〈 Chapter 202 〉 Schurz (1)
*
Saint City Hailen.
Even this largest city of humanity, believed to be the most sacred, had its back alleys.
Of course, it wasn’t a den of crime like Sakh, but compared to the bright atmosphere of the main street, it looked rather gloomy, filled with many heroes.
In such an alley, a man came to a stop.
He tried to hide his identity as much as possible using a hood, but the tips of his unique transparent hair peeked out.
“Hmm.”
Nothing seemed to be on the wall.
A snowflake from his palm flew towards it.
And it passed right through the wall.
“So it was here.”
It’s definitely Stella.
Probably no one other than the Water Sage could penetrate a disguise spell of this level.
He remembered the location already, so he managed to find it somehow.
Clink.
He reached out and opened the door.
Inside was a tavern.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to a tavern.”
After a long period of hiding, he rarely visited taverns.
He never really felt like drinking.
But this tavern might hold quite a significant meaning for him.
“I used to come here every day.”
Back when he stayed in Hailen with his former companions.
They always stopped by this tavern after finishing work.
Even though he didn’t particularly like alcohol, the atmosphere back then was quite nice when he thought about it.
“But I can’t go back now.”
He looked at the table where he and his companions always sat.
Two figures were already sitting there.
Magician Stella.
And Spearman Duke.
Both sat at the same spots they occupied back then.
But there were still two seats left at the table.
One was his seat.
The other was Knight Beron’s seat.
“Beron.”
He recalled the face of a leader he could no longer see.
“Just a moment more.”
Revenge would come soon.
Thinking this, he sat down in his usual seat.
At that moment, Spearman Duke spoke.
“It’s been a while.”
Stella, sitting across from him, waved as well.
“Right? How long has it been?”
“Hmm, around 8 years?”
Of course, Stella and Duke had mostly stayed in Hailen, so they met often.
But since Schurz hadn’t visited Hailen, it had been quite a long time since the three met.
“It’s been 9 years.”
At least he had never forgotten the day Beron died.
“Has that much time really passed?”
The expressions of those two were filled with nostalgia.
Unlike him, who had been cowering in fear, they had been actively involved in their respective realms.
“Remember when Schurz…”
“Was that so? It’s been so long I can only remember you clinging to Schurz.”
“When did I…!”
But that was all in the past now.
While they happily reminisced, he had to bring up something heavy.
“Let’s get to the main topic.”
Stella’s and Duke’s expressions grew serious.
“Right. Let’s do that…”
Stella lowered her head.
But Duke, looking slightly annoyed, said, “Schurz, it’s been a while since we met. Can’t we talk about old times a bit?”
However, in that moment, Duke noticed Schurz’s hand.
Tremble…
Schurz’s hand kept shaking uncontrollably.
“You…”
“It’s nothing. Just a habit from hiding, you could say it’s a chronic issue.”
Still, Duke couldn’t shake off his worry.
“By the way, why did you arrive so early? Didn’t you say you were going to wait for Allen Pleuk?”
“Right, and I heard Allen defeated Karkel as well.”
The rumor that Allen Pleuk had defeated Karkel had already spread throughout Hailen.
That essentially meant a new Saint-level Hero had appeared.
Of course, Allen couldn’t be considered a Saint-level Hero just yet.
But Schurz shook his head.
“Well, I heard it’s hard to say he actually won. Karkel just declared defeat, that’s all.”
“Even so, if he was able to deal damage to Karkel…”
“No. That’s not enough.”
Schurz asserted.
“Don’t you remember what happened to Karkel when he challenged the High Priest?”
They had seen Karkel’s face before.
So they fell silent.
Only Schurz was vocally criticizing Allen.
“A guy who couldn’t even defeat Karkel wouldn’t stand a chance against the High Priest.”
However, Stella had her own words on that matter.
“What about us? Are we any different?”
Back when Beron died 9 years ago, they might have been.
But now they were far too weakened.
“Duke, your spear technique has suffered a lot from staying in Hailen.”
“Ugh. Stella…”
“And you’ve already given away ‘Wings’ to someone else.”
