Steven was unwilling to say anything, and no one could force him to, but his expression practically had "Yeah, it was " written all over his face.
That was the Ursus Royal Guard—the Emperor's blade.
Even Kal'tsit herself wasn't completely confident she could handle just one of them, yet this guy had sohow managed to single-handedly force five of them to retreat?
The intelligence from the Ursus royal court only stated that there was no direct conflict, and that the guards, wary of their opponent's strength, chose to retreat to minimize casualties.
But even that was terrifying enough.
At the very least, Kal'tsit had never seen those Royal Guards back down from anyone.
"So, what exactly did you do in Ursus? And what did you do to those Royal Guards?"
Feeling a headache coming on, Kal'tsit rubbed her forehead and questioned Steven.
Fortunately, Rhodes Island was about to leave Ursus. If their intelligence officers found out Steven was on board, even making it out of Ursus would be questionable.
"I already told you, it wasn't . I didn't do anything. Where would I have even t those Royal Guards? I don't even know them. I've been behaving myself, okay?"
Steven still wore his usual carefree smile.
As long as he didn't admit it, what could Kal'tsit do? Drag those Royal Guards over to confront him?
"…Fine, if you don't want to talk, then don't. Just promise you won't bring trouble to us later."
Hearing him insist once again that he knew nothing, Kal'tsit could only sigh and take a seat across from him.
At the end of the day, this just ant Steven didn't trust her, nor did he trust Rhodes Island.
But there wasn't much she could do about it.
With his personality, she had no idea what it would take to earn his trust or goodwill.
In fact, among everyone on Rhodes Island, the only ones who really got along well with him were a few elite operators, along with Gavial and Warfarin.
Oh, and his daughter counted too, though she clearly didn't care about these issues.
"There won't be any trouble. But since you've asked so many questions, you wouldn't mind if I ask you a little sothing, would you?"
Steven blinked and gave Kal'tsit a smile that made her feel oddly uneasy.
"…Go ahead."
She had a bad feeling about it, but Steven was technically an honored guest of Rhodes Island. In the end, she could only nod, signaling him to ask away.
"What exactly is a Collapsal? And what can I trade this thing for?"
Without hesitation, he pulled the Stray Collapsal Core he had defeated out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
Then, he looked toward the well-inford old cat in front of him for answers.
With her ancient experience, she should know more about this stuff than Talulah, right? She claid to be all-knowing, so there was no way she was completely clueless about Collapsals… right?
This little trip to Ursus had left Steven most curious about this thing.
To him, it was nothing special, but for normal Terrans? It would probably be a real nightmare.
"You—!"
The mont Kal'tsit laid eyes on the item in Steven's hand, her ears imdiately perked up.
In an instant, Mon3tr materialized beside her, swiftly creating a barrier between them and the object that was still emitting dark energy.
"Relax, it's already inert. I wouldn't take sothing out unless I was sure it was stable. It's not going to harm you."
Looking at Kal'tsit's serious expression, Steven could only tug at the corner of his mouth.
Then, under her wary gaze, he stuffed the item back into his pocket (Inventory).
It's just a dropped item—why such a big reaction?
"…Do you even know what you just put in your pocket? Do you understand how strong its pollution is?"
Kal'tsit finally understood why Steven had run into the five Royal Guards—and why he had managed to walk away unscathed, even making them wary.
The only thing that could make the Royal Guards deploy five mbers at once was a Collapsal.
Seeing what Steven had pulled from his pocket, it was clear that the Collapsal had fallen at his hands.
This is absurd.
A Collapsal that five Royal Guards couldn't handle had been taken down by him? And he had even carved out its core?
No wonder the Emperor's Blade didn't dare make a move against him. Even Kal'tsit herself found it hard to believe.
Adding this to the fact that he had previously stirred up the Seaborn in Iberia, Kal'tsit had a growing sense that this guy had a natural grudge against legendary monsters wherever he went.
"Isn't that exactly why I ca to ask you? I already said you don't have to worry. If you really got polluted, I have a way to cure you—I promise."
Steven patted his chest, giving Kal'tsit his word.
If sothing happened because of him, he would take responsibility.
