Chapter 115 …
Eliza’s eyes turned with a stiff, creaking motion, like a robot that needed oil. They trembled, brimming with tears.
She looked up blankly with eyes that seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment—as if silently asking, Is that really true?
“It’s not true. Eliza is cute.”
—Riza… riza…
“I mean it. You’re not weird.”
—Riza… riza…
She kept mumbling gloomily, but this time no translation was needed.
I look strange… a freak…
It was so vivid it was like a speech bubble floating over her head.
Since Eliza had always been told she was cute, being called strange must have shocked her quite a bit.
Oh boy.
She had stepped forward bravely only to be retired in a single blow—pitiful enough that even Dohyun, watching from the side, felt bad.
But Charlie didn’t stop.
—To think those guarding my lord are nothing but a mere goblin and a spider… Ah… if only I had arrived a little sooner… I am sorry, my lord. Please do not forgive me.
—Hey, this bastard keeps looking down on people. Hey, you—come here.
—Riza-riza!!
—You’re not even human. You’re a goblin, aren’t you?
—Kyaaaak!
Jihad squared up in a fighting stance like he was preparing to oppose Lü Bu in single combat, while Eliza chirped tearfully, holding back her sobs.
And Charlie, as if neither of them mattered, simply stared at Dohyun and asked for forgiveness.
…So that’s why they call him sharp-tongued.
Dohyun had never quite understood why players who cleared the tutorial often described Charlie as blunt—or a picky, unpleasant jerk.
Seeing him now, he finally understood.
Even more surprising was that there wasn’t a shred of malice coming from Charlie.
—Ah… this is all the fault of someone as lowly as me.
“……”
He was simply… genuinely wracked with guilt.
To Charlie, Jihad and Eliza were merely oddly shaped monsters—or at most pets.
Who would seriously fight insignificant creatures?
—Ugh, this is pissing me off. Fine. Today either you die or I do. How dare you fail to recognize your sky-high senior—
“Hey, hey, cut it out. Quiet down.”
When Dohyun stopped him before things escalated, Jihad’s eyes went wide.
His pupils darted around wildly.
—…Master, are you taking his side right now?
“…Huh?”
Looking like a tragic heroine betrayed by her husband, Jihad suddenly shouted.
—A rolling stone knocks out the embedded one… Is that really what this is? How can you abandon us?!
—Riza-riza! Riza!
—See? Even Eliza says that’s not right! She gave you her precious necklace and everything! Eliza did!
With even Eliza glaring at him, Dohyun suddenly felt like some kind of terrible man.
Unable to hold back his disbelief, he spoke.
“No, what are you even talking about? If we’re being technical, he joined under me first.”
—What? What do you mean? Obviously we were first—
—My lord speaks the truth. This lowly knight has been my lord’s sword for hundreds of years.
—…?
Is that true?
Jihad blinked as if asking exactly that.
Dohyun sighed and nodded.
Jihad’s mouth fell open in shock.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked:
—…Then, Master, are you hundreds of years old?
“No, not that. It’s… complicated to explain. Just go with it.”
—Then… Senior Charlie?
—Riza?
Jihad’s attitude changed instantly.
The bold posture of someone ready to “educate” a junior vanished, replaced by an awkward, cautious glance.
[Guardian ‘Jihad Black’’s trait Bullying the Weak, Yielding to the Strong activates.]
He had thought he held the seniority advantage—only to realize it was the opposite.
Now he had no idea how to position himself.
From his perspective, it was like he’d been chewing out what he thought was a rookie, only to discover the guy was actually a veteran sergeant.
What the heck…
Dohyun let out a hollow laugh at the guy’s consistency.
“All of you are Guardians. There’s no senior or junior here. Just get along comfortably.”
As he waved his hand dismissively, Jihad’s eyes sparkled again as if he’d never been nervous.
He quickly coughed, suddenly aware of the attention on him.
—Ahem, well, if Master says so, I guess it can’t be helped. You should consider yourself lucky… you.
—Ri… Riza…!
Maybe it was because of Charlie’s earlier imposing presence—or because he’d lost the safety net of seniority.
Jihad was still a bit cautious, but much better than before.
Fortunately, Charlie accepted it without offense.
—Hmm. I do not fully understand, but if my lord acknowledges you, then your abilities must be outstanding despite appearances. If I was rude, my apologies.
—Well… I wasn’t exactly perfect either.
With Charlie offering an apology first, Jihad seemed too awkward to stay angry and muttered back.
Charlie then extended his hand.
—I am Charlie. I look forward to working with you.
—F-fine. I’m Jihad. And this is Eliza.
—Riza!
Eliza hopped up and placed her tiny hands atop their joined ones.
It was still a bit awkward, but the relationships had mostly settled.
Dohyun shook his head.
A goblin carrying the bloodline of an ancient tribe.
A fluffy parasitic spider.
And a tutorial helper NPC who was actually a Guardian…
What a complete circus.
Everyone else had cool, normal Guardians.
Why was he the only one followed around by this terrifying hybrid mess?
He was rubbing his throbbing forehead when—
Charlie, as if just remembering something, approached and handed him an item.
—Ah, my lord. I picked this up.
“Hm?”
—I found it while you were focused on something.
Dohyun’s eyes flashed.
[Eye of Truth activates.]
The Fragment of Fate!
A faint red glow seeped out.
It was the same light he had seen from the heart of the Destroyer, Gaiman.
The thing he had wanted all along was finally in his hands.
But the moment Dohyun accepted the half-broken hourglass and checked its information, his eyes filled with confusion.
