novelraw Chapter 150 : Chapter 150
Chapter 150 : Chapter 150
Chapter 150 : The Answer
"You don't have to worry, Sir Muno. I won't burden you again."
"Pardon?"
"Because of the Erundel incident, Anthony has improved upon the technique the third prince created, adding a bit more efficiency. The number of knights who can use 'Veil Lifting' will soon increase, so I have no intention of forcing a young man like you to the front lines. This is a consideration, so do your own work and get some rest. I'll call for you if you're needed again."
With the war against the Demon Cult becoming a tangible reality, I could feel the king's will to no longer let a young knight bear the kingdom's fate.
However.
'Now of all times...'
Muno could only respond with an ambiguous smile.
Of course, it wasn't that he wasn't tired, but how could he refuse the task of chasing his enemy because of fatigue?
But for now, he had other things to do, so there was no reason to refuse the king's words.
"I am overwhelmed by your grace."
"Ah, and..."
The king trailed off ambiguously before sighing and continuing.
"That is all the information on the Exeo family that remains in the royal records. I also thought it was too little and ordered a separate investigation, but I haven't been able to inform you as there has been no other news yet. Will you understand, Sir Muno?"
At those words, Muno stared blankly at the parchment handed to him by an attendant.
'Two thousand years ago?'
The information was lacking, far too lacking.
But how could he say he didn't understand here?
"...I understand, Your Majesty."
"I too wish to find that villain's place of origin, so please wait a little. I will deliver good news someday."
The villain's place of origin.
Hearing those words, something inexplicably welled up in my chest.
But all the misunderstandings were because I hadn't, no, couldn't, explain the situation in detail from the beginning, so who could I blame?
"Yes. I believe you, Your Majesty."
He could only nod like that.
As the king cleared his throat for no reason, the attendant knights glanced around with stern faces.
The moment he saw the awkward atmosphere, the Dragon Sword Duke intervened.
"Until you get that information, how about you train with me?"
The moment he heard the word 'train', Muno reflexively gritted his teeth.
However.
"Oh, the Dragon Sword himself?"
"His Excellency has acknowledged the Black Knight's talent..."
"He's truly amazing."
On the contrary, gasps of admiration erupted from the surroundings.
'Damn it. If you want to train so badly, you do it!'
He glared at each person gathered in the Great Hall, hiding his boiling insides.
But it was just frustrating that no one seemed to understand the meaning in his gaze.
Not that he could say something like 'shut up' in this situation.
"...I have something I must do. I can hear the information after I've finished that."
He tried to be polite, but he saw the wicked old man's eyes narrow.
"Are you, by any chance, doing this because of that rumored young lady? Are you going to see her?"
"Yek!?"
What rumor?
A strange, high-pitched answer burst out reflexively.
"Heh heh. That's right, that's right. But what to do? That young lady called the Gale is at the eastern end. It'll take a month to get to the royal castle, so we can train until then."
...Th-This devilish old man.
But he couldn't immediately agree and boost this old geezer's momentum.
He actually had another purpose as well.
"N. O. I'm trying to find a comrade who has headed to a dangerous place."
He shot a glare filled with the meaning, 'Please just shut up.'
It had no effect at all.
"Hmm? Not the young lady called the Gale, but that mixed-blood girl? Your taste is quite..."
"That's not it!!!"
Unable to hold back, he roared.
He could see the old geezer's lips twist into an even more mischievous grin.
The increased gazes from all around were a bonus.
'Endure it. I must endure!'
Muno forcibly calmed his boiling insides and pulled the duke to the side.
There was no reason to lay out these personal matters in front of the king.
"Your Majesty, last..."
While watching the other ministers report to the king, Muno spoke again to the duke in a low, biting tone.
"An. Y. Way... I have to go find that 'something to do'. She'll be a great help when dealing with the Demon Cult. So I will refuse that training or whatever it is."
It was an excuse, but it was also sincere.
Rauel seemed to have been greatly discouraged while fighting the giant beast Hydra, but that was purely a matter of compatibility.
When facing humans, not beasts, and especially from a long distance, there was no companion like Rauel.
He did want to see the blonde female knight he had come to like for the first time since coming to this world, but.
