Ch.4Chapter 4: Traveling Together.

However, the one more surprised than Valt was the black-masked man.

He stared at his broken sword in shock and let out a cry of astonishment.

“W-what!?”

As expected, the sword broke and flew off, but Valt’s arm, which had blocked it, was also injured.

“Just a slight scratch. Are you an Aura user?”

‘What? He’s injured? Aura? Yes, it must be Aura!’

This meant that Valt’s body wasn’t invincible after all.

‘I should be careful. I could get hurt.’

Though it was merely a scrape on his skin, it was still noteworthy.

The masked men began to tense up.

If a 2nd floor Aura had no effect at all, it meant he was at least a 4th floor or higher expert.

In magical terms, that would be equivalent to a mage approaching the 4th circle.

Even though he was wounded, the masked man knew very well that such a minor injury would heal with just a bit of saliva.

“W-who are you?! You look like a savage… no, a Barbarian. Why are you interfering in Central people’s business?”

Valt thought to himself in response to the masked man’s words.

‘Ah… I didn’t really want to get involved either, but somehow it ended up that way.’

But what came out of his mouth was different.

“No reason needed.”

Lisa began to misunderstand Valt’s words.

‘Is he saying that protecting a woman needs no reason? This is… chivalry!’

Chivalry that knights follow for their honor.

Lisa sensed this noble code of chivalry in this middle-aged-looking barbarian.

‘Wow, he’s a barbarian but he says such cool things?’

The masked man offered Valt a deal.

“If you leave now, I won’t chase after you. Just let me take that woman. You’re a Barbarian, so you have nothing to gain by getting involved with Central people, right?”

In the past, that would have been absolutely correct.

But times have changed.

Hearing those words, Lisa hid behind Valt’s back and pleaded.

“N-no! They’ll rape and kill me! Sir Barbarian Knight! Please don’t abandon me! I need to get to the Academy!”

Valt’s interest was piqued by Lisa’s words.

“Academy?”

Lisa was puzzled why this barbarian would be interested in the Academy, but she answered his question earnestly.

“Yes! Yes! The Academy in the Halkin Empire! I’m a student there!”

“Hmm, good.”

‘Look at that! What? She’s like a navigation system! Perfect! I’ll save her and have her guide me!’

Though she wasn’t sure what was good about it, Lisa felt certain that the barbarian before her wouldn’t abandon her.

Seeing the barbarian continuing to oppose them, the masked man spat out in frustration.

“Ugh… do you really want to fight?”

From the masked men’s perspective, fighting someone whose Aura attacks had no effect seemed futile.

But they couldn’t disobey orders. If they returned empty-handed, they’d be dead men.

“Come.”

The masked men flinched at Valt’s words.

Then Valt’s body moved.

“If you won’t come, I’ll go to you.”

The one who appeared to be the leader of the masked men shouted in panic.

“D-damn it! Attack!”

Whoosh!

Crack!

Valt first smashed a nearby tree and toppled it toward the men.

“Huh!? Whaaaaaat!?”

The massive tree, which shouldn’t have broken so easily, snapped like a rotten branch and fell upon the masked men.

“Dodge!”

Boom!

Caught off guard, the masked men’s formation scattered in all directions.

‘Good! Now I can take them down one by one!’

Valt quickly approached the nearest masked man.

Thump!

Grabbing the masked man’s arm, Valt hurled him diagonally into the sky.

“Hah!”

‘I’ll be gentler this time! I threw the last one too high.’

Whoosh!

Though the angle should have broken his arm, the masked man flew through the air without any apparent injury.

Valt’s restraint meant that joint locks wouldn’t work either.

“Aaaaaahhhhh!!”

However, being thrown high into the air and falling back down is undeniably a tremendous shock.

Someone of sufficient skill might withstand it, but these masked men weren’t at that level.

Thud!

A terrible sound came from the direction where the masked man had flown.

Though it was a small sound, everyone present knew what it meant.

“He’s dead.”

‘Is he dead? Ah… I didn’t mean to kill him….’

Strangely, despite having committed murder, Valt’s heart remained undisturbed.

This was likely due to his impressive barbarian demeanor.

Besides, if there had been a bloody corpse right in front of him, it might have felt different, but seeing someone just fly away made it seem unreal, like a scene from a cartoon.

