Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 32

Devil’s Holy Sword (4)

“Did we say something wrong?”

One of the mercenaries sitting at the table jumped up. He was a mercenary explorer with a shiny bald head who looked quite old.

“The subjugation failed because that bastard lost the holy sword to the devil! A third of the punitive force is dead! One-third!”

“what? fool?”

Paladin Lucia frowned.

“Barret is still a knight recognized by the Holy Sword. A warrior who stood up to the devil and fought until he fell! “It’s on a whole different level from a coward like you who ran away from the devil with his tail!”

The bald mercenary touched his forehead with a puzzled expression.

“her! I don’t know since when the Holy Sword began to recognize a nosy dog who can’t distinguish between courage and temerity. At that level, I could be recognized even if I held the holy sword with my lower body!”

“What are you doing?”

The mercenary slapped my thigh with his palm and shouted. At that moment, a spark flew into Lucia’s eyes.

She sheathed the sword on the inn floor and looked around and shouted.

“I will challenge that bastard mercenary to a duel! “Isn’t there a notary?”

As soon as she said those words, the golden tattoo on her arm began to shine brightly.

It was a sacred tattoo, the symbol of the Holy Knights.

Everyone was already watching this fight with interest, so people were raising their hands one after another with sparkling eyes.

“I will do it! I!”

“Hans, a 6th year explorer. “I will be the notary!”

They say the most fun things to see in the world are fireworks and fighting.

The fight between a thick-mouthed paladin and a mercenary-turned-explorer can be said to belong to a special axis among them.

Naturally, the response from the audience was also exceptional.

Squeak! Drurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Tables and chairs are pushed out, quickly creating a circular duel arena.

Since most of the guests were powerful mercenaries or explorers, it was literally an instant.

“duel! duel!”

“Now, is there anyone to bet money on? money?”

The audience cheered with their fists raised as they naturally exchanged silver coins and bet money.

“…….”

Dallen made his way through the crowd, cursing a million things in his mind.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the duel was heating up.

Since I had been an explorer for 6 years as a notary, there was nothing more to take.

“If you slice the lower limbs, which are said to be capable of holding the holy sword, thinly like ham, there will be no more fluttering with your tongue. is not it?”

“Oh my gosh. Okay, let’s kill it, right? Good!”

Clap.

A mercenary picks up a long chain weight and shield that were left on the floor. It was a weapon with a sharply angled weight hanging at the end of a chain.

Lucia’s eyes widened slightly as the mercenary pulled out an unusual weapon.

However, I was only surprised for a moment. Her mood quickly calmed down.

“okay. Let’s kill him.”

She said. Lucia takes a low stance holding an angled shield and sword.

Her sacred tattoo, which had been shining brightly, gradually began to shed light.

“Good. I already thought about that while looking at that idiot this time. “I wonder if all the paladins are this shabby.”

The mercenary walked with long strides and swung the chain weight. he asked.

“Is he stronger than that idiot?”

“You keep acting like an idiot…!”

Crack!

A bald mercenary suddenly attacks Lucia before she finishes speaking.

The posture of the paladin who was not used to bluffing momentarily flinched and became disheveled.

“dastardly…!”

Lucia shouted. The mercenary swung the chain weight with a sneer.

As the acceleration of the body was added to the spinning inertia, a sound of air being torn from the weight at the end of the swung chain was heard.

Wedge-!

The power and speed to shatter your head in one fell swoop.

It was too late to avoid it.

Can it withstand the impact even if it is blocked with a shield?

That was the moment when the audience all held their breath.

chin!

The steel weight that was about to crush the orc’s head was blocked by a large hand.

“What is it?”

The mercenary’s eyes are wide and he stutters.

Dallen, who held the steel weight tightly with his strong grip, spoke to the mercenary with a slightly tired look.

“Let’s stop the duel here. “This is my colleague.”

“stop? Do you know how she insulted me…!”

Dallen wordlessly strengthened his grip on the weight.

Geek.