'Right now, finding Rauel comes before meeting Karina.'
However.
"Do you think that girl will come right away just because you're looking for her?"
The Dragon Sword Duke asked insidiously, his voice low with that same teasing expression.
"...What do you mean?"
"Didn't she leave to prove her own usefulness? If you go looking for her again and help her, will she take it well?"
This man, he pretended to be completely uninterested, but he must have seen that note.
But before that.
"Wouldn't she be even more disappointed in herself?"
The problem was that the duke's words were persuasive.
But there was no other choice.
"...It's something she can't do alone anyway. I have to help her or get her out of there before it gets dangerous."
He purposely didn't mention the word Aslan.
Even if it was a family in seclusion by royal decree, there was no way there wasn't a connection to Aslan here.
Fortunately, the duke didn't seem to want to ruin things completely.
"So, if you go, can you definitely do something? There's bound to be a guy there who's tough for even you to handle, right?"
At those words, the man called Lightning Blade Sword, whom he had seen in Trian, suddenly came to mind.
The 6-Star knight who wielded a greatsword like a thunderbolt despite his small stature.
He was certainly a formidable, no, a terrifying opponent, even thinking about it now.
"If you head over there looking like you do now, they won't just stand by. You want to die a stranger's death? With that talent, at that age?"
"Kngh..."
He wasn't wrong.
If the enemy were a 6-Circle magician, he wouldn't have to worry.
Of course.
'If only I can join up with Rauel...'
It seemed like there would be a way to survive any situation.
The combination of himself, a vanguard with an impenetrable defense, and Rauel, with her absurd sniping ability, would be close to a cheat, at least when facing humans.
But the Dragon Sword Duke laughed as if he had read his mind.
"If they come at you all at once, you'll be helpless. And it's not like you're in a position to officially gather people, are you?"
It was one person, no, two people, against a ducal family.
It was true that he had a grudge to repay, but there was no evidence.
And it would be difficult to find a family that would fight Aslan for the sake of a mere (?) new star of the kingdom.
'Ah, Trian perhaps...?'
His thoughts naturally flowed that way.
"Don't even think about it. With the current situation, His Majesty won't allow a battle between nobles."
"Heup..."
...Is this old geezer really a ghost?
As Muno looked at him with wavering eyes.
"Give up. It's easier if you give up. I'll train you to the point where you'll never die even if you're alone."
The old geezer continued the devil's temptation with plausible words.
The problem was that his heart was slowly leaning towards it.
'Rauel could be in more danger as time passes... No, with her personality, she won't overdo it. I gave her Headshot too...'
Was it said that the human heart is fickle?
The terrible torture, no, training, that he had hurled curses at just a few days ago, had ultimately led him to establish the path to the fifth evolution.
'If I just endure for a few days this time too...'
He thought that he would surely be able to grow even more.
On top of that.
"Once you've built up a decent foundation, I'll teach you a few Dragon Sword techniques as well."
The demon before him dangled a very sweet fruit.
"Hup...!"
He wasn't talking about the artifact Dragon Sword, but the techniques of the Dragon family, who had inherited the bloodline as users of the Dragon Sword.
The swordsmanship of that prestigious family that produced a Seven-Star once every 3-4 generations.
Which knight in Iron could dare to refuse this condition?
Especially a knight who used a greatsword or a two-handed sword similar to the Dragon Sword.
"...Are you serious?"
"Of course. Would I lie at my age?"
The moment he heard those words, the pain of the past was completely erased from his mind.
On top of that.
"In the first place, you don't even know where that girl is, do you? You need to at least confirm her general location to go help her or whatever, right? Isn't that why you went to the information organization too?"
When he touched upon the realistic problem, his heart swayed completely at that moment.
"...Alright. But I'm worried about what will happen to my friend, so I can't invest a lot of time."
"What?"
"Ten days at most. If the information comes in before then, we'll end it there."
As he spoke, he added the condition thinking of Rauel, and the duke laughed as if it were absurd.
"My, my, to think there's a guy I have to beg to train."
I wondered why this person was so interested in me, but it didn't seem like the right thing to say with gazes pouring in from all sides.
So instead, he held his head high.
"Because I'm that good."