The 5-star Relic ‘Wings’.
It had been an essential part of Schurz’s power.
Without it, his strength plummeted to 10%.
“Yeah, I gave it away.”
Yet Schurz took off the leather glove he had on.
As he did, a transparent ring revealed itself on his finger.
“That’s…!”
It was the Relic ‘Wings’.
The light flowing from that ring entered his skin, etching a snowflake pattern on the back of his hand.
“The one who received this from me died. So I retrieved it.”
‘Wings’ was a Relic that could only be used by the purebloods of the Ice Valley, a rare path to attain a pattern.
‘Snowflake Emblem.’
It was known as a stigma that only the strongest from the Ice Valley could possess, passed down through the ring.
And eventually, the hero who inherited it died while driving out the Demon Kings on Central Island, leading it back to him.
The Demon Kings also became aware of his existence because he briefly visited Central Island to reclaim the ring.
Of course, they wouldn’t have known his true purpose at the time, but since he used the power of ‘Wings’ while on the way to Saint City Hailen, they probably noticed hints of it.
It wasn’t the most important fact.
“Anyway, my sword won’t have a reason to face the Demon Kings anymore.”
He had dealt with the Demon Kings casually for a long time.
But that would end this time.
“I’ve made my resolve. I will definitely kill that guy.”
He was obviously talking about the High Priest.
And Stella and Duke couldn’t sway his determination.
After all, it was a plan they agreed upon.
“Yeah, we must kill him.”
“Yeah…”
Allen Pleuk seemed to think everything would be resolved if he annihilated the Demon Kings, dismantling the High Priest’s leadership.
But thinking so naively was excessively optimistic.
The High Priest was someone consumed by madness beyond imagination.
They couldn’t predict what he might do to restore his power.
“Maybe an immense tragedy might come upon us.”
A second Beron might be born.
Or a second Ice Valley might emerge.
So, before that, they needed to subdue the High Priest to prevent that tragedy.
And…
“Beron’s revenge must be done by our hands.”
That was the driving force binding the three together in this place.
“Now, let’s get to the main topic.”
In a quiet tavern.
Schurz began to quietly discuss the operation.
His expression was extremely serious.
Yet…
His hand kept shaking.
*
After the operation meeting with Schurz ended.
They dispersed, promising to meet for the operation the next day.
Well, actually, Duke and Stella pretended to disperse but met again.
“Hey, Stella.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you feel it too?”
Then Stella cautiously nodded.
“Schurz was definitely off.”
The man they met after a long time had a somewhat different demeanor from before.
Whereas he used to be strong and cold-headed, today he had shown signs of trembling hands for some reason.
“He said it was a chronic issue…”
But it wasn’t just his hands that were shaking.
His eyes, even his voice, were subtly trembling.
“Why was he so anxious?”
In response to Stella’s question, Duke replied.
“No, he wasn’t anxious.”
“He wasn’t anxious?”
“He was, for some reason, angry.”
It was a quiet anger.
He seemed to have locked it away deep inside him to avoid detection by Stella and Duke, yet it ultimately manifested as shaking.
“What could have made him so angry?”
He had enjoyed killing the Chaos Beasts and Demon Kings but had never been engulfed by anger.
Even when Beron died, he chose to vanish, abandoning everything with a cold gaze.
Yet now he was filled with rage.
“There must be a reason for it.”
Still, being teammates, Stella wanted to trust him.
But Duke didn’t seem to feel the same way.
“Something feels off…”
It would have been nice if he had explained it directly.
Of course, he wouldn’t be sharing the reasons no matter what.
But regardless of the reasons, the current feeling was indeed unpleasant.
“Stella, is this really the right thing to do?”
“Why are you asking this suddenly? Didn’t we already finish that discussion?”
The High Priest must be killed.
Those in the know would understand, as she recognized that he was indeed a malignant presence in this world.
At the very least, she didn’t want the fallout to reach young sanctified beings like Allen Pleuk.
But still…
“Damn it, Schurz. What’s with you all of a sudden?”
Why was he so filled with anger?
That question continued to nag her.
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