Jero Saintred, Captain of the 1st Royal Knight Order.
The young knight in his mid-twenties who ascended to the position left vacant after the Blood Knight murdered the previous captain.
"If I hadn't heard about the ancient shelter beforehand, the plan would have been disrupted."
He brushed his short silver hair back and descended the dark stairs.
Thud, thud.
The reason the man was in the basent of the Lord's Castle, not in the eastern district, which had beco a battlefield, was simple.
The offer to help the Lord subdue the rebels in exchange for overlooking the city was just an excuse to enter the city with his troops.
The royal family's goal was sothing else entirely.
The Fragnt of Records.
According to information from the Lord's aide, it was highly likely that he kept it with him at all tis in the form of a necklace.
Of course, Jero didn't know much about this item.
But since he had received orders, he had to sohow obtain it and return to the royal palace—
Thud.
The man's steps stopped as he was going down the stairs.
He had found a body lying face down on the stairs.
The cause of death was a head injury, presumably from a blunt weapon. He was practically naked, stripped of all his equipnt.
And the ti of death was...
‘No more than 30 minutes ago.’
The man's expression hardened as he bent down and touched the wound.
Soone had infiltrated the castle before him.
Their target was most likely the Lord, who was hiding below.
Then was the intruder still down there?
Tadat.
Jero quickly ran down the stairs.
He soon saw a wide passage and an open stone door. But all that awaited him beyond the door was the corpse of a middle-aged man with a large build.
This one was also crushed by a blunt weapon.
‘I’m a step too late.’
Jero bit his lip in frustration, but he quickly examined the scene.
First, the most important item, the Fragnt of Records, was missing.
Judging by the marks on his neck, it seed like it had been forcefully removed…
‘I can’t believe there was competition.’
He was montarily flustered by the unexpected situation, but he quickly turned around and retraced his steps.
It was too early to give up.
‘He couldn’t have gone far in 30 minutes.’
He had to find him.
__________________________
Auril Gabis said:
[Once a tiline has been observed, it can’t be changed.]
Indeed, it might be impossible to completely change the future.
But what if there was an error in the observation itself?
For example, if I could make Alia believe that her sister had died? And if I could make her live in hiding for twenty years?
Wouldn’t it be possible to save her then?
A shiver ran down my spine, but I soon encountered a major obstacle.
[My sister died in my arms that day.]
Alia had witnessed her sister’s death.
She had seen it with her own eyes, just like Dwarkey in Lalkas’s Maze.
How could I possibly deceive her?
I couldn’t even imagine it.
It wouldn’t be easy to make Alia, who had killed countless people since she was young, mistake her sister’s life or death…
‘Well, it will work out sohow.’
It felt like I was back to square one, but I wasn’t as lost as before.
After all, the Lord had said in his will…
…that the Fragnt of Records would activate when I finished what I had to do here. In other words, it ant I still had a role to fulfill.
Then what was my ‘role’?
It was obvious.
Therefore…
Kwaaang!
I slamd the door of the alchemist’s workshop open with my shoulder and entered.
Maybe the door was already open…
But so what?
Probability is just a number. I had decided to live my life to the fullest—
“Ugh, aak!”
Huh?
“What the…”
I saw an old man cowering in a corner of the workshop, startled by my sudden entrance.
It wasn’t Marpa Ipaello, the owner of this workshop.
“Who are you?”
“That’s…”
The old man started to avert his gaze as I asked.
He looked suspicious…
‘Huh?’
…and then I noticed a unique brooch on his robe.
“Are you an alchemist?”
The old man flinched at my question.
I didn’t need to hear his answer.
Thud.
I took a step closer, wary of any hidden escorts.
The old man backed away, making excuses.
“I, it’s a misunderstanding! I wasn’t trying to steal anything…”
“I see.”
No wonder he looked like he had been caught red-handed.
He was trying to steal sothing while everyone was distracted.
“I, I’ll give you half of my money if you keep this a secret—”
There was no need for a long conversation.
It seed like he had even dismissed his escorts to steal sothing.
Thwack!
The alchemist, as expected of a non-combatant, couldn’t do anything as I dashed towards him and smashed his head with my hamr.
“Wow, you even have a subspace pocket?”
I didn’t have ti, so I just looted his subspace ring and then hurriedly searched the workshop.
And I soon found what I was looking for.
The Lethe’s Blessing prototype.
A consumable item with the insane ability to erase all your mories.
‘Okay, I got the first item…’
It was ti to et Alia.
We hadn’t set a eting place or ti since there were no phones in this world, but it wasn’t a problem.
Six hours had passed since I fell asleep, so she would probably be…
‘…running for her life.’
I had to hurry—
“Found you.”
I quickly turned around at the voice, and a silver-haired knight was standing at the entrance.
“Hand over the Fragnt of Records.”
What the hell, this guy again?
__________________
The Traitor, Ricardo Liuhen Praha.
The swordsman who was once known as the ‘Sword Saint’.
Those who had seen him fight, or fought him themselves, all said the sa thing.
That his swordsmanship was on another level.
Whoosh!
The Aura emanating from his sword.
