Although her time with Zich and his companions had been short, Lara was able to grasp the team’s dynamic quickly. In her past group, Glen had considerable authority as the leader, but all the members felt like they were in equal standing. However, in Zich’s party, it was clear that Zich was the clear head and leader of the group. Lyla seemed to treat Zich comfortably in the group, but the other three submitted under Zich’s authority.

‘No, is it a bit different for Ms. Dwayne?’ Elena Dwayne seemed to follow Lyla more than Zich and accordingly, Zich seemed to treat her more gently. Yet, it was different for Hans and Snoc. The two’s loyalty to Zich seemed absolute and unwavering.

‘Is it because Mr. Zich taught both of them?’ Lara thought. Thus, Lara judged that two groups—Zich and his disciples and Lara and her disciple—had joined to form one party. Yet, even so, there didn’t seem to appear any conflict between these two groups. Instead, there was a strong sense of trust between them all.

‘It’s comfortable with them.’ The party was so stable that Lara felt this way after joining them only recently. Even though the party was clearly hierarchical, she never felt uncomfortable. Maybe she felt this way because she had felt so uncomfortable with her last party. It was unbelievable that she felt discomfort in a party that was supposed to be equal but felt comfort in a clearly unequal party. The realization of this fact made her realize exactly how abnormal Glen’s party had been.

The sun set and Zich and his companions prepared to camp outside. Masters of this skill by now, they prepared a nice, cozy campsite instantly. Then, they made a fire, took out food ingredients from the magic box, and prepared dinner. The soup boiled and a delicious aroma that made one salivate spread across the surroundings. Yet, there was one person who was too occupied to even notice this smell.

Clang!

“Kuh!” Hans’ body wavered as his sword bounced off wildy. However, he soon gained his balance again and rushed forward.

Clang! Hans swung his sword quickly again, but his attack was easily blocked.

Punch!

“Kuh!”

A foot struck his stomach, and Hans rolled backward.

“Again!” Zich yelled. Hans grimaced. He appeared to be in considerable pain, but he grabbed his sword again and rushed toward Zich. Nearby, Lara watched the two intently.

‘Outstanding!’ Lara exclaimed, impressed by Zich and Hans’ fighting practice. The two were training without mana since if they did, they would turn their surroundings into complete ruins. But Lara wasn’t surprised about that since it was a common way to train.

‘Both of their skill levels are so high.’

Hans’ sword flowed smoothly. Although Lara was aware of Hans’ skills after seeing him fight many times before, it still impressed her every time. That was how impressive his skills were. However, what astounded her even more was Zich’s skills.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Blades struck down relentlessly like a storm, and Hans struggled to block them all. Zich’s attacks moved so fast and perfectly that it almost made one doubt whether or not he really was not using mana.

Clang! Eventually, Hans lost his grip over his sword, and he raised both hands as a sword hung by his neck.

“You’re just a teeny tiny better than last time. You still have a long way to go. Continue training,” Zich said to Hans.

“Yes, sir!” Hans picked up his sword from the ground and answered loudly.

“Next is Browning.”

Lara jumped up when Zich saw her.

“Get ready,” Zich ordered.

“Got it!” Lara raised her sword and stood in front of Zich.

“Make your move.”

As soon as Zich gave his order, Lara let out a loud cry and ran toward him with her sword. Zich and Lara’s swords clashed.

‘He has no openings!’ Lara continued to swing her sword, but she couldn’t find Zich’s openings at all. Lara gave her best while Zich clearly looked like he was taking it easy; still, Lara’s sword failed to pass through Zich’s.

Whoosh!

“Ugh!” Instead, the occasional attacks Zich threw at Lara made her shiver.

Punch!

“Ah!”

Zich struck Lara’s elbow with the hilt of his sword and Lara fell back without any resistance.

“Should I stop?” Zich asked. Unlike how he treated Hans and Snoc, Zich didn’t really push Lara. He would stop immediately if Lara said she didn’t want to train, but of course, Lara didn’t have the slightest desire to stop.

“I will continue!” Lara quickly got back up and assumed her stance. She blocked another one of Zich’s attacks. Then, Zich attacked Lara without going easy on her. He did everything— he hit and kicked her—except for slicing. And in response to these attacks, Lara smiled. She knew that fighting with a high-level swordsman would increase her skills. This was impossible while she was in Glen’s party. There was no way Glen would act as her fighting partner when he didn’t like the fact that she was using a sword in the first place, and it wasn’t as if Chelsea, a priestess, or Pina, a mage, could train with her. Thus, Lara enjoyed this moment tremendously.

Clang! Lara’s sword bounced off because she couldn’t endure Zich’s attack in the end.

“That’s enough for today.”

“What? I can do more, sir!” Although her body ached, Lara wanted to keep training. Whenever she trained with Zich—although she could be imagining it—she felt like her skills were improving. The fact that she could swing the sword as much as wanted to gave her a sense of fulfillment.

“The meal is ready. It’s not like there’s only today either.” However, Zich ignored Lara’s pleading coldly, and Lara took a seat next to Hans’ while pouting.

