Chapter 163

Episode 163

“Well done, Sage. You’ve finally awakened your aura. You’re an aura user now.”

“Aura… user…”

Sage stared at his sword in astonishment.

It was a truly mystical light.

It felt sacred, as if it could banish all evil in the world.

But the light didn’t last long. It flickered and faded, soon disappearing completely. Sage felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

“The aura disappeared.”

The feeling was vividly etched in Sage’s mind. This energy was similar to the one that saved him, his mother, and his sister when they were in danger.

He also felt like he could summon this energy at will and imbue it into his weapon.

He had fully awakened as an aura user.

“It’s natural. Don’t worry. The light of your aura will grow stronger as you grow.”

“Then can I become a knight?”

“Do you really think so?”

Sage pondered for a moment and shook his head.

“You understand well. Being able to use aura is a great advantage, but ultimately, it’s the swordsmanship you learn that matters. And you need the physical strength to support it.”

Gladius often oversaw Sage’s training. He focused on the core principles of drawing out aura, not the intricacies of swordsmanship.

Teaching swordsmanship was Ionia’s responsibility, and he didn’t interfere. He wanted it to be his daughter’s task and experience.

“From now on, I’ll teach you how to control your aura.”

“Yes! Thank you, Captain.”

“I like your spirit. Now, go and continue your training. Rain or shine, never stop swinging your sword.”

Sage gripped his sword with both hands and repeated the same movements. Gladius watched with satisfaction.

Ionia asked, “Did you know, Father? That Sage had the talent for aura?”

“I knew from the first time I saw him.”

Ionia’s gaze also turned to Sage. She sighed briefly.

“I had no idea.”

“It’s important to become stronger than others, but it’s also important to understand their inner thoughts. Don’t you think that’s why the lord made Sage your squire?”

“Perhaps. The lord is always so considerate of others.”

“You’re telling me. There’s no noble as benevolent and wise as the lord. At least in my experience.”

‘I agree.’

She didn’t say it out loud, but the father and daughter often understood each other without words.

“Don’t just stand there dazed. Let’s go back and eat. I’m hungry because I missed lunch.”

“Okay.”

Ionia wanted to torment the scarecrow a little longer, but she returned to the mansion with her father, who had come back after a long time.

The father and daughter had a simple dinner of bread and stew, continuing their conversation.

“Have you heard from the lord? I haven’t been able to catch up on things while I was away.”

“Nothing special. I overheard the administrator and vice-captain talking earlier. They said the Inspection Unit’s official mission has begun. It seems to be related to the Margrave of the North.”

“It seems Arthur’s case has been settled for the most part. But the north… It’s a harsh place. Even when I was a mercenary, I tried to avoid it whenever possible.”

“So you’ve never been there?”

“Just once. It was a cold and hungry place. No matter how many layers of cloth and leather I wore, the cold wouldn’t go away. I hope everything goes well.”

Ionia murmured as she dipped her bread in the stew.

“The lord and the scribe are magicians, right? Wouldn’t they be fine with the cold? They can use magic.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that. Magic would definitely be more effective than aura. We can only pray for their safe return.”

“Shouldn’t we tell the lord about Sage soon?”

“Is there a need to?”

Ionia paused to gather her thoughts and then continued, “Father said earlier that there might be a reason why the lord made Sage my squire. If that’s the case, I think he’ll be waiting for this news more than anyone.”

“You might be right. Then tell the administrator. He probably has a channel to contact the scribe.”

“Okay.”

After dinner, the Innerheim mansion usually fell silent. But tonight was an exception.

Her fellow knights, who had finished their training, visited the mansion for drinks.

It was a surprise for Ionia, who was in her room, pondering Sage’s situation.

She had never invited her colleagues to the mansion before.

“This is Ionia’s mansion! It’s spacious and nice. I want to live in a place like this!”

“Then propose to her! It wouldn’t be bad to be whipped.”

“Hahaha!”

Her colleagues joked. Ionia, who was standing at the entrance, dumbfounded, raised her voice.

“Please be quiet! What’s going on?”

“Huh? You didn’t hear? We ran into the mercenary captain on our way to get drinks, and he invited us over tonight. He said he’d have plenty of drinks ready, so just come over.”

“…My father?”

“That’s right! That’s why everyone’s here. We can’t resist free drinks.”

“That’s true!”

“Hahaha!”

Ionia sighed. There were over ten guests, and she couldn’t do anything about it since it was her father’s doing.

Then she heard Gladius’s voice from behind.

“Come on in. I’ve prepared plenty of your favorite free drinks!”

“Hehe, excuse us~”

“Let’s go!”

A group of knights entered, leaving Deneve and Ferguson behind. The two, who were closest to Ionia, were worried about her.

Ionia was still an outsider in the knight order, and everyone knew she didn’t like such unconventional gatherings.

But Deneve thought differently.

