Volume 5, The Fourth Misdeed of an Undying Lich: “Creating Various Mysteries”
Volume 5, The Fourth Misdeed of an Undying Lich: “Creating Various Mysteries”
Volume 5, Chapter The Fourth Misdeed of an Undying Lich: “Creating Various Mysteries”
Translator: ErodingPersona
The surrounding holy knights were somewhat stunned and did not seem to be very happy at being saved. However, I could understand why. The people here weren’t the general public, but rather the elite amongst the holy knights! How could such pathetic acting skills pull the wool over the eyes of this many skilled swordsmen?!
I stuck Tyler’s sword into the ground and told Awaitsun, “What do you mean by this? Are you intentionally holding back to save face for the Holy Temple? Do you think I need you to do that? Wait for me! I will go and retrieve my sword, and then we will have a fair duel!”
Awaitsun was startled, but he still nodded his head.
I walked out of the square, keeping a steady pace while expanding my sensing ability to its maximum. It almost encompassed the entire Church and even attracted the attention of quite a number of people who also had the same ability, such as Leaf and the Pope. The Pope even rolled his eyes, seeming to have noticed that the perpetrator was me… However, I eventually found Roland in his room.
When I walked into his room, Roland’s back was facing me. He was sitting quietly at a table, reading a book. I walked up to him and placed my hand on his shoulder.
“Roland.”
Roland jumped in fright. He turned around and stared upon seeing me, then questioned immediately with suspicion, “Who are you?”
“Grisia!” I hurriedly answered and said, “Hurry! Hurry up and go have a duel with Awaitsun.”
Roland said in shock, “Duel? Who is Awaitsun?”
“Silent Eagle!” I instructed him, “After you finish your duel with him, invite him to have a drink at Leaf Bud Tavern. Remember to tell him to come alone, and head there immediately. If he is unwilling, then quietly tell him that I am the one inviting him.”
Roland frowned and said, “But Judgment does not allow you to meet up with him alone.”
“Nothing will happen!” I deliberately emphasized, “There are countless people going in and out of the tavern, so what in the world could happen? I have a few important things I need to ask him about. If you don’t feel comfortable about it, wear some normal clothing and come watch us chat, but don’t make your identity obvious. I don’t want Silent Eagle to be on his guard with me.”
Roland fell silent before nodding his head and saying, “Alright, I will help you meet with him, but I will also go to the tavern.”
After speaking, he picked up his sword. It was not his demonic sword, of course, but rather the Hell Knight’s personal sword. He then immediately turned to leave the room.
“Roland.”
I stopped him. He turned around and looked at me. I told him firmly, “You have to win; don’t lose to someone from the Cathedral of the Shadow God. This is an order!”
Roland smiled and promised, “I won’t lose!”
Only after Roland had already been gone for some time did I walk out of his room to avoid others seeing “two Knight-Captain Hells” walking together. That would be a disaster.
There were even fewer people in the corridors than before. As I left the Holy Temple, I only met three holy knights; everyone else had probably already gone to watch Roland and Awaitsun’s match.
I walked outside, but immediately after stepping down from the Holy Temple’s stairs, the pedestrians on the street all stared at my tightfitting clothes. I had no choice but to escape into the darkness and purposely move about in the dark alleys and on the rooftops. Only then was I able to avoid having people stare at my outfit.
Although Dragon’s Saint Brigandine can’t make me super strong while fighting with others, it is really useful for sneaking around. It truly is an assassin’s outfit after all!
“Since there’s no one about, just say whatever it is that you want to say!”
Thank you for my lordship’s praise. Your humble servant feels deeply honored.
The moment Dragon’s Saint Brigandine spoke, I suddenly thought of something. Besides Awaitsun, this attire should also know about Pink’s background! I hurriedly asked, “Dragon’s Saint Brigandine, how long have you been at Pink’s place?”
Your servant does not recall. Without a master, your servant has no way of knowing anything to do with the outside world.
“Who was your previous master?”
My previous master’s name was Fran.
“I’ve never even heard of him…”
My previous master also had another title — Silent Eagle.
“Silent Eagle?” I was shocked and exclaimed, “You belonged to Silent Eagle?”
Previously.
If that is so, then Pink is definitely part of the Cathedral of the Shadow God. However, even if she is a shadowpriest, Awaitsun is the head of the dark knights, so his rank should be higher than hers. Why would he be so polite to her?
Although there were still a number of questions running through my mind, I had already reached my destination. I could only put my thoughts on hold and wait until I met Awaitsun to ask them.
“Dragon’s Saint Brigandine, from now on, don’t speak unless I give you permission.”
Understood.
