## Chapter 1266 – Encounter

Leaving the desert, I pulled out Vugal, which I had carelessly shoved among my luggage.

I hadn’t been able to use this black sword properly since I became a Transcendental. It’s all because this bastard is a demon sword. He made such a fuss about being a life-saving sword, but this is how it ends up.

“Ugh, you son of a bitch. Hey, Andro. Wake up.”

I shook the sword to wake Andro, who was sleeping inside Vugal.

ㅡ…

But there was no response.

This was no different from a kind of hibernation. Andro, whose spirit was trapped inside the sword, could only awaken his consciousness with external stimuli. I shook him for about 20 seconds before deciding to resort to extreme measures.

“Hoi.”

I brought a small flame conjured from my finger to the blade.

“Kuaaaaaaaaah!!!”

He roared as he woke up.

“You’re awake.”
“What was that pain just now!!!”

The state of the Great Demon was a mess.

“Get a grip. Andro. Do you know anything about the Guardian of Pandemonium?”

This bothered me a bit.

“…Guardian of Pandemonium.”
“Yeah. A guy named Lucifer.”
“I, Andro Malus, command—”

Suddenly, he spoke in a heavy voice.

“Command?”
“What is that?”
“What?”
“Answer!!! Give me an answer!!! What on earth is that!!!”
“Ugh, you useless bastard!!!”

ㅡFwoosh!

“Kuaaaaaaaaah!”

As the flames of rage soared,

ㅡKwaaaang!

Vugal’s blade shattered.

Only the hilt remained, silent, and slowly began to reconstruct. This crazy, useless bastard…! There’s nothing I like about him! A Great Demon who doesn’t know about the Guardian!

“Is there really no way to use this bastard anymore?”

What can I do to make this guy withstand my power? Honestly, I’m incredibly strong fighting with my bare hands right now. So strong that it feels like I don’t need a sword at all. But I know.

My 100%.

I can only unleash it when I wield a sword.

I have to use the Illusory Sword Technique and the Demonic Divine Art together to become my 100%. That’s how I’ve been fighting until now. Wielding the sword, and very naturally transitioning to the Demonic Divine Art, leaving my opponent disoriented.

“Shibal.”

I want to do something about this.

Even if I just use another sword, I can’t find one as good as this Vugal. Even though this Vugal bastard seems like a pushover demon sword, it’s already an incredibly rare and top-tier sword at this point. No other crappy, beggar-like sword will catch my eye.

What should I do?

Let’s think about it slowly.

When I get home, I might be able to do something to make this Vugal familiar with my power… something like that. Now that I’ve witnessed a guy like Lucifer, the Guardian of Pandemonium, I can’t just abandon my strongest weapon.

* * *

Crossing the desert was very smooth. Except for the occasional encounter with bandits, we were able to move without any problems, and as we continued north, we soon reached the Kingdom of Mercudia.

I did a lot of things in the desert.

The only regret was about that Titan’s giant golem, but I think it was meaningful enough just to take an arm.

Thanks to the golem’s arm, the truth about the existence of the ancient Titan race was somewhat obscured. And it also helped to resolve some of the suspicions about the gods. It was useful in many ways. I also took the core.

Anyway, the return was fast.

It was one day while traversing the Kingdom of Mercudia with that kind of feeling.

“Hey, something’s chasing us from behind?”
“What’s coming?”

Karin called out to me as we were moving leisurely.

“What is it?”

When I looked back, sure enough. Some guys were chasing us. I hadn’t been paying attention at all, but looking at it, it seemed certain that they were targeting us.

But it’s strange. They don’t seem like bandits.
More like a noble’s pursuit squad.

That’s the feeling.

After stopping for a moment, I stared at them.

ㅡPapat!
ㅡPapapapat!

Armed riders on nimble-looking Cockatrices approached us and landed all at once. They were soldiers of mediocre skill. Soon, a noble’s carriage approached from behind.

“What the heck?”

ㅡSqueak.

A noble stepped out of the carriage. As I stood there watching him, he approached me.

“It seems you’ve been following me. Is there something you need? No. Who are you?”

So he asked for my name.

“I am Count Temtua.”

He answered with an arrogant attitude, straightening his collar.

“Count Temtua?”

Who is that?

“Excuse me, but I don’t know who you are. Do you have some business with me?”

I haven’t completely passed through the Kingdom of Mercudia yet. Did I know anyone here? I can guarantee that I don’t know a single person.

“…”

At my answer, Count Temtua’s face began to flush.

“A Baron from the Karga Kingdom… am I right?”
“That is correct.”
“Have you ever heard the name Amel Temtua?”
“No lie, this is the first time I’ve heard it.”
“You bastard!!!!!”

He began to scold me.

“What?”

I was just bewildered. I’m so used to situations where robbers suddenly appear and point swords at me that I understand everything, but this is the first time someone has come up to me and scolded me like this.

“I know that you brutally assaulted my son!!”
“Assaulted your son?”

What the hell is he talking about?
When did I beat up someone’s son?

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. Is that really true?”
“Amel Temtua is my son’s name!”

Why would I beat up your son?
And if I did, there must have been a good reason.

“Amel was assaulted by you while dueling with a guy from the Baintar Barony! Are you going to pretend you don’t know until the end!”
“Baintar?”

What is that… Ah!!!

I remember now!

“Ah! I remember now!”

That time!

