Chapter 32: Alicia Arden (1)
8BT5IU7The death of a human was different from that of a beast.mOCf
3AiffIt was something obvious that she knew with her head from all the ethics lessons, but that realization only dawned on her when she cut someone for the first time.O47y
f50V“We can’t stop the blood!”FkudE
toebNH“But the non-lethal spell was there! How is this possible!”5ey92
3i8h29She remembered the first time she went to an actual fight. She remembered how she frowned after seeing the intestines and blood that were flowing out of the body of a Grade 5 demonic beast.83NX
FucIt felt unpleasant but that was it. She had ended its life while detesting the sight of the beast that had bloody foams on its mouth during its death.FNrH1
Q7L73However, the smell of human blood was unpleasant in a different sense.mV3v1W
hsAK“G, grkk…”hOH
79YIokXThe air felt different.EDlk
YV6EviThe smell was clinging on.SP7D2
yTzIws2It was her first time but she immediately noticed that this heavy stench was something that accompanied the disappearance of a life.BSLSuVe
KAbekE“N, no… I…”z9Ugltg
yrXMV93She couldn’t directly look at her opponent who probably had blood foams on their mouth. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t look at them.KVTYtwJ
RLse9Forcing herself to turn away from the horrifying and terrible scenery, she looked away and what entered her eyes then was a blade gleaming in darkness.5bayz
h0wxfT9The silver blade of the sword was giving off a black luster.QxffN
InkERThe beauty of that sword ended up stealing her attention.wUkvo
lDUGmyh……xUmIj
I83CzLL……EhjO4Hl
hXUwGau“Ah…”d3gA2H5
hRI58Her parched throat let out a dry groan. The sunlight shining through the window slowly awakened Alicia’s senses.XlUHv
2cO5CB“Ugh… so sweaty…”KfL
WiVfsHThe desire to sleep 5 more minutes and the desire to wash her drenched body – the one that came out on top in the internal contest was the latter.P3YT
fAafPutting her feet into the slippers on the floor, she slowly opened her hazy eyes and saw the bunk bed on the other side.49C
0M4It seemed that her roommates were outside somewhere.CL5
7zHAWHS“Oh right. I need to… work.”q4li
Xq49jsIt had already been 3 days since the end of the interim exams, and she had to clear missions to earn a living. After slowly getting ready, Alicia went to the mission board and looked for a decent job.YQDqq4
FNdqPW｢Patrol Mission｣– 6 hours1EUKBt
LQKK6WB– 20 silver coinseGC73
daDQYW｢Subjugation of a horned-rat nest｣– Approximately 4 hoursAmbb
zhw3bwo– 15 silver coinskb3UZqA
iTkvS｢Patrol in the Sewers｣– Approximately 5 hoursSVx3
zODCVDw– 25 silver coinsCFf3
BVou｢Looking for short-term bodyguard｣– 2 daysqSSj
hL3t– A Knight above Grade 3JvUtE
UxvuX– 50 silver coins. Accommodation and food will be provided.wWZ9b4
OxR｢Academic Research: Capturing a Beowulf｣– 70 silver coins.HE8
nCYagL“Hmm…”jeMvh6J
lS7The missions Alicia was looking for were all easy and convenient ones with less risk. Although it was normal for knights to look for risky missions that were half a level higher than their abilities, Alicia did not pay any attention to them.prn8tTJ
pkU｢Urgent: Looking for the Murderer of the City of Fog｣– Permission from the Department and a consultation from a professor required.mr4
1FektK“Ugh… That looks super dangerous.”Qclk
oclJohn Doe – the murderer from the City of Fog, Haze. It was said that he had infiltrated Merkarva City recently and everyone was in an uproar.Vvs
xco5There had even been an official announcement from the El Rath Kingdom and it seemed that elite students and the professors were employed to the search mission.e1rM
2FasThere were talks about elite parties being formed around the representatives of each year, Vampire Marie Dunareff and Beazeker the Berserker.IDM5HWD
GTfCdTWhatever the case, it had nothing to do with her.RRf2HJx
u2YLiving quietly without being swept into large events – that was the only thing Alicia wanted.TppV
lB0l“Beowulf…”kVLetJ
