Someone's Slacking Off (4K)

What are you planning to do?

The room was quiet.

Toland knew he had no reason to question it, and questioning it wouldn't solve anything.

The other party's power had reached the point where they could do whatever they wanted, so he didn't need to care about these trivial matters. He himself might end up like Darksteel just because he had disappointed the other party. Considering that the other party hadn't hidden anything from him—or rather, he didn't know why this person would choose to believe him.

But Gerald's expression remained unchanged, and he did not directly answer his question.

He simply turned around and looked at the dark city skyline outside the warehouse, the wind flowing through his fingertips, as gentle yet cold as ever.

Then Gerald asked a seemingly unrelated question:

Do you consider the 'village' of Kazimierz to be part of Kazimierz?

Toland raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting him to approach the issue from this angle.

"What's the meaning?"

"Essentially," Gerald withdrew his gaze and turned to look directly at Toland, "Why should I bother with the infected? I am not infected, and from a class perspective, this is essentially an unsolvable problem. I have no intention of becoming a ruler and expending my energy on a group that has little to do with me."

"But if we want wheat fields to reappear, we need people willing to cultivate the land."

"The Kazimierz I know will not adapt to a specific form just to be infected."

Gerald stood up, seemingly losing the will to continue the conversation, "But the infected are no different from the original inhabitants of this land. As long as they are willing to touch the land, Kazimierz will always be Kazimierz. The infected can naturally find a place to belong within it."

Toland pondered for a moment, then finally uttered, "... like Kjerag."

"What?" Gerald was momentarily confused. This was the second time he had heard of this place; the first time was when Kal'tsit told him about the Feranmut.

"It's nothing, I just felt that your ideas were somewhat similar to those over there."

Toland's expression clearly improved considerably. "It's not a bad place. I went there once before when everything was peaceful, and it was quite nice. It's just that getting Kazimierz to the balance you envision will take a lot of work... You don't want to regress Kazimierz to what it was a thousand years ago, like Rusthammer did, right?"

"It's up to you." Gerald smiled. "Guild Leader Toland Cash, how do you and your entourage plan to become part of building Kazimierz?"

Sarkaz remained silent for a moment, then finally sighed helplessly, "That old bastard Darksteel really did investigate all my trump cards, didn't he? He really enjoys spying on his old friends."

But he eventually extended his hand and offered to shake hands.

"Although we're currently just a team waiting for an opportunity around Kazimierz... it doesn't seem like a difficult decision to take your orders for now and work towards a common goal."

Gerald grasped the other's hand. "No need for further words, Zero District— "

Pegasus suddenly stopped speaking.

His gaze fell on the other side of the horizon, in the direction of Dripping Water Village, and his expression gradually became serious.

"Let's talk about Zero District another time. Sorry, I have some things to attend to."

"Hey, what?" Toland's expression suddenly turned to surprise. "No, what's wrong with you all of a sudden—"

The moment he finished speaking, Pegasus had vanished from his sight.

A trace of wind remained, accompanied by Incantation, clinging to Toland's back.

Near Dripping Water Village on the edge of the wilderness, yellow sand swirls and the wind howls.

Platinum stood atop a distant flat-roofed building, his bow and arrows raised high, the arrowheads locked firmly on the composed figure in the center of the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Tola moved with light steps, swiftly traversing the ground, his spear thrusting at the target in front of him at incredible speed, as if he were fighting some colossal beast.

That was an Aegir.

He was of average build, with pale, damp skin, and wore a heavy, dark black cloak, with a hint of blue visible beneath the hem.

He wore an unusually wide-brimmed top hat, the brim almost completely obscuring his face, revealing only a pair of calm, almost lifeless eyes.

She wielded a heavy sword almost as tall as him, each strike accompanied by near-destructive power, leaving deep trenches in the sand. Nightmare could barely dodge it, each exchange fraught with danger, relying on his years of accumulated experience to barely maintain distance.

Just as the heavy sword was raised high again, about to slash down towards his abdomen—

A faint breeze suddenly appeared behind him, transforming into an invisible shield that spun close to his body and exploded in the air with a resounding thud the moment the heavy sword struck.

"Boom!!"

The wind-formed shield suddenly repelled the greatsword, Aegir staggered back several steps, shattering half of the stone steps beneath his feet as he landed.

