A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"Go to sleep, Marlene," Bray said to Marlene, who was lying on the bed.

Then he lay down on the floor.

"Bray, aren't you coming up?" Marlene lay on the bed, looking at Bray, who had closed his eyes.

“I’m not so perverted as to want to share a bed with an underage girl,” Bray replied irritably to Marlene’s question.

Marin knows a lot of things, but strangely enough, he also doesn't know a lot of things.

Sometimes I don't even know some basic common sense questions.

Bray can only be blamed on the fact that Marlene is an incredibly absent-minded girl.

Goodnight, Bray.

"Get some sleep," Bray said softly.

---

In his room, Sass lit a lamp and faced an unfolded scroll in front of him, covered with intricate patterns.

Sass stared at the scroll for a long time, then shook his head helplessly and put the drawing away.

This is an ancient scroll that records the secrets of the entire Weiss family.

Sass naturally wanted to know what secrets were recorded on it.

The Weiss family is a family of bards.

Hundreds of years ago, the Will Empire experienced a terrible rebellion.

During that rebellion, the rebels were incredibly powerful, possessing the strength to rival the imperial army.

In the final moments of the rebellion, as many as 10 rebels with the strength of S-rank adventurers had already reached the emperor.

Each of these 10 men could take on an army.

Even a vast empire is helpless in the face of such power.

Although marshals and generals could fight these rebels to a standstill, it was impossible to prevent 10 powerful enemies from attacking the emperor at the same time.

Indeed, there were countless generals present at the time, but they still couldn't do anything about it.

It would be incredibly easy for 10 powerful individuals to kill a weak emperor.

The empire collapsed in the blink of an eye.

Then an old bard who happened to be telling the story to the prince was in the palace. After learning of the betrayal, he went straight to the palace where the emperor was.

"Hello, would you like to hear a story?" These were the bard's first words.

Finally, under the incredulous gazes of the crowd, he spoke words that made the ten rebels feel ashamed.

Three of the rebels committed suicide, while four surrendered and joined the empire.

Three others were beaten to death by a group of generals.

After resolving the rebellion, the old bard left the palace and refused all the emperor's rewards.

The legendary bard was the first Weiss.

This ancient scroll is what the first Vis left to his descendants.

All that is needed is for Weiss's descendants to drip blood onto the scroll to access its secrets.

But Sass knew this, yet he hasn't dared to do it until now.

Because countless members of the entire Weiss family disappeared for a moment after their blood was dripped onto the scroll.

It reappeared in the next instant.

But when that person reappeared, he was completely mutilated and had died a miserable death.

That's how Sass's grandfather died.

That scene is still vivid in Sass's mind.

Despite how terrifying it is, someone from the Weiss family will always try it.

They wanted to unravel this centuries-old secret, even at the cost of their lives.

This is the adventurous spirit of the Weiss family.

However, it seems that Sass did not inherit this adventurous spirit.

—"Able to overcome all difficulties."

This is what the first Wiss said when he left the scroll.

"Hoo..." Sass let out a long breath, struggled for a moment, but still rolled up the scroll and put it back in his pocket.

Sass took off his trench coat and turned off the light.

"What a... coward," Sass scoffed to himself before collapsing into bed and falling asleep. On the main road, the sound of horses' hooves continued, only to soon cease.

The carriage stopped in front of a city.

"We've arrived at Inlai, the city just ahead," the coachman said, turning his head.

"Thanks, here's the fare." Bray nodded and took out 50g from his pocket and handed it over.

"Thank you for your patronage, haha. Inlai is a great tourist destination." The carriage chuckled.

This is Inlai.

Traveling between cities within China is very simple, but crossing national borders is extremely troublesome.

The procedures were complicated and the identity verification was repeated.

After this series of processes, Bray, Marin, and Sass finally left the Empire and successfully arrived in Inlai City.

This is understandable, given the need to strictly prevent federal spies from entering and leaving.

Although spies have many ways to infiltrate the Empire, they shouldn't be allowed to come and go as they please, right?

