Chapter 239: Living Like This (4)
The big shot who ruled the underworld of the southwestern part of the continent shrugged and said.
“Setrife said to do as I please. I want to go to the Gray Forest right now, but I don’t know what Lindy will do if I leave her alone. And it would be better for you to go with me than alone. As a former colleague, I should see it through to the end out of loyalty. Above all, there’s no reason for me to be with you guys.”
“Oh, is that so? But I disagree. I can’t pick up girls if an old man like you is attached to me!”
Silvan glanced up at Lucy. His gaze seemed to say, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’ and I fell into serious conflict over whether I should introduce Lucy as a friend in the future.
I sighed and waved my hand.
“You two figure it out.”
At least I don’t want to get involved there. Well, they’ll figure it out. For now, I don’t have to worry about Referndi. The future is a living hell, and living will be more painful.
Baius stroked his chin and said.
“Then I can go find the Spear King, Redbane. Since a prominent shaman and a close-combat specialist are going together, I won’t have anything to do.”
“Hey, I’m a mage.”
Lucy said so, but no one responded to his words. I remember Lucy’s exhilarating staff swinging, which blew away monsters back in Grenoian.
Al thought for a moment and said.
“I’ll join in on that.”
Silvan said the same thing, but unfortunately, no one was surprised this time. Al looked around and grinned slightly. Hey, were you aiming for that?
Byus smiled and said.
“It would be nice to have a young friend like you with us. But why would you go? Do you happen to know Redbane?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because he’s strong.”
What a wonderful reason. Indeed. His gambler’s spirit must be seeking an opponent like the Spear King. By the way, can you handle the Spear King when you can’t even properly defeat the Sword King?
Byus laughed loudly and patted Al on the back. For some reason, he seemed to really like Al.
“Ehahahaha! Alright, let’s go together! The journey will be fun! I’ve always been curious about your fighting style, and luckily I get to see it! Ehahahaha! Let’s spar whenever we’re bored, morning or night!”
“Really?”
Al’s eyes sparkled. Those were definitely the eyes of someone who would ask for a spar whenever he was bored. I didn’t want to get caught up in that, so I waved my hand and said.
“You guys do whatever you want. Well, just because the big thing is over doesn’t mean our individual tasks are finished. Rather, it’s a beginning if anything.”
“As long as we don’t die, life is such that when something ends, another beginning comes along. But Mr. Al, you’re going to seek out the Spear King even though you haven’t defeated the Sword King?”
“Sword King? You mean the female martial artist from the Hall of Martial Arts? Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve heard from her. But have you fought her before, Al?”
“Drop the ‘Mr.’ We spar whenever we’re bored.”
At Al’s nonchalant reply, Byus nodded, then suddenly surprised, he half rose from his seat.
“What?! So you know the Sword King! Where is she now?”
Al looked at him as if to say, “You still don’t know?” and everyone’s fingers, except Silvan’s, pointed to Levidian, who was peeling an apple next to me.
Byus followed their fingers and his eyes widened as he saw the beautiful woman peeling an apple with a graceful demeanor.
“There’s no one behind you?”
“She is.”
Levidian said, still not looking at Byus, as she sliced the apple.
“Hello. I’m Sword King Levidian. Soon to be Levidian Herduke, and please make any spar requests through this person here. For your information, it’s not free.”
She pointed at me along with a slice of apple, and I took the apple and waved my hand lightly. And Byus, with wide eyes, looked at me and Levidian, then suddenly shouted.
“How much will it be?!”
He looked as if he would pay ten million gold if he had to.
This person…… So this is his true personality.
May 30th, Year 1 of the Herduke Imperial Calendar.
In the midst of beating down a group of bandits made up of remnants of the Imperial Army, I shrugged.
“This isn’t even a warm-up.”
“Ugh…… Monster……”
“Look over there.”
Levidian stood elegantly amidst the fifteen bandits who were rendered unable to even groan. Additionally, I was only responsible for seven of them.
Did I look weaker?
“You should be grateful I’m letting you live because I’m too tired of killing people these days, you former Imperial Army remnants. If I hadn’t heard the rumors about the strange bandits who don’t kill people, you would have all been summarily executed. But were you really part of the Imperial Army? You’re awfully weak.”
“Shut up. Ugh……”
I walked between them and approached Levidian. She had a look on her face as if she was contemplating breaking one more of their bones to put them out of commission for a while.
“Ibi, what are you thinking?”
“I’m wondering if I should break a couple more bones and start a rumor about a disabled bandit group.”
She never fails to meet my expectations. Heh heh.
At her words, several shoulders flinched. They were pretending to be unconscious.
I decided to help these fake-unconscious bandits by helping their comrades.
“Let’s go. We don’t have time to waste here.”
“You’re right. But my body feels strange these days.”
“Why?”
“I’ve started to avoid fights. Of course, I don’t enjoy fighting, but…… No, I do enjoy it to some extent, but I’ve never held back like I did today. I didn’t have any desire to engage in physical combat, so it’s strange, right?”
She said that and walked with me towards the horse that was nonchalantly grazing nearby.
I couldn’t help but tilt my head at her words because her hand-to-hand combat skills, perfectly harmonized with her swordsmanship, were powerful enough to knock down a bull with a single blow, with a slight exaggeration.
I brought up what I thought was the most likely reason.
“Is it because you haven’t fought for too long?”
“That could be it. The last time I had a proper fight was around October last year when we took over Edikinz. Those thieves were quite dirty fighters. But I didn’t hold back in the spar I had with Risel before we left.”
“That’s true too.”
