A few days earlier.
There had been a reason I had saved 【Soul of the Swordmaster】 until the very end of my battle against the Celestial Dragon Bird.
It was to make use of the Lost Elder’s system.
That mechanism which rewarded a skill suited to a specific action.
***SHING——!***
What if I defended against the Celestial Dragon Bird’s attack at the perfect moment?
The system would recognize that as a special action. A fitting reward would follow as a result.
And my prediction had proven exactly right.
‘Of course, I never imagined the reward would be a skill this powerful.......’
Auto-Parrying.
A defensive skill for swordsman characters that had existed in the original game.
It was a technique that automatically blocked an enemy’s attack at a fixed probability.
However, the reward I had received, 【Ultimate Auto-Parrying】, boasted effects in an entirely different league from the original skill.
‘For starters, it has the modifier “Ultimate” in its name.’
A 9-Star legendary skill.
True to that grandeur, this ability automatically blocked every fatal blow.
Even regardless of the user’s Cognition stat.
‘It’s a skill practically equivalent to an invincibility move.’
That was no exaggeration.
Didn’t it just effortlessly block an attack from a Level 80 Adelia?
That was virtually the same as saying that most attacks wouldn’t work on me.
In the game, Advanced Auto-Parrying had been the maximum. Even that was an ability only high-level characters with tremendous stats could use.
......Considering that, it was clear how absurd it was that I had gained such a skill at Level 1.
‘Well, at least I can relax a little.’
GRIN—.
I looked at the skill window and smiled faintly.
Now that I had acquired this ability, the risk of dying an absurd death had vanished completely.
“Sir Gaon.”
That was when Adelia called to me in a careful voice.
She silently picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground and asked me a question.
“Would it be possible for me to try just once more?”
“.......?”
Try once more?
Try what?
It was at the very moment that I was entertaining those questions alone.
*SHING—!*
Adelia raised her sword again, as though she might charge at me at any moment.
Seeing that, I silently glanced at the skill window.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
【Ultimate Auto-Parrying】
(Cooldown : 23 hours 58 minutes 11 seconds)
━━━━━━━━━━━━
......She was talking as if she wanted to get herself killed.
“Training is over for today.”
“Ah.”
Sliiide—.
Adelia slowly lowered the tip of her sword.
With a disappointed look on her face, she let her shoulders droop.
‘Adelia.......’
......I’ve told you several times already, but I still don’t want to die.
***
Free City Vertas.
On the top floor of a mansion located in the west of that bustling city, a fat man muttered to himself after receiving a report from his butler.
“A Celestial Dragon Bird.......”
The man’s name was Edmon Brickwood.
He was the head of the Eastern Vertas Merchant Guild and the person responsible for managing every item registered with the Auction.
Tapping his desk as greed filled his expression, he spoke again.
“You said the corpse had been split cleanly in half to an almost excessive degree?”
“Yes.”
The butler in a monocle nodded and continued.
“According to the Guild’s investigation, the cut would make no sense unless it had been made in a single stroke.”
“Hmm.”
Edmon Brickwood sank into thought, pressing his lips together.
Someone powerful enough to kill a Celestial Dragon Bird?
And in a single stroke, at that?
No matter how he thought about it, only one possibility came to mind.
“It must have been the work of a Swordmaster. Or a high-ranking knight of comparable ability.”
“.......Yes. I think so as well.”
TAP, TAP, TAP—.
Another silence followed.
As he silently tapped his desk, Edmon asked the butler another question.
“Then who registered this corpse with the Auction?”
“His name is Hakun Durdumel. He is an Elite Merchant who runs a sizable merchant company at one of our branches.”
Hearing that, Edmon nodded.
“Hakun, Hakun Durdumel.......”
That was right.
It was a name he had heard before.
A man who had earned the status of Elite Merchant at a rather young age through exceptional business acumen.
Despite being in his early thirties, he was already a veteran who had traveled the Silk Road more than a hundred times.
