Bear School Astartes

”Thank you, this gift is wonderful.”

After putting on the Silver Cat Ring, Lann indeed felt his body become much lighter. When he jumped up and landed, a mysterious smoke would inexplicably be stomped out, and then there was no rebound feeling from landing.

Although this lightness couldn’t yet overcome his massive weight, allowing his [Light Body Skill] to be as freely executed as the Iwami Ninja.

But it significantly expanded his mobility range.

Combined with the Magic Square Stone Ring obtained from the personal guard at the entrance of Ausloes Palace earlier, Lann now had two magic rings in this world.

Plus the magic ring that responded to the Magic Horse Harness from the Qilin, crafted by Triss herself, three rings adorned his hands.

He felt somewhat like a nouveau riche.

And after accepting the ring, Lann also smoothly asked about the matter they were discussing earlier.

”So, you’ve been looking for someone all along?”

Lann crossed his arms, nodding while asking Sirius.

”No wonder your actions always seemed purpose-driven. But why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Sirius shook her head, ”In this world, how many people are there whom you can trust enough to express your desires?”

”If it weren’t for our shared efforts to quell the rebellion in Ilyushil, I still wouldn’t want to contact Rosalie’s fingers.”

”Understandable.”

Lann expressed his understanding of Sirius’ caution and distancing from foreign religions.

”Can you tell me who you are looking for? Maybe I can help?”

Sirius glanced at Lann. She still remembered how he previously asked her a lot of apparently ’ridiculous’ questions about common knowledge.

Yet, the frustration of having gained nothing, coupled with urgency, motivated Sirius not to miss any opportunity.

The female knight from the Land of Dusk sat on the steps, describing the features of the person she was searching for.

As Lann listened, he found it increasingly familiar.

”Skilled in swordsmanship, especially adept at using a small shield to perform the [Parry] combat skill, Flame-shaped Greatsword, twilight-colored high-quality armor...”

With Lann’s mumbling, Mentos automatically visualized each description onto his retina.

Finally, when integrating various features, the composite image... was the first normal person Lann met upon arriving in this world.

Holy Knight Fodolink.

Initially, after Sirius finished describing, she lowered her head, clearly not genuinely hopeful that Lann had seen the person she was searching for.

But...

”Can you tell me why you’re looking for him?”

Lann’s distinctly different response made Sirius raise her head abruptly.

Typically, people who hadn’t seen him would respond directly with ’haven’t seen him,’ avoiding extra comments.

”Of course. If it involves some private details that are hard to disclose, you can be brief. Like, what’s your relationship?”

”You... have seen him? Where!?”

Rarely, Sirius exhibited very apparent agitation.

And Lann spoke candidly.

”Yes, I have seen him, which is why I’m asking about your matter.”

The Demon Hunter stretched out one arm from his arms-crossed posture, spreading out his palm.

The gesture meant: Go ahead, speak.

Sirius’s expression was urgent, yet seemingly informed by the impression of Lann as a ’kind person’ here, she decided to speak straightforwardly.

”He is... my grandfather. The most outstanding Holy Knight of the Land of Dusk.”

The female knight’s face lowered, her expression knotting like she was lost in some reminiscence.

”Wow.” Hazel, at the side, uttered a sense of amazement.

Sirius stopped at this point, but Lann could somewhat imagine the antecedents and consequences.

A highly revered Holy Knight, Fodolink, yet turned into an Undead at this time.

Being a character with formidable combat strength but a constant risk of going insane, it was only natural to be cast out.

”I met him quite recently, and the place isn’t far either. But I need to remind you...”

After a moment of silence, Lann spoke to Sirius, with the female knight watching the Demon Hunter intently.

”Fodolink seems... not quite right.”

At that time, Lann passed by the Undead Settlement and met Fodolink again on the nearby hillside.

And that old knight who once offered aid to strangers had already turned into a being filled with strange hostility, muttering ’become kin’ and ’serve the accumulator.’

Lann’s words were spoken cautiously, not thoroughly articulated, yet in the current environment, the meaning was conveyed clearly enough.

Sirius watched him with hollow eyes, mumbling something under her breath.

But after a spell of silence, Sirius took a deep breath and stood up.

”I understand... but this is exactly... the moment I need to fulfill my promise.”

She looked determinedly at the Demon Hunter.

”I need to know where he is, Lann.”

Lann didn’t speak, merely pursing his lips.

”If I understood correctly... are you going to kill him?”

”According to my promise with my grandfather. I need to release him.”

”Understood.”

Lann nodded, eyelids lowered, and arms uncrossed, beckoning Sirius.

”Come with me. It’s not far, riding my horse will get us there quickly.”

-----------------

Even though the chaotic magic wave they were leaving was not far away, Lann thought he still had some time to help Sirius.

Rong Buqiu was left at the Profound Church to pack things.

Although Lann and the others didn’t have much to pack when they came, they did collect some local specialties during this time.

