Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Returning Sword
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"P-Potion! Supreme-grade potion!!"
"Supreme-grade potion? It's not like the dog next door's name or anything...."
The scouting team member who scolded the fussing Park Ju-bong pursed his lips.
"Not hurt that badly, anyway."
It wasn't exactly wrong.
Jae-hyeok had only suffered severe fractures in both hands.
Seeing his uniform torn to shreds around the waist and his white shirt soaked red with blood, they'd feared he was on the brink of death, but it turned out he was fine.
Still, words and reality were two different things.
"How is this 'not that badly hurt'? A little delay in treatment, and he'd have been crippled for life."
Eujin protested as he roughly sprinkled mid-grade potion over Jae-hyeok's hands.
But it fell on deaf ears.
"We got here in time and treated him, so no big deal. What, you want some pity party? A player getting hurt isn't exactly news."
The Lion's Castle Martial Force were all elites.
They weren't the type to get swayed by a mere student's words.
He shoved aside Da-hee, who was busy wiping Jae-hyeok's sweat and blood, and got straight to the point.
"Kang Jae-hyeok, student? What were you doing here?"
Troll Lord Dungeon.
An area off-limits even to faculty, let alone students.
Only Martial Force with raid clearance could enter.
The Troll Lord in particular required three months of maturation to reach full value, so security was tight.
Having seen the Troll Lord's corpse, his tone naturally turned interrogative.
Da-hee bristled at his attitude toward the patient.
"He was chased by the Death Knight and ended up here by chance."
"Not a place you reach by chance. You felt for yourself how brutal the path here is, right? Ah, this is annoying. Teacher Park Ju-bong, take the kids and go."
Jae-hyeok explained to the frowning scouting team member.
"I figured there'd be Martial Force guarding this place, so I came asking for help. But everyone must've gone to eat or something—no one was around. As you can see, we got chased all the way here and nearly ended up as food for the Troll Lord and Death Knight."
His words, a clever mix of truth and lies, carried conviction.
A freshman deliberately targeting the Troll Lord for a raid?
While being chased by a Death Knight?
Even newly spawned, the Troll Lord was level 59.
No match for a freshman who'd only been at Lion's Castle for two months.
Moreover, per the A-Class students' accounts, the Death Knight was a named-grade monster.
There were no holes in Jae-hyeok's story.
Other Martial Force members autopsying the Troll Lord's corpse backed him up.
"Looks intact on the outside, but the internals are total mush. Sword jammed through the collarbone gap—one hit destroyed the heart and organs."
"Brain attribute attack... Fitting for a named-grade Death Knight. How'd the A-Class kids survive a monster like that?"
"Luckily, Silla's prodigy was there. She said the Death Knight never cared about the students from the start."
"Makes sense, since she survived too...."
"Sheer luck."
Just then, the ones pursuing the Death Knight returned to the scene.
"Lost it, damn it."
"Didn't even look back once. Letting the students live, too—it doesn't want to clash with humans yet."
"Nameds are smart. It's waiting for its moment."
"But I had no idea there was a named in Lion's Castle. How long's it been hiding?"
"The captains know. Let's report back quick."
The Martial Force, done with the scene, collected the Troll Lord's corpse.
"First time seeing a boss monster carcass this clean. We're getting paid fat for this."
"Money? The real value's in the crown or skillbook. Can't wait to see Raid Squad 2's captain and Raid Squad 5's captain throw a fit."
"Oh, raid rights were with the association faction this time?"
"Good news for Minister Seol Su-ah."
Only after the crowd dispersed and the commotion died down.
"One last question."
The scouting team member interrogating Jae-hyeok posed the most crucial one.
"Why'd the Death Knight chase you specifically? Circumstances-wise, it could've gone after Teacher Park Ju-bong and no one would've batted an eye."
Per the A-Class students.
The Death Knight had pursued someone called the "Sword-crazed Demon."
Then immediately chased Jae-hyeok.
Surely some connection?
As Jae-hyeok prepared his pre-planned answer for the suspicious scout.
"It's probably because Kang Jae-hyeok saved my life."
Park Ju-bong explained.
"I took a critical hit from the Death Knight's ambush—should've died right there. And the one who struck me would've known that best. But right after meeting Jae-hyeok, I survived, so it wouldn't be strange if the Death Knight took an interest in him."
In raids, supporters often pulled boss aggro unexpectedly.
The scout found merit in Park Ju-bong's claim and raised a new question.
"How'd Kang Jae-hyeok heal you?"
"With a supreme-grade potion."
"...!"
Eujin and Da-hee doubted their ears; the scout's eyes went wide.