Taking advantage of the situation, Tola flipped backward, creating distance between himself and his opponent. Looking down, he saw that the shield had vanished like morning mist, yet it seemed to be constantly surrounding him.

And the scene before them—

Skadi tilted her head, a question mark appearing above her head.

Chapter Thirteen: Someone's Giving Up (4K)

Hey! You over there, Pegasus!

Tola's voice echoed above the village, "Watch your arrows! Don't interfere in our battle!"

"Are you out of your mind?! I was trying to help you out!"

Centaurea was completely helpless against this battle maniac. Her face was filled with despair, and she could only use the arrows in her hand to cause some trouble for the Aegir and distract him. "That guy, what kind of trouble did he pick up!"

Before he finished speaking, another arrow shot through the air with all his might, grazing past Tola's ear and deflecting the Aegir's attack to the left.

The heavy sword hit the ground, sending stone chips flying, and the ground instantly collapsed, creating a huge crater.

Nightmare's innate skills, accompanied by the swinging of his spear, propelled him ever closer.

Having suffered a loss from the shield protecting the Nightmare earlier, this Aegir was clearly hesitant about this almost suicidal attack, completely unaware of the existence of this art called fear.

For just a moment, her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly, and her pupils almost lost focus—but she quickly recovered.

A full-force strike that overpowers skill is utterly unstoppable against the open Nightmare Void. Even with the Wind's Reliance, all it can do is protect the body from direct impact; the force of the blow is still enough to send him flying into the air.

Skadi's gaze then shifted to Centaurea.

However, the little Pegasus didn't look at her; instead, it stared blankly at the sky, seemingly expecting something else—

Exist.

Above Dripping Water Village, a gust of wind suddenly tore through the night.

The figure plummeted down amidst a storm of Incantation, the sword that materialized in its hand instantly reaching Skadi, leaving the Abyssal Hunters only enough time to barely raise her greatsword in front of her.

Then, her body traced a parabola that almost swept across the entire wilderness.

Gerald's figure lunged out again the instant he landed, maintaining the same speed as before as he charged towards the target Knockback away.

The opponent forcefully adjusted her body in mid-air using an extremely exaggerated core strength. She decisively plunged her heavy sword downwards, driving it straight into the ground, using the friction between the sword and the soil to slow down her speed in the air.

He then stood still and swung his heavy sword.

The swords clashed once more.

However, this time it was Pegasus almost suffered a loss.

The unease emanating from his combat awareness alone made him realize the problem. The instant he made contact with the opponent's weapon, a large amount of wind gathered above the sword at almost the same moment, forcibly using air pressure to counteract the opponent's unreasonable brute force.

Immediately afterwards, the wind followed Skadi's joints like a shadow. Before the Abyssal Hunters could understand what was happening, most of her usual strength was restrained, and the speed at which she swung her greatsword gradually slowed down.

The next second, Gerald paused for a moment.

His gaze froze in mid-air, and his breathing became slightly erratic.

The wide top hat still covered most of his face, but the few strands of snow-white hair that were visible, and his expressionless, extremely calm face, made it seem as if he had been violently dragged back to reality from some vague and distant dream.

... He had died once at the hands of this man.

In that Second Eggshell, in the endless depths of the sea, he had seen what this person looked like.

"Stop." At the same time, before he could make his next move, the other person spoke, "I don't think I can beat you. I surrender."

He withdrew the sword he was about to swing, stopped his attack, and silently looked at the uninvited guest before him, asking, "Who are you? What do you want?"

Skadi seemed surprised that the menacing Pegasus in front of her would stop moving as she requested. After the wind that had been binding her body was withdrawn, the Abyssal Hunters suddenly felt much more relaxed.

She stretched her joints, and after a moment of silence, said:

"Skadi... Rhodes Island co-operation operator, come and collect the 'treasure'."

Gerald was about to say something when he heard a Nightmare's shout from behind, saying something like "This is also part of the Heavenly Path" as it charged towards them.

So he had to use a gust of wind to pin him to the spot, and then silently watch Centaurea, looking exhausted, dragged Tola away by both hands and threw him onto the roof.

Should we increase her salary afterwards?

"Treasure?" Gerald turned his head sharply to look at the other person. "You came to Dripping Water Village for the Knight's Treasure of Kazimierz? All you have there are some simple gold coins and jewels... Do you need those things?"

"Hmm." Skadi nodded, then shook her head. "To be precise, I'll only know when I see the treasure."

Is this child a little simple-minded?

