Vertas, the Free City (Part 5)

Gaon.

The owner of the Heavenly Dragon Bird's carcass.

Information that he was staying at Madam Durdamel's inn had already been acquired.

Upon leaving the mansion, the butler headed straight for the inn.

The inn, located in the eastern district of Vertas, was not very far from the Brickwood estate.

"Hmm?"

Before long, the butler arrived at his destination. He squinted slightly at the unexpected sight before him.

What is that...?

Whoosh, whoosh!

In the inn's backyard, a man was swinging a sword.

Following the trajectory of his arm, the blade cut through the air in a sluggish, slow motion.

...It looks so clumsy.

The movements were unnaturally disjointed and choppy.

His grip on the hilt was awkward, and his stance was unstable.

Even someone without a deep knowledge of swordsmanship could tell at a glance that this was far from the movements of a seasoned swordsman.

If anything, it looked more like the sickly youngest son of a noble family playfully mimicking swordplay.

Could that really be Gaon?

Dark blue hair and a cold impression.

His appearance perfectly matched the report he had received from his subordinate.

Approaching the man, the butler offered a polite greeting.

"Excuse me, but are you..."

Whoosh.

However, the man completely ignored him, silently continuing to swing his sword.

Taylor grit his teeth slightly, but maintaining his polite smile, he spoke again.

"Are you Lord Gaon? I am Taylor, the butler of the Brickwood family, in charge of the eastern branch's auction."

"..."

"I have come to discuss the item scheduled to be registered for the upcoming auction..."

Stop.

Only then did the man pause his swinging.

Letting out a sigh of annoyance, he glanced sideways at Taylor and replied.

"I believe I left all authority regarding this transaction to my broker."

"We require a simple verification process. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I must ask for your cooperation."

Slide.

Gaon slowly lowered the sword in his hand.

He then gave Taylor a displeased look, as if telling him to go ahead and speak.

Though the attitude was somewhat grating, Butler Taylor quickly got to the point of his visit.

"First, may I ask how you, the owner, came to acquire the monster's carcass?"

There were generally three ways to obtain ownership of a monster's corpse.

Being the first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to discover an ownerless carcass.

Purchasing the ownership from the original owner for a price.

Or slaying the monster yourself.

Butler Taylor watched for any subtle changes in the man's expression as he waited for an answer, but the man remained as unperturbed as when they first met.

Thus, Taylor continued.

"Given its massive size and unique appearance, it seems unreasonable to assume you defeated it yourself. I suspect you happened to stumble upon it in the uncharted territories..."

"I killed it myself."

"...Pardon?"

The butler's expression faltered slightly.

An entirely unexpected answer had come out of the man's mouth.

Regardless, Gaon simply repeated himself.

"I said I killed it myself. That monster."

Butler Taylor shut his mouth and scanned the man from head to toe.

It was a blatant lie.

After all, this man did not look like someone capable of slaying the Heavenly Dragon Bird by any stretch of the imagination.

For starters, the aura he exuded was no different from that of an ordinary person.

A true powerhouse would make one's knees tremble just by looking at them, but this man possessed absolutely none of that terrifying presence.

And, well...

Even without going that far, the crude swordsmanship he had displayed just moments ago made it incredibly easy to see through the lie.

He tells such a blatant lie without even blinking?

It was proof that the man in front of him had no grasp of the situation.

The puzzle pieces were falling into place.

The suspicion that Hakun Durdamel was pulling this man's strings from behind became even more certain.

"Of course, I do not believe you have any reason to lie, but..."

Taylor pressed on with his interrogation.

"I worry that you might have received specific 'instructions' from the Durdamel Merchant Group. If that is the case, our Brickwood family can offer you protection."

His tone was polite, but the underlying message was clear:

We know the merchant group is pulling the strings behind a puppet like you.

So confess quietly. If you do, we will at least spare your life.

It was a statement loaded with both pressure and enticement.

Flinch.

Oh...?

A smirk formed in Taylor's mind.

Sure enough.

It was only for a split second, but Taylor caught it.

A tiny crack had formed in the man's indifferent expression.

...As expected, our hypothesis was correct.

The interrogation disguised as a verification process continued after that, but the man did not confess the truth to the very end.

Well, it didn't really matter. Taylor's suspicion had long since solidified into absolute certainty anyway.

"With this, the verification process is complete. There will be no issues registering the item for the auction."

Scratch, scratch.

Taylor, the butler of the Brickwood family, nodded repeatedly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as he scribbled something in the notebook he had brought.

A disgusted chuckle almost escaped my lips.

The way he tried to reassure me that there would be no issues was truly detestable.

...Perhaps that was why I had been struggling to control my facial expressions for a while now.

"Until next time, then, owner. I wish you safety until we meet again."

Shortly after, Taylor went on his way.

I smirked, watching his receding figure.

Did you really think I wouldn't see through your little scheme?

The Brickwoods' tricks were painfully obvious.

I had dealt with this kind of thing dozens of times while playing the game. There was no way I would dance to their tune.

Even so, there was only one reason I played along with Taylor.

I'm going to blow this up as big as possible, and then pull them out by their roots.

I planned to turn this incident not into a mere ripple, but a massive tidal wave.

One whose aftermath the Brickwood family could not withstand, leading to their self-destruction.

By the way...

—Owner, by any chance, do you have a companion?

...They must have done quite a bit of background research.

The butler's question, clearly aimed at probing for Adelia, made that obvious.

However, mentioning her now would only disrupt my plans, so I had played dumb.

