Chapter 92: Undercurrents 1

“Human!”

“I’m a second-rank swordsman.”

“My name is Doraus.”

“I challenge you to a duel!”

Kent stared at the dark elf standing in front of him.

This was already the ninth time something like this had happened.

And every single challenger had come for exactly the same reason.

Darkya.

Or, more precisely, the question of who Darkya belonged to.

At first, Kent had patiently tried to explain the situation.

But as more and more people came looking for a fight, he eventually stopped bothering.

Whenever someone challenged him, he simply knocked them unconscious and moved on.

After doing that several times, however, even Kent was starting to find the whole thing unbearably annoying.

He studied the challenger in front of him.

Doraus was a male dark elf.

In fact, most of the people who had challenged Kent so far had been dark elves.

Of course, there had also been several shameless dwarves...

and even one human.

Kent’s eyes suddenly shifted.

An idea came to him.

If trouble insisted on coming to his door, perhaps he could simply redirect it somewhere else.

He turned toward Doraus and said,

“Sir Doraus.”

“If you want to duel me, that’s fine.”

“But shouldn’t all of you fight among yourselves first?”

“Otherwise, I refuse to accept your challenge.”

Doraus froze.

Then his expression darkened.

“You...”

“What a cowardly trick!”

He cursed inwardly.

In the Dark Region, duels were an extremely common way of settling disputes.

However, there was one important rule.

Both sides had to be of the same rank.

As for magical beasts, weapons, armor, and equipment...

those were entirely up to the participants.

No one would complain even if someone brought a divine artifact into the duel.

If you owned it, you were allowed to use it.

But refusing a legitimate duel?

That was another matter entirely.

Such behavior was generally looked down upon.

Kent, however, did not seem embarrassed in the slightest.

“If you don’t agree, then I’m leaving.”

He spread his hands helplessly.

“Think about it.”

“There are so many of you coming to challenge me.”

“How am I supposed to fight every single one?”

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to duel.”

“The problem is that there are simply too many of you.”

“Fine!”

Doraus thought about Kent’s proposal for a moment and realized that it did make a certain amount of sense.

“If you manage to come back alive, that is.”

With that, he agreed without hesitation.

The moment he did, however, the atmosphere around them changed.

The others gathered nearby had clearly come for exactly the same reason.

Now they all began looking at one another with wary eyes.

If Kent intended to make them fight among themselves first, then everyone standing here was suddenly a rival.

“Hmph!”

“You’re all dreaming.”

Darkya’s face had already gone pale with anger.

She stepped forward, her voice sharp and cold.

“If any of you dare challenge him again, don’t blame my magic bow for showing no mercy.”

Most of the people trying to duel Kent were really after her.

Darkya knew that perfectly well.

Before this, they had only dared entertain such thoughts in secret.

But now the situation had changed.

If someone defeated Kent in a formal duel, then under the rules governing ownership and magical contracts, Darkya could very well end up transferred into someone else’s possession.

The thought alone sent a chill through her body.

Who knew what these people were really thinking?

At that moment, the more Darkya looked at Doraus, the more hateful he seemed.

She strode forward.

Before Doraus could react, Darkya grabbed him by the collar.

Under the pressure of her eighth-rank aura, sweat immediately broke out across his forehead.

His entire body went weak.

Then—

Bang!

Darkya slammed him heavily onto the ground.

Only after that did she raise her head and glare at the surrounding crowd.

Her voice rang through the area.

“I’ll say this once.”

“Anyone who comes looking for Kent to duel again will have to answer to me first.”

Kent, who had been growing increasingly irritated by these pointless challenges, almost wanted to applaud.

Although he had already come up with the idea of making the challengers fight one another first, there would probably still be quite a few people left afterward.

To Kent, dueling was nothing more than a rigid and tedious game.

In the end, strength decided everything.

All the rules surrounding it were merely decoration.

But now Darkya had stepped in on her own.

Kent could hardly have been happier.

With her standing in front of him, who would still dare challenge him casually?

If someone wanted to duel Kent, they would first need Darkya’s permission.

But anyone capable of defeating Darkya would be at least eighth-rank.

And because duelists had to be of equal rank, such a person could not challenge Kent anyway.

If an eighth-rank expert really insisted on fighting him...

then fine.

They could wait until Kent himself reached the eighth rank.

That ought to keep them occupied for quite some time.

Kent walked over to Doraus and crouched beside him.

He patted the dark elf sympathetically on the shoulder.

“Ah... sorry, my friend.”

He sighed with exaggerated regret.

“Looks like I won’t be able to duel you after all.”

Doraus glanced nervously toward Darkya.

Then he lowered his voice and whispered,

“But you already agreed.”

