Chapter 138: Act 71 – Departure
The morning of July in Shubli was a melody composed by the chirping of mountain sparrows. As the dawn spread across the forested hills, the small town nestled among the mountains came to life.
The interior of the mountain people’s arranged house was filled with the scent of mint leaves. Mister Brendel woke up early — it seemed that ever since he arrived in this world, the lifestyle of a swordsman had overwhelmed that of a gaming enthusiast. Sleeping in had become a thing of the past.
Brendel looked out at the undulating hills of Shubli through a stone window on one side of the room. He pressed two fingers against a card and flipped it over with his thumb. The wind element crystal nearby instantly vaporized, transforming into a stream of cyan smoke that merged with the card. A small whirlwind stirred in the cramped space, and dimensional fissures opened and closed, releasing more than twenty wind sprites.
Brendel immediately issued a command. The tiny creatures from the realm of wind quickly became misty and blurry, swiftly transforming into a puff of smoke that wafted out of the room. Seeing this, the young man smiled and opened a bottle of mana potion.
“It seems like a story mission,” he frowned, reflecting on how this thought had kept him from sleeping well for the past two days.
Every fixed period of time near a dungeon or instance would trigger a story. These storylines were generated by the system, making them appear seamless and natural. In fact, the instant quest system itself was one of the selling points of the “Amber Sword.”
However, in this world, it seemed as though the plots from past games were being truly reenacted.
Understanding this, Brendel carefully thought back and finally remembered something. It was about several years ago, a vague mention of an experience from the first team that entered the “Barrogahn Ruins” in a guide on the forum.
It felt somewhat familiar.
But he raised his head, interrupting his train of thought. “Knock, knock, knock.” The sound of knocking broke the silence. It certainly wasn’t Romaine, as this young lady wouldn’t bother to knock and wouldn’t care if someone called her rude — she was far removed from that term. It couldn’t be Antinna either, as noble young ladies were always polite and wouldn’t be so hasty.
Brendel quickly guessed that it was likely Makarolo outside.
“Come in.”
The door opened, revealing two young men. One was the effeminate white-haired youth from the previous afternoon, who now had a sour expression on his face looking at him; the other was unfamiliar, but judging by his neat short hair and slightly built frame, he appeared to be of a similar age, watching the room with curiosity.
“Mr. Brendel, we are about to depart. And you are…?” The shorter young man looked at him with curiosity, suspicion, and awe all mixed together, clearly impressed by Brendel’s display in the previous day’s battle.
A young man in his twenties who could match the deputy leader — most young people thought this way. In the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, Bud’s actual strength far surpassed that of Makarolo, and that was an acknowledged fact.
This meant that the young man’s strength at their age was virtually unimaginable.
He had also heard the legends of the Chosen One, but no one knew exactly how powerful the Chosen One truly was. He couldn’t help but glance at Brendel, questioning whether the other was indeed the legendary Chosen One. If he had known what the young man was thinking, Brendel would surely have laughed out loud.
In truth, judging by his current strength, he was far from being the Chosen One — even the Seeker was still beyond reach.
“Alright, thank you,” he nodded at the young man, completely unaware: “We’ll be there shortly.”
But the white-haired youth immediately let out a cold snort from behind.
Brendel couldn’t help but glance at the guy. After yesterday’s encounter, he had figured out that this guy was a noble offspring on a journey, which explained his arrogant demeanor. As for why he had joined this mercenary group, that likely belonged to another story.
He wasn’t interested in finding out.
However, his disinterest didn’t mean the other party wouldn’t mind. The white-haired youth was clearly growing angrier at being ignored; he couldn’t help but snort again and said, “Listen, although I may not be your match, I will keep a close watch on you, and don’t think you can pull any tricks—”
His companion was taken aback, clearly not expecting his comrade to say such a thing. He turned to look back, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
“Oh?” Brendel inwardly cursed ‘idiot’ and then looked up and asked, “Are you Leidi?”
“It’s none of your business.” The white-haired youth huffed.
“Are all nobles this uncultured?” Brendel countered.
“You…” The white-haired youth ground his teeth, wanting to draw his sword, but remembering the gap between them, he couldn’t help but feel disheartened and stepped back.
“I heard that Aike escaped?”
“How do you know about that, you…!”
Leidi furrowed his brow and was about to question, but suddenly he saw Brendel’s knowing smile, realizing his slip of the tongue. He couldn’t help but huff again heavily, “You’re too concerned about things. I’ll tell the captain about this.”
