Crow, who had fallen on the floor, wriggled intermittently. It didnât seem like he would be regaining consciousness anytime soon. Evan muttered blankly while looking at him.
âWhat, why is he lying down?â
âBecause Master hit him! How do you not know that?â
Shine replied absurdly. But, of course, Evan wasnât convinced.
It was embarrassing enough that as an extra himself, he was able to beat Crow. Crow was a significant supporting character. How did it make sense that he was just beaten by a light blow to the back and passed out instantly?
âDid he even try to land a single attack?â
âHe is lying there unconscious like a doll? That guy was stupid enough to be defeated so easily by you Master.â
âShine is right, Evan. Crow is definitely an idiot, but heâs not that stupid.â
Perhaps because of what they had just seen, Shine and Marquis seemed to be looking down on Crow. But Evan, who knew Crowâs actual ability and weight, couldnât dare⊠Eventually, as a result of trying to convince himself of this situation in many ways, Evan arrived at a conclusion.
âThen, after all, Crowâs body was still weaker and young. I guess thatâs the reason. The same must be true about his fighting skills.â
If you thought about it, Crow became a magic swordsman later in the game. It meant that he was learning magic and swordsmanship at the same time.
And the more someone learned magic since childhood, the better⊠In other words, Crow was still focusing only on his magical abilities! Evan was glad that the Marquis didnât allow them to use mana in this duel!
âBut looking at his speed and posture, it seemed like he had trained quite a bitâŠâ
âCrow turned twelve this year, and he is one year older than you. Of course, he had started training earlier. So Evan, your guess is not correct. But youâre still stronger than him.â
âWell, my father is right. Maybe this guy had only trained magic until now. Otherwise, he wouldnât have been so weak. After all, Mado city is educating people and improving their magic.â
Shine and the Marquis exchanged looks while listening to Evanâs firm response. Then, as if a silent agreement had passed between them, they both shook their heads. They gave up on correcting Evanâs misunderstanding.
They didnât know that Evan considered himself an extra in reality, and they couldnât figure out why he was downgrading his own skills so much. Even the Knightsâ Commander appreciated him!
âIt was a great duel, Master.â
âOh, yes. Thank you, Lua.â
However, as Evan felt the hallâs atmosphere getting worse, Belois, who had a calm composure, praised Evan. She approached Evan and carefully wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief.
âThen I will treat Master Crow first.â
âAh, yes please, brother.â
Raihan had completely exited the Churchâs authority thanks to the power of the Marquis, but his contract with the former Church was still valid, so he still had the divine power of healing.
He asked the Marquis and Evanâs permission to see what he could do to help and immediately exercised healing magic to awaken Crow. It was a proficient skill, and it seemed as he was going to be a promising priest in the future.
âUhhh!â
Crow awakened dramatically. He stood up. Crow was sweating as if he had had a nightmare. When he saw Evan, while Belois was wiping his forehead, he became furious.
He made a grunting noise and bit his lips.
But Crow knew that if he responded with anger at such a moment, it would get really ugly for him later.
âMaster Evan⊠I lost. It was a great blow.â
âNo, it was a limited game. That was the only reason I was able to win. I became lucky.â
âYou have a big heart.â
Actually, Crow had to have a much better advantage! He had been learning and improving his fighting skills for three years!
He was only at a basic mana management stage, so he had no real magical skill to use!
However, as Evan was serious about what had happened, Crow felt like he couldnât answer him honestly. He thought, âThe outcome would have been the same nevertheless.â
âYes, it was. Of course, I am not saying that I cannot get over my defeat, but it was not my full strength.â
In the end, he chose to follow Evanâs usual path, which was to run away from the main scenario!
âSo, I hope we can duel again later. Next time we would fight each other with full power!â
âNo, sorry, but I will have to decline that offer. I no longer have a reason to duel with Master Crow.â
âYou may not have a reason Master Evan, but I do. On the day when I become confident in my skills, I will come to The Dungeon City of Sherden!â
Crow shouted and ran away without waiting for Evanâs reply.
He ran back as if he had a stroke.
How many drops of water in the air were of his sweat or of his tears� Only Crow himself, who was running without looking back, would know.
Meanwhile, Evan was angry. He had taken the risk and accepted the duel, but in the end, he had only gotten another sign of death in the form of another future duel with Crow von Pelatti!
He wasnât going to get involved at all in the first place, but he had to adhere by the Marquisâs request.
