amount.

She was truly a merchant. With the idea that he would negotiate the price, she set a high amount.

However, Krasue had a different idea.

“I’ll pay you the same as a corrupt agent.”

“Hehe, then your older sister won’t help you. You will not be able to pass the town walls.”

“Instead, I’ll act as your escort.”

After she heard this, she blinked in bewilderment. Then she covered her mouth and laughed mockingly,

“Little one, don’t you think you overestimate yourself too much?”

Krasue fumbled in his pocket. At first he had not intended to resort to it, but the situation called for it.

Just then, the woman’s eyes went to Krasue’s hand.

Krasue held in his hand a badge with the Valheim Family emblem.

The Valheim Family emblem was known to all those who lived in Staron.

As evidence, the woman’s body stiffened.

But the reason she stiffened was more because of the pale blue light that the emblem emitted.

Everyone in Staron had also heard of this blue light at least once.

Especially criminals, whom Valheim’s sword could target at any moment, knew more about it.

The blue light only appeared when the badge was held by a member of Valheim’s direct bloodline.

This was Valheim’s special identification.

“It can’t be, you—!”

Just as she was about to shout out his family’s name, Krasue reflexively reached up and covered her mouth.

Krasue lightly removed his hood with his free hand and his piercing blue eyes shone.

The blue eyes and black hair of the Valheim bloodline convinced her further.

“Do you understand now?”

She nodded vigorously with a pale face.

From the moment Krasue covered her mouth, she froze because she felt overwhelmed by his presence.

“I don’t care if you tell someone else, it won’t do you any good. No one will believe you in the first place.”

Members of the Valheim Family could pass through the official route without any problems, so there was no reasonable reason for him to want to do this.

When Krasue removed his hand from her mouth, she turned around abruptly with an annoyed expression on her face.

“Let’s go!”

She knew there was no need to test him. As soon as Krasue took out the badge, his strength had already been confirmed.

However, she didn’t expect him to act as an escort. She had decided to help him simply in exchange for the money he had offered, to avoid trouble.

‘I like merchants, it’s easy to do business with them.’

***