[Trantor – Night]


    [Proofreader – Gun]


    Chapter 130: The Isted Vige (4)


    Before Ketal could grow more interested, Nas changed the subject.


    “Anyway, it’s over now, so let’s go back.”


    “Hold on a moment.”


    Ketal turned his gaze towards the forest.


    Nas tilted his head in curiosity.


    “Is there something there?”


    He couldn’t sense anything.


    Ketal, who had been staring silently, withdrew his gaze.


    “No, it’s nothing if it doesn’t move. Let’s go back.”


    They returned to the vige.


    And they told the vigers that the bandits would no longere.


    The vigers, who had been waiting anxiously, showed a surge of emotion on their faces.


    “Wow!”


    “It’s over!”


    “Thank you! Thank you! It’s all thanks to you!”


    The vigers were powerless against the bandits.


    If this had continued, they would have been starved to death.


    That was their inevitable fate.


    But that fate was shattered by these sudden outsiders.


    To the vigers, Ketal’s group were nothing short of saviors.


    So, from the depths of their hearts, they cried out.


    “Blessings to Kalosia!”


    “A prayer to the god who showed us mercy!”


    They exalted the names of Kalosia and Ketal.


    Nas didn’t mind watching this sight.


    “Good.”


    He couldn’t remember thest time he saw such heartfelt praise.


    Heize also looked pleased.


    “Well, it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”


    Ketalughed heartily.


    Nas looked at Ketal with newfound interest.


    ‘Did he foresee this oue?’


    Had this barbarian intended to relieve the vigers’ rejection of Kalosia?


    To make them remember Kalosia’s name, had he shown them by his actions?


    Was there such deep meaning behind his actions?


    To Nas, Ketal was a person of profound insight.


    He began to find meaning in every action.


    The vigers tried to hold onto them, trying to scrape together a reward.


    After repeatedly declining, they barely managed to leave the vige.


    “It wasn’t bad.”


    Ketal muttered.


    It was an enjoyable diversion.


    He asked with a smile.


    “So now, will the bandits be punished by the town?”


    “That’s how it will be.”


    Due to Nas’s constraints, the bandits would go to a nearby town and confess their crimes.


    “They will receive punishment fitting their crimes. Likely hardbor or execution. Cassandra, she will probably face thetter.”


    For a top-tier fighter to be a criminal of Magnarein, she was at least a murderer.


    She must have killed countless people, and would inevitably be executed.


    “I see.”


    “Anyway, it’s all over.”


    Nas was certain they would never see them again.


    But Ketal looked uncertain.


    “Is that so?”


    “Why do you say that?”


    “No reason. It doesn’t really matter.”


    Ketal took the lead.


    “We have a long way to go. Let’s move quickly.”


    “Understood.”


    Nas and Heize followed him.


    Time passed and night fell.


    Nas spoke to Heize.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    “Heize, let’s go pray.”


    “Yes.”


    Heize nodded.


    Once they had traveled far enough, Nas spoke.


    “I now understand why you said Ketal’s values are so different.”


    “Right? They really are different!”


    Heize hastily agreed.


    Finally, Nas was understanding her!


    She felt relieved.


    “His enlightenment is too great for us toprehend. That’s why you felt it was different.”


    “…What?”


    Heize stopped.


    This was not the response she had expected.


    She btedly looked at Nas’s face.


    His face showed admiration and reverence.


    “There was a reason you felt that way. His enlightenment surpasses ours.”


    “Uh, what?”


    “Instead of thinking of him as different, try to ept it. Then you’ll see his greatness.”


    “…What?”


    Heize’s face twisted in dismay.


    * * *


    While they were heading towards the holynd of Kalosia, the bandits were trudging towards a nearby vige.


    In their midst, their leader, Cassandra, was scolding the bandits.


    “You fools. You should have told me about such a barbarian beforehand. Ugh, you’re all useless. That’s why you’re doing banditry.”


    “No, no…”


    The bandits looked aggrieved.


    In truth, Cassandra wasn’t their original leader.


    She had suddenly appeared one day, beaten them up, and taken over.


    She was so terribly strong that they couldn’t run away and had to call her their leader.


    ‘She got beaten up and subdued herself,’ the bandits grumbled inwardly.


    They didn’t dare say it aloud.


    If they did, Cassandra would beat them up.


    Cassandra grumbled.


    “What kind of restriction did he put on me? I can’t do anything but head towards the vige and scold you guys. All my powers are sealed.”


    At that moment, the bandits’ eyes gleamed strangely.


    “…You can’t use your powers?”


    “Yes, I’m just apletely ordinary woman now.”


    “Is that so.”


    At that moment, the bandits stopped walking.


    They started to move sneakily, surrounding Cassandra.


    “Hey! Guys, what’s wrong?”


    Cassandra asked with a smile.


    The bandits gave a sinister grin.


    “Great. You little girl.”


    “We’ve hated you for unting your strength.”


    Nas had imposed a restriction on them: to go to the vige and confess their crimes, preventing any other actions.


    [Trantor – Night]


    [Proofreader – Gun]


    However, there was no restriction on interactions between the restricted individuals themselves.