Before going to the Dwarf Kingdom!

It was when I was passing through the Kingdom of Mercudia. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the city, and when I went to check it out, some nobles were leading their subordinates and having a duel.

But the guys who were dueling suddenly started a fight with me, so I beat them up and collected relief funds.

This bastard!

He was the father of the guy who got his ass kicked by me back then!

“Are you making fun of me now!”
“No, no. It’s not like that. I just remembered. So, you were the father of that friend back then.”

I roughly understand what’s going on.

We are currently traversing the Kingdom of Mercudia. Of course, a Count would have his people at every gate. So this Count Temtua’s subordinate reported it, and the Count, after hearing the report, came to me with his subordinates.

His son got his ass kicked, so he could do that.

Nobles are sensitive to these kinds of incidents.

“You’ve come to settle the score from back then.”
“Settle? Do you think you can get away with just saying that now?”

He seemed very angry.

Does he not know my power?

“Of course, I have to get away with it. I don’t know what you heard from your son, but there was a good reason why your son was assaulted by me.”
“What, what did you say!”

ㅡSreung!

He violently drew his sword… This bastard dares to draw a sword in front of me… I was impulsively about to kill him, but I suppressed it for a moment.

“Put the sword away.”
“What…!”

Doesn’t he know his head could be split open?

“I understand that you’re angry because you saw your son get his ass kicked… of course, I can understand that. But if you show a hostile attitude one more time, you’ll be fucked up too.”
“…”

Apparently, that bastard who got his ass kicked by me didn’t properly tell his father what happened. What happened back then was entirely because he started a fight with me.

If I just tell him this properly, this angry Count will understand.

“Shouldn’t we talk and clear up the misunderstanding first? Hey. Hey, you son of a bitch. Didn’t you hear me? Put the sword away. Before I kill you.”
“U-uh…”

ㅡSsuk.

After I threatened him, he finally put the sword back in.

“Hehehe, good. It seems like you’re finally ready to talk. Well, what happened back then was just a normal accident. Your son suddenly started a fight with me as I was passing by, and I just punished him for it. Hey, Count Temtua.”

If I tell him properly, he’ll understand everything. Only in cases like now, when I’ve shown my power. I approached the Count, grabbed his shoulder, and said.

“Imagine you’re walking down the street… and some beggar-like bastard comes up… and blocks your way, draws a sword, and threatens to kill you… What would you do?”
“…I-I would punish him.”

See?

“That’s what I did too. Your son did that to me, and I just resolved it as gentlemanly as possible. I didn’t even kill him, did I?”
“…T-that’s right.”

The Count avoided my gaze and nodded. What a bland bastard. He was completely overwhelmed by me. So, he came to argue without even properly hearing about my power.

“So, it seems like you’ve properly recognized the situation, but if you make a monetary donation to our global international volunteer organization for drawing a sword at me, I’ll just forgive you. Just pay that and go back.”

So I’ll let him off at this point.

“…”

Looking back, I was like a teacher to that Amel Temtua guy. I beat him up, educated him, and received relief funds. So, as a teacher, I can do this much for a parent.

“B-bring the wallet…”

Completely terrified, Count Temtua ordered his servant to bring the wallet, and after receiving it, I sent him away.

“Hehehe, good. This will be used to do good deeds. And educate your son properly. What’s the most pathetic thing in the world? Starting a fight first and then getting your ass kicked. But you can only do that in the city, if you do that outside… you can really be slaughtered like a dog without anyone knowing. If you want your son to live a long life, make sure you educate him on that.”
“…A-alright.”
“Then goodbye.”

ㅡThud thud.

After gently patting his shoulder, the Count turned around and returned to his group. And he went back the way he came.

“It’s been resolved well.”

Satisfying.

“You’re so thrifty. My husband has a natural talent for making money. He doesn’t miss opportunities like this and collects funds.”

Karin smiled and patted my back.

“Hehehe, this is just natural.”

If he hadn’t given this, I would have killed him.

Drawing a sword at me means that. Die. Get your ass kicked. Or pay up and get lost. There is only one of the three options.

This time, I wasn’t particularly insulted. I understood the situation itself. So I explained the situation to him. But if I had explained everything and he still refused to give me money… then there would be no choice but to kill him rather than beat him up.

Anyway, you have to maintain respect and courtesy to establish justice.

Today, Kim Kat is moving forward to uphold justice.

That is Fusion Confucianism.

* * *

Like that.

I returned to the capital.

“Kkieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!”

It was a long journey, even though it was quick to come. So many things happened in the desert. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen Kadia too.

As expected, the air in the capital is different.

“Ugh, I’m going to rest for a bit now. What are you going to do with the darkie? Are you going to go to the temple first?”
“I’m going to go, but I’m going to go tomorrow.”

I got a lot of information from this trip to the desert. But I can’t tell Kadia everything. I’ll just pick out a few things to tell her, and for now, let’s just try to get her interested in the gods.

I need to finalize that kind of report as the last thing.

I want to see Kadia more, but as always, Kadia likes it more when I bring such reports than when I just come.

* * *

The next day.

After finishing my preparations, I headed to the Great Temple early in the morning. I don’t know how long it’s been since I last saw Kadia. It’s a big shame that we can’t always be together because we live separately and she has the position of Saintess.

Anyway, I entered the Great Temple grounds, exchanging simple greetings with the parishioners who greeted me warmly.