episode_0066

“You die here.”

Just before Kylie’s sword moves.

“Now, wait a minute!”

Aria grabbed Kylie’s arm.

“… What is it?”

“Just once… Please skip it just this once. I can’t end it like this yet… .”

Aria’s eyes trembled violently.

At this point, when my own value had significantly decreased, I realized that if I were to scatter, I would never be able to come back.

Penny isn’t important.

I couldn’t let this party end like this.

“Why am I like this… .”

Kylie didn’t know what was inside her and didn’t want to care.

But at the next words, I had to stop what I was doing.

“Please.”

“… What?”

Aria bent down in front of Kylie.

Kylie was so shocked that she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

The first party was equal to each other, and sometimes there was a strange sense of competition, wondering if they were stronger.

Among them, it was unthinkable for anyone to ask someone for something, to bend down, or anything like that.

“Even if you look at me… Please do me a favor.”

Kylie stared blankly at the crown of Aria’s sticking out head.

Aria had been anxious recently, but she didn’t expect it to be this bad.

“… Phew.”

Kylie’s gaze shifted to Penny.

If it’s just Penny, you can just kill her and move on, but Aria is a different story.

“… I don’t understand. Isn’t this Penny really supposed to be alive?”

“Still, I think it’s necessary to replace Ian for a while… . I’m cleaning it up because I can clean it up later.”

Beatrice also helped.

“Okay, it doesn’t have to be alive, but it doesn’t have to be dead either, right? It might be useful right now until our skills improve. Above all, wouldn’t it be better to have at least one thing to clean up after the scattered transactions?”

They spoke as if they were deciding on a slaughter date for livestock.

Penny didn’t dare intervene.

“Ha… .”

As Kylie, who reveres the golden rule of power that she has set, Aria was a person with enough power to be respected.

It was unlucky, but that was the same for Beatrice.

Aside from Ian, Kylie has never broken that rule of her own.

“… This is just this one time. Next time.”

Kylie swung her sword at Penny.

The sword energy released three-dimensionally tore everything apart, leaving only the spot where Penny was standing.

“Nothing to look at.”

“… … .”

Kylie returned the summoned sword back to mana.

She added, returning to her seat.

“But, I need to take an arm to ease my mood.”

… Fighting.

Even after swinging the sword, Penny’s left arm fell off.

Red blood poured out from the cut section.

“I’ll have to write, so I’ll leave you my right arm.”

“… Ah.”

Penny looked at her fallen arm distantly.

It wasn’t realistic.

It feels like the thing on the floor is someone else’s arm.

A burning pain arose from the section that was belatedly cut.

“Quaaa-!”

“Tsk. You’re crazy.”

Kylie crossed her legs and decided to wait as Aria said.

Sylvia had no idea whether Penny was lying around or not.

I was surprised when I realized that the first party was actually over, but only for a moment.

I’m just thinking that if I start working separately, I’ll go see Ian.

Beatrice looked down at Penny, who was lying around ungainly, as if it were pitiful.

Whatever little bit of trust I had has now completely disappeared.

Although I agreed to Aria’s request, I had no desire to maintain this number of people.

However, I plan to hold out only until I find a new position.

I’ve contacted Henry Somerset asking him to ghostwrite, so I’m sure you’ll hear back soon.

Unlike the other three, Aria watched Penny with trembling eyes.

The sight of her unable to fully function due to her arm being cut off reminds me of myself now.

Aria from the first hero party who was injured in a grade A dungeon.

Will I one day be abandoned by my colleagues like this?

I was afraid of that.

Aria wanted to stay where she was now.

“Keuuk… .”

Aria quietly began healing.

Once again, I did not sympathize with Penny.

I just hoped that the healing would also erase my wounds.

Even though it has already healed, the spot still hurts sometimes.

“Phew… . Haha… .”

Penny cried in pain and thought obsessively of Ian.

I was thankful that it was I who had done this, not Ian.

It never occurred to me that if it had been Ian, this wouldn’t have happened.

Just, my reason was paralyzed in front of the real fear of death that I experienced for the first time in my life.

‘Collapse like this will be one of the ways to destroy Ian… . that’s right… .’

Kylie spat out, looking at her buried in self-justification.

“How long are you going to kill me? Or do you think that everything will be resolved if you squeal like a brat?”

“… … .”

“Aria. I saved it for now, but do you really think it’s useful? Even if we hold off on disbanding, I think it’s okay to kill this bastard.”

“That’s… . Still, in order to coordinate future activities… .”

“What are you going to do with a kid who can’t even talk?”

Beatrice fell down and rummaged around in the arms of an entranced Penny.

It was a piece of paper with something written all over it.

“… What is it written on?”

Aria carefully took it and read it.

