Overpowered Sword Chapter 69

Level up with swords (69)

“What on earth is your intention?”

Arnold said.

After the conversation with Count Rubena, the Storm Troops were led to the VIP mansion. On the good side, he was treated well as a guest, but on the bad side, he was being watched by the Count.

Not only the employees inside the mansion, but also the knights and soldiers stationed for security purposes were the count’s eyes and ears.

“Well, I don’t really know the context.”

However, Gustav’s expression was a little ambiguous.

“Is there any possibility that what the Count said is true? “The fact that we mentioned the existence of a vampire first, and the story about him being suspicious, seems to have been just our speculation in the end.”

“Hmm, that might be possible.”

Arnold responded with an eager expression.

“I really hope that’s true, but… .”

There were too many things that were unclear about the situation itself, and above all, from his perspective, Count Rubena was a difficult opponent to oppose.

It may be true that the Storm Merchants’ Company was a caravan company that could control a kingdom, but the owners of the small and medium-sized merchants were merely wealthy commoners for earl-level nobles. Even if they were framed right now and their heads cut off, it would be possible to resolve the issue easily.

The power of nobles is maximized in their territory.

It is impossible to interrogate someone without any physical evidence, and even when evidence is secured, it is difficult to attack immediately.

‘So it would be best if Count Rubena was not an enemy.’

However, at this point, I knew at least Leon.

That Count Rubena is hiding something.

“Sangdan lord.”

Leon opened his mouth to confirm the suspicion.

“Is Count Rubena a wizard?”

“yes?”

Arnold’s eyes widened at the unexpected question, but then he laughed as if he had heard something absurd.

“Huh, that can’t be right. The Count of Rubena is a family famous for treating wizards poorly. “A prestigious wizard came to visit me, but he said he wasn’t treated as well as an apprentice knight.”

“Is that treatment the Count’s own will?”

“I heard so.”

Leon and El Cid muttered without any hesitation.

‘It’s suspicious.’

[It’s suspicious.]

Gustav, Arnold, and even Karen didn’t realize it yet, but they did. The presence of a barrier stretching across the castle walls of the County of Rubena, and the presence of magical power felt from the Count himself.

Unlike Leon, who only felt a little uncomfortable, El Cid was able to guess the Count’s capabilities with just one look.

[He is a high-ranking wizard. I’m not sure about the lineage, but the barrier on the castle wall is also his work. The magic wave was the same.]

El Cid snorted and declared that.

[Above all, if he is truly hostile to vampires, there is no reason for him to try to borrow your power. Even if just the barrier on the castle wall is converted to attack, it will be able to melt it all.]

‘There is a reason to catch them instead of killing them, or else.’

[I guess they’re thinking of using that as an excuse to silence the Storm Company.]

Whatever Count Rubena is doing as a vampire in his territory, he is doing it while hiding his abilities.

It was good to see that the Storm Sangdan, which looked into part of it, had already ascended to the killing department. It can be understood that the separation of the guard troops from the top was part of the plan.

Considering the precedent of 〈Wolf Tooth〉 who became a dhampir, their intention may be to turn their group into dhampirs as well and exploit them.

‘The biggest problem is that it’s difficult to explain all of this… .’

Unless El Cid or his identity was revealed, I couldn’t possibly give a coherent explanation.

Count Rubena is a wizard.

There is a barrier for vampires hanging on the castle wall.

Since each and every detail of it was a serious matter that required solid evidence, it was not enough to convince people with just a few words of Leon’s guess. Even if I explained everything, Karen would be the only one who would believe me.

“for a moment.”

It was then.

As the three people were lost in their own thoughts, Karen caught their attention with one word.

She rubbed her drowsy eyelids, which were more than half droopy, and even yawned and waved her hands.

“I don’t think we’ll make much progress if we keep discussing it like this, so why don’t we disband and gather more information starting tomorrow? “At least pretending to look for a vampire.”

Gustav and Arnold also nodded at those words.

As she said, there was too little information.

After that, the group dispersed, and only two people remained and started walking in the same direction.

Of course those two were Leon and Karen.

“Is Count Rubena really a wizard?”

Karen whispered as if passing by his ear. The volume was so loud that he couldn’t be heard even if he was a little far away.

Leon also spoke with his lips without making a voice.

-Yes, he is also a high-ranking wizard.

“It’s dangerous. If it’s at a level I can’t see through, it’s a special target. “I might not be able to win with my current strength.”

-You need to buy time.

As the two people looked at each other, they realized that they made sense.

The sacred object that hung around Leon’s neck until ten days ago no longer existed. This is because it was secretly delivered to the Holy Church through Karen.

The authority to summon the Seongcheolsae Knights.

He immediately used the disposable items that Cesare had given him.

