Chapter 85: Alhad Bandits (4)

"What?"

"Irene Pareira, an official trainee of the Krono Swordsmanship School."

Looking at Kazhar, Irene Pareira spoke again.

In a much louder voice.

With an attitude as if he was boasting his identity, which was different from his disposition.

Of course, the other one didn't care.

He only focused on the content of Irene's words.

"Official trainee of Krono?"

"27th batch?"

"Did the 27th batch come out?"

s

"Irene Pareira? A name I never heard of..."

"I heard that there were more than 20 people this time, but that might not be correct."

"Yah, the 27th batch means..."

"Indeed, there was a reason why he received a silver card from a mercenary agency at such a young age."

"Wait, then... aren't things settled?"

"Uh? Ah! Yes!"

"Right, who would dare raise their weapons against the people of the Krono Swordsmanship School. Right! That's right!"

'It's going the way I thought it would.'

Irene nodded to himself at the positive voices of the people behind him

The reason he stood proudly in front of Kazhar wasn't because he cleared his confusion.

He was still concerned about cutting people down.

And concerned about the unique group called the Alhad Bandits.

None of his concerns could be answered right now.

For those who accumulated a lot of experience, these were questions that could be answered, but Irene Pareira couldn't come to a hasty conclusion.

And the situation with the Bandits was different from what he heard...

'It makes me even more confused.'

Because of that, Irene changed his mind.

He wasn't going to make decisions on the two issues right now.

Dealing with them later isn't a bad thing. After gaining more experience, he could think about it at a later time.

If so, what's the best thing he could do right now?

His current mission: escorting them to the bottom.

'The merchants or the mercenaries, not a single one of them can die.'

No, he didn't even want things to escalate to that.

And that was Irene's current mission.

And the best way to achieve that mission was, 'do not initiate a fight.'

"Here's the card which proves that I'm an official trainee of the Krono."

Irene took out the trainee card from his pocket and handed it to Kazhar.

As he openly showed off the card, the merchant's expression improved even more.

Even if Kazhar was acting arrogant a moment back, this was proof that cannot be ignored.

They could try and renegotiate with him despite it making him look bad, but still, Irene and the merchants would get to cross the mountain without breaking things or losing a life.

That was what everyone thought.

Kazhar, who examined the card which was in Irene's hand, shook his head.

It was too short of a time to check it.

And with a smirk, he said,

"What if it's a fake?"

"...? No. I received it directly from schoolmaster Ian. Please check it."

"I don't know. I don't have the kind of eyes which can judge things. But... over the past five years, we had three men try to get past us by pretending that they were trainees of the Krono, so there is no way to confirm this."

"..."

"Maybe you're like them?"

"Woahhh! You're right, leader!"

"If we trust each and everything said, we'll be the losers! How is it that everyone who meets us turns out to be a trainee of the Krono?"

"Leader! Let's just wipe them all out!"

The bandits revealed their ferocious side at the appearance of Krono's name.

Kazhar looked at his subordinates with a satisfied smile.

With that, the merchant's faces turned dark again.

That was when Irene realized the Alhad bandits didn't care about the situation. All they wanted was a fight.

It was absurd, but that was how they worked.

Not just Kazhar, not a single one of the bandits seemed to care about the situation or the card's authenticity.

The head merchant felt uncomfortable.

'No was... Kazhar is clever. He would never do such a sloppy verification.'

Kazhar was the meticulous type who kept track of the famous people who passed through the mountain.

No, Kazhar was never this aggressive in the first place. Nor were his subordinates.

Why did it turn out like this?

Why the hell were they so different? Why were they tormenting the merchants?

The merchants didn't have the answer.

However, Irene Pareira, who was facing Kazhar, seemed to know the reason.

He looked at the man's neck.

'... for now, I have no choice but to use that method.'

Phew, Irene took a deep breath.

Actually, he was hoping to avoid this method.

Because its risk was greater than using the name of Krono, and its certainty wasn't 100%.

Irene was confident if it came to beating Kazhar, but he needed more power for that method.

Irene put the trainee card back into his pocket.

Seeing that expressionless face, Kazhar scoffed at him.

"What? You should keep holding it. I'm from Krono, don't strike me, if I wear this on my head, other people will be too scared to even come close to me, did you think that would happen? Sorry, but we aren't like that."

"Ah-hahaha!"

"Mr. Kazhar."

"Huh? Look here, young one! Why don't you relax your face and talk? You aren't saying that you'll beg for your life with such a serious expression, right?"

"Haha, hahaha!"

