Chapter 597 Days In VarthiA/N: Leo will be addressed as Evan; in the same way, Lily will be addressed as Natalie for the time being.
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Chapter 597: Days In Varthi
"What??! You can fly?!" a man with a rugged appearance, a black moustache, standing 6'1" tall with a broadsword in hand, shouted in disbelief. His body was drenched in sweat, and he was breathing heavily.
"HAHAHAHA, what? Just because you are stronger doesn't mean you can defeat me! My talent lets me fly!!!" Evan (Leo) shouted before diving from the air with his sword aimed at the man.
"I surrender!" the man yelled as his broadsword clattered onto the ground, and he raised both hands.
Leo immediately twisted mid-air, avoiding slashing the man's chest.
"Hmph! Good call. Now spit out the promised amount," Evan said with a haughty expression, extending his hand.
The man gritted his teeth in humiliation before handing over a pouch containing 4 silver and 100 Bronze coins.
"Bastard... this still doesn't mean you're experienced with the sword. You swing it like a dog. Trust me, you need teaching. Pay me 10 silver coins, and I can still make you a master swordsman within a few days!"
Apparently, the man had seen Evan practising with the sword behind the inn where he was staying the previous evening. Seeing how inexperienced Leo looked, he had offered to teach him for a fee of 10 silver coins.
Leo, acting as Evan—a hot-blooded wandering adventurer who preferred to buy a woman slave over capable men just to have a fuckbuddy—boiled with anger and challenged the man on the spot.
"Fucker! Who are you to think you can teach me?! Come, let's have a bet and see who wins. The winner gets the challenged sum."
That was what Evan had said before drawing his sword against the adventurer, Patric.
Patric had scoffed after sensing Leo's strength at Mid 2-star. Being at High 2-star himself, he accepted the challenge without hesitation.
But he never expected Evan to be so resilient. Evan managed to block his heavy strikes with incorrect forms as if he possessed greater strength than Patric, brute-forcing his way even though there was a gap in technique. Even his sword was stupidly sturdy, refusing to break despite being held in such terrible postures.
And after a 15-minute-long bout, Evan revealed that he could levitate and fly through the sky.
It was then that Patric accepted defeat, unwilling to spend even more on healing items after inevitably getting injured.
Though it wasn't apparent, Leo (Evan) had brought a Peak Blue-Tier Iron sword that looked ordinary so it wouldn't break easily. It seemed to have been the right choice, considering Leo truly didn't know any sword techniques.
Evan was glistening with sweat—which normally wouldn't have happened—but he had secretly used water magic to make it appear that way.
"HAHAHA, losers don't speak nonsense. Now shut your crap and let me rest. I only arrived in the city last night and already got a bad taste in the form of you."
A full day had already passed, and instead of doing anything productive, Evan had spent the entire night and day punishing Natalie for breaking the magic wand and hoarding money. When they finally came out, the lady innkeeper had seemed awfully concerned about Natalie because the whole inn had been rocking the entire time except for a few breaks... possibly for nature's call and food. Only after receiving Leo's stern look and seeing that Natalie was a slave did the innkeeper quietly mind her own business.
He had merely come out to check on the sword when Patric approached him.
Patric was a High 2-star broadsword adventurer who led an established party of 5. The rest of his party had watched the fight from the sidelines and could only shake their heads helplessly.
"Natalie! Fetch warm water and wipe this stupid sweat off my body!" Evan shouted, making Natalie flinch.
"M-master, the inn doesn't have any..."
"Then use your magic! And be fast!"
Natalie nodded fearfully and hurried inside the inn, though she didn't forget to appear sick from the way she moved.
After glancing at Patric, whose offer still remained open, Evan sat down on a nearby stone platform.
"Hehehe, my expenses will be covered now..."
Muttering that, Evan began counting the Bronze coins one by one. He even rubbed them between his fingers and smelled them as if checking whether they were genuine.
"Bastard! You don't trust me?!" Patric shouted.
"Fuck you! Why should I trust someone who offered to teach me something, then proceeded to lose in a match?"
"T-that's..."
Patric could only grit his teeth. He wanted to argue that the fight had been unfair, but he refrained from saying anything more, lest he humiliate himself further in front of his party members. As their leader, he had a reputation to uphold, and any further excuses would only drag him down.
He bent over, picked up his sword, and turned away.
"Come! I want to drink till I pass out today! There's no goodwill left in this world..." Patric said before heading toward a bar with the rest of his party.
Natalie (Lily) soon came running over and sat beside Evan.
When Evan saw that Patric and his group were out of sight, he casually stored away the coins. He already knew they were genuine; he had only been acting.
When Natalie was about to wipe his body, he looked at her, intending to stop her and simply use his skill to dry himself since it was only water.
But Natalie leaned in closer.
"Let's act. What if someone sees?" she whispered.
Saying that, she bent over his back and began wiping him with a pleased smile, as though she genuinely enjoyed doing it.
After confirming that no one was eavesdropping, Evan spoke.
"From tomorrow onward, we should look for scapegoats to serve as our cover before we proceed to Tilgarth."
"Hmm, that Patric guy and his team seem suitable. Let's secretly trail them to the Adventurer's Guild tomorrow and try taking the same mission at the same time. We'll incite another verbal exchange and eventually end up working together. That way, we can slowly build familiarity over the week before finally convincing them to travel to Tilgarth with us."
Leo nodded.
"What if they refuse? And what if they die?" Leo asked.
"If they refuse, I guess we need to 'regrettably' stay another week here to get familiar with another group. And if they agree, I'll protect them when the time comes. I can't allow innocent people to die because of us, even if using them is a necessity."
"Alright... but don't you think you deserve a bit more punishment for breaking the wand and collecting so much money without my knowledge?" Evan asked with a sly smile, immediately turning Natalie's face tomato red.
"Master... please be merciful..."