“Did he know that the corpse he registered belonged to a Celestial Dragon Bird?”
“That has not yet been confirmed. However, the ownership of the corpse is registered to a man named Gaon.”
“.......Hakun Durdumel merely presented himself as the intermediary?”
“Yes.”
After continuing his thoughts in silence, Edmon smiled.
“Has the identity of this person called ‘Gaon’ been confirmed?”
“He is a man who entered the city only a few days ago. Records from before then are uncertain. There is a record of Hakun Durdumel issuing him an Identity Plaque through his Elite Merchant authority.”
“Any other noteworthy details?”
“Other than sharp features, a frail-looking body, and a woman presumed to be his guard traveling with him, there is nothing else of note.”
“Aha, is that so.......”
The smile on Edmon’s lips grew exceptionally vile.
“.......Well, I can see the general picture.”
He began to lay out his deduction.
“A Swordmaster who received an Elder’s Revelation must have killed the Celestial Dragon Bird for some reason. Durdumel, while passing through the Uncharted Lands, must have found the corpse by chance.”
That ‘some reason’ was of no concern to Edmon at the moment.
What mattered was only that the corpse had ended up in Durdumel’s hands.
“The moment Durdumel realized this monster’s corpse was no ordinary matter, he must have decided to put it up for auction. That bastard has an uncanny nose for money.”
“.......”
“But he must have felt uneasy once he considered putting it on the market. No matter how high-grade the monster, it is rare for a corpse to emit an aura to this extent.”
By then, the butler nodded as well.
He, too, was beginning to grasp the context of the incident.
“I understand. He put forward a vagrant from the Uncharted Lands as the nominal owner and stepped back himself.”
“That is right.”
Edmon grinned. Perhaps because they had been together for so long, the man understood what he meant quickly.
“He claimed he was only an intermediary, then shifted every risk onto that man called ‘Gaon.’”
Edmon had dominated the commercial district of Free City Vertas for many years. He could see the tricks of merchants like these as plainly as a fire before his eyes.
But all of this was still only his own speculation. There were matters that required further verification.
“Still, something does not sit right.”
Edmon narrowed his eyes.
“Durdumel is not a fool who would use a ploy this simple. Above all.......”
He habitually tapped the desk.
“......All of this rests on the premise that the bastard failed to recognize the Celestial Dragon Bird.”
Of course, Edmon’s premise was entirely reasonable.
A Divine Beast was an Elder’s proxy, and only a handful of people knew of its existence.
At most, that was limited to members of the Sacred Family and high-ranking people with ties to them, such as Edmon.
‘I do not think someone who has only just become an Elite Merchant would have access to that much information.......’
But one never knew.
Perhaps Durdumel had perfectly grasped the Celestial Dragon Bird’s value and, with a powerful patron behind him, set this whole thing in motion.
SNORT—.
But Edmon soon scoffed. Even he thought it was a ridiculous assumption.
Could someone who had only just entered the ranks of Elite Merchant really have a power comparable to the Sacred Family behind him?
‘......Still, I should make certain of everything.’
TAP, TAP, TAP—.
His fingers tapped faster against the desk.
No matter how slim the possibility, a matter of this scale had to be investigated thoroughly. The more troublesome something was, the more meticulously he handled it.
Having reached that conclusion, Edmon gave the butler an order.
“Go and sound him out.”
“Durdumel?”
“No, the man registered as the owner of the corpse. That bastard called Gaon, or whatever his name is.”
It would be easier to deal with a worthless vagrant who knew nothing than to gauge the hidden thoughts of an Elite Merchant skilled in the art of getting along with people.
Speaking with Durdumel was something to do after he had gained a clearer grasp of the situation.
The butler immediately understood the intent behind Edmon’s command and bowed deeply as he answered.
“Yes. I will look into it at once.”
CREAK, THUD—.
The butler immediately left the room to carry out his orders.
Watching the firmly closed door, Edmon let out a quiet chuckle and began to let his imagination run wild.
