Transcendent Warrior with a Dimensional Shifting Inventory

69

＜You have slain the Saltus Dragon.＞

＜As a reward, 240 hours of return time has been credited.＞

＜Remaining return time: 45 days, 15 hours, 13 minutes, 24 seconds＞

Another 10 days had been added to their precious time.

Their remaining return time now amounted to more than a month and a half.

With this much time, they could work hard and buy a nice house to move into.

However,

Two dragons had been hit by the high-explosive bomb and had fallen, but the return time was only credited for one dragon.

That meant the other one was still alive.

Thud-

Light burst from the surviving dragon’s body.

It was using recovery magic.

Its body, which had been riddled with wounds, was healed in an instant.

It turned its head and looked at its brethren.

They were lying motionless on the ground.

Ke-e-e-ek-

It wailed.

Just a moment ago, it had been enjoying an outing.

But in an instant, it had lost all its brethren and was the only one left alive.

Rage toward the humans surged within it.

It wanted to spew flames and poison on them, erasing them without a trace.

But what three of them together could not do, it could not possibly accomplish alone.

Flutter, flutter-

The dragon took flight.

And it began to run away again.

The soldiers of the battery that had fired on it lamented.

“Damn it! It’s not dead!”

The opportunity for a triple promotion that had been right before their eyes was flying away.

The battery commander shouted to his men.

“We still have a chance! Fire one more shot!”

Clank-

The loaders quickly loaded a high-explosive shell.

“Fire!”

Boom-

The gunner fired the high-explosive shell at the dragon.

But the dragon was already out of range of the shell.

Bang-

Hearing the sound of an explosion behind it, the dragon muttered.

[I will definitely come back and take revenge.]

Swoosh-

The dragon disappeared far into the western sky.

A moment later, the voice of the communications officer came from the ring Minhyuk was wearing.

-The dragon has escaped the surveillance network.

It is unlikely that it will return and attack again immediately, based on the situation.

Minhyuk gave an order to the communications officer.

“Lift the war situation.”

-Yes! Combat status is released!

Boom-

The sound of a bugle call signaling the end of the situation echoed throughout the fortress.

Then, the soldiers and elves who had been taking shelter in the underground space poured out.

Wow!

They cheered as they looked at the dragon’s body collapsed on the open ground in the fortress.

“The dragon is dead!”

“His Majesty defeated the dragon!”

Minhyuk ordered the soldiers to move the dragon’s body that had fallen outside the fortress inside.

Buzzing-

Soldiers and elves flocked around the body to look at the dragon.

“Wow! It’s my first time seeing a dragon!”

Swish-

Someone threw a stone at the dragon’s body.

It was an elf.

“You killed my parents!”

Among the older elves, there were some who had various grudges against dragons.

In the past, there were often cases where dragons whimsically burned down forests and elves were massacred.

Growl-

Minhyuk drew the longsword made from the dragon’s bone.

Clang- Clang-

He swung his sword twice and cut open the chests of the two dragons.

Then, the brilliantly shining dragon hearts were revealed.

＜Giant Superior Magic Bead＞

-A giant bead with concentrated magic power.

-You can use the bead to infuse magic tools with magic power.

It was similar in size to Teiden’s heart.

However, it was a superior magic bead with a much denser concentration.

Minhyuk stored one of the two dragon hearts in the underground space of the fortress.

And he loaded the other one onto a wagon.

He would move it to Astel Fortress right away.

Just like Teiden’s heart, the dragon’s heart was too big to be moved using Gaon.

He had to take it by wagon.

Right after defeating the dragons, now was the best time to move the magic beads.

Still, he brought Gaon just in case a dragon attacked.

“Let’s depart for Astel Fortress!”

Rumble-

The soldiers began to pull the wagon with the magic bead.

Behind that, the golem pulled the wagon with Gaon.

Minhyuk sat on the wagon and looked up at the sky.

There were a few cotton candy-like clouds floating in the blue sky.

