Unlike what she thought, Chelsea’s outer appearance looked like the epitome of a perfect priest. It seemed impossible to see through her. However, Glen knew Chelsea’s heart since he knew her personality through countless regressions.
‘Low-class wench.’
Who cared if her skills were outstanding, or if her appearance was good? Chelsea wasn’t worthy to be a member of his ‘just hero party’. Yet, it couldn’t be helped. Among the ‘spares’ he had, she was the only priest who had both good skills and appearance. Of course, he didn’t plan on keeping her on his team for long.
‘I should quickly increase my fame and swap her with a better one.’ As Glen thought about this, his heart lamented that he couldn’t get Lubella again. She was a priest, whose skills, appearance, and character fit him the most. Again, it couldn’t be helped though. While waiting for her, he might lose opportunities to spread his name. Moreover, bothersome guys like Zich Moore wandered around the world doing kind acts. Even if this was a dream that no one remembered, he had to be the hero praised and admired by all, especially if his competitor was Zich like now.
‘It’s actually good this way. If I solve this case, I will prove that I am much more fitting to be a hero than Zich Moore,’ Glen thought.
The havoc caused by monsters at the Denest Mountain Range was something even Glen didn’t know about. At this point, he wasn’t even surprised about this level of change in this timeline. Still, annoyance spurred up inside him, and he suppressed it by thinking of his upcoming competition with Zich. To be exact, he felt thrilled at the thought of beating and crushing Zich.
‘Even if he is Zich Moore, he won’t be able to solve this case faster than me, since I have gone through countless experiences.’ Glen looked beyond the castle walls and glared at the peak of the Denest Mountain Range.
‘I am going to solve it for sure!’ Unidentifiable obsession and madness whirled inside his eyes.
“Let’s go!” he said to his companions. They had to quickly unload their baggage and annihilate the monsters. He tapped both the shoulders of Chelsea and Pina in front of him and moved. However, he didn’t turn around to see Lara from behind him.
Lara stared at the three moving forward without a care for her. Then, she moved her feet weakly and followed them.
* * *
That night, Zich said over the dinner table, “I met Glen Zenard today.”
Lyla stopped midway putting her spoon into her mouth. “You met that guy?” Where?”
“Near the castle walls. It seems he came today.”
“What did he come here for?”
“He says annihilating monsters and finding the reason for their gathering, but I don’t know what his real intentions are.”
Lyla clutched her head. Her head hurt that she had to worry about one more thing in this situation.
“Did anything happen when you met him?”
“He got more companions.”
“Companions?” Lyla quickly glanced at Elena. The latter was chewing her food quietly while listening to Zich. She occasionally pulled her bread apart and gave them to Nowem.
“Who are they?”
“I don’t know them. I think their names were Chelsea Windne and Pina Acous?” At the mention of their names, Elena froze for a moment. “One is a priest while the other is a mage,” Zich said and turned to Elena. She looked a bit surprised.
Zich asked, “It seems the one named Pina Acous knew you. Could you tell me what kind of person she is?”
“She knows Elena?” Lyla asked.
“She asked me if Elena can use magic well now.”
“Really?” Lyla also turned to Elena.
Feeling both their gazes, Elena carefully explained, “She was famous inside the magical tower. She was chosen as one of the young mages who would lead the magical tower in the future.”
If Pina was from Sunewick, it wasn’t strange that she knew Elena. Elena was well-known inside Sunewick—of course, although her fame was more negative. However, seeing Elena’s expression, it seemed like they hadn’t just known each other. Elena continued, “She was the ace of the Quaral School of Magic.”
‘Quaral School of Magic. I think I’ve heard of it before…’ Before Zich could remember where he heard it, Lyla quickly asked, “Wasn’t that the school of magic that Jaewick was part of?”
“Yes.”
‘Oh, that’s right. That’s where I heard of it,’ Zich thought. He remembered the Jaewick family, especially the stellar youth of the magical tower, Mawin Jaewick, that Lyla pawned after a provocation; it was also the family who tried to lead a coup d’état under Orland Dwayne’s influence.
‘The Quaral School of Magic was the one that Wayne Jaewick was the leader of.’
Elena hesitated, wondering how she should address Wayne Jaewick, and decided to add ‘sir’ to his name in the end. “Acous was …Sir Wayne Jaewick’s only granddaughter and Mawin Jaewick’s cousin. People often said that she and Mawin would lead the Quaral School of Magic further in the future.” Then, she wondered, “But why did Pina leave Sunewick…?”
“It was probably difficult for her to stay in Sunewick since her grandfather was one of the culprits behind the coup. Besides, wasn’t the Quaral School of Magic an active participant of the coup? That probably made it harder for her to stay.”
The Quaral School of Magic received a huge setback because of the coup. Even if they didn’t disappear, it would probably take them a long time to recover.
‘I suppose Pina is resentful.’ Although Wayne Jaewick was the main leader of the coup, the one who had secretly manipulated the situation was Elena’s father, Orland Dwayne. Even if it was Wayne Jaewick’s own greed for power that pushed him to rebel and he had no one to blame but himself, people were funny creatures who often did incomprehensible things. Of course, these were all Zich’s guesses. He pushed off making judgments about Pina Acous for now.
‘Rather than all that, she could simply be feeling competitive since Elena is beginning to make great strides in her path as a mage.’
“Um, how is Ms. Acous’ condition?”
