Chapter 37 : Stalking

The dawn before the sun rises is said to be the darkest and coldest time of the day.

I really like this time.

As the sun rises and the sky, once pitch black, slowly turns blue and the surroundings gradually brighten, I feel a mysterious sensation that envelops me.

Seeing the eastern sky turning red, it seems the sun is beginning to rise far off in the distance.

The surroundings slowly brighten, and the darkness gradually fades, casting a light that illuminates the world in that in-between state—not too bright, not too dark.

Although the places and things I always see are unchanged, there’s a feeling as if something has been renewed.

It feels like a magical and mystical time.

Right now, I am breathing in the cold air of dawn, swinging my sword alone in the training grounds of the Lord’s Castle.

The reason I’m wielding my sword at this early hour is simple.

I’m honing my swordsmanship.

Recently, since Reina came to be by my side, I’ve been coming out at dawn every day to practice my sword skills to protect her.

It’s a bit tedious to do this every day, but since I used to check my swordsmanship once a week, if I think of it as doing that every day, it’s more bearable than I thought.

If I could use magic, I wouldn’t have to do this, but… since I can’t use magic right now, I have no choice but to work hard on my swordsmanship.

Still, if I think positively, it means I’m getting stronger as I train, so it’s not a bad thing.

In this world, strength is power.

Anyway, for this reason, I’m out here every early morning honing my swordsmanship.

The swordsmanship I’m practicing, the Dragon King Style, is said to be one of the best swordsmanships among the Dragon Kin.

I remember Redros once telling me that the reason it’s called Dragon King Style is that it’s a collection of all the sword techniques used by past Dragon Kings.

The Dragon King Style has five different types of sword techniques based on the five elements: fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning.

We call these sword techniques:

Sword of the Fire Dragon

Sword of the Water Dragon

Sword of the Earth Dragon

Sword of the Wind Dragon

Sword of the Lightning Dragon

Just like the characteristics of fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning differ, the directions these sword techniques pursue are also different:

The Sword of the Wind Dragon seeks freedom, like the wind.

The Sword of the Earth Dragon seeks sturdiness, like a rock.

The Sword of the Water Dragon seeks infinity, like water.

The Sword of the Fire Dragon seeks power, like fire.

The Sword of the Lightning Dragon emphasizes speed, like lightning.

The sword techniques I have completely mastered are the Sword of the Wind Dragon and the Sword of the Lightning Dragon.

For the others, I only remember the basic techniques and theories.

Well, it’s not like I can’t use them at all—I can at least imitate them to some extent.

The reason I’ve only mastered two of the five sword techniques is because those two were the most necessary for me.

The Sword of the Wind Dragon suited me well since it blended with my magic, and the Sword of the Lightning Dragon was the most fitting for me, who needed to rapidly gain power, despite being difficult to control and unstable.

In other words, I focused on these two.

You might think it’s a bit lacking to only master two out of five sword techniques, but I’ve used these two techniques quite effectively.

Even though I was just a mage who could only cast spells from a distance, I’ve become one of the top fighters in close combat too, so the effect is evident.

If I were to express my current skill, it would probably be at the level where I can count it on my fingers.

By the way, I can count up to 100 on my fingers.

Hmm… I remember asking Redros once how strong the Dragon King Style was.

His answer back then was:

“How strong is the Dragon King Style? Listen well. Hella, if you master one technique from the Dragon King Style, you can compete for the title of the strongest swordsman in the Empire. If you master three, you can compete for the title of the strongest in the continent. And if you master all of them…”

“You can compete for the title of the strongest swordsman in the world.”

To be honest, ‘strongest swordsman in the world’ seems a bit too much, but considering that Redros, who is said to be second only to the Demon King among demons, said this confidently, it might be reliable.

So how much have you mastered?

“I’ve mastered all five.”

Of course, it could just be that he’s indulging in his own self-glorification.

Anyway, the Dragon King Style is a swordsmanship so powerful that even mastering just two out of the five techniques can make you as strong as a duke among the demons.

Of course, mastering them requires both talent and effort.