The joint of the pendulum creaks uneasily. The body of a mercenary being dragged helplessly for a couple of steps.

He gently rubbed his temple with his free hand and spoke forcefully again.

“Since you are my colleague, I would be very grateful if you could do this. Or you can have a fight with me first.”

“…I understand.”

“Thank you.”

Dallen put down the weight. A heavy steel weight fell, creating a small hole in the inn’s floor.

Leaving behind the mercenary with a strange expression of fear and anger, Dallon approached Lucia, whose eyes were wide open.

“It’s a little late. “That’s the person who entrusted the request.”

“Then you are going to kill the cult members this time…!”

“Until there.”

Lucia closed her mouth with an embarrassed expression. Dallen put his fingers in his belt and took a quick look around.

Squeak. Grumble.

The audience was turning the tables, complaining about the sudden end of the duel.

And some of the dogs were watching Dallon and Lucia with young eyes.

Dallon said.

“There are a lot of eyes watching. “I think we need a separate space to talk.”

***

When they asked for a quiet place, the waitress led them to a small room on the third floor.

Dallen placed the ax on the table, unwrapped his sword and shield, and leaned them against the wall. He said.

“Can’t I put the sword in now?”

“…okay. “Excuse me.”

The voice seemed to have calmed down a bit, with some of the tremor subsiding.

Lucia sheathed the sword she was still holding. It was a famous sword with a narrow, straight blade that shined white.

“so.”

Sigh.

Dallen, who was buried in a chair, tried his luck.

“Tell me the inside story.”

“Weren’t you here after receiving the request?”

“There were a lot of stories that weren’t written down in the request.”

In fact, there was no special information written in the request.

The whole story is that a colleague who became a formal Holy Knight went down to the labyrinth to train and had his holy sword stolen by the devil.

And the end is that Lucia, the client, came to this city to retrieve the holy sword.

Even the reward offered was, ‘If the Holy Knights can give me anything, I will give them anything, whether it’s fifty gold coins or a sacred tattoo.’

There was a reason why Sienna skipped the first step.

“Please sit down first. “I don’t know what’s so urgent, but in any case, we can’t go down the labyrinth until noon tomorrow.”

“…Of course.”

Lucia slowly sat down across from Dallen. Around that time, a waitress knocked on the door and came in to take our order.

Unlike Dallen, who ordered a lot of food, Lucia ordered a loaf of white bread and soup with mushrooms.

After the waitress left the two beers and left, Lucia slowly began to speak.

“ha. What a stupid bitch. I was taught to lose my temper like that…”

What? Why are you suddenly self-criticizing?

Dallen took a swig of beer and looked at her blankly.

“First of all, thank you. “The mercenary’s mace was stronger than I thought it would be.”

“It was nothing.”

Dallen set down his half-empty glass and wiped away the foam.

Although it wasn’t as good as the Le Beronne beer I drank during the day, it was still of good quality.

“Let me formally greet you. “My name is Lucia Castachald, a trainee knight of the Holy Knights who protect the cracks in the continent.”

“It’s Dallon.”

Lucia’s eyes widened at his answer that ended in one word.

“Is that the end?”

“What more do you need?”

“He was a mercenary who defeated the cultists hiding in the city, or he was a warrior of God who defeated an apostle of an evil god who became one with the devil…”

“Let alone how you know the story, I don’t know why such rhetoric is necessary. .”

Sigh.

Dallen slowly leaned forward. A little closer distance.

He spoke with emotionless eyes towards Lucia, who took a step back in surprise.

“I’m Dallon. We’re just meeting for the first time and we’re not sure of anything about each other. Modifying the past or packaging the future does not provide certainty, but only adds to the question of whether it will be so.”

So one name is enough. Dallon added and took another sip of beer.

Lucia looked blank for a moment, then shook her head slightly and spoke.

“It’s a bit different from what I thought a warrior would look like.”

“Look. Isn’t that already happening? “People should get to know each other through experience, not through rumors.”

“I rather like it. “Now I can tell you without hiding anything.”

