Chapter 26
Zak was truly panicking inside.
Wh-Why is she here? Why is she with Sir Rey?
I know exactly who she is.
She is the girl from Werenty Village who killed both of my knights with a single attack.
What should I do?
I didn't bring any combat equipment at all, whether armor or a sword.
Izumi tilted her head.
"Hm...?"
Rey Renold chuckled softly.
"Why are you so quiet, Zak? Greet her. I'm sure if you train her, it would help her a lot."
Hearing that only made Zak even more confused.
Why is Sir Rey treating her like that?
Ah... could it be that he doesn't know anything about that incident?
Zak took a deep breath and tried to act naturally.
"Ah... yes. I'm just a little tired."
He then looked at Izumi.
"Hello, Miss Rumi. I am the current leader of the Holy Knights of the Kingdom of Monotiz."
"The leader of the knights, huh."
"Yes."
Derat, who was behind the counter, immediately spoke up.
"Oh, Zak! Would you like a drink as well?"
"Ah yes. The usual."
"Alright then."
The atmosphere became quiet once more.
Five minutes passed.
Izumi, who had noticed that she kept being watched, finally asked.
"Why do you all keep looking at me?"
She pointed at Faust.
"Especially you. You've been staring at me ever since I came here. Is there something wrong with me?"
"Hm?" Rey turned his head as well.
Zak remained silent.
Sh-She knows I was watching her?
Even though I wasn't even facing her.
What should I do?
Rey noticed something strange about Zak, but chose to remain silent.
Faust immediately answered in panic.
"Ah... th-that... that's because you're beautiful. And your black hair looks really nice. It's very rare to see such deep black hair."
"Hair...?"
Izumi touched her hair.
"Hmm..."
"Em... yeah."
"I see."
Izumi fell silent.
So black hair really is unusual in this world.
I haven't seen anyone else with black hair like mine.
Even in this body's memories, both her mother and father had light gray hair.
Her younger sibling had gray hair too.
So why is she the only one who is different?
Not long afterward, their drinks were served.
And that night, the three of them drank together.
Eventually, midnight arrived.
Faust bowed politely.
"Thank you for visiting our little bar."
Rey, Zak, and Izumi left the bar.
Izumi looked slightly unsteady.
Aaah...
Why does everything feel so heavy?
Did I drink too much?
And I'm so sleepy...
Suddenly, her body lost balance.
Thud.
But before she could hit the ground, Rey Renold quickly caught and carried her.
Wow.
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She's so light...
Rey laughed.
"Hahaha... isn't this just like the first time you drank?"
"Master. Please stop."
Zak immediately looked away.
"You even crashed into someone's flower pot and got mistaken for a thief. Hahaha! That's something I'll never forget."
Zak looked embarrassed.
"Master..."
"And in the end, I was the one who carried you home."
The atmosphere became quiet again.
Rey looked at the sleeping Izumi.
"Eh... I don't know where this girl's inn is."
"When she was drunk, she said she was staying near a herb shop."
"But there are many herb shops in this city."
Rey scratched his head.
"Should I bring her to my place?"
Zak remained silent for a moment.
"..."
"Ah, Zak. Do you want to stay over tonight?"
Zak nodded.
"Alright then."
The three of them headed toward Rey Renold's house.
When they arrived, Rey's house was not nearly as luxurious as a noble's residence.
It looked simple.
It only had two rooms, a kitchen, and a bath area.
Rey carried Izumi into his son's room, which had not been used for a long time.
Even though it had been empty for years, the room was still clean and tidy because Rey always kept his house well maintained.
Afterward, Rey and Zak sat on the porch while looking up at the night sky.
"The nights in this kingdom are truly peaceful and comfortable."
"Don't you think so, Zak?"
"Yes, Master."
The two of them stared at the sea of stars above.
Two minutes passed.
"So?"
Rey finally spoke.
"What's making you act like this?"
Zak was startled.
"!?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't try to hide it."
"You know your master understands your personality very well."
Zak sighed.
"Ah... right."
"Just tell me. What happened?"
Zak lowered his head.
"Have you heard the rumors about the two knights who were killed in Werenty Village?"
"Hm... so it wasn't just a rumor."
"It wasn't."
"My two knights were killed with a single attack."
"A very fast and deadly attack."
"They didn't even have time to react."
"Hm..."
Rey narrowed his eyes.
"An attack like that..."
"An artifact."
Zak answered firmly.
"A girl in that village used an artifact to kill both of my knights."
"I saw it clearly."
"Hm... yes. That makes sense."
Zak continued.
"And of course, we immediately launched an investigation with the king's permission."
"I brought all of the elite knights and Yorn."
"But when we arrived at the village..."
"There was nobody there."
"Not a single person."
"And instead, there was a Magic-Class monster, a Desert Hyena."
"A Desert Hyena? In a place like that?"
"Yes."
"We defeated it easily because Yorn was there."
"I see."
Zak nodded.
"The king then concluded that the entire population of Werenty Village had been relocated."
"Their location had been swapped with that monster by someone from the Nymph race or the Flugel race."
"Because only they can perform large-scale exchange teleportation like that."