I repeated my technique checks two more times and then opened my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, the surroundings were a bit brighter. Looking up, the red light that was faintly visible in the east had become clearer, and the sky had turned an even deeper blue.

Morning is coming.

It’s almost time for Reina to wake up.

I need to go back quickly so that I can lie next to her before she wakes up, to stop her from crying right from the start.

There was one time I was late, and I had to sweat it out comforting a crying Reina.

She clung to me all day and wouldn’t let go for a moment. It was so exhausting.

If I don’t want to experience that again, I have to hurry back now.

I sheathed my sword and started running.

Please, don’t let me be late!

Fortunately, I managed to get to the room before Reina woke up.

I carefully opened the door to make sure Reina wouldn’t wake up, tiptoed over to the bed, and lay down next to her.

I waited for a few minutes, then said:

“Haam… Reina, wake up.”

Pretending to have just woken up, I called to her.

“Just a little longer…”

“No, we have to go out early today, so wake up now.”

Reina mumbles as she crawls back under the blanket, and I pull her out from the covers.

While we’re having a small tug-of-war like this, the morning sunlight shines through the window, and the sound of birds chirping from outside signals the start of a new day.

“Alright, the day has begun.”

After finishing our preparations, we headed towards the last place on our investigation list: the northern market.

“Finally, the last spot.”

Once we finish this investigation, today’s work will be done. Maybe it’s because it’s the last place, but I feel a little nostalgic.

Yesterday was quite eventful.

After the events of yesterday, I agreed to Bliss’s suggestion to stop the investigation and go out and have fun. I didn’t realize how tiring it would be to hang out.

Honestly, I thought we’d finish early and head back, but that was a huge misunderstanding.

Bliss and Reina didn’t stop moving around. They insisted I come along, and because of that, my hopes of getting back early were shattered. I ended up having a more exhausting day than usual.

It wasn’t until after all the shops had closed that Bliss finally said we should head back.

But my suffering didn’t end there. On our way back, we had to listen to the merchant who had been waiting for us at the church.

By the time we finished listening to him, it was well past midnight…

Still, one comforting thing was that among the merchant’s story, there were some notable pieces of information. I think this could be important.

First of all, he clearly wasn’t a believer in the Origin Church.

What was surprising was that he wasn’t even a follower of the End Church either—he was an atheist.

So why was he slandering the Origin Church?

It turned out, there was a strange reason behind it.

There are people who pay you to spread bad rumors or insults about the Origin Church.

He said he had been hired to do so.

According to him, recently, people had been paying money to anyone who would spread or degrade rumors about the Origin Church.

Even so, I wondered who would risk their life to insult the state religion.

Even if they offer money, don’t you fear the Inquisitor when speaking ill of the Origin Church?

Well… the money they offered was quite substantial, so I couldn’t let it go.

Right now, I’m in a situation where I need money by any means…

He explained that the amount offered was too good to refuse in his current situation.

And they said it was unlikely they’d ever meet an Inquisitor, so I decided to go along with it…

He seemed to have been subtly coaxed by sweet words.

Do you know who they are? Did you see their faces?

No, I couldn’t see their faces because they were wrapped up in cloth.

Unfortunately, the merchant didn’t know their identities.

To summarize what the merchant said: There seem to be people in Birren who are paying others to spread bad rumors or insult the Origin Church.

This fact suggests a few things.

First, there are people deliberately trying to lower the reputation of the Origin Church.

Second, these people are likely to have hostile feelings toward the Origin Church.

One thing is certain: their actions are challenging the believers of the Origin Church.

I imagine that the followers of the Origin Church are probably interpreting it like this:

There are those who dare to challenge the authority of their god.

Actually, after hearing the merchant’s story yesterday, Bliss said she would make sure to punish whoever caused this disturbance, so I think my assumption is not far off.

Anyway, today, I’ll take the information about them into account as I continue the investigation.

The investigation began today.

It went smoothly, just like usual.

Strangely enough, nothing strange happened like it did yesterday, and I began to think that today might just wrap up peacefully.

