After cleaning up the remains of the assassins, Kalrune and Maria went up to the tree Katsuo was perched on."Sir, now that the urgent matters have been dealt with, allow me to introduce myself once again. My name is Gaston Hedley, an ambassador of Oedl Kingdom, and this one here is my personal guard Maria Hedley, a rank 6 expert swordsman. Would you be kind enough to introduce yourself? Please forgive this one's ignorance but I don't think I have heard of a Voice of Nature with your description before."Katsuo jumped down the tree and inspected the two. She had glass blue eyes and ash-grey hair tied into a braid that was running down her left shoulder. With the scar running through her right cheek, she looked like a seasoned warrior. However, there was something Katsuo had found with the fight before and Maria in front of him now.He had ignored it before due to more pressing matters but 'Gaston' had called one of the assailants master class. Katsuo had regularly sparred with Aranel
Borders of Harham WastelandsCapital of Greywulf DuchyBiledzir Castle***It was just before dawn. When the nightguards were in their most vulnerable state. After a night of standing guard on full alert, they were all tired.Einrich yawned, trying to keep himself awake.He was one of the many soldiers stationed in this castle, tasked with protecting Oedl from the invasion of nasty monsters. Most people from Oedl would call his job a thankless one but as a native of Biledzir, he was proud of his career. He had grown up hearing the stories of the famous winter wolf brigade protecting the walls so they could live safely. It was thanks to their sacrifice that he and his family could live happily. Now that he was one of them he couldn't be any happier.If it was any other part of Oedl they would call him an idiot. He was a rank 4 expert warrior, meaning he could easily become a sergeant in any other army but here he was just one of the many nameless soldiers. That was because the minimum
The discussion Katsuo had with Kalrune was insightful but at the end of the day, it was just that. He had no intention of getting involved with this so-called 'secret war', so for him, it might as well have been white background noise.Though at least he had learnt about the world's current state, which was a plus.For the rest of their journey, the party didn't encounter any more assassination attempts. There were a couple of times Katsuo felt like they were being watched but before he could locate the assailant the feeling would disappear. It was annoying. Katsuo didn't know who was secretly watching them but he didn't feel any danger so he was sure that whoever it was, they posed no threat to him.And this was the reason why it felt so annoying. If he were to give an analogy, Katsuo felt like there was a mosquito in his room while he was trying to sleep. When he turned on the lights it would disappear. If he turned off the lights, he would start hearing the buzz again.Thankfully,
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed and Katsuo finally managed to get into the city.He couldn't complain that it took him this long when it was his own decision to wait. If he had used the letter that was given to him by Aranel, he would have waited a day at most. Though the waiting itself was enjoyable."Even the air inside here feels different. You can smell the freedom." said Sven while taking a deep breath.Sven was the name of the man standing in front of Katsuo. During the week they spent in line together they had gotten much closer. He was from Horvaard, a nation that was known for its love of the sea. It was said that men of Horvaard were born with a yearning for the sea in their hearts so they were drawn to it. Of course, this meant that they had a strong navy. Though it was an open secret that the members of the 'navy' would spend their free time escorting sea merchants. However, the truth was that they were a bunch of pirates. The only sea merchants they escorted we
As she looked at the oncoming crowd, Gail frowned in annoyance. Just from their get-up, it was obvious that all of them were dirt poor.It was to be expected considering they didn't use the express entrance.However, Gail couldn't stop hoping that she might be able to find a-'Jackpot!'She would have shouted in joy if she hadn't stopped herself at the last minute.In front of her there were two idiots, one of them was almost twice her size and his body was covered in scars. From his ginger hair tied into a braid, Gail guessed that he must be a Horvaardian. She didn't want to mess with him as Horvaardians were known to be barbaric people but the real mark was the naive-looking boy standing next to him. He was barefooted and wearing a black fur shirt that was crudely made from wolf skin. He had jet-black hair which was slightly uncommon, probably a Buhrakian. His unkempt hair and dirty body screamed that he was a beggar. He was probably a poor sod that had offended his khan and had t
"Who would dare to do such a thing!? Don't worry Master Katsuo! I will get them for you!"When he turned back, Katsuo saw a face he wasn't expecting to see anymore. It was Kalrune."How? Why? Ahem! What are you doing here?"Katsuo wiped the beads of tears in his eyes and tried to regain some dignity."You know who these people are, lil bro?"Sven looked at the duo walking inside like they owned the place. It seemed like the guild members were used to it since they didn't pay any attention to their antics."Uhm, well, we can be considered... acquaintances?" Katsuo coughed to hide his embarrassment."You savage, how dare you casually call Master Katsuo your lil bro? Do you even know who you are talking to? He is an esteemed Voice of Nature, he doesn't have enough time to humour your antics. So, Master Katsuo, how about we go and talk somewhere in private? We have much to talk about." Kalrune spoke haughtily while rubbing his hands together.When he looked at him, Katsuo thought Kalrune