“Are you afraid?”

Doraus had admired Darkya for a long time.

In truth, Darkya was extremely popular in Muan City.

She was young.

Beautiful.

And exceptionally powerful.

If not for the First Elder standing behind her, her admirers would probably have started fighting among themselves long ago.

Now that Darkya had somehow become Kent’s servant, many of those people had immediately turned their attention toward him.

Their reasoning was simple.

Defeat Kent.

Win Darkya.

Then dissolve the servant contract.

Once she was free again, surely winning her affection would only be a matter of time.

At least, that was what they imagined.

Kent stared at Doraus for a moment.

Then, inwardly, he sneered.

So much for dark elves being noble and refined.

Every race had people like this.

Suddenly, Kent stood up.

He deliberately raised his voice so that everyone nearby could hear.

“My friend, that’s where you’re wrong.”

“Darkya may technically be my servant, but shouldn’t I still respect her opinion?”

Kent spoke with an expression of complete sincerity.

“I’m a very reasonable person.”

“If she doesn’t agree to the duel, then even if people accuse me of breaking my word, I’ll simply have to accept it.”

Several people in the crowd actually nodded approvingly.

Some even began praising Kent for being considerate.

Kent, meanwhile, almost laughed inside.

What kindness?

Duels were exhausting.

They wasted time.

They caused injuries.

And worst of all, they gave him headaches.

If there were another, easier way to settle the matter...

well...

Kent might even have considered selling Darkya off if the price were high enough.

After all, everything had a value.

Didn’t it?

“You!”

“I only just taught you a lesson, and you’re already letting your mind wander again.”

“You really are absolutely...”

Darkya had actually heard the entire conversation between Doraus and Kent.

She had deliberately remained silent at first because she wanted to see how Kent would respond.

His answer had secretly relieved her.

More than that, it had left a warm feeling in her heart.

But the moment she glanced at Doraus again, her irritation immediately returned.

Darkya strode toward him, scolding him as she went.

“Darkya, it’s not what you think!”

“My dear lady, I’ll leave, all right?”

Doraus stared helplessly at Kent.

He was still trying to figure out what Kent had really meant earlier when Darkya was already approaching.

Seeing the dark expression on her face, Doraus immediately turned and ran.

He continued explaining even as he fled.

But Darkya showed no sign of calming down.

So Doraus wisely decided that escaping first was the better choice.

He was only second-rank.

Against Darkya, an eighth-rank Magic Archer, he would have no chance at all.

Only an idiot would stand there and wait to be beaten.

Darkya’s reaction immediately shattered the plans of quite a few people nearby.

Originally, many of them had assumed that Kent would be easy to deal with.

Now it seemed they would have to think of another method.

In truth, most of those challenging Kent were not even fighting for themselves.

There were other people behind them.

Among the dark elves, those around Darkya’s age were generally already fifth- or sixth-rank.

Because duelists had to be of the same rank, none of them could challenge Kent directly.

So the simplest solution was to bribe lower-ranked fighters and have them issue the challenges instead.

Tomorrow was the day of the Grand Trial.

It was one of the largest events in the Dark Region.

Originally, the trial grounds had been located relatively close to Muan City.

But for some unknown reason, the location had later been changed.

The new site was more than two hundred kilometers away from the city.

Exactly what kind of place it was, or even which direction it lay in, had not yet been made public.

By now, however, Muan City was already filling with participants from other regions.

The Grand Trial was extremely dangerous.

No one knew what might be hidden inside unexplored territory.

Because of that, the number of people willing to participate was not especially large.

Even so, several thousand trial-takers had gathered in the city.

Most were low-rank professionals.

There were also a small number of mid-rank ones.

The reason was simple.

The First Layer rarely contained high-rank magical beasts.

Even mid-rank magical beasts were relatively uncommon.

High-rank professionals normally carried out their trials on the Second Layer.

Those trials could be undertaken almost any time.

And most people who had already obtained a mid-rank professional title spent the majority of their time on the Second Layer anyway.

Only those with relatively weak combat ability tended to remain wandering around the First Layer.

As Kent walked through Muan City, the professions he saw most often were archers and swordsmen.

There were quite a few Magic Archers as well.

But there was one thing he found strange.

He had not seen a single mage.

Kent had originally come out to investigate the potential market for his night-vision devices.

Instead, he found the city more crowded than ever.

Taverns were packed.

Weapon shops were full of customers.

Armor stores were doing brisk business.

Even the grilled-meat stalls were surrounded by people.

The entire city had become unusually lively.

Kent carefully observed the crowds for a long time.

Eventually, he could no longer suppress his curiosity.

“Darkya...”

He turned toward her.

“Why haven’t I seen any mages around here?”