Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 145: The Power of the Fist

The sun set faster in the deep mountains than on the plains. 

A man was walking along the darkening mountain path.

“What kind of endless mountain is this, damn it…”

The man’s name was Cains. 

He had barely survived the shipwreck and drifted to some coast. He had no choice but to do so.

‘I have to find some people first if I want to reunite with His Majesty.’

However, he was slightly less skilled than his other companions, so his moving speed was slow. 

He had to walk endlessly in the mountains until dusk.

He was not like Je Gal Hwayeong, who knew the way and was adept at surviving in the mountains. 

Naturally, he was more anxious than anyone else.

But he was strangely lucky and managed to meet some people more easily than the other two.

“There’s a light!”

He saw a faint light in the distance on the dark mountain path. 

He forgot his fatigue and hunger and ran towards where the people were.

But before he could even reach there, he was greeted by a bunch of spears and swords.

Swoosh!

Clang!

“Who are you!”

“How dare you try to ambush the convoy of Cheonryong Trade Company!”

“Huh?”

He looked around with a bewildered expression at the people who surrounded him. 

A group of people dressed in blue clothes neatly encircled him. 

And from another place, a horde of people rushed towards Cains.

“What’s going on!”

“Is it an attack?”

The second group of people were not orderly or neatly dressed at all. 

They mostly wore shabby clothes and had various weapons.

Cains tilted his head.

‘They don’t seem very skilled?’

But he didn’t want to cause any unnecessary misunderstanding, and the enemies were also numerous. 

So Cains quickly raised both his hands.

“I surrender.”

“…”

There was a moment of silence in the field. 

What kind of attacker would barge in alone and surrender right away?

“What? Is that it?”

“He looks like one of those weird foreigners we’ve only heard about. He’s got brown hair and brown eyes.”

The ones in shabby clothes looked at Cains with interest.

The ones in blue clothes also looked at Cains suspiciously, but soon a middle-aged man who seemed to be their leader came out.

“What are you?”

“…”

Cains was momentarily flustered. 

He had heard some basic information before he came. 

It didn’t matter that he was a knight and a nobleman in the Eastern Continent.

“That’s…”

He hesitated for a moment and then decided to twist the truth a little bit.

“I’m from the Western Continent. I came to visit the East, but my ship was wrecked by a storm.”

The middle-aged man looked at Cains with disbelief.

His name was No Gwang. 

He was a fairly skilled expert who was in charge of the chief convoy of Cheonryong Trade Company, the largest trade company in Gangnam.

No Gwang quickly examined Cains’s complexion, clothes, expression, and so on.

‘He does look similar to those from the Western Continent?’

He rarely saw them, but he had occasionally seen some foreigners when he handled goods from the Western Continent as part of his trade company work.

“What’s your status in the Western Continent?”

“I was guarding someone important.”

“Hmm…”

No Gwang nodded. 

He didn’t know his exact skill level, but Cains clearly had a sword and looked like he had trained somewhat.

He finished his thoughts and looked at Cains with pity.

‘You’re in a tough situation. If you were shipwrecked, then the precious person you were serving must have died, and you were left on another continent without any money?’

He lowered his sword when he saw Cain, who was rolling his eyes innocently. 

He didn’t look like a bandit or a fearsome master no matter how he looked.

‘Should I report to the lord first?’

Nogwang hesitated for a moment, but he thought that there was no need to wake up the lord with this much trouble, and he called the men in shabby clothes.

“Can you take care of this friend a little until you get to Nakyang, where Jeongdomaeng is? He can use a sword, so you can hire him with you.”

When they heard Nogwang’s suggestion, they chuckled.

“Hehe. A funny-looking friend has come in.”

“That’s fine. It’s good to have one more arrow shield, right?”

“Hey… That’s why you guys are bandits… He’s a person in a tough situation, so take good care of him.”

Nogwang frowned and handed Cain over to them. He had a generous personality and left his last words with a pitying expression.

“All you have to do is what they tell you. Once you get to Nakyang, you’ll be able to earn some money, so you can find a way to go back to your continent.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cain didn’t know what he was saying, but he understood that he was joining the group anyway. On the other side, a tall man in his thirties with a goat beard waved at him.

He was dressed relatively neatly among the shabby bandits, and his tone was quite polite.

“Hey, come here, you foreigner.”

“Yes!”

As Cain ran over to him, the tall man opened his mouth.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Cain.”

“Really? That’s an unusual name. My name is Socheol. I look older than you, so you can lower your speech, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Cain agreed and Socheol smiled brightly.

“I heard your situation earlier and it seems pretty tough, but Cheonryong Pyoguk pays well, so you’ll probably make enough money to go to the port.”

“I’m sorry, but what is Pyoguk?”

At Cain’s question, Socheol realized that he didn’t know anything.

“Is there no bandit or Pyoguk on your continent?”

“Bandit?”

“Tsk! I guess I have to explain it to you.”

Socheol explained to Cain in detail. Bandits meant low-ranking warriors who received money and used force.

Those who couldn’t enter the first-class sects or families had to earn money by being hired by Pyoguk or nearby sects’ power struggles.

After listening to a rough explanation of Pyoguk and bandits, Cain nodded his head. He had an easy time understanding because there were mercenaries and knights on the Western Continent.

‘So I have to do mercenary work without any status as the eldest son of a writer. I can’t tell my father even if the sky falls.’

He didn’t like it very much, but he had to do something to survive, right? Cain wasn’t such a stubborn person either, so he decided to do whatever he could until he found his party.

That’s how Cain’s bandit life began.

***

Nogwang entered the large tent in the center and reported.

“It was noisy outside. What was the trouble?”