Hans asked her, “How was it?”

“It was fun.” Lara hadn’t felt this fulfilled since she first left her home to travel with Glen; the aches she felt all over her body didn’t even faze her.

Everyone shared the finished meal. Since they were all extremely hungry, they immediately stuffed the food into their mouths as soon as they received their share. However, an unexpected guest hindered their simple meal time. Zich had stuffed a big spoonful of stew into his mouth when he looked towards one area of the forest with a displeased expression.

“Tch! Why the heck do they have to come when we’re eating.”

“Are they monsters?”

“Yeah.”

Hans and Snoc put down their bowls; they looked like they were ready to attack the monsters right away.

“Just continue eating.” Zich made a piercing movement with his spoon a few times in the air. Lara felt a chilling sensation of mana fly towards the inside of the forest.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Then, she heard something fall from far away. She gulped and saw that there was a hole the size of a finger in a few of the trees near the.

‘What kind of person is he…’ It wasn’t only Zich’s swordsmanship that was impressive. Zich was really a master in everything related to power. However, none of his other companions were surprised; it seemed as if they thought something like this was nothing to be surprised about. Hans and Snoc also lifted back their bowls and were already eating.

Zich, who just killed a bunch of monsters, was also calm and complained, “It’s regretful that I don’t have the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls during this time. If I had that, those things won’t act so bothersome.”

The Pyramid of Vengeful Souls and the One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations were both destroyed. Many people had desired the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls since it was an artifact that could freely control monsters; if someone had this, they could use this for all kinds of plans. However, there was no way Zich would pass this off to another person. To make sure that they could never be used again, Zich destroyed the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls and all the Pyramid of Lamentations in front of everyone. There were a couple of people who looked disappointed, but no one outrightly protested because they all knew how dangerous they were.

“What’s the point of regretting something that’s already gone. Killing a few monsters isn’t a difficult task for you too.”

“You don’t understand, Lyla, but things that are the most bothersome to do are the menial, small tasks. It’s more bothersome to do an errand in front of your house than to go on a trip far away.”

“We don’t need that kind of dog ** philosophy, so focus all your mind on other, more productive endeavors.”

Lyla and Zich lightly bickered with each other. Lara also now realized that this was a habitual occurrence. She felt slightly uncomfortable about it in the beginning, but she now easily ignored their bickering and continued eating her meal. After finishing their meal, they cleaned up and began going to sleep one by one. However, Zich didn’t fall asleep and quietly looked at Windur. Its blades were bent and were pointing towards their next destination.

“Do you feel conflicted?”

“Why would I be?” Zich immediately denied Lyla’s question.

“But you must have some complicated thoughts. The next destination is that place after all.”

“It’s not been decided yet.”

“Why are you in denial? It’s not like you. Windur is definitely pointing towards that place. Hans already seems a bit excited.”

“It’s because that guy has no bad memories about that place.” No, instead, he had grown up receiving love from everyone.

“But you have bad memories?”

“It’s not that I have bad memories about that place. I only have bad memories. It’s no wonder why I caused such a scene as soon as I gained consciousness. Well, that was fun though.”

“Even so, I’m a bit excited to go. It’s the place where you grew up.”

“There’s nothing to be excited about. Since it’s at the border and far from the capital, there’s nothing to really sightsee and enjoy. This is even more true considering that fights between neighborhood countries break out on random days.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. I just want to see the place where you grew up.”

“You’ll probably be very disappointed,” Zich complained and glared at Windur. “Why do you have to guide us there out of all places? Even jagged terrain would have been better.” Then, Zich grabbed the curved blade of Windur and put power into his hands. It looked as if he was trying to force Windur’s blade to change direction. However, Windur did not budge an inch and stubbornly pointed in one direction.

“Give up. Even if you do that, it won’t change our destination.”

“It’s not our destination, but a layover.”

Lyla made a small laugh and said, “If that’s what you want to believe, I won’t stop you.”

Zich would have normally made a rebuttal, but he didn’t feel like doing that this time. “Ah, damn it! Why is it really there of all places?”

If they followed the direction that Windur pointed towards, they would reach the Steelwall’s estate—Zich and Hans’ hometown. For Zich, it was a place he really didn’t want to go to. While he was following Windur, he thought it was strange, but he hadn’t imagined that they would really arrive right in front of Steelwall Estate.

“Well, it’s fine. The Steelwall Estate is big. We probably won’t have to go to Violsa.” Count Steelwall’s mansion was in Steelwall’s capital, Violsa. It was a place that he really, really didn’t want to go.

However, Lyla laughed prettily for no reason and said, “You know, Zich.”

“What?”

“I heard that if you say things like that, then it’ll definitely happen. Zich, do you believe in this superstition?”

“Be quiet,” Zich snapped.

* * *

“Ah, damn it!” Zich roughly scratched the back of his head. He looked at Windur in his hand with resentment. However, Windur steadfastly continued to point toward the city in front of them.

Lyla was next to him, and she teased, “I told you, right? If you say things like that, it happens for sure.”

The place where Zich first began his journey after he regressed a few years ago was right in front of him.