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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Ahem…”
He coughed dryly.
Partly because of the dust in the carriage, but mostly because of the awkward silence.
The carriage ride to the kingdom had been lively thanks to Elsie, but now, it was eerily quiet.
‘She said it wasn’t awkward, though.’
He couldn’t help but be conscious of Yuseora, sitting in the corner.
Though pretending not to notice, she kept glancing at him from the side.
‘That girl…’
He turned his gaze towards her, pretending to be looking out the window.
Their eyes met unexpectedly, and she quickly averted her gaze, flustered, looking out the window again.
And she began fanning herself, even though it wasn’t particularly hot inside the carriage.
‘She’s definitely very conscious of me.’
He wondered if this was really okay.
Surely the atmosphere wouldn’t be like this until the actual battle, but he felt uneasy.
He decided he should stop sharing a room with her.
Suddenly, the coachman spoke from his seat.
“You two seem close.”
He tilted his head.
‘Close? Us?’
His words made the atmosphere even more awkward.
Yuseora’s face and neck flushed crimson.
He felt this was getting dangerous.
“You misunderstand. We’re just comrades.”
The coachman laughed heartily.
“Hahaha. Comrades become friends, friends become lovers.”
He had already gone through that process with Elsie.
He didn’t regret it, but considering the current atmosphere with Yuseora, he wished he had been more reserved.
And he had no intention of developing that kind of relationship with Yuseora while he was already with Elsie.
But the problem was Yuseora.
“Lovers?” she asked, tilting her head.
“Isn’t that just a word for close friends?”
The coachman laughed even louder.
“It can be used for anyone you find dependable, regardless of age, young lady.”
“Anyone I find dependable?”
She pondered for a moment, then opened her mouth.
“O…”
“Yuseora, stop.”
She probably didn’t mean any harm, but hearing that title, which even Elsie didn’t use, would definitely make him feel strange.
“Why? I think it’s quite nice. It rolls off the tongue better than ‘Allen.’”
“No. Just no. Absolutely not.”
He was being a bit sensitive, since the title “lover” wasn’t exclusively used between romantic partners.
But in this atmosphere, it was definitely dangerous.
“Well, if you say so.”
The coachman sounded disappointed.
“Oh dear. That’s a shame. I didn’t expect the gentleman to refuse. But it’s alright. The other two who rode with me before also denied it, but when they returned, they were practically glued to each other.”
“Glued to each other? Are you referring to the time-honored wrestling technique of the Lodreim kingdom?”
Now the coachman was taken aback.
“Huh?”
“But wouldn’t it be a bit inconsiderate to do that in a carriage?”
She still thought the time-honored wrestling technique of the Lodreim kingdom was just hugging tightly.
Even that seemed to embarrass her.
“Ha, haha… The young lady is more…”
The coachman was flustered by Yuseora’s sudden bluntness.
Just then, they arrived at their destination.
“Arrived! We’ve arrived!”
He stopped the carriage and asked,
“Are you sure you want to get off here?”
I looked out the window, surveyed the surroundings, and replied,
“Yes, this is it.”
This was the midway point between the Lodreim kingdom and the Central Sea Islands gate.
The reason they were getting off here was because there was somewhere he needed to stop by.
“Yuseora, let’s go.”
Yuseora, who had been staring blankly into space with a flushed face, finally snapped out of it and got off the carriage.
I was a little worried if she was really okay.
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Before heading to the Central Sea Islands,
there was a place he had to stop by, no matter how urgent the situation.
“Found it.”
A trial near the Lodreim kingdom.
“This is the one from the Hero Academy…”
The trial took the form of a lake, just like the one at the academy.
So, Yuseora seemed to be reminded of the Hero Academy.
She was partially correct.
“That was also a type of trial.”
“A type of trial?”
“It didn’t function properly, but it’s essentially the same as this lake.”
Well, it did function properly for him.
Thanks to that, he received rewards.
Rewards.
That’s right.
