Chapter 168: |
Chapter 168
The cave was both the headquarters and the treasure trove of the Ghost Horse Bandit Gang.
“Who are you guys!”
“Boss!”
The bandits inside the cave were startled.
They had thought the leader and his companions had returned from their raid, but it turned out to be otherwise.
“Take care of them all.”
“Yes!”
Qasim and the magic swordsmen wiped out the bandits in the cave.
They were nothing but trash that didn’t deserve mercy or pity.
When Qasim and the magic swordsmen had dealt with all the bandits inside, a small group of women appeared before them.
“Plea… Please save us!”
“Help us, please help us!”
“Huhuhuhu..”
They were women who had been kidnapped by the bandits to do menial labor and use as sexual playthings, and were devastated by the horrific abuse and violence they had endured.
“Calm down, everyone, we are the ones who have come to exterminate the bandits, you have nothing to fear, you are safe now!”
Qasim reassured them, then glared at the leader with an intense glare.
“Are you guys human?”
“…….”
“It’s not enough that you’ve committed all sorts of heinous crimes, you also abduct women and enslave them, you scum.”
Qasim wanted to kill the leader immediately, but he forced himself to be patient.
The leader was still worth keeping.
Since it required an incantation every time the cave opened and closed, it was necessary to keep him alive for the time being.
“There are stacks of treasure here!”
Inside the cave, the headquarters and treasure trove of the [Ghost Horse Riders], there were mountains of gold and silver treasures.
The accumulated wealth of the gang over the past two hundred years had been stashed in the cave.
Qasim didn’t even pay attention to the piles of hoarded gold and treasures.
They could take their time with the treasure.
‘I must find the ring.’
Instead, he followed Otto’s orders and focused on searching for a blue ring.
A ring with the ancient inscription <עבדא כדברא> on the inside….
But looking for a small ring in a mountain of gold and treasure was no easy task.
‘I have to find it somehow.’
However, Qasim’s determination to fulfill Otto’s orders was immense.
Qasim stayed up all night searching through the piles of gold and jewelry until he finally found the ring.
The [Demon’s Cradle], one of Saladin’s two Holy Relics.
‘Your Majesty, Rejoice, this Qasim has accomplished his mission!’
Qasim burst into tears of happiness as he thought of Otto.
‘His Majesty will praise me, I can’t wait to see him.’
Having succeeded in his mission, Qasim was very eager to meet Otto and receive his praise.
For him, Otto was that kind of person.
There was nothing else in the world that would make him happier than to receive Otto’s recognition.
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Only after finding the [Demon’s Cradle] did Qasim and the magic swordsmen settle down to rest.
That night.
Qasim prepared to return to Al-Salam.
“When we get outside the cave, there will be saddles lying next to the bodies of the dead bandits.”
Qasim directed.
“His Majesty has told me that these saddles are artifacts that summon the Ghost Horses.”
At this, the magic swordsmen burst into a chorus of admiration for Otto.
“Ohhhh!”
“As expected, His Majesty is wise!”
“How can he see through everything!”
Thanks to Qasim’s zealous pitching, the respect of the magic swordsmen towards Otto was growing.
Of course, even without Qasim, the magic swordsmen would have revered Otto and even been willing to give their lives for him.
“Let’s leave the gold and jewelry here, and release the captive women first.”
Qasim prioritized the victims over the hoard of gold and treasure.
‘His Majesty would have saved them first,’ he thought.
After all, the treasure wouldn’t go anywhere.
“We will travel riding on the ghost horses, and the women will ride on our horses. If we cast a Noise Reduction spell and a Vibration Reduction spell on the horses, we’ll all be able to safely travel as a group to a safe place.”
“Yes, Captain!”
An hour afterwards.
*Neeiggghhh!*
*Hiiieeeee!*
Qasim and the magic swordsmen on the ghost horses galloped through the Desert of Death, leading the horses carrying the women.
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Otto succeeded in selling the Oberhauser men at a very high price.
“Haha. I’ve been doing this for 30 years now. You really can’t be beaten. You have a truly stubborn bargaining skill. Hmph.”
The slave trader clucked his tongue and praised Otto.
After an hour of bargaining, he was defeated by Otto.
“Yeah, sure. It was nothing.”
“I’ll pay you right now.”
After the transaction.
“Son of a bitch!”
“I will rip you to shreds one day!”
“You think our boss will forgive you for this! you piece of shit!”
“If you think you’ll be safe, you’re sorely mistaken!”
The men from Oberhauser’s Trading Company yelled at Otto with arrogance and profanity just before they were dragged away by the slavers.
“Yep. Bark all you want. I earned my pocket money by selling you guys.”
Otto didn’t so much as flinch.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“About what?”
“If a word from their mouths reached the ears of the Argonne, we’d be in trouble.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Huh?”
“I guarantee you, they’ll all become morons in the next 24 hours.”
“Morons?”
“They’ll be turned into ghouls.”
“…..!”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not a real ghoul. They’re not dead. But there’s not much difference from a ghoul. They lose all their memories and intelligence, so they become like cattle.”
