Martial King Terce blinked, as if he couldn’t understand what I’d just said.
But it didn’t take long for his thoughts to catch up.
“You bastard!”
His hand reached for the hilt of his sword.
But he couldn’t draw it.
“Calm down.”
Xenia was gently pressing down on the sword’s hilt.
Ssshhh.
A chill-inducing silence settled over the room for a moment.
Terce tried to draw his sword with force, while Xenia held it in place with her own strength.Even if it had been drained little by little, it was still twenty years worth of stolen vitality.
He was practically at half-hero level, and yet Xenia didn’t break a sweat.
In the end, it was Terce who let go of his sword first.
“You—you’re no mere mercenary.”
“Who knows.”
“I don’t know where the hell you came from, but I won’t forget this. You’ll pay for today’s disrespect.”
Without so much as a glance at the viscount, the Martial King turned and stormed out of the room.
Neril puckered her lips, looking amused.
“I’m not interested in brainless sword fights, but… the Martial King’s presence just now wasn’t a joke. You okay?”
“Yes. As long as you’re not around, I’m fine.”
“That’s a pretty creative answer.”
Ignoring Neril’s raised eyebrow, Xenia glanced down at her own arm.
It was trembling slightly.
I asked,
“That was close, huh?”
“Yes. I’d heard all about the Martial King’s fearsome reputation, but I didn’t expect him to be this strong. It’s been a while since I had to use enough strength to strain my muscles.”
“…”
“I was genuinely surprised. Though not as surprised as I was by you the other day.”
Hmm.
Honestly, what surprises me more is that even with twenty years worth of stolen vitality, Terce still couldn’t overpower Xenia.
I mean, Xenia might be at hero level, but still—is that really possible?
“…”
Wait a second. Could it be?
My brain starts spinning at a terrifying speed.
[What is it? Let me in on it.]
‘Something the Martial King said before he died in my last life just came to mind.’
As his body was torn apart by Neril’s magic, like a vengeful ghost saying its last words, he spat out one bitter line:
—Tch. If only I’d fully absorbed that power… you all would’ve been nothing!
[Classic villain exit line.]
‘I didn’t get it at the time. But I think I do now. He never fully absorbed the power of the gem. The vitality he stole from people wasn’t absorbed into his body—it was absorbed into the gem itself.’
[Huh?]
‘Think about it. He pukes every morning and then swallows it back up like some kind of twisted ritual. Why else would he keep inserting and removing the gem from his body?’
[…]
‘He’s not doing it because he likes it. He has to. That means the gem isn’t fully transferring its power to him.’
In other words.
There’s still a gem full of the territory’s stolen vitality lying dormant in his gut.
Tempting, isn’t it?
Leaning back in my chair, I addressed the viscount.
“Viscount. I have a request.”
The lord, whose eyes had been darting like a scared scarecrow, flinched in surprise.
Years of living under Terce’s thumb must’ve made him forget his own rank and bloodline.
“Wh-What is it?”
“First of all, this. Half of the job is done.”
“…What?”
“The request was to find and resolve the cause of the laziness, right? I just identified the cause. So half the work is complete.”
“…”
“And the cause is none other than the Martial King Terce, who just stormed out of the room all high and mighty. Thanks to his trickery, your people fell into lethargy and laziness.”
The viscount looked at me like I had lost my mind.
Neril stepped in to ask the question in his place.
“Do you have proof?”
“There’s a red gem of unknown origin inside his body. Every morning he vomits it up, uses it to absorb people’s vitality, and then swallows it again. Been doing it for twenty years.”
“A red gem? That absorbs vitality?”
“Which is why everyone in this domain wakes up in the worst condition possible. But if we take care of the Martial King, they’ll all start getting healthy again.”
Xenia looked at me with a puzzled expression, as if wondering what gave me the confidence to rattle that off so easily.
But Neril focused on something else entirely.
“A red gem that absorbs vitality. I think I know what that is.”
“What? What is it?”
“Not now. I’ll tell you when we’re alone.”
At the mention of “alone,” Xenia reacted.
“Why are you excluding me?”
“Why shouldn’t I exclude you?”
“This is clearly an abnormal phenomenon affecting the entire territory. I… in my position, I can’t just ignore such matters.”
As the vice-captain of the Holy Knights of Light—the organization that oversees all supernatural phenomena in the empire—her words had weight.
Neril didn’t seem to care in the slightest, but I took a different view.
“Let Xenia in too, Neril.”
“What?”
“We’ll need her strength for what comes next.”
With that, I turned back to the viscount.
“As you’ve heard.”
“Heard what? I didn’t understand a single word you people said!”
“We’ll take care of the Martial King and restore your land’s health. But to do that, we’ll need something from you.”
“What now?”
“Host a duel. Between me and Terce.”
The viscount, who’d been about to snap back, clamped his mouth shut.
Neril and Xenia stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
“…Do you even understand what you’re saying?”
