My Duke Won’t Die! - Chapter 1

Chapter 01

“It’s three golds.”

“What, you punk?”

“Ms. Lane, I hope you will refrain from using that kind of language. This place may seem like this, but this is a Material Trading Center run by the imperial family…..”

Bang!

Kevin, a new employee at the Imperial Family’s Monster Material Trading Center, kept his mouth shut. This was because the table that could withstand, the heavy weight of horns of a large monster, was dug into a hole the size of a human fist.

It was a really hard to believe scene, considering the fact that this table was made of Lunat wood, which is famous for being harder than the horns of monsters.

And Ella Lane, the woman who made that pit that will remain in the center’s history, raised her head for a while.

Olive-colored eyes full of anger were shining brightly.

“How many horns did I bring”?

“Thr-, huk, three horns.”

Kevin, who had made a squeaky sound from the momentary tension, bit his lip at the sound of his coworkers giggling. Unfairness came flooding like water.

-Why do you always give more money to Lane? Everyone should be equal, right?

It was just a legitimate opinion. However, at his own words, the team leader only replied with a cheerful shout.

-Okay, then Kevin is in charge of the Lane today.

-What?! What did you say?

-Wow! Nice!

Looking at the clapping staff, he thought something was wrong, but it was already too late. Because Ella Lane was already coming in with three horns, almost the size of a human torso.

“Yes, three.”

Kevin swallowed his saliva at Ella’s bleak voice,

“But 3 gold? Are you crazy?

“No, the market price….”

“I guess the number of hunters has suddenly increased by 3 times, hasn’t it? If not, among the already active number of hunters, ones that can hunt first-class monsters and bring in all of their unscathed horns increases by about six times? If I sell this on the black market, I can get 3 gold coins each.”

To be honest, he was really scared.

A hollow Lunat wooden table, and Hore’s horn with black blood on it were difficult to ignore.

However, he couldn’t accept it as it is. He was an official employee of the Monster Material Center. He couldn’t be swayed by the words of a hunter who only lived by hunting monsters.

So Kevin mustered up his courage.

“T-T-The black market is illegal! And no matter how first-class it is, it’s a Hore’s horn. Hore’s horns come out too much now. If there is more supply than demand…….”

“Hey, you’re talking about a very novel bullshit.”

Let’s just be swayed. Kevin calmly lowered his eyes.

“Tsk”.

And Ella sighed in annoyance.

The only way to hunt a monster that didn’t budge with most attacks was to cut off its neck completely or break the mana stone in its body.

And this “Hore,” which looks like a huge arthropod, was so hard that no sharp knife could get through, so it was difficult to cut the neck thanks to its glossy outer shell. In addition, the location of the mana stone was not easily found, making it a monster belonging to the highest rank among first-class monsters.

Sometimes, the damage it provided was greater than that of other monsters as his coiled form would roll down to the village where people were gathered.

Ella Lane was the first person to kill such a Hore. It was because she accidentally found a mana stone on its forehead. And even now that the location of mana, stone is known, not many people can still catch a Hore.

Of course, compared to the past, there were more horns of Hore.

However, it was entirely her own achievement, and since it was a product exclusive to this region, the

price would not have been cheap nationwide if you looked at the black market price.

But I have to listen to bullshit like no other in this world for bringing a Hore’s horn.

“That’s why you have to do business directly. I’ll be damned.’

As a person who lived in Korea in the 21st century, Ella Lane slowly opened her mouth, angry at the bloody distribution margin that did not change even in the world in the book.

No matter who heard it, it was a voice that struggled to contain the rising anger.

“Since the market price has gotten cheaper due to too much supply, I guess you have rated the price by demand, not risk? Then, if I bring the leather of Idyl that people use the most, will it be five times higher?

“That, that…”

“Think about it. Idyl is level 5 that even hunters on the street can kill, but the demand is the highest, so there’s none to sell because it’s not available in the market. Since you talked about demand, Idyl leather will bring a lot of profits to the center, so even you can go out there and make a lot of profits. What? You’re

not?”

No, that’s not something I personally disagreed with…

Kevin, who couldn’t say anything bowed his head down, Ella opened her mouth with a sigh at that scene.

“Kevin Banks.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Not all monster hunters are stupid bastards who can only wield swords.”

“So, I…”

“If you hit a cheap price in front of me one more time, I’ll show you what a real monster is.”

“So how much do you pay?”

Kevin realized that this was the last warning. It was a life that he had only lived for twenty-three years. So, Kevin calmly lowered his eyes and said.

“7 golds.”

“That’s a good idea.”

It was a pass.

Kevin took seven golds out of the drawer with his trembling hands and handed them to Ella. In order not to make contact with Ella’s eyes, which shone horribly he fixed his gaze through a deeply dug pit on the desk,

“After all, it feels good to do a fair deal, right?”

Do you have any conscience?

“Next time, let me trade materials here. The black market bastards have no good service.”

You’re annoying, too!

“It’s tiring to wield an ax at the black market bastards who annoy me all the time.”

..

…… Did you just say this to myself?