The reason he came to this trial was for the rewards. With Gravitus Replicant destroyed, he didn’t have a decent sword.
‘I hope I get a usable weapon.’
So far, he had obtained the Authority of the Wind, Awakening Pills, and Sublimation from trials.
All of them were quite useful, but none were weapons.
But this was unusual.
Trials often yielded holy relics.
‘What I need right now is a 3-star weapon I can use.’
4-star and 5-star weapons occasionally appeared in trials, but the probability was extremely low, and he couldn’t guarantee he could use them.
Even if he could somehow use a 4-star weapon with Sublimation, the traits of the weapon had to be compatible with Sublimation.
So, for now, he needed to acquire a usable weapon, even if it was just a 3-star.
‘And…’
I spoke to Yuseora, who was just standing there blankly,
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”
“I’m going in too?”
“Of course.”
There was no harm in entering a trial, even if it was a bit of a struggle.
There was no reason not to bring her along.
They could exchange rewards if necessary.
But there was something he had to warn her about.
“But if the trial seems like it’s going to take too long, you have to leave.”
They couldn’t be too late to the Central Sea Islands.
He also intended to give up if it seemed like it would take too long.
The problem was that the concept of space and time was distorted inside a trial, so it didn’t perfectly match real-time.
He couldn’t explain that to Yuseora now.
He didn’t know how much time would be distorted either.
“Three days at most. If the trial seems like it’ll take longer than that, you have to leave.”
That should be enough.
Unless it was a peculiar trial like the second one.
“But…”
He noticed Yuseora was about to do something strange.
Putting her hero’s cloak into her inventory was fine, but she was unbuttoning her blouse.
“What are you doing?”
Struggling with the tight buttons, she replied,
“We’re going into the water. I don’t want to get my clothes wet.”
“But you don’t need to take your clothes…”
“We’re comrades, so it’s fine, right? Or are you bothered by it?”
Of course, we were comrades in a professional sense.
So, how could he not be bothered?
Regardless of their professional relationship, Yuseora was quite beautiful and had a mature figure.
But that wasn’t the point he wanted to make.
“I just told you. This is the same as the one at the Hero Academy. Even though it’s water, you don’t actually get wet.”
To prove it, I dipped my cloak into the water and pulled it out.
It wasn’t wet.
“Oh.”
“Oh, what? I just told you.”
“But just because it’s the same type of trial doesn’t mean it’ll be the same in every aspect.”
“That’s…”
Well, this was his fourth trial.
So, he had assumed that he wouldn’t get wet in the fourth trial either.
But from Yuseora’s perspective, experiencing a proper trial for the first time, it was understandable that she would think that way.
‘But she could have at least dipped her sleeve in first.’
He suddenly remembered that Gwen had done the same thing in the Basil trial.
She also took the simple approach of taking off her clothes and going in, without even considering testing the water first.
Why were both Gwen and this girl so comfortable with taking their clothes off?
“If you understand, put your cloak back on and come in.”
“I see.”
She took her cloak out of her inventory and put it back on.
And stepped towards the lake.
“But Seo…”
She vanished beneath the surface in an instant.
“It’s Allen, not Seo Yoo-rang.”
Clicking his tongue at the incorrigible title, he also stepped into the lake.
And his body sank instantly, along with his consciousness.
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‘Is this… inside the trial?’
When he regained consciousness, he saw an empty space.
Literally an empty space with nothing but him.
‘It’s a bit similar to the White Tower.’
He didn’t want to be reminded of it, but it was similar in that everything was white.
The difference was that there were no walls here.
‘What kind of trial is this?’
He still couldn’t figure it out.
At least the first trial had a desert background.
This time, he was just alone in an empty space.
‘What am I supposed to do alone…’
Just then, he felt something behind him.
Perhaps he wasn’t alone here.
Click.
He drew a Sacred Replicant he borrowed from Yuseora.
And spun around instantly.
Clang!
Two swords clashed.
The timing of his opponent turning around was exactly the same as his.
And the identity of his opponent…
‘Me?’
It was him.
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