The timeline’s trajectory seemed to have changed far too much. Glen thought about the future.
‘First of all, there’s still hope for Leona. I don’t know why she is part of their group, but if I just secure the Lake’s Tear, I will be able to take her in as my companion.’ Glen thought this, not knowing that Leona had already gotten her treasure back.
‘Even if I fail to take her in as my companion, it’s fine since I have a replacement.’
Leona had low priority on his list; there were still other figures who were as beautiful and fit his ‘perfect party’ well.
‘Still, I don’t have Estellade.’
Glen didn’t want any other sword besides it. Glen recalled Hans’ sword; it was definitely Estellade. And for Glen, simply forgetting Estellade wasn’t an option.
‘There’s no sword that fits a hero better than that one.’
Glen believed Estellade’s noble form and brilliant ability fit the nickname of the ‘Sun Hero’ or a true hero. Thus, he was enraged to see that somebody else had taken Estellade and appeared in front of him. Then he thought that Zich and his companions might be the four heroes he had seen recently. Since there wasn’t an elf among the statues, disregarding Leona, the other four were probably the city’s heroes.
‘That means one of the heroes is Zich Moore.’
It was ridiculous. It was already unbelievable for Zich to get knighted as Karuwiman’s Holy Knight, but in this city, he was getting called a hero.
‘Damn it! What kind of bullshit is this!’
Glen couldn’t accept the fact that Zich Moore—the person who should be doing all kinds of evil and be the worst person in this world—was getting called a hero.
‘Furthermore, how is he already this strong?’
Glen also hadn’t expected Violuwin’s monster attack. It wasn’t part of the information he knew, and he felt more stressed knowing that fact. According to the rumors—of course, there were some exaggerations since the story got commercialized for tourism—the monster forces had been extremely powerful. Thus, it was unbelievable that those four had simply defeated them.
‘As expected of Zich Moore. He is especially formidable after he got off course.’
Even if his personality was a bit warped, Zich had brilliant, innate talent and the ability to overcome any adversity. For the first time in a very long time, Glen felt a deep inferiority complex rise in his heart.
‘…Should I get rid of him now?’ If he did that, Glen could even get Estellade back. However, he shook his head. ‘If Zich Moore has really become that strong, he would be too much for my current power to handle.’
Glen’s strength wasn’t built on pure talent and effort like Zich. He had to utilize the information he had and get all kinds of additional items and experiences to supplement his strength. Not to mention, he hadn’t taken many supplements in his current state. Glen was strong enough to make his presence known to his surroundings, but he was incomparable to those monsters.
‘I will be able to increase my skills if I get my hands on the Lake’s Tear first.’ The reason why Glen was looking for the Lake’s Tear was to foster a relationship with Leona but also because he simply needed its powers.
‘Yeah, I will just leave him alone. For me to have a perfect life, I have to make Zich Moore my last obstacle. It will be all meaningless otherwise.’
Still, it didn’t seem right for Glen to give up on Estellade. ‘…I should send a spy on him for now and watch the situation.’ If he used the bountiful information he had, there could be an opportunity to retrieve Estellade. In the first place, he had also commanded for a spy to follow Zich before too. They only failed to send one because they didn’t know Zich’s current location.
‘…Should I have really listened to that person?’
He remembered ‘his’ words to leave a part of the investigation team for emergencies. However, Glen didn’t feel any regret for not listening to him. He still had many opportunities to change the situation.
‘I have to gather information first and find out what went wrong in this world. Then, I have to retrace Zich Moore’s steps and see what path he took.”
Glen also needed to investigate the mysterious forces that attacked Violuwin.
‘Zich said that figures wearing black robes called those monsters.’ Glen knew only one force who could do such a thing, but there was no way since it was his own organization.
‘There’s really no way. I have complete control over my forces.’ At the very least, his members would not do things like that without reporting to him, which meant that another organization beyond his knowledge existed.
‘Actually, it’s better this way. If this world is so volatile like this, I would be able to collect some good information.’
Of course, he wouldn’t give up his plan. Glen moved solely for his plans; and if he collected more information, it would create an advantage for him in the next opportunity.
‘Okay, let me investigate Zich Moore’s companions and everything they have gone through.’
Glen felt a bit lighthearted after thinking these thoughts. Yet as soon as he finished one idea, another idea popped up in his head. ‘But why did they come to this place?’
Zich and his companions mentioned touring, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘Since they have Estellade, they must have discovered the ruin’s secret space…’ Glen suddenly stopped in his steps. At his serious expression, Browning tried asking him what was wrong, but he couldn’t afford to answer her.
‘Did they go there again, thinking there’s another treasure?’ If that was the case, this was bad for Glen. As far as he knew, the only other treasure in this place was Tornium.
