ALL NOVEL Chapter 31
Chapter
“Isn’t it about time…?”
Spinning around in a daze in front of the house, Rionne fidgeted anxiously, biting her nails before stopping and starting to tremble her legs, and then suddenly smacking her thigh in surprise.
“Um, Master of the Forest, Enok will come back today, right…?”
[Didn’t your spirit say so? Then it must be true.]
A reply echoed from the air. The Master of the Forest, unable to leave the forest for various reasons, had sent a whisper of hope on the breeze.
Rionne was so restless, it seemed like she might suffocate at any moment, bouncing around in place.
“What should I do when Enok gets back? I should apologize first… and then….”
[No, didn’t you say you’d scold him? It might be better to break that habit of jumping to conclusions.]
“Well, that’s true… but still….”
Her legs were trembling uncontrollably, hardly holding still.
The Master of the Forest turned away, feeling anxious just watching Rionne like that.
[Just wait a little longer. Once he makes up his mind to run back, it won’t take long…….]
“W-What!?!?”
Jolted! The Master of the Forest almost fell over, covering her ears with her lush tail. It was quite a distance from the forest to the Elf’s home, but at this level, wasn’t it practically a sonic boom?
[Hah… I wonder what’s going on.]
She used to be cool-headed to the point of being icy.
What had caused the Elf to become like this?
Is this what the passage of time does?
‘The passage of time is merciless.’
Just then, a sobbing voice reached the ears of the Master of the Forest.
“E-Enok… Enok isn’t coming home…!”
The Elf said, as if about to collapse into a puddle of tears.
[…Oh dear.]
The Master of the Forest expressed her condolences.
Not to the Elf, but to herself.
‘…I guess she’ll keep acting like this until that kid shows up?’
Lately, it felt like she was shedding more fur than usual.
*
Unfortunately, a thrilling rematch with the Lord, while exhausted, didn’t come to pass.
If she had pushed through, wouldn’t Undine have been all bubbly?
That could’ve been a little fun, but for now, Enok took a step back.
And the next day.
As Enok, still groggy, stepped outside after resting, the Lord had arrived with his knights, seemingly knowing somehow.
“I am grateful to Lady Undine. Thanks to you, we could pass the monster wave without casualties.”
[Did I do that? It was mostly him.]
“Yeah, I’ll thank you too, Enok.”
“Sure.”
“I couldn’t even find the timing to support. Right when I was about to help, Lady Undine ended it.”
“Yeah.”
“It seems you’re not particularly interested, huh….”
While Enok absentmindedly gazed around, he happened to lock eyes with Max and their former party members.
Where could they be headed?
As soon as their gazes met, Max flinched.
Seeing that made Enok consider teasing him, although he decided against it.
“By the way, being the Swordmaster’s disciple… I did receive an official notice, but it’s better to be cautious.”
“…?”
“You might not be recognized as the Swordmaster’s disciple, and not every lord reads the official notices thoroughly. Plus, it’s because I didn’t want to bother the other lords with how the Swordmaster might react, so most don’t know about you.”
What does that even mean?
If they pick a fight, they can just fight it out.
The lord, holding back a sigh that was about to escape after reading Enok’s expression that said he didn’t care, continued.
“Even if you don’t care, others might be an issue. If you get caught up in an incident in someone’s territory, that day, the name of that territory will change.”
The name of the kingdom might change too.
The name of the Swordmaster carried that much weight.
“How strong can Rionne be?”
[I don’t know? But just so you know, there are many stronger than Rionne.]
What’s that supposed to mean?
It looked like the continent might not be a good place for living.
It might be interesting, but one misstep could lead to Enok being off the grid entirely, maybe without a trace left behind.
“…If it’s the Swordmaster, I’d say he could certainly rank within the top hundred warriors. Wait, not even that. Maybe within thirty, or even twenty.”
[If you can’t count with both hands, that’s a lot.]
“That’s a ridiculous standard…”
While the lord lamented, Enok wandered around the city.
He decided to buy some new clothes and change his mask.
Since he was at it, he chose a fancy, expensive, unadorned mask.
The sales pitch was filled with talk about high-quality wood, comfort, and the engineering behind the eyeholes. Either way, it was a good mask.
Money?
The lord provided that.
“Next time you come, please at least give me a heads-up.”
“If I remember.”
Ah.
Enok continued speaking.
“When that happens, we’re going to have a rematch.”
“That’s just wishful thinking.”
The lord gave a faint smile and extended his hand for a handshake.
As Enok clasped his hand, it was a firm shake.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
As soon as the words were out, electricity surged from beneath Enok’s feet.
Bang-! In an instant, Enok’s figure was a dot on the horizon.
