Chapter 82
After Hilnider’s visit,
Kraush spent several days in the training grounds of Green Pine Hall for personal training.
And what took up most of his training time was none other than the handling of Thunderstrike.
Thunderstrike was a more troublesome sword than he had anticipated.
Since it was a sword that could be freely shaped depending on the output of his aura, the blade’s edge couldn’t be maintained consistently.
‘Charlotte, not to mention even Velokin, could handle this output naturally.’
It seemed that Kraush’s innate aura was lower, causing him to be accustomed to high efficiency with lower output.
Thus, Kraush began to correct his habit.
Just as with Charlotte, by maintaining his aura continuously.
“…I’m going to die.”
Thanks to that, Kraush once again collapsed on the floor due to complete aura exhaustion.
He suddenly realized just how outrageous Charlotte’s aura control was.
Lying there, Kraush stared blankly at the sky flowing above the training ground.
He planned to take a suitable break until the headache and dizziness subsided.
‘It’s hot.’
Perhaps it was because it was mid-summer,
The ground felt quite hot.
Though he could offset the heat thanks to the Moon’s Fluid Body, that was not entirely an advantage.
Under the sun, Kraush felt his activity had slowed down compared to before.
‘I never thought there wouldn’t be any drawbacks from the get-go. If I could maintain the Flame Devouring Corruption, there’d be no issue even under the sun.’
But that meant that, without using Flame Devouring Corruption, he quickly turned into a mush under the sun.
Kraush crossed his arms while lying down.
So, the solution was simple.
He just needed to increase the amount of World Corruption needed to use Flame Devouring Corruption.
Of course, the more he increased the World Corruption, the greater the scale of the aura gaudiness would become, and there would come a day when he couldn’t control it even with the eye doll he received from Bianca.
‘When that day comes, I’ll just have to suppress it with something else.’
Usually, if you block one hole, another hole bursts.
Thinking this was quite a problem, Kraush internally settled on the next course of action.
At least, let’s absorb enough World Corruption to fix the shortcomings of the Moon’s Fluid Body.
If he did so, the amount of World Corruption he could handle at one time would increase, making him stronger too.
But he couldn’t just carelessly absorb World Corruption.
‘If the erosion rate of the World Corruption diminishes, the Purifiers will find it suspicious.’
Normal World Corruption was impossible to deal with.
There was no benefit to raising unnecessary suspicion, after all.
‘Then eventually…’
The places he could go were limited to the Forbidden Zone.
The Forbidden Zone was the area where World Corruption was most rampant.
The Forbidden Zone wouldn’t reduce even if Kraush absorbed the World Corruption.
However, the Forbidden Zone was a place thoroughly managed by kingdoms, the Empire, and countless noble families.
He couldn’t just barge in without caution.
“So, what do you think, Crimson Garden?”
Looking over at Crimson Garden sitting next to him, Kraush asked, prompting her to click her tongue.
“Mirss is no longer able to help either. Thanks to the last incident, she’s been on her toes in Sephira.”
Kraush made a disappointed face.
Mirss, a three-rank bureaucrat in Sephira, had been quite useful.
As he pondered, one fact suddenly popped into his mind.
‘Speaking of which, isn’t Valheim supporting the Forbidden Zone around this time?’
If they participated in the support, it was certain that they could enter the Forbidden Zone.
‘The problem is…’
It’s the promise he made to Hilnider.
Kraush had decided to maintain his halfwitted status until he entered Rahelrn Academy.
He had to avoid gossip as much as possible.
‘For now, it’s best to go in a less conspicuous direction.’
As Kraush was rolling his eyes, a certain person popped into his mind.
Someone sharp and with a decent sense.
And by now, he would have probably returned.
Kraush decided to meet him and got up from his spot.
‘Darling must still have some of those potions left.’
On the day he received the elixir from Darling,
Darling had packed several types of potions, saying to use them just in case he needed them when he wasn’t around.