It had nothing to do with his attitude toward her—this was simply how he held himself accountable.
"You still want to say you weren't the one the Royal Guards were talking about?"
Kal'tsit shot him a helpless look before finally recalling Mon3tr.
At the sa ti, she gestured to Blaze, who had tensed up behind her, silently signaling her to relax.
Since Steven had made such a statent, she was willing to believe him.
If he could casually carry that thing around, then he probably did have a way to neutralize its pollution.
"Does it even matter if it was or not? That's not the point. What's more important is—what exactly is this thing? I'm curious. If there were a lot of them, wouldn't Ursus have already been wiped out?"
Steven continued fiddling with the Collapsal core in his hands, frowning as he spoke.
After all, it was called a stray Collapsal, aning it was likely a species that normally lived in groups.
If a single one was this powerful, what would happen if they sward together?
He was genuinely curious about how Ursus had managed to withstand these creatures. The Royal Guards were strong, sure—but considering that five of them were needed to chase a single Collapsal, he doubted there were that many of them.
"There aren't as many as you think. These creatures are mostly concentrated in the far northern tundra. Ursus' most elite forces are stationed there to keep them at bay. And it's not just Ursus—Yan's military does the sa thing."
Kal'tsit gave Steven a sidelong glance.
Honestly, if she didn't already know most of the Feranmuts that road this land, she might have thought Steven was so kind of Feranmut in human form. But the problem was—she knew he wasn't.
How to put it?
Even Feranmuts, when taking on a human form, would experience a degree of weakening. Even if they retained so of their abilities, they wouldn't be as ridiculous as this guy.
And that wasn't even ntioning the bizarre collection of strange and powerful trinkets he carried around.
The more she thought about it, the more mysterious he beca.
To be able to deal with a Collapsal so easily… just who is this guy?
"So, what exactly is this thing?"
Steven was puzzled.
Talulah's intel on Collapsals had been far too abstract, and when he fought one, he felt like the creature shouldn't even exist in this world.
And from the way Kal'tsit spoke, it seed that the major nations had long been aware of these things and had been secretly fighting them for a while now?
Now this is interesting.
The sea had the Seaborn stirring up trouble.
The land was ravaged by these Collapsals.
And then there was Oripathy, looming like a storm cloud over everyone in this world.
There was only one word to describe it—tragic.
"No one knows what they are, and no one needs to know what they are. The less we understand, the better it is for everyone."
"We only need to know that they are dangerous. That's enough."
To Steven's surprise, Kal'tsit didn't elaborate. Instead, she spoke with the sa wariness as Talulah.
"Because the more you know, the stronger they get?"
Steven scratched his head.
What kind of Lovecraftian nonsense is this?
The idea that knowledge itself could make sothing stronger was just… bizarre.
And this definitely wasn't an ability that any normal creature should have.
Kal'tsit rely nodded and said nothing more.
"Even an ordinary Collapsal is no easy opponent. How exactly did you… acquire that thing?"
She raised an eyebrow.
The idea of single handedly defeating a Collapsal is absurd, and yet, sohow, he had done it.
"Ah, just think of it as sothing I happened to find lying around. Why does it have to be who killed it? I'm usually a very harmless guy, you know? The way you describe those things paint them in so scary light, why would I ever go looking for trouble with one?"
Steven grinned innocently and imdiately started denying everything again.
"You… never mind."
Kal'tsit let out a sigh.
She had more questions, but arguing with him about this seed pointless.
"Just make sure you handle that thing properly. Don't let anyone else touch it. Collapsal pollution is irreversible. Even Rhodes Island wouldn't be able to deal with it easily."
She had wanted to say more, but realizing that Steven wasn't going to give her a straight answer, she decided to let it go. She simply reminded him not to cause trouble for anyone else.
If that core were in anyone else's hands, she wouldn't have been able to stay so calm. But since it was Steven, she suspected he had so sort of Originium Art akin to spatial manipulation—otherwise, there was no way to explain how he managed to carry so many things around.
"I'm just really curious… exactly how much trouble did you stir up in Ursus?"
She asked the question weakly, already feeling exhausted just thinking about it.
"Hey~ I don't do anything."
Steven chuckled.
< >
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