After jumping down from the rooftop, I pushed open the door and entered Leaf Bud Tavern. There were quite a few people inside, and my tight clothing immediately drew strange looks. I sat my butt down at the bar’s seat that was closest to the wall and said, “Give me ten bottles of ‘drunk-in-one’!”
The female proprietor came up herself and said with a smile, “Long time no see, Knight-Captain Hell. Your drinking ability has really improved a lot. Before, you weren’t even all that willing to drink! This time, you have actually come alone to have a drink. Why haven’t you come along with your platoon?”
Seems like Roland is not being left out of getting called out for a drink in the taverns.
Sigh! Roland, who doesn’t like to drink, can come out to the tavern and drink without having to conceal his identity, whereas I, this drunkard, have to masquerade as him to have a drink.
Thinking of this, I really wanted to complain about the first Sun Knight. What sort of man couldn’t hold his drink?! He even harmed all of his successors, causing every generation of the Sun Knight to only be able to drink in secret.
“Let’s not get sidetracked. Just get ten bottles of ‘drunk-in-one’ out here.”
The female proprietor kept on smiling, but hesitantly said, “Sir… You came by yourself. If you get drunk, no one will be able to bring you back!”
So that’s your concern. I nodded my head and said, “I’ve invited someone. He’ll be arriving soon.”
“Your ‘drunk-in-one’ will be served right away.” The moment she heard this, the female proprietor smiled like a flower… The wrinkles on her face are truly as numerous as the folds of a blooming chrysanthemum. “Sir Knight, would you like any dishes?”
I thought about it, and then said generously, “Serve whatever specialties you have!”
Around the time I was drinking my third bottle of “drunk-in-one,” Awaitsun pushed open the doors of the tavern. While he was looking around, everyone in the tavern was looking at him in turn. Their expressions were so classic that they could have been made into a book of human expressions viewed from every aspect.
First, the men were horrified, whereas the women were stunned; then the men were speechless whereas the women sighed in admiration; and then finally the men were gnashing their teeth together, whereas the women were in a state of starry-eyed infatuation…
However, Awaitsun seemed accustomed to this show of facial expressions put on by the general public. He completely ignored the stares directed at him. The moment he saw me, he walked straight over and sat down next to me. Although he had already sat down, there were still a lot of people staring at him. It seemed that if we really wanted to talk about somewhat more secretive matters, we would have to book a room.
I twirled my wineglass and said confidently, “You must have lost!”
Awaitsun nodded his head and said generously, “I lost, but this does not mean that he would definitely have beaten me. If I could have used just a little shadow magic to supplement myself…”
“Trust me.” I cut him off and said complacently, “Our Knight-Captain Hell isn’t talented in only swordplay!”
Awaitsun stared, and then nodded his head. “I trust you sir, but I still don’t believe I would lose.”
You would definitely lose! A death lord is not something that can be defeated all by oneself. Especially for you, a dark knight who cannot even use a bit of holy light, there is probably nothing more troublesome than a death lord.
However, I definitely wouldn’t tell him that Roland was a death lord. I just poured some wine for him and asked, “Why are you so respectful towards me? It couldn’t just be because I defeated you, right?”
Awaitsun hurriedly said, “Please don’t give me wine. I don’t drink.”
I didn’t stop pouring wine for him, and continued to encourage him. “Drinking just a little should be okay, right?”
“Dark knights are prohibited from drinking.” Awaitsun hesitated. “However if you, sir, were to give me an order, I should be able to drink a little.”
“Your loss.” I took the wineglass before him and downed it in one shot.
Actually, I had planned on getting him drunk so that he would talk more, as it’d be easier to trip him up then, but for someone who didn’t drink at all, ‘drunk-in-one’ might be too strong. I was really worried that one sip would cause him to pass out immediately, and then this rare chance of talking alone with him would be lost.
I finished drinking the wine, and as I placed the wineglass down again, I sensed someone with a higher dark element than even Awaitsun walking in. It was Roland. He was wearing the standard uniform for holy knights, and he wasn’t masked, but he was still maintaining his human appearance.
When he walked in, the men all had ominous glints in their eyes whereas the women’s eyes shone.
“Why are there so many pretty boys today?” Some guys sitting not so far away grumbled in displeasure.
Roland walked to a corner not too far away and sat down facing us. The moment he sat down, a waitress rushed forward to serve him, but Roland only asked for fruit juice.
I waved over another waitress and signaled for her to come closer. I whispered into her ear, “Help me whip up a cocktail. Serve some ‘drunk-in-one’ liquor with fruit juice, along with some wine-based dishes, and give it to the brown-haired guy in the corner. Say that it’s my treat.”
