[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
Chapter 4
The woman fell silent.
“It’s quite dizzying, isn’t it?”
Finally, what came out of the woman’s mouth was praise.
Swish!
The Bone Spider’s legs snapped back like a whip.
Sein, who had found freedom, fell from the sky but managed to regain balance.
“It was just a matter of verification if your blood was…”
Hmm!
A necklace emerged from the woman’s chest.
“Demorus’s blood.”
“Was it necessary to keep me tied up?”
“I like to be certain.”
The woman said so, but…
‘It’s suspicious.’
Sein didn’t stop his suspicious gaze towards her.
He just wasn’t foolish enough to make it obvious.
“Aren’t you surprised? That you’re Demorus?”
“I knew I was special.”
Sein checked his body over and over.
‘My past life has been activated.’
Finally, the tutorial ended, and he was granted the special privileges of his past life.
Normally, even that would be random, but Sein could choose.
‘I even activated the cheat.’
That was the cheat Sein possessed.
It was a ‘choice.’
As the imperial prince, his greatest privilege was…
“You knew you were special?”
“You’ve seen it. I used aura.”
“…”
“How many people in my age group are using aura?”
The woman seemed to quietly nod her head.
“There in the back alleys without a proper mentor, awakening aura alone. Do you know what that means?”
“…?”
“It sounds like I’m a genius.”
Sein spoke confidently despite the warm tone.
“How did you awaken aura?”
“How can you explain breathing? It just happened naturally. And isn’t that evidence of me being a genius?”
I’ve thought about it countless times, waiting for this day.
Dozens, hundreds of reasons to explain.
But the conclusion was always the same.
“I awakened aura in such a remote back alley. Isn’t that proof of how remarkable my blood is? I even thought I might be of the fallen ancient empire lineage.”
Pushing his luck.
Pushing harder than expected was effective.
It was at that moment.
Twitch.
There was a subtle change in the woman’s expression at the mention of the ancient empire.
If I hadn’t activated my past life, I wouldn’t have noticed such a slight change.
“That makes sense. Then what about the dragon’s breath?”
“It’s the same.”
She had been watching from there.
Yet the woman remained passive, indicating she was observing rather than intervening.
‘She’s testing me.’
But Sein continued without showing any sign.
“Given by a traveler.”
“A traveler?”
“Most likely a fugitive. You already know I’m quite notorious in the back alleys.”
Naturalness.
That’s more important than anything.
He was a foreign presence in this world, and he knew what was happening because of his past experiences.
-Absolute law for enjoying the Sanctuary.
He had even posted such writings on information sites.
-First Law: Do not reveal the sense of foreignness.
There are penalties for that in the Sanctuary, too.
However, he had no intention of hiding himself.
-Second Law: Naturally reveal uniqueness.
Not as a sense of foreignness, but as uniqueness.
If the residents of the Sanctuary, NPCs, can accept that uniqueness, the penalties in the Sanctuary will be greatly mitigated.
“I can’t say there aren’t any risks, but I can understand.”
The woman approached Sein slowly.
Swoosh.
Extending her hand.
“I’m sorry for the late introduction.”
The woman spoke to Sein.
“My name is Arin.”
“……..”
“I’m also known as the Witch of the Legion.”
That was Sein’s first meeting with Arin.
“I’m Sein Demorus. Nice to meet you, Arin.”
* * *
Thud!
One of Sein’s subordinates who had knelt down at his footsteps fell forward.
“Bo-Boss!”
“Please spare us!”
Those who knelt were not just one.
At least six.
And they were the ones who…
“Even dogs recognize their masters.”
Were traitors.
“They wag their tails just because we feed them and put them to sleep.”
Sein asked while looking at them.
“But what are you guys?”
“Boss!”
“I feed you, I shelter you, I clothe you, I protect you from other neighbourhood bastards trying to tear you apart. And yet you bite the hand that feeds?”
“Boss! It’s not like that…!”
The attack by Thomas the Cripple.
That was clearly suspicious at first glance.
Especially considering the situation of being attacked.
It was definitely a planned event, and without traitors within, it would have been impossible.
“Darren.”
At Sein’s call, a shaggy one approached and bowed his head.
“What if they’re not traitors?”
Darren was a special one.
“Are you lying? Or are they lying?”
He was the same man who had raised and clothed Sein since the day he woke up in this strange body.
Though Sein was now the Boss, Darren was the only one he could trust in this back alley.
“You got any proof?”
“I’ve seen those guys meeting with the Cripple several times. And they were paid quite a sum.”
“T-That’s…!”
“I’ll stake my life on it.”
Darren’s firm voice settled the judgment.
“N-No, Boss, it’s not true!”
