The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 150

At the heart of the free city of Arconia stands a towering structure.

The ‘Tower of Harmony’ symbolizes the peace between humans and other races.

It’s an iconic landmark of Arconia.

The wide plaza surrounding the tower is called ‘Unity Plaza,’ and it features structures symbolizing the various races and humans that comprise Arconia.

“Wow, Rael, *hyung* [older brother or respected male figure]. The plaza is half human, half other races. It’s amazing.”

Carlson’s eyes sparkled with the wonder of a country boy visiting the city for the first time.

It was his first time outside the Empire, and his excitement was like a child’s.

“Indeed.”

“Isn’t this your first time outside the Empire too, *hyung*? Why are you so calm?”

“Carlson, we’re not here for sightseeing. This mission is important.”

Rael looked around with a faint smile.

Unity Plaza was open to the public, bustling with people of various races.

‘Seeing beggars around, it seems they’re working hard.’

On the way to the Arconia branch of the Gaia Order,

Rael spotted Begger’s [a group or organization] beggars here and there.

Even in a short time, they seemed to have integrated well into Arconia.

“By the way, *hyung*. What were you doing yesterday? The Archbishop of the Arconia branch was so disappointed that the Hero wasn’t there.”

“I told you, I was busy yesterday. That’s why I’m going to greet him today.”

Rael yawned and started walking.

Last night, wearing the Gaksital [a mask or disguise], he explored the night streets of Arconia with Clara and Begger’s guidance.

He had gained a rough understanding of the geography and planned to explore properly starting tonight.

“Lucas, you don’t have anything to do at the Order, do you?”

“No. I came to assist Sir Rael, so I don’t have any particular business with the Gaia Order.”

“Good. Rest well until today and come to my room starting tomorrow night.”

“Ah! I understand.”

Lucas nodded.

Finally, the time had come for him to help Rael.

“*Hyung*. Please call me to your room at night too! I want to be helpful to you!”

“Carlson, you’re making me uncomfortable, so no.”

Hearing a man ask to be called to his room at night made him feel strangely uneasy.

“Yes!? Why!”

“You’re a Paladin. I can pull Lucas out, but it’s difficult with you.”

“…*Hyung* is a Hero, though?”

Carlson looked at Rael with a dumbfounded expression.

“I can take care of myself. And Lucas is my insurance.”

“Insurance?”

“Something like that. I’ll call you if I need you, so rest.”

Rael patted Carlson on the shoulder.

The branch of the Order was starting to come into view.

Passing by the strange sight of other races praying to their god Gaia and entering the branch, he saw priests who had come out to greet him.

“Gaia-men. We welcome the Hero’s visit.”

“May Gaia’s peace be with you. I am Rael, the Hero of the Gaia Order.”

Rael greeted the priests and looked towards their center.

A middle-aged man standing among the priests greeted Rael.

“May Gaia’s blessings be with you. It is truly an honor to meet the Hero. I am Archbishop Aldeb, in charge of the Arconia branch.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Rael.”

“Ah, I have dedicated 20 years of my life to Gaia. To see the Hero and the Saintess with my own eyes, I have no regrets even if I die. And that at your waist, could it be… the Holy Sword Saint…?”

Aldeb’s eyes sparkled.

From the moment he faced Rael, he kept glancing at the Holy Sword.

“You mean this?”

Rael lightly drew the Holy Sword at the Archbishop’s words.

The priests, as if entranced by the divine power erupting from the Holy Sword Saint, began to pray.

“Ah… Gaia-men.”

“Gaia-men….”

It was clearly a sacred and holy aura, but it contained a destructive and sharp energy.

It was truly a power befitting Gaia’s sacred object.

“Sir Rael’s popularity is truly amazing.”

Lucas smiled, seemingly moved by their faith.

“It’s calmed down a bit in the capital… but it’s not here yet.”

Rael looked at the priests who were moved by the Holy Sword.

‘Is this the reaction when those who have served the Gaia Order their entire lives see the Order’s sacred object in person?’

They were so happy just seeing the light of the Holy Sword; he could provide this much service as the Hero of the Gaia Order.

‘This disgusting energy… is it only felt from the Archbishop?’

Rael narrowed his eyes and looked at Aldeb, who was focused on prayer.

No one noticed, but Rael could tell.

The disgusting divine power he had felt from Pope Chunma.

A similar power was felt from Archbishop Aldeb.

‘The Order’s sanctuary. I’m glad I thought to investigate it.’

Tonight, there seemed to be a lot to investigate in many ways.

Rael managed his expression and smiled faintly again.

“Carlson, you’ve arrived. Oh? Rael was here too. It seems you’ve rested well.”

At that moment.

Commander Marco walked out from among the Silver Cross Knights on the other side.

“Yes, Commander. I apologize for not visiting the branch yesterday.”