dsDzBShe had been in danger on the way to the city because of the interference of someone that had been trying to kill her, but it was a demonic beast that she could easily defeat with her skills.iHwKKk6
VgMxtSeeing the name, ‘Beowulf’, reminded her of the past.uMJa7L
cRVrwh“I wonder where the benefactor is now.”NnTO
k5CvqThinking of the person who saved her, Alicia touched the belt on her waist.7IPAa
fcbj****arrjInO
kGw“… This is the finished spear.”tm7W
Z7DLhH“Ohh~”0wi
r3c2On the weekend, I visited Ferghus’s smithy after hearing that the spear was finished and unveiled the cloth that was wrapped around the spear.5jItM7
mrKbwlO“Is this exactly as I ordered?”yflB
W7wRaPQ“Yes. How did you even know about the secret techniques of our family…”Si8D
aJaKQ“You don’t need to know.”CR4Yw7
1ed0One of the quests of the Truth behind the Blacksmiths – the Truth behind the Weapon Breaker had two choices.Zw8
ZGOOne of them was to enact justice by telling the world about his wrongdoings while the other was threatening Ferghus to take the hidden blueprint of his family. The justice route would lead to a forever farewell with this blueprint so I chose the latter.AacUc
tfWzAccording to the original storyline, Ferghus would be arrested after a while. I taught him a lesson this time around so if he didn’t rectify his own actions, then what happened in the future would be totally up to him.dif
taka“Anyway. Who exactly are you… sir?”LE3Yt
bdK4“Nn? Where’s this from?”Lj1wgw
CsSD“None of the magic stones that went into the spear are normal materials and yet the Academy gave them without any hesitation.”JMBJ
a8rIO1a“You mean that~”wVXfS5
g2tMAll the materials that went into the production of the spear were all precious. Including the Unique-Grade Soul Dust that I got, there were also Grade 2 Rune Stones and Grade 1 Refined Silver.rPTRerd
GlpFLsSilver Spear. Its full name was Spear of the Silver Knights of the Kingdom of Shadows. It was a Legendary ranked weapon which was one level below Epic.8FyJ
9voRefined Silver was one of the magic stones alongside the Unbreakable Stone (that was used for Alicia’s demon-slaying sword) that could withstand the risk of the ‘Domain’. Besides, it was a good conductor of aura and was thus one of the best materials for a weapon.HUtbYL
Tt2eUnlike the immensely expensive Unbreakable Stone which could barely be obtained towards the end of the story, Refined Silver was a lot more applicable for mass production.EnQoN9I
xH53It would cost hundreds of gold coins to make weapons like this using such expensive materials.nj2o0
FXjBut of course, none of the players would break through with money for all the materials, and the standard path was to use the materials that were accumulated throughout the quests to craft weapons.z4rpM
W8cSxFyHowever, I had the full support of the chairman behind me.LYNR4d
DXEGkEven though there were no Unique-Grade materials, the Academy did have more than enough Grade 1 and Grade 2 materials so they should have been more than willing to give them.5XQB61T
YZW“You don’t need to know about it. Where’s the money?”fvA0GMr
4db“…Here.”kFD
JBk2GMrAs he had promised, Ferghus gave me all the cash that he received from the Academy. The purse of 30 gold coins was very heavy.CQ7Uv
n17oRlt“Don’t even think about pulling tricks like that, and live an honest life. Otherwise, you’ll see me again, alright?”5wSBj
gFo“Huiik…!”qpyfsh
HjeLeaving behind the frightened Ferghus, I went to the client for the scheduled mission.sJ7frg
NS4V****SsC5HsK
eOrf“Grade 5 Knight? You can just be the porter then.”iA9
8aNN2CWhen I arrived at the meet-up location, the Grade 3 mage, Mr. Charlie said with a sigh after seeing my grade. Even though there were no grade limitations, he probably wasn’t expecting a Grade-5-nobody to come.HES41
92HLLwIt was a 3-man party composed of the party leader, Charlie, a Grade 3 and a Grade 4. The party was complete with the addition of 2 students.QYs5x
7GAhD8BThe three of them were official guardians that had been dispatched from the Guardian Alliance, and the reason they had been looking for students as their party members was simple.1Wts
