〈 Chapter 165 〉 Albert

*

“Phew!”

Yusera poked her face out of the lake.

Even though it wasn’t real water, she looked like she was grimacing.

“Stop making a fuss and come out.”

With that, Yusera awkwardly walked out of the lake.

I asked her, “What on earth were you doing that you forgot three days have passed?”

When I finished the three-day trial and was about to receive my reward, the God of Nothingness mentioned she was still in the trial.

So, I asked the God of Nothingness to finish her trial at this point, and as a result, she came out of the lake a few minutes later than me.

“Well…”

Her face turned red.

I had no idea what she had done in there.

“I mean, I don’t have a clock, so…”

I knew that much.

I just didn’t expect her to last over three days in that void space.

So, I didn’t really intend to scold her.

“You did well.”

In fact, I might as well praise her.

“Huh?”

For some reason, Yusera looked puzzled even after receiving the compliment.

“In any case, that space is something that an ordinary person would struggle to last even a day, let alone three.”

“Is that so?”

Yusera scratched her head.

“Anyway, what reward did you get?”

“Oh, that…”

Yusera pulled something out of her inventory.

It was a sword.

No, it wasn’t a sword.

“A scabbard?”

There was no sword, just a scabbard hanging there.

“And the sword?”

“This is all there is.”

At that, I brought up the item info for the scabbard.

Category: Equipment

Type: Scabbard

Relic Grade: 3-Star

Description: A scabbard made by the ancestor of the Armanus Family, known as the God of Weapons. When a sword is stored within, it gradually restores the durability of the stored sword. Additionally, it can completely restore a sword-shaped relic that has had its durability completely exhausted, but only once. However, a minimal blade must remain in the scabbard for this to work.

‘This is…’

To be honest, it was ambiguous.

While it might seem to fit Yusera’s overload well, it didn’t quite suit her current state.

‘If Sky Cleaving swings with the intention of exhausting all its durability at once, that advantage disappears.’

So, the effect of restoring the durability of the sword didn’t really align with her efficiency.

It could only hold one sword at a time anyway, so I didn’t know how slow the “gradual” restoration speed would be.

But the last line caught my attention.

‘It completely restores a sword-shaped relic that has had its durability completely exhausted?’

As soon as I read that description, a certain sword came to mind.

‘Relic Gravitas Replicant.’

It had been completely shattered while saving Elsie last time.

But there was a problem…

‘I couldn’t even recover a piece of Gravitas.’

The situation was too urgent.

I had to rush out of the collapsing White Tower carrying Elsie.

‘No, don’t dwell on it.’

This scabbard could restore any relic once.

Using it for the 2-Star Relic that was Gravitas Replicant felt wasteful.

No matter how much attachment I had to that sword, I had to distinguish between personal and professional matters.

‘But…’

I thought I had let go of it with my mind, but it seemed I hadn’t.

Well, I had grown quite attached to it, and it hadn’t been long since I retrieved it after being pawned for transaction fees.

It wouldn’t be easy to forget.

“Allen?”

At that moment, Yusera called me.

“Why do you look like you lost a country all of a sudden? Is it that bad?”

I guess my expression management wasn’t on point.

I couldn’t say it was about the sword I had lost a while ago.

“No, this scabbard is perfectly fine. It’s just that it won’t change the fact that it doesn’t replace the existing Sky Cleaving that overloads instantly. Still, in the future, if a high-grade relic gets destroyed, it can be used to restore it, which is quite good.”

“Wow.”

Yusera then showed a satisfied expression and put the scabbard in her inventory.

Then she asked me, “What about you? What did you get?”

“Well…”

As I reached into my inventory to pull something out, I hesitated for a moment.

To be honest, I didn’t really want to take it out.

But still, I guess I had to.

‘I’m not going to use it forever.’

I eventually took out a sword from my inventory.

It was a sword with an intricately sculpted handle.

Moreover, the blade seemed to emit a faint glow for some reason.

“Whoa…”

Seeing it, Yusera couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.

“So what kind of sword is this?”

What kind of sword, you ask?

The answer flowed not from me, but from somewhere else.

– Nice to meet you, Yusera. It’s my first time directly talking to you like this.

Yusera looked around with a startled expression at the suddenly heard unfamiliar male voice.

Of course, it was a voice I knew very well.

– To answer your previous question, this sword is one with me dwelling within it.

Only then did Yusera realize that the voice was coming from the sword.

“Dwelling in the sword?”

– That’s right. My name is…

“Albert.”

Just for reference, it had no special meaning.

It was simply derived from the first letter of the sword’s name.

– Huh? That’s my name…

I tightened my grip on the sword’s handle.

– …

Finally, it became a bit quiet.

