Chapter 145

(145)

Whether it was a play, a fight, or a song, it’s said that in real situations, you can only show about 70% of what you practiced.

So, to showcase 100%, you had to practice with 130% or 150%.

However, what comes after surpassing your limits is not explosive growth, but explosive muscle pain.

That Tenitia did not impose insurmountable trials on Valencius and Rudi as well.

Therefore, that remaining 50% had to be filled with something other than practice and effort.

Things like talent or tools.

“Rudi. Are you ready?”

It was in front of a large warehouse on the outskirts of the dock.

Valencius asked in a low voice.

Rudi, neatly tying up her brown hair and sparkling her clear green eyes, nodded.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As she knelt on one knee and took cover behind the building, the liquid metal armor ‘Aquateg’ glistened against her stiff black one-piece maid outfit.

On the harness worn over her long blouse were two types of arrows and two magical daggers ‘Vital’ along with a six-shot revolver ‘Agate.’

Today, the weapon in Rudi’s hand was the paired revolver ‘Caspar.’

With the butt of the gun firmly against her shoulder, her gaze aimed toward the inside of the large warehouse was still soft, but in her eyes was a determination that only those who knew could recognize.

Valencius confirmed Rudi was ready and shifted his gaze to Sererassie, standing beside him.

He had verified that Rudi had gained practical movement through frequent duels and training with Tenitia, but he could not confirm whether Sererassie had overcome the unique defensive weaknesses typical of mages.

“What are you looking at?”

She asked, feigning innocence, and Valencius grinned playfully.

“Just worried about you.”

“How dare you? Take care of yourself. You’re just relying on ‘Aquateg’ while dressed in nothing but a uniform, aren’t you?”

“I’m fine because I’m a superhuman with the Yongchan ceremony.”

“I’m also skilled in enchantments.”

Sererassie had mastered the grimoire she received from Gestarte in four days and had reached the level where she could use that magic as an intangible spear.

Valencius was dumbfounded, having been unable to read more than three sentences while trying to learn something just by peeking over her shoulder.

Having consumed the ‘Blood Pact,’ she could freely unleash ‘Enchantment,’ which consumed a tremendous amount of mana, and thus she stood next to Valencius, preparing to charge, rather than next to Rudi, who was in the rear support.

Today too, she wore her luxurious robe and pointed hat, but she had infused ‘Aquateg’ into the vest worn over her blouse, ensuring at least minimal safety.

Valencius nodded and directed his gaze toward the vanguard, Tenitia.

Tenitia was already looking at him as a loyal knight should.

“Your Highness. We are ready.”

“Oh, really? Then let’s check it out. What exactly are we guarding against by bringing all these chimeras along?”

As Valencius looked at the two of them, Tenitia was gazing at Valencius.

Today he had swept his platinum hair back with upbeat arrogance, smiling with his golden eyes that hid his true intentions.

Dressed in a white suit adorned with gold threads and red stripes, he exuded the dignity of a duke, and his haughty yet weary gaze held a dangerous smile.

If someone were to ask Tenitia if he was a saint, she would firmly shake her head, but if they asked if he was an evil man, she couldn’t nod with certainty either.

“Don’t get too involved. Only move when it’s really dangerous.”

Tenitia secretly hoped Sererassie would learn the combat doctrine of the battle mage ‘Warlock.’

However, she lowered her helmet’s visor and once rejected Valencius’s whisper.

“I cannot be negligent as a knight.”

“It’s a trial you can overcome. Just watch.”

Valencius stubbornly smiled and pressed his intent on Tenitia.

With an inwardly satisfied nod, Tenitia replied,

“If it’s your command.”

A firm command focused a knight’s heart like a spearhead, solidifying it.

Since they had spoken in the refugee village, Valencius had changed a little.

Tenitia had also read many knight novels and seen the princes in them.

Stories of a young king of a fallen country moving between life and death, gathering his former vassals and knights to regain his crown.

The knights following the young king of the fallen country were noble, but the young king sometimes displayed less noble aspects.

Some novels viewed that as a flaw the prince had to overcome, while others saw it as a quality of a ruler.

Tenitia thought,

“I don’t know how the story of His Highness Valencius will unfold. Can you become noble? Should you become noble?”

