A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Marin's innocent and adorable face, with its unchanging expression yet endearing charm—

All of this captivated Sass.

"What did I just say!" Sass suddenly came to his senses and realized that he might have said something terrible.

“Welcome to travel with me.” Bray shook Sass’s hand, then forced a kind smile onto his disheveled face.

"Oh...oh...thank you for your guidance."

Then Bray quietly and gently placed Marlene back on the table.

"Hmm..." Marlene, who still didn't understand anything, picked up the drink in front of her and took a sip.

---

"Where did that bard go?"

The tavern was still packed with customers the following night, and many of them asked this question right away.

"Hey, Sass is going on a long trip, I don't know when he'll be back." The tavern owner put his hands on his hips, his face full of helplessness.

"No more dirty jokes to listen to."

"Yes, Mingming is a very interesting person."

Suddenly, various sounds of regret filled the tavern.

At that very moment, Sass was hiking with Bray and Marlene.

Sass was carrying a large backpack and walking on the muddy road.

"Why not take the railcar?" Sass wiped his sweat.

"Things seem to be getting a bit turbulent lately," Bray replied, stroking his chin.

"Not peaceful?"

"Yeah, last time it was a carjacking, and Risak came over with Marin in the end."

"..." Sass was speechless.

"Mr. Bray's greatsword looks quite heavy," Sass said, glancing at the unremarkable greatsword on Bray's back.

Although there wasn't much intricate carving, its size, like a door panel, made Sass feel that it was very heavy.

"It's really heavy, and I doubt it can be made any lighter," Bray sighed.

"Beers" will become increasingly heavy as its master's power increases.

Carrying a Beers bag for an extended period of time is actually a form of exercise.

Thanks to "Beers", Bray's physical fitness has improved somewhat.

After all, even with terrifying swordsmanship, it's useless without strength and speed.

If the leader of the men in black hadn't shown off his skills and had instead relied on his terrifying speed to continue fighting, Bray might have lost.

Because at that point, Bray's speed was already starting to fall behind.

However, for the opponent to use the "Severing Water Flow" technique against someone who has mastered it is simply suicidal.

He knew the trajectory, speed, and all the moves of the mine-laying technique like the back of his hand, and blocked them with ease.

It's a pity that Bray's strength was too weak; it was already difficult for him to wield "Beers." Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to fear the group of men in black who came to his aid.

To grasp "Beers" with one hand like Carlogaris would require special skills, or rather, the application of magic.

Unfortunately, Bray didn't learn that skill at all, nor did he have any magic reserves.

If you were to wave a Beers logo with one hand, you could probably only manage one swing before having to put it back.

Faced with a group of enemies, Bray still felt it was better to run away.

“It’s a long story—” Sass suddenly dragged out the last syllable.

"How about I tell you a story?"

“Tell a story?” Bray raised his right eyebrow.

"Yes, didn't I already say that I am a bard?"

"I'm not confident about anything else, but I'm really good at storytelling." Sass patted his chest, as if his nose had grown much longer.

"A story! Marlene wants to hear it!" Marlene's eyes sparkled.

"Oh, oh, oh!! Marlene wants to hear it, right!" Sass was incredibly excited when he heard Marlene's request.

“I’ll tell you!! No matter how many stories Marlene wants to hear, I’ll tell you.”

“Yes!” Marlene nodded.

“Let’s start with a story about the fat emperor!” Just as Sass was about to speak, he was choked by a voice from Bray.

"Lolicon?"

"I'm not a lolicon!!!" Sass protested, pulling his big hat tighter.

“Tell me a story!” Marlene shouted.

“Okay! Now tell me!” Sass squatted down and smiled at Marlene.

"See, he really is a lolicon." Bray glanced at Sass and shrugged. "Actually, even if we don't take the railcar, we can just take a horse-drawn carriage." Sass suddenly said.

The air suddenly became quiet, which was frightening.

"What...what's wrong?" Sass asked, puzzled.

“Actually, you can definitely find some ideas.” Bray patted Sass on the shoulder.

"..." Sass was speechless.

Sass knew what Bray meant; in this desolate wilderness, how could they possibly find a carriage or anything like that?

"Let's go back to the town we were in before."

“Risak?” Sass was a little reluctant, because it would take two days to get from Risak, and now they were going back?

