Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: The Enigmatic Devotee
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Yuri stepped out through the main gate.
Glancing around, he headed toward the area near Demon Castle where he sensed some commotion.
A moment later, Yuri's face took on an incredulous expression.
'Well, I'll be damned?'
Where his gaze landed.
Just as Mu-chi had said, a few boys and girls were indeed building something there.
Looking closer, pristine white epaulets adorned their shoulders.
'The 51st Batch?'
To think the bold intruders sticking their straw into his turf were none other than the 51st Batch.
As he eyed them intently, pondering how to crush them in a way that would spark the best rumors, a glint entered Yuri's eyes.
'Oh ho? These kids are pretty professional, huh?'
The seven boys and girls were working together to assemble a small wooden structure from fitted timber.
And their craftsmanship was anything but amateur.
It was as if they'd been professionally trained by someone.
Since entering the Cradle, Yuri had never seen anyone else with skills this refined—except himself, of course.
The fact that these were fresh recruits only heightened his curiosity.
'Where the hell did these guys come from?'
As Yuri scanned them with wonder, he spotted one girl.
While everyone else toiled away, she alone sat in a sunny spot, basking in the light—a delicate beauty who looked a bit frail.
Not one of the busy workers paid her any mind, which told Yuri she was the center of this group: the girl with the lemon-blonde hair.
Just as Yuri finished piecing it together, others emerged from Demon Castle.
Mu-chi, among them, went wide-eyed.
"Huh?"
He'd only just spotted the lemon-blonde girl now, after rushing to inform Yuri of the situation.
Mu-chi blinked and muttered.
"Lisa Berfort?"
Arin overheard and furrowed her brow slightly.
'...Berfort?'
The name of some family she'd definitely heard before.
It danced on the tip of her memory, drawing her brows together tighter.
But she couldn't quite recall it.
She had to hurry after Yuri, who was striding toward Lisa.
Thud thud.
With majestic swagger.
Hands in his pockets, sauntering over casually—the boys and girls startled and halted their work upon noticing him.
Their eyes filled with utmost wariness.
But they didn't charge at him recklessly like before.
No, they couldn't.
They now knew that even if they all ganged up for real, they couldn't touch him.
Standing behind Lisa amid all the stares.
"Hey."
A curt call.
Lisa turned and spotted Yuri.
And then.
"Eek!"
She shot to her feet with a shriek, frantically covering her eyes with both hands.
She even took a few stumbling steps back.
Her reaction left Yuri's group utterly baffled.
Yuri's expression twisted as if he'd bitten into something foul.
"What, you don't even wanna look at a nobody like me?"
Anyone could see Lisa had covered her face the instant she saw Yuri.
As if the sight of him was repulsive.
So it was only natural for Yuri to feel offended.
At his sullen tone, Lisa waved her hands desperately.
"No, how could I dare! That's not it...!"
Arin whispered to Ppobi after hearing Lisa speak.
"Hey, her speech is weird."
"I'm hungry."
"Oh, right... sorry."
Arin averted her gaze at Ppobi's look that screamed, 'You picking a fight with me right now?'
Truth be told, Ppobi had the weirdest speech patterns in the entire Cradle.
As the two bickered quietly, Lisa's next shout forced them to whip their heads around.
"It's just that Lord Yuri's presence is so blindingly radiant... I couldn't dare look upon you!"
Her impassioned cry echoed desperately, plunging the clearing into silence.
Most of the listeners—no, everyone except Yuri—sprouted question marks over their heads.
'...What?'
'Is she messing with him?'
'Must be some new trend in pranks.'
'I'm hungry?'
At first, they thought Lisa was just teasing Yuri.
But her utterly serious demeanor and the way she kept her head bowed sideways, refusing to even glance at him, made it clear this was no joke.
Jaws dropped around the group.
'...For real?'
'No way!!'
As everyone reeled in shock, Yuri crossed his arms and stroked his chin.
"This is... kinda refreshing?"
Yuri reflected on his life so far.
In his not-so-long existence, he'd met plenty who'd cursed him, punched him, or swung blades at him upon first encounter—but this was a first.
He examined Lisa from every angle, like a rare specimen, then tossed out a question.
"Hey, what's your name?"
"Ahh...!"
At Yuri's question, Lisa's face lit up with sudden ecstasy as she dropped to her knees.
Then she clasped her hands together as if in prayer.
"My love, my lord... This lowly servant of yours is Lisa Berfort."
Her actions were like those of someone who'd heard the voice of a god.
And with Lisa squeezing her eyes shut in genuine prayer, even Yuri muttered in bewilderment.
"Whoa, damn... this is getting kinda creepy."
He'd thought she was just some rare creature at first, but nope—turns out she was some unknown species.
Yuri was convinced.
This thing in front of him was a completely new form of life unknown to the world.
'This could be dangerous.'
A chill crept up his spine, and he took a subtle step back as he asked.
"Uh, yeah, whatever... So what are you punks doing here? Who gave you permission to build an unlicensed structure on someone else's turf? Huh?"
Normally, people would panic at such a question.
The northern forest was open to everyone, after all—no such thing as private property.
And typically, they'd push back against his claim...
"Ahh, how shortsighted of me. Even this place is part of Your Lord's sacred domain."
"...Sacred domain?"
"We shall withdraw at once and relocate elsewhere!"
