Ch.137The Road to Belfort City (2)

After I made my threat, the thugs glared at me like they wanted to kill me, but that was all. Overall, the caravan’s discipline was being maintained somehow.

In truth, Aura users weren’t that common, and adventurers ranked between Iron and Gold were the backbone of the Adventurers’ Guild.

…Though the reason the backbone is important isn’t because it has many bones, but because without it, the body would literally collapse. If there were ambushes or traps, even I, an Aura user, couldn’t guarantee victory.

“Simon.”

“Hmm?”

“I was thinking. I’m not really Bronze rank anymore, am I?”

“Ah…”

Metal ranks are divided into five levels.

Bronze-Iron-Steel-Silver-Gold.

Among them, the lowest level was Bronze rank, which was where I belonged, and it was also Simon’s rank.

However, not to brag, but after saving an entire city and leading the reconstruction of a village, being called Bronze rank seemed a bit off.

“You’re probably right. When we reach Belfort City, we should request a promotion. Someone like you would get approval from the Relief Knights Order… and there are more than enough witnesses.”

“True…”

The survivors from Aparcart City and Derickson Village. And with some exaggeration, the crew and passengers of the Mary Ross, plus the refugees from the declining Hamilton Village… combined, they would make up the population of a decent city-state.

“I wasn’t trying to play hero, but somehow I became one.”

“You sound like quite the deceiver.”

“What about you? You’ve been Bronze rank for quite a while… why not request a promotion?”

“Ah… for mages, the procedure is a bit complicated. I need to visit the Magic Tower and take a separate test.”

“Magic Tower…”

Come to think of it, I had once worked at a Magic Tower as both a test subject and assistant.

Since passing through Ortus, I hadn’t seen anything that could be called a Magic Tower, so it was entirely possible that there were people like Simon who, despite having powers above Bronze rank, remained at lower ranks simply because they found the procedures too bothersome.

Not just Spell Caster classes, but Marshal classes like mine as well.

“There should be an Adventurers’ Guild in Belfort City too. Let’s think about it then. A higher rank would benefit us both.”

“I suppose so.”

The higher my rank, the greater influence I could have in this world.

No fool would fail to understand that gold is better than bronze, and no idiot would fail to know that the best is better than the worst.

“A promotion… time really flies.”

“You have both talent and skill. Truly, these achievements would have been impossible without the Sun’s blessing.”

“Yes. I know.”

I started my adventure roughly a year ago.

In just a little less than a year, I had awakened my Aura.

The power of the soul that most people desperately want to manifest but cannot release from their physical constraints—I obtained it by overcoming death.

If the light of the Sun hadn’t reached me then, I would have died without a chance.

I couldn’t have become a knight, nor a husband to my wife.

“Belfort City…”

I repeated the name of the place where we… no, I was heading.

The city of those who denied the divinity of my savior and my guide.

The city where their descendants now live.

A city that sustains itself by celebrating a history of betrayal.

“Don’t take it too much to heart. It happened tens of thousands of years ago.”

Simon said this to me casually, but nevertheless, my heart remained deeply troubled.

It’s hard to accept that what was salvation for me was destruction for others.

“I don’t want to admit it.”

“Admit what?”

“That my heart is still so childish.”

Simon nodded silently.

The caravan was now crossing a steep hill, and the frozen earth was resisting the wooden cart wheels, which had hardened in the cold.

*

As night fell, everyone set up tents with groans of effort, lit campfires, and began preparing dinner and bedding.

The guards would handle the watch, so the adventurers could sleep without worry.

It was certainly unfair, and the guards were right to complain, but what could they do? When someone stronger tells you to do something, you do it.

Whoosh!

I lit the campfire with Ignatus while watching my wife bring a pot of water.

Because it was cold winter, the water source had frozen, so instead of water, the pot contained large fragments of broken ice, which would soon turn into cold water, and then boil hot.

“Lord Victor?”

“Hmm?”

As I was watching my wife place the pot over the campfire, someone suddenly addressed me.

When I turned around, there were several guards and a supervisor. When I looked at the supervisor, he bowed to me and began speaking.

“Regarding today’s… minor conflict, I won’t report it to headquarters. Well, I’ll have to file a report, but I’ll do my best to ensure it doesn’t cause you any trouble.”

“I see.”

Even though it was a cold winter night, I could tell he was sweating.

I wondered why he was acting this way, but thinking about it, the answer was simple.

Ordinary people can’t tear a person vertically in half.

“Although you’re in charge of this caravan, since I’ve joined, it’s partly my duty as well. A knight’s duty is to guide the strong and protect the weak, not to show excessive mercy to the wicked. If anything happens in the future, call for me.”

“Ah…! Of course, Lord Victor.”

“I don’t know what those fellows are planning, but seeing how they tried to assault your subordinate who has control authority, it doesn’t seem like headquarters sent them with friendly intentions. This will be a long journey, so I won’t watch them like a hawk, but you should warn your subordinates as well.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Please rest well, Lord Victor.”

“Yes. Take care of yourself too. The weather is cold.”

“Yes. I’ll take my leave now.”

After our brief conversation, we parted ways.

Though I say we parted, we were still within the caravan, but having witnessed firsthand how organizations that were once thriving could literally be torn apart by internal conflict, I couldn’t shake off the anxiety lurking in a corner of my mind.

*

However, making my anxiety seem unfounded, a peaceful week passed.

In ten days, there were only two attacks worth mentioning, and even those were just wild animals that had come down to the road because they couldn’t find food in winter, and similarly hungry monsters from the mountains.

The guards drove away the animals, and when three hungry ogres appeared, I personally took care of them. It was quite amusing how the ogres’ legs, which wouldn’t cut even when I went all out with my dual swords without using Aura, sliced like rice cake sausages once I activated my Aura.

It seemed almost ridiculous that I had once struggled with all my might against a single ogre.

But still, I felt good.

Who was it that said the greatest growth comes from surpassing your past self?

There was a time when I barely managed to kill an ogre in a 2-on-1 fight, using every means at my disposal.

But now I could easily slaughter three ogres just by using my Aura—this was definitive proof of my growth.

“Even when I don’t want to be arrogant, I become so. Is this the power of the soul?”

Aura was the power to transform will itself into physical force.

In the past, when humanity lived on Earth, they couldn’t handle the power of souls and magic, and as a result, they developed the world through pure science and technology.

Back then, the idea of an individual destroying cities and nations was literally something that only appeared in novels or comics, and the power and authority of nations were incomparably greater than they are now.

But eventually limitations were reached, and humanity created a great deity by combining their most fundamental desires from the deepest parts of their soul world… the longing for judgment and the thirst for punishment.

And when that deity shattered the Earth into pieces, the great sphere called the solar system was fragmented and entered the dimensional gap, and humanity went from being natives to pioneers who had to struggle to survive on these thirteen continents.

And now, tens of thousands of years later, those who wield this soul power can kill millions in a day, split mountains, and overturn land.

How would the people of that era, who considered being born, growing up, and dying on Earth as natural, view the people of this age, where mortals ascending to immortal stars is common sense?