The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player 57

Chapter 57

Crunch, crunch.

A man bearing a ferocious iron mask was devouring a piece of dark-red jerky. Though his expression was obscured by the mask, he seemed to be in a state of considerable excitement, not so much chewing as pulverizing the jerky at an incredible pace.

“Vice-Captain Jack, the target is smoothly approaching our location. No changes in personnel, and they don’t seem to be on guard in any particular manner,” reported a figure shrouded in a black mask, kneeling on one knee before the man.

“Are we ready?”

A gravelly voice, akin to the scraping of iron, emanated from him.

“Everyone is lying in ambush as planned.”

“Hmm. I was hoping for someone with a bit more fight this time…”

“Given they are from a prestigious family, wouldn’t their knights be of some use?”

“Pah! Hard to say. The intelligence folk have been so off the mark lately, trust is a luxury.”

Jack, the man in the iron mask, spat out the piece of jerky he had been munching on, stood up, and grasped a large broadsword.

“Shall we begin the hunt soon? Given the orders from the captain, let’s poke at them slowly.”

Though he said this, Jack was honestly not the least bit worried. Out of the five units prepared for this Gate assault, a whole three had been deployed for this hunt.

“And remember to capture the useful ones alive. We’ve been running short on test subjects lately.”

“It’s been communicated. Especially to capture that Raul alive, so no worries there.”

“Good, that insolent brat. I plan to take special care of him myself, so tell them not to rough him up unnecessarily.”

“Understood!”

As his subordinate bowed and left, Jack casually slung his broadsword over his shoulder and started to amble forward. Raul de Ashton. A name that’s been frequently mentioned within the organization lately.

Even to someone like him, who had little interest outside of fighting, the fact that it reached his ears meant the person was definitely someone to watch out for. Even the captain had specifically mentioned to take caution before the operation…

‘But in the end, he’s just a 15-year-old brat.’

He may have earned some renown borrowing the might of his family, but that would all end today. Imagining the spectacle of the lad begging for his life soon had Jack trembling with excitement.

* * *

“Halt!”

At Raul’s command, the unit stopped in its tracks.

“This seems like a good spot, don’t you think, Philip?”

“I agree, this looks suitable.”

The place they were pointing at was a rare hillock within the marshland. Unlike the flatlands that were obscured by various large and small trees and reed thickets, this spot was piled with gravel and rocks, offering a good vantage point for observation.

“Alright, shall we get started then? Homer! Construct a stronghold on that hill with the members!”

“Yes, Young master! Did everyone hear that? Let’s work swiftly!”

Following Homer’s command, who was one of the knights of the First Knight Order, about a dozen guild members disguised as mercenaries dashed towards the hill.

“What’s going on? A stronghold all of a sudden?”

Dalton asked with a curious expression.

“Just wait, it’ll be quite the spectacle.”

Raul followed the guild members with a meaningful look on his face, hinting at exciting developments ahead.

After assessing the hill’s size and orientation, Homer positioned himself in the center and signaled with his hands.

Then, with him as the focal point, the members spread out in a circle and gestured towards the sky.

Boom!! Bang bang!!

“Whoa!”

“What’s all this??”

Dalton, along with the mercenaries, couldn’t hide their astonishment as large rocks started materializing out of thin air in response to the members’ gestures.

The ground shook and loud noises persisted for a while. When the noise finally ceased, large stones had filled the hill.

“What the…? What just happened??”

Still unable to hide his amazement, Dalton watched as the guild members got to work on the stones.

“Hurry up! We’ll complete it in 10 minutes!! Just follow the practice, it’s enough!”

“Should we go with the basic shape?”

“Yes. We’re going with Type A!”

The stones that filled the hill were not ordinary.

Though their colors slightly varied, they were all standardized blocks with dimensions of 1 cubic meter each.

About 500 of these cube-shaped stones were being methodically stacked by the hands of the members, gradually forming a structure.

Knights, including Philip, joined in, and with Raul’s invisible assistance (psychokinesis), a small fortress was completed atop the hill in less than 10 minutes.

“Good heavens! What did I just witness?”

“Can knights really do things like this?”

“This is… something no one would believe if I told them!”

The mercenaries were impressed, etching the miraculous moment into their memories.

“Everyone inside!”

Being a makeshift fortress, it had no official gate.

Dalton climbed a ladder that was leaning against the wall, making his way up to the fortress.

“……!”

The fortress, a square of 20 meters on each side and 3 meters high, was so solidly and neatly completed that it was hard to believe it was hastily made.

Though not spacious, it seemed it could accommodate between 50 to 100 people.

Inserting steel shields into the slots on the fortress walls transformed it into an even more perfect stronghold.

