Chapter 62
“Hostility “
Ah…
Did I just get caught?
“I knew it. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but you’re trying to take out that beast core, right?”
Cute spoke so casually, as if thinking deeply like a scholar.
“If you take the beast core out of Velkyrente, then what? Are you going to kill him? Take it for yourself?”
My eyes shook, but he met my gaze without any hesitation.
“So, why are you here, Noona?”
“…Why am I here?”
“If you’re planning something like that, I don’t think Velkyrente would welcome it.”
“….”
“You’re basically going to make Velkyrente your enemy, so why are you following him?”
I cleared my throat, but Cute kept guessing.
“I think you want to take out the beast core because it’s a threat to you.”
“Ugh.”
Why is he so smart?
I almost nodded without thinking, but barely stopped myself and started walking toward the base.
“If it was truly dangerous, you would have stabbed Velkyrente too. But you didn’t, so it’s not that big of a threat, is it?”
“….”
“So, if you’re trying to use that grass to pull out the core…”
I tried to hurry, but Cute reached out and grabbed my hand.
His smile was gentle, but his hand was a little rough.
“I’ll help you, Noona.”
He turned me toward him and gave a sweet offer.
Cute gripped my hand even tighter, and my eyes met his violet ones.
‘Help me?’
I couldn’t answer right away.
Cute already guessed most of my situation.
‘Of course, he doesn’t know everything.’
He didn’t know exactly why I wanted to get rid of Roitz’s beast core, or what kind of person I really was.
But right now, Cute was the only person who understood the sense of threat I felt.
Maybe, he could comfort me and help find a solution.
Maybe, I’d finally met someone who could support me instead of having to struggle alone.
Cute’s hand pulled me closer to him.
“Well? What do you think, Noona?”
But then, a rock flew at Cute’s hand.
Cute quickly pulled back, letting go.
“What is the young master of Veiche doing here?”
Someone shouted from the distance.
It was Roitz.
Roitz rushed over with scary eyes and blocked me, his shoulders like a giant wall.
He looked back at me and asked in a low voice,
“Serdin, what are you doing?”
“I was catching monsters. You told me to, remember?”
I pointed at the monsters around.
“I caught all twenty.”
But Roitz ignored me and only stared at Cute.
I didn’t know why he was so on guard, but his aura was really intense.
Cute didn’t seem bothered, just kept smiling.
“Why are you in Edikal Forest, Young Master Veiche?”
Roitz spoke like calling out a child, and Cute’s eyebrow twitched at that tone, but he replied like nothing was wrong.
“I’m happy you’re interested in me, Sir Velkyrente. Am I that much of a threat?”
“I guess you don’t know what the word ‘threat’ means, Veiche.”
“Why don’t you drop that sharp look, Sir Velkyrente?”
The tension between them was high. I couldn’t imagine how it would be once the heroine Lucike arrived.
A cold wind blew.
Both men drew their swords at the same time, as if they’d agreed to duel.
‘Are they really going to duel?’
They both knew how to use swords. Maybe fighting was easier than talking for them.
But still, is this necessary?
I glanced back and forth and focused on Cute.
He raised his sword with a relaxed smile.
Roitz, on the other hand, looked emotionless, pouring everything into his sword.
I started feeling tense, even though I wasn’t the one fighting.
‘This is a bit scary.’
Cute now knew my real plan. And Roitz’s eyes were cold.
‘And they’re using real swords…’
Not wooden practice swords, but real ones, in the middle of the forest.
A chilly wind blew through Edikal Forest.
The two quietly pointed their swords forward.
The duel began.
Cute attacked first. Roitz blocked with his sword, which had the Elche crest.
Clang!
Their swords hit several times in a short span, and the fallen leaves flew up as they moved.
I was surprised that Cute was keeping up with Roitz.
Physically, Roitz was superior. If it was only about swords, the duel would already be over.
But this duel wasn’t only about swords.
‘What’s that?’
Cute took something out, and a white aura wrapped his sword.
Roitz’s sword pointed at Cute’s.
But the white aura around Cute’s sword bounced Roitz’s sword away before they even touched.
‘Sword energy? But…’
Cute wasn’t the sword master of Veiche.
Still, what he used looked like sword energy.
‘Then is that…’
It seemed to be holy power.
I’d heard before—holy power and mana come from different sources, but are similar. With enough skill, you could use holy power like mana.
Veiche was an old family of holy knights.
A couple of hundred years ago, they managed the temple in Elche.
Cute must have holy power.
‘But it can’t be easy to use it like this.’
Even if it’s possible in theory, using it like this is amazing.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene.
As Cute used holy power, Roitz took out Necroquad.
Cute was very skilled.
But now that Roitz had Necroquad, the duel would end soon.
Necroquad could freeze anyone who met its eyes.
In a fast sword fight, you had to look at your opponent, so avoiding eye contact was nearly impossible.
“…!”
But suddenly, I gasped.
Cute looked straight into Necroquad’s eyes, but kept moving as if nothing was wrong.
How did he do that? Necroquad’s power didn’t work on him.
Then I remembered that in the original story, Siyute Veiche was Roitz’s rival.
So they were true rivals.
In the original, Siyute once said:
‘In front of me, you’re just an ordinary swordsman.’
Thinking back, whenever they fought, Necroquad never appeared.
So before the story began, they must have dueled like this before.
Roitz’s eyes shook for a moment.
Of course. This was probably the first time even for Roitz.
Necroquad had always been his unbreakable shield.
Who wouldn’t be shaken when their shield is pierced?
Siyute’s white aura surged from his sword, wild and sharp.
My eyes darted between their swords and Siyute’s face.
‘That expression…’
Siyute was smiling, but his face was cold and a bit frightening.
It was pure hostility.
At that moment, anxiety washed over me.
I remembered the things Siyute had said and done.
Pulling out a real sword in a regular duel…
That look in his eyes toward Roitz…
‘If it was truly a deadly threat, you would have stabbed Velkyrente too.’
The moment I remembered those words,
I moved without thinking, running between the two.
“Noona?”
“Serdin!”
I didn’t have time for logic or reason.
The second I thought Siyute’s sword might really stab Roitz, I was already between them.
