Chapter 217.
"Ahahahaha! What an interesting sword! The blade can appear and disappear; this gives it a wide range of use tactically!" Elder Weger chased me with a cheery smile.
Certainly, it was very difficult for the opponent to grasp the length of the Holy Sword because it could become a dagger or a two-handed longsword depending on the amount of mana injected into it. At the same time, it was light and easy to use, so it was natural for it to be called one of the God Swords.
"Aren’t I skilled since I can use it well tactically?" I lightly joked.
Elder Weger laughed cheerfully. "Hahahaha! You are still a long way off! If you toil under me for a year, you will be able to handle it well!"
Elder Weger said something that gave me goosebumps. My god, I’ve seen Elder Weger’s disciples toil under him numerous times, so I’m not crazy enough to experience a hell like that. I’m the one who viewed Gawain hyung and Mac hyung’s suffering more closely than anyone else.
Since I was now on the street with the high-ranking nobles’ mansions, the buildings didn’t break easily despite me stepping quite vigorously. Of course, even so, the buildings would still be destroyed by the sword auras that Elder Weger and I were using to keep each other in check. In my hometown, aside from anything made of wood or stone, there were very few vulnerable things.
I measured my current position by looking at the palace in the distance. All right, I think that’s enough.
"Ahaha! Why are you stopping? Do you feel like going back to the village now?”
When I suddenly stopped running away and raised my Holy Sword, Elder Weger went on high alert. He knew I wasn’t one to stop fleeing suddenly, so he didn’t rush to approach me but rather tried to find out what was on my mind.
"No way, doesn’t Elder-nim know me well?"
At my words, Elder Weger asked with a little nervousness, "Yes, I know you very well. So what are you up to?"
"Ayy, what do you mean? It’s nothing."
I smiled brightly at the nervous Elder Weger and raised the Holy Sword. Then, I poured as much mana into the sword as I could.
"Come on, hold on, hold on!” Elder Weger raised his hand and tried to stop me as if he knew what I was going to do. Yet, the distance between Elder Weger and me was not within an arm’s reach.
"Hahahaha!" I wielded the now giant Holy Sword and shot blades of divine power from the Holy Sword everywhere like it was sword aura.
"Hey! You crazy bastard!" Elder Weger panicked and shot down the blades of divine power by shooting sword aura, trying to stop the blades from damaging the surrounding area as much as possible.
I quickly ran away again while Elder Weger was busy. Elder Weger would definitely block all of the attacks that I shot everywhere. Even if they weren’t all blocked, the most that would happen was that the luxurious houses would become unseemly.
I shot the blades of divine power to places where I didn’t sense anyone’s presence, so there was no problem. As long as Elder Weger and I keep my mouth shut, no one would know what happened here, so it wouldn’t matter anyway. No one can blame you unless you’re caught.
"Hey! Stop right there! I’ll kill you if I catch you!" It was very rare for Elder Weger, known for his gentleness, to be so angry.
"Hahaha, please calm down! Did something happen for you to get angry all of a sudden?" As I said so, I launched myself towards Count Druval’s mansion.
It was a mansion that still had defense magic made with expensive magic materials and catalysts, but I easily distorted it to create a gap and landed inside the mansion. Then I quickly closed the gap.
"You, you punk!" Elder Weger, lacking any magical knowledge, could not enter the mansion without touching these defensive magics.
Of course, Elder Weger could easily break through, but since it was made with expensive catalysts, it would be difficult to force his way quietly. In particular, as I had robbed his place before, Count Druval seemed to have ground his teeth and poured several times more money into its security.
"Elder-nim, did you know? The owner of this mansion is the owner of the Druval Market, which frequently trades with our village."
In fact, when I first arrived at the capital, I didn’t know that the Druval Market traded with my hometown. At most, I thought the Asteria Market did everything, but I was surprised to hear that the Druval Market was also one of the top markets.
I first learned about the Druval Market while working for the adventurer’s guild. Of course, I think I would have still robbed the place even if I had known about it.
"Kkeung!" [1]
After hearing this, Elder Weger looked at me perplexed. To catch me, he would have to destroy Count Druval’s mansion’s defense magic, possibly demolishing the mansion while he was at it. However, while considering not catching me, I could see at a glance that he wanted to apprehend me and make me suffer through hellish training.
Elder Weger spoke seriously as his hands were tied. "Even if you stay there, aren’t you just trapping yourself inside?”
Obviously, Elder Weger was staring at me with a murderous aura from outside the mansion, so I couldn’t move either. That is, on the surface, of course.
"Really? That is a big problem." I laughed merrily and hacked the defense magic that was plastered all over the mansion. Then, I activated the magic circles.
"It just so happens that this mansion says that it will play with Elder-nim instead of me. Good luck." I waved my hand and attacked Elder Weger with the defense magic circles.
