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chapter 139




Frey hesitated instead of answering the question.
However, the girl didn’t rush him, and she simply looked at him with a calm gaze.
“I know you are Frey Blake. I heard the stories from Cairo and Diablo. They said you’re an incredibly talented person who is almost guaranteed to reach 9 stars in the near future.”
The girl’s voice was very soft and gentle, almost as though she was whispering.
“I’m not sure about Cairo, but it’s not easy to earn Diablo’s recognition. That guy is stingy when it comes to praise. So I decided to see you for myself…”
The faint curiosity in her voice disappeared and was replaced with hostility.
“But I didn’t expect you to know the Warrior King’s Fist. That’s strange. Our martial art has a tradition of being passed down from one master to one disciple.”
‘Kasajin, you son of a bitch.’ (TL: this made me choke)
Why did he have to decide on a single successor tradition?
Frey vented his anger at his dead friend, but there was nothing he could do about it.
This girl had just indirectly revealed her identity to him. After all, there were only a few martial artists on the continent who could call the Warrior King’s Fist ‘our martial art’.
Frey had already met Ivan, who was the current Warrior King’s Successor.
Just from her appearance, this girl before him could be Ivan’s disciple. But Frey was certain that she wasn’t Ivan’s disciple.
The aura that was subconsciously being exuded by this girl was calm and steady, similar to that of an old master. Her aura was much stronger than Ivan’s.
In other words, this girl was Ivan’s teacher.
“…”
Ssss.
When Frey hesitated to give her an answer, the girl’s aura slowly erupted like a haze around her body.
Her expression had yet to change, but her hostility was obvious.
Hector smiled awkwardly and took a few steps back.
Just before the girl’s momentum reached its peak, Frey opened his mouth.
“…Ivan.”
The haze gradually faded as Frey looked at the girl and said one more time.
“I learned it from Ivan.”
The girl tilted her head with a strange expression.
“…from Ivan?”
“Right.”
‘Sorry, Ivan.’
Frey inwardly apologized to Ivan, but he had no other choice.
Even if she might’ve found out the truth later, this was the only way for him to remove her suspicion.
He knew how sensitive martial artists were when it came to their martial arts. Especially martial arts that were passed down in such a secretive way.
If he didn’t react fast enough, he might’ve gotten treated like a thief who stole the martial art.
Of course, his solution was far from the best. It wouldn’t be strange if she still burst out in anger at him.
Then, Frey would have no choice but to fight back. He observed the girl without letting down his guard.
The girl seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before turning to look back at Frey. For a moment, their eyes met.
Her eyes then moved away as she inspected Frey’s body.
“…I bet you barely learned anything. Rather than learning martial arts, it’s like you were just training your body. You’re probably a Second-class Magic Warrior at best.”
Then she sighed.
“I apologise. Please forgive my rudeness. The tradition of one successor per generation is very important to the Warrior King’s Fist.”
“…I understand.”
“My introduction is a bit late. I’m Nora.”
“So Ivan taught you?”
“Yes.”
Nora nodded and continued.
“I’m the previous Warrior King’s Successor.”
Frey recalled hearing about her from Ivan a few times before. He’d said she was incredibly cruel and ridiculously strong.
Frey agreed with the latter, but he wasn’t yet sure about the former.
Instead of appearing cruel, Nora appeared to be very calm.
Of course, the aura she released was incredibly intimidating.
‘She’s a powerful Magic Warrior.’
Frey felt admiration.
It was possible that Nora had already reached the level of Warrior King, or at least, she was very close to that level.
“What’s your relationship with Ivan?”
“We first met near the Great Forest, but things took a strange path, and we ended up fighting against an Apostle.”
“Hoh. Fought together…”
Nora smiled slightly.
“It seems Ivan is finally heeding my advice.”
Frey wasn’t sure why, but she appeared satisfied with that information, and the way she looked at Frey became even more favorable.
“Where is he now?”
“He said he was going to Silkid to look for Kasajin’s relics like you told him.”
“He complained a lot, but in the end, he still listened to me.”
She lowered her head for a moment before letting out a laugh.
“Huhuhu. Even so, I can’t believe that he’d teach a Wizard the Warrior King’s fist. Did he teach it to you because he was bored? Or did he actually think about taking you on as a disciple? Either way, this is quite interesting. Ahhh. It’s all my fault. I should have beat it into his body that the Warrior King’s Fist has a single successor tradition…”
Hector stepped forward once more and spoke in a shady tone.
“This lady is really dangerous. Are there no nice people in Paragon other than Cairo?”
Frey couldn’t help but think that that wasn’t something that should be said at that time as he turned to look at Nora, who seemed to have come out of pondering.
“Are you a member of Paragon?”
“No. I just have a partnership with them.”
“It’s the same for me.”
Nora smiled as she looked at Frey with a curious expression.
“I’m just helping out a bit. There are actually quite a few people like that in Paragon.”
“I heard you were originally a part of the circle?”
When Frey asked that after recalling Ivan’s words, Nora’s expression darkened a bit.
“…that’s old news.”
It was said in a faint voice, but Frey felt the sadness that was contained in those words.
“You believe the Circle is rotten, so you left. Like Cairo.”