CQzeVcR“Damn it. Am I not too old to look after kids?”TLOXYfr
vVA3“What can we do? It’s just the Alliance policy.”ApLm9
TEKuGuardian academies had matching interests with the Guardian Alliance. The Guardian Alliance’s job was to assist in the fostering of young guardian aspirants, which included adding students to delegations like this.PKvdV
R74Although we did get paid less than the official guardians of the party, it was true that they had to shoulder more burden.818y
4AB“I wish those damn higher-ups would think about our circumstances as well.”wvU
sTgTherefore, it was natural for them to have such attitudes.6n2F9
b1vdbO“Umm…”czj
4neiV“Ah, of course we weren’t saying that to you. You are the granddaughter of the Sword Emperor after all.”yOfgejw
8C6V“Uhh…”3FyROWo
QPOWas it a coincidence? …Or was this another butterfly effect? It wasn’t just me that took this mission and Alicia was also here.IIKW6Rf
FKAs“What a coincidence.”0GzOS
k3lST“Ah, Mr. Korin… Hello.”xQraX
OhuI definitely wasn’t expecting our first re-encounter after the interim exam to be during this mission.9rGB8U
hhasIFC｢Academic Research: Capturing a Beowulf｣– 70 silver coins.MnUWbo6
gw3nbYySeeing this mission on the mission board which gave about 700 US dollars as reward, I finally realized that it was time.xDXAK
t7JScNqIt was about mid-April. Time-wise, it was right before the last event of the 1st Arc in the original storyline, but the early conclusion to Marie’s incident and the encounter event with Lunia Arden meant that the 2nd Arc had already begun.d8uG
wm1pqThe first main event of the early portions of the 2nd Arc was the ‘subjugation of the Murderer of the City of Fog’.nIC4Otv
XOY3Do8The original scenario was about the player party chasing after the crazy serial killer that Marie couldn’t catch at the end of the 1st Arc. The infamous knight-killer, John Doe, of Haze the City of Fog was brought back to the surface through the beowulf capturing mission.dRaDX3Z
ifl7QOn the week of that said mission, if the player did not choose the beowulf capturing mission and went with a different one, they would hear news of how the other party that had been trying to capture the beowulf had been annihilated.ubbFr
szrOn the other hand, if they went with the beowulf mission, they would come across the murderer, John Doe in the process, and enter a fight before successfully chasing him out.yNfcAX
yJwIfcWhatever the case, the player would receive the official document from the El Rath Kingdom and enter the investigation party.jl8Eg
Zb8KqAt a glance, the guardians of the beowulf mission were just there to be killed for the advancement of the main scenario, but there was also a chain quest and a backstory.I5KgPU1
kMPAThe Grade 3 party leader Mr. Charlie had a daughter. Her name was Ms. Sheryl the florist, and she would give a quest about finding Charlie’s necklace for a keepsake.RbLIIQO
D45aQMs. Sheryl the florist was a nice person. She was someone who volunteered at medical stations for orphans in the streets and I also had a connection with her in the last iteration.gyMN
WD8H『You look very sad. Would you like a flower? It’s a leftover so don’t worry about the price.』zPs
nZxFighting against dangerous enemies with my life constantly on the line, there were times when I sometimes felt very depressed. A single flower given by a nameless stranger was sometimes enough to ring your heart.xBikVIc
7mlMm6o‘I’ll just think of this as repayment for that flower.’stQ2w
t9dBesides, this incident was also related to the future scenario as well as the ‘Precept.’fOo
rkdMs. Sheryl was a nice person in both the game and the last iteration. I had to prevent the misfortune of her losing her father and also do some prep work on John Doe.9Li
YHyqeDue to the special traits of John Doe, it was impossible for me to catch him alone. It wasn’t a matter of strength, and it was because his specialty was being exceptional at ‘Stealth’.pPcC1