"...ugh-"Gail came to herself with a giant headache. She wanted to check out the wound but found that her hands were tied."What?"She forced her eyes open to see where she was, trying to remember what had happened. She had successfully escaped from the Drunen Cat goons and had been merrily going to her handler to get rid of the goods.Everything was fine up to that point but why couldn't she remember what happened afterwards?Had she been jumped?No, that wasn't possible. If anyone were to try to sneak up on her, she would have sensed it and run away.Then was she betrayed by Ruth?That wasn't possible either, Gail had done a lot of business with Ruth before so she definitely wouldn't have been betrayed over this score.Maybe she had messed with the wrong crowd?This couldn't be possible as well. At least recently there wasn't anyone of note that she had offended. It couldn't be those losers she stole from either, they didn't look like they had any connections in the city.Then how
[Name]: Gail Bladeblight[Age]: 17[Job]: Rogue[Rank]: 3[Title]: Black Cat, Cursed One[Background]: Last Survivor of Bladeblight[Strength]: 17[Agility]: 39[Willpower]: 33[Vitality]: 13[Charisma]: 14[Mana]: 39[Active Skills]: Backstab (lv.4), Flurry (lv.2), Pickpocket (lv.6), Defthands (lv.1)...[Passive Skills]: Ambidextrous (lv.4), Bladeblight Dual Wielding Style (Intermediate lv.2), Shadow's Beloved (Max), Rod of Misfortune (Max)---Katsuo once again looked at Gail's status window. Everything about it said that she should not be a threat to him. Katsuo was someone who could be considered as someone who took half a step into the master domain so it shouldn't be possible for someone who was not even an expert to injure him.Still, when she had thought he was a demon worshipper his instincts had screamed danger."Okay, we are not demon worshippers but you are aware that we could take your life anytime we want right? So it is quite curious how you are still so calm." Katsuo
By the time Katsuo had returned it was already evening. Sven and Gail still had not arrived so he decided to wait. He was not a detective, the play he put on in front of the Fatty was already the limit of his abilities. So his only job now was just to wait and learn where the girl was being held and then beat up some kidnappers. Speaking of which Fatty truly surprised Katsuo. He had already thrown out the idea that he was the kidnapper because of his demeanour and actions. In fact, he didn't even think he was a bad guy at all. Why though? He was not an easily trusting person... at least he thought so. Did that mean Fatty messed up with his brain in some way? That was impossible. If there was even a hint of magic involved he would have sensed it. Maybe there was something in the whiskey? No way, he had cast [Detoxcification] on it so that was not possible either. Maybe he used some psychological tricks on him, after all, he was a politician. That last one was a little probable but at
Katsuo gave it a thought and agreed to help Roy with finding his kidnapped sister. According to him aside from the mayor, there was no one else they had any enmity with so that was Katsuo's first clue, Gail said she could ask around about her to her old contacts and Sven decided to do his own thing. When asked what he meant by that Sven said just leave it to him and brushed him off. He had never questioned before maybe Sven also had some connections with gangs here but that was impossible as he was from Horwaard. However, when Katsuo thought about where to ask about the mayor he noticed a crucial problem in his plans. He didn't know anyone in Dawn. His sister and Kalrune had already returned to their countries. He wasn't some gruff noir detective who could understand how everything went down by piecing together some rumour either. So Katsuo thought about his own advantages. For one, he was a transmigrator with a lot of popular culture knowledge when it came to isekai genre. So he as
After his party members returned Katsuo started to talk with the boy to learn about his situation."So you said your sister was kidnapped?" He asked the boy cautiously. From his get up he looked like a beggar but his face was well defined despite the bruises so there was a high chance that his sister was a beauty as well. That would explain why his sister was kidnapped but Katsuo had no intention of getting ahead of himself. It was better to hear the situation first-hand from the concerned party."Yes, today she was kidnapped by a bunch of ruffians. I don't even know who they are and why they targeted us. Please help! I am begging you. If the money is not enough I can find more."The boy started to speak in haste. He was really panicked but what he said was of no help at all."I wanted to ask about that. This money is too much for a beggar like you. Where did you get it?" Gail asked as she grabbed the pouch and checked its contents. "No, that is money left from my grandfather's inher
As expected, Denstria accepted the terms of the deal and Kalrune left for Oedl soon after, leaving Katsuo and Sven to embark on their long-awaited adventurer life finally. "How could you forget about me *Sob*," said Gail while grabbing Katsuo's fur coat and sobbing. "No no, how could we forget about you? If we did such a thing what kind of a person would we be? We just had something important going on so we couldn't come to pick you up. Right, Sven?" Katsuo lied as naturally as he breathed. Aria peeked under Katsuo's shirt and wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, stinky. Playmate who is this? She smells awful" Aria said as she covered her nose with her tiny little paws. Hearing that Gail got self-conscious and smelled her armpits but she couldn't smell anything. She as a budding young lady was very disturbed by such accusations. "I don't smell" Gail grumbled and pulled down her hood even further to mask her face. You know, just in case. "Of course, you don't, that was just Aria being...