Perhaps she had resigned herself.

Maybe she was tired of a lord who kidnapped saints and traded for a red-light district manager.

But if not,

If now she could finally free herself from viewing Valencius merely as an object of salvation,

Perhaps he would appear a little different moving forward.

Today he was responsibly interrogating the merchants selling chimeras to confirm what it was they were guarding with the chimeras.

* * *

Taat, I dashed out from behind the building with Lady Tenitia toward the entrance of the warehouse.

The cherry blossom petals already beginning to fall fluttered along the canal’s edge, and the red sun fell beneath the city wall in the west.

There were no guards or merchants remaining inside the warehouse.

No matter how much it was in the capital, it was unusual for such a large warehouse to be left unguarded.

In fact, I had a few expectations.

There were reasons why certain goods needed to be guarded by chimeras rather than people.

If this aligned, I could touch a massive fortune once more.

Or else I’d end up just paying for a door.

Bang!

Lady Tenitia crashed her shoulder against the wooden door.

From the sound, it seemed to be a strong door reinforced with iron plates, but it couldn’t withstand a knight’s charge and crumbled like a thin cracker.

“I am Tenitia, knight of Duke Valencius. I won’t kill those who surrender.”

No answer came back.

“Grrr.”

Only the flicker of red eyes glimmered in the darkness.

Creating a chimera that could speak was extremely difficult, and it was often more effective to hire students or bodyguards instead of making such chimeras.

But there were tasks in the world that required just the right amount of loyalty and intelligence.

“Your Highness, this is all…”

The sun had not yet set, and the warehouse door faced the west peculiarly, allowing light to stream in.

The second floor of the warehouse was filled with large wooden boxes.

Aside from the narrow passage that a person could pass through, the place was completely packed with boxes.

It looked claustrophobic.

The boxes emanated a slightly spicy yet sweet aroma mixed with the scent of oak charcoal.

“Is this smuggled tobacco?”

Lady Tenitia clicked her tongue, and I shrugged my shoulders.

“Correct. Lady Tenitia. It seems that when we caught all the smugglers and middlemen recently, one major player got extremely scared.”

They must have feared their henchmen would betray them even if they tried to guard it with thugs.

As soon as they realized that smuggled tobacco was piled up, they would start diverting products for sale and end up being caught.

Yet, they likely couldn’t let this quantity rest unguarded either.

“So that’s why it was chimeras.”

The sound of chains rattling came from the darkness as a three-headed dog charged out.

It was a monster as big as a wolf with a scorpion’s tail.

Without drawing my sword, I muttered,

“Rudi.”

Immediately, the sound of gunfire rang out.

Boom!

The sound of the paired revolver ‘Caspar’ was slightly lower and more magnificent than that of the revolver ‘Agate.’

Even though it wasn’t a specially forged arrow, the sheer size of the arrow and the strong enchantments engraved on the revolver combined to create enormous power.

Thud!

The body of the massive three-headed beast burst apart as if it were evaporating.

“Siii!”

“Siii!”

Red eyes glimmered within the warehouse.

Spiders or scorpion-type chimeras raised their stinging tails.

A wasp combined with a mantis flew up, the size of a person.

Then Sererassie approached my side and mumbled an incantation.

“Self-Enchantment.”

Typical enchantments felt like a glass dome encasing the body, but the magic developed by her mentor was different.

A blue aura rose like fog, enveloping us.

Pish! Pish! Pish!

The rapid poisonous needles lost speed and eventually fell, unable to pierce the stone wall.

I felt like I was watching a scene where the projectiles slowed down and came to a halt as they tried to pass through water or mud.

Wiiiing!

Four wasps the size of humans charged toward us.

Their huge scythe-like front claws fell mercilessly.

Lady Tenitia, holding her sword with a look of anxiety, yet I shook my head.

Sererassie still wore a cool, confident smile.

Two wasps dived suddenly.

The moment they entered the realm of the blue fog, sparks flew.

Bam!

It was as instantaneous as lightning striking within a cloud.

Thud!

The two wasps fell, curling their six legs as they landed and sliding across, emitting a foul smell of burning.

The remaining two shrieked in alarm and turned to look for another target, now spotting Rudi who had just exited the building towards us.

