Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Chapter 19 - Port City Erenpe
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The next morning.
Just three days after defeating the Beast Lord Balakia, Luther found himself face-to-face with Count Gleston.
[Shouldn't you have met him on the very day you took down the Beast Lord?]
'You'd think so.'
He'd passed out on the day of the victory, spent the next dancing with Integra, and collapsed yesterday while absorbing the fragments, so Luther hadn't managed to meet Count Gleston until now.
'But... it's not like I absolutely had to.'
[Wow, if he were a woman, you'd have made time for him.]
'What the hell do you even think I am?'
[You know exactly what I think.]
'No, seriously, what?'
"Um, Luther."
"Ah."
Karen gave his sleeve a slight tug from the side, snapping Luther back to attention. He turned to face forward again.
Count Gleston sat there with a gentle smile.
[Look at that. You had him right in front of you and straight-up ignored him.]
[Poor Count Gleston...]
'You. We're talking later. Later.'
[Kyaa! What are you gonna do when we're alone...?]
'Just shut up.'
Better to die than groan about it.
Luther ignored Integra's sudden giggling as best he could and tried to focus on Count Gleston.
But it wasn't that easy for him either.
"You've accomplished something truly remarkable. On behalf of all of Venus City, allow me to express our deepest gratitude."
"Ah, sure."
Those moist, expressive eyes so like Lilia's.
Count Gleston wasn't bad-looking himself, so it suited him, but as a fellow man, it was nothing short of burdensome.
'Lilia's fine, though.'
No, more than fine—actually kind of nice.
Lilia, seated beside Count Gleston, was beaming at him with a shy smile when their eyes met, and it was utterly adorable.
Soft and warm, like a plush pillow or something?
[Focus on Count Gleston.]
[He's talking about something important right now.]
Integra wasn't nagging for no reason.
Count Gleston had brought up the matter of rewards for this incident.
"This is a token from our house for our benefactor. Whenever you need assistance, please visit House Gleston at any time."
What Count Gleston offered was a small gold medallion.
It looked valuable in itself, but since it wasn't something easy to sell, its immediate cash value was basically zero.
[Same with Princess Peliaru last time. Seems like everyone on this planet loves these "rain check" deals.]
'That too... but mostly they're just short on cash right now.'
Count Gleston had already spent a fortune hiring hundreds of adventurers.
Factor in the costs of forging Lethe's holy emblem and all the miscellaneous expenses, and even a wealthy house like Gleston's would be strapped for cash at the moment.
"Please... do come back someday. I mean it."
Count Gleston himself seemed a bit embarrassed to offer a token of gratitude instead of cash, repeating the invitation several times.
"But Luther, are you sure you don't want us to announce it in your name?"
The one who defeated Beast Lord Balakia.
After the mana vortex kicked in, it was no exaggeration to say Luther had done it single-handedly, so Count Gleston naturally planned to spread the news under Luther's name.
But Luther had refused.
"Yes, please just call me an unnamed warrior or... some suitable pseudonym. And keep my affiliation with the... mercenaries a secret too."
Simple reason.
He didn't want to draw undue attention from the Hecatoncheires.
'We've only just finished the western arc.'
He wasn't ready for the Hecatoncheires to notice him yet.
Worst case, if they decided to eliminate him and sent a top-tier dragonkin, what then?
'Sure, the odds of that are basically nil.'
They'd probably send mid-tier at best, upper-tier max, but even a mid-tier dragonkin would be too much for Luther right now.
Defeating the Beast Lord had been thanks to the spirit jewel debuff and the mana vortex working perfectly—not because he'd gotten insanely strong.
So for now, he needed to lay low.
Avoid drawing unnecessary attention.
'Not many witnessed the fight anyway.'
It wasn't an overstatement to say virtually no one had followed them all the way to Asain Canyon and seen it firsthand.