“Charge!!”
The knights saluted as they watched him leave.
For a moment, the lord stared at the trail left across the clear blue sky before turning around.
“Let’s head back.”
*
[Where are you trying to go now? At this rate, Rionne is going to run out of breath!]
“…I’ll be back soon.”
It was a joke, but it would be troublesome if she really did run out of breath.
Enok picked up speed.
Bang-!
The vast ground flew by beneath him.
As he unleashed his Ki in the air, the reaction propelled him forward at an unbelievable speed.
At this rate, he’d reach his destination in no time.
[When you get back, you’ll be the one to apologize first, right?]
“……”
[Wait, you’re not gonna? You ungrateful little brat! Do you know how Rionne raised you…?]
As he waved his arms, Undine easily dodged.
[If you just stay quiet, Rionne will apologize first, but still! It’s your fault for messing things up!]
“…I will, so be quiet.”
[You’d better! I won’t let it slide if you don’t!?]
“…What are you saying? It’s noisy.”
[Geez…!!]
While going back and forth with the chatterbox Undine, they journeyed for a while until their destination came into view.
Dendalo.
A quaint little city where Rionne and Enok occasionally went for outings.
*
Suddenly, Enok thought.
I could probably just leap over the city wall, but should I land inside the city entirely?
With that thought in mind, he stared longingly at the city when he noticed a faint dome-shaped barrier in the air above the city.
It wasn’t some grand magic, just something to detect intruders—could I disable it?
After a moment of pondering, Enok quickly gave up.
He was good at smashing things, but delicate dismantling of such barriers was not his forte.
Instead of causing unnecessary trouble, he entered Dendalo through the city gates, glancing up to see—
“Ah.”
[Huh?]
“I just realized I didn’t check the name of the city.”
Undine remarked with a hint of exasperation.
[It’s Ratimos.]
“You know this city?”
[The lord’s name is something like cre… Ratimos, so it must be Ratimos.]
“How do you know the lord’s name?”
[He told us earlier, you dunce!]
“Did he?”
Scratching his head, Enok walked onward.
It wasn’t far to the destination.
“But that lord seemed like a Master, so why is he so old?”
He might be a bit dim, but according to the definitions of ranks, he should qualify as a Master.
Once you break through the meridians and reach a certain level of mana, you’re generally referred to as a Master.
That’s why Rionne said that level and strength aren’t necessarily the same thing.
When he looked at Undine with questions in his eyes, the answer came back promptly.
[That’s old news; Rionne is probably older!]
“…You’ll regret that.”
[Treachery…!]
Enok had never been on Undine’s side.
He had always been on Rionne’s.
[Well, when you reach a higher level, you do age more slowly, but that doesn’t mean you don’t age at all, you know? And the race also matters.]
“So in the end, it’s humans that are the issue?”
[Who the hell are you calling a jerk?]
While Undine was marveling at the true nature of Heavenly Death, they finally reached their destination.
A big and nice building—relatively speaking, for Dendalo.
The headquarters of the Giant Clan that claimed to potentially have a showdown with the so-called lord.
Knock knock-!
As he knocked on the door, a man appeared with disheveled hair and bleary eyes.
“Yawn… What’s going on?”
The man blinked.
Dressed in a black hood and a pure white mask.
He was short, but with a look that could make one believe he was an assassin.
“Hehehe.”
The man, who had been dazedly smiling, suddenly snapped into focus and shouted.
“Attack…!!”
*
In the Clan Leader’s office.
The man who falsely raised the alarm was now bowing his head in shame while Enok casually sat in a chair.
“Long time no see.”
“How long has it been!?”
The leader of the Giant Clan, Capri, a B-rank mercenary and the massive woman who had been struck down by Enok before, greeted him.
“Did you take care of what I asked last time?”
“All prepared.”
Hehe, Capri grinned mischievously.
When she fell the last time, Enok had prevented the knights from taking her, and for some reason, everything changed.
“What’s up with the little monster trying to charm me? I can’t even imagine.”
“I’m not trying to charm you.”
“That sounds like you are.”
“…Shut up.”
Capri smiled slyly and, gathering her mana, bellowed.
“Hey! Bring out what I prepared!”
Not long after, the door opened and a man rushed in, presenting a box.
“It’s here!”
“Alright, go take a break.”
“Yes!”
The bouncy salute from the man as he scampered off was amusing.
Capri placed the box on the desk, flashing a grin.
“The goods are ready, and I prepared everything else myself.”
“……?”
Tilting his head, Enok was puzzled.
“Does that even make sense?”
“Is it really that surprising…?”
Capri stood up and gestured.
“Well, follow me. You’ll believe it once you see it.”