It wasn’t anything special.
The Aura, minimized to conserve energy, had a sharp aura, but that was all.
It wasn’t like the ‘Knight of Light’s’ Aura, which had a mountain-like presence, or the ‘Knight of the Moon’s’ Aura, which could freely change its form.
But even so…
Slash!
…his sword was considered to be superior.
Not because of the Aura, but because of the ‘way’ he wielded it.
“Aak! Sp, spare—”
None of the hundreds of explorers who were blockading the eastern district could withstand a single blow from his sword.
“I have to run…! Aak!”
He cut down those who blocked him…
…and those who dodged found him already waiting for them.
It was a rough-looking sword.
There wasn’t a single trace of the fancy techniques that knights pursued.
But Alia couldn’t take her eyes off it.
“Em, Emily… we, we have to run…”
She felt a wall.
Killing.
Swordsmanship honed to its peak, focused solely on taking lives.
“What are you guys doing! Co on!”
Clan Leader Pelic Barker gathered his mbers and prepared to escape as the one-sided massacre began.
Alia couldn’t just stand by and watch.
She had spent the past few months with them for this mont.
“Pelic Barker.”
“Huh?”
Alia threw a thin needle at his neck as he turned his head.
“…Uh, huh?”
His body froze, only his head turning.
Alia lifted him onto her shoulder.
“What the hell are you doing…!”
The clan mbers pointed their weapons at Alia, but it wasn’t a big deal.
“You traitor!”
She wasn’t a traitor.
She had never considered them as companions in the first place.
Slash!
Alia beheaded the one who was closest to her.
And as expected…
“…….”
“…….”
…the enraged explorers hesitated and then ran away, leaving their captured leader behind.
“Damn it, I’m out!”
“…Let’s go!”
It was an expected reaction.
They were facing the ‘Traitor’, who was approaching them while slaughtering everyone in his path.
There was no reason for them to risk their lives for their clan leader.
Unlike these two.
“…Let go of him.”
The mont her younger self spoke…
Whoosh!
…she heard a whooshing sound from behind.
Alia twisted her body to dodge and then used the montum to kick his wrist.
Clang!
The sword fell to the ground, and she saw a young girl clutching her sore wrist.
It was her sister, Laura Rainwales.
“Alia, let’s run!”
Laura grabbed her younger sister and ran away, and Alia just watched them go.
She felt a tightness in her chest.
She knew why they had stayed behind to try and save Pelic Barker, even though the other clan mbers had run away.
It wasn’t loyalty.
It was because of the curse Pelic Barker had cast on Laura.
[Unfair Contract].
It was a contract filled with unfair clauses, but the main point was this: Pelic Barker would receive all of Laura’s life force the mont he was fatally injured.
That’s why they stayed behind to fight her.
But the reason they ran away as soon as they failed…
…was her.
Alia herself.
Her sister had accepted her death and tried to save her younger sister.
Crack.
She clenched her jaw.
A three-year age difference.
When they were young, her sister seed like a giant, but now she knew…
…that she was only seventeen.
She must have been tired, and she must have wanted to give up and run away.
Therefore…
Tadat.
Alia carried Pelic Barker, who was stiff as a log, and ran.
Slash!
Towards the man who was rcilessly cutting down hundreds of people.
“……?”
For the first ti, emotion appeared on the man’s face.
Curiosity.
He must have been intrigued by the sight of soone running towards him while everyone else was running away.
And carrying a grown man on her shoulder, at that.
Whoosh!
The Aura surrounding Alia’s dagger turned black.
It was [Abyssal Power], a transformation ability she obtained after absorbing the essence of the 4th-grade monster, Grabanich.
When activated, all her resources, including spirit power and dragon power, were replaced with Soul Power, and their potency was doubled.
It was the sa for Aura, which used mana.
This ability was a godsend for Alia, who had a low mana pool.
But…
Swoosh.
The black Aura returned to its original color as soon as she got within a certain distance.
It was because of the [Flaless Spirit] ability possessed by Ricardo Liuhen Praha, the Traitor.
It nullified all abilities within a certain radius.
In other words…
‘This is it.’
…[Unfair Contract] was also nullified.
Thud.
Alia threw Pelic Barker to the ground, and Liuhen Praha imdiately cut him down.
Slash!
His body was severed in two with a single blow.
She had been worried, but [Unfair Contract] didn’t activate.
‘We’ve overco one hurdle…’
Alia felt a sense of relief since she hadn’t seen how Pelic Barker died when she escaped with her sister.
But she didn’t have ti to relax.
Tadat.
She quickly retreated after achieving her goal.
And the man, who had been slaughtering dozens of people without saying a word, imdiately chased after her, finally speaking.
“I don’t know the details, but I can tell you used .”
He seed to have understood the situation, and he sounded angry.
But a word the barbarian had taught her suddenly ca to mind.
It wasn’t a pleasant word…
…but Lafdonia didn’t have a word that concisely expressed that feeling.
‘What a strange language.’
Alia unconsciously muttered the word.
“Ki, kimochi…”
Was it a word of gratitude to soone who had helped you?
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