***

Flap- Flap-

A dragon flew into the palace.

It was Saltus the dragon who had lost his brethren.

Atop a tombstone in the middle of the palace, a crimson dragon was perched.

Saltus the dragon lowered his head toward the ground and spoke to the crimson dragon.

[I have failed.]

Hmm-

The crimson dragon let out a short sigh and asked.

[You set out with three, yet why have you returned alone?]

[Tunaka and Manaka are dead.]

The crimson dragon spoke with a grave expression.

[The Grand Matriarch of the Heavens entrusted me with full authority. It was my mistake to trust you with the task. It seems I shall have to handle this matter myself.]

Then, the dragon Akara made a request of the crimson dragon.

[Oh, great Srinijam! Please grant me a chance. I shall handle the visitors cleanly, such that you need not move yourself!]

The crimson dragon pondered for a moment before asking Akara the dragon.

[You will not waste my time as well, will you?]

[I am confident! If I fail, I shall offer my life.]

[If you plead so earnestly, then I shall grant you a chance.]

The crimson dragon cast a draconic spell.

Then, a scroll imbued with crimson light appeared in the air.

It was a scroll containing a puppet spell.

[Is this what you required?]

[Thank you, oh great Srinijam!]

Swish-

Akara the dragon placed the magic scroll in his inventory.

Then, he exited the palace and flew off toward the east.

From Noble mtl dot com

***

Rumble, rumble-

The wagon carrying the dragon’s heart arrived at Asdel Citadel.

“His Majesty the Emperor has returned!” the sentinel guarding the castle gate cried out.

Ta-da-

Trumpets blared loudly within the citadel.

Rumble, rumble-

Minhyuk passed through the castle gate, seated atop the wagon pulled by golems.

The townsfolk came out to the roadside and greeted Minhyuk.

Wow!

They cheered, looking between Minhyuk and the dragon’s heart.

Everyone had already heard of Minhyuk’s exploits.

That he had obtained the dragon’s bone in the Helkan Mountains expedition and slain the dragons that had raided the Tamir Fortress.

The townsfolk were ecstatic at Minhyuk’s legendary achievements.

The nobles, too, were filled with even greater awe toward Minhyuk.

Simultaneously, his fear of Minhyuk grew.

He had maintained his privileges easily until now by flattering the old emperor and the young princess.

For them, Minhyuk was a terrifying existence.

.

.

.

Minhyuk, who had arrived at the imperial palace, moved straight to the heart of the civil war.

Then he entered a room that only the imperial family could access.

He stepped onto the platform and brought his hand close to the crystal ball.

BAM-

Light radiated from the orb.

CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER-

The entire platform began to descend downwards.

The ring that Minhyuk was wearing was what activated the crystal ball.

＜Key ring.＞

-Can activate specific magical tools.

It was the ring used by the previous emperor.

Only by possessing this ring could one activate the elevator.

THUD-

The platform stopped.

The Altar of Protection entered Minhyuk’s view.

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-

He rolled the dragon’s magic bead and brought it close to the magic diagram drawn on the Altar of Protection.

BAM-

Along with a bright flash, the magic bead scattered into particles of light and was absorbed into the altar.

After a while,

Professor Raymon’s voice was heard from the twin rings.

“The protected area is expanding!”

Minhyuk rode the elevator and exited the underground space.

Then he escaped the imperial palace and galloped on his horse.

SWISH-

He rode his horse like the wind, passed through the city gates, and reached the boundary of the territory.

Like last time, he chased the expanding boundary.

The boundary that had been at Gaon Canyon continued to expand and embraced Tamirn Fortress.

It was as wide as when the Altar of Protection was first installed 100 years ago.

‘Will it expand further?’

Judging by the amount of magic power alone, it should expand further.

It hadn’t been long since he had filled the Altar of Protection with the heart of Teidon and then filled it again with the heart of a dragon.

However, it might not expand any further.

Perhaps Tamirn Fortress was the maximum area that the altar could cover.