‘The problem is that we don’t know when the Seongcheolsaegi Knight will arrive.’

I didn’t know how many people would come.

If possible, three or more people are preferred.

It would be enough for just one or two strong people of Cesare’s level to come, but according to what he said, there were about ten strong people of that level even within the Holy Knights. In a way, it was natural that he could break through the master’s wall with just one step.

“then.”

Leon arrived at the door and said goodbye to Karen, who was occupying the room next to him.

No, would it be more accurate to say what I was trying to say?

Slam!

The moment he opened the door, Karen, standing behind him without any sign, followed him in and closed the door. At the same time, the skill of putting the lock on was extremely quick.

Leon, who belatedly read the sign, turned around, but before he could react, both feet came off the ground.

“what-.”

“Shh.”

Karen pounced on him like a leopard and pressed her finger to his lips. Perhaps because of the assassin’s unique martial arts skills, he was unable to resist even once until his body surfaced and lay down on the bed.

Leon’s eyes widened because he didn’t know what was going on. Karen, who had climbed on top of him as if pushing him down, immediately raised her left hand.

And then.

side.

I casually put my palm in my mouth.

Jjuup, side, jjub.

Leon, who was underneath her, blushed at the sound that could not help but sound strange. She didn’t know anything and it was obvious what she would imagine if she only heard this sound.

How many seconds or how many minutes?

Karen took her mouth from her palm and whispered softly.

“Okay, I think I’m gone.”

“huh? “You’re leaving?”

“There was someone eavesdropping through the wall. So I tried making some sounds that could be easily mistaken. How about it, was it similar?”

Only then did Leon understand the situation and raised both hands to cover his face. It was hot as if there was fire.

“How do I know… .”

“is it? “I asked because I didn’t know much.”

Karen blinked as if she had seen his inner thoughts. She got off the bed, wiped the saliva off her hands, pointed in the direction of the large window and said to Leon.

“Shall we go out soon?”

The intention was clear.

Leon immediately reviewed the proposal with a cold head, and surprisingly decided that it was a reconnaissance worth giving a try.

It’s hard to expect someone to do something bold from day one.

He asked back carefully.

“Can you escape without being detected?”

“What is it, warrior? In the meantime, have you already forgotten?”

Karen grinned and stretched the shadow beneath her feet.

“Now, where should I take you?”

* * *

The night city of Rubena.

As its nickname suggests, Rubena’s night sky was clearly visible after the sun set. The scenery where the stars are sparkling as if they are about to fall down at any moment is truly exquisite.

According to what I heard before arriving, the night scene is very prosperous thanks to the night view, making the city more lively at night than during the day.

However, the sight that caught the eyes of the two people was a bit different.

“It’s not even midnight yet, but isn’t it too quiet?”

Leon looked out from the alley onto the main street and looked around.

It’s not that it wasn’t, it was just as he said.

“I can feel the presence of people inside the building again. “They’re just not moving around, but the residents seem to be still awake.”

“There may be a reason why you don’t come out.”

“I heard rumors about vampires were spreading?”

“Maybe so.”

The two people walked away while talking like that.

Because there are so few people, you can see it when you walk along the main street. Leon and Karen, suppressing their presence and footsteps, wandered around the city through the shadows of buildings and alleyways.

As befits its nickname ‘Night City’, everything was quiet and there were only a few passers-by, so it felt like a ghost town.

During the three or four hours I walked around, I saw more patrols than residents. The knight commanding the patrol had a silver long sword hanging on his back, indicating that his purpose was to confront vampires.

‘I still don’t know. What happened to the relationship between the count and the vampire? If they say they’re enemies, it’s too clumsy, but if they say they’re allies, I don’t understand why they leave it like this.’

[Then what you say may be correct.]

‘what?’

El Cid said it as if it was no big deal.

[The world is not necessarily divided into enemies and allies.]

‘Vampires are neither enemies nor allies of the Count?’

[It could be so.]

Leon tilted his head at those words.

It was unexpected that they were neither enemies nor allies.

The party had assumed vampires as enemies from the beginning, so they couldn’t even think of that case.

Vampire and Count Rubena.

Both may become hostile, or they may join hands with one or the other. It was a possibility that could be seen because, unlike Leon, El Cid had experienced a lot of complicated situations.

“―Leon.”

As he was about to get lost in his worries, there was a voice that pulled him back.

“This area looks like a slum, what are you going to do?”

“Hmm.”

They had already reached the outskirts of the city, and what spread out in front of them was a forest of collapsed ruins.

Leon thought for a moment.

Could a vampire really be hiding here? They were a race famous for being so arrogant and extravagant that they were called the Night Aristocrats, and for looking down on humans. No matter how dangerous it was, it didn’t seem like they would be hiding in ruins or something.

