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Chapter: 54

With a deep sigh, the Lord of Wolhan Fortress called for someone.

"Bring Chaos here."

At the Lord\'s command, the servant\'s face turned ashen. It reminded me of the expression I used to wear when I was assigned to clean the dormitory toilets back in Blood Cloud Fortress.

"Yes, my Lord."

Unable to disobey, the servant bowed his head and left the room.

I watched the servant close the door behind him before turning back to the Lord of Wolhan Fortress.

"Is that his name?"

"As I mentioned, he is not a child."

He looked every bit like a child, though. What was he talking about? I tilted my head in confusion.

"He may have the appearance of a young child, but in truth, he is much older than even His Highness the First Prince."

That was surprising.

"How peculiar."

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress elaborated.

"Due to a past mishap with medicine, his growth has been stunted. It\'s nothing to be concerned about, but I wanted to make it clear that there\'s no need to treat him as a child."

What a bizarre reason. It seemed there were quack doctors like Soon Gang here as well.

"I understand."

I nodded.

Despite being such an unusual individual, I had never heard of him before. Of course, if he was born in Wolhan Fortress and had never left, it was understandable that a country bumpkin like me wouldn\'t know him.

"Is his name Chaos?"

"He has a different given name. His surname is Son, and his given name is Soha."

Son Soha. Sharing the same surname, he must be related to the Lord of Wolhan Fortress.

"In our Northern Region, there\'s a tradition of selecting four powerful warriors and sending them to Wolhan Fortress. Son Soha occupies one of those positions... and he is also my cousin."

As expected, he was the Lord\'s relative. However, the Lord didn\'t seem too pleased while explaining who Son Soha was. The reason was not hard to guess.

Wasn\'t he the rascal who stole my sword and ran off? A leopard can\'t change its spots.

"I see."

In any case, I decided to remember the name. Chaos, Sohn Soha. One of the four strongest in the Northern Region.

The Northern Region was a place where battles were frequent. That\'s why, even if a major battle broke out in Seopyung, unless the country was on the verge of collapse, there was no reason to dispatch troops elsewhere.

Of course, I had witnessed the downfall of this nation, but the royal court was shattered by that Second Prince bastard first.

Because the royal court was destroyed early on, there was no higher authority left to command the deployment of troops from the Northern Region.

So, no matter how strong or how many troops the Northern Region had, their power naturally couldn\'t reach Seopyung.

Or perhaps all four of them died in battle, and they no longer existed when the fighting reached Seopyung.

Recovering my treasured sword was important, but Chaos wasn\'t my original objective, so I returned to the main topic.

"Speaking of which, you mentioned needing an exploration team."

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress replied with a determined look.

"Yes, Your Highness."

An exploration team. That was the reason the Lord had summoned me today.

He wanted to find and eliminate the root cause of the trouble plaguing Wolhan Fortress.

I agreed that was the best course of action. Simply hunting down the monsters that appeared before us would be an endless task.

"Since I\'m not familiar with the situation, I think it would be best for me to cross the border myself first. What are your thoughts?"

I had never crossed the border before. The same was true in Seopyung.

The northwestern border of Seopyung, like the land north of the northern border of the Northern Region, was uninhabitable. So, during my fight to revive Blood Cloud Fortress, I had no reason to go there.

There was a time when I lived in seclusion in the mountains to hide, but I had literally only set foot beyond the border.

That\'s why I was curious about what lay beyond the border. It was a personal curiosity, nothing important.

First, I thought it was crucial to see the monster\'s habitat with my own eyes. To corner them, I needed to know their weaknesses and what they were attracted to. Of course, King Bonhyeon probably didn\'t expect much from sending a wild card like me, but I needed to achieve something.

There\'s nothing like exceeding expectations to earn extra praise, especially when you\'re someone people don\'t expect much from.

And that was exactly my situation.

Perhaps surprised by my proactive stance, the Lord of Wolhan Fortress spoke with a hint of suspicion.

"I don\'t believe there\'s any reason for Your Highness to personally undertake such a dangerous task."

The Lord flatly rejected my proposal. But I\'m not so incompetent that I can\'t take care of myself, and isn\'t there a limit to just hearing about things without seeing them firsthand?

"Then how about this? I\'ll join the exploration team myself."

"The terrain is such that there are no discernible paths. It\'s a very treacherous journey, so we can\'t take many people."

"What\'s the maximum number of people you have in mind?"

"We plan to form a team of less than ten."

Then we would need to assemble the best of the best.

"They\'ll need to be skilled in mountain traversal and monster extermination."

"Indeed. Therefore, we intend to select someone with extensive mountain experience as a guide."

In other words, that meant excluding me and the other military officials from the capital.

Of course, I was an expert in mountain traversal. After the fall of Blood Cloud Fortress, I spent months wandering through mountain valleys. The difficulty of mountain paths wouldn\'t faze me.

But as Prince Ikwon, I was just a pampered prince who had spent his entire life in the palace, so I couldn\'t blame them for not understanding.

