As soon as the warship appeared, the merchant ship’s keel was destroyed under the Blue Lughs’ assault. The ship was snapped in half and started to sink under the water.
“Uwaaah!”
“S-Save me!”
“Please! Do something about those monsters!”
The crew screamed while hanging onto the sinking merchant ship.
Tssh!
When Raon put his hand back inside the river water while using Glacier, red objects poured out from the South-North Union’s warship.
Those long and round objects fell right in front of the crew, who fell in the water, as if they had eyes of their own.
“Huff! Huff!”
“I-I’m alive.”
They were floating on the water despite supporting the crews’ weight. It seemed they were made with some special material.
“Alright, guys!”
A majestic voice filled with aura burst from the deck of the warship.
“Wipe them all out!”
The owner of the voice jumped down on the river as he said that. With long purple hair reaching his back, he had soft and well-defined facial features, and his skin was as clean as white paper. The young warrior looked like an exemplary young nobleman.
“Woaah!”
“Sir Tyler is here!”
“We’ve been saved!”
The crew cheered while shouting his name, even though they were barely floating on the water.
“Hap!”
The man called Tyler ran on the surface of the water, as if he were on the ground. Raon could guess that he was using footwork designed to run on the surface of water, judging from the ripples of mana that appeared where he stepped.
‘Amazing.’
Raon resonated the Ring of Fire to take a close look at the mysterious footwork that the man was using.
Cring!
The man reached the group of Blue Lughs in no time, piercing the center of the river with the spear he was carrying on his shoulder.
Whaam!
The blue astral energy flowing from the tip of his spear started to rotate in a spiral to create a huge explosion.
“Keeee!”
“Kieee!”
The Blue Lughs were unable to withstand the huge wave, faltering like leaves inside a storm.
“Woow!”
“They are mere beasts, no different from monsters!”
“Kill them all!”
The warriors on the deck shot the aura blades and aura spears towards the Blue Lughs, throwing spears and harpoons at the same time.
“Kiee!”
“Kiaa!”
The Blue Lughs hurriedly withdrew, unable to endure the powerful attack from the South-North Union’s warriors. Green blood was flowing from their skin where they were hit by the aura blades and aura spears.
“Kuaah!”
An eccentric roar burst from the biggest among the Blue Lughs, and the river water surged like an upside down waterfall to block their vision, a blue cloudy fog forming.
“Kieeh!”
The Blue Lughs didn’t miss the confusion, diving underwater to disappear.
“You aren’t going anywhere!”
Tyler snorted, kicking the thrashing water. He held his spear in a reverse grip, stabbing underwater as if he were trying to catch a fish.
Whaam!
The river water peeled back into a semi-circle, and the young, small Blue Lugh that used to be under him could be seen on the spear, completely in tatters.
“I won’t let all of you escape.”
He swirled his spear to cut the young Blue Lugh’s body in half and gave a cool smile.
“Woaaah!”
“As expected of our captain!”
“Those dirty monster bastards!”
The South-North Union’s warriors giggled from the top of the warship while watching the green blood pouring out from the dead Blue Lugh’s youngling.
“Uha!”
“I-I’m alive.”
“Th-Thank you!”
“Sir Tyler! Thank you for saving us!”
The crew that managed to survive bowed at Tyler from the river.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
Tyler smiled brightly, reversing his spear to swing it as if he were trying to row.
“Ah, I’ve heard about him.”
Rimmer scratched his chin while looking at the man called Tyler.
“Tyler Sayton. He’s the fifth disciple of the leader of South-North Union, and he’s a warrior at Master level. Because of his excellent appearance and the countless good deeds he’s done, I heard he’s called the Graceful Knight of the Tide by the people.”
“I’ve also heard about him.”
Raon nodded. Just like Rimmer had said, Tyler was a virtuous man with many supporters from the Six Kings because of his heroic deeds, despite being from the South-North Union.
“Graceful Knight of the Tide?”
Martha frowned while looking at Tyler.
“No matter how I look at him, he looks like a traitor with a cringy and disgusting face.”
“Bullshit.”
Burren came next to Martha and shook his head.
“Even though he’s affiliated to the South-North Union, he’s done a lot of good and heroic deeds. He’s completely different from an average bandit.”
“Oh, are you even defending a bandit now?”
“I’m not defending him. I’m just stating the truth.”
Those two were arguing with each other, just like always.
“He’s not damn handsome.”
Runaan shook her head after looking back and forth between Raon and Tyler.