"Ooh..."
Rey nodded slowly.
"I thought the same thing."
"It's strange for an entire village to disappear and then suddenly be replaced by a monster that doesn't belong there."
"Yes."
"I understand now as well."
Rey Renold looked back at the stars.
"So there's nothing we can do."
"That's right."
"Even the king was frustrated because there was nothing he could do."
Then he smiled bitterly.
"This world is truly vast."
"Very vast."
"There are countless threats to the human race."
"Even a small monster can wipe out an entire village."
"Humans are truly weak."
"That's why the only hope for humanity is humans who become Players."
The atmosphere fell silent again.
"And?"
"What does all of that have to do with your behavior right now?"
"You seem extremely tense."
"I can see it clearly."
Zak swallowed hard.
"It's..."
Then he finally told the truth.
"The village girl who killed my two knights..."
"Is the girl currently sleeping in your house, Master."
Rey immediately fell silent.
"Are you sure?"
"There is no mistake."
"I saw her directly through the memories of the knight who managed to escape."
"She used an extremely dangerous artifact."
"She must be killed."
"Hm..."
Rey shook his head.
"If you do that, I have my doubts."
"I haven't felt even the slightest trace of evil intent from her since the moment I met her."
"Wasn't the incident four days ago?"
"If it really was her, there should have been trouble by now."
"But in reality..."
"You saw how she acted while drunk."
Flashback.
"Aaah... all of you!"
"Evil must be eliminated!"
"It must be erased! It must be destroyed!"
"Whether monsters or humans!"
"Anyone evil must be wiped ouuut!"
Izumi pointed at Faust.
"Hey, you!"
"You're supposed to agreeee!"
"Eh-ehh... y-yes... I agree..."
"Yap! That's a smart kid."
Then Izumi started talking about her friends.
About her daily life.
About the pain of menstruation.
"Even right now my stomach huuurts so muuuch..."
"You men will never understand what it feels liiike..."
"So you should be the weak ones!"
Faust could only nod.
When will this end...
Please, someone take this girl outside.
If her personality wasn't like this, she could easily surpass noble girls in beauty.
Back to the present.
Zak and Rey were still sitting on the porch.
"That's the problem."
"I was extremely cautious and suspicious of her at first..."
"But now I'm starting to have doubts."
Rey turned toward him.
"You said she used an artifact, right?"
"Yes."
"I didn't find any artifact on her at all."
"!? Since when did you..."
"Since I carried her."
"I checked her entire body."
"And there were no weapons, items, or artifacts."
"The only thing she had was this."
Rey took out a small dagger.
The dagger given by Tom.
"I could destroy this dagger with ease."
Zak fell silent.
"Then... Master."
"What are we going to do?"
"For now..."
"We simply keep watching her."
Zak nodded.
Not far from the Royal City of Monotiz.
Yorn and his fellow adventurers were resting after completing a dungeon raid.
"Messa, you've really become much stronger than before."
"Of course."
"That's thanks to you, Yorn."
"Yeah."
"We've all become stronger because of you, Yorn."
"Three years ago, we couldn't even reach Floor [-5]."
"And now we've defeated the Boss on Floor [-22]."
"Hahaha..."
"That's because we had only just become adventurers back then."
"Yeah."
"Even though that was ten years ago."
"It feels like time passed so quickly."
Levil smiled.
"And the most surprising thing..."
"Yorn became a Player just one week after becoming an adventurer."
"After that, you changed a lot."
"At first, you always came back injured from dungeons."
"Then you started returning without a single scratch."
"After realizing dungeon monsters couldn't make you stronger..."
"You began hunting monsters in the real world."
"You traveled across the continent for six years and left us behind."
Messa immediately pouted.
"Yeah. And that's the decision I hated the most."
"But look."
Yorn smiled.
"I kept my promise, didn't I?"
"I came back."
"And I became stronger to protect this kingdom."
Messa, Levil, and Mei smiled.
"It's already midnight."
"We should rest."
"Yeah."
"But before that, we're going to take a hot bath."
"A hot bath at this hour?"
"That's exactly what makes it enjoyable."
"Enjoying the peace of the night."
"Oh."
"Well, do whatever you want."
"I'm going home to sleep."
"Okay."
On his way home.
Yorn walked alone.
"Even though I didn't gain anything from helping them in the dungeon..."
"At least they can become stronger."
"Dungeons are meant for adventurers."
"Not Players."
"If a Player kills monsters inside a dungeon, they don't gain any EXP at all."
Yorn raised his hand.
"Open Status."
[PLAYER]
Race: Human
Name: Yorn
Star: 1
Level: 49
Skill: 1 Detected
Maximal Speed [Active Skill]
Stats:
Star Effect (1): All stats multiplied by (×2)
STR: 245 (×2) : 490
HP: 245 (×2) : 490
Mana: 245 (×2) : 490
Speed: 245 (×2) : 490
DEF: 245 (×2) : 490
Player Token: 540
Loot Drop: 6
[SHOP]
[CLOSE]
Yorn stared at his status window for quite a while.
Ten years...
Is all of this really something to be proud of?