Chapter 119: Clash of Steel [1]
According to the poster, it was a knight tournament sponsored by the Witch of Steel.
Every year, as part of her personal amusement, she hosted a grand swordsmanship tournament in Humus to scout potential recruits for the Knight Order.
That alone was strange enough.
From what Lancel knew, Humus was a human-governed Empire ruled by a human king.
Yet for a witch to possess this much influence within its borders...
Could she perhaps be a court mage?
Lancel posed the question to Faust the moment he returned to the carriage.
"Yes. She’s the Court Mage."
According to Faust, the Witch of Steel, Vina Victoria, belonged to the same generation of witches as Merlin herself.
However, unlike Merlin, who had completely defected to humanity, Vina chose a different path.
During the early days of the fledgling Empire of Humus, she acted as the bridge between humans and witches, allowing a collaborative relationship to form between the two sides.
Apparently, Vina had been the very pioneer behind Riviere becoming an open nation.
"So you’re planning on joining her yearly tournament?" Faust asked.
"Yes," Lancel replied. "Don’t you think this would be a good opportunity to establish a relationship with the Witch of Steel as well?"
"Uhm..." Faust looked away awkwardly. "...I really wouldn’t recommend getting too involved with Vina Victoria."
"Why?"
"From what I know, she has a habit of taking interest in talented men. And if they reject her invitation... They tend to disappear into her castle for a very long time."
"Invitation as in...?"
"The Knight Order." Faust blinked. "Wait, what exactly were you expecting?"
"...Nothing."
* * *
Unfortunately for Lancel, they had arrived in Humus a little too early. The tournament would not begin until a month later.
But even so, after discussing it briefly, neither he nor Faust had any issue extending their stay.
And so, in the days that followed, Lancel spent his time spreading his name throughout Humus, taking on requests while steadily progressing the system.
During the first week, progress had been painfully slow. Ever since reaching level 10, the requirements for leveling up had increased exponentially.
────────────
Host: Lancel
Rank: Apprentice Witch
Level: 10
────────────
Primary Attributes
────────────
Strength: 8.9
Vitality: 6.3
Mana: 4.6
Agility: 7.1
Endurance: 8.6
Resonance: 1.6
────────────
By the second week, there had been noticeable growth, but still no immediate path toward a breakthrough.
The requests available through the Adventurer’s Guild in Humus simply lacked the necessary difficulty.
None were significant enough for the system to generate a proper quest capable of exponentially boosting his growth.
Then came the third week.
Lancel became caught up in a failed subjugation expedition within the Alps Mountain region.
Their food supplies had been mauled by local bears, and to make matters worse, the climate made fast travel nearly impossible.
Heavy snowfall and violent winds stranded the entire party deep within the mountains, forcing them to remain put until conditions stabilized.
However, things only worsened from there.
A Yeti had revealed itself.
And while Lancel was confident he could take on a witch, and believed himself stronger than most ordinary humans, monsters were still an entirely different matter altogether.
Nevertheless, the subjugation was inevitable.
────────────
[Emergency Objective Completed!]
────────────
[Condition:]
∎ Slay the Yeti 1/1
[Rewards Obtained:]
∎ Strength: +1.0
∎ Endurance: +1.0
∎ Agility: +1.0
────────────
[Level: 10 → 11]
With the quest completed flawlessly, and the entire subjugation party surviving thanks to Lancel taking the lead, he had finally broken past level 10.
────────────
Host: Lancel
Rank: Apprentice Witch
Level: 11
────────────
Primary Attributes
────────────
Strength: 9.9
Vitality: 6.3
Mana: 4.6
Agility: 8.1
Endurance: 9.6
Resonance: 1.6
────────────
By the time Lancel returned to town, his fame had already spread throughout the Adventurer’s Guild.
"Let me pour you one!"
"Ah?"
Before Lancel could even react, a large mug was slammed onto the table in front of him as one of the adventurers hurriedly filled it to the brim.
"You saved our asses back there!" the man laughed. "Drink!"
"Hey, move aside!" another adventurer shoved him away. "My party would’ve frozen to death if not for him!"
"Lancel, right?!"
"Oi, barkeep! Put his tab on mine!"
The atmosphere inside the guild had completely changed compared to before.
Just weeks ago, Lancel had been treated as some strange newcomer trying too hard to stand out.
Now, adventurers who once mocked him were practically fighting over who got to speak to him first.
A woman from another table suddenly approached and placed a plate of roasted meat in front of him.
