Chapter 234
Secret keyword.
Seonghyun didn’t fully understand, but it probably meant one of Hindel’s secrets.
He opened his eyes and quietly sighed at the message.
He wondered why Hindel had attacked Helena like she wanted to kill her.
There was such an underlying story.
Of course, it wasn’t just the death of her younger sibling.
But it must have been the decisive trigger.
“Hmm.”
“You think there’s more to it?”
Flingky responded to Seonghyun’s quiet tone.
Seonghyun’s deep contemplation suggested there was something more.
After quietly waiting,
Seonghyun took the initiative.
“No matter what, I doubt Hindel was so easily deceived just by emotions.”
“Oh?”
“That could have been the trigger, but perhaps there was some groundwork before or after that.”
“Hmm, you know Hindel well?”
A sharp question.
Seonghyun didn’t show any particular reaction.
Though he had met her face to face.
It was unlikely they would believe him even if he said so.
In any case, Seonghyun thought:
Hindel wouldn’t have been fooled by only her sibling’s death.
She must have seen something decisive.
What could that be?
Could he find it here?
While Seonghyun pondered,
Swaaa—!
A gloomy dark violet aura began to seep and flicker from the scroll and notebook Flingky carried.
As they both began to prepare cautiously, a similar aura appeared inside Seonghyun’s inventory, and the following message popped up:
[『Magic Sword - Nemesis (Sealed)』 is reacting to mana.]
“Mana?”
“...When I checked earlier, I didn’t feel any mana.”
Flingky said in confusion, and Seonghyun nodded.
This was certain.
“The scroll and notebook are linked to a mana-infused weapon. This sealed magic sword I have can detect other mana-infused weapons.”
“Ah?! Really?!”
Flingky said, and Seonghyun nodded.
It wasn’t just something fabricated by black mages.
Hindel’s younger sibling, Lumen, had been killed by a mana-infused weapon.
Feeling the remaining mana in the place, Hindel might have gradually seen Helena as an enemy.
With that thought, Seonghyun subtly connected to the Netherworld and continued.
Seonghyun asked Helena,
[Helena, is there a connection between mana and the black mages?]
[Hmm? Mana belongs to those filthy demons. Black mages don’t use mana; they use dark magic. Demons use dark power. Though there used to be fools who thought both were the same.]
Helena kindly explained.
Hearing her last words with a hint of sadness,
Seonghyun nodded, unable to ask more.
It was now certain.
‘They connected mana with black mages.’
And the weapon infused with that mana belonged to the Rieszkan Kingdom.
Thinking so far,
Flingky muttered in disbelief,
“Come to think of it, weapons infused with mana always seem to appear near the Rieszkan Kingdom.”
“That’s certain.”
The Rieszkan Kingdom made mana-infused weapons.
Upon realizing that,
Another message appeared before Seonghyun.
[The secret keyword for 『Hero Hindel』 now includes 『Magic Sword』 and 『Mana-infused Weapon』 keywords.]
[Also, the secret keyword for 『Hero Hindel』 now includes 『Rieszkan Kingdom』 keyword.]
A declaration confirming the discoveries.
Seonghyun nodded upon seeing this, and Flingky murmured seriously,
“That means this might be related to the Sword Saint as well.”
“The Sword Saint?”
“Yeah, one of the Nine Heroes.”
Seonghyun had heard of them before—
The nine strongest heroes in this world.
One of them connected to the Rieszkan Kingdom?
This was becoming much bigger in scale than expected.
Seonghyun thought so but didn’t say much.
Flingky also refrained from adding more, but one thing was clear.
“We shouldn’t investigate further until we’re stronger.”
“That’s right.”
Seonghyun agreed with Flingky.
The possibility of the Nine Heroes being involved was serious.
Though Hindel’s story was centuries old,
Seeing that mana-infused weapons still appeared in the Rieszkan Kingdom and surrounding areas,
It was certainly suspicious.
Especially if they used a mana-infused weapon to deceive Hindel.
After summarizing their thoughts,
Flingky handed over the scroll and notebook he had stolen.
Since the mana traces and suspicious points had all been erased,
Seonghyun received perfectly clean scrolls and notes.
Flingky told Seonghyun,
“Knowing Terian, he won’t report this to superiors anyway.”