“It will take us two weeks to get to North Hill Fort,” Bray said.

"..." Sass was speechless.

“Let’s walk back then, but can Marlene handle it?” Sass glanced at Marlene.

"Mm." Marlene nodded, though she looked exhausted.

"Let's go back to the city then." Having made up his mind, Bray didn't waste a second and turned to head towards Risak.

However, just as Bray and his group were preparing to return to the city, two new visitors arrived.

"This place is so hot!" A dark-haired man, who looked to be about 30 years old, slapped his face with his hand.

His military uniform and the rank insignia on his shoulders clearly indicated his identity.

“Colonel Eric, it’s autumn now,” a woman carrying a briefcase said calmly beside Eric.

The woman, with a good figure, wore a women's military uniform and looked heroic.

"Captain Alice!! It's autumn, but why is it so hot?" Colonel Eric was unhappy.

“No, it’s probably only you, Colonel, who feels hot,” Alice said expressionlessly.

"At least use polite language with me!"

“No, honorifics are meaningless when speaking to a colonel.” Alice looked at Eric with a deep sense of regret.

"Tsk, if it weren't for the emperor needing people to go to the border to support that so-called hero, I wouldn't have come to this sweltering place."

“Colonel, it’s Rolando, the ‘Silver Warrior’,” Alice said.

“Yes, yes, that’s Rolando. I usually stay in the refrigerated room!” Eric said, clearly annoyed.

"The colonel usually slacks off. To be honest, it's a miracle that he's still in the rank of colonel."

However, Eric suddenly stopped replying to Alice.

Eric squinted.

"The air around here is a bit hot and dry."

"Follow me, Captain, time to work," Eric said in a deep voice, straightening his uniform.

"learn."

---

In a dark alley in the town, an ordinary-looking man held a short dagger to the neck of a Risak citizen.

"Tell me, where did that man with the child and the blindfold go?" The man leaned close to the citizen's neck.

"They've already left towards Beishanbao!!!" the citizen replied in a panic.

"Would you like to ride in a horse-drawn carriage?"

"No, it's hiking!!!"

"Hiking? Are you kidding me?" The man felt his intelligence had been insulted and shouted angrily.

What lunatic would think of walking to Beishanbao?

Even if riding a railcar is dangerous, surely a horse-drawn carriage would be fine?

"No!!! Absolutely not!" The citizens were gripped by panic.

"That's enough, you can die now."

"No!! Didn't you say you wouldn't kill me!?"

"If you live, the news will leak out. Rest in peace," the man said grimly.

But the sudden drop in temperature around him made the man lower his raised hand.

The man cautiously looked around and spotted a strange couple.

“You’re attacking the citizens of the Empire,” Eric said, his eyes lowered.

"The mission of Imperial soldiers is to protect all people."

"And you've crossed my line." As soon as the words were spoken, the already low temperature plummeted even further.

The man glanced at Eric, then threw a dagger behind him. The civilian who was trying to escape was pierced in the heart by the flying dagger and collapsed limply.

"Alice, I'm angry."

"Understood." Alice stepped back a dozen meters and left the alley, but did nothing.

Sensing danger, the man retreated rapidly, intending to escape.

But the man soon realized something was wrong.

"My leg... I can't move my leg?"

Sometime later, the man's feet became frozen, and the frost seemed to be spreading.

"The spell wasn't chanted!?" The man was shocked, then forcefully broke free from the ice's restraints.

The man didn't want to be completely frozen like that. Popsicles are nice, but he'd rather not become one himself.

“Low-level spells don’t need to be chanted, and there’s no need to even say the spell name.” Eric snapped his fingers, and the man who had just been freed was frozen in place again.

“The essence of water is freezing and boiling.” Eric looked at the man as if he were a dead man.

"Although I am proficient in both types of magic."

"But it's definitely better to freeze it after all."

“The Glacier.” Eric’s voice was as cold as ice.

In an instant, the entire alley was covered in ice, the cold air was biting, and the man was frozen solid, except for his head.

Throughout the entire alley, only Colonel Eric's feet were not frozen.

“Colonel Eric, if you weren’t so lazy, you would have been a major general long ago.” Alice walked over and sighed.

"Please, let me go, General." Eric waved his hand.

"Then, lazy Colonel Eric, please step aside."

"It's my work time now." Alice opened her file folder.