“Holy shit.”
“But at least they’re inexpensive.”
Otto smiled wickedly.
“If you think about what they’ve done to the workers, isn’t this the least they deserve?”
“That’s true.”
“Let’s get back to the inn and get some rest.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
The Sultan of the Sahara Kingdom, Sheerazad, was a very beautiful woman, a monarch who had once been a great warrior.
But the reason for her decadence was none other than her husband.
He was a huge philanderer, taking advantage of the fact that she could never leave him and cheated on her with several women.
As he expected, Sheerazad, who loved him dearly, forgave him time and time again.
Until one day.
Sheerazad witnessed her husband and her maid naked and intertwined, and she was driven completely mad.
That day.
Sheerazad punished the maid by dismembering her in the center of the capital.
She then killed her husband and turned him into a ghoul.
“You will suffer forever.”
With that declaration, Sheerazad put a chain around her ghoul-turned-husband’s neck and carried him around like a pet.
That’s when it began.
Sheerazad began inviting handsome men to her bedroom at night, sleeping with them, and then gruesomely murdering them the next day.
The men were turned into ghouls, like her husband, and became her personal guards.
Even now, Sheerazad was being supplied by slave traders with handsome male slaves to do all sorts of horrible things.
…this is what Otto know about Sultan Sheerazad of the Sahara Kingdom.
“And so.”
Camille, who had been briefed regarding on Sheerazad spoke up.
“You mean to tell me that you would go to such a fiend on your own?”
“The item I need is in her treasure vault.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I have a way of getting around it.”
“A way? Do you really think being good-looking will do the trick?”
“Ei, that’s not it.”
Otto chuckled softly.
“It’s true that Sheerazad likes handsome men, but that’s about it. She won’t spare anyone just because they’re handsome.”
“Then what are you planning to do?”
“I just need to last seven nights. I’ll take care of the details, but starting tonight, you need to wait here.”
Otto pointed to the outskirts of the Sahara Kingdom’s capital on the map.
“There’s a secret passage here, and that’s where we’ll escape.”
“I see.”
“Then let’s go.”
“What?”
“To Sheerazad.”
“Can you meet her anytime you want to meet with her?”
“Of course. I’m going to propose to her in public.”
“…..?”
“Meeting her is easy. The hard part is leaving.”
With those words, Otto headed to the palace with Camille.
Oddly enough, there was a large horn set up at the entrance to the palace.
“N-No way.”
“That lunatic?”
The knights guarding the palace were appalled when Otto fearlessly picked up the horn.
They knew all too well what it meant to blow a horn in the middle of the night…
*Ppuuuuuuu!*
The sound of the horn blares.
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
Knights emerged from the palace, surrounding Otto and his companions.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Nothing. I just proposed.”
“What?”
“I proposed.”
Camille didn’t know it, but in the Kingdom of Sahara, anyone could propose to the Sultan, Sheerazad.
Regardless of status or age, any man could summon Sheerazad by blowing the horn in front of the palace.
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An hour later.
“The Sultan is arriving! Everyone, show respect!”
Sultan Sheerazad arrived, accompanied by an entourage of Royal Knights.
Sheerazad’s face was concealed by an ethereal veil that obscured her features.
The only thing that was visible, however, were her eyes, which were very large and deep, and were the classic signature of a Caliph.
One could easily tell from her eyes alone that she was a woman of great beauty.
“Who is the one who proposes to me?”
Sheerazad scrutinized Otto and his companions.
“I am, Sultan.”
Dropping to his knees with his head bowed, Otto offered Sheerazad a single rose.
“I am a merchant from a foreign land, who has come to propose to the Sultan. Please grant me the opportunity.”
“Of course I will give you a chance.”
Sheerazad said in a harsh, cold voice.
“But if you do not possess the minimum qualifications, you will pay dearly for daring to propose to me.”
By “qualifications,” she meant his appearance.
The harsh price was none other than death.
Anyone could blow the horn to summon the Sheerazad.
But if one does not meet her aesthetic standards, they will be beheaded before they even cross the threshold of the palace.
Unless one is extremely handsome, there is no chance of even having the privilege of becoming Sheerazad’s prey.
Of course, no one has survived more than one night after crossing the palace threshold in the last ten years.
Even if they made it through the preliminaries, they would only live for a few hours to a day.
Perhaps it would have been better not to pass the preliminary stage.
Why?
Because if one didn’t make it, one would just die, but if one made it, they would be reduced to ghouls.
But Otto didn’t back down.
‘I know the strategy.’
He was confident that even if variables came up, he wouldn’t be caught off guard this time.
“I’m determined.”
“Good.”
Sheerazad replied casually, as if to say ‘Let’s see.’
From the start, it was a threatening tone, implying that if there was even the slightest displeasure, heads would roll!
“Now that you have summoned me, there is no turning back for you. So regret will be useless.”
“Of course.”
“Raise your head.”
Sheerazad commanded Otto.
“Yes, Sultan….”
“Pass.”
“Yes…?”
“I said pass.”
0.1 seconds.
This was the time it took for Otto to get the seal of approval.
