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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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Night sky.
A being sat on a tree branch that seemed to pierce the stars.
A succubus.
A horned succubus who had been observing the battle between Yuma and Sword God Chronos.
“…I thought it was nonsense when they called him a God of War, but…”
Her feet and knees, perched on the tree, trembled.
That level of martial prowess was surely enough to warrant such a title.
She had never seen such sword strikes that far surpassed common sense.
“Joint attack my ass.”
Death.
Facing that ash-gray haired man meant certain death.
This conviction filled the succubus’s mind.
“If you want to die, die alone, Kailon.”
The succubus decided to reject the cooperation proposal from Kailon, the vampire Imperial 3rd Seat.
Poof!
The succubus’s body, standing on the tree branch, disappeared.
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A hero’s tale began to spread.
The tale of the God of War who saved the transit city of Arkan.
The Princess’s Sword who stopped the underground king Belrak from ruling the city by riddling it with drugs.
The story of his brave deeds spread throughout the Empire.
It seemed the Arkan guards had quite a talent for storytelling.
Ironically, Belrak had died from the single strike Chronos had dealt him.
Still, revelations about the crimes Belrak had committed came from the mouths of those who had been his underlings.
Revelations about the crime of spreading drugs using the commercial routes that Mayor
Gelmore had established.
And even the ledgers of drug-related transactions involving nearby nobles connected to him.
In the end, even members of the Astes Empire’s 3rd Knight Order came down to the city of Arkan.
Unlike the 1st and 2nd Knight Orders, the Empire’s 3rd Knight Order performed the role of inspectors investigating corruption within the Empire.
A total of 20 personnel.
The fact that they deployed 20 members of the 3rd Knight Order was evidence that the Empire viewed this situation as quite important.
Yuma was trying to sleep in the luxurious lodgings that Mayor Gelmore had provided.
Then he opened his eyes.
What filled his vision were windows of the same kind that had appeared before him when he first fell into this world.
Sword God Chronos had reached the realm of Grand Master.
He was a transcendent warrior who had surpassed the 149 level limit of the human race, the Master realm.
That was Chronos.
Yuma looked intently at his status window.
His poor stats had become slightly less poor.
All stats had increased by 20.
‘This body has no talent.’
The Growth Potential of 0 was telling him that.
The description of ‘Ordinary Person’ next to it was close to a death sentence.
The only talent he possessed was ‘Parrying’ from [Don’t Screw Me Over].
To increase his stats like this in the future, he would need to accomplish extraordinary feats.
‘The engraving system should exist here too.’
Engraving.
An element that had appeared in ‘Loop Blood’, which could be considered the prequel to this world, and the previous Loop series.
A system of gaining a kind of ‘skill’ by engraving marks on the body.
Yuma felt the need to gather information about engravings.
While he was checking his newly acquired skills.
Knock knock─
The sound of someone knocking on the door resonated steadily.
“Who is it?”
In response to Yuma’s words, a strong voice was heard from beyond the door.
“This is Rohan from the 3rd Knight Order who came down from the capital. I’ve come to see Yuma-nim, the representative of First Princess Brigitte.”
“Wait on the first floor.”
“Understood.”
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Yuma got dressed and went out.
“Yuma-nim!”
He saw Cloney approaching with a bright smile.
“Were you called too?”
“Yes, I was called too. As Yuma-nim’s companion!”
It’s not me, but you who’s the main character.
She was one of the protagonists of the oracle, after all.
Yuma patted Cloney’s head.
Yuma and Cloney went down the stairs side by side.
As soon as they descended the stairs, they saw two knights kneeling on either side, showing their respect.
Words followed as if they had rehearsed beforehand.
“We greet Yuma-nim, the representative of First Princess Brigitte, the Princess’s Sword. I am Rohan, an inspector from the 3rd Knight Order.”
This was the male knight’s words.
“We greet Cloney-nim, the close aide of Her Highness the Princess. I am Ermelle, an inspector from the 3rd Knight Order.”
These were the female knight’s words.
Cloney’s eyes widened.
Close aide of Her Highness the Princess!
It seemed like a meaningless modifier, but the significance of those words being attached was great.
It meant that Brigitte had directly informed the Imperial knights about Cloney’s existence.