Supreme-grade potions were the pinnacle of potions.
As long as life hadn't fully ebbed, they could heal any wound.
But they were so rare, even famous powerhouses rarely stocked them.
And a mere student had one?
'No, not a mere student. House Kang blood, even if fallen. Considering the old House Kang's glory, it's plausible he'd carry one. But....'
The scout looked baffled.
"Why use something that precious on someone else?"
"Do you need a reason to help a person?"
"Uh...?"
"My father would be proud, saying I used it right."
Jae-hyeok avoided naming Jae-gye-gyeok.
Explaining how he got the supreme-grade potion from Jo Seong-hyeon would've required spilling the whole incident.
Da-hee and Park Ju-bong looked moved, seeing him uphold his father's honor too.
Eujin shook his head in disbelief, and the scout's reaction was much the same.
"...I see."
True noblesse oblige was always beyond common sense.
The scout stood, giving Jae-hyeok a slight bow.
"Thanks for answering honestly despite the pain. And I'm glad you survived. Head back and rest well."
"Jackpot...."
After he left.
Eujin, eyes round as saucers and standing dazed for a moment, made a fuss.
"The Martial Force bowed to a student! They're so arrogant, they even ignore teachers! Right, Teacher?"
"Uh...? Y-Yeah."
"Kang Jae-hyeok, you're amazing! An elite who stiff-necked our thirty-something homeroom teacher bowed to you!"
"I'm not that old, actually..."
"Both of you, quit yapping and help support Jae-hyeok!"
Park Ju-bong missed his chance to defend against the old-man jab.
***
"Jae-hyeooook!!"
Emerging from the dungeon, supported by Park Ju-bong and Da-hee.
"You okay!? Nothing major hurt!?"
He ran into Kim Jin-myeong.
Drenched in sweat and breathing hard—he'd clearly heard late and rushed over.
Jae-hyeok seized the moment of his agitation and struck first.
"I'm fine—got treated in time. But...."
"Ah...."
As Jae-hyeok trailed off, the instructors who'd followed Kim Jin-myeong sighed.
Realizing why the senior instructor was missing.
Before they could ask for details, Jae-hyeok struck first again.
"I already testified to the Martial Force about the incident."
"......"
What could mere instructors do after testimony to the Martial Force?
Mute as beaten dogs, they parted for Jae-hyeok.
***
Back at the dorm, claiming he wanted rest, Jae-hyeok opened his inventory first.
A jade-glowing book and a beautiful crimson sword appeared before him.
The skillbook and Iyarugut dropped by the Troll Lord.
<Iyarugut>
Grade: Legendary
Divine relic bestowed by the god in human form upon his loyal knight.
Soul-less now, but still a rare famed sword in the world.
Power rises with consecutive swings; cleaves foes armor and all.
*Power increases with strikes on the same target.
*Very low chance to activate [Sword of the Abyss] on consecutive attacks.
*Indestructible.
★Regains true power upon recovering its soul.
As Deodor had guessed, Iyarugut wasn't whole.
Yet this powerful....
Shivering briefly, Jae-hyeok focused elsewhere.
'God in human form.'
A familiar phrase.
The Lion Statue's words resurfaced.
—The god in human form later wrote the legend of the Five Seconds, making this a holy site... Still, I sometimes miss the distant past.
The god who made Lion's Castle a holy site.
Who was he?
Was the founder his knight?
'Knight.'
Memories of awakening flashed.
Reinhardt's Third Imperial Princess Iris.
That enigmatic transcendent had said she anticipated the chivalry I'd write.
Was she connected to the god too?
'No point dwelling now.'
Reinhardt was a real place, confirmed on the community boards.
And intel on it was notoriously hard to get.
No need to fret prematurely.
Reinhardt, Third Princess, founder, god.
All likely to cross paths naturally as a player grew.
Same for Iyarugut's soul.
No related quest meant obsessing was wasted effort.
'More curious how my quick-draw sword became Iyarugut.'
Jae-hyeok recalled his childhood.
Of dozens of quick-draw swords in the armory, was the one Father picked special?
Was this even the same sword Father gave him back then?
Living with his siblings.
Training under the carefree Kang Dae-seong, swords got swapped all the time.
'That damn guy.'
Nothing likable about him.
Tsking, Jae-hyeok undid the scabbard.
'Need a new one. Does Lion's Castle have a forge? Or ask Butler Hwang...?'
Testing the fit to gauge Iyarugut's size, Jae-hyeok's eyes went wide.
Click!
Iyarugut slid perfectly into the scabbard, like returning home.