Episode 010
Clatter—
Clatter—
The carriage rattled noisily as it raced on without pause.
“…….”
Sitting cross-legged, I continued trying to circulate my qi and regulate my breathing (運氣調息).
They say you fall back on what you know.
Since it would be difficult to draw on my innate true qi any further, it was time to start training in martial arts in earnest.
‘If I have time left over, I should try learning magic or divine power too.’
After lightly circulating the Microcosmic Orbit, the first thing to do was condense qi in my dantian.
You couldn’t fly before you could even run. Recovering the flow of this broken body came first.
“…….”
Suppressing as much of the turbid qi accumulated through the Reverse Blood Demonic Art (逆血魔功) as possible, I refined the energy throughout my body.
My overall muscle strength was lacking, but a Hero was still a Hero; the bones and meridians themselves were quite satisfactory.
It was a little late to begin learning martial arts, but that wasn’t a problem.
Because I had experience unlike anyone else.
‘Good thing it ended well.’
As I continued the Microcosmic Orbit, my mind wandered elsewhere.
“……Mm.”
When I shifted my leg slightly, a heavy weight in my back pocket jingled.
A hefty reward I’d received for exposing the Deputy Tower Master’s evil deeds.
‘Just what the hell did she do to her disciples?’
At first, I’d proposed a deal because I intended to have them handle the aftermath of this incident…
‘Master… You’re saying that crazy bitch is dead? She offered people as sacrifices… How could she do something so horrific!! Leave it to me!! Because she submitted my thesis under her own name, I’ve been…’
‘No! I’ll do it, I will! Because of that lunatic, I couldn’t even graduate… I’ve been a Magic Tower student for ten years now…!’
‘Please let me do it!’
I knew she was unpopular, but I didn’t know it was to this extent.
Seeing how they cooperated voluntarily, far from needing a deal, perhaps even her own disciples had been greatly enraged by her inhumane experiments.
‘Well, that, or it could just be extremely personal grudges…’
Among them, there were probably some who coveted the Deputy Tower Master’s research or position,
but that no longer mattered.
By now, the Deputy Tower Master’s evil deeds should have reached the Tower Master’s ears as well, so they’d take care of it on their own.
In any case, with something that wasn’t even mine,
Jingle—!
…I’d managed to pocket this much, so it was an extremely profitable deal.
Of course, this wasn’t the end of it.
Inside my inventory were the elixir I’d taken from the treasure vault, the black ribbon, and the remaining gold coins.
To avoid troublesome matters, I dyed my conspicuous hair black and wore a camouflage robe over my outer clothes.
I shouldn’t have to worry about the Magic Tower for a while.
Moreover…
++
=Unidentified Item=
No information.
*A faint power of time resides within it.
▷If you visit an appraiser, you may be able to learn information about “this.”
++
The reward I’d obtained after clearing the prologue quest.
‘This really bothers me.’
Even if it was an unidentified item, only its power was unknown; its appearance should remain the same…
But I couldn’t even guess what this was.
A small, round bead the size of a mandarin orange.
It was white too. Would it taste like vanilla if I ate it?
It was a little disappointing that it wasn’t a weapon, but you never knew until you opened it.
It might be an item exclusive to Extreme Mode.
Clatter— Clatter—
“Hey! Drive properly!”
“How are you even handling this carriage?”
“You think we came to a racetrack?”
“…….”
That was why my current destination was the kingdom’s border region.
Certainly, the fastest option might have been to find an appraiser and head to the royal capital of the Ersha Kingdom. The farther out you went toward the outskirts, the more expensive things became.
But countless spies from the Demon King’s Army had already infiltrated the kingdom.
If even a high-ranking mage like the Deputy Tower Master had been cooperating with the Demon King’s Army for the sake of her experiments, that said enough.
The recent matter with the Deputy Tower Master had also been publicly credited to the Sword Master, so it wouldn’t be good for my movements to be tracked over something like this.
Since time was limited, I had to use it as efficiently as possible.
On top of that, the guys I was supposed to compete with in good faith and join forces with were all complete idiots…
The only person I could trust was myself.
“Phew…”
I let out a sigh without realizing it.
“Young man, is something worrying you?”
“…It’s nothing serious. I’m fine.”
I gave a vague answer to another passenger in the carriage and continued circulating the Microcosmic Orbit.
‘First, I’ll set aside the spear and magic…’
The next Hero might be better than those first two, but considering they’d been used as a chess piece, they weren’t particularly trustworthy either.
Lastly, as for the final Hero…
‘They still haven’t left the empire, right?’
I didn’t know what they were doing, but since they hadn’t even shown up for the trial, chances were they weren’t normal either.
The sages of old once said that one out of every five people was abnormal…
‘This is just… hopeless.’
Honestly, if I considered only the rewards, going to the desert region would be best,
but I hadn’t properly learned martial arts yet, let alone divine artifacts, magic, or divine power.
‘If I go now, I’ll be perfectly set up to die, won’t I?’
