Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 259

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One-Strike Kill Swordmaster Episode 259

Episode 259. The Second Hero, Muwolcha (4)

* * *

“….”

Swoosh-.

I slowly looked around the meeting room.

People were alternately looking at the old man and the donkey, exchanging glances with each other.

─Really? That thing is the key figure in this plan? Is The Protagonist joking right now?

They wore expressions that seemed to think exactly that.

‘Well, that’s actually a natural reaction.’

The Great Migration of Vilopozy.

A massive project to move hundreds of dwarves and all their facilities across the Uncharted Wilderness to Wintershield.

The person I brought as the key figure of that plan was….

A shabby-looking old man.

And beside him, a donkey was chewing on a carrot with a stupid expression.

There was no way any sense of trust could arise.

‘Moreover.’

Middletemple was the most magnificent city on the entire Continent.

This place, with its oppressive yet sacred atmosphere, exuded a presence that could overwhelm even the eccentric Dano.

Was that the reason?

Dano was completely intimidated.

He seemed shrunk by all the gazes filling the surroundings.

His already hunched shoulders curled even more, and his hands were trembling.

And this appearance of his….

‘Actually becomes poison.’

…only served to increase the suspicions of the people in the meeting room.

Murmur murmur-.

The expressions of the clerics grew increasingly stern. The paladins began exchanging glances and whispering quietly to each other.

The low voices of the people. I watched all of it calmly.

“The Protagonist.”

Just then, Arwen von Goldhart cautiously spoke up.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked a question in the most respectful voice possible.

“If it wouldn’t be rude to ask… could you tell us specifically how this person plans to help with the great migration?”

It was a natural question. No. Rather, it was surprising that no one had asked about that fact until now.

In normal circumstances, I would have just given a vague answer.

After all, I had a cheat key limited to Middletemple.

‘Divine revelation.’

Right.

I could just say that a revelation from The Great Ones had come down.

A world where everything could be justified with a single phrase about God’s will.

In fact, most cases had been handled that way until now.

But.

‘This time is different.’

The Great Migration of Vilopozy wasn’t such a simple matter.

A project involving hundreds of people and massive resources from Middletemple, the Ruin Guild, and Wintershield.

‘It’s not a scale that can be glossed over by invoking revelations.’

Clear evidence was needed.

Of course, I had sufficient proof prepared to back this up.

“Since Middletemple oversees the Silk-road, you would know its actual state best.”

“…?”

“…?”

Some of the clerics wore puzzled expressions.

They were clearly flustered by the sudden change of topic.

But I continued speaking without concern.

“Recently, hasn’t the barrier become severely unstable?”

“….”

“….”

Thud-.

Instantly, the atmosphere in the meeting room changed subtly.

Several clerics stirred in their seats, and the paladins’ gazes fixed on me all at once.

“While it might be partly due to the monsters becoming more ferocious, making magic stone procurement difficult, I understand that the barrier itself has become more problematic.”

Silence flowed.

The Silkroad Barrier was indeed becoming unstable.

‘Even when I first crossed the Uncharted Wilderness, it was like that.’

I recalled what Adelia had said at the time.

─The Silk Road isn’t entirely safe either, is it? Especially recently, I heard that the Silk Road barrier sometimes goes down due to unstable magic stone supply….

A fact that even she, who knew little about worldly affairs, was aware of.

The instability of the Silk Road was such a well-known problem.

“And.”

I turned my gaze to the old man and continued.

“Vilopozy is in the Outer Citadel. That means we inevitably have to traverse the Uncharted Wilderness. Those who have lived relying only on the Silk Road would be of no help to this plan.”

“….”

“Therefore, the talent we need now is… someone who knows the characteristics of the Uncharted Wilderness better than anyone and has crossed it countless times.”

Arwen looked at the old man for a moment, then turned his gaze back to me.

“So… The Protagonist means that this person is the right candidate for all of that?”

“That’s right.”