"Uhm, are you sure about this?" Katsuo couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked after leaving the meeting. "About what? Saving hundreds of thousands of lives?" "But just like that fatty said isn't the Greywulf estate your ancestral home?" This was the part that eluded Katsuo. He was from a lineage of martial artists and their family held onto their traditions for centuries. So selling their ancestral home was something he couldn't imagine. That was why he wanted to ask Kalrune how he did it. "Home is where you make it. Also, I wasn't joking when I said Greywulf estate is its people and not the land. My father would also agree with me. After all, he was the one who taught me this. Being a noble means 'being responsible for your subjects'." As Kalrune spoke about his father his face brightened up. Katsuo could see that Kalrune treasured him greatly so this made him curious about the strongest man on the continent Brevok Greywulf. Just what kind of person was he? A cold Duke of the
"My supervisor accepted selling Greywulf estate to you," said Kalrune as everyone in the meeting looked at him in shock."Come again?" asked the fat mayor of Dawn while wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. "You heard me right. Kingdom of Oedl decided to 'sell' Greywulf estate to Denstria" Kalrune repeated himself."Of course, since you have a legitimate casus belli this land belongs to Denstria so we will withdraw but as we were the ones that were taking care of it for so long you guys need to pay us for our services. After all, if it were not for the 'current' Greywulf house the land would already have been ravaged by the monsters long ago. So it is only right that you guys pay us."The glasses guy from Denstria frowned while pondering. This was out of his considerations for how the meeting would go. He didn't know who came up with this ingenious idea but they surely got him. He even suspected that there might be a spy amidst their ranks otherwise it would be impossible to come
Kalrune was pacing around in his room thinking about how to stop this impending war. This time Denstria was coming at them for real without any intention of stopping with measly threats. Otherwise, they wouldn't have pulled out the trump card they had been hiding for centuries. The question was why now? There were times in Oedl's history when they were way weaker than they were now. In other words, this plan was something in the making for a long time.At first, Kalrune had thought this was going to be another small skirmish to cull the forces of Greywulf Duchy as after Archmage Karrion's death his father became the undisputed strongest man in the world so of course this reputation had its pros but that was about it.Now Denstria was aiming for swelling Greywulf whole... but why?Even as a person who was born and raised in Greywulf estate Kalrune couldn't see any point to this.Sure it was acting as a shield against Denstria but even if they took down the Greywulf estate they would ju
Katsuo unwillingly hugged his sister Tharnel. Truth be told he didn't know how to treat this sister of his. If he said they were close that would be a lie, but if he said they didn't get along that would be one as well. Their relationship was complicated. "Woah, I missed you, little brother! You have grown bigger since I last saw you. But you seem a little thin. Are you eating okay? Don't tell me you get so wrapped in your training and forget to feed yourself. Didn't I tell you to take better care of yourself?" Tharnel started nagging Katsuo as she gave him a firm hug. Well, the distance between them was only awkward for Katsuo. For Tharnel, he was her one and only little brother. "Ugh, no. It's just that my muscles have become more compact so I look thinner... you also know that Sensei would never let me skip a meal right?" Katsuo mumbled as he pulled away from her hug. "You still call mom Sensei?" "It's... just... I don't know it's complicated okay?" "Why though? She only sa
Katsuo nervously walked behind the elven strider. He tried to read his status window but as usual, the damn thing didn't work when he needed it to work. As they walked forward Katsuo remembered what he had learnt about striders. They were a subclass of warrior profession but they had extremely harsh requirements so usually only elves could become one, which made sense considering elves were the ones who created the profession.The speciality of striders was their endless regeneration. He wasn't sure about its authenticity but he had heard once heard from Aranel that even if you decapitate them master rank striders could grab their heads and reattach them and keep fighting like nothing happened.Of course, their fighting style also was one that favoured mutual destruction.They didn't care if their arms were chopped as long as they could leave one wound in their enemy. In this way, they sounded like berserkers but unlike those glass cannons, these guys were anti-aircraft cannons.