It couldn’t be helped.
[Broken Hourglass of Faith]
—Grade: ???
—Description: A broken hourglass. It contains an unknown but powerful divine power.
“…What is this?”
The information was completely different from what he expected.
It shared not a single similarity with what he had obtained in Raven.
No—starting with the name, there wasn’t even a hint of “Fate.”
Just in case, he fiddled with it in various ways, but nothing changed.
It looks ordinary too.
It was just a worn, broken hourglass you might see anywhere.
Because of the Eye of Truth it glowed red, but unlike before, there was no flashy reaction.
Come to think of it, the main quest completion didn’t pop up either.
…Could it be this wasn’t a Fragment of Fate?
Then why was the Eye of Truth still reacting?
After clearing even the graduation quest, was there still more left?
He had been certain it was the Fragment of Fate, and the unexpected result left his mind in turmoil.
I went through hell to beat that thing—what is this?
Sure, thanks to it he had cleared the graduation quest brilliantly and received generous rewards…
But still—this wasn’t right!
Just as he was about to look for Gamilion to discuss this absurd situation—
“Ahh…”
“I cannot believe it…”
Voices soaked with emotion stopped Dohyun in his tracks.
Turning toward the sound, he saw a group of people.
“You truly killed that Destroyer?”
“To capture the Blue Duke… who in the world are they…?”
“I saw it with my own eyes and still cannot believe it… Who would believe such a thing?”
The priests stood there with mouths agape in awe.
Their eyes were moist with emotion.
Some were even crying.
“Sniff… This time, we have truly saved everyone.”
“It’s all thanks to the Hero. He bound the creature so it couldn’t escape to the city and defeated it.”
“Such foresight. A truly remarkable person of both martial and intellectual excellence.”
“Ahh… we can return to our families.”
Seeing the elderly men clutching each other and stomping their feet in emotional relief, Dohyun—who had been in a hurry—stopped.
Hmm.
He felt strangely moved.
To Dohyun, they were just passing NPCs.
But the emotions they showed were anything but hollow data.
They were genuinely relieved—and elated—that Brion had been saved from the Destroyer.
—These are the people you saved, my lord. You, and no one else.
A gentle voice spoke.
Looking beside him, Dohyun saw Charlie smiling warmly.
—To be honest, I was a little worried. Conviction has a way of becoming tainted when it meets the passage of time.
“……”
—But… even after all this time, you seem unchanged, my lord. As expected, my judgment was not wrong. This lowly sword feels very proud.
As their eyes met and Charlie finished speaking, a notification rang out.
[Guardian First Sword ‘Charlie’’s loyalty has increased.]
[Guardian First Sword ‘Charlie’’s loyalty is at maximum and cannot increase further.]
Watching it, Dohyun suddenly recalled when he first met Charlie.
Come to think of it, Charlie was like that back then too.
Back in Arren Castle during the tutorial, he had grieved more than anyone for his fallen comrades.
And when Dohyun finally defeated the Ironblood Demonic Dragon, Charlie had been overwhelmed with emotion.
Given that, he probably understood better than anyone how those people were feeling.
As Dohyun watched quietly, the priests’ conversation about Charlie reached his ears.
“By the way… who is that knight…?”
“He was clearly using the Sword of Light… isn’t that a technique only used by knights of Arren Castle?”
“Where did he suddenly appear from? Did he fall from the sky?”
“Come to think of it, the ceiling is broken now. He must have come down from there.”
“…Did you just seriously call that a joke?”
“…Ahem.”
Having mostly regained their composure, the priests whispered among themselves.
Unlike before, it wasn’t suspicion or wariness—just pure curiosity.
Well, of course they’d be curious.
From their perspective, at the very moment all hope was about to vanish, Charlie had appeared in a blaze of brilliant light.
He really had arrived like a savior.
Perhaps because of that, they hesitated to ask directly and only stole glances.
“Thank you truly, O Hero. We of Brion will never forget your grace.”
“It was nothing. Just doing what I should.”
The one who finally stepped forward was High Priest Gildeti.
He looked every bit the representative of the group.
“Hoho… ‘nothing,’ you say. No one but an Apostle could do what you have done, Hero. If Sir Lebed hears of this, he too will offer his sincere thanks.”
“Thank you.”
“We are the ones who should be grateful. However…”
Trailing off slightly, Gildeti asked carefully:
“…Who is that knight, O Hero?”
As Dohyun hesitated over how to answer, Charlie stepped forward, sensing the difficulty.
—I am Charlie, the First Sword of my great lord. You must be the High Priest here.
“Ah, yes. Thank you very much to you as well, Sir Knight.”
—I did nothing. I merely added a spoon to what my lord had already prepared.
“You are too modest. We saw what happened—please don’t say such things.”
Only after expressing his gratitude did Gildeti bring up what he had been most curious about.
“However… if it is not rude, may I ask how you arrived here? There was clearly a barrier in place, and we cannot quite understand what we witnessed.”
It was an entirely reasonable question.
After all, the reason Dohyun had faced Destroyer Gaiman alone in the first place was because of the barrier the creature had erected.
Even dozens of knights couldn’t break through and could only watch helplessly.
So Charlie’s bold appearance made no sense to them.
Charlie’s answer was extremely simple.
—I came in response to my lord’s summons.
“…?”
—I am a knight who has sworn loyalty to my lord. Is it not natural for a knight to answer his lord’s call?
“Th… pardon?”
Charlie looked utterly solemn as he said it.