The waitress smiled and said, “Okay.” After saying that, she even stealthily groped my waist.
…Why is the value of my masked appearance even higher than my unmasked one? Normally there isn’t anyone who wants to take advantage of me!
I pulled her closer and ordered softly, “Remember, don’t say that it’s ‘drunk-in-one’ liquor. Just say that it’s normal wine that he won’t get drunk from.”
She winked at me, ran her hands over my chest, and said softly, “Do you want to get him drunk? Pay an extra silver ducat, and I’ll make sure he’s dead drunk.”
I thought it over for a while, then said, “Help me do this, then bring me an extra two bottles of ‘drunk-in-one’ and a plate of beef.” At this, the waitress eyes grew wide and round. I then said, “Then you can touch the waist and chest of the guy next to me. I guarantee you that he won’t get angry and he won’t fidget.”
Awaitsun quietly ate his meal. Although both of our voices were very low, he was right next to us, so he had to have heard us. However, he didn’t say anything. Even after quietly letting the ecstatic waitress touch him, he still had no reaction, and proceeded to pick up a piece of meat. While he pretended to chew, he even asked in a low voice, “Do you want to wait until that person is drunk before talking?”
I smiled. After sipping some wine, I said, “There’s no need for that. Just talk! Why have you come to the Holy Temple? You are Silent Eagle, the head of the Cathedral of the Shadow God. I don’t recall the Church of the God of Light being so friendly with the Cathedral of the Shadow God. Don’t fool around with me. Tell me the truth.”
Awaitsun ate another piece of meat and said in a relaxed tone, “The Demon King will be born soon.”
PHUH! I spat out my mouthful of wine and coughed horribly before catching my breath again. I said helplessly, “Do you have to be so truthful? Shouldn’t that be classified information or the like for the Cathedral of the Shadow God? Yet you have just told me so candidly. After all, I am…” I lowered my voice, “the head of the Church of the God of Light.”
“You will know about it soon enough anyway,” Awaitsun said quietly. “Unfortunately, this time, Leaf Bud City will become the place of birth for the Demon King.”
Although I was filled with questions, I still restrained myself and just ate and drank. At the same time, I chatted with Awaitsun over things like how he and his wife were getting along in their married life. Awaitsun’s face filled with bliss. He mentioned that in about five months they would have a kid, making me spit out a mouthful of wine again.
So that was the reason. They already have a kid; no wonder they had to elope.
“Isn’t it troublesome to have kids?”
“No, I like children.” Awaitsun answered seriously. “Alice and I have already made the decision to have twelve kids.”
I spat out a mouthful of wine for the third time. You, an icy cold dark knight, are actually someone who likes children? And wanting to have twelve children, are you trying to form an entire Dark Knight Platoon?
Awaitsun and Princess Alice, the combination of a hunk and a beauty. Whatever children they have together will most likely never be all that bad looking. Even scarier, if all of their children are both handsome and beautiful, and if they all grow up to be dark knights, it would be an unbelievable danger for the Church of the God of Light and the Monastery of the God of War… The attractiveness of beauties and hunks should not be underestimated!
Thinking of this, I hurriedly clapped a hand onto Awaitsun’s shoulder and said seriously, “For the sake of a good relationship between the Cathedral of the Shadow God and the Church of the God of Light, why don’t you promise to give me three of your children to become holy knights and clerics? I want the three most beautiful and handsome ones!”
Awaitsun was astonished, but I was completely serious. I even felt that instead of letting Awaitsun and Alice give birth to twelve beauties and hunks, it’d be better to bury the father right now!
Awaitsun kept staring at me before finally nodding his head in agreement.
I let out a sigh of relief. No matter what, at least I have managed to snatch the three most beautiful and handsome ones. The danger twenty years from now is temporarily averted.
At this time, Roland suddenly smacked onto the table with a “DON” sound. He had finally become drunk, so I wrapped up the conversation that was making me spit out wine and started talking about the main topic with Awaitsun.
“You say that Leaf Bud City will become the birthplace for the Demon King. How exactly is the Demon King born?”
This has something to do with Leaf Bud City. It’s too important, so I have to get this clarified first. After I finished asking, Awaitsun just smiled without answering.
“Should we book a room to talk?” I asked calmly. “I know that there are many things that cannot be spoken about in public.”
“There’s no need.” Awaitsun shook his head and said, “Because I can’t tell you, no matter where we are.”
“How can you do things halfheartedly?!” I strongly opposed, “Since you said that the Demon King is going to be born, you have to tell me how he is born!”
Awaitsun just shook his head and said, “I can’t tell you, but I can help you. That is allowed.”
