Chapter 37
I swept my gaze across the surroundings, my head swiveling back and forth past the thick layer of dust.
The hastily deployed Veil of Time had, as expected, stopped all incoming attacks. It was a natural outcome, considering an Authority that twists Causality itself wouldn't be stopped by something as trivial as a Magic spell, a mere clump of Mana.
Rudine seemed used to it by now, but Adina, still not quite adjusted, stared blankly with wide eyes.
Arkan chuckled, poking the dozens of lightning bolts frozen in mid-air with his fingertips.
He was muttering something, but his voice was too low to hear.
That wasn't important right now.
'I managed to block it for now...'
The problem starts now.
It wasn't impossible to subdue them all with the Rune's power, but unfortunately, I didn't have much Mind's Eye left. From the scuffle with Gwonseong, to annihilating the packs of Monstrous Beasts along the way, and now stopping the all-out attack from the White-Haired Clan, my Mind's Eye was running on empty. Of course, thanks to Rudine, it was recharging bit by bit, but it would take a full day to fully recover.
'Now what?'
It would be great if they recognized the difference in power and backed off, but if they decided to fight to the death, we would be the ones to lose. If it were just one person, I could somehow squeeze out the Rune’s power and win, but there were a whopping twenty of them.
It was a losing battle from the start.
I tried to act tough as much as possible, but I couldn't stall any longer.
“……How did you do that?”
A strained voice reached my ears.
It was Arkaban, the Leader of the White-Haired Clan, staring blankly at me. Her eyes trembled wildly as she witnessed the bizarre scene before her.
I slowly shifted my gaze towards her.
And now.
"It's you lot who are smearing dirt on your clan's face."
I just blurted out whatever came to mind.
Naturally, I didn't have a proper solution, so it was just running my mouth. My Mind's Eye was almost depleted, and if I squeezed out every last drop, I could probably take down one of them, but I wouldn't be unscathed either.
Honestly, I was scared shitless, but since my expressions rarely showed, Arkaban, looking at me, seemed visibly tense.
“As I said, I've already used the Precious Artifact you seek. So, even if I wanted to return it, I can’t.”
“……”
“That wasn't your clan's possession in the first place. You know that, right? Your clan's role was to protect it with all your might until it returned to its original owner. In the end, when the time came, that artifact was destined to leave your hands. Just like now.”
“Human, how do you…?”
How do I know?
Because you said it yourself in the original story.
“You attacked with the intent to kill.”
“……”
“You attacked someone you have no animosity towards, without even grasping the circumstances, your own kind, no less, companions of a young member of your clan? The clan’s honor, built by your ancestors since forgotten times, is being ruined by its own Leader. You should be ashamed.”
As I deliberately provoked her, Arkaban gritted her teeth. Seeing her raised tail, it seemed she was thoroughly pissed off.
“…So, you're saying you are the owner of that Precious Artifact?”
“That’s right.”
“How am I supposed to believe that? It's just words. Without proof, they're just empty words.”
Well, that’s true.
No matter how much I pretended to know, it was just talk to them. If they were gullible enough to hand over the Precious Artifact based on my words, they wouldn’t have been able to protect the Rune for so long.
That’s why the protagonist of the original story uttered this phrase to gain the White-Haired Clan’s cooperation.
“Return to the pursuit of one's hopes and the belonging to the flow of the times.”
“…!!”
“The primordial text yearns for eternity and causality awaits its master; where the heavenly energy flows the true master shall dwell.”
The moment I uttered those words, Arkaban's expression became increasingly confused, and then she stared at me, completely pale.
“If you truly are the Leader of the White-Haired Clan, you should have memorized your ancestors' records. Are you still dissatisfied that I took the clan's Precious Artifact?”
“How can a human like you……”
“Are you curious now? You attacked with the intent to kill, yet you have so many demands.”
“……That's……”
I slowly started walking towards her.
Her face, which had been full of venom, was now wavering with immense confusion. I had deliberately triggered her, so she wouldn’t attack me anymore.
That’s why I was approaching her, intending to extort this and that as payback for her attack.
“Things are getting interesting.”
A voice laced with amusement flew from behind.
Everyone’s gaze simultaneously turned towards the source. Standing there was Arkan, scratching his right cheek with an awkward expression.
“Um, hey, 6th Lord?”
I paused and looked at Arkan. The Leader of the White-Haired Clan, having heard Arkan’s words, turned her gaze to me with a shocked expression.
“……6th Lord? You're a Lord?”
