## Chapter 501 – Quasi-Priest Kim Kat

The young lady was quite the conversationalist.

Her laughter was hearty, and more than anything, we shared a common ground as warriors, which made it easy to talk. On top of that, she was continuously showered with exaggerated flattery, which instantly brought smiles and dispelled any tension.

The Andromalius beatdown story seemed to have captured her heart. She repeatedly asked about various heroic tales.

Time flew by in an instant.

“Despite being a barbarian, you speak remarkably well! Usually, warriors aren’t very eloquent! Your eloquence makes your heroic tales all the more vivid! Excellent!”
“It’s all thanks to the beauty of the civilized world’s language!”

Anyway, I answered to the best of my ability, playing the part of a barbarian who had adapted to the city.

“There were so many words here that didn’t exist in our tribe! I became completely engrossed! Hehehe! I’m so glad I left the tribe! There’s so much to learn here!”

The young lady seemed particularly pleased that a barbarian was being influenced by urban civilization.

“You left your tribe and came to the city because you were thirsty for knowledge! A very commendable attitude! Stagnation leads only to obsolescence!”

But how much longer do I have to keep talking?

The young lady seemed quite bored, as she kept talking non-stop with high energy.

I learned during our conversation that the young lady was the only daughter of the Isvant family, and that she had gained experience and skill by leading the family’s private soldiers to solve problems that arose near the city ever since she took up the sword.

She seems to be constantly busy with her private soldiers.

Apparently, she destroyed several beehives during the killer hornet incident last time, so that says it all. She also seems to have commanded the extermination operation during this demon commotion.

Nobles don’t always live comfortably.

The lord’s army is always busy dealing with matters that adventurers can’t handle. With such a vast territory, problems are bound to arise constantly.

It was around the time the atmosphere had ripened while we were sharing such stories.

“Oh my, it’s getting so late! I hope we have another chance to talk like this again! I hope you achieve some more feats!”
“Understood!”

Is she finally thinking of letting me go?

As I prepared to say my farewells, the young lady suddenly said this:

“Hmm… Still, I’d like to see your skills before we part ways. Come now, show me your skills!”
“My skills, you say?”
“Watching a warrior’s prowess is also a pleasure of mine! There’s a sword stored in that closet over there, so fetch one!”
“Ah, understood!”

She wants to see my skills.

I immediately opened the closet as instructed and grabbed a rough-looking sword. Well, there are only swords in the closet, not clothes.

In fact, there were so many swords in the large closet.

Is this a gun safe or something?

“Then I shall present my sword dance! It will be infinitely inferior to your ladyship’s skills, but I will do my best to display my true abilities!”
“Good spirit! I’m satisfied!”

The young lady watched me from her seated position on the sofa. It feels like I’m performing a trick for adults. Anyway, I grabbed the sword and took a stance.

ㅡWhooosh.

I draw mana as quickly as possible. Once I go through a state of extreme concentration, the budding mana gathers in my grasp.

ㅡTss-pat!

A sword aura rises in an instant.

The speed at which I draw the sword aura has clearly increased. If I reduce it further, I might even be able to draw it instantly. With the sword aura drawn, I began my sword dance.

“Aura Manifestation Sword Dance, HERE I GOOOOO!!!”

ㅡSwae-aek!
ㅡBoong-tzz boong-tzz!

It’s just something I do in the backyard every morning anyway. I perform the sword dance fiercely and intensely. The important thing is not to let the sword aura die out. Karin explained that it could be interrupted if I lacked concentration.

Of course, it’s not a mistake I, who can freely manipulate mana within my body, would make. I continued the sword dance until my mana dropped below half.

ㅡSheath.

“That is all!”
“Hoh! A clean and efficient sword dance, well done! A swordsmanship and aura manipulation that has reached a considerable level! There was nothing to criticize!”

The young lady clapped and gave me that assessment.

“Ah-nit! Such flattering words! I am truly grateful!”
“The more I see, the more interested I become! Then I shall show you my skills as well!”

She’s going to show me her skills?
A scream burst from my mouth.

“Aaaack!!! Am I to witness your ladyship’s swordsmanship!!! I am incredibly happy! Thank you!”
“Ohohohohot! You’re so happy! I like that you’re so honest with your emotions!”

ㅡCheo-eok.

The young lady nonchalantly grabbed a greatsword and began to wield it.

ㅡWhoom!

The violence emanating from the massive sword was truly extraordinary from the very start.

The power that had instantly burst through the thick hide of an ogre.

I focused on watching the young lady’s sword dance. It was a destructive swordsmanship with a completely different feel from Claudie and Karin. It would be difficult to defend against or deflect such attacks, and getting hit by even one would guarantee a one-way ticket to the River Styx.

More than anything, the fact that she could freely wield such a heavy weapon was the scariest part. Mana, after all, strengthens the human body. The young lady must have a lot of mana and excellent control to be able to freely use such monstrous strength.

“This is my skill! What do you think!”

Finally, the young lady, having finished her sword dance, asked me. I screamed again and exclaimed in admiration.

“T-this can’t be!!! It’s so amazing that I almost fainted!! How can such swordsmanship exist!!! This is the swordsmanship of the gods!!!”
“Ohohohohot! You certainly have a good eye!”