I was startled. “Help me with what?”
Help me destroy the Demon King? There’s no way, right? The Demon King is the spokesperson of the Cathedral of the Shadow God… Oh! It doesn’t seem all that impossible.
If the Demon King was not around, he, Silent Eagle, would be the head of the Cathedral of the Shadow God. The moment the Demon King appeared, he would immediately become a lackey. If it was me, I would also destroy the Demon King no matter what!
“Do you want to destroy the Demon King?” I asked him quietly.
Hearing this, Awaitsun just smiled without answering. Although his smile was on the verge of making the waitresses around us faint, I only felt like punching him to get rid of that smile!
No matter what I asked, he still never answered. Then coming here to have a private talk with him, braving the danger of Judgment locking me up for a year, and even getting Roland drunk was all just a waste! I barely held in my anger and asked a few more questions. I will definitely ask until he answers, and if he is still unwilling to answer… Then I will wake Roland up and have Awaitsun and his eleven future children buried together!
“What kind of person is Pink?”
Awaitsun hesitated before frowning, as if wondering whether he could tell me this. Only after thinking over it for quite some time, with my expression becoming worse and worse, did he say softly, “They are responsible for leading the birth of the Demon King.”
“They? The two of them?” I had already guessed that if Pink and Scarlet were two different people, then both of them were probably “the same type of thing.” After all, there were too many similarities between the two of them.
Awaitsun kept quiet for a while. Then he quietly said, “Three of them.”
What! There’s still another little girl? This sort of troublesome thing, just Pink and Scarlet are more than enough!
I kept quiet for a long while. I had no idea whether I should ask this question, but if I didn’t ask, I would face quite a lot of restrictions in handling certain matters. Faced with no alternative, I asked, “If I kill them, will the Cathedral of the Shadow God retaliate?”
Awaitsun was astonished but answered, “No, we won’t retaliate.”
“Not at all?” I was a bit surprised and reiterated, “You are so respectful toward Pink, but you don’t even care if she dies?”
Awaitsun shook his head and said indifferently, “They won’t die. At most, their bodies would be destroyed.”
That’s true. Unless the places where these liches kept their souls were found, even the Divine Sun Sword would not be able to destroy them. At most it would only cause great harm to their vitality.
Being unable to kill them is also a big problem… I furrowed my brows. I really couldn’t understand why three liches, such rare undead creatures, would appear all in one go. Just one lich is a force scary enough to destroy an entire city; now, there are three of them. There was no difference between the three of them and a natural disaster.
I suddenly realized something. Besides the rarely seen liches, just in this year alone two rarely-seen death knights had also appeared… All these ‘rarely seen’ undead creatures seem to be becoming a common sight.
“Is there anything else that you want to ask?” Awaitsun asked in a soft voice. “Sun Knight? Your transformation time should be up soon, right?”
I was astonished, but after thinking it over, Dragon’s Saint Brigandine had said that its previous master was Silent Eagle. If so, then the fact that Awaitsun knew about Dragon’s Saint Brigandine was nothing unusual.
“Oh, that’s right, someone will come to the city soon.” Awaitsun said with a serious look on his face. “That person might want to harm you— no, that person will definitely want to harm you, so you have to be careful.”
Startled, I asked, “Who is he?”
Awaitsun smiled and shook his head, indicating that this was another question that he could not answer.
“Then what…” What about me?
Awaitsun looked at me and waited for me to finish my question. I paused for a long time, then started again, “What do you think about this outfit?”
“Dragon’s Saint Brigandine?” Awaitsun blinked, and then said pertinently, “It’s very fitting, highly suitable for concealment. However, it’s also a shame, because it’s too fitting. It doesn’t have any pockets, so it can’t even hold weapons. For an assassin’s outfit, it seems rather impractical.”
This one does not need to have pockets for weapons!
Dragon’s Saint Brigandine was very upset, but I ignored it. I placed both my hands on Awaitsun’s shoulders and said earnestly, “Since this outfit can’t even hold weapons, it also can’t hold anything like gold or silver ducats, right?”
“…I understand. Please allow me to pay for this meal.”
I immediately said, “You are really too generous, but alright then, I’ll let you pay for this meal! Please remember to pay the bill for the brown-haired guy in that corner too.”
Awaitsun didn’t say anything, but still nodded his head.
“Goodbye!”
I stood up, walked to Roland and shook him. He merely swayed twice. I called out, “Roland? Wake up, Roland.”
However, he didn’t respond in the least. He actually managed to get completely drunk. I wondered what exactly that waitress had added to his wine, if even a dead person could get dead drunk. Looks like I have to carry him back. Luckily, the three-hour time limit for the transformation wasn’t up yet. With the Dragon’s Saint Brigandine, carrying someone shouldn’t be too difficult a matter.