Lady Tenitia pivoted her body, and I shook my head as I began to cast fire magic just in case.

Wiiiing!

“I’m glad they’re not rushing at Lady Valen.”

Rudi ran lightly while pulling the trigger.

Her legs moved endlessly, but the long barrel did not shake at all.

Boom!

The projectile traced a long orange trajectory, and a massive chimera fell back to the ground again.

Lady Tenitia said urgently,

“Your Highness. That revolver can’t take in two rounds, can it?”

“Indeed.”

“Then your maid will be defenseless…”

The last wasp darted toward Rudi, tracing a complex trajectory from all sides.

It seemed to realize Rudi’s attack wouldn’t curve.

However, Rudi smiled and, with her skillful hands, quickly reloaded the ammunition.

Following her movements, the barrel folded in half at the middle.

As she swiftly pulled two rounds from her harness and slipped them into the rear of the barrel, click!

The barrel opened up again, and until she brought the butt to her shoulder, the focus in her green eyes didn’t waver at all.

As if she didn’t know how to miss her target.

The wasp charged in with its two-foot-long stinger extended.

A large creature that was also swift made it nearly impossible to hit.

Rudi laughed and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The projectile shattered into hundreds of pieces, spreading out in a fan shape and tearing through the entire body of the chimera.

It was a different kind of ‘spread’ from Sererassie.

As Rudi ran to my side and spoke cheerfully,

“I thought about how to hit it, but I just used a projectile that would hit if I shot it. In real situations, it’s more important to eliminate the enemy than to showcase flashy techniques.”

Looking at her bright smile, I replied,

“Good job, Rudi. Keep fighting safely like that. If anyone asks about your skills, I’ll say you’re someone who can rain down hundreds of rounds in one go and hit them all.”

Sererassie furrowed her brows and glared at me.

“Hmmm. Isn’t that cheating?”

Lady Tenitia looked at me and Rudi alternately before stating firmly,

“It may be fine for a maid to say that, but Your Highness must not affirm it.”

* * *

Late at night, Tenitia greeted the soldiers of the church purification unit who rushed to the warehouse.

“This way.”

“Are you Lady Tenitia?”

The holy knight leading the soldiers confirmed Tenitia’s face.

“Yes. I am Tenitia.”

The holy knight bowed deeply and greeted her.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, we have been able to collect the fruits of wickedness.”

“It was simply my duty as a knight.”

“Um… but if you are Lady Tenitia, is it true that you are… of Duke Valencius…?”

The holy knight’s voice trembled slightly.

The Valencius they knew was the great villain who exiled Bishop Hong, kidnapped the saint, and smuggled out confiscated tobacco.

The fact that there was a red-haired knight following him was already well known among the holy knights.

“Yes. I am the bodyguard knight of Duke Valencius.”

The knight replied in a voice as gallant as his face, and the holy knight lamented the knight’s unfortunate encounter with a flawed master while inspecting the tobacco.

The quantity was enormous, but the quality was ordinary.

Nonetheless, with such a quantity secured, they could turn a few tobacco fields into fallow or farmland.

“Once again, thank you, Lady Tenitia. You are truly a guardian of the church with a conscience that takes action.”

“I feel embarrassed to hear such words from the holy knight. May the spirit of the light be with you.”

Tenitia bowed her head in front of the holy knight while concealing her complex feelings.

The high-quality tobacco was taken away by the guards of the ‘Dawn’ casino dressed in black formal wear.

It was all too obvious whom they were following, and equally clear whose pocket part of the money from that sale would end up in.

And then, to return with the remaining ordinary tobacco and collect a church reward, her master, Duke Valencius, was undoubtedly a man of action devoid of conscience.

However, the reason Tenitia could not fully resent Valencius was that, had he personally handed over the tobacco to the church, he could have cleansed at least some of that vile notoriety.

He couldn’t have been unaware of that.

Yet, he only showed her the image of a corrupted soul who bestows all glory upon her while consorting with a red-light district manager.

With a hollow smile, Tenitia left the warehouse.

One thing was certain: despite the numerous atrocities he had committed, she had not concluded that she should leave his side.

He had undoubtedly granted her the necessities of a knight: enemies and honor.