Lucius rested his chin on his hand, closing his eyes as if deep in thought.
“…”
Nameless shrugged his shoulders slightly, waiting for a response.
Honestly, even though he’s my disciple, the way he lies is so eerie, it’s like he’s acting naturally.
I shivered.
…Maybe I should throw in a lie of my own?
As I pondered about Nameless’s usual behavior, Lucius finally relaxed his furrowed brow and opened his mouth.
“…Alright, then we just need to find that sheath, right?”
With Lucius’s strangely stiff voice, Nameless smiled brightly.
“Yes.”
“Well then… as we discussed, we’ll start searching from the west.”
Just as Lucius nodded slightly and was about to turn away, Nameless called out.
“Lucius!”
Nameless’s voice caught them in their tracks.
Lucius turned back to face Nameless, who was still beaming.
“Didn’t you mention you had some business in the Demon Realm?”
“…I did.”
“Could you share what that is with our Master?”
“Me?”
Suddenly called out by Nameless, I tilted my head.
Why am I being summoned?
I had been so engrossed in contemplating Nameless’s behavior that I lost track of the conversation.
When I glanced at Lucius to grasp the context, he seemed tense, a small bead of sweat trickling down his forehead.
“…”
Wordlessly, with narrowed eyes, Nameless flashed a friendly smile and echoed something I once told him.
“Anyone who receives a favor should repay it, right? I could help you too, couldn’t I?”
“Well, that’s true.”
I nodded, since it seemed like a reasonable statement.
Lucius, shifting his gaze between me and Nameless, nodded slightly.
“The upper echelons mentioned there are still unpurified areas.”
I felt a slight tremor in his voice; that was a lie.
But I couldn’t tell which part of his statement was false.
“To wrap things up, I came to the Demon Realm.”
Having said that, Lucius looked at Nameless with a heavy gaze.
For some reason, sensing an exciting atmosphere, I rummaged through my pockets as Nameless continued to smile and spoke.
“Is that so? We will search thoroughly as well.”
“…Thank you.”
After a small bow, Lucius turned his back, and Nameless and I watched him for a while.
…So what’s the deal here?
With a look full of questions, Nameless placed both hands on my shoulders and slowly began to apply pressure.
“Master, let’s hurry and set off.”
“Uh, yeah.”
I offered no resistance, pushed by the force he exerted, and we hit the road.
I didn’t bother asking Nameless what he talked about with Lucius.
Well, if it was crucial information, wouldn’t he have said something first?
So, it wasn’t annoyance, but a matter of trust in my disciple.
Hmm, right?
I nodded.
…
Even though I had been forcibly suppressing my internal energy to hide my full strength until now, that necessity was no longer required.
“Hmm—”
After enough distance had formed between our group and the Heroes, and their presence began to fade, I started channeling my internal energy.
While I didn’t truly face an enemy that warranted this much effort, I was doing it to track the sheath.
I had to find it before they did, so I could hide the sheath or make my escape.
And I was quite confident in this action I was taking.
After enduring for so long, I had prepared a way to find the sheath as well.
The sword Nameless used had faint traces, albeit shallow.
I didn’t know why I could sense this, but it connected to the foundation of our internal energy, from the mountains where I used to stay in the shack.
Little did I know, according to Nameless, the place I resided was also a part of the Demon Realm, which might be the reason.
Though I digressed, the sheath we were currently searching for was also something introduced to us by Lili. Therefore, there should be a similar flow of energy to Nameless’s sword.
So Lili surely wouldn’t have claimed she could recognize that sheath if she didn’t spot a connection!
A smirk crept on my face.
No matter how adept a Saint is at tracing energy, considering she was unable to find Jackal’s magic circle, I could infer I was superior.
On the other hand, I was not only better at tracing energy than her, but I had felt this energy my whole life.
In layman’s terms, I had no chance of discovering this after they did!
Something began to sprout again within the purified Demon Realm.
Even with my sudden activation of internal energy, Nameless remained silent, seemingly aware of what I was doing.
Seeing Nameless like that made me chuckle a bit as I flicked my internal energy, spreading it like a spider web.
If I continued to stretch it endlessly until something got caught, I was sure I’d locate it.
“…”
While closing my eyes and focusing on manipulating my internal energy, I started to feel something at the end.
“Did you find something?”
A smile formed on my lips.
“It’s about 340 li northeast, Nameless, I’ll speed up.”
“Yes, Master.”
I stomped down aggressively.
Had Nameless’s training and the work to widen his blood vessels not been in vain, he showed only slight signs of fatigue, not falling behind.
Even though I had deliberately slowed my pace just a bit to accommodate him, it was undeniable growth.
My mouth curled up in appreciation.
“Nameless! You can go a little faster, right?!”
“Master?!”
After all, there weren’t any monsters here that posed a threat, and since we were halfway to our destination, it shouldn’t be an issue.
“Try to catch me!”
“…I can’t shake off this sense of déjà vu.”
Have I ever done something like this before?
I tilted my head slightly, but no, I hadn’t.
Right now, I was just teasing Nameless a bit because of his growth, but until now, I wasn’t such an impulsive master.
“Stop chatting and just keep up!”
“…Yes!”
Sucking up the internal energy I had scattered, I focused on using the potential energy within my body and increased my speed.
The refreshing breeze tickling my cheeks felt fantastic.
A smile of delight graced my face.
Indeed, I seemed to fit well in this atmosphere, in this place filled with such energy.
-BAM!
The sound of my feet hitting the ground vibrated regularly.
…
“Hmm, did I not find it…?”
Scratching my head, I frowned.
Maybe there’s a chance I’m just bad with directions, or I miscalculated, but I stared at whatever was in front of me.
“Ugh…”
The more I examined it and felt the energy flowing through it, the more certain I became that this was indeed ‘the item I was looking for.’ Yet, none of my questions were being answered.
Then, wasn’t it safe to say I had found it? You might think so, but here’s the thing.
“…This isn’t a sheath.”
If I had to narrow it down, it resembled a staff.
Of course, there are staff-shaped sheaths out there, right? Didn’t a famous blind swordsman pull out their sword from a simple staff?
But this certainly didn’t seem to have that potential.
Namely, it had no indentations, implying there was nowhere for a sword to be stored.
“Hmm….”
I let out a frustrated sigh.
If I waited just a little longer, Nameless would surely catch up.
How embarrassing would it be for a master to be seen standing in front of something that wasn’t even a sheath?
Just think about it; you confidently mess something up, only to realize it was all wrong? That’s true embarrassment.
This is a blunder for someone who hasn’t completely established their identity yet, like an ignorant kid.
I pressed my forehead and exhaled a small sigh.
…So what the heck is this?
It definitely shares the energy I felt from the mountains, resonating with the energy within me.
Is my energy not reacting to it right now?
With narrowed eyes, I glared at the staff.
It looked like nothing special, seemingly made from a dry twig, yet oddly it appeared quite sturdy, which was surprisingly annoying.
After staring for a while, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
Hmm, should I take a closer look…?
Though this didn’t seem like the sheath Lili introduced, since I could feel a similar energy, maybe it was some flashy “transformable weapon” or a sealed weapon?
Well…If not, maybe it’s just a simple stick absorbing energy from the Demon Realm “the end of the world,” but…
Considering the Demon Realm has already been purified, dwelling on such boring thoughts would be disrespectful.
“Hehe…”
Lost in such a romantic thought, a goofy smile crept onto my face.
As I felt saliva gathering, threatening to drip, I swallowed it down and nodded.
Okay, let’s take a closer look.
Slowly, I reached my hand towards the staff.