Tornium was a Demon Sword that was as strong as Estellade, and it was a sword that symbolized Zich Moore.
‘No, he might have come here after receiving information that Tornium was here.’
Even though it was not yet time for Zich Moore to have received this information, since so many things have already gone so amiss, it would not be too surprising if that had happened. Glen’s face became pitch dark. If he wasn’t able to find Estellade, he should at least obtain Tornium. Even though it was a Demon Sword, if the user had enough strength, it didn’t harm its owner, and most of all, from what Glen knew, there was no sword better than Estellade or Tornium.
In the first place, Glen had decided to look around this ruin to find Tornium. But what if Tornium ended up with Zich’s group?
“Zenard? What’s wrong, Zenard?”
Browning called out to him, but her voice did not reach Glen.
* * *
‘Hmm, I hadn’t expected to meet Glen Zenard here.’
After they separated from Glen, Zich also began pondering.
‘Did he obtain Estellade during this time? Or is this just a coincidence?’ Zich stole a glance at the Estellade that Hans was holding; then he returned his gaze back to the front.
‘Well, he can’t get it now cause Hans has it.’ Zich had no plans to give Estellade back to Glen just because Glen was its previous owner. Moreover, Hans was also rightfully chosen by Estellade.
‘Well, I’m not so sure about Estellade being picky about its owners though.’ Regardless, Hans was the owner of Estellade in this timeline. Moreover, it was the red-haired woman behind Glen that caught Zich’s eyes.
‘If I saw right, that was definitely Lara Browning.’ Zich remembered her—no, he distinctly remembered her as one of the heroes who killed him.
‘It was annoying how she kept blocking my attacks with a large shield.’ She was able to do that because Zich couldn’t use his full power and she had Lubella’s support; yet, her resilient attitude as she endured all of Zich Moore’s attacks was deeply etched into his mind.
‘Did she join his party already?’
He remembered that she looked a bit different than before. Before he regressed, she used a huge shield to protect her party members and used a small sword to fight Zich off occasionally—it was the standard outfit of a defensive party member. Today, she had a long sword and a moderately-sized shield attached to her side.
‘Well, even though it’s not common to change one’s weapon choice, it’s not like it never happens.’ Zich ended his thoughts about Lara Browning. He didn’t hold any special interest in her.
“It’s here.” Lyla stopped in front of a wall.
Rumble! The wall let out a heavy sound and slid back. An enormous hole appeared in front of them. The same thing happened to them the last time they reached the entrance to a secret area. Snoc, Hans, and Lyla had already experienced this before and were calm about it. Only Leona looked all around the hole on the wall with wide eyes.
Zich and his companions went inside. After everyone went inside the hole on the wall—
Rumble! The hole in the wall closed again. As if it was pretending to be a normal wall, the secret wall quietly hid behind the back of the wall.
Lyla asked Zich, “Where should I lead you guys now?”
“Are there any special or strange rooms?”
“I don’t know. There are only two strange rooms that I know of.” She stuck out two fingers in front and slowly folded each of them. “Estellade, and the other place is where Tornium is.”
“Hmm.” Zich pondered about this for a bit. “Let’s try going to where Tornium is. We have to go around this ruin anyways, so it won’t be a bad idea to check it out.”
“…We’re just going to check it out.”
“Yeah, I know. I already have something better than that.” Zich tapped Windur’s hilt on his back a few times.
Lyla gave him a few more suspicious looks, but she nodded eventually.
“Tornium? What’s that?”
At Leona’s question, Zich pointed at Estellade on Hans’ waist. “It’s a Demon Sword that has similar abilities to the Holy Sword that Hans has.”
“A Demon Sword? There is such a thing as a Demon Sword?” Leona was filled with curiosity as she asked more questions.
“Yeah, but don’t pull it out.”
“Why? Ah, is it dangerous because it’s a Demon Sword? Does it control people’s bodies or something?”
“Compared to other Demon Swords, Tornium is not very dangerous. Of course, that’s only when comparing it with other Demon Swords. If you don’t reach a certain level of power, the Demon Sword’s power is going to destroy your body. You guys haven’t reached that level of power yet.”
Leona pouted; she was discontent about Zich’s assessment of her current level of power. But she knew Zich’s strength to a certain extent, so she eventually accepted his words. Hans and Snoc were not interested in Tornium in the first place. Hans had Estellade, and ever since Snoc couldn’t pull out Estellade, he had lost all interest in things like Holy and Demon Swords.
“It’s here.”
Zich and his companions arrived at a large space. The structure of the place was not different from where Estellade was. There was only one difference. Compared to Estellade which emitted out holy and bright light, a black sword that emitted violent and ferocious energy was stuck in the center of the room.