Ch.82Counting

Bigart.

That was the name of another junior member assigned to the mission alongside Seorin. The two junior members, one male and one female, stood at attention before Seorin, their postures rigid with formality.

“We won’t let anything go wrong!”

“We’ll do our best!”

Seorin found their attitude unfamiliar. Even when she was a junior member herself, she had never been this formal. The same went for how other members treated their seniors.

‘Is this batch particularly unusual?’

Regardless, that wasn’t what mattered. Seorin walked around the headquarters building with the two of them. Before setting out on the mission, she handled everything from receiving necessary supplies to completing simple paperwork.

She was simply following what she had learned from watching her seniors during her time as a junior member. In front of her juniors, she couldn’t afford to make mistakes. Seorin put more effort into her writing than ever before.

Meticulously, her carefully crafted handwriting filled the complex documents.

After completing all the necessary work at headquarters, the three naturally made their way out. Unlike the two who were heading toward the post station, Seorin headed in a different direction.

Parna and Bigart, who had been watching her carefully, hurried after their small senior.

“Um, where are you going?”

“There’s somewhere I need to stop by before we depart.”

The place Seorin led her two juniors to was a small bakery in the market street. When she had been assigned to a mission with Reynard, she had tasted bread there that was incredibly delicious.

Seorin wanted to treat her juniors to that delicious bread as well. She wanted them to feel the same delight she had experienced.

Visiting the bakery had become a habit for her. She was so accustomed to stopping by before missions that she would feel uncomfortable if she didn’t.

Now as a mid-rank member, Seorin thought she understood Reynard’s feelings back then. Perhaps he had bought bread for her because he felt sorry for how nervous she was.

Seorin purchased bread according to her taste and handed it to her juniors. No one would complain about bread bought by a senior they respected so highly. The two cautiously accepted the freshly baked bread and ate it.

“Delicious, isn’t it?”

“Oh…”

“It’s… it’s delicious…!”

Seorin looked up at her two juniors. Their stiff expressions had softened somewhat.

The next place Seorin’s group headed was the post station. The large station operated directly by the Empire had excellent horses ready to ride at any time.

“Prepare three horses for us. The largest one for me.”

Seorin told the station attendant. If she didn’t specifically request the size, she would be assigned the smallest horse. Thus, Seorin was allocated a black horse much larger than her own body.

She needed no special footstool to mount the horse. With a light push off the ground, Seorin’s slender form rose gracefully and landed on the black horse. Her flowing hair and billowing cape created a picturesque scene.

People passing by stared at her, entranced.

“Let’s depart.”

She was now accustomed to such gazes. It’s only natural for people to feel awe when witnessing mythical beauty. The small girl gently brushed back her hair.

***

The floating island, their destination, was quite far from the imperial territory where the Blue Wing headquarters was located. Even with changing horses at post stations prepared at regular intervals, it would take more than ten days of riding.

Yet they still hadn’t arrived. Late in the evening, Seorin’s group stopped their horses and prepared to camp. Beside their campsite was a group of merchants they had encountered during their journey.

All knights of Blue Wing are masters of the sword. Even junior members possess the skill to cut through thick logs with a single blade. With the three of them working together, building the campsite and preparing firewood was accomplished in no time.

“Thank you so much for allowing us to join you. We’ll rest comfortably thanks to you.”

In exchange for allowing the merchants to share their camp, Seorin’s group received food and brief information about the floating island. Since it’s not easy to form connections with imperial knights, the merchants offered various other things as a gesture of wanting deeper acquaintance, but Seorin drew the line.

The blazing campfire and wooden chairs placed around it provided comfort. With the excellent protection of imperial knights, the merchants could also relax.

The first to speak was the oldest merchant. Having lived a long life, the elderly merchant had seen and heard much, and could share various stories.

“So you’re heading to the floating island… That’s quite a peculiar place. It defies gravity and floats on its own. A truly bizarre location. Moreover, it’s a completely isolated space with its own ecosystem. Every time you visit, new species are born and existing ones disappear. Not everyone can enter, but… it’s a place worth visiting at least once.”

