Chapter 114: Another Eye - IX

—Bang.

Gron jumped from his seat, hitting his head on the ceiling of his tiny underground shop. The wooden shelves creaked, and the various hanging tools shook. A few sharp ones nearly impaled his hand as he flailed.

"Huh?!"

That voice!

How the hell?

This was the Walvaskaz Empire! What was that young man doing here? Wasn’t the last time they met, all the way in Leisha?

To be fair, Gron was also here, but that was beside the point. In this vast world, what kind of coincidence would it take to meet an acquaintance through a seemingly random encounter twice in a row?

It felt as if it was his fate to meet this guy whenever he messed up.

’Ugh,’

Gron couldn’t help but wonder what he would think of him now, even with all the help he got from him.

Twice, the owner of this voice guided him.

And twice, he fumbled their advice and help.

"Sir...?"

When Gron turned around, completing all those thoughts in an instant, he was both relieved and embarrassed to see that familiar, smiling face.

"Ah, so you still recognize me? Wonderful. I’m here to give you a job again."

That same smiling face seemingly appeared only when he needed Gron for a job. This was the third time the young man asked him for something.

...And Gron still didn’t know what his name was.

With a deadpan stare, Gron realized that his earlier worries were... nonexistent. Was the young man not going to question what he was doing here in the depths of Walvaskaz?

That was, until the young man continued his words. "It will be a job that a criminal mastermind like you can do. Of course, it’s not like we’re going to kill a royal family, so you don’t have to work that hard."

Gron’s lips twitched. Since the first time they met, he’d matured past his naïve self. It was also through his various experiences that he realized that this young man wasn’t actually going to arrest him back then.

The young man extorted him for a random snow globe for the fun of it, it seemed.

As for the sword that the young man made him replicate...

’Wasn’t that the <Sword of Light>?

So... Was this young man the Hero of Leisha?

That was what Gron thought at the time, but the Hero of Leisha was a young lady standing at the top of the adventurer world. Her awakening as the hero had been a hot topic before his exile.

This young man in front of him was most certainly not the Hero of Leisha.

’Wait—’

Suddenly Gron’s eyes shrank.

’Is the current Hero of Leisha— A fake?’

His eyes drifted over to the young man’s waist, struggling to look away from those deep black irises swirling with blue mana. There, hung in an unassuming sheath, was a simple, unadorned sword.

A shiver coursed through Gron’s spine just then, but he noticed the young man moving his hand to his mouth—placing a single finger on his lips.

—Shush.

It was a clear sign for Gron to be silent. As a fraudster himself, he suddenly understood a shocking conspiracy. The <Sword of Light> had been in his hands—and he had replicated its intricacies.

’Fuck!’

Was he a genius or what?

That realization was hitting him like a huge block of stone. How the hell did he do that? That was an artifact that could slay gods! Well... allegedly, at least.

But still!

In the next instant, all of the features that the <Sword of Light> held flashed through his mind. With the context of its identity, suddenly a lot of its inner circuitry and molecular layer enchantments... made sense.

He created a counterfeit! Of a legendary artifact! And he hadn’t even known!

The <Sword of Light> in the Hero of Leisha’s hands...

The young man’s smile widened.

"So it took you more than a year to realize the utter absurdity you just pulled— Hahahahaha!" The young man broke out into hysterical, maniacal laughter. "Yes... the real one is in my hands."

—Gulp.

A cold sweat dripped down Gron’s back.

His feeling back then was right.

He’d committed blasphemy against the holy ideal of the Hero of Leisha!

Oh gods, if the human kingdoms ever found out... How would he answer? He carved his signature into the damn counterfeit, for crying out loud!

It was small, but it was there! For a pinch of pride, he’d engraved a simple seal claiming it as his creation.

’No...’

Gron looked at the young man again.

"Don’t worry. Although I carry the original sword, the counterfeit you made became real. Also, I’m not the Hero of Leisha, so don’t overthink it."

"Right..." Gron’s voice was trembling as he thought, ’Like I’m going to believe you...’

"Well, you don’t have to believe me."

Gron’s eyes shook. ’Huh?’

—Click.

The young man then partially unsheathed the sword at his waist, and a gleaming light spread throughout the surroundings.

"Light—! Light-attributed mana?!"

Gron felt his head becoming light.

Yeah, not the Hero of Leisha, his ass!

This bastard wasn’t someone who helped him at all! Perhaps because of his replication of the <Sword of Light>, the gods cursed him, killing his father and forcing him to flee!

"...Gron, you know that you aren’t cursed." Suddenly, the mischief in the young man’s voice quieted down. "Your current situation is caused by your own inability to control yourself. Blaming the gods?"

The young man chuckled and shrugged. "Feel free, but it won’t do anything. The past is long behind you."

Gron’s eyes flashed with a hint of momentary malice. But in the end, he calmed down.

Although he suffered greatly, he truly recognized his own fault in the matter. This young man, though clearly hiding some terrifying secret, hadn’t been involved in his downfall. In fact, Gron had only benefited from their encounters.

Thus, in the end, he just sighed.

"Hah..."

It was a sardonic sigh.

"So, what kind of job do you want me to do? Judging from your words, you’ve been keeping tabs on my actions. I won’t be doing anything like that again, so spare me from having to stretch my bottom line. My services are strictly what is written on this board."

Gron tapped on the small wooden plaque on his booth.

The young man nodded.

"First of all, my name’s Aventine. I just realized that I hadn’t introduced myself when we met."

Aventine then gestured for his two companions behind him to step up.

"My job for you this time is simpler—or more complex, depending on how you want to view it. All you need to do is turn the three of us into Snakespawns."