While Awaitsun was paying the bill and I was about to lift Roland up, I heard some commotion outside the tavern. Everyone in the tavern stopped dead in their tracks and looked outside. A few daring-looking men wanted to walk outside to take a look; however, someone else rushed in first and yelled, “There are undead creatures outside. Holy knights are currently chasing them down. They want everyone to stay inside and not go out!”
Undead creatures again? Recalling the death knight from before, I suddenly felt anxious. It couldn’t be another death knight, could it? That’s impossible! A death knight isn’t born so easily, and seeing two death knights in a year is already an unusual occurrence.
“Knight-Captain Hell, are you not going to destroy the undead creatures?” The female proprietor’s call caused the entire tavern to swivel their heads around and look at me.
“Destroying undead creatures is the duty of the Sun Knight, not the Hell Knight!” Some guy loudly exclaimed, and everyone else also nodded their heads. When it came to “things the entire continent knew” even the people in this small tavern were not immune.
Although I was currently masquerading as the Hell Knight who had no obligation to destroy undead creatures, I was still interested in taking a look. However, I couldn’t just leave Roland alone… Just then, Awaitsun walked over and told me, “I can help you take him back to the Holy Temple.”
I hesitated for a moment. The commotion outside was getting louder, but as for Awaitsun, I still had a certain level of trust in him. No matter what, he was still Silent Eagle, who was representing the Cathedral of the Shadow God. If he dared to harm one of the Twelve Holy Knights, he would ignite a great war between two religions.
I nodded my head. “Alright, after you drag him back to the Holy Temple, drop him off with Knight-Captain Cloud at the library.”
“I understand.”
After giving him the order, I stepped out of the tavern. Only after increasing the boundary of my sensing ability did I notice three holy knights a few streets away. I immediately jumped onto the rooftop and started chasing after them.
I landed silently, stood behind the three holy knights, and yelled, “Wait a minute!”
The three holy knights jumped up in fright, vigilantly lifting up their weapons before turning around and yelling, “Who… Knight-Captain Hell!”
Upon seeing me, they all loosened up and lowered their weapons, hurriedly exclaiming, “Knight-Captain Hell, thank goodness you’re here!”
“What has happened?”
The holy knights looked concerned as they said, “Undead creatures have appeared!”
Their expressions confused me. Although Leaf Bud City was the main stronghold of the Church of the God of Light, it was not as though undead creatures had never appeared here before. Even the undead creatures that Pink sent over to prevent me from becoming depressed had already appeared several times. Holy knights should have long since gotten used to it.
Could they be very strong undead creatures? I asked in bewilderment, “What type of undead creatures are they?”
“There are many types…” The holy knights yelled together. “There are several swarms of undead creatures.”
“What?” It was my turn to be astonished. This was unthinkable. Could a necromancer have appeared in the city… a necromancer who is not Pink?
“Has the Holy Temple been informed?”
The holy knights nodded their heads and said, “The vice-captain of the Sun Knight Platoon is already searching the city with his platoon.”
Adair, is it? But Adair doesn’t know that death knights have appeared before. If he splits the Sun Knight Platoon into too many groups to search, and if any members of the platoon meet with a death knight, it’d be terrible!
I ordered the three holy knights, “I am going to look for the Sun Knight Platoon. Keep on searching. If anything seems amiss, then run away immediately! Do you hear me?”
After receiving this order, the holy knights looked flabbergasted, but still shouted, “Yes sir!”
I turned around and shot a blast of holy light at the roof. Under the glare of the holy light, a bat-shaped undead creature was flattened against the rooftop. It had been struck head-on by the holy light, and after a shriek it burst apart. Not a single piece was left after the blast.
The holy knights’ expressions filled with worship. This made me think that I should not use holy light at will, for I was the Hell Knight right now, and should follow the rules of the Hell Knight… However, besides coming and going without a trace, and being part of the cruel, cold-hearted faction yet obeying the Sun Knight, the Hell Knight doesn’t have any sort of rules that he has to follow. Although technically, the cruel, cold-hearted faction should not be able to use holy light particularly well, this was not exactly a rule.
So this meant, not only could I use holy light, even using magic would not be strange.
Then what else do I have to fear? I immediately turned my head around and told the holy knights, “I’m going first. Be careful. Fall back immediately if there’s any danger.”
All three holy knights nodded their heads.
Seeing this, I manipulated the wind element and felt myself becoming lighter. My feet gradually left the ground, and I flew skywards.
