episode_0061

Viola.

Seeing her reminded me of a man who belonged to the rebel faction called “Rebellion.”

The man called “Nation.”

Her family.

I stared at Viola.

Her dry, brittle hair. The dark circles under her eyes. Her slumped shoulders, as if weighed down.

—She’s completely different from before.

Lysiel frowned as she looked at Viola.

Just as Lysiel said, she had changed drastically from before. The confident, self-assured demeanor was gone.

“……You……”

“……Oh, it’s you?”

Viola’s sharp glare shifted the moment she recognized me. Her eyes softened with warmth.

“What brings you here?”

Even her tone had changed. The sharp edge in her voice had mellowed slightly.

“W-Wow, Yuseong! Y-You know that Viola?!”

Clara’s eyes widened as she spoke.

What the hell is up with “that” Viola?

“Why is she here?”

“H-Haha… J-Just passing by, that’s all.”

Clara stammered, pretending to be nonchalant.

Viola shot her a sidelong glance before turning back to me.

“So, what brings you here?”

“I left something with Durin. He told me to come today.”

“Ah, so you’re the one coming today? Hurry up and go. Durin’s been waiting.”

Viola pointed toward Durin’s workshop. Then, crossing her arms, she gave Clara a cold, mocking look.

“What about her?”

“H-Haha… W-We just ran into each other… Um, can I come along?”

“No. Durin already has enough pests bothering him.”

“Guess that’s that.”

Honestly, I didn’t want her tagging along either.

If anything, Viola’s blunt rejection made things easier for me.

Just as I was silently cheering for Viola inside—the door to the inner workshop creaked open, revealing two old men.

“Look, the brat’s here.”

“Tch. For someone called the ‘Sword King,’ you’re awfully frivolous.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Anyway, welcome to the workshop.”

Volkan strode toward us confidently. His gaze lingered briefly on Clara.

“Now that I think about it, don’t you have too many women around you?”

“Me?”

“Judging by your physique, at least you haven’t slacked off on training.”

“If I slacked off, wouldn’t you use that as an excuse to boss me around?”

“Do I look like that kind of guy to you? If so, you’re mistaken. No matter how talented someone is, I won’t train them if they lack ambition.”

“……”

Should someone who outwardly refuses to take disciples really be saying stuff like this?

“Well, anyway, seems like you’ve been using those new iron pellets well.”

“Well……”

Honestly, there were many times I wanted to ditch these iron pellets. But seeing the occasional stat boosts they gave me, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

‘Though I do secretly take them off when hiding or sneaking around.’

No matter what, moving around with them was bound to restrict my mobility.

“But why are you here, old man?”

“Me? I came because I broke my sword again.”

“You broke your sword?”

I couldn’t hide my surprise.

If someone’s called the “Sword King,” you’d assume it’s because they’re skilled with a blade, right?

“The opponent wasn’t some pushover.”

“Thanks to you, I had a hell of a time. What kind of monster splits a sword clean in half with one strike?”

“You got paid well enough for it.”

“Tch. Most of that went into repairing your sword.”

Durin clicked his tongue and casually tossed me something that gleamed with a dark sheen.

“Yours is done too.”

Snap.

I caught it effortlessly.

At a glance, it looked like a bracelet.

No—it was a bracelet.

I slipped it onto my wrist.

“How do I use this?”

“Channel mana into the lower part of the bracelet.”

Following Durin’s instructions, I infused it with mana.

Fwoosh—

Something shot out from the bracelet and embedded itself into the wall.

“Whoa.”

“‘Whoa’ my ass! You think it’s okay to vandalize someone else’s wall like that? Are you out of your mind?!”

“……”

Since he wasn’t wrong, I fished out a silver coin from my pocket and handed it to Durin.

Grumbling, he took it anyway.

“This brat’s loaded but stingier than I thought.”

“Who knows how long I’ll keep making money like this?”

“And yet you love gold so much.”

“Who doesn’t like gold?”

“Most aspiring adventurers chase fame. Or something that’ll boost their strength. But a money-grubbing bastard like you? Practically unheard of.”

“How flattering.”

“Whatever. Instead of fooling around here, get lost.”

“You’re the one who likes to nag, old man. I’d love to test your craftsmanship again, but… sadly, I’ve got business to attend to.”

“You have business?”

“This punk?”

“Then I guess we’ll have to part ways here.”

“That smug grin of yours is begging to be wiped off. Anyway, I’m off.”

Volkan trudged away.

Durin retreated inside.

‘I can feel eyes on me from afar.’

Clara’s gaze burned into me. Damn, her stare is sharper than I thought.

Ignoring it, I slipped away, masking my presence as I moved toward the scrap metal piles.

‘…Guess it’s about time to get tangled up in it.’

The master-servant relationship between Selly and Clara.

The battle for the Saintess between Veronica and Clara.

‘…Will I end up fighting that Thief Hero candidate someday too?’

—

When I returned to the inn, Veronica greeted me with a smug look.

‘What’s her deal?’

Her strange gaze lingered as her lips curled into a smirk.

“You kept saying no, no, but in the end, you couldn’t refuse my offer, could you? Well, men are all like that.”

What the hell is she talking about?

Did she seriously think I accepted her request just because I ran into Clara by chance?