“Bye, Kevin Banks. See you next time.”

Kevin replied with a shivering whole body to the greeting that heralded Ella’s next visit. “Go-Go-Go-Go-Goodbye…..!”

“I-I-I-I- I’ll go.”

Ella’s tone was obviously teasing, but Kevin couldn’t say anything.

This was because Ella, who got up from her seat, held an ax soaked in blood from the monsters, Kevin knew well that it was better to shut up in front of Ella Lane with an axe.

When the back of Ella Lane, who opened the door of the center, finally disappeared, one of his colleagues opened his mouth, putting his hand on Kevin’s crying shoulder.

“How do you feel about meeting Ella Lane?”

“You all did that on purpose, right?

“Everyone who makes fun of their mouths goes through the process. Good work. If it’s 7 gold, you made a save. Harley gave her 10 gold while being, squeezed dry.”

“Hey! Why are you talking about that?”

Leaving behind Harley’s unjust cry, Kevin finally sobbed with his face buried in his hands.

“Hing, Hiing, so…I’m so scared….!”

I seriously didn’t want to have this terrifying experience again.

Ella, who stepped out of the center, found a man with long dark blue hair tied high, waving his hand.

It was Moria Winnon, a monster hunter.

“Lane, how much did you get?””

“7 golds.”

“What? I can’t believe it! Didn’t you bring three horns? When I went there, they gave me only 3 golds!

“That’s because you lay flat when they say they are giving you three mere golds, you idiot.”

“Still, it’s an office from the Imperial Family, so it’s hard to ask for more…….”

“Are they emperors because they belong to the imperial family?”

“Oh God.”

Moria was quite accustomed to Ella Lane’s haphazard chatter of thunderbolts, but he still couldn’t get used to the imperial blasphemy. No, he shouldn’t get used to it. Because if anyone heard it, his life would be in danger.

Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t try to correct Ella’s thoughts. Strangely, however, Ella had a fundamental disgust for the ‘identity’ itself.

– How can the same humans be called aristocrats or commoners? It’s not even funny.

At that moment, he remembered his colleague’s words, ‘If you hang around with a kid like that, you will soon be blown away too.’

No matter how Ella Lane is, if she still has thoughts, she would be careful in front of the imperial officials….

“Damn it, if your name is the imperial family, you should support the border properly. Even if I want to go to the capital and argue, they won’t even let ‘lowly’ monster hunters inside. Even if it’s just one flying

monster, I want to tame it and attack them in order to make those people come to their senses.’

Moria briefly checked his neck. Fortunately, it was still attached. However, if it continues to be like this, it would have been only a matter of time before the neck went away from his body.

So he opened his mouth with an earnest voice.

“Lane, I told you that the capital is protected by the blood of the great Acelanus that is preventing the invasion of monsters. No matter how much you train one, it’s obvious that the monster won’t even go near the walls. So accept our mission as a monster hunter

“Then, can I go over the walls of the capital city and beat the imperial family with my bare hands?”

“Uh…”

Of course, it’s possible for you, but you shouldn’t…….

Moria wiped out the cold sweat that flowed through his temples, even when he saw the rolling back of a Hore, he was not this scared.

However, the person who put those massive words into her mouth didn’t change the color of her face and just clicked her tongue.

“No, honestly, I already knew that he was a guy who didn’t even care about borders. But in reality, it’s even worse! Even my devotion is about to be killed. Of course, I’m stupid, so just looking at his face will bring it back to life in a moment, but that’s only possible when I see it. There’s no one to talk to. Let alone understand the contents of the book, I don’t even know what’s going on, so why the hell did I come here?”

“The only thing I know is that I don’t know what you’re saying right now.”

You are the one who will wield an ax at the executioner, saying that even if the executioner comes this is your chance.

Eventually, Moria raised his hands. Ella Lane would not change her mind anyway, nor would she kindly explain her unknown words.

Therefore, it was better to talk about something else,

“Well, that’s enough.”

Moria continued to talk to Ella, who was still grumbling.

“Are you sure you’re not going to join our hunting group?”

“Oh my god, Moria Winnon. Are you saying that

again?”

“Everyone is waiting. If you come in, there will be a lot of profits. Even the materials can be divided as you want…. Hey, where are you going?”

“I thought it’d be better to go and eat meat with the money I earned today than to hear useless things.”

He sighed briefly as Ella turned around without hesitation and headed to the inn.

It was a familiar attitude. Ella Lane has always been that kind of person.

At some point, she seemed to have opened her heart, but when you took one step closer, she closed the door in an instant.

It had been three years since he had been hunting with Ella, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was about to leave at any moment, just like she

appeared out of the blue, one day she would also vanish like that.

However, if he had said this, Ella Lane would only laugh at me. Therefore, Moria only stayed next to Ella, hoping that someone would appear to change her someday.

“Let’s go together, Lane!”

“If you shoot the meat, I’ll go with you.”

“The animal is already dead… Why are you shooting it again?”

“So, ‘shooting’ means to buy it for another….forget it. I’ll be damned.”

Really, she was an unknown person. Ella Lane,