Chapter 277 : I Haven't Seen Your Face Before

After passing through the dark border area, we finally entered a village.

It was a place I couldn't forget.

After parting with the two mercenaries, it was the village where I met Ketel, who had descended in the body of a blind old woman.

In many ways, it was a meaningful village to me.

The chaotic atmosphere was still the same.

It felt even more desolate at night.

Lyle put away the sword he had been using as a torch and asked.

"Are we sleeping here?"

"No."

"Why? The sun has already set."

"There's another village not far from here. The security is better there, so let's rest there."

"That's reasonable."

We rode our horses and passed through the village.

Because it felt like our horses would be stolen while we were sleeping if we slept here.

We left the village and walked on the deserted night road.

"Are you tired?"

Snort

"We'll rest a little further, so just bear with it a little longer."

My body was stiff, and I thought the horses would be tired too, so I got off my horse and walked, holding the reins.

Shushuruta was so light that it didn't seem to make much of a difference whether she got off or not, so I just left her.

"Haaam..."

Shushuruta yawned, so I glanced back.

"Are you sleepy?"

Shushuruta answered with tears welling up in her eyes.

"A little."

"Then get some sleep."

"Alright."

Shushuruta didn't refuse and got into a comfortable position, then she curled up on the horse and fell asleep, purring.

Lyle, who had been watching the scene with fascination, said.

"She's no ordinary lady."

"Of course. She's the princess of the underworld and a shadowless cat burglar. Have you ever heard of the Shadowless Phantom Thief?"

"She has a shadow."

"It's a metaphorical expression."

"I see."

Lyle jumped off his horse and stealthily approached, looking at Shushuruta's sleeping face.

"...She's a lady like an onion. Her charms keep coming out the more you peel. The more I see her, the more I fall for her."

As if she was getting goosebumps, Shushuruta trembled slightly.

I blocked the pervert's approach.

"That's enough. If you get any closer, I'll consider you a sex maniac who can't distinguish between desire and reason."

The sex maniac looked at me with a serious face.

"What do you take me for? I'm a gentleman who knows manners and a knight who has learned chivalry. Not some sex maniac."

"I get it, so back off. Let the kid sleep."

"...Alright. You're being very protective."

"What are you talking about."

He also seemed stiff, so he didn't get back on his horse and walked alongside me, holding the reins.

"So, are you sure Siri is here?"

"Probably."

"...Probably?"

I glanced at Lyle, and he was glaring at me fiercely, as if to say, 'So you came all this way with uncertain information?'

I shrugged.

"I haven't seen her myself, so I can't be completely sure."

"Then?"

"A new saint has been appointed in the empire. They say she has snow-white hair and eyes as clear as glass. Don't you think the possibility is very high?"

"Hmm. That's plausible."

Lyle stroked his chin.

"A new saint? For a girl who doesn't even believe in God to be appointed as the saint of the Hope Cult of the midday sun god. What kind of change of heart did she have to come all this way and accept a god she had never believed in?"

"I know, right."

Lyle glared at me.

"You're talking as if it's someone else's business."

"So what. Are you saying it's because of me? Is that what you want to say?"

"You know how much Siri followed you, and you're still talking like that."

"If you were so worried, you should have taken care of her. I bet you were busy chasing after women's tails."

"...That's not true."

"Your answer is late. Did I hit a nerve?"

"Shut up."

"Shut up? Your tongue only moves brilliantly when you're seducing women. You pervert."

"You ignorant fool. It's also brilliant when I kiss. You wouldn't know since you've never been with a woman."

As we walked down the road, exchanging heartwarming compliments.

Shushuruta tossed and turned, and we both fell silent.

Clip-clop, clip-clop—

A quiet night.

The sound of horse hooves echoed quietly.

The Heavenly Demon's low laughter occasionally lingered in my ear, as if he found something amusing.

'Are you laughing?'

A moment later, Lyle asked in a quiet tone.

"I know Siri is here. But what kind of commission did you receive?"

"To be precise, it's more of a request for help than a commission."

I took out the crumpled letter from my pocket.