One of them was the potion that changes his appearance, which he had used before.
And it wasn’t just one or two, but a large quantity.
‘He seems like an unusual fellow when it comes to tastes.’
Anyway, using it at this moment would indeed come in handy.
Just as Kraush was about to head to the room to gather his things and find someone to take him to the Forbidden Zone, he spotted something in the distance.
A girl standing completely still in front of a magical device that was cooling the room.
Even as her hair flew with the wind, seeing her tightly gripping the part of the magical device that emitted air made him chuckle.
At the same time, he felt a bit sorry for her.
The reason she was like that was that she wasn’t used to Valheim’s summer.
Even in summer, Hadenharz didn’t really get that hot.
“Bianca.”
Calling out to her, Bianca finally turned her head and looked over.
Her hair was tousled, revealing her forehead, and beads of sweat gathered on her face.
Kraush took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe her forehead.
Bianca, still following Kraush’s lead, gently wrapped her hands around his as she brought it to her face.
“Lord Kraush, your hands are cool.”
Since he was of the Moon’s Fluid Body.
Based on Bianca’s expression, it seemed she was quite exhausted from the heat.
He wondered if he should take her somewhere cool.
‘If I’m checking out where the Forbidden Zone is supported, if it’s the higher region, I should take her.’
As long as it wasn’t inside the Forbidden Zone, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Unlike Kraush, who was known in Hadenharz, Bianca didn’t attract that much attention away from home.
Just changing her hair color a bit shouldn’t be an issue.
Thinking that, Kraush lifted his hand and patted her head before withdrawing it.
“Where are you going?”
“To quickly take care of some business at home.”
As he said this, Kraush noted that he had to go to his family’s home.
At that, Bianca naturally began to follow Kraush closely.
She was still showing that chick-like demeanor.
“I’m going to wash up.”
“Can I go in with you?”
“Of course not, I’m going in alone. Just get ready; I’ll be out in no time.”
“Got it.”
After saying that, Bianca quickly trotted away from Kraush’s side.
Though she swayed slightly due to the heat, he didn’t think she would fall over.
“Aliod, I’m going to my family’s home. Turn on the cooling magic device in the carriage.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare it right away.”
After telling Aliod, Kraush quickly finished showering and changed his clothes.
Then he brought Bianca with him into the carriage, only for Crimson Garden to sneak in through the window.
Kraush was now quite familiar with this group.
[Kraush.]
As Bianca sat beside him, opening a book, Crimson Garden called out to Kraush suddenly.
Whenever she called him like this, something bad usually happened.
He wondered if something was going to happen today as well.
Turning to her, Kraush listened to what Crimson Garden said next.
[The princess of Sephira has moved.]
Kraush’s brows tightened slightly.
As expected, it was bad news.
The Sephira, the World Corruption investigation team.
The princess over there had made a move.
“…What about her guard?”
[They added one recently. And, of course, they are following her closely.]
Kraush clicked his tongue.
So it was about time for that side to make a move.
‘What to do now?’
Kraush paused for thought.
He contemplated how he could deal with that man and princess who would cause problems later.
But soon, a simple conclusion came to him.
‘…There’s no way to block it with my current level.’
Starting with the skills he possessed, the circumstances simply wouldn’t allow it.
Thus, Kraush determined that he couldn’t deal with him immediately.
“It would be easier if I could just avoid her.”
[If you head to the Forbidden Zone, the chances of crossing paths are high though.]
“The Forbidden Zone isn’t just one or two areas, and the likelihood of me running into her and her guard while I’m heading where I want to go? Haha.”
No matter how unlucky he was.
[Hmm, I gave you a warning.]
…No matter how unlucky he was.
But unfortunately, Kraush knew himself well.
‘…And I don’t have luck on my side.’
He quietly decided to prepare himself just in case.
＊ ＊ ＊
At the Valheim family home.
Upon returning to his family home after a long time, Kraush did not head to the main building.
