Are You Fia's Champion Too?

Irina began telling Edgar about everything that had happened along the way.

Lucian did not disturb the father and daughter.

Lucian walked over to the Confessor. The Confessor was tightly bound and still unconscious, with a soldier standing guard beside him.

The soldier immediately dropped to one knee and saluted Lucian, startling him.

Looking closely, Lucian realized it was the youngest soldier.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

After finishing his salute, the soldier rose to his feet and began speaking to Lucian excitedly.

"The lord of the castle just told us everything that happened. He said we must show you respect."

"Even if the lord of the castle hadn't said so, I would still respect you. You faced those beasts alone and avenged our fallen comrades. You are Castle Morne's hero!"

"If not for you, we might never have witnessed the destruction of those beasts with our own eyes."

As he spoke, tears streamed down the soldier's face.

The faces of the dead remained vivid in his mind. There were his family, his companions, his childhood sweetheart... everything in his life.

And now, they had all become shattered corpses, mixed together beyond recognition.

There were too few soldiers, and they were too weak. Forget avenging everyone by wiping out the Misbegotten—they might not even be able to protect the few remaining residents.

Lucian remained silent, showing no joy at the praise.

No matter how great the soldier made him sound, the dead would never return.

He patted the soldier on the shoulder.

"I won't stay in Castle Morne forever. If you don't want this tragedy to happen again, you need to grow stronger. Only then can you protect the people important to you."

"Next time, you'll have to take revenge yourselves."

The soldier wiped away his tears and nodded firmly.

"By the way, sir, are you going to interrogate this guy?"

"Do you need me to take you to the prison? There's an interrogation room there."

Lucian hurriedly waved his hands. What a joke—killing and interrogation were not the same thing.

Although Lucian had killed quite a few people since coming to this world, and even rather enjoyed violent executions,

interrogation, the specialized business of torturing people, was better left to professionals.

"No need. I just came to see whether he has any dangerous items on him."

In truth, Lucian was here to search him.

This man appeared to hold a higher rank than the other Confessor Lucian had killed.

He probably carried the important items. The Bewitching Branch and Flask of Crimson Tears were both good things. If he could find even more valuable loot, that would be a huge profit.

"Oh, I see. As expected, you have thought everything through."

The young soldier looked at Lucian in admiration. Not only was this man exceptionally brave, but he even considered hidden dangers. He was truly incredible.

Fortunately, Lucian did not know what he was thinking. Otherwise, he would surely have felt ashamed. He just wanted to pick up some items.

The first thing he found was the black hand crossbow. It had ambushed Lucian twice, leaving a deep impression on him.

When he picked it up, its name appeared before his eyes—Crepus's Black-Key (Replica).

Lucian was somewhat surprised. This was his first time seeing the suffix "Replica."

Crepus was a person's name. Lucian remembered that he was the chief of the Confessors, the most skilled assassin in the Roundtable Hold. Several items related to him could be found in the game.

Crepus's Black-Key was indeed a black crossbow, and it should currently be stored in the Roundtable Hold.

After thinking it over, Lucian guessed that the Confessors had copied Crepus's Black-Key to produce standard-issue crossbows.

The small arrow pouch that went with it contained eight jet-black, barbed Ballista Bolts. They were replicas as well—Black-Key Stakes (Replica).

Lucian hung the crossbow at the back of his waist and continued searching the Confessor.

The movement soon woke the unconscious Confessor.

Seeing Lucian standing before him alive and well, he knew his mission had failed completely.

He spat out broken teeth and bloody foam, then spoke indifferently.

"Heh. Singh didn't kill you people? And he called himself some Misbegotten warrior. A beast is still a beast. Nothing can be expected of one."

Lucian slapped him across the face, knocking out several more teeth.

"A filthy rat hiding in the shadows can talk too? How fascinating."

The Confessor glared at Lucian with hatred. At last, he silently put on what he believed was a kindly smile.

But with so few teeth left, the smile looked rather ugly.

"As fellow Tarnished, you know of the Two Fingers, don't you? Help me carry out the Two Fingers' command."

Lucian frowned. Why did everything these people said sound so alike?

And why did they only remember to recruit their opponent when they were about to be beaten to death? What sane person would join them at a time like this?

Still, it was not entirely their fault. Once assassins were caught, they basically had no chance of surviving.

They were not begging for mercy because they feared death. They merely wanted to fulfill the Two Fingers' command, no matter how despicable they had to become or how hard they had to recruit others.

Seeing Lucian remain silent, the Confessor thought there was hope and opened his mouth to continue persuading him.

But something was suddenly shoved into his mouth, filling it completely.

It was not anything strange. It was merely Lucian's hand.

Knowing exactly what these people were like, Lucian shoved his palm directly into the man's mouth.

With four fingers inside and his thumb outside, he gripped the Confessor's lower jaw and yanked downward hard, dislocating it.

"Ghhah—!"

Drool mixed with blood dripped continuously from the Confessor's mouth. His legs kicked wildly as muffled howls of pain escaped his throat.

"Your companion already said everything you were about to say. Now shut up and stay quiet."

Lucian continued searching and quickly found the Confessor's small personal pouch.

When he opened it, there were indeed more good things inside.

A Bewitching Branch lay quietly in the pouch. Lucian somehow saw a trace of seductive charm in the branch.

He shook his head, throwing away those bizarre thoughts. The demigods' things were indeed extraordinary. They distracted Lucian every time, so he had to treat them with caution.

Setting the Bewitching Branch aside for now, Lucian found another item.

It was a kind of pot that gave off a faint bloody smell. Two rings of mysterious patterns formed concentric circles upon it—the mark of the Two Fingers.

The pot's type appeared before Lucian's eyes—Beast Lure Pot.

Lucian had not used this kind of pot much, but he vaguely remembered that it was used to lure beasts into attacking.

It seemed the Confessors had used this pot to intensify the Misbegotten's aggression, causing them to break free of Singh's guidance.

There was also a small, dreamlike badge that emitted a hazy white glow: Baldachin's Blessing.

Lucian went numb. This guy was actually one of Fia's Champions too.

Now it really seemed that he could run into one of Fia's Champions just by stepping outside to slaughter some Misbegotten.

There was nothing else after that: ordinary travel food and several Crystal Knives.

After finishing the search, Lucian felt utterly refreshed. Looting enemies was an essential part of life in the Lands Between.

Damn, I could run into eight of Fia's Champions just by touching a rune. Please vote at the start of the week! ∩_∩