“It’s alright. Rael, you hold an important position in the Order, so you must recover from your fatigue. Besides, I am no longer in a position to order you.”

Marco was the commander of the Silver Cross Knights, but Rael was the Hero of the Gaia Order.

If one were to compare the hierarchy, Rael’s position was naturally higher.

However, Rael had asked him to speak comfortably, so he was simply respecting his wishes.

“Anyway, Carlson. It’s time to go. We need to train the priests assigned to Arconia.”

“Ah. I see. I will also help transport the children.”

The reason the Silver Cross Knights came to the Arconia branch was also to protect the prospective priests, so Carlson had to help with the mission.

“Carlson. Just a moment before you go.”

“Yes, *hyung*. What’s wrong?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Jeremy. Did you find him?”

The prospective priest who went to the Order with Carlson.

He had heard that he was at the Arconia branch.

“Ah, that’s… I don’t know where he is either.”

“You don’t know?”

“No. I’ve been looking, but there’s no one who even knows the name Jeremy.”

“…Is that so? I understand. Let me know if you find anything.”

“Yes! Good luck!”

Carlson stuck close to the Silver Cross Knights as they moved.

“…Tsk.”

Rael closed his mouth, watching his back.

Nothing had been revealed yet, so he didn’t want to make any hasty judgments.

*

Begger’s temporary residence created in Arconia.

Rael came to Begger’s residence again tonight.

He came to Arconia not only for the sanctuary but also to find the Demonic Cult.

“There are numerous criminal organizations in Arconia. I investigated as much as possible, but I couldn’t find them all due to lack of time. What we investigated may not be everything.”

“Anyway, Arconia is just called a free city. Aren’t they under the Empire? They even have a council here, why aren’t they arresting them? After seeing the kids’ condition yesterday, I could clean them all up in a week by myself.”

“Rael. Your strength is abnormal. Besides, unless they cross the line, the Empire doesn’t bother with criminal organizations. They need those guys so that the citizens will rely on the Empire’s protection.”

“Heh heh. Look at the incompetent ones sympathizing with each other.”

“…”

Zenith lowered his head instead of answering.

He was being scolded again today for not properly investigating the Demonic Cult.

“Don’t blame Begger too much, Rael. Beggars can’t properly sense demonic energy, so it’s natural that there are no results.”

At that moment, Clara, who was relieving the curse of the War God next to Rael, spoke.

She had used the curse of the War God too much while collecting information in Arconia, so she needed to rest.

“Clara. It seems you’ve found something?”

“Of course. Do you not know who I am? I infiltrated Arconia’s council. I found something quite significant.”

*Swish-*

Clara took out the list of council members she had investigated.

Then, she marked an X on the faces of some of them.

“There are a total of 7 council members in Arconia. I sensed divine power from at least 4 of them. But the strange thing is, none of them were followers of the Gaia Order.”

“…Divine power?”

“Yes. Maybe it’s not just the Demonic Cult that has infiltrated. The entire Arconia may be deeply involved.”

“Divine power means the Order might be involved… Tsk. Those bastards are always up to no good.”

Rael continued, looking at the list Clara handed him.

He memorized their faces in case he ran into them on the street.

“Any other peculiarities?”

“A doping potion of some kind is spreading in the city’s underworld. It’s a type I’ve never seen in the Empire.”

“…Doping? It won’t have much effect anyway.”

Doping potions sometimes appeared in the Empire’s underworld, but their performance was ultimately inferior to the blessings of priests.

It was better to receive blessings from illegal priests.

Besides, they often put a strain on the body, so they were rarely seen these days.

“No, it was quite effective. Someone who was clearly weak became quite powerful.”

“Is that so? I’ll have to remember that too.”

Rael nodded.

It seemed that Begger’s investigation had reached its limit.

“Okay! Ghent?”

Rael called out to the giant who was standing blankly.

“Hmm. What’s the matter?”

“Let’s go. We have to run on our feet.”

From now on, he had to investigate himself.

Rael picked up the Gaksital from his waist.

*

The night of the free city of Arconia.

A man gasped for breath and hid in an alley.

The light from the Tower of Harmony in the center of Arconia illuminated him.

The man, peeking out from the end of the alley and surveying the outside, sighed in relief at the disappearance of people.

The man’s legs, relieved of tension, gave way, and he collapsed.

“Damn it. Damn it. Who is that crazy bastard?”

He had been in Arconia for several years, but it was the first time he had seen such a bizarre masked madman.

The overwhelming difference in power that could be felt just by briefly encountering him.

Besides, he was a psycho who immediately held a sword to him, demanding information.

Such a monster had never been in Arconia before.

“Damn it. Which organization does he belong to? Obsidian? Or Raven? I heard a new organization was recently created, is he one of those guys? If he’s that strong, the landscape of the underworld could change…!”

