Chapter 35

“Rеflесt оn todaу’s mistаkе fоr thе rest of yоur lifе.”

A single rеmark from Вуutеk аs hе shоok the blоod off his grеаtsword.

“……”

“……”

“……”

“G-g-grаааh…! Му arm…!!”

Тhough hundrеds of pеорlе had gathеred, оnly the voiсеs of two men cоuld bе heard.

It seemed реople were tаking timе to grasр the situаtiоn, аs thе duel to the deаth betweеn Вуutek and Zwеhl hаd еnded toо quickly.

Аmong those who witnеssеd the duel tо thе deаth, not a singlе person undеrstoоd whаt had happenеd.

Evеn Кhаn.

‘I wantеd to seе hоw strоng Byutеk is, but at mу сurrеnt lеvеl, it’s cоmрlеtelу imрossible.’

Khan couldn’t believe that the man standing there holding a greatsword was the fool Byutek he had known until now.

Seeing him even uttering pretentious words made it even more incongruous.

“Byutek, why are you setting the mood for no reason?”

“Ah, did it look like I was setting the mood?! Hahaha!”

Byutek, who had been wearing an expression cold enough to be chilling, reverted to his usual foolish self as Khan spoke to him.

“Leader Zwehl! Wh-what do we do…!”

Ming hurriedly ran to Zwehl.

After carefully checking his condition, she swiftly scooped him up.

“I’ll take you to a doctor right away, so please hold on a little!”

Ming, carrying Zwehl, left, and the remaining members, just in case, picked up Zwehl’s severed arm and fled.

Since it was a duel to the death agreed upon by both parties, no one said anything about Byutek cutting off Zwehl’s arm.

Instead, they belatedly exclaimed in admiration.

“As expected! It was the most overwhelming sparring I’ve ever seen in my life!! Did you see it?”

“The sparring ended so quickly… I couldn’t see it in detail either.”

Jurente asked the escort knights standing on either side, but it seemed they too hadn’t properly seen Byutek swing his sword.

“If even you, the most skilled in our Grodek Knight Order, couldn’t see it, then Sir Byutek is undoubtedly a knight of Kilpheon!”

“Yes, it’s also the first time I’ve seen swordsmanship of that level.”

Jurente laughed heartily and shouted as if he had seen an entertaining spectacle.

The citizens who had watched the two spar were all equally astonished.

Then, suddenly, Jurente approached Byutek.

“Sir Byutek, that was truly an astonishing level of sparring! I wonder if I’ll ever get to see such a duel again in my lifetime!”

“It seems I got a little carried away because he was a fellow who disregarded a knight’s honor and pride.”

“Haha! Carried away, you say! Even in a duel to the death, you showed mercy by cutting his arm, not his neck! Cutting off both of Zwehl’s arms in an instant—it was truly overwhelming swordsmanship!”

Jurente went on and on about the duel to the death for a while, as if he had been genuinely impressed by Byutek’s swordsmanship.

“Haha, I’m really sorry about this. Actually, I practiced swordsmanship a lot when I was young…”

“It’s fine. Please continue.”

And so, Byutek stood in place and listened to Jurente’s one-sided chatter for nearly ten minutes.

The gathered citizens watched, perhaps wanting to strike up a conversation with Byutek, but eventually left one by one.

“Byutek, we don’t have time now.”

“Ah! We should be leaving soon too!”

The day before, Khan had explained today’s plan in advance to Byutek and Sharin.

To depart exactly ten minutes after Brente left first.

To set foot on the first step of the Hidden Quest, they first needed to reach Eldrida.

Therefore, Khan intended to depart for Eldrida as soon as possible.

‘We might encounter dangerous monsters on the way to Eldrida, but with Byutek and Sharin, it should be fine.’

And Khan himself had also grown stronger by obtaining the grade 2 Hidden Skill ‘Fire Boom’.

‘I’m still far from sufficient, but it shouldn’t be a problem.’

However, since Byutek and Jurente’s conversation showed no sign of ending, Khan stepped in directly.

“It seems I’ve kept busy people for too long. Didn’t you two say you were leaving today as well?”

Khan nodded his head without saying a word.

Then, Jurente smiled amiably and took out a pouch filled to the brim with coins.

“Sir Khan, I sincerely thank you for saving Grodek. If not for you, there surely would have been casualties.”

Khan nodded once more.

The agreed-upon reward wasn’t this much.

Yet, the pouch in Jurente’s hand was full of coins.

“I’ve put in more than the originally agreed reward. May blessings accompany you on your journey, Sir Khan.”

“Thank you.”

Khan took the coin pouch and discreetly checked inside without making it obvious.

All the coins filling it were gold.

‘I suspected as much, but they’re all gold coins…’

With this many gold coins, you could buy fairly decent equipment.

‘Buying good equipment right now would be useless since I can’t equip it anyway.’

Truly high-performance Artifacts cost a fortune, so this amount wouldn’t even come close.

‘Still, I’m a little less worried about money now.’

Just as Khan was putting the money pouch inside his coat.

“I should also express my sincerity to Sir Byutek.”

“I’m fine.”

Jurente took out the money pouch he had given to Brente.

But wasn’t Byutek cluelessly kicking away this golden opportunity?

‘This fool…’

How many times will we need money in the future, and who does he think he is to refuse such a large sum on a whim?

Khan wanted to smack Byutek on the head and tell him to take it immediately, but perhaps due to the ‘Sage’s Heart’, no impulsive action emerged.

