Chapter 72 : Moving Forward

‘It was excellent, as expected.’

I couldn't help but admire it.

The Blade Black Raven Cloak not only had basic defensive power as armor, but also had excellent functionality as clothing, such as heat retention and ventilation, allowing it to adapt to all environments.

Furthermore, the unique strength and sharpness of the Blade Black Raven's feathers were such that they could even be used for offense depending on the situation.

‘On top of that, the Blade Black Raven Cloak had one more hidden function.’

As befitting the ruler reigning over the skies of the Malakas Mountains, the Blade Black Raven, the cloak made from gathering its feathers was also partially granted the freedom to roam the sky.

It was a temporary flight effect.

Of course, it wasn't really about flying freely in the sky, but a function that allowed one to partially control the falling speed and direction, like a type of wingsuit.

Although not many people knew about the flight function because its usage method and conditions were surprisingly tricky, this was also one of the reasons I chose the Blade Black Raven Cloak.

Meaning, it wasn't expensive for no reason.

In many ways, this shopping trip brought me a very satisfactory result.

‘If I had my way, I wanted to test it right now, but…… I couldn't just use such a conspicuous ability anywhere.’

If I ever got the chance, it wouldn't be bad to try falling off a cliff.

‘That aside…….’

After spending all my assets to acquire the Blade Black Raven Cloak, I could feel that it was finally time.

Shall I say, it was time to finally put into action the thoughts I'd had ever since returning to the Winter Castle?

After the Destruction Dragon Tiamat disappeared, the Lagna Continent was undergoing a chaotic political climate.

From the Mage of Blazing Fire who appeared awhile ago, to Hanover and the Union plotting schemes against the Empire and Bernhard, and various other conflicts related to Users.

However, those were not things I could do anything about right away, so I had no choice but to postpone them.

Considering the scale of the events and various other factors, should I say they were matters that suited reaction rather than preparation?

In that sense, the thing I could do right now was, as I said before, to become stronger.

‘If I was this prepared, I should be able to enter the Demonic Realm soon.’

The reason I still remained in the Winter Castle despite numerous opportunities was partly to avoid the unnecessary status of a wanted man due to desertion, but more importantly, it was because I still had business left in the Winter Castle.

The Winter Castle was basically classified as a considerably high-level area even during the World of Justice Online days, and the Demonic Realm, located further north, was classified as an area surpassing even that.

Especially, as everyone knew, all sorts of demonic beasts lived inside the Demonic Realm north of the Winter Castle.

Among them, there were plenty of demonic beasts possessing materials incomparable to the Blade Black Raven, along with the mutants that could be considered my top priority right now.

Considering that my top priorities in this world were finding the Ascension Stone Fragments and becoming stronger, the Demonic Realm was a land of opportunity that could provide both.

‘It was that much more dangerous, but…… that’s why it was even more valuable.’

That wasn't the only reason I had to head to the Demonic Realm.

No, rather, depending on the perspective, this could be seen as much more important.

‘Above all, there was a chance that the temporary warehouse I had made in the past was still left in the Demonic Realm.’

It was a little awkward saying it myself, but during my World of Justice Online days, I was quite a wealthy person.

Of course, most of that wealth was exhausted in the battle against the Destruction Dragon Tiamat, but just as there's a saying that a rich man still has enough to last three generations even if he goes broke, I hadn't exhausted all my assets.

The temporary warehouse was one of them.

As I mentioned before, during my World of Justice Online days, I had quite a lot of enemies due to my playstyle.

In reality, there was no small number of people who came looking to kill me, and naturally, I had no intention of dying meekly, so I turned those uninvited guests into guests who never return, one after another.

Because of that, the equipment they were wearing and the items they were carrying naturally piled up immensely, and as a result, my warehouse was always packed to the point where there was no space left.

At first, I sold them by listing them one by one in the auction house, but as the volume gradually increased, I couldn't handle it.

It was for that reason that the temporary warehouse came to be made.

In other words, the temporary warehouse could be called a warehouse where I roughly gathered things that were a bit of a waste to throw away, but ambiguous for me to use myself.

Although it wasn't an official warehouse with guaranteed security, thanks to carefully selecting a location where Users' footsteps rarely reached and paying attention to security when making it, the temporary warehouse was never raided, at least as far as I knew.

‘That was just the old story, though.’

A safe that can never be breached didn't exist in this world.

That was why I also set the location of one of the temporary warehouses in the Demonic Realm, but there was no guarantee that the temporary warehouse hadn't been discovered by someone by now.

After all, too much time had passed since the Destruction Dragon Tiamat disappeared to be entirely optimistic.

‘Well, even if the temporary warehouse was safe, there was still one problem remaining.’

It was none other than the fact that the commander who would approve my vacation was currently absent.

As I mentioned before, the 4th Special Task Force had strange aspects to its command structure in many ways, so no one knew who Edric's direct supervisor was.

They just vaguely guessed that the task force itself might be the direct unit of Margrave, the Lord of the castle of Kreutz.

That said, as a mere soldier, I couldn't just go directly to the Lord of the castle to get vacation approval, could I?

‘If Edric didn't return, a new commander would come to the 4th Special Task Force, or the organization would change, but…….’