I answered without hesitation. Concisely and clearly.

“He is a merchant who received seven badges from the merchant guild of Bertas, the Free City. He completed countless crossings without a single accident and is also a special-grade merchant who has traveled both the Silk Road and the Uncharted Wilderness.”

“…?”

“…?”

* * *

The moment Zahhar looked down at his own body.

“Fuck… What is this?”

He couldn’t help but be horrified.

His entire body was covered in pure white feathers.

Right.

Not scales, but feathers.

More precisely, everything below his neck had completely transformed into a different creature.

A round, plump chicken body.

And it was angled so the rear view was visible.

The noble head of a Pure-blooded Dragon was sticking out from a chicken’s rear end.

[Cluck?]

Right at that moment.

One chicken head turned around with a blank expression and looked at Zahhar while tilting its head.

His throat was parched. Words wouldn’t come out properly.

The fact that he had died and come back to life was shocking enough, but to be reborn in such a vulgar form…

“Wh-what the hell… is this…?”

“Ah, you don’t know about cockatrices. This is a legendary creature. It’s a monster with a chicken’s body and a dragon’s head attached to the tail.”

“…”

“Usually it’s said to turn anyone who makes eye contact with it to stone… but I couldn’t implement that ability due to lack of skill. Instead, wouldn’t it be similar if Lord Zahhar cast petrification spells?”

“…”

“That’s what I’m saying – do you happen to know petrification magic? If not, that’s kind of a problem.”

“Hey, you bastard!”

Zahhar roared furiously.

He wanted to rush at Hodupayi right away, but unfortunately, being just the tail end of a cockatrice with only a head, he couldn’t move his body.

In the end, all he could do was screech and shout.

“I’d rather die than live like this! Kill me! Kill me, I say!”

Whoosh-!

He turned to look at Dorico Shiro and shouted.

“Dorico Shiro!”

“Yeah?”

“Answer me! No matter how much our relationship soured, did you want to desecrate the corpse of someone who was once your friend like this!”

A cry filled with rage.

But Dorico Shiro only let out a scoffing laugh.

“Hah. What a sight, really.”

She looked down at Zahhar with cold eyes.

“Says the one who tried to make undead from my mother’s remains.”

[Th-that was…!]

* * *

Murmur murmur-.

The meeting room stirred.

The clerics began looking at each other and whispering. The paladins also narrowed their eyes and examined the old man once more.

“A premium merchant who received seven badges?”

“That means he’s been in and out of Middle Temple over 700 times?”

“If that’s true, it means he has more experience than most major guild masters…”

If what I said was true, the old man before us was undoubtedly a legendary merchant.

But.

‘The problem is he doesn’t look like it at all.’

People’s faces were still full of suspicion.

“The Protagonist.”

Arwen continued carefully.

“I don’t mean to doubt your words, but if that person’s achievements are real… why haven’t such great rumors spread throughout the world?”

“…”

“A merchant who crossed the Silk Road 700 times with just one donkey. I’ve never even heard the name of such a person.”

It was reasonable doubt.

In fact, Arwen’s words weren’t wrong at all. Rather, it would be correct to say she had pinpointed the core issue precisely.

‘Because I had the exact same question.’

I recalled when I was playing the game and persistently investigating Dano.

He was clearly a person with tremendous abilities… but strangely, there was almost no information about him.

Wasn’t his very name displayed as “??” in the system? That was something that could never happen with a regular NPC.

On top of that.

‘Even the trait of never getting into accidents.’

He was a character who blatantly dropped hints everywhere.

I only properly figured out his identity in the later playthroughs. Even then, it was information I barely managed to find.

But.

‘I can’t reveal that reason to Middle Temple right now.’

After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I slowly approached the old man.

Step, step-.

Only my footsteps echoed through the quiet meeting room.

“Uh, um, excuse me…?”

The old man flinched and stepped backward.

But I didn’t mind and reached for his outer garment.

Swish-.

