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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 19
The expedition force pushed the front line forward as they advanced.
Louise's assault team was fighting diligently from the rear, looking for an opening, while I killed monsters in moderation among the soldiers, passing the time.
No sign of a leader among the monsters in the first wave.
After analyzing the species distribution of the desert beasts that had gathered, it was presumed that the boss of this wave would be of the snake or worm variety.
But nothing fitting that description had appeared so far.
“Damn, it’s hot.”
“You okay?”
“Ugh!”
Startled, I choked on my water and spat it out.
I was muttering curses to myself when Reuben suddenly popped up behind me.
Why is he here alone when all the other knights are over there?
“I was on my way back from reporting to the higher-ups.”
Can he read minds?
“Ah, I see. What’s the assessment this time?”
“Well, it’s a bust. We didn’t expect a boss to show up for this wave anyway. The goal was more about clearing out mid-tier beasts.”
“I see.”
I was starting to wonder if I’d come for nothing.
Even standing still, sweat dripped down, and I felt my stamina draining.
Every moment, the discomfort hit its peak.
“But you handle a sword better than I expected.”
Reuben looked at me like I was some strange animal.
Can’t blame him—he’s seen me talk to wolves, hustle desert nomads at their own games, and now wield a sword well…
Even I’d be curious about someone like that.
[Havenberg Swordsmanship – Beginner Level]
The essence of all that is Havenberg Arzen’s swordsmanship. As proficiency increases, so does understanding of the blade.
-Proficiency: 41.8475%
Proficiency increases with each swing of the sword.
Already approaching 50%.
I’d gained a lot of proficiency by killing monsters.
“I practiced a lot of swordsmanship when I was young.”
“And now?”
“I swing a sword occasionally. As a hobby.”
“Shame. Watching you, I’d say you’ve got some real talent.”
He looked at me with genuine disappointment.
Does he seriously want to make me a knight or something?
After the break, the expedition resumed its movement deeper into the desert.
The deeper we went, the shorter the intervals between monster appearances—and the stronger they became.
“Ugh...!”
A venomous stinger shot out from the ground and grazed my foot.
Crack!
I immediately drove my sword into the sand, killing a scorpion hiding beneath.
Looks like a monster buried in the sand managed to slip past the front-line soldiers.
Maybe this is why the desert nomads stressed wearing sturdy footwear, even if you skip armor.
I let my guard down.
Being in the rear made me subconsciously careless.
Luckily, this level of poison could be treated easily by a cleric.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. I heard the gravekeeper volunteered for this expedition. I admire your spirit.”
The cleric smiled as she healed my foot.
I thanked her again and stepped outside the temporary tent.
I spotted Louise’s assault team warming up nearby.
Huh?
Then I noticed something was wrong.
A commotion had broken out.
Hot sand burst into the air and scattered among the soldiers.
Mutant Black-Backed Scorpion...!
A monster the size of ten camels combined.
Its back was pitch black, but the rest of its body blended in with the sand.
“Let’s go!”
Louise’s spirited voice rang out.
Mounted on battle camels, his team charged at the scorpion at high speed.
Seeing that, I rushed toward the soldiers.
Crack! Crunch! Swish!
Before, I had just swung my sword halfheartedly, but this was different.
Thump– thump– thump– thump–
My heart pounded like crazy.
Even when I’d faced desert beasts twice my size, I hadn’t felt this kind of fear.
What the hell is going on with me?
Louise was supposed to return safely from this expedition.
That was an unchangeable truth.
It had to be.
Then why was my heart beating like it was broken?
Gritting my teeth, I slipped into the formation among the soldiers.
As sand filled the air and scattered like mist, I saw Louise through it, striking the scorpion’s carapace with his sword.
The shell was thick, but the gaps between were weak.
Louise knew that perfectly, and his blade slipped right into the opening.
Splash—!
Yellow liquid burst out.
Maybe I was worried for nothing.
Louise’s assault team nimbly dodged the scorpion’s attacks and continued their offensive.
Louise relentlessly targeted the weak spots between the carapace, landing effective blows.
He’s got some serious talent.
His swordsmanship was nothing short of Brillant.
And there was a reason for that.
[Louise Heretia]
-Trait: Sword Talent
-Skills: Brillant Kingdom Swordsmanship – Intermediate, Heretia Swordsmanship – Beginner
-Strength: 10.8
-Agility: 12.1
-Stamina: 13.6
-Sense: 9.7
-Vital Energy: 5.1
Judging by his stats, he was slightly below knight level, but he had a unique trait—Sword Talent.
[Sword Talent]
You are gifted with natural talent in swordsmanship.
Learn sword techniques faster than ordinary people.
That must be why his swordsmanship improved so quickly.
The quality of his instructors probably helped too.
Wait—Heretia Swordsmanship?
The Heretia royal family had their own sword art?
Even in my past life, I’d never heard of that.
Among the Heretias of the Brillant Kingdom’s royal family, no one wielded a sword properly—except Louise.
And I’d always heard that his mastery was just in the standard Brillant Kingdom Swordsmanship...
What the hell?
But this wasn’t the time to worry about that.
The situation was going better than expected.
