Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Incident in the Lawless City
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Right next to the imperial capital of the Andras Empire stood a small castle prepared exclusively for the Holy Warrior and his handful of direct subordinates.
In the training grounds of that castle, Holy Warrior Brayden was swinging his sword diligently from early morning, just as he did every day.
However, the movements of his sword were far heavier and more ferocious than the smooth grace of before, as if laden with raw emotion.
Thwack!
One of the straw dummies, its durability finally spent, burst open with a dull pop under Brayden's strike. He kicked at the scattered straw on the ground as if venting his frustration.
Lately, his mood had been foul.
It all started with the fact that his holy sword hadn't glowed during the Holy Warrior appointment ceremony—a globally televised event—becoming public knowledge.
The empire explained it away as "something that has happened occasionally throughout history," but Brayden had never heard of such a case in any history he knew.
People weren't blindly accepting the empire's statement either. Ever since, he'd caught imperial nobles giving him subtle glances, sizing him up or appraising him in some way.
Brayden hated those looks.
He had been perfect in martial prowess, scholarship, character, and even looks since birth. He was the one who judged others, not someone to be judged with such eyes.
Just before the ceremony, people had been rubbing their hands and saying, "Looking forward to working with you." Now they were subtly keeping their distance, and it infuriated him.
Fortunately, an opportunity to showcase his prowess soon arose.
Unusual phenomena had erupted in the Fresia Mountains, with gargoyles appearing in abnormal numbers.
The moment Brayden heard, he informed the imperial court that he would handle it.
No matter how many gargoyles swarmed, he was confident he could win. Showing his true power would silence those questioning his qualifications.
To ensure reliable witnesses, he mobilized his direct subordinates under the Holy Warrior and, guided by an imperial mage, climbed to the mountainside. But what he found was a gargoyle cave already cleared out.
Over a hundred people had gone, including his lover Celine. Instead of a chance to shine, he'd just taken over a hundred on a pointless hike up the Fresia Mountains.
After that, even his subordinates' gazes toward him seemed slightly altered.
Rumors spread: maybe the goddess had abandoned him, or he was an unqualified Holy Warrior so she refused to lend her power, or he'd dragged them out just to build his own achievements...
As the whispers festered behind his back, Brayden grew stressed and took it out on the dummies.
"Brayden, your sword's too rough."
The one consolation amid all this was his lover, Celine—apprentice knight of the "Goddess's Sword," the Holy Warrior's direct unit.
A beautiful girl with a strong impression and fiery red hair cascading like flames.
Though she'd only recently joined the unit and was still called an apprentice, her swordsmanship was already top-tier. What made Celine truly fearsome was her equal mastery of archery, leaving no exploitable range weaknesses.
She immediately noticed the excessive force in Brayden's swings and approached him.
"Is it because of the rumors going around lately?"
"...Yeah. No matter how hard I try to ignore them, my heart won't let me."
"Don't take it too hard. I know they're just baseless nonsense that has nothing to do with the real you, no matter what they say. Isn't that enough?"
"I'm glad, but it's not. If my reputation drops, people won't feel the reassurance that comes with the Holy Warrior title. So I have to always be outstanding. No flaws allowed. I must be the perfect blend of scholar and warrior. And I'm the only one who can bear that burden."
"You'll burn out first like that. Cool your head sometimes. I'm right here."
"Celine..."
The lovers' lips met softly. Celine blushed faintly, smiling as she touched Brayden's cheek.
"Still won't go beyond a kiss."
"Mm... Sorry. After the holy sword didn't glow at my ceremony, I can't shake the thought that maybe the goddess is punishing me for having a lover despite being the Holy Warrior."
He knew most Holy Warriors in history had lovers, wives, even children. But with bad rumors starting, Brayden was holding himself to stricter standards.
"Hehe, just teasing. I'm not upset over something like that. Everyone will know you're the true Holy Warrior soon enough. But when that day comes, you'll have to make up for it by holding me passionately?"
"Yeah, I promise."
The pair basked in their sweet atmosphere.
At that moment, the administrator handling "Goddess's Sword" unit logistics rushed into the training grounds where Brayden was.
"Holy Warrior, there you are. I have urgent news. Pratea Kingdom has secretly requested the deployment of the Holy Warrior and 'Goddess's Sword'."