So unless Count Gleston spilled the truth, people would assume it was Arma Valentine—one of the world's top ten superhumans—who had taken down the Beast Lord, not some guy named Luther who popped up out of nowhere.
Of course, Luther wasn't without some desire for fame.
He'd saved the west, after all. He'd love the renown and the praise.
But risking his life for mere vanity? That was beyond foolish.
Luther wasn't that stupid.
[But Master, you still had them include "unnamed warrior" as a contingency, right?]
At Integra's question, Luther gave a small nod.
No name at all would've left no room to claim it later, but putting one in allowed him to step forward later and say, "That was me."
[Fame has its uses sometimes. Good call.]
As Integra smiled warmly and praised him, Count Gleston—who had pondered briefly—spoke up with a grave expression.
"Understood. If that's your wish, Luther, we'll do as you say."
"Thank you."
With the conversation between Count Gleston and Luther wrapping up, Lilia—who had been quiet until now—spoke up hesitantly.
"Um, Luther, what are your plans going forward? Are you staying in Venus City for a while?"
She knew Luther was hunting fragments, but apparently hadn't expected him to leave right away.
[But alas, we're departing immediately.]
[How truly regrettable.]
'Your words and tone don't match at all?'
The content oozed regret, but her voice bubbled with excitement.
Integra pressed on regardless.
[Oh, come on. Must be your imagination, Master.]
[Right? Hehe.]
'No, you're literally laughing right now?'
Not even pretending.
Luther shook his head slightly and said, with genuine apology on his face,
"Sorry, Lilia. I have to leave today."
"Huh? Today?"
Lilia wasn't the only one shocked by the immediate departure—Karen and Max looked surprised too.
'But no choice.'
In the original story, Anne Rose defeated Beast Lord Balakia about five to seven days after its appearance.
Luther had taken it down on day one, buying that much extra time, but he couldn't relax just yet.
[The butterfly effect's gonna be massive.]
Balakia was dead, and the west wasn't devastated.
His mere presence had already accelerated Anne Rose's visit to House Gleston.
Who knew how the southern events might change? He planned to head south as fast as possible.
"You've got that academic conference coming up soon, right, Lilia? I hope it goes great."
"...Yeah, Luther."
Lilia's shoulders slumped, her face the picture of dejection—heartbreaking, but unavoidable.
"You're heading south, then?"
At Karen's question, Luther nodded, and Count Gleston said,
"Then you'd best take the waterways of the Anes River."
The Anes River cut through the entire west.
Even in the original, where half the west including Venus City was razed, Anne Rose had used its waterways multiple times because they remained intact.
"See you later, Lilia."
"Yeah, Luther."
Lilia nodded, her face downcast.
Then, about thirty minutes later.
After bidding farewell again to Karen, Max, Lilia, and Anne Rose at the estate entrance, Luther left House Gleston.
[Still a little sad, though.]
[Here's to seeing them again soon.]
"Yeah."
Anne Rose, a major original character, was bound to cross paths again somehow.
But what about Karen, Max, and Lilia?
Would he really see them again?
'We will.'
Karen was Arma Valentine's disciple now, and Max would stick to her like glue.
Lilia wouldn't go traveling alone or hiring guards just for their looks anymore...
As long as they stayed alive, they'd meet again someday.
[Anyway, Master, let's switch gears and talk about something important while we walk.]
"Like what?"
[The southern arc, obviously.]
[You still haven't told me about the main southern scenario.]
Come to think of it, he hadn't.
So Luther scratched his chin, organizing his thoughts, and addressed Integra, who stood with arms crossed before him.
"Alright, the southern arc kicks off with an incident in Malkuth Kingdom."
[The one where Princess Peliaru lives?]
"Yeah. One of the kingdom's key figures is a Hecatoncheires spy. That spy uses the kingdom's treasure and ancient ruins to unleash a massive tsunami... and the events unfolding as it devastates the south—that's the southern scenario."
[This game always assumes total devastation as the baseline.]