But unfortunately, as soon as I thought that, a problem seemed to arise.

I turned my head, feeling a sense of déjà vu that had been bothering me since earlier.

As I looked around, I could see many shops and people moving about.

The faces of those in the market kept changing as people came and went.

But a few people were different.

For example, the three men behind me or the five men ahead of me.

I’ve been feeling it since this morning: they seem to be following us.

I’m not sure why, but these people haven’t left my line of sight since this morning.

Even when I move around, they’re always there, not far behind, no matter where I look.

It might sound like a huge delusion, but it doesn’t feel like one.

Those men have been staring at us nonstop.

Their gaze is so obvious that even when I glance at them, they don’t bother looking away.

Bliss, probably because she’s focused on the investigation, hasn’t noticed yet, but she has started looking around more frequently, so I think she’ll catch on to something soon.

What are these people?

Is it just regular stalking? Hmm… I don’t think so. It’s too many people to call it simple stalking.

It feels like there’s a specific purpose behind it.

It seems clear that these people definitely have some business with us. Since the moment I first saw them, their distance has been steadily closing.

It looks like they are slowly getting closer to us.

Ah, this won’t do. I was planning to ignore it for as long as I could, but now they’re close enough that I can’t pretend I don’t notice them anymore.

From now on, I need to find out what their intentions are.

“Are you done?”

“Yes.”

I approached Bliss, who had just finished investigating another shop, and said to her.

“Then let’s grab lunch. I’m getting hungry.”

“Shall we? The timing seems just right…”

I leaned in closer to her and whispered in a low voice.

“They’re following us. Three behind us, five ahead.”

Bliss seemed slightly surprised by my words, but she quickly smiled and said naturally,

“Where should we eat lunch?”

“I know a good place. Let’s go there.”

“Alright.”

“Follow me.”

As we walked together, I kept checking around us. I noticed that the people I had seen earlier were starting to move.

Just as I thought, they were definitely following us.

For now, let’s continue acting like we don’t notice them.

“So, how was it today? Did you get any results?”

“Well… nothing special, just the usual.”

We continued chatting while walking.

I figured a place with few people would be the best for questioning them.

I didn’t want any passersby to think that we were interrogating them, especially if word spread that the nuns were picking fights.

I kept walking towards a quieter area.

From the main road to a narrow alley, from the narrow alley into a dark corner.

I kept moving towards places with no people.

And then, after walking a bit further…

“It’s a dead end.”

We arrived at an alley where the path was blocked.

I looked around. The buildings on either side blocked any escape, and ahead of us was a massive wall.

Though the sky was bright, the surrounding area was dark due to the shadows cast by the large buildings.

With all three sides blocked, it seemed like no one would see what was happening here.

This place should work.

I turned my head backward.

And what I saw was…

“Wow, there are so many of them.”

The number of people had greatly increased since the last time I looked.

Earlier, there were only eight, but now it seemed like there were over twenty.

“Who are you?! Why have you been following us? Answer me!”

Bliss shouted in a loud voice, but they didn’t respond.

They just kept slowly approaching.

I quickly stepped in front of Reina, shielding her.

“If you come any closer, I’ll use force!”

Bliss shouted again, but their pace didn’t slow.

“Who are these people…?”

Bliss seemed a bit flustered by their disregard for her words. I stepped closer to her and said,

“They probably don’t want to answer, which is why they’re not responding.”

I raised my fist.

“Let’s knock them out first, then ask again.”

I would prefer to use a knife, but it could get out of hand if I accidentally killed one of them, so a punch should do.

I turned to Bliss and said,

“I’ll take care of half. You take care of the rest, okay?”

“Yes!”

Bliss raised her weapon, a morning star, and answered with determination.

Ugh, that looks like it could seriously kill someone if it hits wrong. Does she think it’s fine since she can heal any injuries?

I’m worried she might accidentally kill someone, but it’s probably fine.

Well, as long as it’s not me getting hit, I don’t mind.

“Alright, let’s go!”

I shouted loudly and charged at them.