Even after flying up into the sky, I could sense that the three holy knights were still standing in their original places, staring in the direction I had flown, as though completely unable to react. The expressions on their faces were moronic. Hahaha!
After basking in the holy knights’ expressions, I flew about freely in the sky. Today’s weather was rather stuffy, but flying allowed the wind to drift past my entire body, bringing along with it a brisk coolness. This feeling was nice, but now was not the time to enjoy the flight. I had work to do.
I stopped near the middle of Leaf Bud City and extended my sensing ability. There really were undead creatures about the city, but because there were quite a number of holy knights out capturing them right now, they were all hiding, not daring to appear. If they weren’t hiding on rooftops, then they were in dark corners.
I ferreted them all out one by one. After counting, I gathered holy light into my hands and molded it into long strands. Like shooting arrows, I shot out bursts of “holy light arrows,” the difference between them and normal arrows was that the holy light arrows could turn!
No matter where the undead creatures were hiding, as long as there was enough space for an arrow to enter, the arrow would be able to seek them out and destroy them completely!
I split my sensing ability in five directions and shot out three rounds of holy light arrows in total. Each time I shot out about ten arrows, and only then did I manage to clean up most of the undead creatures. I couldn’t believe that there were so many of them!
Finally, I floated in the sky and executed my most extensive sensing, wanting to see if there were any that had slipped through. Halfway through this, my mind suddenly burst apart, and I was completely unable to concentrate on gathering wind element. Instantly, I started falling from the sky.
Although I wanted to gather wind element, my head was hurting so badly that I could only manage to gather very little of it, barely slowing down my fall. My entire body hit the ground. Even though I should be injured quite badly, my head hurt so much that I felt like an entire army was drumming in my brain, so even if I had broken all of my limbs, I wouldn’t have been able to feel it.
It hurts so badly! Besides hitting my aching head, I could do nothing else!
There seemed to be people nearby. I heard footsteps, but I couldn’t sense anything. Everything around me was black. Besides the first time when I had been struck blind, I had never really sunk into darkness like this before. No matter what, I had always been able to sense at least something. At the moment, I had my eyes open, yet I really couldn’t see anything at all!
Finally, someone asked softly, “Knight-Captain Hell? What has happened to you?”
I jumped in fright, but this voice sounded too familiar. I immediately asked, “Adair?”
The person was startled, but then asked very quietly, “Captain?”
It really was Adair. I reached out with my hand and blindly groped for a while until I grabbed hold of him. It was only his shoulder, but for some reason, I felt a lot more at ease. I finally managed to calmly say, “It’s me, Adair. Take me back to the Holy Temple. I can’t see anything.”
“…Yes, Captain, I will bring you back immediately!”
I listened closely. Adair’s voice sounded strained, but when I reflexively tried to sense his expression, my head suddenly ached…
“Ca-Captain?” Adair’s voice was definitely very tense.
I shook my head. Just when I was about to tell Adair that I was fine, I heard the voice of Dragon’s Saint Brigandine.
My lord, your transformation time is almost up. Do you wish to pay another 200cc of blood for an extra hour of transformation time?
What a pain. I had no intention of paying up an extra 200cc of blood just to wear this outfit back to the Holy Temple. I hurriedly instructed, “Adair, take me to an alley first. Make sure to tell me when there’s no one around.”
“Yes.” After Adair answered, he turned his head and yelled, “Ed! Knight-Captain Hell and I are going to carry out a mission. Following this, you are responsible for leading the platoon and continuing the search for the remaining undead creatures!”
When an answering “yes” came from not far away, Adair helped me up. Although someone was holding me up, being unable to see anything made me feel very uneasy. Even my footsteps were unsteady. I was afraid that there would be obstacles on the ground or in front of me.
It felt as if we had walked for a very long time, but I thought that it was most likely my misconception. The actual time could only have been two to three minutes, since throughout this period Dragon’s Saint Brigandine never reminded me that my transformation time was up again.
Adair whispered, “There’s no one around, Captain.”
Upon hearing this, I immediately released the transformation and leaned my entire back against the wall, finally feeling slightly more at ease.
Adair asked again in an anxious tone, “Captain, are you alright?”
“Not very well.” I thought that I might have used my sensing ability too much, exceeding my limits.
He sucked in a deep breath and stuttered, “Then, then what should I do?”
His voice sounded very worried. I hurriedly said, “Don’t worry. Bring me back to the Holy Temple. I’ll be fine again after a little rest.”
Adair answered “Yes,” and then helped me back to the Holy Temple. To avoid people noticing there was something wrong with my eyes, I purposely acted very weak, as though I needed someone’s help… Though my head hurt so badly that I felt as if I didn’t need to act to seem weak.