“Boss! Please!”
Swish.
But Sein had already drawn his dagger.
“What’s the punishment for betrayal in the back alleys?”
Sein stood up.
“Death, Boss.”
Thunk!
Sein’s dagger pierced one man’s throat as a signal.
“Aaah!”
Those struggling to survive tried to resist somehow.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Sein’s subordinates, who were already waiting, promptly disposed of all the traitors without hesitation.
The back alley fell silent in no time.
Swish.
As Darren, who had just dealt with the last one, wiped the blood off his dagger, he spoke.
“But, Boss. What about her?”
In a corner of the alley, there was a strange woman that one wouldn’t even glance at if they weren’t from the same group.
“It doesn’t seem like the Boss has taken in any women.”
A beauty rarely seen in this rural area.
But more than that, she exuded a dangerous scent that made everyone cautious.
“She goes by the name Arin.”
“Arin…?”
It was a name he had never heard before.
“She seems to be called the Witch of the Legion.”
It might have a notorious reputation across the continent.
“I don’t understand.”
But it wasn’t a name that had spread to this rural area.
Swish.
Sein stood up and said,
“The Cripple is dead. Take care of the kids and secure the Cripple’s territory.”
“…!”
“And as for Arin…”
Sein turned around and said,
“She’s a woman from Demorus.”
“…!”
At that moment, the back alley froze.
Even though it was a rural area where the reputation of the Witch of the Legion hadn’t even reached.
“…Demorus, you say?”
The name of Demorus held power even in such a backwater area.
* * *
“Three of them did not lie.”
Arin’s sudden remark made Sein, who was drinking beer, pause. This place was an inn managed by Sein, the tomb of mercenaries.
“What?”
“Of the six you executed, three weren’t traitors.”
“Ah, that.”
Sein chuckled as if he had just realized.
“They were problematic even if not traitors. It’s better to make sure when there’s a justification, even if it’s not this time.”
“Problematic?”
Thunk.
Sein slammed the beer down roughly.
“You seem very interested in others’ territories.”
“Haven’t I finished introducing myself yet?”
Even so, Arin didn’t blink an eye.
She was a woman who easily tore through the mercenary, a man of knight-commander level.
Dealing with an aura user like Sein would probably be easier than swallowing cold soup.
“I am your guardian.”
“…Guardian?”
“It means someone who watches over you and judges if you are suitable to become a successor.”
“…Isn’t a guardian supposed to be someone who helps you?”
“Consider it multitasking.”
Unable to withstand Arin’s expressionless gaze, Sein finally turned away.
“One man touched a married woman. Another one… harmed a child.”
“They deserved to die.”
“Well, it’s more or less that kind of story. Although they could use aura, they were short-handed when it came to fighting with the Cripple over territory.”
“Is that why you spared them?”
A gaze tinged with contempt.
But.
“For that reason?”
Instead, Sein’s face twisted.
“Is there a reason more important than surviving in this hellish dump? I had to keep them alive by any means necessary. The esteemed guardian of great Demorus may not understand.”
A hellish back alley.
There was nothing as difficult as surviving there.
“Well….”
Sein muttered quietly.
“The guy who touched a married woman won’t dare lay a hand on a woman again, and the one who harmed a child…”
Thunk!
“I made the asshole pay for what he got. You don’t get beaten like that for stealing, not on my turf.”
“Was that your doing? Good to hear.”
“Of course. Even if it’s me, I’m a strict person.”
The trivial conversation ended there.
“What happens next?”
Sein asked Arin.
A new identity had emerged, and a watcher with the name of guardian had appeared.
Things would be different from now on.
“We’re going to Demorus.”
A natural course of action.
“During the journey to Demorus, I’ll watch over you.”
She was his guardian.
“To see if you’re suitable to be the successor of Demorus.”
At that moment, Sein realized.
‘This is the main quest.’
His fourth life that was given to him.
The main quest given to the successor of the Dark Valley.
“What if I’m not suitable?”
“You’ll be discarded.”
“That’s harsh.”
But it didn’t matter.
Sein’s goal so far.
‘Survive.’
Surviving in this hellish world.
Thus, he endured, rolling in the filth of that dismal back alley.
With all that filth clinging to his hands.
But if it were only that, he would have given up.
Running away from the gloomy reality was also an option, after all.
The reason he persevered.
“Alright. Let’s go to Demorus.”
It was a task as significant as anything Sein had.
The only redemption he could achieve for the world he once loved so dearly, which he himself had destroyed.
Also, it was the sole hope Kim Sein, who had everything in Sanctuary, had.
‘This time, I’ll clear Sanctuary.’
No one can accuse him of cheating.
This place may be a game to others, but it was real to him.
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
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