“Fufu. Normally, I wouldn’t even glance your way, but I’ve changed my mind.”

“It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“My… what? Oh, so that’s how it is. Fine, let’s leave it at that.”

Veronica sashayed away cheerfully, heading upstairs.

“……?”

Why’s she going up? Did she set up nearby or something?

“……Fufu.”

Just as I was pondering, a chilling laugh echoed.

The Executioner Princess, Lucia, had appeared.

“Long time no see.”

“Y-Yeah, it has been.”

“You’ve added another woman to your collection, I see?”

“I’m not in that kind of relationship with her.”

Frankly, there wasn’t a single woman here I had that kind of relationship with.

If anything, the one who almost crossed that line was—

‘Lucia.’

The one who showed me unconditional, obsessive favor.

Erme believed I was her most trustworthy ally, but Lucia? She was fixated on me.

‘I can’t say for sure if it’s love, though.’

It felt more like possessiveness.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Do I need a reason to talk to you?”

“Well, no, but……”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing. You haven’t been entering the labyrinth lately.”

“Ah, I’m preparing to break through the 5th floor.”

“……Your growth is terrifying. But don’t push yourself too hard. The labyrinth buys you time, but… the abyss of the labyrinth will be watching you too.”

The abyss of the labyrinth?

An ominous phrase.

But it was clear Lucia was giving me advice.

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

With that, I headed upstairs—not to my room, but to Erme’s.

Knock knock.

“Come in!”

Erme’s cheerful voice rang out.

Inside, she had a towel wrapped around her head, as if she’d just finished washing her hair.

“Were you bathing? Should I come back later?”

“No, I’m done, so it’s fine.”

Erme grinned as she approached me.

“So? Doesn’t this make your heart race a little?”

“Wow. So. Exciting.”

“……You’re really bad at acting. Whatever.”

Hmph. She plopped onto the bed with a pout.

“Anyway, let’s get down to business.”

Earlier, we had discussed Clara and Selly.

Selly was a demon (Mine) who seemed fiercely loyal to Clara.

Today, we were meeting to figure out how to deal with that.

“What’s the plan for Selly?”

“I can handle rescuing Selly.”

Erme looked at me.

“Is Selly even alive?”

“Yes, probably. I can’t be sure, but she should still be alive now.”

“Then—”

“Can you kill the demon disguised as Selly?”

“I’ll try.”

I recalled the demon standing beside Clara.

It was clearly weaker than me.

Almost as if it was Selly—physically frail but brimming with powerful magic.

‘…The best approach would be a single, decisive strike.’

The problem was where Selly would be.

“The demon disguised as Selly will definitely go to the orphanage we visited at night.”

“Really?”

“And the reason we’re executing the plan tonight is… they make contact on nights with a crescent moon.”

“So my job is—”

“Yes. The moment the fake Selly makes contact tonight, kill it.”

“That’s a bloody request.”

“You’ll do it, right?”

“Of course.”

“But be careful. Demons are usually stronger than adventurers of the same level.”

“It shouldn’t be that big of a difference, right?”

“No. The moment contact is made, others will show up too.”

Ah, so that’s the real problem.

‘…If she’s entrusting this to me, it must be something I can handle.’

But what if it’s something beyond me?

Level 4.

I could probably manage up to that, but anything beyond would be a struggle no matter how hard I tried.

“Still, demons are weak to light-attribute attacks, so you should be fine.”

“Demons are weak to light?”

“Yes. Though the purple energy you use… isn’t exactly light-attribute, lightning is one of the symbols of purification. Of course, that also makes it harder to control.”

Erme’s words puzzled me.

‘Hard to control?’

—Obviously. Lightning is the second-fastest attribute, with immense destructive power. Rare and difficult to master.

But for me, it felt different.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t control mana well—it was more like I wasn’t used to wielding it properly yet.

‘Something feels off.’

Then it hit me.

I realized I was already familiar with this purple energy.

‘That’s… unsettling.’

Anyway, after wrapping up the conversation with Erme, we each returned to our rooms to prepare.

I checked my weapons for the fight against the demon.

‘Ideally, I’d fuse them, but…’

Unfortunately, Whisper of the Wind and Bloodstained Sword couldn’t be merged yet.

My skill level wasn’t high enough.

But I had a feeling that with enough practice, it’d eventually work.

Throwing daggers, however, were a different story. I fused spares and brewed poisons.

‘Night’s already falling.’

The golden hues of dusk streamed through the window.

I gathered my weapons.

When I stepped outside, Erme was waiting.

“Hehe, worked out, huh?”

I chuckled at her grin.

‘She rushed out the moment I stood up, and now she’s acting all cool?’

Just as I was thinking that, Erme handed me something.

A plain white mask.

“……?”

“Obviously, our identities can’t be exposed during this mission.”

Obviously.

Making enemies of the demons—and potentially Clara—wasn’t an option.

Right now, Veronica was the Church’s Saintess, but—

Erme had said there was a hidden Saintess. Veronica was just a placeholder.

So we had to hide our identities, but—

‘I have to wear this?’

I mean, I knew I had to, but…

“……”

Silently, I put on the mask.

And immediately felt ridiculous.

An itchy, awkward sensation.

To be honest…

……I was extremely embarrassed.