"What a small city!" Marlene exclaimed in surprise, her mouth agape, after getting off the carriage.

“Shouldn’t we generally say ‘it’s really big’?” Bray sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“Don’t worry about the details, Mr. Bray,” Sass said to Bray with a smile.

"It's time to help Marlene-chan get home." Sass's voice was filled with complex emotions.

Sass didn't know why he had come along.

After a period of time, Sass had convinced himself countless times that this little girl couldn't possibly be his older sister.

Sass also felt it was time to see the truth.

It was a short trip, but that's enough for now.

"Marlene, do you remember where your home is?" Although he knew there was little chance he would remember, Bray still asked casually.

“I remember! Over there.” Marlene raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

“That direction must be where Marin’s house is,” Marin said confidently.

Even though she hadn't even entered the city gate, Marlene felt someone calling her.

“It seems we’ve even saved time for rest.” Bray shrugged.

“It’s a good thing that things are going so smoothly,” Sass said with a smile, pulling down the brim of his hat.

"Over here!!! Bray! Over here!!" Marlene skipped and jumped, waving in front of Bray.

"At least let me through the city gate first," Bray said, looking utterly helpless.

After Sass made Marlene stay put, Bray completed the formalities for entering the city.

These cities, which belong neither to the empire nor the federation, have very strict controls on entry and exit.

"Don't cause trouble!" the gatekeeper repeatedly warned.

“I understand, I understand,” Bray replied repeatedly.

Thus, Bray and his party entered Inlai smoothly.

Next, just follow the direction Marlene points and you'll know where to go.

This task doesn't seem that difficult.

After spending a month with the little girl, Bray found himself reluctant to part with her.

Could it be that Bray himself has become a lolicon? If so, that would be a disaster.

But not long after they entered, Sass's expression turned grim.

Sass saw which two soldiers he had fooled.

"Ah, that bard gentleman." Alice remembered Sass as soon as she saw him.

“Hmm? That guy with the eye patch…” Eric glanced at Bray a few times.

Then Alice and Eric's gazes shifted to Marlene.

“Mr. Bray, something bad might happen soon.”

"What?" Bray looked completely bewildered, having no idea what Sass was talking about.

“Bray! These are the two soldiers who came looking for you last time.” Marlene recognized Alice and Eric as well.

Bray was the only one who was completely unaware of the situation.

"So what's going on?"

While Bray was still in a daze, Alice took out her little notebook.

"Rip—" Alice tore a page off.

This is a note recording the characteristics that Sass told her.

"Colonel, target found."

“Understood, Captain.” Eric shrugged.

After seeing Sass, Marlene, and Bray, Alice instantly understood what was going on.

Alice was completely fooled.

“Mr. Bray, I think we should run away,” Sass said.

"Huh?" Bray asked, puzzled.

However, Bray quickly sensed that something was amiss.

From the moment they left, those two men in Imperial military uniforms had been staring in their direction.

“What did you do?” Bray asked.

“It should be,” Sass replied.

"Then... let's run." Bray said weakly after touching his blindfold.

After Bray said those words, Sass grabbed Marin's hand and started running.

"Colonel, freeze them, and do it hard," Alice said through gritted teeth.

Alice hates being lied to.

“Captain Alice, calm down. We can’t afford to panic in Inle City…” Eric was about to try and calm the agitated Alice down.

However, before Eric could speak, Alice had already drawn the gun from behind her.

"Hey!! Captain!!!" Eric panicked.

"Peng—" The bullet pierced through the crowd and flew straight toward the mine.

At Bray's speed, he couldn't possibly block a magic missile.

Especially when you are suppressed by the first move.

The magic bullet pierced Bray's thigh without any resistance.

"Don't worry, it's just a tranquilizer dart."

Just as Alice had said, Bray's thigh did not bleed at all.

"A tranquilizer dart, huh?" Bray scoffed, then looked at Sass, who had already run off with Marlene.