[We aren’t attacking him, are we?]
Raon sent an aura message to Rimmer, his eyes fixated on Tyler, who was riding the tide towards them.
[I can’t just start swinging my sword at him when he’s bringing the people he’s saved. A war is going to break out if we attack him now.]
Rimmer chuckled while answering him.
Tyler brought out the crew from the water, then treated their wounds before coming towards them.
“Oh?”
His mouth became round open upon noticing the burning sword emblem on the Light Wind’s uniform.
“You are from Zieghart!”
Even though he found out at a glance that they were from Zieghart, he turned his spear backwards as if he wasn’t cautious of them at all.
His eyes rolled as quickly as a bead rolling down from a hill. They stopped for a very short instant on Runaan, Martha, Raon, and Rimmer.
“N-No way, are you the Sword of Light from Zieghart?”
“I am.”
“I’m honored to meet you!”
Tyler’s expression turned bright as he bowed.
“Honored?”
“Yes! I keep hearing about you, that you are a real guard and virtuous man who protects his lord! I’ve really wanted to meet you!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Among Sir Rimmer’s great deeds, I especially like the great victory at the Dark Mountain…”
Tyler told him about Rimmer’s great actions one after the other. He was apparently not lying about having wanted to meet him.
“Wow! You are so knowledgeable, buddy!”
Rimmer smiled brightly and patted Tyler’s shoulder. He seemed to be in a good mood.
“And this person here must be the Frostfire Sword of Valor.”
Tyler punched the shaft of his spear with his fist.
“You even know about me?”
“I was deeply impressed when I heard the story about how you jumped head-first into fatal danger in order to save your benefactor from childhood. I’m honored to meet the young hero.”
“Is it really okay for you to say that, when I’ve slain the people from Eden, which is allied to the South-North Union?”
Raon calmly met Tyler’s blue eyes.
“Allies… In fact, we can’t exactly be called allies since we have different goals.”
A soft smile appeared on Tyler’s face.
“People live differently even if they are from the same place. Not all of Five Demons agree with each other, and the same goes within the South-North Union.”
“Hmm! That’s true.”
Rimmer nodded in agreement. He seemed to like Tyler because he had praised him.
“What brought you here, by the way?” Raon asked, while looking at the warship that Tyler came with.
“We’ve been patrolling around Doran Village once per day at their request.”
Tyler smiled gently at the Doran villagers who were taking care of the crew.
“And what brought the Light Wind here? I don’t think you would be just passing by…”
“We’ve also received a request for help from Doran Village.”
“Ohh…”
Tyler’s smooth talking was interrupted for a moment.
“Who did—Ah. I guess that’s understandable, since Zieghart’s domain is pretty close. However, it looks like we were slightly faster this time.”
He said that as a joke in order to avoid hurting their feelings and looked at the Doran villagers.
The crew and the rescue team from Doran Village were all looking at the warriors from South-North Union with admiration. They looked like people who had met their heroes.
“We should be seeing each other pretty often for a while. I hope we get along.”
“Same goes for us.”
“We’ll get going, then!”
Tyler bowed slightly, then walked on the river once again.
“Huh? Are you already leaving?”
“But we didn’t even thank you properly yet…”
“Sir Tyler!”
“You don’t need to mind it, since it wasn’t a big deal.”
The crews raised their hands, but Tyler smiled softly and withdrew. His footwork that allowed him to run on the water made him look like he was flying as he returned to the warship.
“Let’s return, everyone!”
“Yes!”
They didn’t ask for any reward, and left Gazel River without hesitation.
“He’s a pretty nice guy.” Rimmer whistled, while looking at the leaving warship.
“He’s just like I heard.”
Burren also smiled in satisfaction.
“I didn’t like him though. It felt like he had mayonnaise all over his face. People like him are huge snakes on the inside.”
“I agree. He’s all glossy.”
It was almost the first time that Martha and Runaan agreed with each other.
‘Did the Blue Lughs really leave?’
Raon used the Evil Eye of Wrath, just in case. It looked like all of them had run away, since he couldn’t see any of them.
‘I guess they would, since they were attacked like that… Hmm?’
When he was about to put away his wrath, he could see a Blue Lugh staying alone, deep under the Gazel River. He looked more similar to a human than the Blue Lughs that he’d seen a moment ago because of his small webbing and fins, and his eyes were as clear as the former Gazel River. The Blue Lugh stared in Raon’s direction for a while before disappearing deeper into the water.
‘What a surprise.’