“I think everyone wants to get closer to you. Training is important, but so is teamwork.”

“Deneve is right. We’re comrades who fight alongside each other, risking our lives. Let’s just pretend we didn’t see anything, okay?”

Ionia stared at them for a moment and then turned around.

“They’re my father’s guests, so I wasn’t planning to stop them. What are you doing? Come in.”

Their plan worked. Deneve and Ferguson grinned at each other and entered the mansion.

As they were drinking and chatting, the dining room door suddenly burst open.

“Gasp…!”

“V-Vice-captain!”

The knights froze, their drinks in hand. Paris, who was staring at them seriously, suddenly smiled.

“You youngsters. Drinking without a guardian? Do you even know how to drink?”

He wasn’t empty-handed. He had brought a lot of fine liquor he had collected during his time at the Duke’s castle. The knights’ time resumed.

The members of the Walker Mercenary Corps joined in, and the atmosphere heated up even more.

Usually, knight orders and mercenary corps were wary of each other.

Knights often looked down on mercenaries as vulgar, while mercenaries dismissed knights as lacking real-world experience.

But a strong bond had formed between them as Paris helped with the trading company’s affairs and looked after the mercenary corps, and Gladius taught the knights practical swordsmanship.

“Attention everyone. Fill your empty glasses. Hey, Deneve, is that Ferguson passed out next to you? What’s a young man doing, collapsing already? Wake him up. Come on! Captain, have a drink too.”

Everyone filled their glasses. Paris raised his glass and said with sincerity, “Our lord has gone to a dangerous place. Captain Selendis and Sir Jericho as well. Let’s toast to their safe return!”

As the knights cheered, the subjects of their toast were passing through the northern gate of the capital.

* * *

The road to the north was treacherous.

Beyond the gate, a wasteland stretched out, and monsters occasionally blocked our path.

Fortunately, the elite investigators we had dispatched earlier were dealing with the monsters preemptively.

Thanks to them, we were able to make good time.

“It wouldn’t be strange if demons appeared. Doesn’t the north conduct any military operations?”

“They probably pay attention to areas close to the capital. Maybe new monsters appear faster than the local lord can deal with them?”

“Is that even possible?”

“I’ve experienced it before. When we were dealing with a 3-star demon. Its territory was strong, so a lot of monsters appeared.”

Jericho’s words made me think, ‘It would be nice if we could get a Dark Soul on the way.’

A swarm of monsters wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for me.

Through a series of events, I had learned that the Lady was suffering from an unknown illness. And I was convinced that the only cure was a ‘Dark Soul.’

So I planned to collect ‘Dark Souls’ separately from the mission.

I wondered how Sommelier would react if I brought him one without being asked.

‘But if is true, it’s also a sign that something bad is happening in the demon realm.’

The Demon King had succeeded in sealing the Great Demon Diablo. But he was severely injured during the sealing, so it wasn’t perfect.

If cracks were appearing in the seal after all this time, it could affect the human world.

‘If Diablo awakens, he’ll definitely invade this place.’

They would know that the Demon King’s daughter had been sent here. They would burn the human world to eliminate any future threats.

And they wouldn’t hesitate to expand their territory while they were at it.

“Jericho, if you sense any demonic energy, report it to me immediately.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

As the sun set and the air grew cold, we set up camp.

We had definitely come a long way.

While Kalisto in the south would be in the midst of summer heat, it was so cold here that we could see our breath.

The ‘BYC’ I brought was coming in handy. Its thermal insulation was excellent, helping us withstand the cold.

But it was a different story for the horses that had to carry us.

We could manage the cold with magic and aura, but they wouldn’t be able to run if they weren’t fed properly.

“It would be convenient if we could use flight magic. But it’s probably not a good idea in this situation, right?”

“No need to attract attention. With the Magic Tower closed, they’ll definitely find it suspicious if they see us flying.”

“We need to succeed in this mission so we can fly freely.”

Jericho gathered some firewood and ignited a flame with fire magic.

“I heard His Grace provided the most logistical support among the nobles. We won’t be mistreated.”

“I disagree. The Margrave is an unpredictable person. He’ll definitely react emotionally.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“If he were a calm and calculating person, he wouldn’t have openly rejected Prince Chertan. He would have put on a mask and pretended.”

“Hmm, you have a point. People in the north tend to be driven by emotions.”

At that moment, a messenger hawk flew in. Judging by its tired wings, it had flown a long distance.

“It seems to be from the main castle.”

Jericho caught the hawk, took out the note, and read it. He was surprised.

“Inspector, you know the squire named Sage, right?”

“I know him well.”

“This is a message from Administrator Balzac. He says Sage has awakened his aura! Isn’t that amazing? A squire becoming an aura user!”

I just smiled. It was something I had expected, just a little earlier than anticipated. It wasn’t a big deal.

But my joy was short-lived.

A sinister energy flowed into our campsite.

— I sense demonic energy.