She muttered something, but I didn't answer, keeping my eyes on Arkan. In a lowered voice, I asked him,
“What is it?”
“Are you going to kill her?”
“……?”
For a moment, I didn't understand her question.
Kill? Who's killing whom?
I roughly followed Arkan's gaze, which seemed to indicate the Leader of the White-Haired Clan. It seemed he interpreted my approach, after bluffing my way through everything, as an intention to retaliate.
I was about to tell him that wasn't the case, but suddenly, curiosity piqued.
So, I kept a straight face and muttered lowly,
"And if I am?"
The Great Lord, having heard my response,
“Hmm…”
Scratched the back of her head and let out a troubled groan.
Then, with a strange expression, she made a proposal.
“Couldn’t you just let this one slide?”
“…What?”
“I have a past connection with the White-Haired Clan. No, to be precise, I should say I have a connection with their previous Leader?”
Aha, I get the gist of it.
I was watching the situation unfold because it was interesting, but is she trying to stop me now that I'm actually about to kill them?
As I suspected, they seemed to know each other from the start. If that's the case, why didn’t she step in and stop me from the beginning?
'This is irritating.'
Honestly, I'm a little annoyed.
Suddenly appointing me to the Lord Position, then just observing until now and only stepping in at this point.
Because of that, thorns unknowingly pricked my words.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Couldn’t you just overlook it for my sake?”
“So, I'm asking what does that have to do with *me*.”
“Hmm… What are you going to do if I step in to stop you?”
At her loaded question, I chuckled.
“Let me ask you again. What does that have to do with me?”
“…”
I know she won't be able to step in.
I had no intention of actually killing her in the first place, so there's no real justification for her to intervene.
In any case, now that I’m a Lord, it’s better to draw a clear line in the sand with this opportunity.
Actually, this worked out well. I was already planning on squeezing something out of the White-Haired Clan using the earlier attack as an excuse, and now that things have turned out this way, I can squeeze something out of the Great Lord as well.
Arkaban, who had been observing the situation, gulped.
He seemed rather shocked by my attitude towards the Great Lord, someone who could be considered one of the continent’s strongest.
If Arkaban, the Leader of the White-Haired Clan, was a Lord-level powerhouse, Arkan was a true monster, capable of defeating three such Lords combined.
Seeing me completely unfazed by such a monster, his thoughts must be quite complex.
No matter how combative the Beastman race is, they aren't brave enough to act up in front of a Great Lord-level powerhouse.
“Ha…This is troublesome.”
Arkan scratched her head and then chuckled.
“Alright. Let’s do this.”
“What?”
“Tell me what you want. I’ll grant it as long as it’s within reason. Ah! Retiring from the Lord Position is absolutely out of the question.”
“…”
Fuck.
She catches on quick.
“Anything?”
“Yes, within reasonable limits of what I can provide. You know what I mean?”
I clicked my tongue.
In the end, she meant she wouldn’t grant any excessive requests.
I slowly racked my brain.
Of all the requests I could make of her in the current situation, the one with the highest priority.
And that was none other than…
“The Sacred Text.”
“Huh?”
“If you find The Sacred Text, I'd like you to hand it over to me.”
The Sacred Text.
The Rune of Space.
****
I stayed in the office until daybreak.
The Great Lord urged me to leave immediately, but I stayed glued to Rudine’s side for a full day under the pretext of needing rest.
The reason was that I needed to replenish my depleted Mind's Eye.
Arkaban, who had been vehemently demanding I hand over his clan's Precious Artifact, left the office with his entourage.
He offered a brief apology and promised compensation in the near future, and honestly, I was surprised by how compliant he was.
It seemed like he was greatly shocked by the sentences the protagonist of the original story had uttered.
The fact that the human he had looked down on, even attacked with the intent to kill, not only knew the records of his ancestors but was also the owner of the Precious Artifact mentioned in those records must have broken his fighting spirit.
Adina, for whatever reason, had a change of heart. The girl who used to be so snarky now blushed whenever she saw me.
Her attitude became quite obedient as well, which made saving her life feel worthwhile.
In any case, the situation was more or less resolved.
And so, now.
Having arrived at Headquarters, which could be considered the Entrance of the Boundary, in order to hand over Kalmash…
“…What is this?”
“Huh? What do you mean? The distance is too far to travel by carriage like last time.”
“That’s what I mean, what *is* this?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? It’s a Griffon.”
…I'm actually going to ride this?
I stood there blankly, staring at the Griffon flapping its wings and generating a powerful Pressure.