Chapter 213: The Sword’s Secret

"Ouch! Ouch, I said! What the hell is this!? Somebody help me! You’re all completely useless!"

At her words, Warren suddenly seemed to realize something and reached toward the sword.

The moment the sword entered Warren’s hand, it instantly became calm.

"Ugh! This is so annoying! So annoying!! So annoyiiing!!! What the hell is this!? What kind of Hero’s Sword is this!? Don’t go around acting all proud and calling yourself the ’Hero’s Sword’ when you only listen to someone who isn’t even the Hero! Ah, this is seriously pissing me off! And what are we supposed to do now!? At this rate, how are we going to stop the Monster Stampede!?"

Shangguan Wan’er turned her frustration toward the prince and marched over to him.

The prince folded his arms and thought for a moment.

"Well, that’s true..."

Then he suddenly broke into a bright smile.

"Perhaps a dragon?"

"What do you mean, ’perhaps a dragon’!? Where the hell are we supposed to find a dragon in the first place!? You idiot!"

After hearing Saintess Sherria’s story, Qiu Nuoya had assumed that the prince was the one being constantly dragged around by the outrageous Saintess.

However, seeing the two of them together now, Qiu Nuoya began to wonder if perhaps Shangguan Wan’er was actually the one being dragged around by the prince.

"The summoned Hero is useless, the Hero’s Sword is missing, and everyone keeps saying this world is in danger, so I’ve been working my butt off and even leveling up! And what do I get!? Are you making fun of me!? At this point, maybe this whole world should just be destroyed!"

"Now, now, calm down, Wanwan. It’s not as though everything has been decided to be hopeless. In fact, although we haven’t been able to wield it, both the Divine Sword Velikorya and the Hero have returned to us. We are certainly making progress."

"That summoned Hero says he was scared of the Hero’s Sword, so he gave it to someone else! How can you possibly call that progress!? This guy has absolutely no intention of fighting! And why am I the Saintess while he’s the Hero!? They completely screwed up the selection! Is the God of this world an idiot or whattt!?"

Shangguan Wan’er shouted until she was breathing heavily, then dropped herself onto the sofa with a heavy thud.

"I can’t deal with this anymore." Then she arrogantly ordered her female knight bodyguard Arana. "Arana, tea and snacks! And they better be absolutely delicious, or I won’t forgive you!"

Arana had received yet another unreasonable order, but perhaps this sort of thing was an everyday occurrence for her. Without saying a word, she simply began preparing the tea.

Qiu Nuoya could not help feeling sorry for her. Being Shangguan Wan’er’s attendant certainly seemed like a difficult job.

Arana prepared tea not only for Shangguan Wan’er, but for everyone present.

Shangguan Wan’er took a sip of the tea Arana had prepared, let out a long breath, and seemed to regain some of her composure.

Then, still looking displeased, she turned toward Xiao Tao.

"So, why are you in Cider Orchard? Have you been hiding here this entire time? You must have raised your skill levels at least a little over the past three years, right?"

"Th-Three years? What are you talking about? Nuoya said something like that before too, but I haven’t even been in this world for a month..."

"What!?"

Shangguan Wan’er slammed the expensive-looking teacup onto the table with a loud clatter and immediately flew into another rage.

"Are you sleepwalking or something!? Don’t mess with me!"

Xiao Tao let out a small, frightened squeak. "Eeek!"

"Um, Wan’er, if you keep speaking to him so aggressively, Xiao Tao won’t be able to say what he wants to say. Maybe you should lower your voice a little."

"Huh? If you’re not involved, then keep quiet. This is between me and him." Her sharp response left Qiu Nuoya at a loss for words. It was true that he had nothing to do with this matter, but he could clearly see that Xiao Tao would not even be able to say a tenth of what he wanted to say under such one-sided interrogation. Watching it happen was frustrating.

"Then let me offer only an objective opinion. Earlier, you looked at Xiao Tao and said that he had not grown at all, correct? Didn’t you find it strange that his school uniform is still in such good condition despite supposedly being worn for three years? Even though adolescence is a period of rapid growth, especially between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, it would not be unusual for a boy to grow considerably taller. Yet you even said that he seemed to have gotten shorter. Don’t you think that is because you are the only one who has grown while he has not changed at all?"

"Uh..."

"Even during a growth spurt, a person cannot grow that much in just a month. Take a good look at him. Does he really look like a seventeen year old boy to you?"

After a brief silence, Shangguan Wan’er spat out, "He’s just poorly developed."

For an adult, three years was almost an insignificant amount of time. But during adolescence, three years could make an enormous difference. ℯ

It was almost impossible for someone to look exactly the same at seventeen as they had at fourteen.

"I am currently thirteen, while Warren is sixteen. Keeping that in mind, how old would you say Xiao Tao looks right now?"

Qiu Nuoya was nearly the same height as Xiao Tao, while Warren was a head taller than both of them. Height alone was not necessarily a reliable measure of age, but no matter how he looked at it, Xiao Tao’s appearance was much closer to Qiu Nuoya’s thirteen year old body. There was no way he could be mistaken for someone older than Warren.

Shangguan Wan’er looked over the three of them, then clicked her tongue.

"Then explain why Taotao ended up like this!"

Her anger was directed toward Qiu Nuoya, but Xiao Tao had once again shrunk into himself, too intimidated to say a single word.