Nora didn’t deny it. Instead, she lifted her head to look at Frey.
“I heard from Cairo that you intend to fix the Circle from within. Do you understand how difficult a task that is?”
“I can’t change everything. I’m sure there are some rotten and dirty parts that can’t be saved.”
Frey’s eyes turned cold.
“I’ll cut those parts out.”
“Are you saying that you will purge them?”
“If it’s necessary.”
Nora took a deep breath.
Then she spoke in a bitter tone.
“…you’re not a very good person.”
This remark was a penetrating statement about Frey’s nature.
He was definitely not a good man. In the past… and even now.
Nora looked at Frey with a curious expression.
“How interesting. I wonder if you have what it takes to truly reform the circle.”
“What do you mean?”
She then smiled and made an unconventional proposal.
“Then can I watch from your side for a while?” (TL: facepalm)
* * *
Frey returned to the Trowman Rings, and when Hector saw the dense forest, he cried out in an excited voice.
“Ahh…! How long has it been since I smelled the forest?!”
“Wait a moment. I’ll go get Master Beniang.”
Frey then headed into the house without waiting for a response.
Seeing this, Hector shrugged.
“He’s alright, but it’s like he’s always in a hurry. I would have been much more relaxed at his age.”
Then the girl standing beside him, Nora, spoke up.
“You should know that time lost can never be regained.”
Her gaze then turned to Frey’s back as she continued.
“Although, that isn’t something one would usually learn at his age.”
“Mmm… by the way, did you say your name was Nora?”
“Yes.”
“Then is it okay if I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
Hector’s face and voice became serious as he said.
“Please be my model.”
“Model?”
“I would love to make a Golem with your appearance!”
“…”
“Please!”
“I refuse.”
After a while, Frey came back with Beniang, who appeared to be more excited than ever before.
This was because Frey had told her that a Dragon was there.
“Hello, I’m Beniang Argento, Circle Master of the Trowman Rings.”
“I’m Hector.”
Hector smiled and shook her hand.
After shaking his hand, Beniang turned to look at Nora.
“And you…”
Nora shivered slightly when she received Beniang’s gaze, which burned with excitement.
“…I’m Nora. Nice to meet you, Beniang.”
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
Beniang looked back and forth between Nora and Hector with her head tilted to the side.
“Umm… but which of you is the Dragon?”
“That would be me~”
Beniang couldn’t hide her surprise when Hector raised his hand with a wide smile on his face.
This was because Nora exuded a mysterious aura, which caused Beniang to subconsciously believe that she was the Dragon.
Part of the reason was also because she couldn’t feel anything in particular from Hector. In fact, to put it bluntly, Hector felt no different from a normal person.
Realising it was rude to think in such a way, Beniang shook her head to get rid of such thoughts before stepping towards Hector and bowing.
“Please take good care of me.”
“Haha! Yes, leave it to me.”
Hector, who was still beaming, rubbed his chin as he slowly observed Beniang, the interest evident in his eyes.
“Hoh. Your Dragon Heart is truly well placed. It allowed you to obtain even more Dragon blood.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just because you’re a Half-Dragon doesn’t mean you would have a Dragon Heart. You are actually quite lucky to have a human appearance together with a Dragon Heart. If it was the other way around, your body would have collapsed on itself not long after hatching.”
“The other way around…? Ah…!”
Beniang’s body shook.
A human heart in a Dragon’s body. There was absolutely no way that a Dragon’s body could be supported by a weak, human heart.
This was the first time Frey was learning this. He’d thought that every Half-Dragon was born with a Dragon Heart.
“Well then, shall we get a move on? I want to see you use magic.”
“Ah. Yes!”
“I’m not sure you are able to yet, but I’d like to practice ‘Speaking’(1) with you… and I’m also curious about your spiritual sensitivity.”
“I’ll be in your care, Master!”
“…Master?”
Hector and Beniang left, and Frey turned to speak to Nora, who had yet to take her eyes from Beniang.
“Do you know Beniang?”
“I saw her a few decades ago. When I was still a part of the Circle and Osel was still alive. But it seems she has forgotten me.”
Nora shook her head with a bitter smile.
Frey wondered if part of the reason why she’d accompanied him was to see Beniang again.
He decided to change the subject.
“I’m planning to visit the Strow Necklaces soon.”
Nora tilted her head at those words.
“Are you going to start your purge already?”
“No.”
Frey shook his head.
It would be done in the future, but it wasn’t time yet.
“I intend to show them that the Trowman Rings are alive and well.”
“Hmm. Why are you telling me that?”
“I would like you to come with me.”
It was possible that the executives in the circle would recognize Nora, so he would be able to showcase the Trowman Rings’ power by having her accompany him.
Of course, in simple words, this meant that he was having Nora help fight in his political battle against the Circle. But this didn’t mean that Frey intended to force her to do so since things like these were part of the reason why she left the Circle in the first place.
“Sure.”
But to Frey’s surprise, Nora agreed easily.
“Will it be okay?”
“Of course.”
Nora’s eyes lit up a bit as she continued.
“The Strow Necklaces owe me, after all.”
(TL: And so ends this chapter.)