The Blue Lugh was different from the innocent ones he’d seen before, and the monstrous ones he’d seen a moment ago. He felt like he was meeting the eyes of a human being.
“They are really coming every day.”
“I told you that we should leave the village in Sir Tyler’s hands.”
“I know, right? He’s saving us without asking for anything in return. I don’t know about the South-North Union, but we can trust Sir Tyler.”
The villagers were still talking about Tyler, even though he had left a long time ago.
Raon licked his lips while watching the excited villagers.
‘They are absolutely fond of him.’
Considering the reactions of the crew and the villagers, the village was pretty much under the South-North Union’s control—or, more specifically, Tyler’s control.
‘This isn’t going to be easy.’
It looked like it would be difficult to set up Zieghart’s flag in the village.
‘But it was already beneficial to come here.’
Raon smiled while thinking about the water walking technique Tyler had shown him earlier.
‘I learned something nice.’
* * *
* * *
Raon and the Light Wind squad returned to visit the village chief. Even though the village chief was well advanced in years, he had a sturdy body. Judging from his hands, he must’ve been still working on something that required strength.
“Thank you for coming.”
The village chief bowed with a smile, but he couldn’t hide the reluctance around his mouth.
“Can you tell us about the situation for now?” Raon asked after greeting him back.
Since Rimmer didn’t like doing something annoying like that, Raon needed to do his job instead.
“Hmm, the Blue Lughs started to leave their residence to hang all around the Gazel River a few months ago. We didn’t mind them because they weren’t harming us, but the problems started to occur two months ago.”
The village chief sighed, then continued.
“The Blue Lughs usually hide away as soon as they hear the sound of a ship, yet they suddenly attacked a fishing boat. It would be difficult to believe for those who knew about the Blue Lughs, but I saw that happen with my own eyes.”
“Hmm…”
Raon nodded. It was the same thing he’d heard when Rimmer told them about the mission.
“They became more and more aggressive over time and ended up sinking the boat—they even started to attack people. Now, they even attacked the big merchant ship that you saw earlier.”
“Why are they attacking the ships and the people?”
“I have no idea.”
The village chief helplessly shook his head.
“Unlike the other demi-humans, the Blue Lughs are unable to speak the human language. The situation is troublesome in various ways, because we have barely any connection with them despite having seen each other for a long time.”
His clenched fist was trembling.
“When we were wondering what to do about the continued attack of Blue Lughs, the warriors from South-North Union acted on our behalf, as they happened to pass by on the river. They defeated the Blue Lughs in an instant even though they were supposed to be invincible in the water, and even saved the people who fell in.”
A smile appeared on the village chief’s face as soon as he mentioned the South-North Union.
“Sir Tyler gladly accepted our request for occasional patrol and is currently checking around Gazel River every single day. The same went for today, when he immediately came to save the crew upon hearing the news about the Blue Lughs’ attack.
He hesitated for a while before slowly opening his mouth.
“I-I’m really sorry for the Zieghart swordsmen who came all the way here, but we are thinking about leaving the village’s protection to the South-North Union.”
The village chief finished his sentence despite his trembling lips.
“I see.”
Since Raon was expecting it, he simply nodded. Everyone inside the village was currently fond of Tyler.
‘And they are also closer.’
The South-North Union was closer than Zieghart to the village. It wasn’t strange for them to ask help from the people who would visit them more often because they were located nearby.
“I-I also have a question. Including the Zieghart’s investigators who came earlier, whose request did you receive to come here…?”
“That’s…”
“I requested them.”
When Raon was about to answer, a deep voice could be heard from outside. The door sprang open, and two young men entered the room. One of them had a build as sturdy as a general, and the other one had clear eyes despite being thin.
“Belga! Morin! Why did you do that?”
The village chief frowned, but the young men didn’t care about him and simply bowed to Raon and Rimmer.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Did the two of you call us?”
“Indeed.”
The bulky young man called Belga nodded.
“Why did you call us when it looks like you are on good terms with the South-North Union?”
Rimmer tilted his head.
“That’s because we can’t trust them.”
“B-Belga! You rascal!”
“Even though they are pretending to be kind neighbors, they were originally bandits. They are people who steal from others, and don’t value lives.”
Belga continued, despite the village chief trying to stop him.
Raon created an aura barrier around the place just in case, so that they wouldn’t be heard from the outside.
“Bandits create a road at least, but pirates simply extort money by placing a ship on a river that already exists. Tyler is no different. He’s pretending to be a hero, but what he’s doing is still the behavior of a pirate. That’s why I can’t trust them.”
