Chapter 268

Chapter 59. Disruption (2)

At a similar moment, while Istan and Silfi were chatting, there were eavesdroppers in the forest.

None other than Ulan and company.

The four people, except for Fertisha who couldn’t join due to Rimer Yen Lapis’s summoning, kept their eyes glued to Istan.

“Everything is going according to plan.”

At that moment, Noa’s eyes sparkled.

She stared at Istan in the distance, recalling the events from earlier in the day—the conversation aimed at winning Istan’s cooperation.

To cut to the chase—

Noa’s plan succeeded.

“Of course, it wasn’t easy, but…”

After mentioning Silfi’s existence for the first time, Noa explained to Istan that winter vacation was starting and they were planning to head to the desert.

Upon hearing this, Istan showed a negative reaction. No matter how strong Ulan and Delia were, the desert was dangerous.

But then, Ulan stepped in.

“We have to go.”

Suddenly interrupting the conversation, he detailed the reasons for heading to the desert.

That the Lord of the Abyss might be in the desert, and that stopping the Abyss was his mission.

However, Istan didn’t back down either.

He repeatedly explained the dangers of the desert to Ulan, who was insisting on going.

In response, Ulan replied,

“There hasn’t been a single place I’ve been that wasn’t dangerous.”

This was an undeniable fact.

The Source of Magic, Astevan’s Magic Palace, and even the Abyss he had entered while rescuing Laurea—none of the places he had been were less dangerous than the desert.

“And…”

Following Ulan’s words, Ivella also joined in to persuade Istan, explaining how much of a threat the Abyssal Monster was.

Noa and Delia also lent their voices to the persuasion, and after some twists and turns, they finally succeeded in gaining Istan’s cooperation.

“Thanks to this, we’ve come this far.”

They were now able to set up a conversation with Silfi, who had been avoiding them all along.

That alone felt like enough of a harvest.

So, Noa quietly waited for Istan to finish his business. Next, it would be Ulan and the others’ turn.

Some time later—

After quite a bit of time had passed, Istan waved from afar. It was a signal that their conversation had ended, and now it was fine to come out.

“Let’s go.”

With Ulan’s brief command as a signal, they immediately set their steps toward their destination.

At that moment, Silfi, sensing their presence, turned her head and found her eyes widening in surprise.

“…Huh?”

Her expression was clearly one of confusion.

She was so startled that her body froze like a statue. And it wasn’t just Silfi who was caught off guard.

Ivella was also staring at Silfi with a face that looked as solid as stone.

“Hello. Fancy seeing you again.”

Noa waved with a bright smile.

Breaking the somewhat tense atmosphere, she approached and got straight to the point, showing no intention of wasting time on small talk.

“As the Count mentioned just now, I want to discuss something with you, just like we talked about when we met in the forest.”

“What we talked about in the forest…?”

“Information on the desert.”

No sooner had Silfi finished her words than Noa jumped right in.

“Tell me everything you know about the southern desert.”

Everything, without leaving a single detail out.

Upon hearing Noa’s request, Silfi wore a dumbfounded expression.

“Wait, hold on. That’s too…”

“Too broad, right?”

Noa interrupted with a grin.

She knew full well how ridiculous that request was. To gather all that information would take more than just a day.

“So, I’ve narrowed it down. I’ve filtered out the trivial stuff and chosen only the really important details.”

Noa held up two fingers.

Just like Istan had done earlier, she indicated there were two questions. Then she folded one finger down and said,

“Kazan Rudrik.”

This was one of the biggest reasons they were heading to the desert.

The moment she mentioned it, Silfi’s eyes widened slightly. Noa didn’t miss her reaction and quickly tossed out her next question.

“As a bloodline of Rudrik, you must know that name, right?”

“Well, yes…”

Silfi nodded, but soon she tilted her head in confusion.

“But why are you curious about that? The ancestor was only active a thousand years ago…”

“You don’t need to know that.”

Noa shook her head firmly.