Bang Da-in, the lord of Cheonryong Pyoguk, asked Nogwang with a curious expression.

“It’s nothing.”

He shrugged his shoulders and gave a brief report on Cain. Bang Da-in narrowed his eyes slightly.

“A foreigner at this time? Isn’t that a bit suspicious?”

“Should I interrogate him?”

Bang Da-in thought for a moment and shook his head.

“No need. It would be better to trust your judgment than waste time on that. Aren’t you the best master of Cheonryong Pyoguk?”

“Haha! Thank you for trusting me.”

Nogwang, the chief escort of the caravan, was also the most trusted confidant of the caravan leader, so he seemed to let go of the matter about Cains. But the real reason why the caravan leader called him was not for such a trivial disturbance.

He stroked his black beard and opened his mouth again with a serious expression.

“We have about a week left, right? As I said, this cargo was requested by the Righteous Alliance itself. In the worst case scenario, we might be attacked by the Dark Sect.”

“I keep that in mind. That’s why you brought all the chief escorts and twelve first-class escorts with you this time, right?”

“That’s true. But we must never be lax in our vigilance.”

The Thousand Dragon Escort Agency was the best escort agency in the south of the river, so the quality of their escorts was quite high. Nogwang, who was in charge of the chief escort, was an outstanding expert who had entered the threshold of the peak.

Even the first-class escorts were experts who could be recognized as decent forces in any sect of the martial world.

They had nothing to fear from ordinary bandits. But the name of the Dark Sect was enough to weigh heavily on their shoulders.

That’s why they hired a lot of riffraffs like bandits who they usually didn’t employ much. They could use them as shields in case of emergency.

“Don’t worry too much. It will work out well.”

“I hope so…”

***

A few days later

Nogwang, who was driving the horse at the front, shouted vigorously.

“We’ll rest here today! Everyone get ready for camping!”

“Phew! Is this it for today?”

“We only have three days left to reach Nakyang. I want to rest in a warm place soon.”

The escorts scattered and set up tents and bonfires. The bandits did the same and worked diligently, and Cains was among them.

“Hey, you foreigner! Can you help me with this pole?”

“Yes!”

Cains easily lifted up a thick wooden pole that supported the tent.

In fact, it was not a difficult task for a knight of his caliber, but for bandits who were nothing more than third-rate martial artists, they couldn’t help but look at him with amazement.

“You’re a strong guy. Are you a great expert by any chance? Haha!”

“No way! I’m just escorting a precious person from the Western Continent. How can I compare with you third-rate martial artists?”

Cains surprisingly adapted well to joining them abruptly. He avoided conflicts and accepted most requests like just now.

And another reason was Socheol’s existence. He seemed to like Cains and treated him well. He was more refined than other bandits and surprisingly a veteran among them, so it was easier for Cains to adjust.

“Thanks to you, the escorting has become much easier.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m getting more help from you.”

They became close enough to call each other brothers and talked about their future plans.

“You said you’re going to look for the person you were escorting when you arrive in Nakyang?”

Socheol looked at him with pity after hearing his rough situation.

“That’s right. I have no choice but to ask around in the city since there’s no way in the mountains.”

Then Socheol made him a tempting offer.

“Then how about joining the Bandit Alliance temporarily? You need money to find someone, but it’s not an expense that you can afford without a penny.”

“Bandit Alliance?”

“Yeah. With your skills, you can easily get more than first-class.”

The other bandits didn’t care much about Cains’ strength. In fact, why would an outstanding expert join them?

But Socheol noticed that Cains was a trained martial artist after spending a few days with him.

“Then I’ll stop by when I get to that city called Nakyang.”

As he nodded cheerfully, their camping preparations were completed.

The night in the mountains was quite cold even though it was summer.

“Achoo! I wish we could get to Nakyang soon.”

“Me too. I’m dying for a warm bath…”

The two escorts who were on guard duty grumbled as the night deepened.

“Isn’t it time for the shift change?”

“You’re right. Isn’t the night watch sleeping?”

As they were grumbling, one of the guards noticed something strange.

“Huh? What’s that red dot?”

“What?”

One of the guards turned his head. But what he saw was not a red dot.

Shiiiiing!

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, a man in blood-red clothes was standing in front of them. 

The red dot was him, but he was so far away that he looked like a speck. 

He had closed the distance in a blink of an eye.

“…!?”

Clang!

Before they could blink again, one of the guards’ heads exploded like a watermelon.

The remaining guard backed away in fear. But the man did not move. 

He just looked at the guard with cold eyes and opened his mouth.

“Are you the trash from the Thousand Dragon Courier Service?”

He called the Thousand Dragon Courier Service, the best courier service in Gangnam, trash. 

It was an arrogant remark, but the guard nodded his head without thinking.

“I found the right place.”

The man smiled wickedly and ordered the guard.

“Call your boss. I have something to say to him.”

“Y-yes.”

The guard ran away in a panic towards where the boss was.

“We’re under attack!”

“What?”

Soon, people poured out of the tents. 

The boss, Jang Dae-in, also ran out in a hurry.

He saw the man in blood-red clothes and his face turned pale.

“W-who are you from the martial world?”

“Boss! That’s one of the elders of the Dark Sect!”

An old man who ran out with him quickly explained. The man looked at him with surprise.

“There’s someone who knows me in this third-rate courier service? You seem to have some skill too.”

The man had messy hair and was so tall that he looked like a giant rock.

“The Dark Sect?”

The word made everyone’s faces turn ashen.

The old man uttered his name with a trembling voice.

“Kwonma Hongjin!”

“Kuhahaha! That’s right, I’m Hongjin!”

The intruder was none other than the 10th ranked in the Dark Sect! He was one of the top experts in the Dark Sect.