The Sword and The Shadow

Unlike the last few times, Leguna's current excursion was a rather relaxed one. He really felt that he could no longer stay in the bureau any longer. Since Xeno was doing well over there, he could definitely be the acting bureau head for the time being.

Leguna wasn't concerned about Xeno doing anything behind his back either. First, Xeno was a Stokian, so while the others in the bureau would listen to his instructions, they wouldn't go beyond anything that was appropriate for the sake of a Stokian.

Additionally, Leguna wouldn't really let Xeno alone without any supervision. He left an informant in the bureau to supervise Xeno's every move. Not to mention, he believed Larwin definitely had his Monitors planted in the bureau as well to keep an eye on things after the last few times they screwed up.

Additionally, in Leguna's personal observations of his aide, he found him to be rather loyal. So, he decided to use this excursion of his as a test for him. If Xeno didn't do anything suspicious, Leguna was prepared to train him as his successor and pave the way for himself to leave the bureau.

And so, his journey to the millennium capital proceeded at a relaxed pace. He planned to leave the borders of Hocke in three to four days and spend some two weeks to travel to the millennium capital of Stok. Fortunately, the capital was located far north in the Stokian empire. Otherwise, it would take him up to two months to travel from the capital of one empire to another!

Currently, he was traveling in mercenary garb and used a technique in Wayerliss's notebook to hide his aura. He now looked no different from a young, traveling mercenary. These vagabonds were not too uncommon on the battlefield. Opportunists like them always swayed with the tides. However, vagabond mercenaries like those would usually band up in the hundreds while lone travelers like Leguna were relatively rare.

"Hmm?"

Leguna heard the sound of hooves approaching. At his level of power, his senses of hearing, smell and touch were just as important as sight when it came to observing the world. Sometimes, they were even more sensitive than sight.

I might as well go take a look, Leguna thought before he hurried his horse there. If he encountered a small Stokian assault squad, he might as well wipe them up to spice up his journey.

The source of the sound wasn't that far. He crossed a hill and saw a Stokian knight chasing somebody else.

The other person was dressed in a robe of gold, but she looked incredibly haggard on horseback. Leguna could tell from the posture that the person wasn't used to any strenuous activity. It was already rather difficult for him to ride a horse.

"Please, help me!" the voice rang clearly but in an urgent tone. She saw a person dressed like a mercenary and cried, "I can't take them on alone, but if I have someone guarding me, I can do it! I will pay you back!"

Leguna squinted and started. Smiling bitterly, he said, "Why, isn't this world small?"

That person was someone he knew. In fact, Kurdak, Vera and Annelotte also knew her. She was none other than the granddaughter of General Manhattan, Priestess Lamir.

When she closed the distance, Lamir noticed the young mercenary looking rather familiar. After some hesitation, she turned her horse in his direction.

"Please help me! I'll make sure to pay you back!"

Since Leguna was dressed rather differently and wore a simple disguise, she couldn't quite recognize him despite the sense of familiarity.

Though, that didn't stop her from asking for help. She wasn't that good a rider to begin with and it wouldn't take much longer before her pursuers caught up. So, she called out to the familiar-looking youth for help.

"Why are you chasing her?" Leguna asked the Stokian knights.

He wasn't in a hurry to reveal his identity to her.

"It's not your business!" the knight replied with a furrowed brow.

Soldiers like them hated opportunistic mercenaries the most. For the slightest profit, they were willing to forsake honor and glory.

"I'm quite in the mood to butt in other people's business today."

He squeezed his horse and came between the two.

"Hold them off for me! I'm a high-order priestess, so I just need a chance to use my divine miracles!" Lamir said in a hushed voice.

"You're a high-order priestess and you can't handle a few low-order warriors?" Leguna asked with some surprise.

"I…" she muttered as she began to blush, "I haven't gotten any combat training and only use my Breath to save others…"

It appeared that her combat capabilities were limited just like Eirinn's. It was a huge waste! Priests or priestesses had divine blessings, so their constitutions were far better than normal people. They could fight and defend, not to mention bless allies and curse enemies. High-order priests should be comparable to high-order warriors in a fight!

Yet, the two priestesses Leguna knew were completely different. One was as weak as a normal girl and the other was no stronger than a mid-order warrior. Even though they had commendable power, their personalities and experiences didn't allow them to tap well into them. Leguna found it rather laughable.

"Wait a second. Let's talk after I deal with them," Leguna said to the doubtful priestess.

She seemed to have figured something out, but still couldn't quite tell it was Leguna.

The Stokians initially were quite worried about the mercenary. They knew that Lamir was a high-order priestess who only ran because she didn't excel in combat. Now that there was another warrior with her, things might turn out differently.

The mercenaries who showed up on the battlefield were far from weak. If he could give the priestess enough time to use a divine miracle or two, they might not be able to win.

So, the Stokians could only banter without daring to attack.

Leguna couldn't be bothered to trade verbal blows with them. He disappeared instantly and reappeared behind the Stokian who shouted the loudest.

He pressed his right palm against the back of that soldier's head and used Shadowedge to send a sharp shadow inside his head, destroying his brain in an instant.

It only took him one short second for that movement and he showed no signs of stopping. The warhorse of the Stokian struggled wildly because of Leguna's sudden explosive speed and threw its dead rider onto the ground.

By then, Leguna got onto the back of the second horse and used the same move, creating a similar result.

Lamir, who was witnessing the whole thing, only saw a blurry shadow. The only thing she could see clearly was the Stokians being thrown off their horses. By the time Leguna stopped and stood still, all the Stokians were dead. It took him half a minute to kill more than ten of them.

He reappeared on his war horse, causing it to whinny and raise its forehooves in the air; as if it was mocking the other horses that were on the ground.

"You are…"

Lamir's doubtful look intensified. She was no fool and knew that a normal youth couldn't possibly be that strong.

"Long time no see, Miss Lamir," Leguna said with his signature sly smile, "I am…"

Before Leguna could finish, Lamir reacted, "Whoa! So it's you, Leguna! And there I was trying so hard to get you to help me! I should've just whistled for you to come!"

"How did you know it was me?" Leguna asked curiously.

"It's that sly smile of yours. Who else has that?"

"Is… is that so?"

Others like Annelotte, Vera and Eirinn could be easily recognized from their hair colour, while Innilis's defining feature was her emerald eyes. As for Kurdak, it was his huge physique. But Leguna's was his smile, a sneaky and sly one at that. He was quite annoyed at the thought of it.

"Hah! Thankfully, you're here. Otherwise, it'd be over for big sister here," she thanked him in her roundabout way.

"Ah, no worries. It was no trouble at all--" He waved casually. "--By the way, why are you here, miss Lamir?"

"Why?--" Lamir's presence intensified a whole notch. "--I am on my way to see Kurdak! I want to ask him whether he'll take me as his wife!"