Dallen finished his glass without saying a word. And Lucia began to tell stories one by one.

***

Falchion was the only place where monsters could not come up among the passages leading down to the labyrinth.

In other words, there were more passages connected to the labyrinth than just the labyrinth city.

And the most representative of them is the crack in the continent where the Holy Knights are located.

It was an enormous valley that went underground a long way southwest of the labyrinth city in the center of the continent.

“The main mission of the Holy Knights is to stop the monsters that come up from the cracks. So, the Knights periodically send paladins and crusaders here to Falcion.”

“It feels like a safe place to practice.”

“yes. “At least one person’s mistake won’t cause the defense line to break through and the monster army to invade the continent.”

In other words, the fight that the Holy Knights have been waging in the Rift for hundreds of years was like a tense tug-of-war.

“My classmate Barrett Stryman also became a full-time knight two months ago and left for training.”

Since he was a more outstanding kid than anyone else in his class, I knew he would do well. she added.

However, the labyrinth is a magical world that you can never guess until you enter it.

His party, consisting of one full knight, two apprentice knights, and twelve crusaders, failed to return when promised.

“It’s okay up to this point. “The Holy Knights will all be defeated and die at some point.”

However, around the time she arrived in Falcion to commemorate the death of her classmate, new news arrived from the Holy Knights headquarters.

One of the twelve holy swords of the Holy Knights was stolen.

And the news was that the culprit was none other than Barrett.

“How on earth did you steal it? If you had been chosen by the Holy Sword in the first place, you should have reported the truth. Why did you secretly steal it and escalate the situation like this…”

Lucia fell helplessly on the table, half sobbing.

Dallen munched on a beef rib and looked at it.

“The conclusion is that the kid stole the holy sword out of some kind of heroism, and instead of becoming a hero, he died in the labyrinth and even harmed the raiding party that was trying to exorcise the demon.”

“What a kid…!”

“It would be a shame if I rushed at you without knowing my own strengths. Imagine losing that holy sword in a crack in the continent you guard. Can you imagine how many paladins would have died to retrieve it?”

Lucia, who had raised her head in exasperation, slowly lowered her head again at Dallan’s dry eyes and words.

She spoke in a voice that almost trembled.

“…that’s right. I just…still can’t believe it.”

“There are many unbelievable things in the world. “There are a lot of things like novels.”

Did you think I would fall into the world of a game?

Dallen shook his head, muttering against his ribs.

“Anyway, that’s why I’m asking you to help me retrieve the holy sword. What happens to the Holy Knights troops accompanying me? “I understand there is a branch in the Sun-eun area.”

“…there are not many troops available in this branch.”

Dallen stopped reaching for the next rib.

Are you really telling me that you and a trainee knight are going to look for the holy sword?

“Over the past few months, the crack monsters have been showing unusual momentum, so they all returned to headquarters, leaving only enough to do the minimum amount of administrative work.”

Dallon was later able to recall the settings from the beginning of the game.

At the end of the tutorial, it was time for monsters to slowly stir up all over the continent.

Then, after about a few months, the momentum slowly decreases, and after the lull before the storm, a large-scale invasion begins.

‘And when a real crisis approaches, people’s awareness becomes dull. Just recently, people everywhere were shouting that there would be a monster invasion, but nothing happened.’

Anyway, the timing was very unfortunate.

In the quest to defeat the devil and retrieve the holy sword, there is little support from the Holy Knights.

‘But if you think the other way around, this could actually be an opportunity.’

This is a request that allows you to recruit a person who will become a hero in the near future.

I had no intention of giving up just because there was no support.

In addition, the devil who stole the holy sword is also at the lowest level devil level at this point.

Since he will later grow into a mid-level demon through the power of the Holy Sword, it would have been better to step on him somehow with his current force.

Of course, there were things that needed to be made clear.

“I hope the compensation is paid properly.”

“Don’t worry about that part. “There is also an official document with a seal here.”

Lucia held out a rolled up scroll.

