Chapter 172: The Stolen Divine Sword

"But the person inside is just a worn-out old man and I like that kind of gap in you." Igor chuckled as he answered.

So he really was not surprised.

"How long have you known?"

"Huh? Known what?"

"My age! You treated me like a child this whole time!"

"I thought you were an unusually mature child from the moment we met, but I became certain when you slept in my arms. The reason I kept treating you like a child was simply because you’d been pretending to be one the whole time, so I figured that was what you wanted."

In my arms? When did that happen!?

Qiu Nuoya had never slept while holding Igor. At least, not that he could remember!

"I believe I just heard something that I cannot simply overlook. Or perhaps I misheard you, Igor?"

See!? Viktor’s eyes had gone completely cold!

Igor, please be careful with your choice of words! This was only going to turn into a huge misunderstanding!

"What’s the big deal? You do whatever you want with Nuoya too. Even if Nuoya and I have one or two secrets between us, you’re hardly in a position to complain."

Nooooo! Why would Igor say something that pours oil on the fire!? There was nothing! Nothing at all! There were absolutely no secrets!

"Wow, I didn’t expect Nuoya to have Viktor wrapped around his finger, but apparently you got Igor wrapped around it too?" This time, Warren leaned in and peered directly into Qiu Nuoya’s face.

"I don’t know!" Qiu Nuoya frantically shook his head.

"But then again, Nuoya has always had that irresistible charm. It’s nothing new, so I’m not surprised."

"Irresistible charm...?"

What kind of image does Warren even have of me!?

Qiu Nuoya was just an ordinary, worn-out middle-aged man who could be found anywhere. He was basically a background character!

"Ugh... I don’t know anymore! I’m going ahead to the guild!"

"Ah, wait, Nuoya!"

Qiu Nuoya ignored the others and ran toward the guild.

The other three hurried after him, but he had no intention of waiting.

People were already staring at them, and Qiu Nuoya was not shameless enough to keep having a conversation that sounded exactly like a lovers’ quarrel right in front of everyone.

And if rumors started spreading about the three of them fighting over him, it would be nothing short of a scandal!

When Qiu Nuoya and the others arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild and opened the door, they found a large crowd of adventurers staring up at the wall.

The wall was normally covered from top to bottom with request notices, but there was one particular mission posted unusually high up, where notices were not normally displayed. It also looked somewhat different from the others.

Unlike the usual thin sheets of paper, this mission had been written in large letters on thick parchment. The adventurers seemed to be reading it intently, so Qiu Nuoya looked over their shoulders to see what kind of mission could have attracted so much attention.

At the top of the notice, he could see the words "SS-Rank Mission."

Since only a limited number of adventurers should have been qualified to accept an SS-rank mission, Qiu Nuoya would not have expected such a notice to be posted somewhere where anyone could freely see it.

However, as he continued reading, he discovered that although the request itself was classified as SS-rank, adventurers of any rank were apparently allowed to accept it. ℯℯ𝘭.

Wondering what that meant, Qiu Nuoya read on.

Apparently, the mission was a search for a certain treasure sword. Although anyone could accept the mission, whoever managed to find and recover the sword would receive a reward of ten platinum coins.

With such an enormous reward at stake, it was no wonder that everyone was staring at the notice with gleaming eyes.

"Is this a kind of treasure hunt?"

"Yeah. A mission like this is bound to attract adventurers looking for a chance to strike it rich. Hmm, let’s see. The name of the treasure sword is... Wait, hey, isn’t this..."

Igor suddenly raised his voice in alarm. Puzzled, Qiu Nuoya turned his attention back to the rest of the mission notice.

The name of the treasure sword written there was "Divine Sword Velikorya."

That was the name of the sword said to have been favored by the First King, whose story had only recently come up in conversation.

Qiu Nuoya remembered hearing that the Church carefully guarded and stored the sword. He also vaguely recalled that the sword was imbued with magical power and chose its wielder itself, meaning that anyone deemed unworthy could not even touch it.

"Now I understand why the Cardinal brought up the Divine Sword back then. It seems the sword in question had actually been stolen and Nuoya was probably suspected of being the culprit."

"What...?"

That’s an outrageous accusation! He didn’t even know the treasure sword existed, and they treated him like a thief? That’s completely unfair!

"Then again, they backed down pretty easily, didn’t they?"

"Nuoya isn’t a swordsman to begin with. Divine Sword Velikorya is a magic sword that chooses its own wielder, so perhaps they concluded that there was no way it would have chosen Nuoya."

"Ah, I see. But if that’s the case, then that means the stolen Divine Sword Velikorya willingly followed the thief away of its own accord, doesn’t it?"

"..." Viktor remained silent, apparently lost in thought. Qiu Nuoya looked up at the request notice once more and reread its contents.

The notice did not contain much detailed information. It simply stated that a reward would be given to whoever recovered the stolen treasure sword. There was no information about who had stolen it or how it had been taken. Calling it a mission was almost generous, considering how vague it was.

There was not even a detailed description of what the treasure sword looked like, which made Qiu Nuoya wonder whether this could really be considered a proper mission at all.