What if he came back? Would he come back to only defeat or kill him? Whatâs more, he was the son of Count of Pellati from the Mado CountryâŠ
âThe next time he comes back for a duel, Iâll fight him in your stead. You donât have to accept an invitation from such a person if you donât want to, Master.â
âOh! Please for the last time, Shine! Youâre weak right now!â
âWell, you can train me more, Master.â
âIâve been telling you from the beginning that you will someday become the worldâs strongest person! You will be the Silent Night Shine!â
âHahaha, then you should definitely train a body that serves you! But what did you say about being silent, Master?â
Crow may be a threat to Evan, but for Silent Night Shine, who easily ranked in the top 5 in the Yo-Ma Great War 3 strongest people, Crow was just an annoying fly! Evan decided to believe in Shine.
Meanwhile, the Marquis addressed Evan while looking at Crow disappearing in the distance.
âI didnât know Count of Pelatti was here. I shouldâve known. Everyone go back to the room and have some rest. Evan, youâll come with me. We have to meet them.â
âUgh, is that necessary too?â
âSure. In the future, Evan, you will also be actively interacting with the nobles of other dungeon cities. We are like colleagues who share the same goal of protecting the world from the monsters across national boundaries.â
As the Marquis dragged Evan away from the others, Evan sighed gloomily.
âIt hasnât been a long time since I saw my friendâs face directly! What a pleasant coincidence!â
âThank you. You look healthy, Count. Your wife is still beautiful.â
âOh my goodness, thank you Marquis! Didnât the wives come with you?â
âI had a chance to stop by, from my return to the Royal City with my second son. So I am taking a day off on my way back. Evan, this is my friend. These are the people I met when I was young.â
At the words of the Marquis, Evan politely bowed his head to greet them and revealed himself. Both Count Melto von Pellati and Countess saw Evan and were blank for a moment.
âYou mean that newborn baby that was so pretty and wonderful back then has grown!â
âWhat a cute boy! Evan, come here. Do you remember me?â
âI remember you vaguely, Madam. Itâs very nice to see youâŠâ
âJust call me aunt!â
Was Evan just imagining it but strangely, the aristocrats who ruled the dungeon cities were often the owners of an unpretentious and simple personality.
Maybe it was because of how strong they were.
The whole family was so robust that they did not have to exaggerate their strength. Evan liked this attitude of theirs very much, who didnât like too aristocratic thinking because he still had memories of his previous life.
âHe looks like your wife. His eyes look very good.â
âRight! He is a child so pretty because he resembles his wife. Even so, only his eyes resemble mine.â
Marquis of Sherden pointed out.
When Evan opened his eyes at the words of the Marquis, the Count and his wife laughed breathlessly and rejoiced.
âYou two have the same eyes!â
âHow cute and unique is it! You must have turned 11 years old this year, right? Heâs the same age as our Arisha. Now, Arisha. Shouldnât you say hello too?â
She finally arrived. Evanâs face turned pale in an instant.
âHello, Marquis.â
Evan didnât notice it before, but there was a girl who had been hiding behind her parents until now, and then he stepped forward and lowered her head.
Her name was Arisha, who was the Countessâs second child, who ruled Pellati dungeon city of the Mado Kingdom.
âOh, Arisha. Itâs been a long time. You have grown up to be very pretty.â
âThank you.â
Arisha was a beautiful girl who had soft wavy hair of platinum blonde color that was clearer and brighter than Evanâs brother. She had big deep sea-blue eyes and pure white skin.
What was the best way in which her specialty could be explained? She was one of the main characters. She wasnât at the level of a significant supporting actor, one of the main characters who filled the screen from the beginning to the main storyâs end.
âShe was one of the two main heroes of Yo-Ma Great War 3.â
At the same time, she was the woman who killed Evan the most in Yo-Ma Great War 3.
The woman who never killed him directly, but always Evanâs cause of death in one way or another!
âSherden, do you remember? First, we had found it unreasonable to have a family crest at all, but didnât you advise us to make one after the second child was born, so that if we ever decided to marry our children? I havenât forgotten that.â
âYes, it was something like that. I definitely remember now. Hahaha! Evan looks ashamed.â
âIs it the same for our Arisha? Hahaha.â
Evan was slowly dying inside. How could someone mistake his expressions for embarrassment right now?
He trembled with fear in front of a huge and terrible death sign, standing right before his eyes!
â⊠Hi, I am Arisha, â
âIâm Evan D. Sherden.â
âNice to meet you, Evan.â
Arisha von Pellati greeted Evan with a cool aura and an uninterested expression.
Being able to remain calm in front of Evanâs shining beauty, whether it was a woman or a man, was truly amazing, Evan thought.