“Yes. And Terce will be easy to convince. He seemed pretty mad at our party.”
“Exactly. Which means he won’t go easy. He won’t duel—you’ll be lucky if he doesn’t try to kill you.”
“I plan to live to a hundred in good health, so it’s fine.”
“Ha. So the name ‘Sword master of No Killing’ was earned with your tongue, huh? You really think a lowly mercenary like you can beat the empire’s tenth-ranked warrior?”
“Yes.”
My short answer made the viscount’s face grow more serious.
Tilting my head, I continued.
“Since I’m already being plenty rude, let me say one more thing. You seem to be quite afraid of the Martial King. Am I wrong?”
“…”
“No matter how strong he is, you are the lord of Lior, aren’t you? But to me, it looks like you’ve already handed all your authority over to him.”
“…Hah. So be it. My house ends with me anyway.”
Huh?
I didn’t press further, but instead, the lord continued speaking, almost like he regretted it.
It seemed he was finally letting out words he hadn’t been able to say to anyone for a long time.
“My only son passed away seven years ago. Everyone in this territory is lazy and lethargic, but he alone was the picture of health.”
“…You never tried to have another heir?”
“After he died, everything just felt pointless. Rationally, I knew I should, but neither my mind nor body would cooperate.”
“…”
“My son was deeply loved and trusted by all the people in the territory. If he were still alive, that Martial King wouldn’t have dared to act as he does now… hmm.”
The lord awkwardly cleared his throat and shut his mouth, as if realizing he’d said too much.
I crossed my arms and sank into thought for a moment. After a brief silence, I spoke.
“I understand. I’ll look into that as well.”
“…What?”
“Anyway, back to what I was saying—please gather all the residents of the territory for the duel. Let’s make it the biggest dueling tournament in the territory’s history.”
“Hmm. And why go to such lengths…?”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to raise my reputation.”
Only Neril understood what I meant.
Her eyes sparkled as she said,
“That makes sense. If a mere mercenary defeats the Martial King, the incident in Quelk territory will pale in comparison.”
At that, Xenia looked back and forth between Neril and me.
“Quelk? Reputation? I see now.”
“…”
“You weren’t doing this to bring justice or help people. It was just groundwork to boost your fame. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Neril replied dryly.
“You’re right. And we’re not even trying to hide it, so there’s no need to interrogate us like that.”
“Tch.”
I raised a hand to calm Xenia, then turned to the lord.
“I’ll buy you a meal.”
“…Let it be known, I’m not doing this just for food.”
Xenia reached into her cloak.
The lord was still boiling with rage.
“I’ll rip you all to pieces and feed you to the—”
Clink.
Xenia tossed her badge onto the table, as if throwing it down.
It bore the symbol of the Vice Captain of the Order of the Holy Knights of Light.
During an official investigation, that badge represents the Emperor himself.
The lord’s voice dropped immediately.
Neril chuckled.
“Would you reconsider the dog food thing now?”
“What did I say?”
Quite the quick change of attitude.
No wonder he could still hold onto his title while serving next to the Martial King.
The lord agreed to hold the duel in one week.
In the meantime, we stayed at the inn, spending a strangely cozy time getting to know one another.
“Mide, now that the badge has served its purpose, don’t you think it’s time to send her back?”
“Great idea. Shall we go together, Miss Witch? Destination: the capital’s underground prison.”
“Did you get your dad’s permission for that?”
“What does the captain have to do with this?!”
“Don’t yell. You’re hurting my ears.”
The one whose ears hurt the most was me.
I stepped in to mediate.
“That’s enough. Let’s get back to the main topic.”
“Main topic?”
“Yeah. Miss Xenia, I plan to become a Hero.”
Both Neril and Xenia blinked in unison.
After a brief moment, the older and more composed Neril recovered first and shouted,
“You—Are you insane?! Why are you blurting that out?!”
“I wanted to rope Xenia in too.”
“What—why?!”
“Of course her power is tempting, but more importantly, she’s the one who commands Agril.”
Neril, who had been flustered, fell silent at my words.
“Agril, as in…”
“Yeah. The divine chariot granted to humanity by the gods during the descent of the Demon King of Greed. Known as Agril, the Chariot of the Gods.”
“…So that’s why you threw the daggers into the air out of nowhere. I get it now.”
Neril understood instantly.
With Agril, which could traverse the continent in ten days, and if Xenia could be persuaded to board us on it…
It would be an immense help on my journey as a Hero.
Just as Neril fell silent, Xenia raised her voice as if to pick up the baton.
“A Hero? Did I hear that right?”
“Yes. The Demon King will soon descend upon the continent.”
I quickly explained the situation to her, just as I had to Neril.
Xenia’s reaction wasn’t very different from Neril’s either.
If there was one difference…
“…So there’s already a true Hero in the southwest?”
“That’s right.”
“Kaeld Wake. I’ve heard of him.”
Oh?