Profanities spilled from the masked leader’s mouth.

“D-damn it!! H-how can you throw a person like that? Are you even human?!”

Whether he shouted or not, Valt was already charging toward his next target.

Dash!

The next masked man targeted by Valt screamed and fled.

“S-spare me!!”

But Valt wasn’t just muscular. His body, trained to the limit, couldn’t be slow.

Thump!

Whoosh!

“Aaaaaahhhhh!!”

Thud!!

The same four sounds echoed again, and now fear began to creep into everyone except Valt.

The situation of people disappearing one by one was terrifying.

Lisa, watching from a distance, gaped in disbelief.

‘F-father was right! H-how can someone throw people like that!?’

Yet somehow, she also felt a sense of satisfaction.

‘He’s so crude!! But so powerful!! That’s the pinnacle of strength!!’

From today’s experience, Lisa felt like she had witnessed the ultimate limit of the strength attribute.

It was bewildering that he could exert such power without even using Aura.

The masked leader seemed to have made a decision and ordered the remaining men.

“Run!! We need to survive for now!”

The masked men scattered in all directions, and Valt didn’t bother to chase after them.

“Nothing special.”

‘These nobodies were acting so tough.’

The situation was resolved in an instant, leaving only Valt and Lisa.

Lisa ran to Valt and bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

Though she was a noble, Lisa was young and felt that offending this barbarian could lead to serious consequences.

“Th-thank you! Mr. Barbarian! Thank you so much!”

Upon closer look, she had a cute face.

Valt slightly raised his hand in response to Lisa’s gratitude, indicating it was nothing.

“Never mind that. Can you do me a favor?”

Lisa suddenly felt her heart sink.

It was natural for a life-saver to ask for something in return, but she couldn’t imagine what this barbarian might request.

‘B-barbarians! They say they can’t control themselves around pretty women… C-could it be! Me!? Is he going to ravish me!?’

That was baseless.

But Lisa’s wild imagination continued.

‘W-what should I do!? Is it better than dying? Should I fight? But he saved me! I don’t want to lose my first time like this!!’

While Lisa was having these foolish thoughts,

Valt’s words reached her ears.

“You, come with me.”

Lisa’s mind cleared of strange thoughts, and she looked at Valt with surprised eyes.

“W-what!?”

“Just as I said. The Academy. Let’s go there together. I have business there too.”

A barbarian at the Academy? What’s going on? Is he planning an invasion?

In fact, at this point, Valt’s enrollment at the Halkin Empire’s Academy was classified information known only to high-ranking nobles.

There was no benefit in making it public, so it wasn’t so much kept secret as simply not mentioned.

Lisa’s father, Gelt Valentine, would know, but his youngest daughter Lisa did not.

‘B-business!? What could it be? Is he going to destroy the Academy!?’

“E-excuse me, but you’re not going to the Academy to do something bad, are you…?”

Even as she spoke, Lisa realized her mistake.

Being the youngest, she was used to speaking her mind, and a slip of the tongue had occurred.

‘Oh no!’

But Valt answered as if he didn’t mind at all.

“Nothing like that.”

‘I’m going there to enroll, why would I do something bad? I won’t.’

Lisa somehow felt certain that his words were sincere. Just a woman’s intuition.

In fact, this was a very good situation for Lisa. She had lost her escort, her horse, and had only herself left.

Though she had departed early, she had no idea when she would reach the Academy at this rate.

Returning home and starting again was one option, but…

If she went back home now, her Academy enrollment would be canceled due to safety concerns.

‘I can’t let that happen! I’m going to build my skills at the Academy and even have a romance with a wonderful man!’

The desires of the 20-year-old Lisa intensified, and she accepted Valt’s proposal.

She felt that with this barbarian, she could overcome any danger.

“Alright! Let’s go together!”

Valt smiled and replied.

“Good decision.”

To Lisa’s ears, it sounded like he would have killed her if she had refused.

‘D-did I make a mistake? Even now…’

“Then, let’s depart immediately.”

Lisa followed behind Valt as he strode forward with large steps.

“I-I’m coming with you!”

And so began the journey of a girl full of dreams and a boy who seemed to be living in a dream.