Chapter 262: The Strongest Bronze (XII)

‘Wait…’

Samimi immediately sensed the tension between the Twin Heroes. It was far from friendly.

This provided her with the perfect opportunity to exercise her eloquence and gather more information.

Blue Ghost seemed a bit reckless, but only to a certain extent.

After all, she was designed with a “Sage” setting; her intelligence wasn’t low, but she belonged to the type of warrior who disdained using schemes.

She would rather be beaten to death than resort to conspiracies and plots, determined to carve out a path in the world with her nodachi.

These elemental nodachi masters were actually quite simple in their conduct. They didn’t seek material enjoyment, as their blades were their everything.

The only thing that could truly break their composure was having their nodachi outperformed, their blades failing them, or their beliefs being trampled upon.

When she thought about it carefully, it made sense. As a nodachi master, what could be more painful than having someone else snatch the title of Sword Master away from her? That would be more agonizing than death.

Looking at their character archetypes, they didn’t care about being Heroes or anything related to the Hero’s path. What they truly cared about was the title of Sword Master.

‘Ho ho, if that’s the case, this will be easy.’

I, Samimi, have already grasped the enemy’s lifeline. As expected, it takes a villain to deal with the world’s problems.

*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*

On the training grounds, Niubao and Red Ghost had already begun an exhilarating exchange of blades. There were almost no identifiable techniques; it was a clash of pure instinct as they parried and struck.

The Golden Spear and Paladin Sword against the nodachi and the Azure Moon—a true display of flashing steel and shadows as they traded blows. The onlookers couldn’t take their eyes off the spectacle.

Every exchange was a brush with the limit. Just as it looked like a strike would land, it was parried away. In this manner, they traded over one hundred strikes in succession.

“Wonderful! I didn’t expect you to be able to duel me to this extent. This is interesting. I’m going to get serious now!” Red Ghost laughed loudly.

“Stop right there. We aren’t fighting anymore. We’re going home to sleep,” Samimi shouted to stop the fight, immediately interrupting the battle.

Niubao stopped instantly. Even when faced with the incoming flash of the blade, he didn’t counter.

“Huh?” Red Ghost cried out in surprise, her tone filled with confusion. She felt as if she had been forced to stop mid-motion, which was incredibly uncomfortable.

She wasn’t the only one; the surrounding adventurers watching the spectacle felt the same way. An epic battle had been abruptly terminated. How were they supposed to sleep tonight?

Samimi turned around, preparing to leave, but a cold, gleaming blade was suddenly placed against her shoulder, blocking her path.

“What is the meaning of this?” Blue Ghost asked through gritted teeth, her expression fierce.

“We originally came to participate in the trial, but I think it’s boring now, so I want to go home,” Samimi said calmly. “Surely we’re allowed to go home, right?”

“You damned Priestess… do you even understand the rules?” Blue Ghost stared at Samimi, wishing she could just hack her down.

This manipulative Priest Girl annoyed her greatly, but she fit her stereotypical impression of those hypocritical clergy members perfectly.

“What rules? Are you saying we aren’t allowed to refuse the trial? Do we have to take it? Do we have to join the group? Or are you planning to forcibly detain us?” Samimi countered.

“You aren’t leaving this place today without giving me an explanation,” Blue Ghost growled.

However, Niubao already had his twin swords pointed at Blue Ghost’s back. At the same time, Blue Ghost’s large nodachi was resting on Niubao’s shoulder, the blade angled toward his neck.

“Then kill me,” Samimi said. “I have nothing to explain to you. This is your territory. Kill me or do as you wish.”

“You think I won’t touch you?” Blue Ghost asked coldly.

“Don’t do anything reckless. If anything happens to the Priestess, I guarantee your entire guild won’t survive,” Niubao threatened, his Paladin Sword shimmering with a cold light.

‘Niubao?’ Samimi was quite moved by his words.

It wasn’t because Niubao was protecting her—that was expected. What moved her was that Niubao actually knew how to talk so tough.

“Niubao, don’t move! It wasn’t easy to find a worthy opponent. I don’t want our duel to end like this!” Red Ghost shouted, trying to mediate.

“Red Ghost, don’t you see yet? They came here to humiliate us! They never intended to join us at all!” Blue Ghost shouted back.

“You still have the nerve to blame us? We defeated one instructor, then a second one, and now we’re fighting a third. Is it not enough that we want to stop? I think you’re the one who never intended to let us join! You’re just discriminating against demi-humans! You’re discriminating against Priests!” Samimi retorted.

“This…” Blue Ghost was momentarily speechless.

Another fool trying to win a verbal argument with a Rice Bug. In the end, they would likely be slaughtered by Samimi until nothing remained. To this day, no one had ever been able to best her in an argument.

Clearly, everything she said was twisted logic and nonsense. Clearly, Blue Ghost hadn’t thought that way and had no intention of discriminating against demi-humans, but when Samimi said it, it sounded remarkably convincing.

Besides, did it matter if she had thought those things or not? What she thought wasn’t important at all.

What mattered was what the audience thought. If everyone felt she was being discriminatory, then she was. No matter how much she tried to defend herself, she could only take the loss in front of the Rice Bug.

