Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: The Unpredictable Sword Saint
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"Begres has some unpredictable sides to him."
The guild master of Serinbam.
These were words I'd heard directly from Aegis Gaibel.
The Sword Saint doesn't care about others' opinions.
That's why his conclusions often differ from everyone else's.
And it was the same now.
"Hahaha, I've got a good eye for people.
Leyzon, thanks to you, we were able to link up with Lord Begres in no time."
"Haha, glad to hear it."
In a downpour so heavy most people couldn't even walk through it.
Pandor, with his massive build, strode boldly through the rain and let out a booming laugh.
The inn's patrons turned to look at Pandor's loud laughter.
But the moment they saw his enormous frame, they quickly averted their eyes.
Pandor's size was so overwhelming it made you question if he was even human.
The sheer biological disparity naturally crushed their spirits.
Pioneers especially knew better.
They could tell Pandor was already a hero-grade monster.
And some among them probably even knew about him specifically.
Best to stay quiet.
But there was an even greater monster standing right in front of Leyzon than Pandor.
The Sword Saint leisurely sipped his meat soup.
For a marquis's son, he sure handled commoner food well.
Just then, a man rushed out from the kitchen.
He looked like the cook.
"Ah, sorry about that, sir! A soup that got messed up in the kitchen by mistake went out. We'll bring you a fresh one right away!"
He hurried over to the Sword Saint and bowed repeatedly in apology.
Leyzon looked at the Sword Saint with wide eyes.
The Sword Saint, spoon still in hand, wore a calm expression that said, So that's how it is.
Pandor gave the Sword Saint a wry smile as he looked at him.
He shook off the water and took a seat.
"Lord Begres lost his sense of taste long ago."
"...His sense of taste?"
"There was a time when he trained too intensely. This is the aftermath."
Pandor dipped a finger into the meat soup on the plate and tasted it.
His face scrunched up immediately.
"Too salty."
The salt lid had popped open, dumping way too much in.
Normally, they'd toss it, but with the customer situation being what it was, they'd shoved it aside and filled a new bowl—which ended up going out by mistake.
"Sigh, even so, didn't I tell you not to go into the Poison Fog Realm?"
"No issue."
Pandor grumbled, but the Sword Saint remained impassive.
Leyzon's eyes widened just a fraction.
'Poison Fog Realm.'
A hero-grade dungeon.
A deadly place teeming with all sorts of poison-based phantasmal beasts.
'So this guy has a history of getting poisoned.'
Dungeon Replay had the concept of resistances.
They weren't blatantly visible, of course.
But the more they built up, the less damage you took from hits.
'Surviving the Poison Fog Realm means his poison resistance is insanely high.'
Come to think of it, the Sword Saint had taken damage from Leyzon's explosions but showed no signs of poison affecting him.
'Damn, bad matchup.'
Poison assassination would be tough if things went south.
"Anyway, Leyzon, you're heading to the Defiant Highlands, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
The Sword Saint had declared he'd take Leyzon along the moment Pandor arrived.
Pandor looked baffled.
Leyzon had tried politely declining, saying it was fine.
But even to Pandor, it seemed risky for Leyzon and Hanok to tackle the Defiant Highlands just the two of them.
After some thought, he'd come to his own conclusion.
"Got it. I'll go with you. Can't ignore someone searching for family."
Leyzon swallowed a bitter smile inwardly.
Pandor was such a good guy.
He'd half-expected this to happen.
As Leyzon started to resign himself, Pandor stroked his chin.
"Come to think of it, there's one thing I wanted to ask."
Pandor's gaze landed on Hanok.
"Is this kid the Shadow Warlord's family?"
At that moment, Hanok's ears and tail twitched nervously.
Unlike Leyzon, who could keep a straight face through anything, Hanok was still just a kid.
Especially with Hanok's naturally timid personality, acting was even harder.
From that single reaction, Pandor pieced it together.
"Shadow Warlord."
The Sword Saint, clearly caught off guard, narrowed his eyes.
His expression said the earlier conversation was finally clicking into place.
"You knew the Shadow Warlord was in the Defiant Highlands."
Leyzon was genuinely impressed by Pandor's information network.
"Just found out recently. Since we're heading to the Defiant Highlands ourselves, we dug around for intel. Barely scraped it together from the black market."
Leyzon instantly knew the source of that intel.
The Bloodless Sovereign.
That woman must have sold it.
'Typical crazy bitch.'
Timing-wise, she'd sold it before meeting Leyzon.
'And then shamelessly tipped me off anyway.'
Well, even the Bloodless Sovereign wouldn't know about Leyzon's connection to the Sword Saint.
The Defiant Highlands weren't some tiny spot, so she probably figured no issue.
And that casual assumption led to this encounter between Leyzon and the Sword Saint.
"H-He's not my blood brother."
Under the spotlight, Hanok meekly bowed his head.
But his eyes burned with firm resolve.