Not long after walking up the steps to the Holy Temple, I thought we were probably already inside the Holy Temple, Adair suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Just as I was about to ask him, someone spoke up.
“Why are you walking in from outside?”
This voice sounds like…
I stopped in my tracks. Although what I really wanted to do was break into a run, even when I wasn’t blind I could never outrun anyone, never mind when I was blind.
“Answer me! Knight-Captain Sun, weren’t you in your room? Why have you walked in from outside, and seem to be in a state of great injury?”
…This was definitely Knight-Captain Judgment, and he was definitely very furious.
“I’m not injured!” I immediately shoved aside Adair’s hand and stood steadily, purposely appearing strong and vigorous!
Adair reminded me softly, “Captain, a large part of your face is scratched and bruised.”
“…I merely fell down in my room, and then jumped out from a window, accidentally landing on my face, and Adair is just bringing me back in.”
While forcing myself to talk nonsense, I heard footsteps coming closer, sounding very loud and rushed. I hurriedly asked in a low voice, “Who has approached?”
“Knight-Captain Hell.” Adair whispered anxiously, “Captain, did you do something to him? Knight-Captain Hell is glaring at you, and his eyes look like they’re about to spit out flames!”
Upon hearing this, I reflexively tried to sense, wanting to see Roland’s expression, but the next second, a “boom” sounded in my mind. Finally, I could only hear Adair’s alarmed exclamation…
“Captain!”
Just as I opened my eyes, unclear of the situation, I heard noises close by and asked reflexively, “Who is it?”
“It’s me.” It was Roland’s voice.
“Oh.”
I sat up and felt around. On my body is a cotton blanket, so beneath me should be a bed. This should be my room! I wiped my face. It was smooth, with no sign of any scratches or bruises. It seemed as though someone had healed me. My mind was still sluggish, but it wasn’t hurting as badly as the time just before I had passed out.
“How long was I asleep?”
“Not long. It’s still breakfast time.”
I nodded my head before recalling the most important question. I asked in a small voice, “Is Judgment very angry?”
Roland kept quiet for a while, and then said, “Very angry.”
His voice sounded somewhat forced, though I had no idea why. Judgment couldn’t really have lost his temper, could he? However, my sneaking out incident had already been discovered. No matter whether or not he was currently furious, I had no way to smooth it over.
“I’m so hungry! Roland, help me fetch my breakfast!”
I got out of bed, wanting to change my clothes. I reflexively put my hand out to feel around for any obstacles, but I touched someone. I originally thought that it was Roland but after some thought it didn’t seem quite right. Roland wore tight clothing, but what I touched felt more like a large piece of cloth, definitely not tight clothing. Instead it felt more like a robe… Robe?!
“You had better explain clearly, by yourself, what exactly happened.” Judgment’s tone could not be any colder.
Shit! So Judgment is here too.
Roland asked, panicked, “Sun you, you really can’t see anymore?”
“I originally couldn’t see anyway,” I grumbled. After grumbling, I heard Judgment’s cold snort and hurriedly explained, “It’s fine. I really am fine. It’s just that I overused my sensing ability and suddenly had a headache. That’s why I had Adair bring me back. Now I’m afraid that the moment I use my sensing ability, I’ll get a headache again, so I’m temporarily not using it.”
After I said this, the entire room was silent again. How frightening!
“Why did you get Hell drunk?” Judgment asked blandly. “I’m very curious. What is it that you can talk about with Silent Eagle, but not with the Twelve Holy Knights?”
I hurriedly gave my prepared reason, “I didn’t get him drunk! How was I to know that his tolerance for alcohol was so low that just one bottle of wine could get him drunk…”
I’m dead. Silence again. What on earth is going on? Being unable to see expressions is really worrying.
Instinctively wanting to use my sensing ability, my head hurt again. I held my head in my hands until the pain went away, and only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
“Rest,” Judgment said coldly. “From now onwards no one will follow you. Wherever you want to go and whatever you want to do will be your choice.”
“Knight-Captain Judgment!” Roland cried out in shock and said hurriedly, “Sun can’t see right now. Letting him go about alone is too dangerous…”
His words were cut off by Judgment, “Since you will always be thrown off, you don’t have to follow him anymore.”
… I’m dead! Judgment isn’t just furious this time.
Following that, the door was pulled open. I thought that Judgment was leaving, but the next second someone else’s voice rang out.
“Knight, Knight-Captain Judgment! I, I was looking for C-Captain…”
Even if I could not recognize Adair’s voice, I could recognize the way he addressed me, though his voice sounded very frantic. Judgment’s current expression must be very scary. Maybe not using my sensing ability to see his expression was the correct choice.