That she was absolutely necessary.
That she was her close aide.
Aspiration once again rose in Cloney’s golden eyes.
‘Next time, I’ll be called Great Magician Cloney-nim!’
So that she could continue to stay by Yuma-nim’s side.
Cloney nurtured her aspiration for magic.
“Did you come down to investigate the Belrak incident?”
Rohan nodded.
“Yes. We came down to the city of Arkan to investigate the Belrak incident.”
The female soldier, Ermelle, opened her mouth.
Ermelle’s bright eyes were filled with respect for the ash-gray haired man in front of her.
“We’ve already received testimonies from the Arkan guards. That Yuma-nim saved this city. And…”
Rohan’s eyes were also shining brightly.
“We also received testimony that you defeated the former 2nd Seat Sword God Chronos in swordsmanship, that you lightly deflected Chronos’s single strike and then with a horizontal sword strike, you immediately ended his life.”
“…”
Yuma remained silent.
Rohan truly saw Yuma as a swordsman of the highest realm.
Because he had seen Chronos’s corpse with his own eyes.
And had seen the devastation of that single strike left on the Sword God.
A sword strike that had completely neutralized Chronos’s protective strong aura as if brushing past it and penetrated.
That sublime swordsmanship.
And the surrounding buildings that had a single critical crack from the shockwave of that swordsmanship!
He had thought his master’s words about a swordsman who had reached the ultimate truth cutting space were an exaggeration.
But that wasn’t the case.
Because the Princess’s Sword standing before him was someone who could accomplish that.
“We are sorting out the situation. Mayor Gelmore’s brother has also entered divine treatment. The problem is the other corrupt nobles who were associated with Belrak… It seems the judgment of those nobles will take place in the Elder Council.”
“I see.”
Yuma nodded slowly.
To be honest, he wasn’t particularly interested in how the circumstances unfolded.
Ermelle spoke, nodding her head vigorously enough to make her auburn hair sway greatly.
“Yuma-nim’s name is becoming known to many nobles because of this incident. Thanks to this, Princess Brigitte’s position is growing! At this rate, I think it won’t be long before her position becomes equal to that of His Highness the First Prince.”
That was quite an encouraging development. Ermelle continued.
“Since an unfortunate incident has occurred, Her Highness Princess Brigitte said that if you wish, you may return to the Imperial Palace to regroup once before starting your journey again.”
There didn’t seem to be any particular need for that.
“We’ll head to Count Rubelt’s territory tomorrow morning after getting through today.”
Ermelle and Rohan were truly in awe of Yuma, who spoke as if ending this entire situation was no big deal.
Ermelle and Rohan bowed their heads.
Rohan opened his mouth.
“May blessings be upon all your endeavors.”
Ermelle and Rohan left.
Yuma headed to Mayor Gelmore’s office.
There had been an earnest request to come once before leaving.
Gelmore bowed deeply to Yuma.
“Oh, you’ve come.”
“Sit down.”
Gelmore quickly sat in his chair as if he had heard an oracle.
“…Thank you, Yuma-nim. Through this incident, I’ve realized my incompetence and inadequacy.”
Yuma had no particular words to offer to Gelmore, the leader of this land, Arkan, who looked quite depressed.
It was probably because he wasn’t very interested.
He decided to give some very formal advice.
“The Empire still believes in you. So pull yourself together and lead the city again.”
Gelmore’s eyes widened.
“…Thank you. Thank you very much, Yuma-nim.”
His voice was trembling. It was a trembling steeped in emotion, not fear.
‘Why is he acting like this again?’
Yuma stood up, his face still expressionless.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
Gelmore bowed again.
“I hope only blessings will be upon Yuma-nim’s great footsteps.”
Well, everyone seems to like blessings.
Yuma casually waved his right hand.
Of course, the Noble trait was always in effect, so in Gelmore’s eyes, it looked like a noble gesture.
“Repaying the debt to Yuma-nim… that means helping the First Princess become Emperor.”
Gelmore’s eyes shone with enthusiasm.
More than at any other time in his life.
“I will definitely repay this debt.”
He would make this city even more extraordinary, enough to exert influence on the Empire.
Gelmore’s mind began to turn.
His mind was filled only with thoughts of making Arkan an even more powerful city.
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