Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Volume 1
Chapter 40 : Because of Love
Muen no longer knew how many times he had opened his eyes in this oppressive, dim prison cell, but his gaze was still full of exhaustion, bloodshot as though he had stayed awake through several nights in a row.
“Haa...”
Muen let out a foul breath and forcibly roused his spirits.
He briefly checked the contents recorded in the black book.
Dagger Combat Technique LV5
Shadowstep LV2
“Another nearly three hundred death experiences.”
“What a nightmare.”
“But it seems I have hit a bottleneck. No matter how much I train, my proficiency level will not rise any further.”
“Shadowstep in particular.”
Muen’s gaze darkened slightly.
Within the black book’s space, he had already brought Shadowstep close to perfection. Several times, the dagger in his hand had even managed to cut the assassin’s skin, leaving visible wounds.
Although he was still very far from actually defeating the assassin, at least it no longer felt as hopelessly out of reach as before.
Yet no matter how skillfully he used Shadowstep in that space, the proficiency recorded in the black book remained stuck at LV2, without the slightest increase.
On the other hand, his Dagger Combat Technique had improved rapidly through constant real combat during this period and had already reached LV5.
“So in the end, it really is because of the limits of my realm?”
Muen let out a soft sigh.
Inside the black book’s space, he could clearly feel that his mastery had improved, but the display still showed only LV2. That meant it was not that his own proficiency had failed to increase, but rather that, at his current realm, LV2 was the highest level of Shadowstep he could use.
And judging from how painful it had been to use even LV1 Shadowstep before, trying to use LV2 with this body, which did not even possess Dou Qi, would probably be extremely difficult.
“But there is no helping it. I have to seize every moment now and raise every bit of combat power I can!”
Muen’s eyes turned resolute.
Even if he was being imprisoned, kept, and humiliated by a beautiful maid, he still had a heart that longed for freedom!
“Hmph. Did you really think that, just because you went this far, I would have no way to escape?”
Looking at the lock on the iron bars, a lock about the size of his fist and clearly sturdy at first glance, Muen crooked his lips into a roguish smile.
“You underestimate me, Ann.”
“Now everything is ready except for the final east wind. I am just waiting, waiting for the fish you promised to bring.”
...
“Wait, do not tell me something went wrong...”
Muen suddenly opened his eyes in alarm.
There was no way to tell the time in this room, but judging by the hunger in his stomach, lunchtime had long since passed.
And yet Ann still had not appeared.
“It should not be that bad, right? Bepor Lake is far away, but if she rode at full speed, she should still have made it back in time.”
As the seconds ticked by, Muen found himself increasingly unable to stop his imagination from running wild.
“But if Ann does not come back, then would I not really be trapped here until I die? And judging by how remote this place is, probably no one would find my corpse even after hundreds of years!”
“Maybe my soul would have to wander here forever, never to be reborn.”
“This rotten place does not even have a female ghost, just me, a lonely starving ghost all by myself.”
“Wuwuwu, no, not that! At the very least, I want Miss Sadako to keep me company...”
“I should have known better than to make such an excessive request.”
“But there was no helping it. If I had simply asked for fish in an ordinary way, Ann might have noticed something with how sharp she is.”
“And it was also for safety’s sake, just in case.”
...
“Forget it. I am done thinking about it.”
Muen rested his head against the wall and laughed at himself.
“It seems I have been locked up here too long. My nerves have become oversensitive.”
“It is only catching a fish. What kind of difficult task could that possibly be for Ann?”
“It is not as if I asked her to go slay a monster.”
...
...
Bepor Lake. Wind and rain raged across the land.
Ann stood several hundred meters away from the lakeshore, wearing a rainproof cloak and hood, her expression blank as she listened to the scruffy man in front of her ramble on endlessly.
“Miss, you cannot go any farther!”
“Bepor Lake has been completely sealed off! If you want to admire the scenery, then please come back after the weather clears!”
The torrential rain mixed with crashing thunder, as if it meant to drown the whole world, so the man had to lean close to Ann and shout with all his strength.
“In any case, turn back now! It is dangerous here!”
“Did something happen?”
Ann asked with a frown, visible displeasure radiating from her in a way almost tangible to the eye. It was impossible to tell whether she was displeased with the man in front of her or with the wretched weather.
“Miss, that is none of your business. Just leave!”
The man was growing impatient as well, and reached out as if to drive Ann away.
“Hm?”
Ann caught the hand that was about to shove her, and her expression instantly turned cold. Her five fingers tightened abruptly.
“I dislike being touched by men other than Young Master.”
“What— Aah!”
The man let out a scream, his face twisting in pain as his body bent in the direction his arm was being forced.
“If you still want this hand to be able to hold a dinner knife, then tell me what happened here.”
“I will talk... I will talk...”
Hearing the bones in his arm cry out in protest, the man said in terror,
“It is the lord of Bepor Lake. It has appeared!”
“The lord of Bepor Lake? Was that not just a rumor with no basis at all?”
The so-called lord of Bepor Lake was a tale passed down among the fishing villages around the lake. According to the rumor, deep within Bepor Lake there existed a fish god left behind from ancient times. It was the master of this lake, controlling the changes in the weather here and the strength of the tides.
Every year, the villagers from the fishing settlements would offer cattle and sheep as sacrifices to the lake in exchange for the lord’s protection.
But that was only a rumor. If there really were some fish god in the lake, the Church of Life would have already branded this place a nest of an evil god and launched a new holy crusade long ago.
“But the lord really has appeared! It is a fish, a really, really huge fish!”
The man wailed,
“The Adventurers’ Guild sent people over, and they identified it as a tyrant-class magical beast. A B-rank adventurer party has already been dispatched to subjugate it, so Bepor Lake has now been sealed off. No one is allowed to approach.”
“I see. A tyrant-class magical beast?”
Ann released the man and lifted her head to look at the sky, letting the rain pour over her face.
“Then this strange weather is because of that magical beast as well.”
“Pr... probably.”
Rubbing his arm and baring his teeth in pain, the man said,
“In... in any case, you should leave now. I can let what happened just now slide, since a good man does not fight with women, but if you interfere with the adventurer party’s subjugation mission, none of you will have a good end!”
“...”
Ann ignored him and walked past him toward the lake.
“H-Hey, wait. Even so, you are still going?”
Looking at Ann’s back, the man’s eyes filled with confusion.
“You already know it is dangerous ahead, yet you still insist on going. For what reason could you be this determined?”
“For what reason?”
He had not expected an answer, but Ann suddenly turned back.
Wearing a gentle, blissful smile, she said:
“Of course it is because of love.”