I claimed to know no such person, suggesting she was likely just one of the mercenaries who crossed the uncharted territories with the merchant group.

Adelia must make her entrance at the very last moment.

Only then would my plan to excise the rot of Vertas be perfect.

Anyway...

Grip.

I took hold of the Feather Sword once more and adjusted my stance.

Then, I resumed the movements I had been practicing before my conversation with Taylor.

...This might actually work.

The bizarre, choppy movements gradually began to connect into a single flow.

Angling the sword to block an incoming frontal attack.

Using the opponent's own force against them, generating recoil at just the right moment.

Whoosh!

In response to an imaginary attack, my body executed the optimal defensive movement.

A sword path flowing as naturally as a river.

It was the moment Ultimate Auto-parrying was replicated by my own will.

"Whew."

Of course, I still had a long way to go.

The execution of the technique was messy, and in a real fight, I wouldn't have the luxury of time to assume a defensive stance so leisurely.

However, simply confirming the 'possibility' was a significant harvest.

I now knew I could consciously replicate the moment my body automatically found the optimal defense.

"Ah."

At that moment, a soft gasp came from the side.

Turning my head, I saw Adelia staring blankly at me.

With a large backpack strapped tightly to her back, she was gazing at the Feather Sword with sparkling eyes.

I asked her, looking at her childlike, pure expression.

"Do you recognize this swordsmanship?"

"...Yes," Adelia murmured, her voice filled with awe. "It is similar to the movement that deflected my sword."

"Indeed."

I nodded.

As expected of Adelia. To grasp the intent of my sword with just a glance.

Since a perfect opportunity to show off had presented itself, I decided to take full advantage of it.

"I showed it to you slowly on purpose so you could observe."

"...!"

"Do you see the essence of this swordsmanship now?"

Adelia chose her words carefully before replying in a voice tinged with reverence.

"It feels alive."

"In what sense?"

"The sword changes at every moment. It looks like a similar movement on the surface, but if you look closely, it varies subtly each time. Like a living creature, it finds the optimal path depending on the situation..."

Her eyes shone.

"It is as if the sword has become another limb of yours, Lord Gaon."

"..."

"Rather than just swinging it, it feels like a sword that breathes with you."

I couldn't help but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be amazed by Adelia's words.

With just a single observation, she had accurately pierced the essence of Ultimate Auto-parrying. And with such precision, too.

She truly deserved to be called a swordsmanship genius with the highest growth potential in Roel.

But still...

Even a genius like her was instantly neutralized by this skill.

Seeing this made me realize once again just how formidable the power of Ultimate Auto-parrying was.

Then, what if I could master this skill perfectly and use it without any restrictions...?

Internalization.

Artificially manifesting a skill using swordsmanship talent.

If I could apply this properly, I would be able to freely execute not only Ultimate Auto-parrying but also any technique I acquired in the future.

...Of course, it would be difficult right now. Setting aside my swordsmanship proficiency, my base stats were scraping the bottom.

But that was fine. I knew the 'optimal method' to make this a reality in a short period of time.

"If you are ready, let's move."

Needless to say, that method lay dormant deep within the underground of Vertas... specifically, the Labyrinth Village I had mentioned earlier.

After quickly packing up, I immediately left the inn with Adelia.

Before heading to the Labyrinth Village, Adelia and I first made our way to the Adventurers' Guild.

Creak.

As we pushed open the doors and entered the building, the noisy chatter of patrons blended with the clinking of wooden mugs.

Despite the lack of natural sunlight, bright lanterns illuminated every corner of the interior.

"Bwahahaha!"

"Listen to me! I'm telling you, this time it's the real deal!"

"Cut the crap and order more booze, you bastard!"

The laughter of drunken adventurers echoed from all directions.

I walked past them toward one of the walls of the guild hall.

Dozens of request slips were pinned tightly to the wall.

The difficulty varied depending on the height; the closer they were to the ceiling, the more generous the reward.

In particular, the crumpled, faded requests near the top were high-difficulty quests that no one but a true expert would dare touch.

"..."

Rip.

I tore down one of the requests hanging from the very top.

At that moment, the surrounding adventurers began to click their tongues and whisper.

"Tsk, tsk. There goes another one."

"What a lunatic. That request has been up there for over three years now."

"Why are there so many people eager to die these days...?"

Of course, their interest in me quickly faded.

In a world where death was a daily occurrence, one more corpse was nothing out of the ordinary.

...But will they react the same way when I return after successfully completing this request?

The thought brought a smirk to my lips.

"This is..."

Adelia, who had approached my side, trailed off.

Frowning, she stared intently at the request slip in my hand.

Then, she asked in a half-doubting voice, "Are you truly planning to undertake this request, Lord Gaon?"

"Yes," I replied with a nod. "We are going to subjugate the Earth Dragon of the Labyrinth Village."

"The great ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ancients of old... have finally spoken."

Midtemple, the Holy City.

In the center of the underground temple, where thousands of candles burned.

A sacred, turquoise light poured down onto a massive circular altar.

The brilliant energy felt like a blessing descending from the heavens.

Rumble...

Along with the vibrations shaking the underground temple, a woman stared into the empty air.

The Saintess.

The one and only existence who could be called the symbol of this city.

As a golden energy flared from her pupil-less eyes, her lips trembled.

"A seeker of the sword has slain a dragon."

Exactly two days later.

The news of the Heavenly Dragon Bird's carcass being discovered was reported to Midtemple, the Holy City.

...It was the moment the members of the Holy Families slowly began to make their move.