Chapter 9
Zak happened to cross paths with Yorn.
Outside the royal hall, the afternoon sunlight warmly bathed the palace courtyard. However, in one corner of the building, the atmosphere felt strangely cold.
The reason was the two people standing face-to-face.
One of them was Zak, the leader of the knights and the Holy Knight of the Kingdom of Monotiz, whose strength was comparable to that of a Player.
Standing opposite him was Yorn, the kingdom's only Player.
The two stared at each other without saying a word.
"Wow, what a coincidence meeting each other in a quiet place like this," Yorn said with a relaxed smile.
Zak narrowed his eyes.
"A coincidence... huh?"
"Or maybe you've been following me this whole time?"
"Hah? Me? Following you?" Yorn burst into laughter.
"Following a weak old man like you? Hahahahaa... why would I do that?"
A vein twitched on Zak's temple, but he managed to suppress his anger.
"I wouldn't have any reason to quarrel with you if the king hadn't made you this kingdom's Player."
Yorn raised an eyebrow.
"If?"
Suddenly—
The auras of both men exploded outward.
CLINNNG—!
The sound of metal colliding echoed through the area.
Their swords clashed in a single motion so fast that ordinary eyes could barely perceive it.
Yorn only laughed.
"Hahaha..."
"This is it? The strength of the kingdom's strongest Holy Knight?"
Zak remained calm.
"The strongest? It seems you've misunderstood."
"Hah?"
"I'm not the strongest."
"He is."
Zak's thoughts drifted toward someone.
The Holy Knight who had once taught him everything.
The man who once held the title of the Strongest Holy Knight in the Kingdom of Monotiz.
Yet when Zak became an adult, that person chose to retire and throw away his title without hesitation.
"He? Hah? Who are you talking about?" Yorn asked.
"Forget it. Someone like you wouldn't know him."
Yorn let out a long sigh.
"Haaah... whatever. I've got other things to do anyway."
Zak remained silent.
"Oh right, old man."
Yorn grinned.
"Do you think I can defeat the girl you called dangerous?"
Zak answered without hesitation.
"There's no doubt that you're strong."
"In terms of speed and reaction time, you've already surpassed the speed of sound."
"You also possess a skill, and that's enough to defeat her."
"Huh..."
Yorn crossed his arms.
"Then let me fight her."
"Why send an entire battalion just to kill one girl?"
"If I'm enough on my own."
"We don't know the full extent of her abilities."
"What do you mean?"
Zak fell silent for a moment before answering.
"When she killed my two knights, she looked as if she was already accustomed to killing people."
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"Without even the slightest hesitation."
"And her eyes... her expression..."
Zak stared directly at Yorn.
"It was as if she had absolute confidence in her own abilities."
"Huh..."
Yorn smiled faintly.
"So she's like me, then?"
"Or perhaps even stronger."
Yorn immediately burst out laughing.
"Stronger... than me??"
"Hahahaha..."
"If that's true, then this is going to be very entertaining."
Zak sighed.
"You've never experienced defeat, have you?"
"No."
Yorn shook his head.
"You're wrong."
"If I had never lost, life would've become boring a long time ago."
"What do you mean?"
"Come on."
"If you always win, sooner or later you'll get bored."
Zak narrowed his eyes.
"So you've lost before?"
Yorn only smiled.
"Once?"
No answer.
"Twice?"
Yorn remained silent.
Eventually, Zak asked directly.
"Who defeated you?"
"Players from other kingdoms, of course."
"So you challenged Players from other kingdoms..."
"Yeah."
"Kingdoms like Green Claw, Flower Sky, and Zemanit."
"Hmm, something like that."
Zak fell silent.
"By the way, I've lost ten times."
"I can imagine."
Zak crossed his arms.
"The Kingdom of Zemanit ranks sixty-first."
"It's among the top one hundred out of tens of thousands of human kingdoms in this world."
"Hahaha... that's true."
"They have more than ten Players in total."
"Six of them defeated me effortlessly."
"They weren't even serious."
"Not serious?"
"Even though our level differences weren't that large."
"That's because of the items and artifacts they use."
"Artifacts, huh."
"Yeah."
Yorn nodded.
"They possess four Legendary-Class artifacts, twelve Legendary-Class items, and more than twenty Unique-Class items."
Then his gaze shifted toward the shield on Zak's back.
"Hmm, speaking of artifacts."
"Hm?"
"Doesn't this kingdom have one Legendary artifact?"
Zak tapped his shield.
"Yes, you're right."
"This shield is called the Cover Up Blessed Shield, Legendary Class."
"It only has one skill."
"It creates a magical barrier with an extremely large area of effect."
"It can protect half of this kingdom."
"Even super-class magic wouldn't be able to penetrate its defenses."
Yorn chuckled.
"I see."
"So that means all of my attacks would be useless against that shield."
"Hahaha..."
"Want to try?"
"No."
"No need."
Yorn turned around.