Her hand-to-hand combat skills were unmatched in power and surprise, including her breathtaking shoulder tackles, groin kicks that would make you want to shout for her to think about future generations, backhand strikes disguised as backstabs, and headbutts that would make you beg her to stop.
She pondered seriously, then mounted her horse and nodded heavily.
“It’s probably because the time is approaching.”
“Time?”
“My period. Oh my, Risel, are you okay? You almost fell off your horse.”
“No, no, I just lost my footing.”
It’s a biological activity that men will never understand and women have to explain for men to even be aware of, but it’s still quite embarrassing to hear directly.
Come to think of it, Aila also said something about being under a magic spell when it was her time. Did you learn that from your mother?
Levidian tilted her head in confusion and continued.
“My body feels heavy and sensitive, so I think I’m temporarily averse to physical contact. I should probably avoid sleeping together for a while. Oh? Risel, what’s wrong? You keep trying to fall off. Is the saddle uncomfortable?”
“Oh, no. The stirrups are a bit strange……”
“Is that so? Let’s get them repaired next time we’re in town. Anyway, it’s so uncomfortable. Even when I was at the Hall of Martial Arts, it wouldn’t happen on the scheduled sparring days. It wasn’t just once or twice that I woke up in the morning and looked at the bed with a frown, thinking ‘it’s started again.’ I would check my cycle every day and think ‘when will my body become sensitive?’ Oh, Risel, come with me! Why are you going so fast?”
Run, boy, run. I only want to hear these kinds of stories in small doses. Please don’t make me suddenly realize the stark differences between men and women. Giddy up! Giddy up!
Levidian, who was following behind, realized that I had sped up because of her story, and puffed out her cheeks and expressed her anger in a cute way.
“You need to know, Risel. Like all men with partners, it’s important to know when your partner is unwell and what’s happening. Of course, I’m not saying it’s not embarrassing. But it’s the kind of thing you won’t know unless I tell you.”
“Yes, I understand. So let’s learn one thing a day. Please don’t teach me everything at once.”
“Hmph. You say that, but if I told you one thing a day, you’d complain about having to do it every day. Let’s change the subject. Your riding skills have improved quite a bit? Is that a ‘remaining’ skill?”
“Uh, I think that’s probably the case.”
“Hmm. He wasn’t a very pleasant person, but he did some good things.”
Artshever gave me all his skills before I fought Referndi.
Many of them, almost the vast majority, seem to have disappeared when I exerted too much power during the decisive battle with Referndi, and only a few remain.
For example, the fighting skills that saved me from the bandits’ attack just now, or miscellaneous skills like my current riding ability. I wish I still had my superpowers, but unfortunately, they’re gone. The same goes for magic.
Some of the shamanistic powers remain, probably due to my maternal grandmother’s lineage.
At best, it’s just a simple fire-starting technique that can be used as a substitute for a lighter. I don’t have the spectacular ability to set fire to several square kilometers like my grandmother.
In addition, for some reason, I still have some cooking skills and general housekeeping skills.
Thanks to this, I’ve become a beloved husband these days.
Well, my speed reading has improved a bit, and I seem to have gained some knowledge of geography. There seem to be a few more, but they’re all minor skills.
It’s like I’ve gained a bunch of trivia all at once.
And the most disappointing thing is that there were no ‘night skills.’ Damn him. Does he want me to learn this on my own? Well, learning through practice is effective, but……
Unaware of my inner thoughts, Levidian said with a serious expression.
“By the way, Namia and Joey must be feeling a bit empty. Their goal up until now has disappeared. Even if it wasn’t an unacceptable ending.”
“But they have a new goal, don’t they?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m relieved.”
I nodded.
October 13th, Year 378 of the Imperial Calendar.
The post-war cleanup was mostly finished in its initial stages. With the harvest season just ending, the ruling class, who had taken over the new government, provided quite a lucrative side job for the citizens of the capital and nearby farmers.
Under the slogan of rebuilding the center of a new history, many citizens participated in cleaning up the plains in front of the capital, which had been a battlefield, and rebuilding the Imperial Palace.
Thanks to this, even in the middle of autumn, the capital was as bustling as a summer marketplace.
My father established a temporary Governor-General’s office at the Herduke mansion for post-war processing, and my brother became the Governor-General to reorganize the capital. Meanwhile, I played the role of disciplining the Kingdom and Imperial armies.
There were many cases of some Imperial soldiers, mainly officers, deserting with their subordinates, so I issued a military order saying that if they didn’t cause any trouble and came back, they would be pardoned.
At the same time, I had to warn the Kingdom army not to be arrogant towards the former Imperial soldiers. Self-control is the greatest virtue a soldier must possess.
However, the former Imperial officers who ordered reckless charges towards the end of the war were all beheaded without exception. Even though it’s common for human rights to be disregarded in war, there’s a basic sense of morality. They violated that and caused great sacrifices, so they had to be punished.
In addition, all the assets of the nobles who refused to surrender and resisted were confiscated. It was an excellent way to cover the costs of post-war processing and recovery while stabilizing public sentiment.
The biggest concern was the nobles who advocated for surrender.
It was a difficult issue to distinguish whether they advocated for surrender for the sake of the people or for their own safety.
For now, we decided to embrace them all and then let the newly established intelligence agency handle everything.
For your information, this intelligence agency is as follows.
“I’ve laundered the identities of all the members of AJOR, Black New Moon, Sky Ears, and Mangya. Oh dear, how is this more difficult than money laundering?”
“Have you even done that before?”
“What haven’t I done?”
Aila shrugged. For the past few years, the four organizations had been operating as one under her direction. They were already internally integrated, so it was easy to refine them into the core of the future intelligence agency.
However, the problem was their identities.
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