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98: Unexpected Offer (4)
“Hmm? Ack!”
“Uh? Irene, you are up… ack!”
Kuvar and Lulu, who were awakened by Irene Pareira’s voice, were also shocked.
Ignet was calm.
She enjoyed the air, which slowly changed from shock to alarm, and looked at Irene.
“Apologize. Didn’t you just wake up those who had a hard time sleeping because of you?”
“…”
Irene didn’t answer.
It was strange. He heard the same type of words from Judith and Kirill.
Each time, Irene replied to them, but with Ignet, he didn’t want to.
Ignet, who looked at him, stretched out her hand.
Irene, startled, tried to move away, but it was in vain. She pushed his hand away and pulled her opponent’s shirt off.
Lulu yelled.
“What are you doing! You wench!”
“Wench, don’t say such profane words. You are not talking to some ordinary person but a commander of knights of the Holy Kingdom.”
“W-What are you doing… euk!”
Irene couldn’t understand why Ignet was putting her hand on his stomach.
He looked down and saw a mark, a dark bruise on his stomach.
However, after a little while.
Woong…
A pure white light erupted from Ignet’s hand, and the pain subsided.
In shock, Kuvar said.
“Holy magic!”
The recovery magic that only the high priests of Avilius could use.
Of course, considering Ignet’s position and rank, this level of ability was natural. Still, it was surprising considering that she’s been committed to the Holy Kingdom for less than three years.
‘She is one of the best swordsmen on the continent and good at holy magic. Besides, she seems to have a knack for spirit…’
It felt like there was nothing she couldn’t do.
Lulu also stopped and looked at Irene’s stomach.
Watching the bruise fade.
“Amazing…”
However, Ignet pointed something out as if holy magic wasn’t a big deal.
“Of course it is. Because of my hard work and training, my fists are strong. Most of my opponents cough blood after one hit.”
“…”
“This one's body is strong, but it doesn’t come close to the strength of my body. Haaa…”
After finishing, Ignet raised her arm and showed off her biceps.
All three of them looked at her with puzzled faces.
They thought she was joking, but when they looked at her face, it didn’t seem like it, and she wasn’t the kind to joke around.
Surely…
‘It’s undeniable that she’s strong.’
Irene thought.
It wasn’t just swordsmanship.
She was a strong human. Incomparable to himself.
‘She must have trained herself through countless experiences and worries.’
Ignet Crescentia.
Because she was famous and Ilya’s target, he knew about her.
A person who went through hardships and adversities while wandering around the world and who was a war orphan in the Macan Kingdom, which was having a civil war.
And the person who overcame all of that stood proudly in front of him.
Perhaps every single experience made her stronger.
She must have constantly thought about things that were much tougher than what Irene thought about in Alhad, and she must have made countless choices that were difficult to make.
All the beliefs and goals she formed made her Ignet.
He just found out.
The reason she was confident in her every action was because she perfected her own ‘sword.’
“What is your sword?”
He asked.
A somewhat absurd question.
However, Irene’s eyes were serious.
He wanted to know.
An unbearable curiosity arose to what kind of sword Ignet Crescentia, who confronts the world much fiercer than he does, had created.
“Strange question. You are from Krono, right?”
“Yes.”
“Those must be Ian’s words. After all, they’re too deep for a kid like you to come up with on your own.”
Fortunately, Ignet seemed to understand the meaning of the question.
Lulu and Kuvar heard similar words from Irene, so they waited for the other person to respond.
She pondered for a moment.
Rather than worrying, it seemed like she was thinking if she should answer or not.
Ignet nodded and said.
“My sword is the King's Sword.”
“…?”
“It isn't a sword for the king, but a sword to become a king.”
“What crazy…”
Kuvar jumped to his feet.
Lulu, who was in his lap, fell to the floor.
But she didn’t worry.
Because Ignet’s words were shocking.
King!
Although the line between commoners and nobles was blurred in recent times, aiming to be a King or emperor is a different story.
Whether they fail or succeed, fierce conflicts would arise, or great wars would ensue.
A sea of blood would be created in the process, all of which shortens the rift between the world and the Devildom.
It’s an issue that would bring demonic beasts or even the ‘devils’ who had not appeared in over 100 years into the world.
“Haa!”
Ignet Crescentia made eye contact with Kuvar.
Her cool, black eyes with intense emotions.
It wasn’t over. She walked towards Kuvar, who was unarmed, and stretched out her hand.
The word ‘death’ flashed through his head in an instant.
Snap.
Ignet didn’t harm Kuvar.
What she touched was the pouch that was hanging from his side and covered with a Spirit Barrier.