Blood-related or not, he was the Shadow Warlord's brother.
That determination shone in his gaze.
Watching this, Pandor laughed heartily.
"Hmph, what does it matter? If you want to look after family, anyone's family."
The Shadow Warlord was undeniably a rebel against the empire.
But Pandor didn't dwell on her crimes.
Leyzon found this odd, and Pandor winked at him.
"Serving Lord Begres sharpens your ears to certain things."
The Hundred-Legged Sovereign.
Pandor knew what he'd done.
Not the exact reasons, but he knew it was inhuman acts against other races.
Yet Pandor lacked the power to stop it.
He was, after all, just the Sword Saint's aide.
Not in a position to act on justice alone.
He was someone relatively close to the side of good.
Even so, he couldn't bring himself to directly oppose an imperial noble.
Bitter smile crossing his face at his own inadequacy.
"Can't say the Shadow Warlord's methods were entirely right, but I don't think they were wrong. It was something that had to be done."
Pandor's endorsement of the Shadow Warlord made Hanok's eyes waver.
He hadn't expected that.
"The Sword-Tooth Clan suffered greatly because of it."
Pandor had trembled with rage reading the full report to the empire.
They buried the Hundred-Legged Sovereign's deeds and pinned it all on the Shadow Warlord.
Making an example out of the Sword-Tooth Clan in the process.
"As a fellow human, I apologize. I'm sorry. I knew about it all and still couldn't step up."
Hearing Pandor's apology, Hanok looked flustered.
He hadn't imagined Pandor would apologize.
"I-It's okay. I know not everyone can speak out."
Especially not Pandor, serving as a noble's aide.
He wasn't the only one who'd stayed silent from the start.
The imperial family backed the Hundred-Legged Sovereign.
Countless others tied to it had zipped their lips too.
"...Seems there was an incident I wasn't aware of."
Some truly knew nothing.
The Sword Saint was one of them.
"Lord Begres wasn't even thinking of picking up his sword again back then."
He'd abandoned his blade after failing to find his vengeance target, the Vampire Queen.
No way he'd been tuned into worldly affairs.
As the Sword Saint fell silent, Pandor smiled faintly at them.
"I'll help you find the Shadow Warlord. It'll salve my conscience a bit."
Pandor flashed a hearty grin.
At this point, backing out would feel wrong.
Besides, Leyzon personally liked Pandor.
'Maybe because I've only seen lunatics lately.'
Encountering someone decent felt novel.
Being near Pandor put him at ease.
'Birds of a feather really do flock together.'
Good people should stick with good people.
[Leyzon, you're thinking something silly again~]
Leyzon ignored Eden's words.
Then.
Flap flap!
An unexpected sound rang in Leyzon's ears.
"Huh, what's that? A bat?"
"Did it come in to escape the rain?"
Murmurs rose from the crowd.
Leyzon quickly looked up.
There was a pure white bat.
Leyzon's eyes widened the instant he saw it.
Syria was supposed to be asleep.
That's why he'd left her in the room to rest easy.
She must have woken up in the meantime.
Syria flapped straight toward Leyzon.
He hurriedly caught her.
Bat-faced, but she felt half-asleep.
Clearly, she'd wandered out in her drowsy state looking for him.
Since turning like this, Syria had gotten way clingier.
The problem was her sleep habits kicking in right now.
"Hm? A pet?"
Pandor raised an eyebrow at Syria.
No issue there.
The real problem.
Leyzon's eyes met the Sword Saint's.
He was staring intently at Syria cradled in Leyzon's arms.
A powder keg moment.
One wrong move, and he might have to fight the Sword Saint here.
Leyzon ran combat sims in his head.
Hanok's eyes subtly sharpened too.
Tension hung in the air.
Then the Sword Saint spoke.
"Small one."
And that was it.
He took a sip of the fresh meat soup the waiter had brought.
Leyzon blinked.
'He doesn't recognize her?'
Makes sense—Syria's power had weakened immensely in this form.
Just a little bat.
Nothing more.
Leyzon finally relaxed and fussed over Syria.
"We'll head up first."
"Yeah, go ahead. I've got to eat too."
Leyzon hurried off, paranoid about getting caught.
Hanok trailed right behind.
He still looked hungry, but no way he wanted to eat here.
Back in the room safe and sound, Leyzon let out a sigh of relief.
"Whew, that was a headache waiting to happen."
He stroked Syria's head as she nestled in his arms.
She curled up contentedly.
Leyzon gave a wry smile watching her.
The Defiant Highlands trip had been pulled forward against his will.
He'd planned to take it slow, grinding dungeons along the way.
Now it was a rush to find the Shadow Warlord first.
'Eh, whatever.'
Good things were good.
Leyzon reaffirmed that positive note as he gazed out the window.
The rain hammered against the glass fiercely.
Pouring relentlessly.
And the next day.
Syria finally completed her evolution.