Looking at the surrounding adventurers, their expressions had indeed changed. Their gazes were filled with suspicion, and they were clearly dissatisfied with the First Guild treating a cute Priestess this way.

The era of looking down on Priests had long since passed. It was precisely because everyone used to discriminate against the Holy See, thinking that keeping a Priest in a wild party was a waste of wages, that the Priests had collectively withdrawn from the South.

Now look what happened. No one had a healer in their party. The rising difficulty of the abyss led to a direct increase in the death rate of adventurers. With no Priests to heal those fools, they had to endure their injuries or simply die.

At a time like this, when the Great Expedition was being prepared, the First Guild was still out here bullying a Priestess? Had they lost their minds?

“Fine, fine, fine. I can’t win an argument with you.” Red Ghost looked at the expressions of the other adventurers and was so angry she laughed.

It was true that their actions were somewhat outside the rules, and they did look down on demi-humans a bit, but for someone to openly state it in such a manipulative way—this little girl’s heart was truly black.

This farce seemed impossible to resolve cleanly. No matter what happened, they would lose face today.

“Everyone, stop. Young people are full of vigor and sometimes lose their way. Let’s talk things over. Everyone, put your weapons down.”

At that moment, another person emerged from the First Guild’s ranks to act as a peacemaker.

It was a handsome man with long hair wearing a white windbreaker. He had squinty eyes and a smile on his face. He looked like the type who was very good at socializing—an elite among elites.

He was exactly the kind of expert meant to deal with people like Samimi who specialized in twisted logic.

However, Samimi could tell this person was not simple. She immediately grew wary. He no longer felt like an ordinary person; he was an experienced veteran who treated people according to their worth—a truly slippery character.

This man in the windbreaker carried a familiar aura, the same pure adventurer quality that Azure Moon Rampaging Dragon possessed. He was a natural-born adventurer.

Furthermore, after Red Ghost and Blue Ghost saw this young man—who, aside from being somewhat handsome, didn’t have many distinct features—they immediately restrained themselves. This made Samimi even more certain.

This man was one hundred percent a Level 5 Adventurer!

A Level 5 Adventurer was not a powerhouse Samimi could handle right now. At most, she could ensure she wasn’t killed, but she couldn’t afford a confrontation yet.

Recently, the major guilds had been forming their own divisions, so it was only natural for them to summon back the legendary Level 5 Adventurers.

“Young members of the Holy See, today’s matter was our fault. On behalf of the Sorrowful Knife guild, I apologize to you both.” The man in the windbreaker pushed Blue Ghost’s blade aside and cupped his hands toward Samimi in apology, giving her plenty of face.

Everyone knew that the Rice Bug was famous for being soft-hearted when treated with kindness but stubborn when met with force. If someone apologized sincerely, she would immediately turn into a softie.

“I accept your apology. Then we won’t stay any longer.” Samimi prepared to leave with Niubao.

“I saw this demi-human Nun’s skills from above just now. They are quite remarkable. I sincerely invite you both to join our First Guild,” the man in the windbreaker invited.

“I need to compare my options. I’ll go wherever the benefits are better. I’ll decide after I’ve checked out other guilds,” Samimi said with a smile.

After saying that, she and Niubao made to leave.

The members of the First Guild didn’t dare block their way again.

At that moment, Blue Ghost crossed her arms and whispered a mocking remark: “Coward.”

“What did you say?” Samimi’s feet seemed to be glued to the ground as she stopped and turned back to ask.

“I said you’re a coward,” Blue Ghost repeated.

“Blue Ghost, don’t be like that,” the man in the windbreaker broke into a cold sweat and hurried to stop her, trying to prevent the situation from escalating.

Young people these days were all incredibly arrogant and couldn’t handle the slightest grievance.

However, his assessment was correct. It wasn’t just his Twin Heroes who were like that; the sweet-looking Priestess before him was the same.

As for Samimi, while she enjoyed mocking and irritating others every day, she was also a “high attack, low defense” type of person. She couldn’t stand even a tiny bit of mockery; a single sentence from someone else could make her explode.

“I have things to do tomorrow. Let’s make it the day after tomorrow. A duel between us pairs. If you lose, you become our Rice Bug. Do you dare to accept?” Samimi asked with a smile.

“I’m just afraid you’ll run away in the middle of the night tomorrow!” Blue Ghost laughed.

“If you don’t dare to accept, then forget it. Stop pretending,” Samimi turned to walk away.

“Who says I don’t dare to accept! Do you think our Twin Heroes would be afraid of two lowly saints? The day after tomorrow! Two-on-two! One match to decide it all! Whoever doesn’t show up is a coward!” Blue Ghost roared, making sure everyone present heard her clearly.

The man in the windbreaker lowered his head, utterly speechless and feeling a splitting headache coming on.

“Remember to wash your backsides the day after tomorrow.” Samimi remained calm. Satisfied with the answer, she led Niubao away.

“What is your name?” Blue Ghost questioned her retreating figure.

“My name is Savage Pain. I’m just a passing-by Battle Priest,” Samimi replied without looking back.

The other adventurers and the members of the First Guild were still immersed in the brief verbal spar.

Who would have thought there would be such an interesting drama right before the Great Expedition?

The word spread quickly, and soon the entirety of Super-large Barracks No. 20 knew about the matter.