Chapter 136 : Chapter 136

Chapter 136 : World of Recurrence (2)

The main conflict of this trial was the battle between the forces of a human lord seeking to expand his territory and the Lizardfolk who were wary of such humans.

And there was another power suffering from the conflict between the two groups.

Mervis, a small village located in the intermediate zone where the battles mainly took place.

Adjak came here after receiving a request from the village of Mervis.

The people of Mervis, suffering between the two powers of the nearby lord and the Lizardfolk, had asked for help from Adjak, the hero of the era.

But after arriving in the village of Mervis, Adjak came to realize the other side of this war.

In truth, the reason the war broke out had nothing to do with territory.

The area where Mervis village was located had a vast forest where ghosts were said to appear, and the rest was just barren land.

What the lord and the Lizardfolk were after was the cursed forest.

This was because a rumor had spread in an instant that a trace of a god from the Mythic Era, an incredible treasure, was hidden in the forest.

In fact, even Adjak didn't know about the treasure in the forest.

In Tune World, a new hidden piece would appear each time you played through a round.

Adjak had mastered most of the well-known hidden pieces, but he didn't know about the hidden piece said to be in this region.

A hidden piece this well-concealed would surely be of considerable value.

Of course, the process of obtaining it would also be incredibly arduous.

Adjak participated in the war, and as a result, lost a companion.

Neither the lord's forces nor the Lizardfolk had managed to get their hands on the forest yet.

Only a war of attrition to seize the forest from each other was underway.

“You human bastards! We'll retreat for today, but tomorrow, I'll annihilate every last one of you!”

I shook my head, looking in the direction Bea had shouted, where the Lizardfolk were gathered.

Then, I asked Keldric.

“Have you ever met with Lady Bea?”

“No, I couldn't even get close. She's riding a huge wolf and shooting arrows at any human she sees.”

The wolf Bea was riding was Nihel.

The sacred beast of Kipaso that had survived for a long time and was protecting even Bea, Gawen's descendant. I would probably be able to see a young Nihel now.

But I didn't want to meet Nihel as an enemy.

“I think Bea was living in this world before me. On the first day I came, she was shouting like that and fighting humans.”

“……This isn't easy.”

A sigh escaped me on its own.

What could have happened to Bea, who had tried not to participate in the war even when the racial war broke out in Kipaso?

And Bea wasn't the only companion I had to find.

“Have you by any chance seen Lord Everchen?”

“No. I tried looking, even assuming his face had changed, but I couldn't find him.”

“Are there no paladins of the Holy Order in the human camp?”

“No, but….”

Keldric paused, then spoke as if suspicious.

I grew tense along with him.

“There is a priest in the human camp, you see? A highest-ranking priest, at that.”

“Is that… by any chance, a Saintess?”

“No way… right?”

Phew.

I let out a sigh. T

here were a total of three companions who worked with Adjak to clear the hidden piece here.

Pieto and Gawen and the Saintess of the era, Ishulinus.

“I think you’re probably right.”

“…….”

Keldric stood with his mouth agape, unable to say a word.

It was understandable that he would be bewildered, as his close friend had suddenly become a woman here.

“Where is Lord Everchen now?”

“He's probably at the human camp's command headquarters.”

“He must be very confused. Let's go get him quickly.”

Keldric walked with quick steps.

I began to move as well, following his seemingly serious back.

***

“Hero, Adjak.”

“Greetings.”

“What brings you here? I heard you told our soldiers to stand down earlier. Have you changed your mind already?”

The lord had come out to the camp in person.

Just from that, I could guess how much the humans wanted to obtain the rumored treasure.

“I have no intention of joining. I just wanted to meet the Saintess.”

“Right, you were an Apostle of the Holy Order.”

Adjak at that time had a much higher standing compared to me now.

So even though the lord was a noble of count rank, I didn't have to be too deferential.

Adjak was an Apostle of the Holy Order and an 8th-Rank hero.

In this era where wars with Myeolji frequently broke out, the 8th-Rank was far more precious.

There were many who reached the 4th or 5th-Rank through extensive combat experience, but ranks beyond that were a level that couldn't be achieved through simple combat alone.

There were also many cases where talents who could have reached high ranks if they grew slowly were futilely lost during the war.

To break this cycle of war, Adjak had organized an expedition and marched to Myeolji.

“Where is the Saintess?”

“She should be with the commander. But even if you meet her, it will be difficult to have a conversation.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it's been over a month since the Saintess has properly spoken with anyone. I'm just as frustrated. She came to help, but she isn't doing anything.”

Hearing the lord's words, Keldric and I looked at each other.

The time he stopped talking was probably around when Everchen possessed the body.

It seemed he had stayed here for a whole month.

“I will go see her. In return, please have the others withdraw.”

“I shall do so.”

The lord readily accepted my words.

What I wanted was to be accomplished smoothly without me having to explain the reasons.

I was starting to think that living as Adjak wasn't so bad.