The man gnashed his teeth and stood up.

Now is not the time to think about the future of the underworld. The important thing is his life.

He had taken a short break, so it was time to run away again.

“First, to the headquarters… Ugh?”

At that moment.

The man felt an unidentified force enveloping his body.

At the same time, he felt a deep gaze from above.

“I told you. Let’s talk instead of running away, okay?”

The man, barely lifting his head, trembled.

The psycho wearing a mask who had been chasing him was squatting on the stone wall of the alley.

“Ma, was he a magician? This is bullshit…!”

“Yes. I’m a magician. So, let’s talk without making it annoying.”

“I understand. I’ll cooperate with the conversation, so please release this magic first….”

*Crunch-*

The man pretended to cooperate with him to induce the opponent’s carelessness and chewed on the pill attached to the side of his tooth.

*Doo-geun- Doo-geun-*

The crushed pill melted in his mouth and turned into a hot liquid.

The heat traveled down his throat and spread throughout his body, and the power contained in the pill pounded his heart.

“Ugh…!”

Power began to surge in the man’s body.

A sacred and omnipotent power that seemed capable of destroying anything.

The man immediately emitted magical power and shook off the magical power that was enveloping his body.

“…Huh?”

However, contrary to his expectations, his body still did not move.

Even with the power he had never wielded in his life, he could not break the masked guy’s magic!

“Th, that can’t be. Is the power not enough?!”

“Hmm. Is that doping? The effect is definitely strong… Why can’t it break even this much restraint? Is it because the caster is too weak?”

Rael observed the man with interest.

As soon as he swallowed the pill, he felt the disgusting power that he had also felt from the Archbishop.

He was too weak to release Rael’s pressure, but the power itself had definitely become stronger.

“You bastard! What the hell are you doing! If you don’t let me go right now…!”

*Thwack-*

Rael struck the man’s head for talking nonsense.

Then the noisy man’s body slumped.

He would probably be quiet for a while.

“I watched to see if there was anything, but… there’s nothing special.”

Rael put the cheap sword back into its scabbard.

He had left the Holy Sword at the inn.

Even though Rael lived without much thought, after seeing the majesty of the Holy Sword at the Arconia branch, he had no intention of foolishly wearing the Gaksital and carrying the Holy Sword.

“Clara. Is this what you were talking about?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Rael searched his pockets and took out another pill.

“…Hmm.”

“It’s definitely a strange medicine. It’s a form I’ve never seen before.”

Ghent also admired the medicine in Rael’s hand.

Indeed, human abilities are endless.

He had no idea how it was made.

“Rael. Begger’s abilities are not enough to investigate this pill. We need to find a skilled alchemist and commission it….”

“Aang.”

Before Ghent could finish speaking.

Rael threw one of the pills into his mouth.

“Ra, Rael! What are you doing!”

Ghent, surprised, grabbed Rael’s shoulder.

However, Rael chewed with a nonchalant expression.

“What alchemist? I’ll eat it myself and tell you what the effect is. That’s more certain.”

Rael, who had mastered the Predator’s Sense and *회천* [a technique or skill], could perfectly control the power within his body.

Even if this pill was extremely poisonous or demonic, he would not be harmed.

“Rael! Don’t you know the word ‘safety first’?! Come here! I’ll do the Heimlich maneuver!”

“Don’t make a fuss and stand there. And the Heimlich maneuver? Shit. How do you know that?”

Rael narrowed his eyes, chewing.

“What are you talking about? The Heimlich maneuver is the basics of first aid.”

“No, the name Heimlich maneuver itself is… Tsk. It’s not your fault.”

The fault lies not with Ghent but with this world.

Rael shook his head and focused on the power inside his body.

The heat that started from the pill instantly began to spread throughout Rael’s body.

‘It’s very similar to divine power… but it’s definitely different. It’s not demonic energy, seeing as it blends well with the human body… What is it?’

The power condensed in the pill quickly took hold in Rael’s body.

Rael, feeling inexplicably bad, drew the power of the pill from his fingertips and let it flow to the floor.

Then the power of the pill disappeared, emitting a faint light.

“Clara. Can you find the flow of this pill?”

Rael handed the remaining pill to Clara.

She looked at the pill and nodded.

“I’ll try. This is a task where simple labor is important, so Begger will do better than me.”

“Even dog poop has its uses, I’m glad I brought them.”

Rael nodded.

Still, the Begger guys had something to do.

“Rael. Even dog poop has its uses, how do you know the proverb passed down from the giants?”

At that time, Ghent’s eyes widened.

“Stop talking nonsense. Ghent, we’re going to catch at least ten more guys tonight. Just follow me.”

“…I was just telling the truth.”

Ghent drooped his shoulders, feeling sullen.

The night is not over yet.