Chapter 171: How Are You Still Alive?

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: How Are You Still Alive?

"Sandoor, stop. You’re no match for him."

Vili had already dismounted. He pushed through the circle of Guards, carrying his Cross Sword as he walked toward the large man.

During their brief exchange just now, Vili had already seen right through the large man’s Ability.

Although he was spouting words of justice and judgment, he was not the Hanged Man.

In fact, his attacks were filled with a violent, explosive force. He wasn’t a Knight, either.

He wasn’t a Senior Knight, yet his body showed fluctuations of Elemental Power. There was only one possibility: he was a Mage, the most common of the Extraordinary Professions besides Knight!

’And this large man is strong. If I’m not mistaken, he’s probably at the level of a Junior Mage, which is on par with a Junior Knight.’

Although he wielded an Iron Rod and looked more like a Close Combat Knight, Vili knew he was, without a doubt, a Mage.

"Hm?"

The large man watched Vili approach with his sword, and for some reason, a wave of panic washed over him.

This exceptionally young-looking fellow was giving him an inexplicable sense of pressure.

"Tell me your name! The Ranger Benduin does not kill the nameless!"

The large man, Benduin, gripped the Iron Rod in his hand tightly.

"Go on, keep living in your own little fantasy world!"

Vili said something that Benduin found completely nonsensical.

He was just about to ask what Vili meant when Vili’s figure suddenly blurred, appearing before him in an instant.

Benduin’s scalp went numb, and he instinctively tried to attack.

But Vili was much faster.

Vili raised his Cross Sword high, swinging the flat of the blade down hard onto Benduin’s shoulder.

’This is the first Mage I’ve ever encountered, so I’ll let him live.’

"So fast!"

Benduin felt the whistling wind from the sword overhead and was instantly filled with a sense of mortal peril.

He had no choice but to abandon his attack and go on the defensive, raising his Iron Rod to block above his head.

BANG!

Vili slammed his sword down. Benduin’s Iron Rod shuddered violently, and a massive force transmitted through it into his internal organs.

Benduin felt a stifling pressure in his chest, as if his blood was about to churn.

’Can a Mage have such a strong physique?’

A Mage who focused on physical conditioning had piqued Vili’s interest.

’I can’t let this drag on in public...’

There were still many townspeople gathering to watch from a distance. Vili didn’t want the existence of Extraordinary Power to spread widely among the common folk, so he decided to end this quickly.

With a single thought, Vili activated both his Knight’s Power and the Power of Justice.

He swung his Cross Sword, bringing it smashing down once again.

"This... This is..."

As Benduin was preparing to counterattack, he suddenly sensed the two powers within Vili.

"It’s the Power of Justice!"

Benduin’s pupils shrank abruptly, and a look of excitement and yearning appeared on his face.

He was about to say something, but he saw Vili’s Cross Sword descending again.

Benduin quickly snapped out of his excitement. He knew this blow was far more terrifying than the last.

Benduin raised the Iron Rod over his head again in a blocking motion. At the same time, a layer of pale yellow earth and rock enveloped the rod, seemingly as an additional defensive enhancement.

’A Mage who controls the Earth Element, is he...’

Vili’s motion didn’t slow in the slightest as he smashed the sword down forcefully.

PFFT!

The immense strength, combined with the two streams of Extraordinary Power, directly concussed Benduin. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his shoulder collapsed as if it had been dislocated.

"You are... the Hanged..."

The injured Benduin showed no panic. Instead, his eyes were filled with reverence as he looked at Vili.

But before he could finish his words, Vili kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground as intense pain shot through his body.

"Take him away."

Vili’s last blow had completely stripped him of his ability to fight.

"Wait..."

Benduin struggled to lift his head and look at Vili. "Your Excellency, I wish to have a word with you..."

"You can, but it will have to be in ten days."

Vili gave a faint smile. "According to the laws of White Bear Town, you are to be imprisoned for ten days for brawling in public."

Vili had a good idea of what Benduin wanted to say. If he wasn’t mistaken, it had something to do with his identity as the Hanged Man.

From Benduin’s cringey words and fighting style from the start, it was clear he had a strange obsession with the Hanged Man’s identity.

Seeing that Vili hadn’t refused, Benduin struggled to his feet. "Please, keep your word."

Benduin, who had just been shouting about the lapdogs of the nobility, instantly became docile.

"Take him away."

Vili repeated.

If Vili hadn’t seen that Benduin was now convinced, he never would have let the Guards take him to the prison.

A Junior Mage loose in White Bear Town... As long as he and Wally didn’t step in, probably no one could stop him.

The Guards were still a bit bewildered. They didn’t understand how the defiant man from before could have had such a sudden change in personality.

Only Sandoor, standing to the side, had pieced some of it together. Although Benduin’s activation of his earth-and-rock defense had been quick, Sandoor had caught a glimpse of it. He guessed that Benduin must be an Extraordinary Being and that he had been won over by the Lord Baron’s identity as the Hanged Man.

"Bring him to me in ten days."

Vili said to Sandoor.

"Yes, Lord Baron."

Sandoor bowed slightly.

...

Vili spent those ten days training intensely. His promotion to Senior Knight was just a step away.

Benduin, on the other hand, spent those ten days in extreme anxiety.

He recovered quickly from his injuries; the so-called prison was no cage for him at all.

But because of the Hanged Man’s orders, he could only endure the ten days with great difficulty.

’The Hanged Man... the very being I’ve dreamed of pursuing.’

「Ten days later, in Vili’s study.」

Benduin was brought there by Sandoor.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sandoor. You may leave for now. I’m just going to have a little chat with him."

Vili smiled at Sandoor.

Sandoor said nothing more, accepted the order, and withdrew.

Only Vili and Benduin remained in the room.

"Your Excellency, the Hanged Man, I..."

Benduin was quite agitated, but Vili cut him off as soon as he started speaking.

"I’d like to ask you a few questions first."

Vili was also somewhat curious about Benduin.

"Please, ask anything. I will answer whatever I know."

Benduin nodded emphatically, his gaze sincere.

Vili sniffed and asked the biggest question on his mind. "How has an impulsive Ranger like you managed to survive this long?"

A guy who directly attacks Guards in the middle of a noble’s territory and instigates a fight—even if he is a Junior Mage, his chances of survival should be close to one hundred percent.

After all, almost every Baron’s domain has an Extraordinary Being protecting it.