The scroll with the seal of the branch of the Holy Knights said that if the demon was exterminated and the holy sword was recovered, fifty gold coins or another reward equivalent to that level would be given.

If this is the case, there is nothing to worry about.

Dallen said as he finished eating the beef ribs.

“The labyrinth opens every day at noon. Since we have to wait until tomorrow, let’s eat first. “You have to eat well to grow taller.”

“Are you making fun of me because I’m short? Among the female colleagues in my class, I am the youngest…”

“You are not shorter than me. “Please eat more.”

As I handed over two ribs and a plate of stew, Lucia sighed and began to gnaw.

Dallen smiled lowly and pulled the pot filled with stew in front of him.

The scent of a stew filled with meat and grains sweetly tickled my nose.

***

The winter night air was cold.

Even Dallon could feel that it was cold.

However, it had been a long time since I felt cold, perhaps because of the dragon blood flowing in my veins.

He was on the rooftop of the Elgaia Magic Tower.

Because I had questions that I wanted to check before going down to the labyrinth.

Coincidentally, today was Felber Valentino’s night class day, so Dallen was waiting while walking on the rooftop in the late night.

‘I’m finally going down tomorrow.’

Dallen thought as he looked at the barrier tower in the central plaza in the distance.

On the first floor of the barrier tower, a portal that allows you to go down to the labyrinth opens every day at noon.

‘Has this made us a little closer?’

Towards the hope sleeping at the bottom of the labyrinth that we can return to Earth.

Of course, the place to go this time was a cave in the far corner of the first floor of the labyrinth that had nothing to do with the Wish Stone.

However, in Dallen’s mind, it felt like he was already one step closer to the wishing stone.

No, it was true that I approached.

He has already neatly eliminated one of the many crossroads leading to destruction.

This time, I was going to erase a crossroads.

However, the anxiety that quietly settled in a corner of his mind was something that even his extraordinary body and accomplishments could not do anything about.

The possibilities of destruction that will come to this land in the future will grow to a point where they cannot be compared to what he has overcome.

And some of them were trials that Dallon had never overcome.

‘…Let’s not think about useless things.’

Dallen shook his head.

The past that cannot be overcome is just a shadow of the past.

The future to come is at the same time an illusion that has not yet arrived.

What he needs to do is overcome the shadows and prepare for the coming future.

It was about living in reality.

“Huh, why are you looking like an old man who has lived the whole world?”

At that time, someone opened the door to the rooftop garden and came out.

“I had a hard time waiting. “Oh my, I’m at an age where I’m too tired to give lectures until late at night.”

An old man with a brown beard walks over and pats his back. It was Felver Valentino, the elder wizard of the Elgaia Tower.

“hello. It’s too late to post my greetings. “My name is Tommy Valentino.”

Next to him was Tommy Valentino, a young blond wizard who was bending at a 90-degree angle.

Dallen felt that the young man’s spirit had become stronger than before.

“I guess I gained something from fighting the cultists. “Good job Master.”

“Thank you.”

“What could an old man have done? I followed him to the battlefield alone, survived the bloody battle, and grew up. “You took care of it.”

Felber shook his head slightly. Dallen laughed lowly at that skillful slyness.

“It wasn’t the old man who created that opportunity.”

“I didn’t even know this guy followed me until I returned to the Magic Tower.”

Felber chuckled and changed the subject.

“I heard you wanted to ask me something. “It’s very late at night, so if you don’t mind, let’s talk briefly and then go in and get some rest.”

He sat down on a chair in front of the railing, covered his mouth with his hand, and yawned deeply.

Dallen leaned his back against the railing and opened his mouth.

“Tell me about dragon blood and the realm.”

The wide-open mouth immediately closed. Felber immediately looked back at Dallen.

The fatigue disappeared quickly and a face full of interest and anticipation appeared.

he asked.

“I guess you’ve already established a small territory?”

An elder wizard of the Elgaia Magic Tower who developed a small area.

As he looked at Dallen, his eyes were sparkling with the magic light unique to a wizard.