"The kingdom? What would make them call for the Holy Warrior and Goddess's Sword?"
"You know the city of Libertà, right?"
Brayden and Celine nodded, and the administrator briefed them.
"A while ago, a noble lady from the kingdom took mercenaries there and demanded the residents evacuate for a purification operation."
"Libertà purification? The kingdom's tried that before, hasn't it? Doesn't seem special."
"Well... The Libertà side rebelled first, massacred all the accompanying mercenaries, and the lady went missing. Fewer than five survived, they say. The kingdom's furious, branded Libertà as rebels, and plans to crush them militarily. But mobilizing the full army would be too large-scale and risk detection, so they requested our elite few: you and Goddess's Sword."
Brayden stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"Pratea Kingdom has deep faith in the goddess. If their nobles say the goddess approves, attacking them is attacking the goddess herself... Solid justification for us to deploy. But the noble lady's missing? What's her name? Any leads?"
"Witnesses saw three suspicious men abduct her, but circumstances point to Libertà thugs kidnapping her for ransom. The missing lady is Lenis Valentin of the Valentin Count family—"
"What?!"
Brayden and Celine shot to their feet, shouting in unison.
They stared at each other in panicked shock, then Brayden yelled.
"We're deploying immediately! Celine! Rally the troops! We have to go to Libertà!"
"Got it! On it now!"
Under Brayden's fierce urgency, the Goddess's Sword unit assembled in moments. Without delay, they moved toward Libertà as secretly as possible.
Nearly ten days of travel later, we finally reached the vicinity of Vector Baron territory.
With fatigue piled up, not just Lenis but Ravi and Elfin looked utterly worn out.
"Fi... finally the city... Now we can rest properly..."
Leaving the emotional Lenis behind, I took the lead and handed her the mask and hood I'd used in Libertà.
"Lenis, put this on."
"Huh? Why should I wear something like this? We're in my country!"
"Publicly, you're known as kidnapped by us. Walking around with your face out will get us mistaken for kidnappers and thrown in a dungeon before we gather any info."
"Mistaken? Maybe Ravi or Elfin, but you're the actual kidnapper—how shameless."
"Just wear it."
I forced the hood and mask on Lenis and headed toward the city.
Ravi and Elfin, with their eye-catching looks, pulled their hoods low and followed.
Vector Baron territory was unheard of, but the city itself existed in the game.
I headed to a decent-sized inn, took a table in the first-floor dining area, and ordered food.
As the innkeeper brought the meal, the three ate with hoods on. I stopped him briefly.
"Hey, innkeeper. Got a question. I'm from out of town, and it seems like rumors are buzzing lately."
I slid some coins toward him across the table, and he pocketed them smoothly.
"Hahaha, rumors never stop around here. What do you want to know?"
"Libertà seems noisy these days. Anything happen there?"
"Oh, Libertà? Don't get me started. Word is there was a total massacre recently."
"Massacre?"
"Heard the Valentin lady led troops there, but those crazy Libertà bastards kidnapped her and slaughtered all the soldiers. Only two or three came back alive..."
Lenis froze upon learning her forces were nearly all dead, her hands trembling as she stopped eating.
"That's awful. So the Libertà culprits who did the massacre all fled?"
"Pardon? Oh, you got it wrong. The 'massacre' wasn't the soldiers dying."
"...?"
"After that, our Vector Baron petitioned the royals to send the Holy Warrior and Goddess's Sword. The court approved, and they went to Libertà..."
It must have happened during the days we traveled from Libertà to here on foot.
Unlike us, they'd have teleportation support, arriving much faster.
"The Holy Warrior burned Libertà to the ground and killed everyone there. Our baron helped on-site too, and now that damn Libertà's finally wiped off the map!"
"...... The Holy Warrior erased Libertà? And the baron helped him on-site?"
None of us kept eating.
Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis stared at each other in utter shock.
Vector Baron was the one who'd egged Lenis on to go to Libertà in the first place. With her missing, instead of denying involvement, he'd pushed for Holy Warrior deployment to the royals and assisted Brayden in the citywide slaughter?
He hadn't even confirmed Lenis was dead. If she returned and spilled everything to her father, his involvement would be exposed. He wanted a piece of the glory for his career, but his words and actions didn't match at all?
That was the moment my suspicions hardened into near-certainty.
Something was definitely up with that Vector Baron bastard.