Silfi was a cultist after all. An obvious enemy of the Empire. There was no reason to explain all the details to someone like that.

“All you have to do is tell me who Kazan Rudrik is.”

“…I understand.”

Realizing her situation, Silfi weakly nodded. Then, with everyone’s gaze on her, she began to recount the story of her distant ancestor.

Kazan Rudrik.

4.

It wasn’t just Noa who wanted to know about Kazan Rudrik. Ulan also had a flicker of curiosity about him.

“The first time I became interested was when I was swept away by the current in the Source of Magic.”

When he was overcoming the Trial of the Hero with Silfi and Ivella and obtaining the Hero’s Enchantment, Ulan became aware of Kazan’s existence for the first time.

“And…”

When they defeated the Frost Dragon, Glacia.

During the process of sealing the Abyssal Rift, he heard the name Kazan Rudrik once again, this time from the Lords and monsters beyond the Abyss.

From then on, every Lord of the Abyss Ulan encountered called him “the inheritor of Kazan Rudrik.”

“I’ve never heard of him in my past life.”

Not once in all those moments.

Was that why? With time, Ulan grew increasingly curious about the existence of Kazan Rudrik. That’s why he listened to Silfi’s story.

Meanwhile, during that time, Silfi easily spilled the beans about what she knew about Kazan Rudrik. To sum it all up:

First, Kazan Rudrik was a figure who actively operated a thousand years ago during the era of the fallen ancient desert kingdom.

Second, he was the founder of the Desert Order and widely celebrated as the greatest warrior and sorcerer of the desert.

Third, Kazan was the one who created the Minions of Rudrik and spread the method of turning monsters and beasts into Demon Beasts within the Order.

“…That’s all I know.”

After finishing her lengthy explanation, Silfi closed her mouth. In contrast, Noa wore a completely unsatisfied expression despite hearing what she wanted.

The reason was simple.

There hadn’t been much to gain. After contemplating for a moment, she asked again.

“I’d like to ask a few more questions related to that. Do you happen to know the name Astevan?”

Lord of the Immortals, Astevan.

Recently defeated by Ulan, he had a particularly strong connection to the desert compared to other lords.

The architectural style within the Magic Palace, and even Astevan’s source, reflected the desert landscape. So she thought there might be a connection.

After Noa’s question ended, Silfi’s face went wide with astonishment.

“How do you know that name…?”

One thing was certain: she knew about it.

Noa pressed her repeatedly, and soon she got to hear the related story.

“Astevan’s full name is Astevan Urbatra Mordem. He was the last king of the ancient desert kingdom I mentioned earlier.”

“…What?”

This time it was Noa’s turn to be surprised.

She had assumed the Lords of the Abyss, like the Abyssal Monsters, were born from the Abyss.

But he was originally human?

Stunned by this unexpected fact, Noa was taken aback, while Silfi continued.

“A thousand years ago, he was the king of the fallen nation who fought against the seven days of catastrophe, Astevan. That’s what the scriptures of the Order record.”

Silfi added an explanation, but that was all there was about Astevan. There were no further records.

“Now it’s my turn to ask.”

Just then, Ulan stepped forward.

He voiced the question that had been gnawing at Noa’s mind all this time.

“Do you know what the inheritor of Rudrik is?”

“No, but where did that come from…?”

“Answer my question first.”

She seemed to know something.

Ulan interrupted Silfi and urged her for the answer, and soon he received what he wanted.

“In the usual sense, it refers to the person designated as the next head of the Order. Just as I am called a bloodline of Rudrik.”

If the bloodline of Rudrik signifies candidates for the next head, then the inheritor of Rudrik itself refers to the next head.

“But according to the scriptures, it’s recorded as a great star fragment that will illuminate eternal darkness and the savior.”

“A star fragment? A savior?”

“Yes, it’s just a legend for us.”

Silfi shrugged her shoulders.

With Ulan’s puzzled face at the strange description, she turned back to Noa.

“Is your curiosity all satisfied now?”

“…”

No, rather it left her with more questions.