I needed to secure at least the minimum level of ability to protect myself so I could escape in the event of an emergency.
There wouldn’t be much difference later anyway.
The hardest thing was always meant to be cleared first.
That was why I’d chosen the border region.
Clatter—
Neigh—!
“We’ve arrived!”
With the coachman’s shout, the carriage jolted once, then came to a stop.
The last village located at the entrance to the border region.
Of course, even beyond this village was still formally the kingdom’s territory,
but at present, it was considered a disputed zone.
“…….”
I got off the carriage and walked without stopping toward the outskirts of the village.
Was it because of the rumor that the Demon King’s Army’s conquest of the eastern continent was nearing its final stage?
“They say those vicious demons swallow people without even chewing.”
“Is it only the demon race? I heard wicked devils are running rampant too!”
“Then we should hurry up and flee! What are we waiting for?”
“Is there any guarantee the Demon King’s Army won’t invade our Ersha Kingdom? Let’s leave for the royal capital quickly!”
At a glance, there were easily twice as many people entering the village and moving toward the royal capital as there were people heading out toward the border region.
I really wondered whether those kingdom bastards knew about this.
“Is it there?”
In any case, what I had to do hadn’t changed.
My unhesitating steps came to a halt in front of a sturdy steel gate.
‘First, I need a weapon.’
Rather than going to the Church’s headquarters, undergoing the ceremony, and obtaining a divine artifact (神器), this was far more efficient. I had money too, so there was nothing to be ashamed of.
A mansion so enormous it felt out of place compared to the surrounding houses.
Beside the main gate, the flag of House Barden fluttered this way and that in the wind.
They were a family of blacksmiths counted among the top three in the kingdom, famous for magical weapons that layered mana over arms and armor.
At present, they had half fallen into decline for various reasons, but their prestige still remained intact.
Perhaps that was why.
As I passed through the large gate and stepped inside,
“Hurry, hurry, get in line.”
“I came all the way from the far north to buy a magical weapon.”
“Hey, what are you doing?”
A crowd of over a hundred people had formed a long line, all trying to obtain weapons from House Barden.
And that wasn’t all.
Seeing the family’s private soldiers stopping each guest one by one and inspecting their belongings…
‘This is going to take forever, isn’t it?’
In that case…
I saw servants working nearby.
Among them, I approached one who looked dazed and spoke to him.
“Excuse me.”
“What is it?”
“I came to settle the payment for goods.”
When I shook the heavy money pouch for him to see, he looked around in confusion.
“You came in person? Oh dear… The head butler is inside…”
“I’ve been here a few times. The main gate is crowded, so could you open the side gate for me?”
I didn’t lie.
It was in the game, though.
“Look at me losing my head… Please come this way.”
Payments and deliveries were things people couldn’t refuse.
Following the servant, I entered through the side gate and strode forward without hesitation.
Should I call it fortunate, at least?
“What kind of inspection takes that long?”
“I spent seven hours just being inspected.”
Since the number of people had been reduced to one-tenth, I should be able to get in quickly at this rate.
“It must be because of leaks of their magical armament technology.”
“As expected of the power of a magic sword…”
A sword ought to remain faithful to the basics.
Magic swords and the like were nonsense.
**********
Had about thirty minutes passed?
Before I knew it, all the guests who had been standing in front of me were gone, and my turn had come.
‘That was faster than I expected.’
What I was looking for was a masterpiece made by the previous family head.
A sword of moderate length, with strength needless to say, and sharpness enough to cut through bone.
Others simply didn’t know about it, but in terms of performance, it would rank within the top five in the kingdom.
At that moment,
a beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair approached, accompanied by five or six men.
“Lady Lena, would you not consider spending your life with me?”
“Please marry me!”
“My lady, you are truly beautiful today.”
Dressed in an elegant blue gown, she shoved the men aside with an annoyed expression.
“I only came to buy a weapon today. If you wish to help me, would you please disappear?”
“Lady Lena, how could you say such a thing!”
“What is it you want? I will buy it and offer it to you at once…”
As if it were only natural,
“Move.”
the beauty pushed aside the people in line and came toward me.
I quietly watched her with my arms crossed.
“Why is everyone just standing there watching?”
“…Be quiet. That’s the crest of a baron’s house! You’ll only cause trouble for yourself.”
“E-even so, I waited seven hours…”
“There’s nothing commoners like us can do.”
Before I knew it, she had come right up in front of me.
‘Oh, would you look at her?’
“Lady Lena, please marry me!”
“No! My partner…!”
The blonde woman, arms crossed, glared at me and said,
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to move?”
“Get out…”
“Hah—! How tiresome, truly! Now even someone like this…? Your face seems decent enough, but isn’t it proper manners to introduce yourself first?”
“Get out…”
“You want me to marry you? Well… since you’re proposing to a beauty like me, it’s only natural you’d be nervous. You seem to be lacking a little confidence…”
What bullshit was this?
“I said get out of the way.”
“…Eh, eek!”
Pushing the young lady’s head to the side, I moved inward.
##