Instead, the direction he headed was to where each knight order resided.
The Valheim knight order consisted of nine different groups.
So it was only natural that the place they lived was quite expansive.
From training grounds and dormitories to nurturing facilities for directly training knights.
They occupied a huge portion of the family home.
Because of that, Kraush saw many knights belonging to Valheim in the areas he passed through.
As soon as they noticed the carriage carrying the Valheim crest pass by, they immediately saluted in its direction.
Naturally, that was expected behavior for a carriage bearing the direct insignia of House Valheim.
“Who was supposed to visit today?”
“Not sure. I haven’t heard anything.”
As the knights who saluted whispered among themselves while watching the carriage pass,
The carriage suddenly stopped in front of a building.
Emblazoned with five swords,
It was the headquarters of the Fifth Sword of Valheim, the Blue Sea Knight Order.
Kraush, who stepped out of the carriage first, took Bianca’s hand to help her down, standing in front of the building.
At that moment, someone rushed downstairs with hurried footsteps.
“K-Kraush Valheim! Welcome! I’m Marsha, secretary of the Blue Sea Knight Order.”
She had rushed out with a bright smile, looking extremely anxious despite her cheerful face.
Well, for them, it truly was a bolt from the blue that the son of the lord of Valheim arrived without any notice.
Kraush wanted to say not to mind him, but he realized she would feel uncomfortable with that too.
So he decided to get straight to the point.
“I’d like to meet the deputy commander of the Blue Sea Knight Order.”
“Ah, I’ll take you right away!”
Eager to avoid getting caught up in little troubles, she quickly responded.
She hurriedly instructed an attendant from the Blue Sea Knight Order to go ahead and inform the deputy commander.
In the meantime, Kraush strolled leisurely, being guided by Marsha.
As they walked, knights occasionally appeared chatting, but as soon as they noticed Marsha’s tiger-like expression, they cleared the hallway.
This secretary seemed to have a better grip on the Blue Sea Knight Order than expected.
‘I’m not familiar with the knight order at all.’
Now that he thought about it, Lacradion had expressed a desire to become one of Kraush’s knights.
It might be a good idea to properly familiarize himself with the knight order at some point.
With a knight order, he could more efficiently counter the World Corruption.
Certainly, having better competitors than the generation of the Skies was more beneficial.
‘As for the commander, I suppose I can leave that to Lacradion.’
In that case, the name for the knight order would be the issue.
Kraush casually glanced at Bianca.
“Bianca, if you were to create a knight order, would you want to name it something specific?”
At that moment, for some reason, Marsha, who was guiding them, flinched.
Her eyes widened with alarm.
‘Is Kraush-nim thinking of absorbing the Blue Sea Knight Order too, just like he did last time when he joined?’
While Marsha was spinning those thoughts in her head, Kraush was focused solely on Bianca.
“A knight order?”
“Yeah, a knight order.”
“Wouldn’t it be fine to simply name it after you, Kraush-nim?”
“Is it reasonable to have a knight order named after me?”
Perhaps “Chick Knight Order” wouldn’t cut it.
“What about Black Sea?”
At that, Marsha unexpectedly made a suggestion.
Turning to her in surprise, Kraush noticed she coughed awkwardly.
“Ahem, I was just suggesting.”
From Marsha’s perspective, she proposed “Black Sea” to reflect some remnants of the Blue Sea Knight Order.
But Kraush thought the term “Black Sea” wasn’t that bad.
“This is the deputy commander’s room.”
In the meantime, Marsha completed her guide.
With a knock, a response came from within, and the door opened.
Kraush confidently stepped into the room.
There stood a man in the blue uniform of the Blue Sea Knight Order.
He was someone Kraush recognized.
The deputy commander of the Blue Sea Knight Order, Reblian Phenox, who had recently been assigned to take care of Kraush in Halgraam.
Today, he was also the person Kraush would be asking a troublesome favor from.
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