Category: Weapon

Type: Sword

Relic Grade: 4-Star

Description: A sword infused with the God of Connection. It doesn’t have any special powers, but being infused with the God of Connection, it possesses immense divine power. The divine power grows stronger as the God of Connection expands its concept.

Dwelling in the sword was none other than the God of Connection… No, the God of Connection.

According to the God of Chains, once I left, he constantly whined about wanting to observe my journey, so I had no choice but to seal him in the weapon and give it to me.

‘It’s definitely good to have a weapon, and being a 4-Star is a blessing, but…’

This God of Connection is polite, but way too noisy.

Plus, it seemed like he wanted to keep an eye on everything I did, which was why I had ultimately thrown the sword into my inventory.

And it mattered little that he hadn’t told Yusera he was the God of Connection.

I just figured she wouldn’t be familiar with the concept of a “god.”

I didn’t really know much about gods either, but I knew that being a god didn’t mean she had to look down on him.

It seemed like the God of Connection wanted to accompany as a companion rather than play the role of a god.

“A talking sword? I think I’ve heard about them before. Wasn’t it called an Ego Sword?”

“Yeah, Ego Sword. This guy is Ego Sword Albert.”

At that, the God of Connection reacted.

– Oh, a name? It certainly is an important element in a connection.

I quickly threw the sword back into my inventory.

He might be a good god.

But if I had to carry him with me all the time, things would be a bit different.

“Well then, let’s get going.”

I figured our respective reward checks were done.

Now, all that was left was to hustle towards the Central Sea System.

From here on out, we’d have to travel on foot for a while without a wagon.

Just as I was about to set out…

“Hey, Allen.”

Suddenly, Yusera spoke again.

“What is it?”

When I turned around, she was strangely frozen in place.

She asked with that stiff posture.

“Do I look any different?”

“Different?”

For starters, her outfit was the same.

The strength I could sense didn’t seem much different from before the trial either.

‘What on earth did she do for three whole days?’

Anyway, there didn’t seem to be any noticeable changes.

Except for her weird expression and her stiff posture.

While I was pondering for quite a while…

– Tell her she got prettier.

A whispering voice suddenly echoed from nowhere.

Despite being startled by the man’s whisper in my ear, I ended up following his advice without thinking.

“She seems a bit prettier?”

Even while it was still in my inventory, she could talk outside like that.

Seeing me flustered, Yusera started to grin for some reason.

That’s when I started to worry about the future.

*

“Honestly, back when I first bet with Allen on swordsmanship, I wondered what was going through your mind. Of course, back then, it was Sung Yoo-rang.”

– I was watching back then too. Allen was truly the epitome of a jerk.

“A jerk… Pfft.”

That’s off.

The sound just wouldn’t go away.

I thought it might quiet down a bit after Elsie stayed behind in the Leim Kingdom, but for some reason, it got noisy again.

“By the way, you were watching back then too?”

– Yes, that place is…

Having long given up on putting him back in the inventory, I gripped the handle tightly.

For a moment, he fell silent.

But soon shifted the topic.

– So, Yusera, weren’t you curious what exactly changed about you?

“Changed?”

Her outfit was the same.

Strength didn’t feel any different than before the trial.

Maybe it was the weird expression and stiff posture she was in.

While I mulled over that for a while…

– You’ve become prettier.

Suddenly, an echoing voice whispered in the air.

Surprised by the sudden voice, I managed to stammer it out.

“Uhh, I think you’ve gotten prettier?”

Even though it was in my inventory, he could still speak outside.

Yusera’s expression changed slightly as she listened to me.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I guess you have…”

Suddenly, she blushed as if it was the biggest scandal.

‘What’s wrong with her now?’

I suppose sensitive topics about her body were best left unsaid.

What on earth was the problem?

– I believe both of you are lost causes.

You really shouldn’t talk about problems when you were the one that caused them.

“Allen?”

At that moment, Yusera called me.

“It smells like a fish.”

At her words, I turned my gaze straight ahead.

I focused on the horizon.

‘That’s…’

Before I knew it, that place was no longer just a horizon.

It was a thin line of blue.

That was the horizon.

“The Central Sea.”

That meant there was no more road from here.

Instead, from this point on, there existed sea routes lined up above the ocean.

And to traverse those sea routes, one had to take a boat.

But…

“Wait, don’t tell me…”

I looked around at the coastline that began to come into view, unable to believe my eyes.

‘The machine boats of the Central Sea System.’

They were designed to start sailing just by operating a lever, allowing one to reach the Central Sea System without needing a navigator.

And no matter how long the Leim Kingdom had been under a national isolation policy, it would be normal for at least a few boats to remain on the shore.

‘Not a single one?’

Yet, there wasn’t a single machine boat in sight.

*