8. Karbal is a free demon sword!
It was the evening just before nightfall when we returned to the adventurer’s guild.
“Yes? Did you already complete the request?”
“Yes.”
“A distance that would take several days just to go… No, it’s done. I’ll settle the bill for now.”
We were about to go up to the branch manager’s office on the second floor, ignoring the counter to report the completion of the mission. Cale, who had been plagued by us again, sighed.
However, the rumors spread far and wide, so I couldn’t help it. People were looking at us and talking loudly. It’s like my nature, but I want to overturn it.
[·······.]
I glanced at the hero, then quietly shut up.
“Later, an investigator will be dispatched to confirm the completion of the mission. If the mission is completed falsely, you may lose your maximum adventurer status, so please be careful.”
“Yes.”
“hahahaha, of course, there’s no way a person who becomes like a warrior would do that. Would you like to get paid right away? Or, if you put it in our adventurer’s bank, the interest rate will be…”
“Give me now.”
“Yes.”
Even this guy called Cale was not an average bet. When you’re so scared, as soon as you know you’re a hero, you’re going to do business right away.
However, the hero cut off Cale’s trick and refused and received the money bag. Even though it was a same-level quest, the group mission was solved alone, so the weight in the pocket was quite heavy.
[Is today this far?]
“Yes. I’m tired.”
On the outside, the warrior still looked lively, but what can he do if he is himself. The hero left the adventurer’s guild branch and entered the direct inn right next to it.
“Room, one.”
“Oh, yes. What grade would you like it to be?”
“Uh…”
[What grades are there?]
However, he was still acting in a daze in front of people. In the end, the holy sword intercepted the hero’s words and started a conversation with the innkeeper.
“Ah! He was the rumored warrior. Yes, since we are directly managed by the adventurer’s guild, we follow the rating system, but the place that suits the prestige of the hero is gold…”
[Isn’t that true? You know something.]
No, wait a minute.
“As you can see, Viscount Tefer from the neighboring estate was also very satisfied, and with a few services, you really don’t envy the nobility…”
[V.]
“Yes?”
[Give me copper.]
I tried to keep quiet for a while, but I couldn’t help but intervene when I saw that he was being teased like this. An adventurer’s iron rule is always safety first, and thrift second.
“Ha ha, sir. Is that true?”
[Don’t make me say it twice. And, warrior, wake up too. Anyway, with that reward, it’s hard to rent a silver grade room, let alone gold.]
“I have a lot of money…”
The warrior grumbled dissatisfiedly, but eventually put the money bag back into his bosom. The innkeeper, missing the prey that came right in front of him, openly clicked his tongue.
After hearing a small grumble, ‘I was a beggar, not a hero,’ the innkeeper threw the key at us in an unkind manner.
Is it because of the adventurers who use their bodies? One can is great. The hero must have heard that, but she paid the price without showing any reaction.
After that, we went up to room 401 and unpacked. The hero stopped us in a suitable place, extinguished the lamplight, and dived toward the bed.
[······Uh, go to bed already?]
You haven’t even washed it yet. It’s not that I’m regretful, it’s just that the sanitation standards in this world are deplorable.
However, the warrior’s body, which must have been running in the dusty wind all day, was dry without a speck of dust. I have no idea what kind of power that is. Because real life is like a cheat key.
But whatever I was thinking, the warrior closed his eyes and soon fell asleep with a low breathing sound. For a while there was silence in the room.
The moonlight peeking through the curtains, and the divine light little by little emitted from the holy sword in the scabbard. At some point, the holy sword opened its mouth in a quiet voice.
[Carbal, talk to me.]
[What’s up, Aries?]
The way the holy sword spoke to me was not to spread the mental waves in all directions as usual, but to focus them on a specific individual.
From noble mtl dot com
The meaning of that action was clear. Even if it’s awake, the current hero, who has fallen asleep and has lost his senses, can’t overhear our conversation.
[Why, again, are you trying to give instructions on morals or taboos?]
[No. No matter how painfully I say it, I know you won’t listen anyway. What I’m talking about is about the warrior.]
Not knowing anything, I look at the girl who is sleeping like a doll.
I wonder if he was 10 or 6 years old at most. Maybe that’s how old he really is. To be the person who smashed the body of an ogre and annihilated the goblin village during the day, I feel a great sense of alienation.