“Let’s go in.”

But he soon changed his mind.

The reverse idea of ​​hiding in a place where you thought there was no way you could be hiding was a tactic that worked quite well.

Soon the two shadows crossed the border of the slum area.

Leon and Karen moved on without saying anything and continued searching the ruins, where no one was visible. It didn’t take that long. They soon realized one thing, and their complexions turned pale.

“Is there anyone?”

“Not a single beggar can be found…” .”

Even if you use your Aura Sense as much as possible, you cannot detect a single person. There were many places to hide throughout the ruins, but the two could tell without even having to look.

There is no one alive around here.

They had already toured the entire Lubena Castle, so they knew that this was the only place that could be called a slum.

‘Now that I think about it, I don’t remember seeing poor people. Even if Rubena is a rich territory, there is no way you won’t see a single beggar.’

Light and darkness coexist everywhere.

If there were rich people, there were poor people, and if there were people living in mansions, there were bound to be people who couldn’t even afford a room.

Despite this, there are no poor people in this territory.

Only traces of its existence remained, and no trace of it could be found. When the two people finally realized this, goosebumps ran down their spines. There was still a level of darkness hidden in the County of Rubena that they could not even fathom.

“… “Let’s go back today.”

Leon turned around, suppressing the ominous feeling.

I learned quite a lot through this unexpected reconnaissance. The party who was wondering whether the Count was really a shadowy figure would be able to think more deeply after hearing the information he had collected.

Before I knew it, night had fallen.

A round full moon rose in the center of the night sky, looking down at them, surrounded by stars.

Was that why?

Pusssssss… .

A dark red fog began to gather in front of the two people who were trying to escape the ruins.

Karen and Leon, who jumped back almost simultaneously, reacted.

The holy sword El Cid pulled from his waist has a soft light, and a turquoise aura burns at the tips of the four daggers. He was ready to unleash his full power at any moment.

And after a few more seconds, the blurry shape of the fog gained substance as it coalesced into two people.

“Vampire… .”

Leon muttered unconsciously.

The fog that crosses the border between material and immaterial is evidence of a high-ranking vampire. This meant that the boy and the middle-aged man in front of him were both high-ranking people.

The two people who suddenly appeared looked at each other, and then the boy with impressive black hair spoke first.

“I am Nosferatu, Tepes, the last royal of the Wallachian clan. “Can I hear your names?”

“royalty… !?”

“Nosferatu.”

Leon was surprised at the part where he called himself a royal and the part where Karen was said to be Nosferatu who had already disappeared.

After being so shocked for a moment, Leon answered those words.

“My name is Leon. But you can’t try to get two with one. “Tell me who the person standing next to you is.”

“Indeed, it’s definitely true. “I was rude.”

Tepes nodded and said.

“This man is my subject, and has been assisting the Wallachian bloodline for over 400 years. “His name is Roman.”

“I’m Karen.”

“Right. Karen, you’re quite good at manipulating shadows. Among my former compatriots, there were not many who could compare to you. “I pay my respects.”

Despite their polite attitude, their weapons did not lower.

The content of what Tepes said was the problem.

It seemed like they kept watching them move, but the two people didn’t notice their gaze or presence. It was as if the player had been completely taken away.

The good news is that there was no sense of hostility, and that they gave up a position where they could make a surprise attack and attempted conversation.

“so.”

Leon decided to bet on that possibility.

“Why did you guys show up? “It doesn’t look like you came here to fight, but if you want to talk, I’d like you to clarify your business first.”

“hmm?”

But Tepes and Roman’s eyebrows twitched at those words.

Two pairs of eyes shook as if they were embarrassed. It feels like a completely different reaction than expected.

Tepes, who had been quiet for a moment, opened his mouth.

“Leon, I just want to ask you one thing.”

“what?”

“Aren’t you from the church? “I saw you wielding divine power through the Dhampir.”

Leon was worried because he didn’t know what was going on.

It’s not like his identity was discovered, but he appeared in front of the two people knowing that he was related to the church? If you were a vampire seeking to expand your power, wouldn’t you have to run away without looking back just by looking at the church emblem?

It was the moment when most of the scenarios I had in my head turned into unusable trash.

“… Well, that’s true.”

So he answered vaguely.

As was the case in Blaine, there is no need to worry about retaliation if a warrior borrows the name of a church.

I borrowed that majesty to prepare for an unexpected situation.

However, the vampires’ reaction exceeded expectations.

“Oh oh! I knew it! “We have been waiting for you to come!”

Tepes held his hand with a bright smile, and Roman also let out a long sigh as if he was relieved.

Leon and Karen looked at each other with blank faces.

It seemed like they needed to have a long talk between them.