“N-Nonsense! He asked nothing in return after helping us!”
“Gazel River will be included in their domain once they take over our village. I’m sure they are stopping themselves from extorting from us because of all the potential gains!”
“Seriously, you rascal!”
“Moreover, it’s strange that the South-North Union made their move as soon as the Blue Lughs changed…”
“Belga! Morin!”
The village chief shouted so loud that the room felt like it was trembling, and Belga and Morin closed their mouths in surprise.
“Be careful of what you say. The entire village could end up burning because of a single word from you.”
“But…”
“Kids have no say in this matter! Since the Blue Lughs are gone, you should set sail as planned! Morin, you should also go there to help them!”
“Ugh…”
Belga bit his lip. He looked at Raon for a moment before bowing at him and left.
“Huhuhu! They are just too young. I’ll apologize in their stead.”
The village chief smiled awkwardly and wiped off the sweat falling from his temple.
“It’s okay, I understand. Young ones are bound to act up,” Rimmer insisted while grinning.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“About that, I heard this place had some famous liquor.”
“Are you talking about the White Red Wine?”
“Yes, that one! Can I have a taste of that? I’d like some liquor because I came a long way.”
“S-Sure.”
He requested some liquor while pretending he wasn’t interested in the mission. He was bobbing his finger at the same time. He was apparently telling Raon to go outside to talk to the young men.
Raon silently stood up and left the village chief’s room. The two young men he saw a moment ago were walking towards the village’s outskirts. The smaller one among them was limping, and that must’ve been why they were still nearby.
“We met a moment ago.”
Raon caught up to them in no time, blocking their way.
“Gasp!”
“Th-The Frostfire Sword of Valor!”
It looked like they knew who Raon was, since they didn’t hide their surprise, unlike when they were in the room.
“I-I’m honored to meet you. My name is Belga!”
“I’m Morin.”
They nodded, Belga vigorously and Morin calmly.
“I came to see you because I was curious about something.”
“What?”
“What did you mean when you mentioned earlier that there was something strange about the South-North Union and the Blue Lughs?”
“Please come here for a moment.”
Belga looked around him as he guided him to a narrow alley. He leaned his back towards a wooden wall and slowly opened his mouth.
“The South-North Union originally didn't use this waterway. However, they suddenly appeared when the Blue Lughs became extremely aggressive and started to attack people, becoming heroes in the process.”
Belga frowned.
“The timing was just too perfect to be a coincidence.”
“That’s right. I’m glad they’ve saved the people, but it’s just too big of a coincidence.”
Morin nodded in agreement.
“It’s impossible for them to know when people are dying, no matter how knowledgeable they are about the waterway.”
“Hmm…”
Raon licked his lips. They were right about that, but that couldn’t be considered proof.
“Additionally, people’s impression of those thieves is currently too good because the South-North Union had no influence on our village before.”
Belga sighed.
“I have a friend in a village that went under the South-North Union a few years ago. He said that he was happy about that at first because it became safer, but he turned into a completely different person in a few years. He just kept chasing after money, with no room to think about anything else.”
“He didn’t tell me the reason why, but he kept freaking out whenever I mentioned the South-North Union. I’m sure they’ve done something to them.”
Morin also shook his head, telling him that the South-North Union shouldn’t be trusted.
“The elders forgot about the fact that the South-North Union can’t easily attack us because we are located right next to Zieghart’s domain, and they are being too optimistic about receiving the South-North Union’s help.”
“We will convince him, so can you give us some time?”
The two people begged him as they bowed.
“I…”
As Raon was about to respond, someone was shaking their hands towards them from the village’s main entrance.
“Belga!”
“Come here already!”
They seemed to be Belga’s companions who were about to go fishing with him.
“You should go. We should continue this talk later.”
“Yes! We will visit you again after putting our thoughts together.”
“See you.”
They bowed at him again, then ran out of the village.
“Tyler from the South-North Union.”
He remembered the way Martha said that people like Tyler were huge snakes on the inside. Her judgment about appearances was unexpectedly correct sometimes.
‘She might’ve been right about that.’
He couldn’t completely believe what Belga and Morin had said, but he did find Tyler’s reaction slightly strange.
It was probably a good idea to prepare to fight the South-North Union, on top of the Blue Lughs.
Raon smiled while thinking about the wave of Tyler’s footwork.
‘Shall I try walking on the water?’
