Hard Carried by My Sword Chapter 27

“Ah, Leon! You’re back!” greeted Lize, a receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild’s Blaine branch.

As always, she called out to him from her seat at the counter. Her warmth was so unexpected that it shocked anyone who only knew her for her usual professional deanor.

Leon returned the greeting and approached the counter. He asked, “Have I kept you waiting?”

It had been exactly four days since the Rock Sli Raid quest had been marked completed. That was how long it took to awaken Aura and learn its basic applications. According to El-Cid, even that much progress in just four days was exceptionally fast.

Thanks to El-Cid’s baptism, all eight extraordinary ridians had been cleared, making Aura control far more manageable. It seed that risk wasn’t taken for nothing.

“I got word from the defense captain, but since you didn’t show up for four days, I was getting worried. Oh...? I’m getting a slightly changed vibe from you.”

Lize widened her eyes in surprise. She worked with countless adventurers every day. It seed she had noticed the shift in him since he had awakened Aura.

Leon didn’t deny it but chose to beat around the bush.

“I had a few breakthroughs while exterminating the monsters.”

Lize bead as if she were genuinely happy for him.

““I knew it! But Leon, there’s sothing else to celebrate.”

“Sothing else?”

When he tilted his head, clearly unsure of what she ant, Lize smiled knowingly and opened a drawer. The timing was perfect—his qualification review had just been completed the day before. She pulled out a dull, tallic badge that glinted with a faint shine—steel—on the counter in front of him.

Leon blinked in surprise and asked, “This is...?”

“It’s exactly what you think it is.”

The Adventurer’s Guild had seven ranks. F-rank didn’t even co with a token and E-rank had a wooden plaque engraved with only a na and seal. True guild recognition began with D-rank and its copper plaque. Above that was the C-rank with its steel plaque, then B-rank with silver, and so on.

And here she was, handing Leon a steel badge already. She said, “Congratulations on your promotion to C-rank, Leon. I, along with the Blaine Branch, will do our best to support you from here on.”

“A promotion...? Already?”

He ran a finger across the “LEON” engraved on the steel badge and continued with a voice that still carried a hint of disbelief.

“Doesn’t C-rank require a separate promotion evaluation?”

“Well, it usually does...” Lize replied with a sheepish look. “But you received very high marks in the Sewer Monster Extermination and Rock Sli Raid quests. Both the Lord and the Defense Captain sent letters of comndation. Thanks to that, the evaluation was waived.”

“The Lord? Seriously?!”

“Well, he didn’t write it himself—it ca from his steward. Still, you t all the criteria for promotion.”

It was a reward he hadn’t expected. Getting promoted after just two completed quests? That was practically unheard of at any branch. Perhaps they hoped to use him as an example to encourage more adventurers to take on unpopular quests. His enormous overachievent during the actual quests probably helped as well.

Leon wasn’t complaining. A broader selection of quests ant it would be easier to track down the Evil.

“So does that an I’ll be able to take on C-rank commissions as well?” Leon asked.

“Yes! Starting today.”

Lize was quietly impressed by his dedication to check for new quests imdiately after a promotion. As expected of a Holy Knight, she thought. There was sothing different about him. Being near Leon felt oddly reassuring.

Of course, that was thanks to his sun-type Aura, though Lize didn’t know that. Aura with the sun attribute emitted an energy quite similar to holy power, so it wasn’t surprising that it enforced her assumption that Leon was a Holy Knight.

Leon let out a low hum as he finished reading through the pile of quest sheets. There were a few that seed good for training, but nothing that appeared connected to the Evil. Would it be best to focus on training until he found a lead?

Lize, noticing the look on his face, asked carefully, “Would you like to see a different kind of quest? I understand that taking on only the quests no one else wants can be quite...”

Leon paused, realizing his own mistake, and explained, “No, that’s not the reason. Lize, could you show any quest related to the slums? Ones that co with bad rumors, maybe?”

“The slums?” Lize asked, surprised.

By definition, a slum referred to a place where the poor gathered—but Blaine’s slum was sothing else entirely. It was riddled with thieves, informants, escapees, smugglers, assassins; anything bad that one could think of. In other words, it was a district occupied by outlaws who had trickled in from several countries.

Born from the sheer scale and autonomy of the Freedom City, the slums had beco a lawless zone that even nobles hesitated to interfere with. Most people went their whole lives without even knowing it existed or ever grasping what it really was.

“There are no commissions directly tied to the slums. That’s work for rcenaries, not adventurers.”

“Ah, I see. That’s a bumr.”

Adventurers didn’t get involved in disputes between people, and unfortunately, most disturbances in the slums were just that—fights between people. So the Adventurer’s Guild never took quests related to them.

Leon fell into thought. Becoming a rcenary now was out of the question. Unlike adventurers, rcenaries had strict behavioral codes and could even be drafted into territory wars, making them more vulnerable to noble interference. At the sa ti, he also didn’t want to wander the slums without a pretext—the territorial attitudes of the rcenaries would be a hassle.

“Leon, in that case, how about this one?” Lize asked and slid a sheet of paper toward him.

“Living Armor Raid in an Abandoned Mansion? I rember seeing this one last ti.”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

It was a quest to exterminate decorative suits of armor in an abandoned mansion that had turned into Living Armor which had rendered the property unsellable.

The paynt was modest, and few D-rank adventurers had the strength to take them down. A Living Armor clad in full plate and ard with a polearm like a halberd had considerable combat power.

There were even rumors that a suit of mithril armor had once beco a living armor, and no one could touch it until a Master knight showed up.

The ones in this quest are just iron-plated with a silver finish, so a few good whacks with a blunt weapon would break them, but...