On it, there was crooked handwriting, as if a child had written it, and it was not easy to read, as if it had been written in a hurry.

It was a wonder that Hud had kept it without throwing it away.

Occasionally, commissions would come from outside the Maia Kingdom, from foreign countries.

Because Sherwood's reputation was so great that it was known even abroad.

This was something I had experienced firsthand while traveling through the lower country, the Blake Kingdom.

Of course, the cases where we accepted were few and far between, and especially this time, there was no clear reward written.

But I had no choice but to accept.

I was about to hand him the letter to read, but since it was night, I couldn't even read it myself, so I put it back in my pocket.

"Siri. It seems she's gotten herself into some dirty business."

"What kind of business?"

I looked at Lyle with a serious face.

"Lyle."

He also looked at me with calm eyes.

"Ashuban."

"You should add 'captain'."

"Captain Ashuban."

I slowly explained.

"If the god of the moon and night is Ketel, then the god of the sun and midday is Hope."

"That's right."

"The Holy Empire of Hilka was founded by those who believe in the doctrine of light, which is the will of Hope."

"Right?"

"Would you believe it if I told you that the Holy Empire of Hilka operates an illegal fighting arena in the underground?"

"...What?"

Lyle blinked.

"Are you kidding?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"..."

"Judging by the content of the note, there's a high probability that the cult knows about it and is pretending not to, or that the cult is running it from behind. Otherwise, there's no way they would have sent this letter all the way to Maia."

The fact that they had sent a letter all the way to a foreign country meant that there was no one in the country to ask for help.

Since they were in urgent need of help, they must have asked for help from nearby places first.

And when they didn't get a good response even after asking for help in several places, they must have sent a letter all the way here.

With a sliver of hope.

So, it was reasonable to assume that the entire Cult of Light was corrupt.

The problem was how far the corruption had spread.

"We'll proceed with two things at the same time."

I continued, raising my fingers one by one.

"First, find Siri."

I raised my second finger.

"Second, find the client."

Lyle nodded.

"Who's the client?"

"Just a moment."

Rustle—

I took out the letter again, then summoned a blue flame and read the letter.

"The name is..."

I found the name that was scribbled at the end of the letter.

"Johan."

* * *

The Siri expedition passed through several villages and entered a village called Novus.

During the journey here, Lyle observed the red-eyed man who had returned from the dead.

Ashuban.

The guy who had jumped off a cliff with a magical beast in the misty cliff, and then had come back with his eyes dyed red.

He had heard roughly what had happened.

It was a series of unbelievable events, but seeing how he had become monstrously strong in less than a year, it was difficult to dismiss it as mere nonsense.

'I heard he defeated an S-rank magical beast in Tundra?'

Of course, he hadn't faced it alone, but he had heard that he had played a decisive role.

Hearing that, the fact that he had been miserably defeated by him was a little comforting. His sore stomach felt a little better.

He had been so weak that he couldn't even feel mana.

And now he was stronger than him and acting like a captain.

'The world is truly... you never know what will happen.'

Who would have expected it?

That the weak Ashuban would fall off a cliff and then come back as a monster.

In any case, as a result of observing him from the side, his atmosphere had changed quite a bit, but his personality was not much different from before.

His dirty temper was still the same, and so was his endless nonsense and his unpredictable personality.

However, he had developed a habit of talking to himself from time to time.

It was the same now.

He was muttering something to the empty air like a madman.

"Master. It's been a long time since I've been here too. How long has it been? Ah, it hasn't been that long. But why does it feel like it's been so long? Ah, did I fall from there? No?"

"..."

"Ah, I remember that. I told Linda to buy some beef jerky, and she was getting beaten up in that alley."

Shushuruta, as if she were used to it, ignored him and naturally looked around.

Lyle stealthily spoke to her.

"Uh, lady."

Shushuruta's eyes, which resembled the night sky, turned to Lyle.

"What is it?"

"That guy. He talks to himself like that from time to time."

Shushuruta nodded.

"He's talking to the Heavenly Demon, his master, in his head."

"I've heard that."

"And?"