“Have you been there yourself?”

“Of course. About ten years ago… I was fortunate enough to set foot there once. I had some trouble after eating what I thought was a grape but turned out to be a coiling insect… but it was an interesting place. It was truly regrettable that items from the island couldn’t be brought outside.”

“Was there anything else special?”

“Why wouldn’t there be? There are traces of ancient wizards found all over the island. I don’t know what they mean… but I heard even today’s wizards have given up on interpreting them… I’m not sure about now.”

Crack-

The campfire crackled as it burned. The merchants hesitated to speak to the small girl because of the cold atmosphere she exuded. Only the elderly merchant spoke comfortably, as if chatting with an old friend.

“Are you going there for revenge?”

Seorin raised her head at the old merchant’s question. The gaze looking at her was transparent, like that of a tribal elder facing his final days.

“I wonder.”

Early the next morning, Seorin’s group left the campsite, leaving behind the sluggish merchants. When meetings are light, partings are light as well. Only the old merchant’s voice lingered in Seorin’s mind.

They reached their destination after riding hard for three more full days.

The floating island. As the name suggests, it’s an island floating in the sky. It was so high that it couldn’t be approached by ordinary means; one needed either flight magic or an airship made by the magic tower to enter.

Directly below the island was a large maintenance facility for airships and a small village.

It’s a quiet village, Seorin thought as she approached, leading her horse.

She had heard it wasn’t a village with any special name. It had formed naturally when technicians who maintained the airships and some wizards dispatched for research started building homes there.

Since it wasn’t a tourist destination, there were no visitors to the village. As Seorin’s group approached, a man who appeared to be a wizard slowly walked out to meet them.

“Knights of Blue Wing? I’ve been waiting for you. Call me Belrobe.”

He was quite sturdy for a wizard. The smell of oil suggested he also handled airship maintenance.

Seorin jumped down from her horse and exchanged greetings with the wizard.

“Mid-rank member Seorin of the Imperial Knight Order Blue Wing.”

Belrobe immediately got to the point.

“I’d like to ask you to head to the floating island right away and deal with that reincarnator… but it seems we’ll have to wait a bit.”

“Is there a problem…?”

“There’s an issue with the airship. The engine is acting up.”

Seorin turned to look at the massive airship. A huge vessel gleaming with a dark gray color emitted the smell of oil. Unlike conventional wooden ships, its entire body was made of metal.

Judging by the faint traces of mana, they seemed to have used iron with high mana conductivity.

Seorin turned her head again to look up at the sky. Her vision, enhanced by mana, detected a massive island beyond the clouds.

Even from such a distance, its enormity was palpable. Seorin shook her head.

“I don’t think we need to wait. Let’s depart now.”

“…Did you not hear what I said? The airship is currently…”

Belrobe couldn’t finish his sentence. A flow of mana released from the small girl’s body gently pushed him back.

It was a breeze with a slight chill. The moment the wind gently wrapped around Seorin’s body and caressed the surroundings, the black dragon sword she carried was drawn and floated into the air.

She had no hesitation in displaying the techniques of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect to others. She had submitted a report stating that she had secretly entered the Ten Thousand Sword Sect and received separate training in their martial arts.

The Blue Wing headquarters saw no issue with Seorin’s report. They judged that as long as she didn’t learn the internal energy cultivation methods from the Central Plains martial world, there wouldn’t be any significant problems.

Seorin stood with her hands behind her back and stepped onto the sword. Just like the Ten Thousand Sword Sect master had done. At this moment, Seorin was the one controlling the space.

“Are… are you a wizard…?”

At Belrobe’s question, Seorin closed her eyes. The image of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect master forging a brass cup into a blade by mixing internal energy and mana was vivid in her mind.

“I’m not sure.”

The small girl gestured. With a cold breeze and her cape fluttering, the swords at Parna and Bigart’s waists were drawn out. Seorin spoke.

“Get on. We’re departing.”