“Yes, it seems so, especially since they’ve cleaned up so thoroughly.”
“No chance of getting caught.”
The two nodded at each other,
And like when they first gathered here, the room turned pitch black.
At that moment, both disappeared from the room.
Flingky appeared back in the market alley where he originally was.
At first, the sudden change in vision was confusing,
But he quickly adapted and blended into the crowd unnoticed.
Thinking to himself,
‘I’ve learned even more incredible secrets than I expected. Should I tell Lord Luke about this?’
Recalling Luke’s fiery temper and how he’d likely immediately rush off,
Flingky hesitated briefly,
But figured a warning would suffice.
By the way,
‘What exactly is his true identity?’
An outsider already possessing power surpassing a lord.
Or should he be called an Overlord?
Flingky chuckled inwardly with amusement,
“Hehe, I’ll do whatever I can to help. The mistakes of ancestors must be repaid by descendants!”
He vowed to help Seonghyun with all his might.
To do that,
‘First, I need to persuade the Alchemist’s Magic Tower.’
Though he wasn’t familiar with the past Magic Tower,
This era’s Alchemist’s Magic Tower was different.
And they certainly wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes.
If they were to oppose the kingdom, they needed a group worthy of the challenge.
Then suddenly,
‘Ah, or maybe that’s unnecessary? The Overpalace is already supporting Lord Seonghyun?’
He recalled the Overpalace.
“Thank you so much! Is there any reward you desire? I will do my best to meet your request!”
Pretending to ponder briefly,
Seonghyun replied,
“Could I possibly get information about mana-infused weapons nearby?”
He had already considered a reward, the whereabouts of mana-infused weapons.
If he handled those who possessed such weapons, he might obtain more keywords related to Hindel.
Unfortunately, Nemesis provided no further guidance.
There was no reaction indicating any nearby.
So he asked Terian, the administrator who oversaw the accumulation of abundant information for the knights’ missions.
Terian thought for a moment and stroked his chin before responding,
“Hmmm, from what I hear, beyond this region—in the seventh region, Septem Arcana, as the outsiders call it—someone holding a mana-infused weapon has appeared.”
“Septem Arcana…”
“Yes, it’s a magic city near our Rieszkan Kingdom’s border.”
“….”
Seonghyun’s eyes narrowed slightly at the mention.
Indeed, that was it.
Terian elaborated,
“They say this individual is also connected to Sysbalt.”
“Ah!”
Now that he thought about it, Leon had mentioned something similar, there was someone like Ragna Ekrion.
Recalling this, Seonghyun inwardly thought it was absurd. Was this being hidden or not?
Anyway, after obtaining the information and standing up,
Terian gladly said,
“Requesting information about humanity’s enemies as a reward— you truly are a knight of virtue. I can’t simply give you a new mission as a reward for such a noble intention. Here, take this.”
“...What is this?”
As Seonghyun accepted the reward, a message appeared.
[Terian Mitra gives you a Unique-rank skillbook, 『Song of the Sword』 as a quest reward.]
A Unique-rank skillbook.
With the Legendary-rank skillbook from Leon and this one, he now had two.
Seonghyun placed the skillbook in his inventory and said,
"Thank you."
Though he was slightly disappointed it was only Unique-rank,
Unique-rank was honestly still a good rank.
He accepted it readily.
Leaving the satisfied Terian Mitra behind,
Seonghyun stepped outside.
Though he had obtained information,
'The seventh region...'
It was still quite far away.
Just as he wondered what to do next,
Sensing a presence nearby, Seonghyun used Lord of Darkness to create a blade and sent it toward the source.
There, he saw someone standing still, seemingly willing to take the attack without moving.
The dark blade stopped immediately upon seeing the opponent showed no hostile intent.
The blade halted right before their face.
Thud.
The blade truly stopped right in front of them.
But the figure calmly observed it while wearing a black robe, revealing the emblem of a black crown.
The Overpalace?
Was there an Overpalace branch here too?
As Seonghyun thought this,
"There is an urgent matter. I've come to escort you to Hexia."
He had been planning to return to Hexia anyway since he had nothing else to do.
But an urgent matter?
As Seonghyun looked at the figure,
They spoke,
"The Hero's Council is about to begin. I've come to escort you."
"Hero's Council?"