"Huh?"
Yuri's eyes sharpened at the word 'withdraw.'
'Oh ho? Coming in hot right from the start? You wanna throw down for real?'
Lisa was sincerely planning to pull out, but Yuri took it as her opening negotiations.
It was a minor misunderstanding born from the fact that her type wasn't in Yuri's mental database.
As Yuri pondered how to counter, Lisa spoke first.
"However, Lord Yuri..."
Seeing her trail off, Yuri smirked faintly.
His face said, 'Yeah, that's more like it—lay out your conditions, I'll hear 'em out at least.'
But the intensity in his eyes deflated at her next words.
"Might you deign to tell this servant the boundaries of the sacred domain, so I may stay as close as possible to Your side?"
"......"
"Please do not turn away this humble wish—to dwell near the sacred domain and behold Your noble visage from afar, day after day."
Her voice brimmed with sincerity.
Mu-chi flinched at her moist, pleading eyes filled with desperate longing.
'That girl... was she always like this?'
He didn't know Lisa all that well, but in his memory, she was an unpredictable girl who seemed vaguely dangerous.
'...Well, she still is, kinda?'
Of course, she was still unpredictable and seemed dangerous.
Just the vibe was totally different.
The old Lisa had this hollow, wandering air about her...
'...But now she seems so stable?'
Like she'd found her resting place.
As Mu-chi tilted his head at her transformation, Yuri's gaze deepened.
He regarded Lisa quietly.
"For now..."
A low, heavy baritone rumbled from him, subdued and weighty.
"...let's table this for a few days. No construction in the meantime."
"All as Lord Yuri wills."
Even at his declarative tone, Lisa merely bowed her head deferentially.
Yuri stared fixedly at the crown of her head, then turned on his heel and walked off.
"......?"
"Huh?"
"Wha?"
"Hungry?"
His group panicked as he strode briskly past them.
The Yuri they knew wouldn't let this slide so easily—his sudden retreat made no sense.
They exchanged baffled glances, blinking, then scurried after him.
By the time they reached Demon Castle's main gate, Arin couldn't hold back and called out.
"What the hell? Yuri, why are you just leaving?!"
Yuri halted right at the entrance at her shout.
He paused briefly, then turned only his head to glance back.
His face was rigidly set.
"That girl's no ordinary one."
His gaze landed far off on Lisa, who watched them with hands politely clasped.
Soon, a fierce heat ignited in his eyes.
"This feeling... it's been ages."
Ever since reason dawned in his infant mind, he'd subsisted on glares.
Wandering the world, he'd haggled endlessly.
But an opponent this unreadable? It'd been forever.
A battle-hardened merchant who'd rolled through markets for decades, facing every type of human scum.
A peddler who'd survived countless perils on the road.
The mercenary world, where blades flew over mere silver scraps.
Back-alley thugs, even fences.
No matter how formidable, he could always predict at least one or two moves.
But...
'I can't read a damn thing from her.'
No matter how he racked his brain, Lisa Berfort's thoughts were utterly inscrutable.
That ignited his competitive fire.
"Never let your guard down around her. That's why I'm pulling back for now—to prep properly and strike."
His four companions jolted in shock at his words.
"Good lord... that serious?"
"Whoa, if even Yuri's saying this, she's gotta be terrifying. No wonder her eyes gleamed a bit when she looked over!"
"Hun, hungry..."
"Her every move was anything but ordinary, for sure."
From Teresa to Gunter.
The quartet all shot startled glances toward Lisa.
Meanwhile, Yuri swept back his bangs.
"Whew... this'll be a tough fight."
A sigh-tinged murmur.
As he brushed his hair back and blinked, his eyes blazed fiercely.
"But hey... breaking her will be fun."
Burning with resolve, he tore his gaze from Lisa and entered Demon Castle.
His four trailed after him.
Left behind alone, Mu-chi tilted his head oddly.
"...Wasn't she just asking to stay nearby if not there?"
He had no idea why she'd need Yuri's permission, but that's sure what it sounded like.
He puzzled over it briefly, then shrugged it off.
If even Yuri and the other seniors were reacting like this, they must be right.
With that, he strode after them into Demon Castle.
* * *
A dark room.
Amid the faint glow of a small candle, a hand moved busily over a table.
Rustle.
It unrolled a tightly scrolled scrap of paper.
Etched there was some bizarre, unidentified geometric figure.
Thud.
The hand pulled out a thick book and flipped through it rapidly, scribbling something onto a fresh sheet.
Scratch scratch.
The pen nib's scrape echoed softly in the room.
At last, a few lines of text appeared on the white paper.
Duran Bikovich: Cradle departure.
Return schedule: TBD.
Plan: Indefinitely postponed.
The hand holding the paper stilled for a long moment.
"Tch."
A sharp tongue-click, then the paper's edge touched the candle flame.
Whoosh.
It ignited instantly and was tossed into a shallow bowl on the table with a plop.
Meanwhile, the pale hand closed the thick book.
Thud.
The paper crumbled to ash.
The blaze, larger than the candle, briefly lit the room brighter.
In that moment, the gold-embossed title on the book's cover stood out clearly: [Biographies of the World's Powerhouses].
But only for an instant.
Once the paper fully burned.
Fwoosh.
A strong puff extinguished even the candle, plunging the book—and the room—into pitch blackness.