    The bandits grinned wickedly.


    “Heh heh heh.”


    “We’ll teach you a lesson!”


    The bandits lunged at Cassandra.


    One bandit, seemingly the most impatient, lunged the fastest.


    And then darkness swept by.


    The lead bandit’s body crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.


    “…Huh?”


    The bandits froze.


    No life could be sensed from the fallen bandit.


    “Hey. Guys, what’s wrong?”


    Cassandra smiled gently.


    “Weren’t you going to teach me a lesson? Come on.”


    “O-okay.”


    Something was off.


    One bandit, sensing it instinctively, trembled and backed away.


    At that moment, darkness swept by again.


    The retreating bandit’s body copsed.


    “Ah, ahhh!”


    At that point, the bandits started to flee in a panic, their faces filled with terror.


    Cassandra clicked her tongue in disappointment.


    “How boring. Finish them off.”


    As soon as she finished speaking, darkness swept across the ground.


    It enveloped the bandits’ bodies in an instant, mming them into the ground.


    In the blink of an eye, about a dozen bandits lost their lives.


    Cassandra looked up at the sky.


    “Come out.”


    And the darkness took shape.


    A figure in a ck robe slowly appeared next to Cassandra.


    “Mydy.”


    A low voice echoed.


    Cassandra grumbled.


    “You should have waited a bit longer. It ended too boringly.”


    “Apologies. I couldn’t stand it when those lowly creatures dared to be rude to you.”


    “Whatever. How long have you been watching?”


    “From the beginning.”


    The servant spoke softly.


    “I’ve been following you since you left the city.”


    Cassandra grimaced.


    “So, you saw me getting beaten up too?”


    “I thought it would be a good experience for you.”


    “Ugh. Insolent servant.”


    Cassandra waved her hand.


    “Remove this restriction. Even while talking, my body moves automatically.”


    “Understood.”


    Nas was a first-rate warrior.


    The restriction imposed by such a follower was not weak.


    Since Cassandra had consented to it, it was difficult for an outsider to interfere.


    To lift such a restriction, one would need a well-prepared ritual or be overwhelmingly stronger than Nas.


    The servant murmured softly.


    “Darkness calls upon greater darkness, bury it.”


    Kiiing!


    With just a single sentence, the restriction that had been oppressing Cassandra was shattered.


    Cassandra stretched, feeling refreshed.


    “Ah, that’s better.”


    “Now, let’s return, mydy. You’ve enjoyed yourself long enough.”


    “I wanted to have a bit more fun… Alright.”


    Cassandra muttered with a hint of regret.


    “If it weren’t for that strange guy, I could have had more fun. Ugh.”


    “The barbarian, you mean. He was strong. I had no information about such a barbarian in my records.”


    “Can’t you beat him if you fight?”


    “…I am not sure.”


    “Huh?”


    Cassandra’s eyes widened.


    Her servant was incredibly strong.


    There were few in their family who could confidently say they could defeat him.


    Yet this servant couldn’t be sure of victory?


    “Really? He’s that strong?”


    “Based on the strength he showed, he wasn’t that remarkable… but he seemed to be hiding something.”


    The servant said.


    “That barbarian noticed my presence.”


    “Huh?”


    Cassandra’s face showed surprise.


    “He saw you while you were hiding? Is that even possible? Even my father couldn’t do that.”


    “It could have been a coincidence. So, I can’t be certain.”


    “Hmm. I see.”


    Cassandra narrowed her eyes.


    “Ketal… was it?”


    She muttered, as if trying to imprint the name in her memory.


    “For now, let’s return.”


    “Alright.”


    Cassandra took the servant’s hand.


    “Let’s go back. To the city where our sunlight doesn’t reach.”


    Darkness enveloped them.


    Only the cold corpses of the bandits remained on the roadside.


    * * *


    Ketal’s group continued on.


    There were no significant issues.


    Even the bandits, seeing Ketal, seemed to flee in terror, allowing them to proceed without any interference.


    During this time, Ketal and Nas continued their conversations.


    Nas would react greatly or think deeply about even Ketal’s most trivialments.


    And Heize stopped saying anything altogether.


    Though she continued talking to Nas, he never changed his mind.


    Instead, he began to look at Heize strangely.


    ‘Am I really the strange one?’


    Was Ketal truly a great and spiritually advanced person?


    Had she been mistaken all along?


    She began to doubt herself.


    And so they continued on.


    Eventually, they arrived at their destination, the holynd.


    * * *


    “There it is.”


    “Ohh.”


    Ketal eximed.


    A vast in.


    In its center was a city.


    Not veryrge, but neatly arranged.


    In its center stood a grand church.


    And visible to anyone, a gentle light bathed the vige.


    The light was different from sunlight.


    It seemed to emit from the holynd itself, illuminating the surroundings brightly.


    This was the holynd of Kalosia.


    The domain of the divine.


    But it wasn’t just a bright, shining ce.


    Despite the sun not having set yet, the in around the holynd was shrouded in darkness.


    Darkness surrounded Kalosia’s holynd widely.


    And within that darkness, all kinds of monsters could be seen.


    [Trantor – Night]


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