7pqUgI could kill him in a matter of 10 seconds if he was in front of my eyes, but he won’t ever show himself.CEA
AIwCz1The key was someone who could see through his specialty, ‘Thin Mist’, and penetrate through his stealth.ZOB4Dk
qWXsRS“Alicia.”eTYsRu
h7A73jl“Yes?”sXqQ
Zpn“How’s your eyes?”3OCbX
KbV“…”nSniC4
31x‘Why was he asking that question?’ That was the question in her gaze.V9kLqZ
yGeyThere was a reason why Alicia still couldn’t – or rather ‘didn’t – use her eyes.FmCa
Ve5eA4It was predictable considering Alicia’s character but it was something that wasn’t clear at this stage in time back when it was a game. I could voice it out loud and talk to her about it but… she would probably just deny it.iHdu
1DiA7“Uhh… What do you mean? My eyes are perfectly normal.”mf4mM82
d3oVi“You know that’s not what I’m asking.”MrOBnc
WOa“……Did you hear from my sister?”VFR
c70“By chance.”9NS
xis3Of course, Lunia didn’t say anything to me but that wasn’t important.GoV6az
uUjP“You have to hurry. Your sister is serious. She will seriously try to crush you so that you can’t hold your sword ever again.”Ljy0ebc
Vw1W2LkThe fight for hierarchy between beasts was very brutal. It wouldn’t end until one side was down and that was the same for the Ardens because the Arden household was a family of such beasts.Pw96
sSjaz“…I can just stop using the sword then.”c3j
ndPK7“As if.”V2tyj0U
ig2gPuIn response to my mutter, Alicia stared at me with a frown.Lzzm4RW
gqpMpnShe appeared to be asking what was so funny, but I still remembered the unkempt and clumsy look on her face.H09f
oFVFAs well as the bewitched look in her eyes.tcyf
l4lx60y“You can’t abandon your sword. Ever.”UdPm0
QNKThat was just the way of the scenario of this world and her nature as a human. Oftentimes, humans had a characteristic that they couldn’t ever run away from.IC2j
KCCA5WAlicia was someone with talents that befitted her surname, Arden, more than anyone else in the world.b4usR7
vKb****K2n5q
RuB4wInside the beowulf nest were two beowulfs and around 20 short hounds. The party skilfully dealt with the short hounds and one of the beowulfs but things started going strange.Zgmkri
mC1sr“What the hell! Why are there so many of them!”VeGj
AEo053W“Where are they even coming from!”oz6t
QPnaoA sudden fog started enshrouding them and a horde of demonic beasts began endlessly swarming out of the fog.6oH
djJQc8“Hanson! Where’s that Grade 5 kid!”63i2g
z7HL“I don’t know! Now is not the time for that! The lady from Arden is holding on quite well but…!”UXv2n8
3BE1eeTAlicia was doing an excellent job against the demonic beasts. Using her innate physical talents and her phenomenal swordsmanship, she was killing at least one monster with each of her strikes.36PP
2ec8RSAlthough her sword was ridiculously sharp, her skills themselves were also incomparably greater than that of other guardians.XlROl2c
hzdNIg‘Where are they all coming from? It’s not just demonic beasts; there are also spirits! This place shouldn’t have so many demonic spirits though!’SmI
2KxYDemonic spirits were mostly the souls of dead people that remained behind in the mortal world that eventually became demonified. Although it was possible for the souls of dead animals to become one, most of them were humans because they needed to have a strong resentment to stay behind and become a demonic spirit.iXqnK
GOOZiJThus, it was rare to see a lot of demonic spirits in an inhabited area.QGSA
gxWDaxThis felt intentional. Alicia was thinking that when she sensed someone approaching from the other side of the fog.YZrg
HgAa“Mr. Korin?”Ldqmm
Tp17GThinking that it was her comrade that she lost track of during the chaos of the fight, Alicia welcomed the incoming person. She wasn’t that concerned in the first place because he was stronger than herself, but checking his safety still made her relieved.olN9yVb
1GFJcn“Guwoooo…!”3iF95i
3tYFu“Uht?”0k8
eUgHowever, what she saw after turning around was a person in full plate armor. Korin preferred light armor so it was probably not him, and the shivering aura it was giving off was as if it was…WBTdNP