But Gerald wouldn't underestimate her because of this; given the other party's strength, such so-called wealth shouldn't even be of interest to her.

Even in Terra, where various Originium Arts exist, human physical attributes still strictly follow certain rules, with the exception of some Divine People and numerical monsters like Vouivre.

Therefore, this being in front of him, whose body appears very soft and gentle but whose strength is so exaggerated that he could not possibly defeat it without the amplification of wind and Incantation, clearly has a significant problem.

"You're from Rhodes Island?"

Gerald realized the most crucial point in her words: given that Rhodes Island was docked at the Great Knight Territory, she could have disembarked with him from the ship to search for this so-called Knight's Treasure —and in fact, he had indeed obtained this clue from Carol after clearing out the bounty hunters near Dripping Water Village.

Skadi expressed her approval. "Yes, Kal'tsit told me that what I'm looking for might be in the hands of a silver-haired man named Gerald Kuranta."

She stared longingly at the Pegasus before her, then glanced at the greatsword in her hand, and lowered her eyes in annoyance. "I won't take it from you for nothing. If there's anything you want, I can get it back for you as a trade."

I see, no wonder I didn't say anything.

Since they had indeed spent so many years together, Kal'tsit should be very clear about his thoughts and logic, and the events at Dripping Water Village must have been within her expectations.

So, this is to bring him a gift?

"The treasure of Dripping Water Village is currently in the village chief's possession. According to tradition, this treasure belongs to the person who discovered it, which is her and me." Gerald instantly changed the subject he was about to say, and continued, "Are you in a hurry to need these?"

Skadi shook her head. "I don't know, this is a task assigned to me by Dr. Kal'tsit."

"... This is very troublesome for you." Gerald could probably understand what the other person was thinking.

Rather than being completely unguarded, it's more accurate to say they were utterly resigned to their fate, deciding their next move based solely on the other party's actions.

To this, he could only sigh, "Stay here for a few days. I have other things to attend to. If you want what you're looking for, come and help me. I'll reward you, Aegir."

"I understand now."

Skadi lowered her head, her hand gripping the sword silently loosening, and the massive greatsword was casually swung behind her shoulder, embedding itself in the sand with a deep thud.

There was no need to continue fighting. From the very beginning, she knew that, not only would she be significantly weakened on land, but even if she used all her strength, she would have a hard time gaining any advantage over the person in front of her. She couldn't match the speed in the sea, nor could she match the agility of the opponent once they unleashed their Originium Arts.

Moreover, if it were to cause the shedding of blood—the blood of Ishar-mla, the blood of Seaborn —it would be truly terrible.

So she chose to give up.

Listening to this person speak, hearing him talk about "assistance," "rewards," and "staying here temporarily," is like being a small boat stranded on the shore by the wind, only able to drift forward with the wind direction given by the other party.

Her eyes were very focused, as if she were listening, but she wasn't thinking about anything.

Gerald was sensing a strange confusion in her expression.

The creature in his dream... no, that overwhelming power, that existence capable of crushing his entire cognitive structure, couldn't possibly be the same person before him. Yet their outlines were so similar, even the wind's reaction as it approached her was remarkably alike.

If the woman in his dream was her from the past, then Kal'tsit had indeed given him a great gift—the kind he couldn't afford.

He didn't show anything, but simply raised his hand, gestured towards the Platinum building on the distant rooftop, and casually called out, "Centaurea."

"Coming, coming!" Centaurea leaped down the stairs and quickly arrived beside Gerald.

She loves teams where the boss is proactive and always ready to help. "What can I do for you, boss?"

"She'll be staying here for a while," Gerald said succinctly. "You and Carol should be quite familiar with each other by now. I'll apologize to her for the trouble I caused tonight. You're in charge of arranging a place for her to stay; just make sure the bed is clean and not too far from you."

"Huh?" The little Pegasus looked incredulous. "Let me arrange it? Let this weirdo... uh, the Aegir live next door to me?"

"It's alright, she shouldn't hurt you," Gerald explained calmly. "And if you get into any danger, I'll take care of it for you."

Centaurea opened her mouth, but finally gritted her teeth and said, "... Fine, then I'll just consider it as having a roommate."

On the other side, Skadi seemed to only just recover from her mental lapse, raising her head and looking at Gerald with a serious expression.

She looked serious, her brows furrowed, as if she were about to propose a life-or-death resolution.