The moment I lifted up that worn cloth.

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

Silence fell over the entire meeting room.

Jingle-!

A clear, crisp metallic sound rang out.

All eyes turned to one person.

Seven badges were lined up around the old man’s neck, glittering.

Instantly, someone gasped in admiration. The clerics shot up from their seats, and the paladins held their breath as they stared at the old man.

In a world where receiving even one Silk Road badge makes you revered as a premium merchant, if someone possessed seven of them… there was no longer any room for doubt.

But I didn’t stop there.

‘I need to drive the point home.’

I asked a cleric from Middle Temple to prepare a crystal orb that could communicate with Wintershield.

A moment later.

Biyolf, the chancellor of Wintershield Magic Academy, answered the communication.

[Ah, you mean that old man with the donkey? Honestly, I thought he was crazy at first. Leaving the perfectly good Silk Road alone and insisting on crossing straight through the Uncharted Wilderness…]

“…”

[But since he was sent by The Protagonist, we decided to trust him and follow along. And we arrived at our destination several times faster than usual! There were no encounters with monsters, and no dangerous situations arose at all.]

“…”

[It was the same when returning to Wintershield Magic Academy. It was as if the path opened itself. That wasn’t mere coincidence but skill.]

It was brief and clear testimony.

The clerics fell silent, and the paladins no longer sent suspicious glances.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Now only one thing remained.

Namely, accepting this situation.

* * *

There were two reasons why Hodupayi revived Zahhar.

Ah, of course there was also the desire to create a cockatrice.

Actually creating a legendary creature was the ultimate pleasure a black mage could feel.

But…

‘…It’s not just because of that.’

There was another reason.

Namely, Zahhar’s perfectionist personality.

Whatever else might be said, it was an undeniable fact that Zahhar was strong with numbers as an accounting specialist.

And.

As long as the chimera’s “dominion” belonged to Hodupayi, Zahhar couldn’t disobey his master’s commands.

‘In other words, I can use him as a living calculator as much as I want.’

I can dump all sorts of calculations needed for experiments on him.

And after actually testing the cockatrice Zahhar’s abilities for several hours…

“Wow, this is really amazing.”

Hodupayi was completely satisfied with his performance!

Thump, thump-.

Outside the laboratory.

Hodupayi walked down the corridor with Dorico Shiro, muttering in an excited voice.

“I didn’t know the performance would be this good! Zahhar certainly has a terrible personality, but his sense for handling numbers is excellent!”

“Right.”

Dorico Shiro nodded and replied.

“The clacking was a bit noisy… but since you hold the ‘dominion,’ he does spit out answers tick-tock, tick-tock, right? Seems pretty useful?”

“Right?”

Hodupayi smiled brightly.

Just then.

Thud-thud-thud-!

The sound of someone running could be heard from far away.

Rough footsteps. Even the sound of panting breath.

“…?”

At the end of the corridor, a man was running like mad.

A familiar face.

He was an official acquainted with Hodupayi, and the Temporary Branch Manager dispatched from headquarters this time.

“Huff…! Ho, Hodupayi, you bastard… huff, gasp…!”

The Temporary Branch Manager ran up to Hodupayi and leaned on his knees, breathing heavily.

Sweat was streaming down his forehead.

Hodupayi asked in confusion.

“Why, why are you like this?”

“What the hell did you do in Vilopozy? Huh?”

“Me, me, me? I didn’t do anything this time…?”

He inadvertently confessed to neglecting his duties, but the Temporary Branch Manager didn’t care about that.

Rather, he clutched his head as if going crazy and screamed.

“Intelligence just came in!!”

Grab-.

The Temporary Branch Manager grabbed Hodupayi by the collar and shouted.

“Middle Temple has publicly declared you an enemy! You’re now a Class 1 elimination target! Those Investigation Team bastards are going to turn the continent upside down hunting you!”

“…What?”

What does that mean?

I really didn’t do anything?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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