The young lady, pleased by my extreme flattery, covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed heartily. People should live with a smile. If you smile, good fortune will come.

“Hee, heeheehee! It’s just a very common-sense perspective!”

Anyway, I continued the conversation with the young lady, making sure not to offend her with various flattery.

To roughly summarize the young lady’s personality, she seems to revere martial prowess and likes valiant warriors. She has a hearty personality and doesn’t seem to care much about status or origin as long as you’re good with a sword. And she likes flattery.

It’s no wonder Copson was raving about how the young lady was the flower of Isvant.

With her outstanding beauty, it’s only natural that the men of the city would admire her. She doesn’t even have any rough edges in her personality.

Come to Isvant, a great city to live in.

“I really enjoyed the heroic tales you told! It’s almost time for my next appointment, so I don’t think I can listen any longer! Farewell! I hope something else catches my eye next time!”
“I was honored to have the opportunity to speak with your ladyship alone!”

With those words, I left the young lady’s room.

I saw the maid I had seen earlier waiting in front of the door.

“I will guide you on your way back.”
“Ah, thank you.”

She was going to guide me out.

Following the maid’s guidance, I came out of the castle. I also picked up all the weapons I had returned on the way out. The time was probably around two or three o’clock? I left early in the morning, and it took quite a while.

“Ugh, I’m so tired, damn it.”

I must have exhausted a lot of mental energy from talking too much while being nervous. A wave of fatigue washes over me. When I get home, I’m going to whine to my wives to give me milk and rest.

But I didn’t receive any special reward from the young lady.

Well, I’m not Clown Kim Kat, so I don’t need to get paid for being a clown. Whatever. If I live long enough, unexpected good fortune may come from meeting and talking to the young lady today. Showing the young lady a good impression is the most important thing, not money.

But what’s the young lady’s name?
I didn’t ask.

I was about to go home, but I don’t usually take this route, so I was a little worried about which way to go. I was so nervous when I came, buried among the group, that I can’t remember which way I came.

Anyway, I adjusted my direction and walked roughly.

Should I stop by the Adventurer’s Guild for the first time in a while on the way?

Although Andromalius has been defeated, I don’t know what the other demons are up to. I need to check the situation.

“…”

Since Andromalius was in charge of the gate… maybe the Demon Gate situation is over.

That’s just my guess.

It would be nice if Hildegard could get some information at times like this.
She’s useless for anything else.

After wandering around for a while, I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild a little later than expected. I opened the door and went inside, and it was quite quiet inside. Is Copson here? I don’t see him.

I first stood in front of the bulletin board to see if there was any new news. Well, the bulletin board was no different from usual. It just had phrases about finding materials or looking for parties.

I don’t need to check the bulletin board at my level.

I went straight to the counter to ask if there was any work.

“I’m Kat, a D-rank adventurer. Is there any work or news?”
“Welcome, Mr. Kat. Would a D-rank quest be suitable?”
“First, tell me what’s available.”
“Understood.”

The clerk rummaged through various documents and explained several jobs to me. They were all related to demons. Some magician was looking for demon body parts, or an alchemist was buying demon blood at a high price.

Ordinary requests have decreased a bit because paladins and soldiers have been rampaging through the forest to beat up demons, slaughtering all the monsters they encounter. Even if they’re all killed now, monsters will slowly crawl out again over time.

Then let’s just skip it today and come with Winia next time.

As I was about to get up with that thought, the clerk added one last word.

“Ah, and there’s been one suspicious incident recently.”
“A suspicious incident, you say?”
“There have been reports of serial killings and serial disappearances in a village a little far from the city.”

Se, serial killings?!

“T, such a heinous…! What’s going on!”

I was so surprised that I grabbed my head and exclaimed in shock! Serial killings, how terrible! Such a thing is happening around me! This should not be allowed!

“Nothing has been revealed in detail yet, and there are no specific requests. The information is a bit lacking. If you’re interested, you might want to investigate it yourself. A medium-sized monster that has developed a taste for human flesh may have wandered in from the outside.”
“Like a troll or something?”
“It could be.”
“Hmm…”

Let’s keep this in mind.

If a heinous bastard like a serial killer appears near the city, I can never forgive them. Wait a minute. Could it be that some crazy spiritists have appeared again?

Of course, there’s a chance it’s a monster.

Or maybe it’s just demons who escaped. There must have been a lot of them who came over. Even if most of them were killed by adventurers, paladins, and soldiers, it’s virtually impossible to kill them all.

It could be the work of a lesser demon who escaped from that encirclement.

Those bastards may be lesser demons, but they would be unstoppable if they encountered ordinary people.

Thinking roughly like that, I walked home. The days are getting shorter, and it looked like the sun would be setting soon. When autumn ends, it’ll be winter again… Time really flies.

“I’m home!”

I arrived home not long after.
Karin greeted me as soon as I opened the door.

“Oh, you’re here? You’ve worked hard. Winia was saying you were doing something weird. What the hell did you do?”
“I just flattered the lord a bit. She really liked it.”
“Flattery? Kyah, you’re such a cutie. Are you hungry? Claudie and Lisha are preparing dinner.”
“I cried.”

Let’s rest today.

Anyway, a serial killer… I have a strong feeling about this case.