By the way, the defense magic was insignificant. Pouring such expensive catalysts into the defense magic, they should have at least gotten the magic circles installed by a decent magician. It was pathetic enough for me to shake my head. At this rate, it was better to say that the magic circles were operating more due to the catalysts than the magic.
"Ayy, I’ll be generous and renovate it." I started overhauling the magic circle on the spot.
Thanks to there being much more catalysts than needed for the magic circle, there was no shortage of materials. When I started to renovate the magic circle, reactions began to appear outside the mansion in real-time.
"What?!” Elder Weger moved busily, startled by the sudden powerful attack.
After revamping the magic circle excitedly, I succeeded in increasing the defense to the point where it would take around 30 minutes for Elder Weger to break through. To do this, I used almost all the catalysts, and the life span of the magic circle only had 30 minutes left, but it’s not even my house, so who cares.
Since I didn’t own the house, I experimented with everything that I usually only speculated about. Still, they should be thankful since I created an impregnable fortress that no one would be able to penetrate for the next 30 minutes.
"Yes, yes, let’s go get some rewards to serve as the count’s appreciation.” I hummed my way into Count Druval’s mansion.
When the defense magic suddenly activated, the occupants of the mansion gathered together in the kitchen and were in hiding. Thanks to this, it was convenient because I didn’t have to sneak around avoiding people. Then, shall we see where the magic vault is?
"You’ve saved up a lot in the meantime."
Hidden under the walls and floors protected by security magic, the secret vault was filled with jewels. There was no cash, perhaps due to the belated knowledge of currency reform. There was certainly a reason why the count was called a big business tycoon. Of course, this was probably only a part of Count Druval’s slush fund.
"Wow! This painting is the legacy of Paleiso. I better take it."
There was a reason why etiquette was a compulsory subject for civil servants’ training. Noble etiquette included paintings, so after being taught, I was able to recognize such expensive items. As expected of a compulsory subject, it was useful.
Come to think of it, I have Count Druval’s corruption ledger in my pocket space. Should I sell it to my aunt for a high price? I’ll have to think about it because I’m too lazy to directly convert the slush funds myself.
Also, I couldn’t take the necklace called Crystal of Perfection or whatever last time because people kept hovering around it. This time, I could take it as payment for renovating the magic circle.
"All right, I think that’s enough to pay for the renovation of the magic circle." Lastly, I put the Crystal of Perfection in my pocket space and headed to Count Druval’s secret passage.
It seems that Elder Weger was also struggling quite a bit, considering the noise outside. I left the mansion as cautiously as I could, hiding my presence and mana. Elder Weger would be too hassled from dealing with the defense magic, but with his keen senses, I could potentially get discovered while fleeing through the secret passage.
As I slowly passed through the dust-filled secret passage to the exit, I emerged in a shabby house. "Cough! Ah, dust! Where is this?"
I lightly brushed off the dust with my hands and checked the map from my pocket space. Looking at the direction of the imperial palace, the walls and streets surrounding the capital, and the train station to the south, I found that I was in the slums of the capital’s outskirts.
"He connected the secret passage pretty far away." The slum in the north was a poor area, having a mountain at its back which made it unlikely to be invaded by a foreign enemy or attacked by someone.
After thinking about changing back to a suit from the clothes my aunt gave me, I decided to change at the palace. It was easier to move around in black clothes than suits, and it was less noticeable.
I hid my presence and mana as much as I could and quickly headed for the palace. I guessed that Hestia noona had left the palace by now. If so, then I would not meet my third sister even if I returned to the palace.
The slums that I had landed in through the secret passage were quite a long distance away from Count Druval’s mansion, where I had last battled Elder Weger. No matter if Hestia noona had Blackie, if she didn’t have a starting point to track my smell, there was no way she could pursue me in this vast capital.
"Bark! Bark! Bark!"
...Which is what I had thought.
Right when the palace was just around the corner, the barking of a dog could be heard in triple surround sound, and soon a three-headed mutt from the roof of a tall building looked down at me with a person on its head. Belatedly, a large shadow ran across the buildings, struggling to keep up, before standing next to my third sister.
"Oppa, aren’t you a bit too slow?"
At my third sister’s scolding, Gallahad hyung, arriving late, grumbled, "That mutt is fast; I’m not slow."
"Oppa, don’t call it a mutt because it has a nice name called Blackie. Don’t you think it’s nice?"
Hestia noona looked at me and asked while I shook my head. "Noona, if you have children, don’t name them yourself."
"Oh, that’s too mean."
Hestia noona really had no naming sense. And additionally, her sensibility was somewhat twisted. Well, most people in my hometown had twisted sensibilities.
"It’s been a while, by the way.” Hestia noona, riding on top of Blackie with her back to the moon, waved gently with a welcoming smile.
I couldn’t help but sigh. "Ehew, yeah. It’s been a while."
I didn’t want to, but it was the first family reunion in a long time.
1. Kind of like a ‘gasp’
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