For example, the resin that could imbue weapons with various states.

Even though Lann didn’t use it much, Rong Buqiu was interested in such items that could temporarily grant special states to weapons, so the little cat collected quite a lot.

Qilin was in charge of taking Lann and Sirius to the Undead Settlement.

Having traveled this route several times, Qilin could already easily avoid unnecessary risks along the way, hardly troubling Lann at all.

In no time, they ascended an unsupervised lift and arrived in the village from the base of the Tower of the Road of Living Sacrifice.

The crows still hovered in the sky, the skeletal remnants of wheel-frame corpses tied on rooftops were gnawed clean, leaving only tattered clothes fluttering in the dim twilight.

”This is where I last saw him.”

Lann took Sirius to the slope by the cliff.

”Thank you,” Sirius said softly. ”I will search for my grandfather’s traces here. This village is small, and even if there are hidden paths and doors, I should be able to cover it in a few days.”

”You’ve saved me a lot of trouble, Lann.”

”No, it’s nothing.”

The Demon Hunter shook his head as he watched Sirius prepare to walk down the slope, searching for someone in this ghost-infested village.

The Female Knight from the Land of Dusk, with a complex expression beneath her silver headpiece.

It was evident she was somewhat reluctant to find her grandfather, as that would mean confronting Fodolink with swords.

Yet at the same time, she encouraged herself to fulfill the past promise with her grandfather.

Lann watched Sirius’s lonely and desolate silhouette, frowned, and opened his mouth.

”Sirius.”

The Female Knight, who had already taken a few steps, turned around.

”Are you sure you want to do this? I mean... are you sure about your agreement with Fodolink back then...?”

”Lann.”

Before the Demon Hunter could finish, Sirius looked into his eyes seriously and cut him off.

”If one day, you became a wandering soul, without autonomy, without consciousness. Beginning to senselessly slaughter any person approaching you without blood or tears, what would you do?”

The Demon Hunter shook his head: ”That would pretty much be equivalent to death. It’s merely a moving shell.”

”Yes, Grandfather thinks so too.”

Sirius didn’t say anything further.

Whereas Lann pursed his lips and nodded, taking the lead ahead of Sirius.

”Follow me. Although it’s been some time, I’m still confident in track tracking.”

As the Demon Hunter passed by the Female Knight, the cool and austere Female Knight who believed in the [Nameless Moon] whispered a ’thank you.’

Though she had said it numerous times already along the way.

The view in the Demon Hunter’s perspective unfolded, and the messy and dull world suddenly became vividly colorful.

The time wasn’t long, and there were no beasts or people to disturb the tracks.

Even the mindless wandering souls mostly just roamed in circles in limited areas.

Thus, Lann easily captured Fodolink’s footprints.

Deep footprints, indicative of the weight of armor and weapons. Without any dragging feeling, signifying steady and solid steps.

Such characteristic individuals were not common in this impoverished small village.

As they followed the footprints, they discovered a peculiar person locked in an iron cage atop a tower in the Undead Settlement.

Dressed in natural attire and adornments made of animal feathers, bones, cotton, and linen.

Strangely at ease in an iron cage within a ghost-infested village.

This man was named Conicus, hailing from a place called the Great Swamp, claiming to be a Curse Master.

After Lann rescued him, he told him to seek refuge at the Profound Church, where a benevolent goddess was resting and would later head to the Cold Valley.

The old Curse Master nodded with a laugh, a look of acceptance on his face.

As Lann was about to leave, he showed no special thought towards him, thus behaving rather normally.

But Sirius, possibly due to the identity of the ’Great Swamp Sorcerer,’ almost reflexively showed emotions of disgust and distancing.

Conicus was accustomed to Sirius’s reaction.

But Lann’s demeanor of ’not knowing the Great Swamp Sorcerer at all’ made him laugh hoarsely like an old crow.

”Profound Church, oh, I know. I will go, hehe.”

The iron cage confining him was rusted, and the Lady of the Lake’s Sword easily cut open the lock, allowing the old Curse Master to walk out wobbly.

”Ah, may I ask you something, young man...”

The old Curse Master patted Lann’s shoulder with his bony hand.

”You don’t seem to have much aversion to magic. How about it? Want to learn a thing or two from me?”

”Magic casting?” The Demon Hunter scratched his cheek.

”Magic casting, as you say... yes, we Curse Masters do cast magic indeed.”

”Do you think I have the potential to learn magic?”

After Lann finished speaking, he saw Conicus and Sirius simultaneously show strange expressions.

The old Curse Master eager to teach pupils straightforwardly questioned: ”Why would you think you can’t cast magic? A smart brain and firm belief... Are there cases with these two things where you can’t cast magic? What’s the logic?”

Lann raised an eyebrow, seemingly there was a difference in the requirements for casting magic in this world compared to the Magic Middle Ages.

Maybe he... truly had the potential to cast magic as a Demon Hunter?