The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Calm Before the Storm (4)

Pitter-patter━.

Rain falls.

Half of the forest was torn away with the disappearance of the World Tree, but half remained.

Cain’s party pitched their tents in a circle and lit a magical bonfire in the center that wouldn’t go out in the rain.

The night was filled with the rhythmic sound of the falling rain and the occasional crackle of the firewood.

“What are you going to do?”

Arna asked Cain.

Wayne, the royal knight commander who visited during the day, had returned, saying he would wait in the nearest town after Cain remained silent on his next course of action.

And without a word, Cain had finished all of Abel’s training that he had planned for the day.

“…….”

Cain had no particular answer to Arna’s question. But everyone present could see the concern in his purple eyes.

“We will follow the Young Master’s words.”

Elderly knight Vanderbilt and Victor turned slightly towards Cain, pounding their chests with their fists.

“Brother, training in the forest is good, but there are things you can learn outside the forest too.”

Abel spoke up, wanting to lessen the burden Cain carried.

Cain looked at each of his companions who worried and believed in him, and finally turned to Arna.

“What would Little Mother do?”

“If it were me, I would use this incident as justification to immediately deal with Olivia and ensure Princess Oleciren ascends to the throne.”

“And?”

“There are a number of suspicious points about this attack. But there are more pressing matters at hand, so we’ll just have to dig deeper into it once she becomes king.”

The continental way of handling things.

Rather than the truth, the ruthless politics of the continent dictated that one should thoroughly exploit a situation after considering whether it would benefit them.

Arna was born and raised on the continent, so she naturally thought like a continental.

“How very orthodox.”

Arna’s eyes sparkled at Cain’s answer. Her vivid eyes followed Cain’s hesitant gaze.

“Does it displease you?”

“Yes, Olivia is quite…… well, honestly, I think she’s more suited to be king than Oleciren.”

Arna followed up on Cain’s troubled confession.

“I dare not claim to know all of Young Master’s thoughts, but shouldn’t we still support Princess Oleciren?”

“Hmm.”

Cain hesitated for a moment.

At his uncharacteristic pause, everyone’s eyes focused on him, and Cain opened his mouth.

“……Let’s go to the royal capital for now. Rather than us judging who is more fit to be king, let them prove themselves.”

In the end, he decided to march south the next day without revealing his inner thoughts. Arna was about to question his uncharacteristic ambiguity when…

Squeeze━.

She closed her mouth at the sight of Abel tugging at her sleeve and shaking his head slightly.

🔹🔹🔹

[‘Winter’ is curious as to why Cain is so hesitant.]

Late at night, when everyone was asleep.

‘Winter’ asked Cain, who was sitting by the bonfire with his eyes open. It was hard to avoid the question, especially since it came from ‘Winter,’ who had been with him all along.

Cain spoke softly as he gathered the half-burnt logs with the poker.

“I think I’ve been tainted by Airian. I’ve fallen for their peace and affection.”

[‘Winter’ chuckles at you.]

Unlike Arna, Cain was born in Airian, but he grew up on the continent.

He wandered the underbelly of the mercenary city.

He was the lowest of the low among mercenaries, dealing with the scandals of the Empire’s nobles.

Eventually, he got caught up with the illegitimate child of a high-ranking noble he shouldn’t have messed with and suffered greatly.

He quit being a mercenary after that, but all he knew was sword fighting, so he headed to the Great Wall where everything was about burning and fighting.

“It’s been like playing house until now. The high-ranking nobles were all friends when they were young, and they knew each other’s circumstances well.”

The Empire is largely divided into three duchies and the Imperial territories. Each of the four regions was much larger than Airian and functioned like a nation on its own.

They were strictly independent of each other, and even within the same territory, it was a ruthless land.

“But now, because of my choices, someone has to die and someone has to live.”

[‘Winter’ comforts you, saying there must be a way for everyone to live.]

Cain shook his head.

He looked at the brightly burning bonfire and the rain that had weakened before he knew it.

“Those who wield the sword must be prepared. Prepared to swing the sword and kill the opponent at any moment, and prepared to be struck down by the sword myself.”

Crackle━.

The logs Cain had painstakingly gathered crumbled. He expertly swung the poker to make them last a little longer.

“Before I can think of the best course of action, I have to be prepared for the worst. And I, still weak, am not yet ready to kill.”

[‘Winter’ says that you will do well, as always.]

Cain smiled bitterly.

Perhaps it was a smile infinitely similar to the wry smile Winter had just given him.

For a moment, they felt like one.

“And maybe I…….”

Rustle━.

There was a noise from behind.

Cain, who was quietly muttering to himself, turned his head, and Arna, dressed in light clothes, walked over and sat down next to him.

“Officially, I am an adventurer. I occasionally take on mercenary jobs when they’re posted.”

Adventurer and mercenary.

Both moved according to quests or requests, but their inclinations were vastly different.

Adventurers, as the name suggests, were adventurers.

They traveled this vast world, taking on minor requests or requests that only those who traveled could handle.

