Volume 3 Chapter 136-2 The Flower That Blooms Proudly I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Kian nodded without hesitation. He didn’t feel the need to hide it.
Linca stared into the surface of her tea. Her reflection looked back as she said, “As expected.”
”I was sent here to recover Barghest and his research. But I was also told to report on strange things happening in the north. Lately, people say the dead have been rising from their graves around here.”
”So you were in the communal graveyard?” Kian asked.
”Yes. That day was my day off. I was just walking through the villages around Ramsey. Along the way, I met Shura. He asked for help, so I took blood and fur from the Wolfman’s daughter. After that, I thought it might feel wrong to just go back to my walk, so I checked the graveyard to see if any strange magic had been used.”
”What did you find?”
Linca shook her head.
”Nothing. But finding nothing may be a sign that something is still coming. I performed a ritual in the area, set a detection spell in the graveyard, and made it hidden. That’s when you showed up, Sir Kian.”
”If things had gone badly, I might’ve been caught as a witness. You helped me back then too. Thank you.”
”No need to thank me. It was my day off. I didn’t want to do more work than I had to.”
It could’ve been a lie. But Linca smiled when she said it.
Even though she used deadly fighting techniques, she still seemed like a kind and calm woman.
(Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe because she had such dangerous power, she wanted to live gently.)
”To go back to the topic. Lord Owl arrived around the same time the dead started rising. Also, that’s when the rumors began—about the ‘Thorn Demon’ returning. I think Lord Owl might be behind it all.”
”Are the dead really rising?”
”Yes. The people in Ramsey are afraid. There are records of Adventurers fighting vampires in the sewer graveyard below town. I myself killed a ghoul—a skeleton soldier—in the graveyard on the town’s edge.”
She kept going.
”Vampires can change their own body shape. They grow claws and hair to hurt others. They use the same power to make living corpses. They put their blood into a dead body and control it from inside. If the vampire is strong, the corpse moves on its own and starts looking for blood to bring back to its master.”
”Even though she’s not a vampire. Remi Cain is a high-ranking bloodsucker. She’s placed in party-kill ranks—Rank 2 or even Rank 1—for that reason.”
Linca nodded, her face serious.
”Depending on her age, an advanced bloodsucker like Remi Cain could wipe out a whole town in just a few days. In old records from my homeland, they wrote about strong kinds like Jiangshi and Rakshasa. Warriors had to hunt them down. Every time, a stronghold or oasis got destroyed first.”
”So even the eastern strongholds were taken down. That’s terrible.”
”If the corpse isn’t rotten, skeleton soldiers can use the skills they had in life. And when they drink more blood, their numbers grow.”
”By the way, who were your ancestors that beat them? Were they like Sarah or Oswald?”
Linca placed a hand on her chest.
”My ancestors made contracts with spirits—demons, really—that could change the rules of the world. Their children inherited those powers. That’s why they could hurt spirits, even though normal humans can’t. The same rule works on youma and weak demons too. Since then, my family has served as priests in the eastern lands. We’ve protected people for generations.”
”A demon that changes the rules of matter… Could that be like this Misty Magic Sword?”
Kian pulled the blade from his waist. Linca looked and nodded.
”It comes from the spirits of my ancestors. They had that power too, and their rank was higher than mine. Their attacks always worked. This Misty Magic Sword is meant to kill spirits. It’s a relic from long ago, and because I have spirit blood, it’s a special weapon for me. When you drew that sword, I already knew I’d lose. I was impressed, Sir Kian—not just by your swordsmanship, but how you used it.”
Kian thought silently to himself.
’So that’s why The sleep curse barely took hold on this woman because of the spirit blood running through her veins, huh.’
(While Shura and the others couldn’t recover for a while after falling off the roof, this woman, despite the surprise attack, bounced back immediately and finished me off.)
(Her spirit blood must come from powerful ancestors.)
Linca spoke again.
”The Misty Magic Sword isn’t as powerful as the Holy Sword of the Sun, which is also made to kill spirits. But it’s still high-level. I heard it ended up with the dragon of Châtillon after Nizaam fell.”
”I borrowed it from the dragon’s daughter.”
”Where do you get these kinds of connections? That wind sword, too… And your gear—it’s all way above what someone at your level should have.”
”Haha… You’re right. My gear’s too good for me. It’s embarrassing.”
Linca shook her head.
”No. Even with powerful weapons, someone who just swings wildly won’t win. You beat me, Sir Kian, because you used your sword the right way. You trained hard, and you’ve been through a lot as an Adventurer. That’s why you’re strong now.”
”You’re good at flattery.”
”I mean it.”
Kian poured more tea into her cup. Thanks to the ‘Silver Ice’ spell, it was still hot.
Linca must’ve liked Lady Fhana’s tea a lot. As soon as Kian lifted the pot, she held out her mug without a word.
”Ah… was that rude?”
”No. This tea is good. We don’t get to enjoy things like this during a mission.”
”The smell is rich, and there’s a fruity scent too. I wish I had sweets to go with it…”
”If I had some honey, I could make something to match.”
”Haa… Sir Kian, you’re good at cooking. Earlier, your knife work and seasoning were so natural.”
”Do you cook too?”
”Yes… Because that’s one of the few things I can beat Sarah at.”
”Oh, for marriage?”
”Yes. Even in the West, the wife usually cooks, right?”
”Depends. Her Excellency Maribel has probably never cooked in her life. Ms. Priscilla’s the same. But Christy can cook well, and Lady Fhana was also really into sweets.”
”……Haa, haa.”
”Those pastries she made were really good. I saved the recipe. I’ll try to make it when I have time.”
”You had tea with the acting lord of Châtillon? …Sir Kian, who are you really?”
Kian tilted his head.
”Just Kian. Who do I look like?”
”No, I mean… how should I say this… you’ve really changed.”
”People change in thirty years. Especially Adventurers. I had to learn to talk to people, whether I liked it or not.”
”You must’ve had a hard time… You, Sir Kian, talking this easily.”
”That Sir Kian, huh? You mean me?”
”Ah! S-sorry! That was rude of me—”
”It’s fine.”
Kian smiled, though it looked a little strained. He started to think maybe bringing Linca on the next mission into Ramsey wasn’t a bad idea.
She had already checked the area before. She probably knew the best ways to sneak in. Sarah had given him a task, and with Linca there, he could handle it more smoothly.
This woman was useful.
Easy to work with.
Maybe Jibril didn’t need her.
But Kian did.
”Actually, I wanted to ask something, Sir Kian.”
”Go ahead.”
”That technique—where you turn into fog. What is that?”
”Oh, this?” He held up his hand and turned it into black mist.
”Didn’t Jibril explain?”
A gust of marsh wind nearly blew him away, so he quickly turned back into his normal shape.
Character Notes:
• Linca – Jibril’s favorite girl. High-ranking warrior monk woman from Shin, with strong abilities like ignoring attacks and poisons.
• Mag – The wolfwoman under Yelmar—the one who was caught by Kian’s group earlier.
• Nizaam – A former member of Azrael’s Twelve Divine Generals and the current head of the Malc family, though he has passed both titles to his daughter to return to the battlefield. He is a prominent warrior noble in Azrael, known for his love of beautiful boys and fierce battles.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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