Brendel thought to himself, “Go ahead, do you think everyone is as foolish as you?” But he kept smiling, “Just asking. You know I had a brief encounter with Mr. Aike two days ago.”
“Who knows,” Leidi thought, but while he was furious, he still put on an intentionally cold demeanor.
“I heard you are from the same place as the Holy Sword Saint Gurekasi?” Brendel changed the topic.
“None of your…”
The white-haired youth suddenly remembered Brendel’s previous mockery and forcibly swallowed his words, ending with a cold huff. He also realized verbally challenging Brendel wouldn’t gain him any advantage, so he simply dragged his companion and turned to leave, leaving Brendel alone. He thought, anyway, it’s not like this guy can’t find his way; if he gets lost, that’s even better.
Brendel couldn’t help but smile to himself. So Gurekasi had admirers; he himself studied under Gurekasi, learning the swordsmanship known as ‘Heaven’s Limit.’ Unfortunately, Gurekasi possessed three middle-tier sword techniques — ‘Heaven’s Blade,’ ‘Thunder’s Sword,’ and his self-created ‘Limit Sword’ — but Brendel had not managed to obtain even one advanced sword technique, thanks to that old man’s temperament.
This guy definitely didn’t know that Gurekasi was a gambling addict, known for poor gambling habits, often losing and frequently refusing to pay.
But thinking of the ‘Heaven’s Limit’ sword technique made him smile slightly. Having had prior experience, this time should be easier. Unfortunately, Gurekasi should still be traveling in Cruz at this moment; otherwise, he could have sought him out.
…
Bud and Makarolo exchanged glances, both wearing expressions of mutual confusion. Finally, it was the mercenary captain known as the ‘Maned Wolf’ who couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Brendel, who are these?” He pointed to the twelve mercenaries in exotic attire beside Brendel. Martha was among them, and the entire ‘Shubli Lantern Grass’ inn was under their close watch. With reports from various scouts stating that since three days ago only ordinary guests had been staying, how did these armed figures look anything but ‘ordinary guests’?
Brendel evidently didn’t grasp the turmoil in Makarolo’s heart. He shrugged and smiled, “They are my people; I remember mentioning them to you. They are mercenaries I hired. Uh… from quite a distance. You know, as a merchant, one travels between different places. These mercenaries come from a minority group east of the kingdom, so please don’t mind their attire.” He smiled as if there were indeed such a thing.
But Antinna and Romaine cast him curious glances.
Merchant Miss thought simply: So Brendel has connections with the minority group in the east of the kingdom, how impressive! However, Antinna’s thoughts were not so naive; she had long suspected where Brendel had gotten these subordinates. Though she knew Brendel had a mercenary team, that team should currently be within Anlek’s territory and shouldn’t be from any minority group.
Charles felt the same; although Brendel had told them that Charles had gone back to Karasu for an errand, she still felt that something was off.
However, this suspicion could only remain buried in her heart; it was impossible to question her lord whom she followed.
And as Brendel’s aides harbored doubts, needless to say, Makarolo and Bud were even more puzzled. Though these two historical figures were well-traveled, they found themselves a bit lost at the moment. Due to Aike’s escape, their deployed scouts were at least near silver standard, yet they had been unaware when these mercenaries, looking like they only had ‘black iron strength,’ slipped in unnoticed.
Makarolo couldn’t help but furrow his brow. At that moment, his evaluation of Brendel jumped several levels, becoming somewhat mysterious.
“So, Captain Makarolo, can we depart?” Brendel asked.
“Of course.” The ‘Maned Wolf’ Makarolo nodded with some difficulty. He resolved to place Brendel’s group in the center of the formation to keep a close watch, lest any issues arise. He was originally confident, but now felt a bit uncertain with a swordsman of exceptional skill, possessing strength close to silver, along with twelve mercenaries above silver level. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
With that in mind, he couldn’t help but glance back at Bud, a bit resentfully asking, “Old buddy, was this the result of your investigation?” He couldn’t help but mouth the question.
Bud shrugged.
Makarolo had tasked him to investigate the mercenaries that Brendel mentioned, but after two days with no leads, to suddenly have these twelve living beings appear today was unexpected. Although they looked like they only had ‘black iron strength,’ even he didn’t believe that would be the case; observing the oddly dressed mercenaries, he was convinced they were disguising their real strength somehow.
What was this, some kind of ‘live transformation’? This future great swordsman couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
…
(PS: The updating has been slower than usual because things have gotten worse; I’ve caught a cold =__=.
On the last day of February, I beg for monthly votes.
Crawls away while covering my face.)(To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and support legitimate reading!)