There was nothing left to surprise Dalton as he climbed down the ladder into the interior, where makeshift barracks had already been set up. The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player 57

Entering the tent that served as the command post, Dalton asked in a slightly deflated voice, “You’re probably not going to explain even if I ask, right? Damn, my curiosity is killing me…”

As he watched Dalton scratch his head in frustration, Raul couldn’t help but let out a chuckle before speaking up. “There’s nothing that can’t be explained.”

“Really!?” Dalton exclaimed, his interest piqued.

“It’s all about the power of money,” Raul said with a dead-serious expression.

Dalton nearly threw a punch unconsciously at Raul’s face but managed to restrain himself with superhuman patience, heaving a deep sigh before turning his head away swiftly. Raul decided to elaborate further, noticing Dalton’s reaction.

“I’m not joking. We need a vast amount of top-grade spatial expansion artifacts that reduce weight and volume. They’re expensive, but not impossible to find.”

Dalton’s ears perked up at this, and Raul continued with a sly smile, “Then, you order standardized stone blocks from a quarry. For a fortress of this size, you’d need about 500 blocks.”

Dalton was seriously listening now, though he couldn’t begin to fathom the cost involved.

“Lastly, what you need are subordinates capable of stacking over 2 tons worth of stone blocks.”

Raul gestured towards the fortress visible between the tents, “You’ve seen the result with your own eyes. If you have the means, why not try it yourself? You’ll see I’m not joking.”

Dalton found himself speechless after hearing Raul’s explanation.

Indeed, everything Raul mentioned seemed feasible with money. The problem was the astronomical cost, even to Dalton’s admittedly poor grasp on finances, let alone his lack of willingness to attempt it.

Could expert knights really be persuaded to simply stack stone blocks? It went against everything Dalton knew. ‘Experts would be highly respected elsewhere and have their pride…’

It seemed bizarre that these individuals would willingly construct such an absurd fortress without complaint. Raul, observing Dalton lost in thought, couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

As Raul himself admitted, it wasn’t a method just anyone could attempt.

This crude way of building an emergency fortress was a strategy occasionally used by the ‘Player’ guild in dungeon raids.

High-grade gates or dungeons that appeared later required a long time to conquer and covered vast fields, hence the need for intermediate bases or supply depots.

This led to the creation of a method for constructing makeshift fortresses using inventories.

Though players’ inventories had limitations in number, size, and type, they could drastically reduce weight.

Raul, being a veteran player, had his guild members use their inventories to consistently gather standardized stone blocks from stone dealers, including Mira in the free cities.

‘Never thought we’d put it to use this quickly though.’

Suddenly, Dalton spoke up, “But Raul, why did we build the fortress? Honestly, it doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to set up something so grand here.”

Raul’s lips curved into a slight smile, “Good question. Actually, there’s something I was hoping you could help me with.”

Jack, the deputy commander of the Imperial Hounds, was barely holding back his growing irritation.

By now, there should have been some news, but no matter how long he waited, there was none. They were well past the originally planned time for the operation.

Although it was frustrating, they had too much prepared to rashly charge in, so he had been reluctantly biding his time.

Damn it, I can’t take it anymore.”

Even children on a field trip would be faster than these guys.

In fact, all the targets they had taken down before had never made them wait this long.

“Who the hell spouted the bullshit that they could conquer an F-Grade gate in two hours?” Far from two hours, half a day had already passed.

Thump thump thump!

That’s when the sound of someone running approached.

“Are you finally coming, you slowpokes?”

Just as he was feeling relieved and stood up, gripping his greatsword.

“Vice Commander, we’re in big trouble!”

A subordinate was gasping for breath as he yelled.

“What happened!?”

“It seems they’ve caught on to us. We sent out a reconnaissance squad because there was no reaction, and…”

“And?”

“They’re holed up in a fortress!”

“What? A fortress??”

What kind of nonsense was this? Though he was a deputy commander more inclined towards combat than information, he had never heard of a fortress-like structure appearing in an F-Grade gate.

Hadn’t they already scouted the terrain before the enemies entered the gate?

“What are you talking about? A fortress!?”

“It’s true! I’ve seen it myself after receiving the scout’s report.”

“You fools. Make some sense! And you should’ve reported something like that immediately!”

“We were delayed because we were avoiding the enemy’s eyes.”

“Enough, where is it? I need to see it myself!”

If these guys were holed up in a fortress or whatever, ambushes and traps would be useless.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Annoyed, Jack stomped after his subordinate.

‘If these bastards are spouting nonsense, they’re in for it. A fortress, you say, ridiculous.’

And a short while later. Jack’s mouth dropped open as he saw the fortress situated on a gentle hill. “Told you it was real….”

Despite his subordinate’s grumbling, Jack remained speechless for a long time.

(To be continued)