I replied nonchalantly, "If there\'s such a guide, I can trust and follow them. There\'s nothing to worry about."

"How could I suggest such an arduous exploration to His Highness the First Prince? I will ensure the exploration team\'s report is presented to you."

It wasn\'t working.

His dismissive attitude was starting to irritate me.

I pressed on more firmly.

"How can I trust something I haven\'t seen with my own eyes? Tell me if there\'s a better way to grasp the situation than me going myself. I\'m open to suggestions."

If I put it this way, the Lord of Wolhan Fortress couldn\'t refuse. I knew he was worried that if I got injured, the royal court might attack.

But that won\'t happen.

"...As you wish."

"Good. I\'ll leave the selection of the remaining members to you. Unfortunately, my subordinates aren\'t suited for mountain expeditions."

"I\'ll take extra care in selecting them."

"Alright, good."

As I was nodding my head, a servant spoke from outside the door.

"My Lord, as you commanded, I have brought Master Chaos."

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress looked at me, asking with his eyes if he should let him in. I nodded once more.

"Let him in."

The door opened, and the same guy I saw last night appeared.

Even in the bright light, he looked exactly like a young child. Huh, I let out a hollow laugh and pointed my index finger at him.

"You... No, you."

The guy, Chaos, nonchalantly walked over and sat in an empty seat, ignoring me. Thump. No one had offered him a seat, but he acted as he pleased, truly living up to his name, Chaos.

He couldn\'t possibly not recognize me, yet he shamelessly pretended not to. Even if he didn\'t know I was a prince, he should easily recall encountering me while strolling around the fortress walls last night.

How did he manage to get a nickname that suited him so well? Was it assigned based on personality?

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress spoke sternly.

"Chaos."

At that, Chaos, who had been indifferent, raised his head.

"Yes, my Lord."

"I heard from His Highness the First Prince about your outrageous act."

A crack appeared in Chaos’s nonchalant expression. He slowly rolled his eyes and looked at me.

His eyes seemed to be asking, "You are the prince?"

I gave him a victorious smile.

Chaos immediately backed down.

"I apologize, my Lord."

It seemed he wasn\'t afraid of the prince but feared the Lord of the Fortress. As expected of the Northern Region, I guess. It was always a novel experience to encounter a place where the prince\'s authority didn\'t work.

If only we were outside the Northern Region, things wouldn\'t be this disrespectful.

It was at this moment that I understood why King Bonhyeon had so readily tossed the task of sending someone to Wolhan Fortress onto me.

If even a prince received this kind of treatment, how much worse would it be for a mere official? Who would want to come all the way here and suffer such humiliation?

"I am already aware that you snatched His Highness the First Prince\'s treasured sword."

"I apologize, my Lord."

"Your apology lacks sincerity. Furthermore, it is an apology that should be directed towards His Highness the First Prince, not me."

Only then did Chaos’s eyes turn towards me.

"I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness the First Prince."

Seeing him obey every command, perhaps he\'s not a bad guy?

...No, that\'s not right. He stole someone\'s belongings at first sight, so he\'s at least crazy. There\'s no way a sane person would do that. Besides, he\'s not an ordinary civilian; he already holds a position, so he wouldn\'t be in need of money.

"Bring His Highness the First Prince\'s treasured sword immediately."

Chaos replied in a dejected tone.

"Understood."

Chaos abruptly stood up. Without even glancing in my direction, he swiftly left the room.

"I apologize."

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress apologized on his behalf.

"There\'s no need to apologize."

"He\'s not a bad person at heart, but there are times when he acts rudely like this. I will ensure that Chaos does not disturb Your Highness\'s peace of mind."

It wasn\'t particularly disturbing. I replied casually.

"Please do so."

A brief silence followed. I was thinking of excusing myself since there was nothing more to say when the Lord of Wolhan Fortress spoke.

"About yesterday\'s incident..."

It seemed he was referring to the sparring session yesterday. Come to think of it, the people I fought with yesterday were nowhere to be seen.

They probably weren\'t dead; I assumed they had collapsed and gone to rest.

I waved my hand and said.

"It would be best to let it go."

However, the Lord of Wolhan Fortress had a different opinion.

"So many people saw and heard it with their own eyes and ears. How can it be dismissed?"

"...That\'s true. Many people saw it."

Was he going to hold me accountable for knocking down the soldiers? As I was pondering, the Lord of Wolhan Fortress spoke.

"They must have learned a great deal. On their behalf, as their Lord, I would like to express my gratitude."

His words were unexpected. I shook my head.

"Gratitude? No, not at all."

If anything, it was I who had learned something. Thanks to them, I got a sense of how to utilize my acupuncture point, so it was a great help.

"One cannot fail to express gratitude for something deserving of it."

The Lord of Wolhan Fortress said that and fell silent.

I couldn\'t tell what I had done that impressed him.

"Well... Anyway, I\'ll start preparing for the exploration team."