Mercenaries, on the other hand, were those who lived by blood.

The battlefield was where mercenaries were called, and those who sought mercenaries were those who desired blood.

Of course, there were some who went back and forth, as both received requests while traveling, but adventurers like Arna, who participated in battles as mercenaries, were extremely rare.

“Adventurers are connected through a quest network through quest shops. Mercenaries, on the other hand, belong to a mercenary guild system centered around mercenary cities.”

“Yes.”

“The interesting thing is that the two sides have completely different tendencies. The quest network has things like organizing medicinal herbs that are good for when you have a small cut, or collecting seasonings that can instantly revive a tasteless dish.”

Cain nodded.

He had seen it once or twice when he was working as a mercenary.

[‘Winter’ asks why you make apple pies the way you do when you’ve even seen posts like that.]

Cain was a little curious too, but he pretended not to hear, and Arna continued.

“On the other hand, there is almost no such exchange in the mercenary guild system. Only requests, information about unreliable mercenaries, and scandals within guild branches are posted.”

“I see.”

“That’s why, when I work as a mercenary, I sometimes envy the adventurer’s quest network. If they are sunlight, mercenaries are blood.”

“And adventurers probably don’t like the mercenary guild system sometimes. Unlike the loose quests, mercenary requests are closely monitored.”

Arna’s eyes widened.

She knew Cain hadn’t lived on the continent, but he knew too much.

Cain elaborated.

“I’ve heard that if those who hire bloodthirsty mercenaries try to cheat them, the guild will thoroughly punish them.”

That was the significance of the mercenary guild.

The accepted requests will be fulfilled.

And if fulfilled, the reward will be given.

It was under this strict belief of give-and-take that the mercenary guilds were formed, and it was the reason why mercenaries, despite complaining about the guild’s high fees, did not leave.

Many had tried to emulate the guilds, but in the end, only they had not lost their trust over a long period of time.

“This is a long story, but I think Young Master Cain is caught between being an adventurer and a mercenary.”

“……”

He had tasted it.

The warrior who had always been in the midst of bloodshed and snowy battlefields had encountered the warmth of Airian.

Marquis Ross had been quite fierce, but even that was cute by continental standards.

“And you seem to be confused about this whole ‘friend’ thing.”

Arna said with a light laugh.

Cain looked at her immediately, and Arna shrugged.

“Does anyone not know that you are friends with Princess Oleciren?”

“Well…… that’s true.”

He hadn’t put a label on their relationship.

But if he had to, it would be ‘friends.’

“That’s why you’re like this.”

“……?”

“Before, she was a princess. Someone who would become king and move for us. Someone who could be called ‘Princess’ or ‘King’ instead of her name.”

Arna was Arna.

She had lived quite a long life, and her life as an adventurer and mercenary had given her the ability to grasp the heart of the matter.

“But now, she has become someone who is better addressed by her name, ‘Oleciren,’ rather than by her title.”

“To us, that is.”

“That’s why time is scary.”

[‘Winter’ says Arna is quite a good mentor, perhaps because she is more experienced than when you first met her.]

Crackle━, crackle━.

Cain and Arna continued to stare at the bonfire after her words.

Human relationships.

And the relationship of roles.

Cain was able to make up his mind as he listened to the point Arna had made.

“I don’t think I answered.”

“Have you decided?”

“Yes. I think I forgot myself for a while in a sweet dream.”

Cain rose from his seat.

Arna turned her head to the side and asked.

“What kind of person is Young Master Cain?”

Thump━.

Cain tapped Agweska at his waist.

“Someone who, rather than worrying about how the future will unfold, is more concerned with how to take the next step.”

He was not one to shrink back from thinking about the future.

He had been intoxicated by the fact that he had regained a little of his past strength and become strong within Airian.

The continent was where he had to go.

A land teeming with monsters like Edmund, and all sorts of other monsters and mysteries.

And that wasn’t all.

Humans, too, had gathered in the form of the Empire, the Holy See, and the City Alliance, trampling all over those mysteries.

Swoosh━.

Cain turned his head.

His gaze landed on Abel’s tent.

“I guess I was lost in thought because the first stage of my plan is almost complete.”

Stage 1, leave Abel in Airian.

And for that, the Kingdom of Airian had to be peaceful and stable for Abel.

That was the goal Cain had set for himself in his previous life.

Arna asked.

“What about the next stage?”

━I am the fake hero, and you are the real one.

Cain grinned.

And this time, he tapped the empty space on his other hip and said,

“I’m going to try being a hero.”

Arna’s eyes widened.

“I’m curious as to why I’m the real hero.”

It wouldn’t be bad to have the holy sword, ‘Summer’, the symbol of the hero, on his right hip.

[‘Winter’ says it will help too. It says it’s ready to say the ‘right thing’ whenever needed.]

And there was a strong connection.

Whizz━.

Cain turned and entered his tent. Arna bowed her head as she watched Cain’s back, which seemed much lighter.

It was a gesture of respect for the future hero who would move even more massively than the World Tree.

And so, the storm in the north grew stronger.

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