However, the lord wasn't a fool who would just give things away.

He gestured to Keldric with his chin and said.

“But isn't this man my knight?”

“I'll be borrowing him for a bit.”

“Well, go ahead. In return, I'll use this as a pretext to request reinforcements from the Holy Order.”

I gave a rough nod and followed the lord.

Checking Everchen's condition and joining up with him was the priority.

The lord had me and Keldric wait and entered the command headquarters first.

Soon after, people started coming out in a line.

Finally, the lord came out and informed me.

“My commander said he'd like to have a word with you. It seems he's not pleased with my decision.”

“I understand.”

“He is an upright man.”

“I'll find that out when I talk to him.”

I entered the barracks.

Inside, just as the lord said, I saw a knight who looked upright and a Saintess with her eyes closed.

Everchen kept his eyes closed and said nothing, even though we had arrived.

Since it hadn't been long since I entered the World of Recurrence, the time I had been separated from Everchen wasn't long, but I felt happy to see him for some reason.

But before that, I had to speak with the commander first.

“Even if you are a hero, aren't you interfering too much in someone else's war? I was told you informed the lord that you would not take the humans' side in this war.”

“How about we start with greetings? My name is Adjak.”

“Yes Adjak, but why did you come back? Do you intend to take even the knight you yourself told me to take under my command?”

The commander didn't even exchange greetings with me and poured out his complaints.

The lord may not have known, but it seemed the commander knew Keldric, or rather, Pieto.

It was Adjak who had placed Pieto in this unit.

“Please understand. I need this person again.”

The knight frowned. His aura was unusual.

I could feel a powerful aura and a solid intent from him.

He was a high-ranking knight, rare to see in this world.

He looked to be in the late 7th-Rank, possibly even 8th-Rank.

I couldn't understand why such a person was fighting a war of attrition here because of his superior's greed.

“So you intend to take the Saintess as well?”

“The Saintess also originally came here with me.”

“Hasn't the promise changed? Weren't you the one who said the help of these two would be needed here?”

What the commander said was true.

To reduce the casualties of war, Adjak had dispatched Pieto, Ishulinus, and Gawen to both camps and tried his best to stop the war.

But I had no intention of following Adjak's methods.

Because doing so would not only take too long to stop the war, but it also couldn't prevent the sacrifice of a companion.

Therefore, I intended to bring about a different, better result with my companions than Adjak did.

Wouldn't that be the ‘correct answer’ that Hike desired?

“Must this war be fought?”

“It is not a war of my choosing.”

“If you were to advise the Count, I do not think he would ignore you.”

“What is it that you want?”

“Give me three days. If I do not return in three days, you may resume the war.”

“Can you persuade those ignorant lizard bastards as well?”

“If the humans do not come out of their camp, they will only shout and will not be able to attack first.”

“How can you guarantee that?”

“The justification they put forth was to protect this place. The Lizardfolk, who are few in number to begin with, are hoping the humans will tire themselves out and give up, rather than annihilating them all.”

“…….”

As the commander was lost in thought, a low voice echoed through the barracks.

“Let's follow Lord Adjak's words.”

Ishulinus, no, Everchen had at some point opened his closed eyes and spoken to the commander.

The commander looked at her in surprise. It seemed true that Everchen had not spoken with anyone.

And, around the commander's neck hung the symbol of the Holy Order.

He wasn't a paladin, but it seemed he was a rather devout believer.

‘If he's a believer, he might find the words of an Apostle annoying, but he won't be able to ignore the words of a Saintess.’

Both Adjak and I were unusually appointed as Apostles of the Order despite not being believers of the Holy Order.

Because of that, some devout believers were inwardly dissatisfied with the Order's decision.

But the Saintess was different.

As she was a being like the symbol of the Order, even a strict commander could not refuse her request outright.

“……I understand. Then it's exactly three days.”

The commander bowed his head in greeting to Everchen, then glared at me and Keldric and left.

It seemed he wanted to give some unspoken pressure to look after the Saintess well.

After he left the barracks, I spoke to Everchen.

“You're Lord Everchen, right? I'm Polarin.”

“Yes, that's right… Hh.”

Everchen covered his mouth as if he couldn't believe the delicate voice that came from his own throat.

He must have suffered quite a bit, even without asking.

I even felt my body creaking like this with just a slight change in physique, so how much worse must it be for Everchen.

“I'm just wondering… what in the world is going on.”

“You've been through a lot. I came with Brother Keldric.”

Keldric looked at Everchen with somewhat teary eyes.

Normally, the two of them would have patted each other on the shoulder, but it seemed they couldn't even do that and were just worrying.

“Well then, let's end this situation within three days. First, we need to go get Lady Bea.”

“How….”

As Everchen trailed off, unable to continue, Keldric quickly took over and asked.

“How are you going to get her?”

“First, since it seems Lady Bea is not in her right mind at the moment, let's kidnap her.”

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