"I don't have much time right now."
"I need to leave."
"Before you go."
Zak stopped him.
"We have to carry out that mission tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, yeah."
Yorn waved his hand.
"That's why I'm in such a hurry."
He glanced at Zak with a grin.
"You know, talking to you is sometimes pretty enjoyable, old grandpa."
WUSSSHH!
Yorn's body vanished instantly.
Leaving Zak standing alone.
"..."
"Old grandpa...?"
Meanwhile, at the Adventurer Training Test Center.
The atmosphere was still awkward.
Izumi cursed herself inwardly.
Damn it... why did I get carried away by the mood?
Look... you've made that girl uncomfortable.
Start a new conversation...
Find a new topic...
"Oh right, by the way, are you taking the test too?" Izumi asked.
Nara looked slightly surprised.
"Y-Yes, that's right."
"I see."
"Yeah."
"Why do you want to become an adventurer?"
Nara answered quietly.
"Because I don't have anyone left anymore."
Izumi nodded.
"I see."
"Then we're the same."
"Eh?"
"I don't have anyone here either."
"My parents were punished and executed."
"And my little sister also died."
"So yeah..."
"I'm alone now."
Nara fell silent.
She's amazing...
She can say something like that so casually.
"Oh right."
Izumi suddenly smiled.
"If you don't have anyone, how about coming with me?"
"Eeeh?"
Nara immediately panicked.
"S-Seriously? We barely know each other!"
Inside her mind, Nara screamed.
We haven't even known each other for an hour!
I don't even know your name yet!
"Yeah! Of course."
Izumi smiled brightly.
"Let's just say we're friends from now on."
Nara genuinely didn't know how to respond.
This was the first time in her life she had made a friend this quickly.
"Oh right."
Izumi tilted her head.
"Our ages shouldn't be that different, right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"How old are you?"
"I'm eighteen."
"Eh..."
Izumi immediately froze.
Eighteen??
I thought she was fifteen or sixteen because she's short.
"What about you?" Nara asked.
"Looks like we're the same age."
"I'm eighteen too."
Now it was Nara's turn to be shocked.
Eighteen??
I thought she was already in her twenties.
"Wow, we're the same age."
"Yeah."
Izumi smiled.
"Oh right, I haven't told you my name yet."
"My name is Rumi."
"Rumi..."
Nara smiled softly.
"That's a cute name."
"Ah, really? Hahaha..."
Izumi blushed.
Without realizing it, she was slowly becoming more like a woman.
Not long afterward, a man came out of the testing room.
"Ah, damn it! I couldn't become an adventurer!"
Izumi looked over.
"Why does he look so upset?"
"It seems he failed his training test."
"What happens if we fail?"
"Can we never become adventurers?"
"No."
Nara shook her head.
"You can take the test again after one year."
"And if you fail again, you wait another year."
"Ooh, I see."
Suddenly, a knight called out.
"Next!"
Nara immediately stood up.
"It's my turn."
"Good luck! I'm sure you can do it."
"Thank you."
Nara entered the testing room.
Ten minutes passed.
"Aaah, this is so boring..."
Izumi stretched her body.
"There's no one else here."
Ten minutes later.
Nara finally came out.
Her head was lowered.
"Hmm... Nera?"
"Did you pass?"
"Yeah..."
"I... passed..."
Nara showed her adventurer card.
[Adventurer]
Name : Nera
Class : F
Type : Assassin
System symbols covered the surface of the card, proving that it was genuine and could be verified with a detection device.
"Waaahhh, congratulations!"
Nera smiled happily.
"Finally..."
"After failing three times in a row..."
"I finally passed this time."
"Eh? You've already tried three times?"
"Yeah."
"Eeh..."
Nera then asked back.
"What about you?"
"How many times have you tried?"
"Umm... this is my first time."
"Ehh... ehhh... seriously?"
Nera looked at her with admiration.
"Then good luck."
"And remember, if you fail, don't worry."
"You can try again next year."
"I-I see..."
Next year... that's an incredibly long time...
Izumi laughed softly.
"Wait, if I fail, I probably won't be allowed into the royal city. Hahaha..."
"Eh?"
Nera looked surprised.
"So you're from outside the city?"
"Yeah."
"Really? That's pretty rare."
"Eh, is it?"
"Yeah."
"It's very rare for a woman from a village to come here alone and want to become an adventurer."
"Eeh, I see."
Izumi suddenly fell silent.
My purpose for coming here...
Wait...
Wasn't my purpose for coming here revenge?
Why am I just going along with the flow...?
Aaaghhh... whatever.
There'll be time for revenge later.
Besides, the people here aren't as bad as I thought.
"Rumi."
Nera called out to her.
"It's your turn now."
"Yeah."
Izumi stood up.
"I'm going."
"Will you wait for me here?"
Nera smiled sweetly.
"Of course."
"We're friends, aren't we?"
Izumi smiled back.
Then she walked toward the training test area.