“Since Sir Byutek was the one who dealt with all the Orc Remnants, this is your rightful reward.”

“Hahaha! Hearing you say that, I suppose you’re right. I cannot disregard the Baron’s sincerity, so I’ll gratefully accept it.”

In the end, Byutek accepted the money pouch.

It was fortunate that an actual incident of Khan hitting Byutek’s head didn’t occur.

Khan smiled inwardly, having obtained unexpected money in the rural city of Grodek.

Now it was truly time to leave Grodek.

* * *

Khan, Byutek, and Sharin were heading towards Eldrida in a pre-prepared carriage.

Sniffle… Sniffle…

Sharin, sitting across from Khan and Byutek, was still shedding tears.

Because of this, her puffy, swollen eyes were quite a sight.

“Don’t cry that much, Sharin! It’s not like you’ll never see your father again, so what’s the problem?!”

“Sigh, that’s true… But it’s still so sad!”

“Then keep crying your eyes out! I can’t even recognize your face now; you’ll become a completely different person. Wait a minute… Are you really Sharin?”

“Come on…! Don’t tease me, seriously!”

Fortunately, Byutek lightened the mood, and Sharin’s unstoppable tears ceased.

“By the way, Eldrida… I’ve never left Grodek in my whole life, so I’m a little curious! I heard Eldrida is a city much more developed than Grodek!”

At those words, Khan, who had kept his mouth shut until now, spoke for the first time.

“First of all, the city’s scale alone makes Eldrida about three times larger than Grodek. And we’re not going directly to Eldrida.”

“Ah, right! You said we’d stop somewhere along the way, right? Where are we stopping?”

“There’s a village called Hugo Village along the way, a fairly large village.”

“Hugo Village?!”

“Do you know it?”

He thought she obviously wouldn’t know, but Sharin reacted as if she did.

“Of course! Hugo Village is quite famous around here. I heard that because there are so many ferocious and dangerous monsters near Hugo Village, adventurers often gather there. An adventurer’s guild, I think… Anyway, I heard there’s a group of adventurers who solve commissions for money.”

“You know quite well. Anyway, we’re going to Hugo Village first.”

“Well, I’m fine with that!”

“Haha! I’m also fine going wherever Sir Khan goes! Now, no matter what monster appears, I’m here, so don’t worry!”

Perhaps Byutek gained confidence after becoming stronger, as his personality had changed slightly from before.

‘It seems the knightly dignity he was trying so hard to maintain has completely disappeared…’

If not that, then he must have become comfortable around Khan and his true self was emerging.

“It’ll take quite a while to reach Hugo Village, so get some sleep. Once we arrive at the village, you won’t have much time to sleep.”

“Okay!”

“Understood!”

Khan had only mentioned going to Hugo Village, yet strangely, both of them answered readily without asking anything.

‘These guys… Aren’t they even curious about what we’re going there for?’

But seeing Byutek fall asleep instantly as if he had been waiting the moment he was told to sleep, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

‘Now that I think about it, he said he hardly slept properly for the past week… He must have accumulated a lot of fatigue.’

Meanwhile, Sharin was taking out the books she had brought, one by one.

“Sharin, what are those?”

“Ah! These are gifts from Ms. Niyen! She suddenly came to our house yesterday, gave them to me, saying to have a safe trip, and left. Hehe.”

“……”

There were six books in total, and upon closer inspection, they were all Magic Tomes.

‘Since Niyen runs an Artifact shop, it seems she also had quite a few Magic Tomes. But she just gave away that many?’

Glancing at the covers, they seemed to be books for learning magic related to Mana Manipulation.

[Understanding Energy Bolt]

[Understanding Energy Shield]

The Magic Tome Sharin was currently looking at was about skills Khan also knew.

Namely, Energy Bolt and Energy Shield.

‘Thinking about it, you could also obtain skills through skill books. Are those Magic Tomes also considered skill books?’

Now that he was inside the game, he hadn’t thought he’d be able to see skill books.

Skill books were so-called cash items purchasable with real money.

“Sharin, can I take a look for a moment?”

“Huh? Aren’t these books too easy for you? You already know all these spells, right?”

“From now on, call me Master. I just want to check something.”

“Ah… Yes, Master!”

Khan took the Magic Tome titled ‘Understanding Energy Bolt’ that Sharin was reading and opened it.

‘……’

It was a language he was seeing for the first time, yet strangely, it read as easily as Korean.

However, reading it was one thing; understanding it was another. He closed the book immediately and handed it back to Sharin.

“Hehe, it’s too easy for you, right, Master? I don’t understand this part… Please teach me!”

At Sharin’s sudden words, Khan improvised.

“Sharin, the basics of magic are originally self-taught. You should ponder over that spell for at least a week, and if you still don’t understand by then, ask me again.”

“Ah… Yes! Understood!”

An hour passed after Khan successfully brushed it off.

Whoosh…!

Crackle…!

“How is it?”

Sharin, with an innocent expression, held out a small sphere as if showing it off.

A small lightning sphere sparkling with electric currents. A perfectly executed Energy Bolt.

“……Still insufficient. Strive harder.”

“Yes!”

Bringing Sharin along as a companion… no, as a disciple, was indeed an excellent choice.

* * *

Exactly three days after leaving Grodek to head to Hugo Village.

“Sir Khan, we have arrived at Hugo Village.”

Khan slowly stepped out of the carriage.