Chapter 45: Fame (2)
“Hmm?” Ketal couldn’t immediately grasp what had just happened. He expected the woman to scream and run away, but nothing of the sort happened. Staring blankly in the direction the woman had departed, he eventually resumed his walk toward Lord Barcan’s castle.
It was early morning, and people were slowly beginning to appear. They noticed Ketal as he made his way forward. Whenever he appeared in such situations in the past, the people of the estate would shrink back in fear, avoid his gaze, or hastily move away from him. However, this time, it was different.
While some still trembled or quickly averted their gazes, the emotions behind their actions were no longer the same. The looks directed at Ketal no longer carried the pure terror of before. There was still some fear, but it was overshadowed by a mixture of curiosity and reluctant admiration.
“Is that him?” one of the citizens asked.
“I think it is,” the other replied.
Ketal caught snippets of their whispers. Though they spoke in a hushed tone, as if trying to avoid being overheard, it was pointless to someone like Ketal.
“Is that barbarian really the Demon Slayer?”
“You mean the one who protected Lady Aquaz...?’
What’s going on...? Ketal thought. The murmurs he overheard were strikingly different from anything he had heard before. He couldn’t make sense of it. He wondered what exactly had happened to bring about such a change. Still perplexed, he entered the lord’s castle.
The atmosphere there was no exception. While one of the maids initially shrieked at the sight of him, she quickly calmed down and dutifully guided him. Her demeanor was worlds apart from the trembling, pale-faced reactions he had grown accustomed to.
In the reception room, he met Lord Barcan, who had been waiting for him.