Her tone was very calm, as if to ask what the problem was.

"No, I mean, logically..."

Lyle tried to explain something, but then he just messed up his hair.

'Am I the only normal person here?'

He felt like the only two-eyed person in a village of one-eyed people.

'Logically, who would believe the nonsense that the absolute being of another world is stuck in his head.'

"Do you believe that, lady?"

"There's nothing to believe or not believe."

"Pardon?"

"Because it's a fact."

"...A fact?"

In front of him was someone who strongly believed that nonsense without a shadow of a doubt.

Shushuruta pointed to her eyes and said.

Her gaze was as firm as a rock.

"I saw it with my own eyes."

"What did you see?"

"The Heavenly Demon beating up the Knight of Frost."

Lyle doubted his ears.

"...Knight of Frost? Are you talking about the Knight of Frost of the Blake Kingdom? The master of the Blue Sword among the Eight Sword Masters?"

"That's right. At a glance, it looked like he was playing with a child. He went like this, shoo-shoo— pang! and then the Knight of Frost flew away, knocking down a tree..."

Shushuruta moved her hands and feet, re-enacting the situation at that time.

"..."

Lyle was speechless at her confident demeanor.

He had tried to get close to her by gossiping, but.

Just then, Ashuban, who had been talking to the Heavenly Demon, turned to this side.

"Gentlemen. We've arrived at our first destination."

Lyle asked.

"Do you have a plan?"

"A plan? Since when did we make plans in advance? We just charge in and see what happens."

At the irresponsible remark, Lyle began to regret following him.

Lyle sighed and said.

"Give me that letter again."

Lyle, who had received the letter from Ashuban, read it carefully.

But perhaps because a child had written it, it was true that a lot of information needed to establish a plan was missing.

The keywords that could be clues were the Hilden Kingdom of the Hilka Empire, the new white-haired saint, the underground fighting arena, and the name 'Johan'.

At the very least, the exact location was not even specified.

"As you can see, there aren't many clues. It means we have to gather information on the spot."

"Hmm."

"We'll split into three. Shushuruta, you go and gather information about Siri."

"Do I not need to find out about the kid named Johan?"

"There must be more than one or two people named Johan, so how are you going to find him with just a name? Just find Siri. If you find where Siri is, Johan will naturally be there too."

"That's reasonable. I understand."

Shushuruta nodded.

"Lyle, you go to the mercenary guild and hire a mercenary who is familiar with the geography here. We'll ask him for directions."

"And you?"

"I'll sell the horses and replenish our food supplies. From here on, we don't know how the situation will change, so we need to be able to respond flexibly."

"We might have to go to another village."

"We'll travel on foot. It's faster that way anyway. The horses were for long distances. I was planning to use them only to get here and then sell them."

"Hmm."

Ashuban, who had finished his explanation, suddenly got angry.

"Hey, you son of a bitch, why do you keep talking back? Just do as I say. Do I have to explain everything one by one? Do you want to die?"

"..."

"A plan just needs to maintain the big picture. The rest has to be changed flexibly according to the situation. Do you understand? You bastard?"

"What's the plan?"

"First, find Siri. Second, while we're at it, carry out the little client's commission. Got it?"

"I get it, so just calm down, you madman."

Ashuban took a deep breath and then said.

"Calmness complete."

"..."

"Now get lost. After you're done with your business, we'll meet back here."

Shushuruta, as if she were used to it, walked down the street without a word and mixed in with the crowd.

And Lyle looked at Ashuban for a moment and then turned around.

"Ah, and."

When he turned around at the sound of his voice, Ashuban said.

"If a big guy picks a fight with you as soon as you enter the guild, bring him right over."

"What kind of bullshit is that?"

"There's something."

Ashuban walked away without any further explanation, and Lyle shook his head and moved his feet.

And so, he asked a passerby and found the mercenary guild.

Sure enough, as Ashuban had said, as soon as he entered, a big mercenary blocked his way.

"I haven't seen your face before."

"Oh."

Lyle thought, 'That guy is really strange,' and then hit the big guy's head.

(End of Chapter)