"Sure. I'll experiment with that great talent of yours to my heart's content. I need to rest a bit too, so we'll start at dawn tomorrow. Be prepared and wait."
"Yes, sir!"
At that moment, those who had been secretly listening in on their conversation widened their eyes and turned to look at them.
Among them, the knights looked at Muno with eyes full of envy and jealousy.
The next day.
Muno, who came out to the annex's training ground at dawn, could see the duke beckoning to him immediately, without even warming up.
He was without the Dragon Sword he usually carried on his back or his splendid armor, just in simple casual clothes, beckoning with his bare hands.
"...You want me to attack? Like this, just?"
"Yes. You have something to show me, don't you?"
At those words, Muno's face contorted without him realizing it.
He was reminded of that day of the fall when he had absurdly almost left this world.
And the things he had gained from it.
"Hmph. Well, alright. Don't regret it."
"Don't use the power of that shiny red jewel, just show me your inherent ability to its fullest."
"As you wish..."
Pabak.
"...sir!"
Muno, who had charged as if compressing space in an instant, appeared in front of the duke.
And.
Kung.
With a powerful step, he swung his 'Blade'.
As if to split the unarmed old man diagonally, a shimmering manablade was even layered on its surface.
But the duke didn't seem to have any intention of defending against or dodging the deadly attack that was falling diagonally from above his right shoulder.
'Huh?'
Muno, who had continued his attack without hesitation, trusting his opponent's skill despite his grumbling, was flustered.
But as expected.
The moment the duke's body seemed to blur.
Kwang!
A tremendous impact hit his abdomen.
'Kuk!'
The feeling of his body, which must have weighed a ton, being thrown in the opposite direction of his charge.
And at that moment, Muno swung his blade horizontally like a thunderbolt again towards the faintly visible afterimage that followed him.
However.
Pingreureureu.
For some unknown reason, the world seemed to spin once, and his body was suddenly thrown into the air.
'Magic?!'
A situation so absurd that he thought so even though he knew it wasn't.
But at that moment, with his body flipped over, he saw the duke's feet before his eyes.
Kwang!
"Keok!"
His mind went blank for a moment, and his uncontrolled body tumbled across the training ground.
Kung. Kwang. Kwadang.
On top of that.
"That thing is quite heavy, tumbles quite noisily."
And the old man's tone, which still pissed people off.
"What I asked you to show me wasn't just a sword swing, you know? Are you kidding me?"
"Kngh. I'm, showing you now!"
Kwang.
Muno, who stood up, stomping his foot in irritation, charged at the duke again.
He had been bewildered when he saw the unarmed duke, but after getting hit just twice, he knew.
'That is a monster in human form.'
So he attacked, thinking of him as a monster.
Hwiriririk.
The 'Blade' that bent at will, still imbued with a manablade, bent irregularly, aiming for the duke's entire body.
At the same time, his body, charging behind it, was filled with the intent to crush the duke the moment he showed an opening.
Since the duke was unarmed, his plan was to pour out attacks from all directions to find an opening, rather than delivering a single heavy blow.
And.
Kwang!
"Ugh!?"
The duke's body blurred, and before he knew it, his own body was flying through the air again.
'Damn it...!'
A sense of hopelessness that he hadn't felt when he had only seen it from a distance during the battle with the hydra.
He didn't know how he was hit, but the impact that passed through his armor and was transmitted directly to his body was enough to make his whole body tingle.
At that moment, the duke's face rushed up to his eyes with a mocking expression.
As the foot flew towards him again, it looked like it was in slow motion.
'Now...'
Muno smiled slowly as he saw both of his opponent's feet leave the ground.
'...I'll show you.'
Chwareureureuk.
The four chains he hadn't used until now shot out from close range, covering the duke from all directions.
However.
"Ho...!?"
The appearance of the chains, completely different from before, drew a gasp from the duke's lips.
The round iron rings that made up the chains had all changed into 'mouths' with sharp teeth inside, moving as if to chew something up, filling the duke's vision.
The trait created to 'devour' 'demons', the end of that physical training.
It was the answer Muno had come up with through the complete attunement of his armor.
Exeo. The name of a hero recorded at the end of the ancient mythical era. As the traces are from at least 2,000 years ago, no records of his whereabouts or achievements remain.