"My husband was part of the subjugation force," she said with a grateful smile. "Thank you for bringing him back alive."
"Ah... thank you."
"Don’t thank me!" the woman laughed. "You’re the hero here!"
Even the guild receptionist who previously treated him with indifference now greeted him with a respectful nod whenever he passed by.
Lancel quietly looked around the guild.
This was fame.
The more attention he attracted, the harder it would become for the Leviathan Group to ignore him.
With that, Lancel returned to Dorothy’s tarot reading tent.
"Dorothy."
"Oh, Mister Lancel. You’re back?"
At the moment, Dorothy was suspended in the air with her legs crossed, eyes shut in concentration as tarot cards slowly revolved around her in midair.
Lancel had no idea what exactly she was doing, but judging from her expression, it clearly required focus.
"Yeah," Lancel replied. "Took a while. But I think I’ve done about as much as I can in the guild within this short amount of time."
"Good work," Dorothy said. "Miss Faust should be returning soon."
"Where is she?"
"We’re currently tracking down shops my Master had recent receipts from."
"...."
Recent receipts?
Yet Melissa had supposedly disappeared over eighty years ago. That meant those "recent" receipts were still from over eight decades ago.
There was a high likelihood that the shops no longer existed, or that the staff who had once accommodated her were long dead.
It was barely anything to work with.
Still, Lancel hoped it would at least help paint a clearer picture of what had happened back then.
"I got it!"
After a moment, Dorothy suddenly opened her eyes.
Lancel, who had been quietly reading a book while waiting nearby, looked up at her.
"Got what?"
———!
At that moment, the tarot cards floating around Dorothy abruptly began converging above her head. One after another, they spiraled toward a single center point, rapidly flipping as the sound of shuffling decks echoed throughout the tent.
Lancel immediately closed his book.
"Dorothy?"
"I found a trail!" Dorothy exclaimed. "I-I think I finally synchronized with Master’s mana signature!"
The cards continued spinning faster and faster.
Thud!
A single card dropped onto the table. Dorothy stared at it, her lips pressing into a thin line.
"...The Hollow Bell."
Lancel walked closer.
"What does that mean?"
"It’s a location card," she explained. "Usually it points toward abandoned places, ruins... or places forgotten by people."
Another card fell.
Thud!
"...The Hanging Lantern."
Dorothy’s brows furrowed deeper.
"A district?" she muttered. "No... an underground route?"
One more card dropped.
Thud!
The moment Dorothy saw it, her face paled.
"...Blood Market."
The entire tent fell silent.
Lancel’s eyes narrowed.
"You know where this is?"
Dorothy slowly nodded.
"...There’s an underground black market beneath Humus," she whispered. "A place where illegal relics, curses, and magical artifacts get traded."
Her gaze remained fixed on the cards.
"And if my interpretation is correct, then Master... was there..."
Lancel took a moment to process her words before tilting his head slightly.
"I have to wonder, Dorothy... were you ever really trying to find your master?"
"Eh...?"
"If you already knew an underground market like that existed, then wouldn’t it have been common sense to investigate it?" Lancel asked. "Your master was a witch. Places like that are exactly where someone like her would’ve ended up involved."
Dorothy flinched.
"I-I..."
Her lips parted, but no words came out at first.
Then she lowered her head.
"...I was scared."
Silence settled briefly inside the tent.
Dorothy clutched her sleeves tightly.
"Master always told me never to get involved with places like that," she said quietly. "She said the people there weren’t normal criminals. That once you stepped into that world, it became hard to leave."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"And... if I really did find traces of her there..." Dorothy swallowed. "Then I thought it would confirm the worst possibility..."
"That she was dead?" Lancel finished.
Dorothy nodded weakly.
"...I know it’s pathetic."
Lancel stared at her for a moment before sighing quietly.
"No," he said. "It’s alright."
First and foremost, Dorothy was a non-combatant. She was the type of witch who could get stabbed by a human and actually bleed to death, unable to do anything about it.
Perhaps if she had properly started investigating a long time ago, the Leviathan Group would have already gotten to her.
Now that Lancel thought about it, it was probably a good thing Dorothy had pushed her past to the back of her mind and simply continued moving forward.
"...."
"But now you have your answer," Lancel continued. "So what are you going to do?"
"...Since Miss Faust isn’t here yet, would you like to accompany me, Mister Lancel...?"
It was a no-brainer.
"Sure."