In any case, if the commander changed, it was questionable whether they would guarantee autonomy like Edric did.

No, in the first place, I couldn't even know if they would readily grant the vacation that Edric had promised.

For me, it meant I was in a difficult situation in many ways.

At that moment.

“Hm?”

“Ah.”

With a very familiar presence, everyone's gaze turned to the door.

“Hey, have you been doing well?”

Edric had returned.

***

The person named Edric was a man of many questions in many ways.

For now, he seemed to belong as a soldier of the Winter Castle, but looking at his usual conduct or life, he didn't seem to be bound by it.

Should I say it felt like he was staying in the Winter Castle despite being able to leave at any time?

On top of that, Edric hid so many things that even I hadn't been able to see through his true nature yet.

He was a suspicious person in many ways.

That was the person named Edric, and that was why the speculation that Edric might have died didn't really resonate with me.

But now that Edric was alive and shoving that brazen face at me, I felt a strange sensation for some reason.

How should I put it…… should I say it really felt like a comrade-in-arms or a colleague had returned alive?

It seemed the time we spent together had been a bit long, after all.

“Haha! Captain! You weren't dead after all!”

“Hmph, so you were alive, as expected.”

“You've returned.”

The members of the 4th Special Task Force welcomed Edric.

It seemed they had been inwardly waiting for Edric's return, even while pretending not to.

“Was everyone doing well? I was worried you might have slacked off on training while I was gone.”

“Stop with the needless worrying……. Sometimes, it's like our Captain is itching to eat us alive, you know?”

“Itching? You’re saying things that could cause misunderstandings. I am merely fulfilling my duty as a commander.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Conlan and Edric looked at each other and chuckled.

And naturally, Edric's gaze turned toward me.

“Have you been well?”

“You were alive.”

“Haha, your way of speaking is the same as ever. I’ll take that to mean you’re happy I’m back.”

Edric chuckled like he always did, but his voice was somewhat lacking in energy.

Edric, who I once thought might be an Iron Man, now looked clearly exhausted to anyone's eyes.

“What happened?”

“Hm? Ahh, it’s nothing to worry about. It’s been resolved well, for now.”

“For that, you don't look too good.”

Although he was smiling and talking in front of me right now, Edric's fingertips were trembling slightly.

The scent of blood faintly wafting from the clothes hidden tightly under his overcoat must surely have been Edric's.

Because if it had been someone else's, he would have erased the scent of blood long before coming.

“You noticed? I tried to be mindful of it…… I guess it was obvious.”

“Were you hurt?”

“It's not life-threatening. If it were, I wouldn't have been able to come see you all smiling like this.”

“Is that so?”

“That's right.”

Normally, I would have let it go at this point.

Not only did it seem unlikely he would answer even if I asked, but I didn't want to seem unnecessarily suspicious.

But now, I had to know.

What Edric was hiding.

And what was happening in the Empire, including the Winter Castle.

“Are you not going to tell me what happened?”

“Didn't I tell you, it was resolved well.”

“I am asking about the process.”

Edric's expression became strange.

“Vell, I consider it great fortune to have such a competent person like you as my subordinate. I am always grateful. However, this is a problem I have to solve. I cannot borrow your hand.”

“Is it really your personal business, Captain? Not the business of the Winter Castle and the Empire?”

Mentioning the Winter Castle seemed to have been quite effective, as Edric's eyebrow twitched.

An agitation I had never seen before.

I didn't know what meaning the Winter Castle held for Edric, but for now, it seemed to have been quite effective.

“I cannot drag you all into this. I acknowledge that you are a great mage, but this is something you don't need to handle yet.”

“Am I not also a soldier of the Winter Castle?”

“It will be a heavy burden to bear with a half-baked resolve. I have no intention of making you all carry such a burden.”

“I am prepared for it.”

“That is not something you can decide alone.”

Edric's gaze turned toward the 4th Special Task Force members.

Conlan, Albino, Alicia.

Everyone was listening to our conversation with bated breath.

“I don't know what it is exactly…… but aren't we comrades-in-arms? If so, you can't leave us out.”

“I agree.”

“I’ll go anywhere Vell goes.”

At the sight of the 4th Special Task Force members adding their words one by one, Edric let out a hollow laugh for a moment.

“My, my…… what difficult subordinates.”

“Didn't you already know?”

“That's true, too.”

Edric nodded his head.

“Do any of you happen to know of those called the Twilight Troupe?”

When that name first came from Edric's mouth, I felt the mind of the Postponer of Ruin waver slightly for the first time since coming to this world.

It was that big of a shock.

“Twilight Troupe? What is that?”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing either.”

“I’ve never heard of it either.”

At the task force members' words, Edric nodded his head.

“That’s understandable, as it’s a name I also only heard recently. Recently, those scoundrels have been targeting the Winter Castle. Do you remember the Mage of Blazing Fire we subjugated before? That mage was also a member of the Twilight Troupe.”

I knew that the Mage of Blazing Fire's identity was affiliated with the Hall of Subjugation, but to think he was part of the Twilight Troupe…….

“In that case, was it also the Twilight Troupe that killed Baron Blake?”

“No, I killed the baron.”

At that far too calm declaration, the sound of people sucking in a sharp breath flowed from the surroundings.