Was it because they were both mages? Or did she think that Pina Acous was one of the victims of the coup d’état that her father instigated? Regardless of the reason, Elena carefully asked her question.
“It didn’t seem bad. It seems like she gets along with her companions somewhat.”
Zich thought to himself, ‘If I don’t include Lara Browning.’
“That’s fortunate.”
“Since we’re in the same city and we’re trying to do the same thing, we might meet each other while moving. You can check out her condition then.”
“Yes.”
“Sir…” When Zich and Elena’s conversation came to an end, Hans also asked Zich, “Was Ms. Browning still with them?”
“Yeah, she’s still there.”
“Did she perhaps throw her sword away?”
“No, it seems like she’s still holding onto her sword. She still had a sword on her waist.”
Hans nodded in response.
Zich smirked and said, “Why, you interested?”
“Yes, sir. A sword seems to fit Ms. Browning more than a shield. Didn’t you say that as well, Sir Zich? When I met her, she also seemed more interested in the sword. My heart feels relieved since she seems to be walking the path she wanted.”
Zich was slightly exasperated as he saw Hans calmly reply to his question. However, Zich didn’t give up and poked fun at Hans once more.
“Why, is your heart relieved when she’s walking down her desired path?”
Hans tilted his head. “Even if she is a person I don’t know very well, isn’t it good to see someone walking the path they want to and chase after their goals? Her talent is with the sword.”
“Stop it. Hans is different from you. He’s an innocent guy,” Lyla said as she tapped Zich’s arm with her elbow.
Zich withdrew and smacked his lips. However, his mood lightened up with a new thought. ‘Maybe, I can also steal Lara Browning away from him as well.’ Now that he thought about it, she was also a talent that was too good to go to waste under Glen. Rather than rotting together with a dirty guy like Glen Zenard, it was better to leave his party even if it meant that her heart would get hurt. However, Zich didn’t think about devising a specific plan to get her out of Glen’s party. ‘If it’s fate, it’ll work out by itself.’
Zich stared meaningfully at Hans who was focused on his meal.
* * *
After two days, Zich headed toward the city hall. The administrators of the city hall who knew his identity took great care of him. Zich stopped them from bringing out the mayor of the city and revealed the purpose of his visit.
“You’re saying that you want to join in raiding the monsters.”
“Yes.”
The administrator talking to Zich made a very big smile. The reason for it was obvious. The city was in serious jeopardy, and there was no way that they wouldn’t welcome new forces in a situation where they were greatly lacking human resources. Moreover, Zich was a Karuwiman Honorary Knight; he was someone they could completely trust in regards to skills and integrity.
“There’s no reason for us to refuse! As expected of a Karuwiman Honorary Knight! How just and magnanimous you are!” The administrator flattered Zich until his saliva dried out.
Flattery didn’t cost any money. If he gained the help of a Karuwiman Honorary Knight with a few words, it was an extremely good deal. Moreover, he wasn’t even really lying. The administrator felt grateful to Zich. Therefore, the administrator tried to make everything as convenient as possible for Zich.
“Perhaps, is there anything you want? We’ll try our best to fulfill your wishes.”
“Do you remember the disgraceful incident with one of the hired mercenaries a few days ago?”
The administrator’s expression dropped. This was also not a good memory for him. “Yes, there was something like that. It was probably the incident with the Wolf’s Canine Mercenary Group.”
The Wolf’s Canine was the name of the mercenary group that Til was part of.
“Now that I think about it, I heard that Sir Zich’s companions were involved in that incident.”
“Yes, we were.”
“I want to apologize once again. This is definitely a problem with the management in the city.”
When the administrator bowed his head, Zich waved his hand. “I already received enough apologies, and I also have no intentions to make it an issue. The reason why I brought this topic up was because quite a lot of mercenaries were executed from that incident, so I was wondering if there were many gaps around the city’s defense.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
The neck of forty mercenaries had been cut off at once. They were trying their best to patch up the gaps, but the city was already greatly lacking people. So, it couldn’t be helped that there were gaps.
“We want to cover those gaps.”
“Is that what Sir Zich wants?” The administrator fell into deep thought. “It won’t be difficult for us to station you to a place where you want to go, but will it be all right? You’ll be working in the same place as the Wolf’s Canine.”
“It’ll be all right. We’ll cover the gaps and simultaneously spy on the Wolf’s Canine. Since they already had such rotten people among their members, there may be more people like them in the same group.”
This was not a bad deal for the city. The administrator nodded and forwarded Zich’s suggestion to the higher-ups and soon received permission. Like this, Zich was able to get justification to spy on Til at a close distance to the Wolf’s Canine.
* * *
The next day, Zich and his companions began guarding the city wall at the time they were assigned. Even though it was strenuous work, Zich’s companions were used to Zich’s harsh schedule. This was not rigorous for them at all.
Crunnch!
The orc that rushed towards them was cut into two by Windur. The other monsters let out angry screams and rushed toward their allies, but their fates were not very different from the orc. In an instant, they were all defeated by Zich and his companions’ attacks.
“There are more monsters coming down the mountain range than we thought,” Lyla said as she looked down at the goblins that were burnt to ashes by her magic. Zich also agreed. The time between their rests and monster ambushes was shortening.
‘Rather than being able to cut down the monsters’ activities, it’s actually getting bigger instead.’
Of course, this was not a good sign at all.
‘As expected, I need to climb up the mountain range as fast as possible.’
With this in mind, the companions began patrolling the city wall again when—
He saw mercenaries that were patrolling like him and his companions.