Why had Lize picked this specific quest out of the bunch? As Leon gave her a questioning look, Lize explained, “Check the location of the mansion. It’s close to the slums, so it might help you get around that area.”

“Ah!”

Having a cover story made a big difference. The slum’s forces may be strong, but they weren’t bold enough to openly pick a fight with the Adventurer’s Guild. There was always a possibility that a high-ranking adventurer might co knocking.

They could probably handle soone up to B-rank, but once things got into A-rank territory, they were dealing with power that was regulated at the national level.

“Thank you, Lize. I’ll make sure to return the favor soti.”

“Don’t ntion it. I’m just doing my job, after all. Oh, and don’t forget the reward for the Rock Sli Raid. The Defense Captain added a bit of a bonus, so it’s a nice sum.”

Leon took the pouch of money, then spoke again.

“Thank you. Oh, and...”

There was one more thing he wanted to ask. He made it sound casual—insignificant even—but to Lize, who had already, subconsciously, solidified her hypothesis that Leon was a Holy Knight, it was a question serious enough to warrant concern.

“Could you tell where the Church in Blaine is located?” Leon asked.

“The... Church?”

“Yes. I need to pay them a visit.”

As expected, the smile vanished from Lize’s face, and her voice quivered slightly with tension. It was sothing everyone in the know understood.

A Holy Knight in the midst of their pilgrimage could not ask the Church for aid unless an enemy of the faith had appeared—those who defiled the rcy of the goddess. No matter their affiliation or faction, they were to be utterly annihilated with the full force of the Holy Church. It was the one justification for dispatching the Holy Iron Inquisitors, the order that embodied “ruthlessness.”

“It’s... in the Prima District in the northeast, in the Thirteenth Street.

“Prima District, Thirteenth Street. Got it.”

With a nod, Leon exited the guild. Lize stared blankly at his retreating figure, then slowly began to frown in thought. A Holy Knight had cause to visit the Church.

Putting the pieces together, there was only one possibility. An enemy of the Holy Church, a heretic, has appeared in Blaine. If it were so run-of-the-mill dark mages, he would never call upon the Church. Whoever it was, they had to be a serious threat.

“I need to report this.”

Lize finally stood up and made her way to the Guildmaster’s office. If her hunch was correct, the Guild couldn’t afford to ignore it. Once the Church made a move, the city would be thrown into chaos.

And just like that, a misunderstanding of no one’s fault that could cause a ripple effect of unknown scale was planted.

***

El-Cid spoke up.

—You're a cunning one.

Leon hadn’t told a single lie. It was true that he’d beco curious about the Church’s location, and it was true that he now had a reason to visit thanks to the Evil. It just so happened that the mix of his cryptic tone and the receptionist’s misunderstanding had moved things along exactly as he wanted.

“If a report gets filed, the Guild will have to move.”

—Hmm. Short of revealing your identity, I do agree that this was the most effective thod. No one’s going to lift a finger based on a warning from a D-rank—or even C-rank—adventurer.

“Everything I said was true, except for my identity. Worst case, I’ll show you to them. That should clear things up.”

It would be a last resort, of course, but the Holy Sword El-Cid was a trump card that would guarantee the full cooperation of the Church.

He hadn’t revealed it simply because the sword’s seal wasn’t yet released, and he was aware of his own lack of strength. Eventually, the truth would have to co out, but even if it ca to that, he had no reason to shy away.

With that resolution, Leon set off.

“Living Armor, huh? That’s rare. It’s a type of monster that animates armor, right?”

El-Cid flatly denied the common belief.

—Huh? Not at all. What are you, stupid? Living Armor isn’t so creature from another world. Why treat it like a monster? It doesn’t breathe, doesn’t eat. If you leave it alone, it doesn’t do anything.

“They said they’re preventing the sale of the property.”

—Oh no, the property value dropped. Whatever shall we do? House prices go down and co back up again.

If the owner of the land had heard that, they might’ve collapsed in anger.

El-Cid continued his explanation, —Living Armor re a rare natural phenonon. Sotis they’re animated by residual magic, curses, or the lingering will of soone who died. They’re just hollow shells running on a single directive: ‘Repel intruders.’ No real will or consciousness.

“Wait, then wouldn’t a spell removal magic do the job then?”

—It’s not structured by active magic. Spell removal is like pulling out bricks to collapse a wall—it doesn’t make a pile of dirt vanish.

This was precisely why mages were generally useless against them. Well-made armor had decent magic resistance, so a high-tier armor turned Living Armor could even be a mage’s worst nightmare. There were so who tried to turn them into familiars, but those attempts ended in tragedy.

Living Armors were especially dangerous in ancient dungeons, and their strength could vary wildly.

“Well, the one we’re dealing with doesn’t sound like much of a problem.”

Leon skimd the quest sheet and offered a quick assessnt. Being an iron-plated ornantal armor, it was more decoration than defense. The joints were weak, and the overall durability was low. Breaking it would take so effort, but with the Holy Sword, there was no risk of damaging his weapon, so he could go as hard as he wanted.

—So why hasn’t anyone cleared it yet? If they’d sent people out as a disciplinary quest, it should’ve been over in a day.

“No idea. Wait...” Leon glanced down at the note written at the bottom of the quest. “It says here the armor has abnormal regenerative abilities. Soone tried smashing it from the helt to the greaves, but it got back up in under ten minutes. Their weapons couldn’t hold up, so they had to retreat.”

—Living Armor made of scrap iron, regenerating like that? That’s... odd.

“We’ll find out when we get there. Let’s go.”

Their destination was a mansion near the slums. Feeling the flow of the power of the sun coursing through him, Leon quickened his pace as a cold, eerie breeze followed in his wake.