Judgment asked, “What has happened?”
“Er! This…” Adair seemed to be stuttering.
“Adair, just say it!” I hurriedly said aloud, in case Judgment thought that I had done something dangerous again without telling him… I didn’t, did I?
“Someone is looking for Knight-Captain Sun. He says he wants to pass on the former Knight-Captain Sun’s message. He said that if I told Knight-Captain Sun that he is Aldrizzt, Knight-Captain Sun would understand.”
“Aldrizzt!” I almost jumped up from the bed.
“Aldrizzt?” Judgment asked, confused.
“The dark elf that’s with my teacher,” I hurriedly explained, wanting to get up and look for Aldrizzt. I had so many questions to ask him!
But as I was about to get up from the bed, I almost fell, so I had to sit back down. After some thought, being blind and still having to maintain my elegance while walking to Aldrizzt was too difficult, so I ordered, “Adair, bring Aldrizzt here.”
“Yes, Captain!” After Adair shouted, a flurry of footsteps sounded.
“Should we leave?”
Judgment’s voice was still cold. If I were to say “yes,” I believe that throughout this entire lifetime I would never again hear him speak with a tone warmer than the temperature of an ice cube. I hurriedly said, “No, no. If both of you want to stay, then stay. I have nothing to hide from you two!”
After some time I heard the sound of the door opening and closing, but Adair yelled out considerately, “Captain, he’s here!”
I asked tentatively, “Aldrizzt?”
“Long time no see, Grisia.”
After hearing this voice, I was finally able to confirm that it was indeed Aldrizzt. His voice was really unusual, softer and kinder than a lot of normal men’s. If he were a normal human, I would have definitely thought that he was a sissy, but he was a dark elf. According to him, the voices of male dark elves were all like that… Since he was the only dark elf I had ever met, I had no way to compare, so I could only take his word for it.
“You can remove your cloak!”
Aldrizzt immediately said in a panicked tone, “But there are others here…”
I immediately said, “Roland, remove your disguise.”
After about ten seconds, I heard the sound of someone taking in a deep breath, and then Aldrizzt mumbled in a low voice, “So he is the death lord that you mentioned before.”
After that, I heard something soft falling to the floor. Maybe it was the sound of Aldrizzt removing his cloak, but I couldn’t be sure.
Compared to Aldrizzt’s previous shock, everyone else didn’t have much of a reaction to Aldrizzt being a dark elf. I didn’t even hear a single cry of alarm or inhalation. This wasn’t strange— compared to a death lord, a dark elf really wasn’t much.
Although I wanted to ask a lot of things, I thought that I had first better understand his reason for coming. “Aldrizzt, is there anything that you need from me?”
“While away, we heard about your disappearance.” Aldrizzt’s voice sounded concerned. He said, “You do have the Eternal Tranquility around your neck, right?”
I did not think that Aldrizzt would bring up the jewel so directly. After making such a big effort to get it back from Judgment’s hands, if he knew that I was actually wearing this dangerous jewel, he would definitely…
“Sun?” Judgment asked coldly.
I silently withdrew Eternal Tranquility from my clothes and removed the entire necklace, placing it in the middle of my palm and asked, “Aldrizzt, the reason this jewel is with me is not because my holy element can cover its water element, right?”
Aldrizzt cried out in shock, “Why did you seal it? It’s useless like that!”
At this moment, the jewel on my hand was snatched away by someone. After that, Judgment started roaring, “Do you actually wish for it to work? What exactly is your intention? You want Sun to… To become another person!”
“Become another person?” Aldrizzt’s tone sounded very confused. He said, “I have no idea what you are talking about. We only did it for his own good, and for him, Neo even sacrificed….”
The moment he said Teacher’s name, he fell silent and stopped talking.
“Where is Teacher?” I asked, confused. “Why didn’t he come?”
Aldrizzt didn’t answer. After some time, he suddenly asked, “Grisia, what happened to your eyes?”
“Blinded,” Judgment answered coldly.
After a full five seconds passed, Aldrizzt finally cried out in shock, “What!?”
I immediately protested, “Judgment, can’t you use a more tactful way to say it? I’m not really blind!”
“You’re not really blind?”
After I heard some footsteps and noise, he suddenly asked, “Do you know what I am about to throw? If you don’t answer, then I’m going to fling it!”
I was stunned into silence. I can’t even use my sensing ability right now. How in the world would I know what you’re about to throw?
Judgment coldly announced the answer, “Your jar of lavender essential oil that is worth three months of your salary.”
“I’m sorry. I admit that I’m blind. Please don’t throw it!”