From there, Ignet took a necklace out of the pouch, which was raging with magi and used holy magic.
Woong!
“Spiritualist Orc, as you know, this is an era of peace. It’s because my home country forbids wars between kingdoms. It’s a natural action. 150 years ago, 400 years ago, and long before that when wars were endless… each time, great evil terrorized humans.”
“…”
“However… any wandering Orc who likes to roam around knows it. The fact that the world today is not as peaceful as it was.”
“… I know.”
Kuvar nodded.
Chaos radiates negative energy, which would scratch the solid wall between the human world and the Devildom.
To reduce the threat of devils and demons, Avilius enacted laws prohibiting wars between nations.
However, problems existed.
It was a series of dirty and ugly civil wars between some nations that weren’t afraid of invasions that caused that to happen.
Woong…
“It was the same with the Macan Kingdom where I was born. Seven princes had bloody banquets to claim the crown, and the nobles used all sorts of filthy tricks to make sure the prince they supported took the crown. The burden was borne solely by the people, and I had to do anything in order to survive. In the meantime, I was lucky enough to catch the attention of people in Krono, and after that, you probably know the story. I became a mercenary, an honorary knight, and rose to the position of commander… my body lived this way.”
“…”
“I was able to get rid of my terrible past and rise to a position that everyone envied, but the memories of my childhood aren’t easy to erase. Especially… the old people whom I lived with and picked up the bread crumbs on the road with.”
Ignet paused for a moment.
Irene couldn’t figure out what her eyes were saying.
However, he could understand her feelings.
Woong!
“Hmm, it looks like everything has been cleaned. Take this.”
“Huh!”
Ignet threw the necklace at Kuvar. Startled, he caught it.
“I don’t know how to save every individual who is still out there suffering or a way to control the ugly things which flow into the human world.”
“…”
“Just, wouldn’t it be nice to make a country free from such bad things with my own hands? I suddenly thought. And from then on, the sword of this body, my body, is the King’s Sword.”
Ignet turned her head towards Irene.
Black eyes.
However, if one looked deeply into them, one could feel it, a huge flame that cannot be compared to his.
As Irene felt it and trembled a little, she continued to speak.
“I know the path I have to take, and I know that it will be a difficult one. I know that those who follow me will have to walk through hardships, and I know that that’s difficult.”
“…”
“But what I’m strongly convinced of is that there is another way…”
In the end, she was going to overcome everything and achieve what she wanted.
Ignet, who spoke till then. Went towards the window and opened it.
With her back to the window, she looked at the trio.
“Kuvar.”
“Yes.”
“You have nothing to worry about. This body of mine will peacefully achieve that goal.”
“…can’t the goal the Count mentioned be met by working hard as a commander?”
“Avilius is a wonderful place. Although it has a long history, it hasn't rotted. However, it isn’t without frustrating aspects, so it’s slightly different from the nation I’m aiming for.”
Kuvar spoke again, but Ignet ignored it and spoke to Lulu.
“Black cat.”
“… what.”
“It’s good to enjoy the present happiness, but you will have to work a little harder for a relationship.”
“…”
Lulu looked at Ignet with raging eyes but said nothing.
Looking at her like that, the black-haired woman grinned. And then looked at the last person.
“Irene Pareira.”
“Yes.”
“Do you understand now? Why I am so confident in my every action?”
“… yes.”
“Okay. This body will make the same offer next time. Not to the steel will within you, but to Irene Pareira.”
“…”
“If you want to refuse it, then you will have to work hard.”
Ignet finished speaking and smiled.
That was the end.
She jumped out of the window without saying another word.
It was a three-story building, but no one was concerned.
Who would be worried about that when the person was the Holy Kingdom’s 3rd ranked swordsman?
“…”
Everyone fell into deep thought.
Lulu and Kuvar.
Irene also closed his eyes and retraced his interactions with Ignet.
And found it.
Why did he feel angry at her?
‘… I must have admired her.’
Right.
He was longing for Ignet.
He was envious of how perfect her control was compared to him, who always shook because of his sword, his time spent pondering, and his lack of experience and courage.
When the object of envy stabbed him, anger rose to the top of his head.
And now it turned into another emotion.
What he thought he had in the past, what he was aware of now.
Fighting spirit.
The blonde young man who felt it opened his eyes.
‘Next time…’
He won’t be shaken.
Or angry.
With a more dignified figure, he will smile.
And will work hard to make things happen.
Irene’s eyes lit up with a blazing fire.
It was red and hot like the Aura Sword of Ignet Crescentia, the commander of the Holy Kingdom’s Black Knights.