"Can I show you the difference in power?"

"Huh?"

"If I show you that I'm strong enough to defeat everyone here, will you back down?"

"... ha, haha."

3 seconds.

Considering the way the talks went, that wasn't a long period of silence.

However, as Kazhar laughed, the bandits behind him laughed too.

"Puah-ahahahah!"

"Kekeke... kekekeke!"

"What did this bastard just say?"

"He's going to wipe us out?"

"Leader! Can't we keep this one? He's so funny!"

The bandits ridiculed Irene.

Even the merchants and mercenaries on Irene's side went silent without supporting him.

It was because the blonde man's words were too bold.

And the serious atmosphere on the bandits' side turned into a buzzing market.

But everyone knew.

The only thing they could do was laugh.

Once this moment passes, there will be no more jokes, and the slaughter will start.

And if the other side wanted a happy ending, they had to give up half their stuff.

It was then,

The blonde young man who quietly listened to their jokes held a sword.

Shhh!

"...!"

"...!"

All the bandits stopped laughing.

It was the same with the people on Irene's side.

As he pulled out a sword from the air, everyone's attention was focused on him.

But what unfolded next was even more shocking.

Strong energy began to flow from the young man's body, who had closed his eyes to concentrate.

Wooong!

"Uh, uh..."

"Gulp. Hic."

It wasn't like the air around him was terrifying or anything, but...

The mystical energy, the Aura he built up through training in his own world, moved out in all directions.

Although it wasn't the same shape as a Sword Master's Aura Sword, the overwhelming energy was enough to make people retreat a few steps and notice the man in front of them.

Everyone could feel it.

They were perplexed, and their embarrassment soon turned into fear.

The impossible idea that one guy could deal with everyone here was gradually turning into reality.

'No! He needs to be stopped!'

Only Kazhar could resist Irene's power.

However, it wasn't anything major.

Rather, he thought that he would be pushed back if he let Irene start.

Tightening his hand around his weapon, he approached the young man.

An evil aura circulated throughout his body, giving him new power.

Irene Pareira, who felt that, opened his eyes.

As their eyes met, Kazhar unknowingly took a step back.

'What is... with that gaze...'

He couldn't move forward.

Seeing him standing still, Irene sighed.

It wasn't because he thought he was weak.

Rather, as Kazhar was under the influence of Magi, he was concerned that the man would act out of character.

'I can't kill him. But if his subordinates rush in and start a fight, we might have casualties on our side.'

Again, Irene Pareira wasn't sure what the answer to the difficult subject was.

He didn't have enough experience to come to a peaceful solution.

Which was why he made his current mission safely escort them down the mountain.

To do his best to not cause a battle.

And show strength which will help him!

Woong!

Irene's new will and hope revolved around his body.

The will of the man who appeared in the presence of Magi had faded, and the hostility towards Kazhar was gone.

At the same time, his power was raging.

Due to his inability to concentrate properly, it wasn't as sophisticated as when he fought Ian, but it was better than Irene expected.

'Rather than a neat blow concentrated in one place...'

Wooong!

'It would be better to show off a wild, blunt blow which extends uncontrollably!'

With that thought, Irene's greatsword fell to the ground.

It was like a club instead of a sword.

Immediately after, the mountain roared.

Kwannng!

Crack! Crack!

"...!"

"...!"

"Uh-hu..."

"Ugh!"

Their ears were ringing, and their vision was blurry.

Hardly anything could be seen thanks to the impact, which caused dust to rise.

However, they could clearly see the young man's power, who introduced himself as an official trainee of Krono.

Because his power was too huge to not notice.

It was five times larger than the traces that Kazhar could leave with his hammer.

No, ten times larger.

Looking at the cracks in the ground, everyone thought they were losing their minds.

Wheeing...

Eventually, the wind blew the dust away, and the work made by the monster called Irene was revealed.

The monster walked towards the leader.

Startled, Kazhar stepped back and said.

"I-I-I apologize. Just, just pass it's okay... no, I surrender! Let me know if you need anything! As long as it's possible... no, even if it isn't possible. We'll get things done. My life, just my life..."

His former prestige disappeared, and he acted like a dog with his tail between his legs.

This was what Irene had hoped for, and the result was what he hoped for too.

However, he didn't stop walking towards Kazhar.

Of course, he wasn't aiming to take his life.

He quickly went and snatched Kazhar's necklace.

s

Pull!

The leader's face turned pale.

However, Irene Pareira focused on the snatched necklace.

The closer he looked, the more certain he was.

This was the source of the Magi.