She was an orthodox heroine who pretended to have a cold personality and always seemed to be uninterested in everything. But in fact, in the game, she fell in love with the ability and courage of the protagonist and became his first supporter.
Of course, Evan, in the game, had a bad personality! Still, the person who killed him the most in the game was standing in front of him right now, and it was not unreasonable at all for him to be shaken! Far from getting engaged, she was such a girl that it would be daunting to rub her hand even once!
âThe two would go very well together. Sheâs like a fairy.â
âWow, their black hair and platinum hair side by side look so pretty! The two are perfect for each other for a thousand lives together!â
âYes, yes.â
The Count and the Countess were extremely satisfied as they saw Evan and Arisha having a conversation, but the Marquis was not overjoyed like them as he already knew that Evan had refused to be engaged.
He now realized why Evan didnât want to meet the Count. At the same time, he also noticed that Evan was stepping back little by little from Arisha!
âEvan seems nervous about meeting a very pretty child. We will share all of our stories next time. We came to this village to rest so weâre going to be leaving now.â
âHuh, couldnât you at least have a drink in the evening with us?â
âMy friend, I have two wives and a daughter just two months old waiting at home. If it werenât for Evanâs request, I wouldnât have stopped here even for a day. Iâm very sorry, too, but we will definitely meet later again.â
âNo, I canât help it. Then weâll talk about it later. We will talk about Arisha and Evan some time again then.â
Evan realized that the Marquis was being considerate of Evan, which was why he was trying to finish the meeting quickly. He inwardly thanked his father.
The Marquis patted Evanâs shoulder with a bitter smile as if it couldnât be helped. However, he thought it was necessary to have a serious talk about why his son was already so afraid of women.
That evening, Evan and the party took another bath.
After having a lot of fun, they enjoyed the evening breeze on their warm bodies and later relished dinner at the hot spring village.
âSo did you like Steamaâs hot springs, Evan?â
âThey were so good, father.â
Although there was an unfortunate encounter, as Evan thought about bout it, he was personally very fond of Steama.
It is was a place that could be said to be the most distant environment from death, where all your wounds were healed once you entered it!
In Yo-Ma Great War 3, there was a situation where Evan died in a hot spring village!
âThen, shall we eat and rest and then go to the hot spring again at night?â
âFather, I wish there was a hot spring in our city as well.â
âHuh, Abby thinks so too. However, in order to make a hot spring, a special environment must be set up first, so it would be almost impossible to make one in our city. We can arrange hot water, but it would still be different from a hot spring with a special effect.â
The words of the Marquis were true. What was so special about Steamaâs hot springs was the mysterious water that healed abnormalities just by entering it!
Evan nodded at the Marquisâ words but then proceeded to ask another question.
âBut father, when a dungeon is created, the terrain usually changes. Why does that happen?â
âOh, Evan. Are you also interested in the principle of dungeon creation? As you said, dungeons are created when there are artifacts or monsters that are powerful enough to interfere with the temple. A great mage, who has reached a certain level, also creates dungeons by changing the natural environment with his abilities. However, the principle is often difficult for us to grasp.â
âThen, if you have such an artifact, could you make a whole new dungeon?â Evan asked another one.
âIt is said that it is also an artifact that can be used to create a hot spring by changing the surrounding environment.â
Marquis stared blankly at Evanâs words. He had never thought about it before.
Could an artifact powerful enough to create a dungeon to be feared by all humans also be used to create hot springs?
âYouâre right⊠It could be possible if the artifact had the nature of a hot spring, but⊠ However, how long would it take for natural hot springs to be formed from such a destructive object?â
âI was just saying that entering a hot spring made me relax and my wounds healed quickly too, so having one in our city would be nice.â
âOf course it is. It could have a direct impact on the efficiency of explorersâ who go inside the dungeons. No, wait. It really will. If thatâs possible, indeed we shouldâŠâ
The Marquis stopped talking. His lovely second sonâs eyes were twinkling, and he seemed to be able to see the future developments as of now.
âEvan.â
A smile spread slowly on the Marquisâ face.
âDo you have a plan for this?â
âOh yes, father.â
Evan also smiled. It was a smile that looked so lively that it couldnât be believed that he was the same person as the guy who was afraid of Arisha.
âThereâs something buried around the dungeon thatâs near the hot spring village, I think.â
âOh, is that so?â
At Evanâs words, the Marquis was surprised yet again but nodded nevertheless. Then immediately, all the escorts, including Dain, were secretly assembled.
The next day, the wagon of the party leaving the hot spring village and returning to the dungeon city contained a huge slate that they had not seen before in their lives.