Louise’s team looked like they were about to take down the mutant black-backed scorpion.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
My heartbeat quickened even more.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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The battlefield started to come into focus, as if I were looking down from the sky.
Gulp—
I swallowed dryly and looked around.
The battlefield still looked the same as it did moments ago.
But every sense in my body was reacting sharply.
What is this?
Something out of place caught my eye as my pupils darted rapidly.
Far off in the distance, I saw the ground tremble for a moment.
I don’t even know how I noticed it.
No—there was no time to think about that.
My body was already moving toward Louise.
Rumbleeeee—!
Sand shot up from the desert.
It was like a sandstorm, with particles scattering into the air and blurring the view.
Louise, who was about to thrust his sword into a scorpion’s neck, turned to me with a startled face.
The ground beneath our feet lifted, and sand fell in heaps.
Lifted along with it, I slipped on something and fell hard to the ground.
“Grrk!”
I got up immediately and ran toward Louise, glancing back as I did.
A massive, dark-colored worm burst from beneath the earth, revealing its body.
At that moment, everyone on the battlefield must have instinctively realized—
That monster was the leader of the beasts causing this wave.
* * *
Scarlett Arzen had joined the expedition with a bit of anticipation.
She thought it might be fun to fight the leader of the southern desert beasts.
Prince Louise had caught her interest as well—he seemed to have considerable talent in swordsmanship, even among the Brillant royal family.
They had chatted a bit on the way here and agreed to have a duel sometime later.
She found him likable, and so had decided to look out for him in case of danger.
Louise was the only one who seemed remotely interesting on this expedition.
But then, an unexpected figure caught her attention.
Ren Arzen.
An illegitimate child of the family head who had shamelessly entered the family, only to be driven out not long after.
She had heard he’d settled down in Brillant and was working as a gravekeeper.
But his name kept coming up.
“Do you know someone named Ren Arzen?”
Prince Louise had asked.
“A gravekeeper named Ren Arzen lured away the black wolves and protected the soldiers,”
Some knights said, spreading strange stories about him.
“That bastard! Ren Arzen? That damn gravekeeper—he made fools of us! I won’t let it slide!”
Even knights from the Baran Empire were angrily shouting that they'd been humiliated by a mere gravekeeper.
Hearing his name again and again, Scarlett started to grow curious about Ren Arzen.
He came to the desert and quietly worked—gathering corpses, moving and burying them.
While observing him, she noticed something strange.
…What the?
The tribal chief Alvai, who usually had no interest in humans, was looking at him with a peculiar gaze.
Even the knights, who were known for dismissing anyone weaker than them, seemed to respect him.
The mercenaries were already following his lead.
The more she watched, the more curious she became.
Then, suddenly, he joined the battle.
Scarlett watched him with growing interest.
He didn’t fight on the front lines, but he smoothly cut down the monsters that slipped through to the back.
It was a completely different Ren Arzen than she remembered.
‘Ren, huh… what a funny guy.’
The way he killed the monsters leaking from the frontlines was almost amusing.
He acted like he was training—frowning when his sword swings weren’t clean, and visibly smiling when they were.
‘He can tell the difference…’
The difference between a skilled and unskilled swordsman shows in their eyes.
The ability to discern true swordsmanship.
Ren Arzen had that eye.
‘Why was someone like him… kicked out like a fool?’
Just from what she saw now, he was better than most of the idiots in the family.
Even in the Arzen family, the continent’s most renowned sword lineage, there were plenty of imbeciles.
Sometimes she wished she could just cut off their arms and kick them out herself.
Then, Ren’s expression hardened.
She looked in the direction he was staring.
Louise’s squad was fighting a mutant.
Nothing seemed wrong.
They should return safely after defeating the scorpion.
So why that expression?
Could it be… he thinks Louise is in danger?
Just as her impression of Ren was about to drop—
She saw him staring blankly at something.
Then, he started running.
‘What’s he…’
Scarlett’s eyes widened.
Something ominous was crawling beneath the ground, already dangerously close.
‘I didn’t notice it…!’
Was she too distracted by Ren?
He was already moving toward Louise, and that massive worm beneath the earth had now cut between them and the main force.
Rumbleeeee—!
Sand burst into the air.
The huge worm blocked the path, hiding Louise’s squad and Ren from sight.
Scarlett kicked off the ground and leapt.
She infused her sword with energy and slashed through the air.
At the same time, the creature’s tail lashed out, sending a wave of sand toward them.
“Grrk…!”
Her sword energy split the sand and struck the worm, but only left a shallow scratch.
The battlefield quickly became chaos.
No one had expected the wave’s boss monster to appear so soon.
And the pressure radiating from that dark worm was more terrifying than anyone imagined.
Normally, they would have retreated and regrouped to minimize casualties—but that thought never crossed Scarlett’s mind.
‘This is fun…!’
A strong enemy encounter—it made her heart race.
After all, she had come here for this—to fight the strong.
But unlike her expectations, the massive worm rubbed its body against the sand a few times and then burrowed into the ground, disappearing into the dusty haze.
“Damn it, the worm ran.”
She clicked her tongue in frustration and spat on the ground.
Then, she remembered Louise and Ren.
‘Wait…’
As she regained her focus and looked around, no matter where she searched—
She couldn’t see either of them.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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