Unreasonable and mighty power for a living being, let alone a girl who has not reached adulthood. It’s all the more so because it’s not built up with time or effort.
[You know? I have served countless warriors. Those warriors weren’t always good. I don’t like insulting my master, but among them, there were definitely villains who deserved the name of a hero.]
One day, when the prophecy of the Three Gods comes down, the most talented among the children of the human race is chosen as the hero. Even if the child was living a normal life without being able to blossom his talent at the time.
Declaration of the Demon King (EX) and God’s Blessing (EX). The two characteristics of different ranks forcibly raise the rank of an existence, and at the same time expand the vessel to a level close to infinity.
[But, this hero is different from them. This hero is heterogeneous.]
That is the reason why a hero can stand up to transcendents who have lived hundreds of thousands of years in less than a hundred years, and it is also the reason why he becomes stronger every moment without any effort.
Just because they were chosen, a hero becomes an unmatched being in the world. The warrior was such an unreasonable being.
[Heterogeneous?]
[The hero was touched by the hand of God.]
And, the holy sword serving the unreasonable warrior had to be more rational than anyone else.
[I wear the blessings of the three gods, and I’m closer to the divine than anyone else, so I’m greatly influenced by the gods. Maybe as much as a saint. No, more than that.]
The holy sword was good, but he could compromise for the sake of the hero. And the holy sword served the hero, but he was for the sake of the gods who created him.
[Good and evil is a human concept, so there can be any number of evil warriors and demonic warriors. But.]
Maybe.
[A warrior who violates the taboo of God cannot exist.]
That’s a story that only the Holy Sword can tell. But why did the holy sword suddenly say something like this to me?
Remember what happened during the day. Excited about the harvest after a long time, I touched the soul in front of the warrior’s eyes. And, the warrior must have felt it.
The power of faith is still strong, but God is separated from the world and can no longer directly reach out to him. The rules set by God no longer have the same force as before.
[Carbal, what the hell are you?]
However, that ‘taboo’ will still act as an irresistible rule for just one person.
Even though he knew I was devouring his soul, the hero didn’t show any reaction. He wasn’t angry or disappointed, he just kicked me around the waist with his usual dazed expression.
It didn’t matter that I was nervous and the Holy Sword was angry, it ended in vain.
[······Why doesn’t the hero punish you?]
*
So what?
Actually, whether or not the holy sword catches his form is not my business. In the first place, I was just dragged by the hero by a leash, and I have no interest in what secret the hero is hiding.
I don’t know much about taboos, but one thing I do know is that the status bar doesn’t lie.
God’s Blessing (EX).
This characteristic, which bestows the best, best, and best protection according to the situation, is only a warrior’s privilege and proof. Having competed against the hero many times, I knew that all too well.
And as long as that attribute is recorded in the hero’s status window, the hero is a hero. Hurray! Worries solved!
‘Then, shall I try to solve my troubles now?’
My situation is much more urgent right now, so where will I have time to care about the hero?
From the moment when I was bound by the mighty protection and spirit of the warrior, a mass of divine power, my life is no different from a time limit. However, it is not that there is no way to increase its lifespan.
Even if you can’t break the contract, if you have a physical distance from the owner, the influence from the owner will decrease. Even now, the divinity that gnaws at my body will also weaken.
After the hero dies after enduring like that, I will be released from restraint. When I become a free demon sword, I will find a new owner who is weak and easy to wield, and who suits my taste.
Sure.
[Leave your worries to yourself!]
[What is it, you. Are you crazy?]
I shouted while spreading the mental wave in all directions to wake up the hero.
It was just a loud voice, and there was no hostility, so the hero’s mind was only awakened, but his senses were not properly awakened yet. That very short gap.
I wield power as a demonic sword. The goblin soul I had absorbed today emerged from the handle of the sword, and a pale hand grabbed me.
Ghosts are weak. He has lost most of his memories and abilities from when he was alive, and what remains is his unique characteristics as a spirit body and a little physical strength that would allow him to arm wrestle with a child.
However, that was enough to wield me.
[Euhahahahaha! Hello with this!]
The specter that has done its job is scattered like smoke. Jet-black demonic energy flowed on the blade that the hero did not touch, and the ghost wielded it according to inertia, but the demonic sword was stuck on the floor.
But how hard is the inn floor made of ordinary wood, not ogre skin? Everything was according to my plan.
The floor cracked, and I started freefalling downstairs.