All magic tools have a magic saturation level and cannot hold any more magic power than that.

For example, Minhyuk’s armor can be fully charged with magic power using several small, low-grade magic beads.

Even if large magic beads are used to charge it with magic power, its maximum capacity will not increase.

It would only be a waste of magic beads.

That was why infusing the dragon’s magic bead into the Altar of Protection today was a highly risky experiment.

‘Will it work?’

Swoosh-

The domain of protection continued to expand, encompassing Fort Tamirn.

‘Nice!’

The domain of protection had expanded to the habitat of the two-horned direwolves.

It was more than 1.5 times larger than 100 years ago.

***

Roar-

Several times more people than usual gathered in front of the bulletin board in Puppy Square.

Someone who was looking at the bulletin board through the crowd let out a cheer.

“I did it! I did it! I got picked!”

He repeatedly shouted with joy and ran out of the crowd and out of the square.

He crossed the main street and entered an alley, then went down into the dark basement through a narrow entrance.

The population density of Asdel Fortress was so high that many of the poor lived in the sewers.

Tens of thousands of people lived in a place where no light entered and it was humid and moldy.

“Maria! Mother!”

The man who entered the house called out to his wife and mother.

“We’re saved.”

His wife and mother were taking care of their two-year-old child together.

Even though it was broad daylight outside, the house was so dark that he couldn’t see his family’s faces properly.

“I got picked!”

“Really? Oh my god!”

The man had recently applied for the right to farm on the land directly managed by the emperor.

And he had won despite the high competition rate.

In other words, he had become a tenant farmer of the emperor.

Minhyuk had granted the nobles with just enough fiefdoms to cover the gold they had sponsored, so that they wouldn’t be dissatisfied.

And he had granted fiefdoms to those who had made great contributions in the expedition and given them noble titles.

Even after all that, there was still a lot of land left.

That was because the domain of protection had expanded much further than initially expected.

Minhyuk decided to manage the remaining land himself.

It was an area that covered half of the entire domain of protection.

“I got picked!”

A cheer came from the house next door.

The soundproofing here wasn’t good, so he could even hear his neighbors whispering.

The man asked his neighbor in a loud voice.

“Jan, did you do it?”

“Noah, did you do it?”

“Yes, congratulations!”

“Congratulations to you too, Lord Noah!”

“What lord?”

Jan used an aristocratic title for Noah.

“Since you received a territory from the emperor, you’re an aristocrat now. Isn’t that right, Lord Noah?”

“That’s right! Let’s do well together from now on, Lord Jan!”

hahahahaha-

The families of the two men laughed together as they listened to the two men’s jokes.

However, their jokes weren’t completely baseless.

Minhyuk decided not to give fixed salaries to the farmers who farmed the land he managed directly, but to give them a portion of the harvest instead.

However, upon closer examination, the ratio was the same as the ratio at which the nobles gave a portion of the crops produced in their territories to the emperor as taxes and kept the rest for themselves.

The only difference was the size of the land, but in terms of tax rates, the nobles who received territories and the emperor’s tenant farmers were on the same terms.

Some nobles found this situation unpleasant.

However, they couldn’t openly express their dissatisfaction.

They had received the amount of territory that Minhyuk had promised them, and the tax rate they had to pay to the emperor had not increased compared to before.

Above all, Minhyuk was too frightening.

Not a single person dared to mention anything about it at the noble gatherings.

***

Minhyuk had finished all the pending internal management.

There was one guideline that Minhyuk had established regarding politics.

It was,

‘Let’s not try to change anything drastically.’

He would gradually address any excessively unfair or strange systems, but he wouldn’t waste his energy trying to implement sweeping reforms.

And he had learned from living in 21st century Korea.

That changing systems doesn’t change society.

In any case, he had now obtained a weapon that could kill dragons and had completed his internal management, so he would now devote himself to the most important task.

‘Let’s set out for Melvec!’

It was time to take the first step towards unifying the continent of Rania.