“I think this is the schedule for the future.”

Kylie said, placing her foot proudly on Penny’s back.

“I saved my life because of you, so read it.”

“Yes… .”

Aria summarized and read what was written on the paper.

“From now on, we will be widely dispatched to the continent. To become stronger as an individual… That’s the purpose. It says that they will first check if each person has a preferred region.”

As Aria looked around the audience, Sylvia quietly raised her hand.

“… Central South.”

Where is Superbia?

In other words, it was close to Ian.

Everyone agreed because no one could pinpoint the intention.

“What if there is no opinion?”

“In that case, the area to be sent is randomly determined.”

Beatrice, southeast area.

Aria, near the northern front.

Kylie, Eastern Province.

Reunited after 2 weeks of individual activities.

Kylie nodded when she heard the plan.

“Just 2 weeks. This is not my opinion. Because you guys seem to roughly agree.”

Beatrice and Aria nodded slightly.

Sylvia didn’t bother to react.

Kylie stepped over a shaking Penny and looked at the map of the eastern region.

One of the local names was familiar.

‘County of Fiorene… .’

This was the area where the duel competition was held, where people were invited as judges or honored guests.

I wouldn’t stop there unless I had something special to do, so it didn’t matter if I went east.

“I hope you do your job properly this time.”

Kylie glanced at the fallen Penny and left the tent.

The members who confirmed their respective activity areas also said a few words.

“I am very disappointed. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be this bad… . That’s it. Just give me one guy who can write well. The dungeon will be handled autonomously, so don’t mess with the schedule.”

Beatrice.

“… I don’t know how long I’ll keep it alive, but I hope it can be at least functional until then.”

aria.

“I don’t need anything else. Please bring a lot of lavender herbs for aroma.”

Sylvia.

She asked for the herbs Ian had been giving her.

“… Are you listening properly?”

“Yes, I am listening… .”

Penny muttered an answer.

It wasn’t a listening attitude at all.

“Ha… . I don’t even have enough time to write notes on wrong answers, so why am I doing this… .”

Sylvia had no choice but to organize and write down what each member had requested on the back of a piece of paper.

As I was writing this, I couldn’t help but laugh.

I was disgusted as I remembered how I once believed Penny’s words and hated Ian.

There is one more thing to write in the incorrect answer note.

“Now. Do your best when saving your life.”

“… … .”

With those last words, even Sylvia left.

Penny’s body, left alone, became as cold and stiff as her torn off left arm.

He stepped onto death’s doorstep simply by strangling Kylie.

And as I watched them casually discussing their lives, I caught a glimpse of some kind of transcendent fear.

It was only then that I realized how arrogant I had been.

I believed I could control the first party, and I thought I was doing so.

Not at all.

Just as Ian’s deportation was possible because of their consent.

He was only alive because they kept him alive as a replacement for Ian.

Still, we have to do it.

It is an honor to replace Ian, so I must do it.

At the same time, I am convinced that I will never be able to do it.

It is impossible to rein them in.

Contradictory thoughts collide.

Inevitably, I think of Ian.

If it weren’t for the system Ian had in place, I wouldn’t have become a warrior.

If it weren’t for the first party, I would have died an ugly death in that dungeon.

He hopes for the salvation of Ian, who indirectly saved his life.

‘please… . Please help me… .’

Penny, left alone, was unable to stand up for a long time.

‘I was wrong…’ . I will never, ever disrespect you again, so please… .’

*

“… … .”

Saint Johannes, who sent a letter to the emperor, sat quietly and thought deeply.

Lydia, a paladin who attended the public examination at MacDerlin Abbey.

The plan to build a newly unified nation, which had previously been abandoned, came out again from her mouth, and Bertolt Schultz was mentioned as a key figure in it.

It was Apostle Ian who first destroyed this plan, and at that time, Seonghwang was also one of the centers of that plan.

Therefore, Seonghwang could not punish the officials at the time.

You, too, should be included in that group.

But it’s different now.

The problem is that Bertolt has disappeared.

Ever since I heard his name from Lydia and tracked him down, his whereabouts have been unknown.

‘Fiorene… .’

And while tracking down Bertolt’s whereabouts, we caught evidence that he was closely related to ‘Lorenzo di Fiorene’.

‘What are you thinking, holding a duel tournament like this…? .’

There was no time to think deeply.

If you act proactively in this matter, you will not be looked down upon by the imperial family.

“Leader.”

The leader of Lazuri, a member of the Holy Knights under the direct control of the Holy Emperor, who was waiting next to the Holy Emperor, answered.

“Yes.”

“I’m leaving straight for Fiorene Territory.”

“Okay.”

The Holy Emperor departed for the County of Fiorene accompanied by Lazuli.