‘If this proceeds as I think it will.......’
Not only would he legally seize the corpse of a Divine Beast owned by a novice Elite Merchant.
Edmon would also achieve the ambition he had long desired.
‘......This time, I will strengthen my position with the Sacred Family.’
He did not want to let this pumpkin that had rolled in, vines and all, slip away.
***
“Whew.”
A sigh escaped me on its own.
I had certainly rested enough and checked the performance of the abilities I had newly acquired.
Now it was about time to move on to the next step. The road ahead was going to be demanding, too.
‘Did they say it would take a few more days for the Celestial Dragon Bird’s corpse to be listed in the Auction?’
Since it was the first Divine Beast corpse to appear on the market, it seemed that it had to go through a number of complicated procedures.
It would take some time, but the Guild would have placed an anti-decay spell on the corpse, so I did not need to worry about its value dropping.
With that in mind, I intended to leave for a nearby region with Adelia until the Guild’s approval was complete.
To obtain the ‘ability’ I had planned to acquire in advance.
“Adelia.”
I called Adelia. The dejected girl looked up at me with a start.
“Prepare to leave for about a week.”
“.......?”
“Our destination is Vertas’s 「Labyrinth Village 」.”
Labyrinth Village.
A slum located in the underground tunnels of Free City Vertas.
It was also a dangerous place where all manner of the city’s scum gathered, beyond the reach of law enforcement.
Yet Adelia showed no sign of dislike at my words. Instead, the corners of her mouth began to twitch.
‘What is this?’
Why was she happy about this again.......
‘Ah.’
Only then did I realize what Adelia was thinking.
Just as I had put her through a Trial in Dawnguard’s abandoned factory, she seemed to expect that I would help her grow again in a dangerous place this time.
‘.......That is not it. Really.’
I was heading for 「Labyrinth Village」 purely to achieve my own objective.
Still, with Adelia’s talent, she would probably keep growing quickly on her own in the meantime.
Well, either way, the result would be the same, so it worked out well.
“Then I will return to our lodgings and gather the necessary supplies.”
“All right.”
I decided to practice swordsmanship for a while until Adelia returned.
One possibility had suddenly crossed my mind.
‘By the way.......’
WHOOOSH—!
As I swung the Feather Sword, sheath and all, I recalled my spar with Adelia.
Though the exchange had ended in an instant, that sensation remained vivid in my body.
‘.......Could I make use of my talent for the sword to internalize 【Ultimate Auto-Parrying】?’
With the talent for the sword that I possessed, it seemed entirely possible.
If I could manifest this ability through my own strength, without using the skill, there could be nothing better.
It was as I turned the Feather Sword this way and that to test the possibility.
‘Huh?’
Flinch—.
That was when I stopped moving after spotting ‘someone’ approaching from far away.
For some reason, the person’s appearance was extremely familiar.
“.......”
A middle-aged man sent a cold gaze through his monocle.
His hair was neatly combed back, and he wore an ironed tailcoat.
One look was enough to tell that he belonged to the upper class.
‘That bastard.......’
I furrowed my brow.
After all, he was the henchman of one of Loel’s most notorious NPCs.
No.
More accurately, I should call him the henchman of such an NPC.
‘......Taylor, Butler of the Brickwood Family.’
TSK—.
I clicked my tongue.
A butler of the Brickwood Family was approaching at a time like this?
That alone was enough to give me a rough idea of what was happening with the auction listing of the Celestial Dragon Bird’s corpse.
‘Things are getting complicated.’
There was a reason the item registration was being delayed.
It looked like the head of the Eastern Vertas Merchant Guild was up to some dirty trick.
I could clearly see what was going to happen next.
Even in the game, those Brickwood bastards had choked the livelihoods out of countless merchants in this manner.
‘No, maybe this is even better?’
At that moment, a vicious smile appeared on my lips.
‘I can cut out the rotten part of Vertas early.’