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[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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Chapter 13: A Fleeting Revelation (1)
Murmur, murmur—.
It was only at daybreak that we finally arrived outside the city.
Beyond the walls of Dungard, wagons and travelers had gathered, all preparing to leave for other cities.
Passing through the chatter of bustling adventurers, I approached an old man leaning against a cart.
“I’m looking for a wagon headed to the Free City of Veritas."
“Veritas?”
The old man chuckled, revealing yellowed teeth that reeked of decay.
“Just hop on any wagon here! Nine times out of ten, they’re all headed to Veritas!”
Ah…
As I mentioned before, I had never visited Dungard at this point in the timeline.
Even in the game, there had simply never been a way to get here this early.
So, I’d been quietly worried about the lack of transport to Veritas—but as luck would have it, this seemed to be a major migration season for adventurers.
Lucky break.
If wagons had been in short supply, I might’ve had to pay a small fortune.
“Hey.”
Just as I was lost in thought, the old man called out again.
“If you’re heading to Veritas, how about taking my wagon? I just so happen to be going there myself.”
“What’s your price?”
“Let’s see… including your companion, if you give me two million shillings— Wait! Hey! Where are you going?!”
I walked right past him without saying a word.
“A wise decision,” Adelia, who had been following close behind, chimed in. “Unless transport is scarce, fares to Veritas would be around 500,000 shillings at most.”
“……”
“Still, that man is a fool. If he wanted to scam someone, he should’ve lied and said no wagons were heading to Veritas at all.”
Chatter-chatter—.
Adelia kept talking to herself after that, muttering about how someone with such a dim head managed to survive long enough to grow old.
Watching her go on, I chuckled to myself inwardly.
Adelia…
Sorry, but the reason I walked past that old man had nothing to do with prices.
It happened while Adelia and I were moving from wagon to wagon, comparing rates.
Tap—.
Suddenly, someone placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks.
“Excuse me.”
“……?”
“You wouldn’t happen to be that gladiator from a few days ago in the Underground Arena, would you?”
I turned around to find a man with a smooth bald head and a rough stubbled beard. His physique was clearly more warrior than merchant.
However, the insignia pinned to his chest marked him as a seasoned tradesman.
‘…Oh?’
I couldn’t help but be taken aback.
That insignia was only awarded to those who had traversed the Silk Road over a hundred times.
In other words, this guy was a veteran among veterans.
‘Wait a minute. Could he be…?’
I narrowed my eyes slightly and examined his face.
At that very moment, the bald man burst into booming laughter.
“Haha! The way you’re glaring at me tells me I was right! You are that gladiator!”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing complicated. What do merchants like me ever want?”
“……”
“I just need someone to guard the wagon safely to its destination.”
In short, he was offering a mercenary escort contract.
“And your destination?”
“Free City of Veritas. So? Interested in coming along?”
Slide—.
He held out his hand for a shake.
I had no reason to refuse, so I shook it.
We’d secured transportation—for free.
“Here’s your upfront payment—500,000 shillings. I’ll give you another 500,000 once we arrive safely.”
Clink—!
“……”
Correction: We’d secured transportation—and were getting paid on top of that.
* * *
Rattle, rattle—!
The wagon jolted.
Under the blazing afternoon sun, we were traveling through a patchy wasteland dotted with tufts of grass.
This was the Silk Road—one of the few safe routes in the unexplored regions.
Along that hallowed path, six wagons advanced in a line.
By this world’s standards, the caravan was large enough to qualify as a proper merchant convoy.
Accordingly, a sizable group of mercenaries had been hired for protection.
Though of course, it was still nothing compared to the scale of the Ruins Guild but they were outliers anyway, so no need to compare.
At any rate—
The mission Adelia and I had been hired for wasn’t to guard the entire convoy.
More precisely, it was to escort the caravan leader himself.
Meaning the burly, bald man now eyeing me with curious amusement.
Thanks to that, while the other mercenaries marched on foot outside the wagons, we got to sit comfortably beside the leader and ride all the way to Veritas.
“Hey.”
Right then, the bald caravan leader struck up a conversation.
“You were hired by the Ruins Guild, weren’t you?”
“……”
“Barba the Human Butcher held the champion’s seat for so long… just when the audience was getting bored, they brought you in to shake things up, huh?”
“……”
“So? Am I right?”
He was trying to bait me with that casual, coaxing tone.
I didn’t bother answering and kept my mouth firmly shut.
Seeing that I had no intention of replying, the man let out a hearty laugh.
“Hah! Playing it close to the chest, huh?”
“……”
“Let me guess—‘small talk wasn’t part of the contract,’ right? Got it. I won’t pester you anymore.”
As soon as he said that, he fell silent.
But even through the silence, I could feel his eyes occasionally sneaking glances in my direction.
Slide—.
I ignored him and turned my attention to the skill window I’d left open earlier.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
【Ritardando: True】
Grade: ??
Type: Active Skill, Authority Skill
Cost: None
Cooldown: 12 hours
[Skill Description]
Time flows equally for all, and none can escape its current—or so they say.
But perhaps… you, who have been acknowledged by the Master of the Second Hand and the Split Second, might be the lone exception.
The grains of sand within the hourglass grow heavy.
