Volume 1 Chapter 29 Invitation II
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(Maybe I should’ve forced myself to bring back the materials.)
’What would you do if you ran into a horde of death demons as the sun sets? You’d have to pass through a street filled with the corpses of wild dogs.’
(Do you think my judgment was right?)
’It’s crucial to know when to risk your life and when not to. Once you take down the griffin, the top priority is to get back alive.’
(I see, being too reckless isn’t good either. This is really educational. I’m literally learning from experience.)
While talking with the glasses, Serena stood up from her chair and extended her hand.
She leaned forward, and a glimpse of white Sarah peeked out from her shirt.
”If I had been with you, you might’ve made a huge profit by now. But from today on, I’ll make sure you won’t lose out on the griffin. …Nice to meet you, Kian.”
”Nice to meet you too.”
Grabbing the outstretched hand.
Serena’s hand was a bit sweaty and stiff.
It was the hand of someone who swings a sword regularly.
”So, what about the death sword user?”
”From what I know, I can’t tell who they are. What was your brother’s cause of death? Poison? Bugs? Was he cut down by a sword?”
Serena’s eyes twisted in pain.
”He was killed by a sword… right in front of me. In a dark dining hall, my brother came to save me when I was paralyzed from the poison… He fought bravely. But after clashing swords a few times, my brother’s body… his body was torn apart.”
Serena hugged her chest tightly.
It was as if she was seeing that moment reflected in her light blue eyes.
”And then, over my brother’s unmoving body, that guy loomed over him and cut off some parts with a knife… Later, I found out that his heart, the ring finger of his right hand, his right eye, and his lips were gone.”
”That’s excessive. Normally, for an assassination, just soaking a handkerchief in the target’s blood is enough. Old-fashioned apostles take body parts, but 4 is too much.”
Kian stroked his chin and continued.
”The apostles of Azrael don’t kill out of personal grudges. It’s possible that the one who killed your brother wasn’t an apostle of Azrael.”
”They used the same technique as you. The one that wraps magic power around the weapon.”
”‘Impact.’ They seem to know the basic technique.”
”Also, when they swung down the sword, they raised it like they were shouldering it near their right ear. My dad said it’s called a ‘maki-giri,’ a special cutting technique that allows for quicker strikes than raising it over your head.”
”Indeed, maki-giri is part of Azrael’s swordsmanship. It’s more about pulling the blade to cut rather than just hacking down, focusing on speed over power…”
”When I came here and checked with some informants, they said, ‘That’s the work of the legendary killer known as Azrael’s Death Sword user.’.”
Kian furrowed his brows.
”‘Azrael’s Death Sword user’ is a title given to one of the Twelve Divine Generals, who are at the top of the apostles. It’s not something just anyone can claim.”
Kian shifted his gaze back to Serena and continued.
”To become a Twelve Divine General, you gotta have skills in swordsmanship and politics, of course, but also how loyal you are to Azrael’s commandments, as judged by the other 11 generals. Anyone who kills out of personal grudge or takes body parts home as a hobby ain’t gonna be chosen. If you’re underage, you get re-educated. If you’re an adult, you get exiled or purged by the sword.”
”Wow, you really know your stuff.”
Serena looked at Kian in surprise.
”Could it be that you were a former member of Azrael?”
Kian chuckled.
If he had been a former member, he wouldn’t be here as a Rank 9 adventurer.
He’d either be locked up or killed to keep him from leaking info.
”I’m just a nobody. I only learned a bit at the monastery.”
”Hmm…”
”So, that means someone else, not the ‘Azrael’s Death Sword user,’ killed your brother. There aren’t many who can use Azrael’s swordsmanship──probably someone who was educated at the monastery. They had the skills to take out a member of ‘Storm Herd,’ but likely got exiled due to issues with their personality or behavior. If you go to Azrael’s monastery and slip some cash to one of the instructors, they might tell you the names of those who dropped out or got expelled after graduating. By cross-referencing with when your brother was killed, you could probably narrow it down to a few suspects.”
”Kian!”
Serena jumped up from her chair and rushed over to Kian, taking his hands.
”Thank you. I never thought I’d get such… solid information. I can’t thank you enough.”
Her face, which had been expressionless the whole time, cracked a small smile.
Up close, she was genuinely cute.
He caught a whiff of her dry sweat, and he felt himself getting aroused, but he quickly crossed his legs to hide it.
”So, now that you’ve got a plan, are you heading out to Azrael right away?”
Serena frowned.
”I wish I could, but… unfortunately, I don’t have enough money. I need to save up for the boat fare and my stay over there. I also need cash to get info on the exiles. Plus… I just registered as an adventurer and a resident in this town, so if I leave, I gotta pay a withdrawal tax for both.”
”If you take on a quest in Azrael, you won’t have to pay the withdrawal tax. They’ll charge you a hefty toll, though.”
Serena shook her head.
”The quests in Azrael that you can get from the Franz Kingdom are only the big ones. There’s no way I can take one on at my Rank 9. I’ll just have to save up money the honest way.”
”How many gold coins do you need to save up…? What if you talked to some high-level party and explained your situation? If you reach out to the high-level parties in East End, maybe one of them would be kind enough to let you in temporarily.”
”I don’t want to spread my situation around too much. Especially not about ‘Storm Herd’; I don’t want anyone digging into that, and I can’t talk about it for my friends’ safety. …I was used as bait before, poisoned to lure my brother. If I get caught again and they try to use me to call my dad, I…”
Serena turned her light blue eyes to Kian and smiled a little.
”Do you really think there’s a carefree party out there that would take me in, with all these secrets I have?”
”I see. Well, that’s your situation. You should do what you think is best, Ms. Serena.”
”I will. Anyway, I can’t start anything without money, so… Kian, I’m counting on you from now on.”
”Sure thing. Let’s head to the guild to register the party right away. We’ll tell the reception that we’ll be taking on requests as a party, and then we can continue our investigation about the requests.”
”Investigation? Everything we need is written in the request.”
Kian shook his head at Serena, who tilted her head in confusion.
”There are things you can’t see unless you actually go meet the requester and hear their story. High-level parties never just charge in based on the request alone.”
”Is that so? Then I’ll go with you. Just wait a sec. I’m gonna wipe off my sweat and put on my jacket.”
After saying that, Serena disappeared up the stairs again.
Left behind, Kian tossed the last piece of his chicken sandwich into his mouth and stood up.
’Well, I managed to add another party member.’
(Ah, now I can get those special points for the party. I don’t need an S rank. If I can complete all 4 tasks with at least a B rank, that should be enough to level up.)
’Once the inquiries are done, it’d be good to cast this one again. I need to double-check the necessary tools and strategies in your head. Especially since the Labyrinth of Roses quest feels like it’s gonna be really tough, so don’t slack on the preparations.’
(Yeah, just because we got one more teammate doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. If I put on my glasses, I might notice things I missed before, so I agree.)
Kian nodded and slung his backpack over his shoulder.
After that──.
He met up with Serena, who came down from above.
They headed to the guild together and conducted inquiries with the remaining 3 clients.
Based on the information gathered from the investigation, Kian discussed with Serena what tools they needed, and they split up to get them at the street stalls and the guild store──then called it a day.
And on the way back.
Kian put his glasses back on to organize the information about the requests once more.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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