[And the protagonist never actually stops the disasters.]
[Wait, isn't this just a trash game?]
A game where tragedy after tragedy strikes.
And despite the protagonist's efforts, the catastrophes still happen—practically masochist bait.
[Master's tastes couldn't be...]
"No! It's like... yeah! Hope amid tragedy! The thicker the darkness, the brighter that single ray of light shines!"
[And it ends in ruin anyway.]
[So doesn't the light just get swallowed by the dark?]
Endless trials leading to a bitter downfall.
Luther faltered at Integra's point, swallowed hard, nodded, and admitted,
"Yeah, it's a trash game."
Prequel limitations, probably.
[My condolences to the Master who slogged through it... Back to business.]
[So who's the spy?]
Knowing the spy would make things way easier.
Just take them out before they caused trouble.
But instead of answering, Luther cleared his throat awkwardly.
[Master?]
"Well, it's like..."
[It's like?]
At Integra's echo, Luther scratched the back of his head and said, half-resigned,
"I don't know."
[Huh?]
"I don't know."
[What?! But you played it! You said you only blanked after the 3/4 mark! Was the western arc seriously that early in this garbage fire?!]
Not just trash—a total dumpster fire?
As Integra rapid-fired, Luther broke into a cold sweat.
"No! Not like that!"
[Not like that?]
"It's... random."
[Random?]
"Yeah, random. The spy changes every playthrough. Can't pin down who it is."
Random spy per run.
Fresh every time from a gamer's view, sure.
[No, but seriously... wow... this is straight-up the shittiest game ever.]
For Luther and Integra, who needed to catch the spy to avert the southern tragedies and the tsunami, random spies weren't a fun gimmick—they were a rage-quit machine.
[Hoo... hoo...]
[Still, Master, there are candidates, right?]
[Not like some random extra suddenly becomes the spy?]
"Yeah, not that bad. One of three."
[Phew... better than a dozen or so.]
[Who are they?]
"The queen, the grand general, the high priest."
[Huh?]
"One of the queen, grand general, or high priest is the spy."
Integra covered her face with both hands.
[A queen, grand general, or high priest as the spy? Isn't Malkuth Kingdom already doomed?]
Heavy hitters like that—you couldn't just accuse them lightly.
Hell, even with hard evidence, what could you do?
[Total shit game.]
[Why collab with something this awful?]
[Star Savior was clearly a masterpiece.]
As Integra fake-cried, Luther furrowed his brow and asked, curiosity piqued amid the despair.
"Why's Star Savior a masterpiece?"
[Because I'm in it.]
"Y-Yeah."
The original Integra was a whole different character from the one before him now, but if she said so...
[Sigh, anyway, three suspects beats a baker's dozen.]
[Plus, unlike the original, we can get Princess Peliaru's help.]
Just as Integra said.
In the original, Princess Peliaru's death had soured attitudes toward surface-dwellers throughout Malkuth.
Ash had wandered the south in disguise the whole time.
Luther, by contrast, could strut around openly, backed by Princess Peliaru and great warrior Sandalphon—vastly better position than original Ash.
'Talking about her makes me miss her.'
The friendly princess Peliaru, whining about being cooped up in her chambers for months once she got home. He chuckled.
[Anyway, Master, looks like we've left Venus City while talking.]
[How do you plan to get to the ferry for the waterways?]
[1. Walk]
[2. Rent a horse]
[3. Take the drone]
Luther blinked at the options scrolling up.
Number three stood out as always.
"Drone?"
[Shall we call it?]
[A new combination chant?]
Integra had talked last night about developing a new drone.
Had it already borne fruit?
[Combine sequence.]
[Access code, Air Striker.]
[Excited to see it? Right?]
If not, she'd be lying.
Luther quickly ducked into a secluded spot away from prying eyes and donned the nanosuit.
And about ten seconds later.
A bright smile lit up Luther's face.