Arrows that once flew fast now drift lazily through the air.
However, heed this warning well: If you abuse the moment that has become eternity, time will begin to corrode you from within. And in the end, you'll lose yourself in the endless slow.
[Skill Effect]
Slows down time.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Authority Skill: 【Ritardando】.
A reward I earned after clearing the hidden dungeon in Dungard.
The skill’s effect was straightforward: …Once activated, time slows for a brief duration.
It was meant to be used when bosses entered complex, pattern-heavy phases.
Not that the player could freely move in a world frozen in time— Rather, it allowed one to trace the trajectory of slowed attacks and pre-plan evasive paths.
A kind of accelerated cognition.
But now…
Slide—.
I examined the skill window again.
Ever since Adelia completed the spirit rite, the skill had changed.
For starters, the skill name had acquired the suffix: True.
‘…So I finally obtained the true form.’
The Sacred Pieces held immense power.
Power so great that mere mortals couldn’t possibly withstand it.
That’s why most Sacred Pieces were downgraded. The output was capped, making the power manageable for ordinary use.
But skills labeled with ‘True’ are different.
‘True’ signified that the Authority of an Elder was being used in its purest form, unrestricted.
Only those specially recognized by an Elder being could wield it.
In the game, the true version of Ritardando was completely unattainable…
Apparently, the Master of the Second Hand and the Split Second had taken quite a liking to me.
Was performing the spirit rite through Adelia the key to winning them over?
…No, but hold on. Why is the cooldown so absurdly long?
If memory served, the normal Ritardando had a cooldown of just 3 minutes.
Now, with the True version, the cooldown was 12 hours.
That’s 240 times longer.
Did that mean the skill’s potency had scaled to match? Was the long wait the price for such strength?
Hmm…
I couldn’t say for sure. I didn’t have enough data yet.
First, I needed to try it out—then I’d know.
Ding—!
【You have activated Authority Skill: Ritardando: True.】
The moment my intent aligned with the skill’s invocation—
Tick, tick, tick—!
I began to hear the ticking of countless clocks.
And with it, everything in the world began to slow…
…Wait, what?
Something felt off.
Craaaaack—.
Creakkkk—.
The skill’s effect was far beyond anything I’d anticipated.
No—this wasn’t just impressive…
…This was excessive.
So slow, in fact, that it was hard to imagine any situation needing this much deceleration.
The wagon jolted.
My organs began to subtly sway, delayed in motion by the sheer distortion of time.
With time slowed this dramatically, I began to perceive every tiny movement.
Urgh!
I felt nauseous.
The dissonance between real-world time and my perceived time overwhelmed my body.
Creeeak—.
Crunch—!
Ah, damn it…
To make things worse, the shaking wagon caused me to accidentally bite my tongue.
Gaaah—AARRRGH!!
I screamed in agony—internally, at least.
This horrible torture continued until the skill’s duration ran its course.
Ding—!
【Your Max Mental Strength resists fainting.】
Damn it.
It felt like ten full hours had passed.
If not for the passive 【Soul of the Swordmaster】, I probably would’ve passed out from the sheer pain.
Still, I didn’t come away empty-handed.
Ding—!
【You’ve endured prolonged and excruciating pain.】
【Reward: Passive Skill – 【Lesser Pain Resistance】 acquired.】
…Though whether that truly made up for what I went through was another matter entirely.
* * *
“……”
Rattle, rattle—!
Adelia stared at the man sitting across from her.
He was truly enigmatic.
Normally, one could glean something from a high-ranking opponent—an aura, pressure, some trace of presence.
But this man… radiated nothing.
‘Just how vast must the gap be… for me to not even be able to gauge his strength?’
Slaying terrifying enemies in one stroke.
Walking unshaken through deadly trials.
And carrying such nobility in the way he soothed the vengeful spirits of the abandoned factory.
Watching his actions, she couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming reverence.
He hadn’t been chosen as the Swordmaster, heir to the will of a great Elder, for nothing.
Adelia felt deeply honored—grateful beyond words—to receive guidance from someone like him.
“Huff!”
“……?”
Cough, cough—!
Then, suddenly—
The man started gasping for breath.
His eyes went wide.
His body lurched with each cough. His breathing grew unsteady in an instant.
“A-Are you all right…?!”
The abruptness of it caught Adelia completely off guard.
Panicked, she moved to sit beside him.
Fortunately, the man soon regained his composure.
With a few deep breaths, he answered in a forced calm, “I’m fine. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
But Adelia knew he was lying.
…Blood?
She spotted faint streaks of red staining the sleeve he’d used to muffle his cough.
With trembling eyes, she looked at him again—
And at last, as if a veil had lifted, she saw him clearly.
A frail body with hardly any muscle.
Skin so pale she could see the veins beneath it.
Yes…
He had looked weak from the very beginning.
It had always seemed impossible that such explosive movements could come from a body like that.
‘Don’t tell me…’
A storm of thoughts raced through her mind:
Why was his body in such a fragile state?
Why had a secluded Swordmaster suddenly reemerged into the world?
Why, even while busy, had he chosen to take her along and guide her?
…Could it be? His time is running out? And now he’s burning himself out—down to the last ember?
At that moment, everything about him finally made sense.
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[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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