Especially the fact that Astevan was human in the past was the biggest shock.

While Noa was deep in thought, Delia, who had been quiet, finally spoke up for her.

“Next, I’ll reveal my second request.”

Gazing into her brilliantly shining golden eyes, Silfi gulped nervously. She had no idea what kind of question would come flying at her.

However, what Delia said was incredibly simple, rendering Silfi’s nervousness pointless.

“We need a guide.”

“A, a guide?”

“Yes. Like I said, we plan to head to the desert, so we need a guide who knows the geography of the desert well.”

The southern desert was vast.

Thus, to avoid getting lost and wandering in the desert, having a guide was essential. The problem was finding someone who knew the desert well was challenging.

So, they asked Silfi, who was from the desert, to recommend a guide.

“Umm, that might be a bit difficult.”

But Silfi shook her head in disapproval.

It was to be expected. This was Arsen Academy. While she might not know the desert well, there surely couldn’t be anyone capable of guiding them here.

Just as she was about to mumble an awkward response, someone suddenly chimed in.

“Do we really need to find a guide?”

A calm, deep voice broke through.

It was Ulan. He looked at Delia and then pointed at Silfi.

“We can just take her with us.”

“…Huh?”

Silfi blinked in bewilderment at the sudden interjection. Meanwhile, Delia frowned at Ulan’s suggestion.

“I had thought of that, but…”

Delia’s eyes narrowed.

A moment later, she hesitated and glanced sideways at Silfi, who still looked dazed.

“Can we really trust her?”

“I agree with that.”

It wasn’t just Delia who reacted negatively. Istan also glared at Silfi with a stern face, saying,

“Cultists are untrustworthy creatures. Sure, she might seem compliant now, but there’s a high chance she’ll change when we reach the desert.”

“Do you have any countermeasures?”

“No.”

Ulan replied confidently.

However, there was at least one countermeasure.

“But Noa will have one.”

“Huh? Me?”

Surprised by the sudden mention, Noa snapped out of her thoughts. Ulan just nodded silently.

“If there had been no way, we wouldn’t have brought up the guide discussion in the first place.”

If they hadn’t thought of Silfi as a guide, there would have been no reason to mention it at all.

It would have been quicker to just ask Istan, who knew the desert well, to recommend a suitable person.

But Noa wanted to bring this up while Silfi was present.

“That means…”

Noa realized that Ulan had been considering Silfi as a guide from the very beginning. With Ulan’s deduction, Noa wore an amused expression.

“This is a bit surprising. I never thought you’d figure out my intention, Ulan.”

After a brief moment of admiration, Noa broke into a bashful smile.

“That’s right. You got it right.”

“So, do you have a way?”

Delia inquired with curiosity.

Istan also looked at Noa with interest. With all eyes on her, Noa nodded.

“Yeah, we can solve this by getting insurance.”

“Insurance?”

“I’ll place a curse that makes the heart explode if a specific contract is broken. This is to prepare for being deceived or betrayed.”

Silfi had a strong survival instinct.

To be precise, she seemed pretty obsessed with her life, as evidenced by her trying to survive even while selling the Order’s information.

“So I’m sure this will work.”

Noa felt confident about it.

Meanwhile, upon hearing the word “curse,” Silfi’s complexion suddenly stiffened.

“A, a curse?”

She exclaimed, visibly startled.

A moment later, she took a step back, clearly showing her strong aversion.

“There’s no way I’d let myself be cursed just like that…”

Who would willingly fall for a curse that was laid out in front of them?

Silfi felt the urge to pose that question.

But she couldn’t.

“…!?”

A weapon flew through the air with the sound of rushing wind.

The sharp axe and sword quickly aimed at her neck, with the pressure from the wind already slicing her hair.

Her face turned pale as all color drained away.

With her mouth tightly closed and trembling, Noa smiled as she held out a talisman towards Silfi.

“You will agree to the curse, right?”

“…”

A short while later, they had secured a guide for the desert.

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