4qV“A demonic spirit?”mnpyD
cX2Lfi– Kaang!0sd7
4cakGIn the blink of an eye, the full-plated man swung the ax down as Alicia blocked it with her demon-slaying sword.aWP
jKyoxCW‘This weight! It’s not a demonic spirit! It’s a knight!’HWmk
mobW“Why are you attacking us!”DLoT1
4vh6Z9HA person – a guardian – was attacking them.VUKNnP
6ta4hWhy? Doubt appeared in her mind but Alicia didn’t linger on the topic.dI1RESc
gTpjgo“Move!”k5kSt
XdxUpShe kicked the armor as the knight fell back. The knight’s body was wobbling more than she expected and did not even have a clear sense of balance.Z8JuU2
6DHFg0“Step aside! I will cut you next time!”thV
NwlGJDespite her warning, the armored knight did not fall back. While threatening her with the ax, the knight attempted to kill her.Zzb
n4ZYETJ“Uhk…!”1rg8
TQYThe knight was stronger than she expected and was as tough as a monster. Seeing how both the aura and the equipment weren’t that good, the man should be a Grade 4 Knight at best so how was he so strong?T0Iv
XdoOHowever, that didn’t mean she couldn’t overpower him. She was about to hold herself back a little and attack but that was when a large mace came flying in from the side.x7Ms
RW0WV“Kiieeeeeeeh!”Lf1
QzdAX“Uhht?!”hFNhR
BuXD– Slam!oklHdlO
YesG“??!”c1u21
R3dfFYShe used her aura to block the attack but she couldn’t completely absorb the impact. By the time she hurriedly stood back up after rolling across the floor, the knight carrying an ax was already swinging it towards her.9qD73
Gobg5f“N, no…!”N7Gu8
IBpIt was too late to dodge and she was too late to respond. Drawing near was an unavoidable sense of dea—u3Nz
53t– Slash!ABZDFrN
ztYJKsA head popped up into the air. After a while, it followed the law of gravity and fell on the ground.BQYKpg
4j7oH9Thick drops of blood splattered onto her face as Alicia widened her eyes into circles. In that instant, the sword that she instinctively swung had easily slashed through the neck of the armored knight.AjMfz
IzHAAj– Chiiiik!oYnM2
pST7Like iron dropped in magma, the scorching blade was tainted and gleamed in black instead of silver.96Vrp
pBQRQ“Haak… haak…!”K77
tDdKmWN, no. I, I killed a person…fed4ZT
hE2x“Kuwaaaa!”OJ3Aar
U139The knight who had swung the mace at Alicia thumped its way towards her. As soon as the mace soared into the air and was about to strike down at the defenseless girl…mqbBNF
04kGc– Kwaduk!EvlP
c0hHA white spearhead pierced through the visor of the knight’s helmet and came out the other side.tc6a
VgD7uY8Blood was dripping from the tip of the spear. Soon, the spear retreated out of the hole after killing the knight in one blow.9t7wP
N42qyvp“M, Mr. K, Korin…”zKd
nMjzKM“Why are you staying still?”dVS
T7CPQY“I, I… killed a…”eVbbl9
ppXL“Don’t hold back. These things are not people.”zSxfm
KSZ“They’re… not people?”0YuWB4G
RwQC“It’s an undead raised up with black magic.”KB7sU5q
iVNKrGcIt was true. Taking off the helmet of the deceased knight, she found a rotten and decomposed face.hB39
TLuL30K“Ah…”j3Eex8e
JoJxzA sigh of relief left her mouth. Her heart was starting to beat again.YiAUpvf
IZQ7“You stupid brat! I told you to stay with us! There are undeads as well! Where the hell were you…”C0F6c
f36xIThat was when the mage, Charlie, came running out of the fog and shouted before shutting his mouth mid-way.fEfAN
WYY5Zk“M, Mr. Charlie. I, I’m fine.”wlW
UyQ4Tv“U, uhh…”tnZ3
yfBakAfter seeing Alicia, Charlie gulped and took a step back.ITnEYq0
uooC— Alicia was smiling.eLmyL
UWJlNUDHer crooked lips were forming a terrifying smile. Dripping from the corners of her lips was a spooky sense of remorse as if it was a pity that the opponent wasn’t a human.43R
M8gz“I told you… You can’t abandon your sword.”qt2ccM
z5SBK3bIt was neither the Eyes of the Boundary nor her swordsmanship.NZel0lv
4DUlThe talent of a human-killing ghost:s2X1
Sj2That was the true talent of the girl called Alicia Arden.eoNofn
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