Chapter 267: You Guys Sure Have a Messy Relationship, Huh
The battle had begun without warning—and ended so quickly, it barely registered as a fight.
Steven strolled over to the knight now embedded in the wall like a failed piece of modern art.
The guy's head hung limp, clearly unconscious. But thankfully, it didn't look like anything too serious—no blood, no crushed organs, nothing tragic. The knight's physical constitution seemed decent enough, even if he was dangling there like a broken ornament.
Steven had been careful with his punch, making sure to leave the knight with only superficial wounds at worst.
He leaned in and checked through the helmet—yep, still breathing. That confirmed, Steven crossed his arms and gave the strange knight a more curious once-over.
After all, the guy had been super on guard just moments ago. Now that he was passed out, what was stopping him from taking a proper look?
Squinting, he glanced at the name floating above the guy's head. As usual, the system filled him in with a convenient info snippet:
[The Last Kheshig Knight — Tola]
Now that was a cool title. Too bad he didn't understand half of it.
There were still too many things about Terra he didn't know. Heck, only that cryptic, know-it-all cat Kal'tsit probably had all the answers about obscure stuff like this.
Steven double-checked the knight's armor and weapon—no embedded weird sigils or battlefield projection systems or anything like that.
It wasn't tech. It was a gift. Probably some kind of racial ability.
"Man… that fear aura was seriously cool. Would've loved to learn that one," he muttered.
But then he remembered—he couldn't even cast the most basic Oripathy art. Even a dinky little fireball was still out of reach for him.
"Yeah, forget it."
Still, just getting to see it in action was satisfying. And poking around a little was even better.
Nodding in satisfaction, Steven turned away. He didn't bother dragging the guy out of the wall or trying to wake him up. With how stubborn this guy was, waking him would probably just start the fight all over again.
"Way too much of a hassle. I've got better things to do."
He reached into his inventory, pulled out more food, and stuffed it gently into a small cloth pouch on the knight's belt—a pouch that clearly didn't match the rest of his rugged armor.
That detail caught Steven's attention.
It was handmade. Rough stitching. Kinda ugly.
And yet, it was spotless. Not a speck of dirt on it, even though the knight himself looked like he'd wrestled with a collapsing building.
Curious, Steven glanced closer and noticed red thread forming crooked letters—ones he couldn't read. But his Language Localization Mod kicked in a second later:
"May my child be safe."
Steven's expression softened.
"No wonder he keeps this thing clean. It must mean a lot to him…"
He let out a helpless chuckle.
"Even the toughest warriors have something soft inside, huh? But you've still got a long way to go, kid."
He gave the unconscious knight a pat on the shoulder. Whether the guy could hear him or not didn't matter. He said his piece anyway.
Then, without another word, he stood up and left the alleyway.
To him, this was nothing more than a little detour.
What he didn't realize, though, was that this one act—simple, fleeting—had just nudged the fate of the last Kheshig Knight ever so slightly off course.
. . . . . . .
By the time Steven leisurely strolled back into the inn and pushed open the door to his room, it was already deep into the night.
As expected, Specter and Skadi seem to have already returned to their own room, and his room is dead quiet.
But just as he was about to change clothes and grab a much-needed shower, a figure—exactly as he'd predicted—leapt out from behind the door. A slender longsword came flashing up, blocking his path.
"Who are you?!"
The red-haired girl, hair blazing like fire, glared at him with a sharp voice filled with tension and suspicion.
She didn't know who this boy was. All she did know was that the first thing she needed to do was alert the ones next door—the ones who had saved her.
But Steven simply yawned.
"Relax. If you wait a minute, the people next door will explain everything for me. I just want to take a shower. Also, you're the one sleeping in my room, so... think that clears things up?"
He lazily reached out and pinched the blade between two fingers, gently nudging it aside as if she were pointing a toy at him instead of a weapon.
Then, completely unconcerned, he strolled past her and began rifling through the wardrobe for his pajamas.
His demeanor screamed 'I could not care less.'
The girl, understandably rattled, turned her head toward the door as two sleepy figures peeked in from the hallway. The moment Specter and Skadi saw Steven, their stern expressions instantly melted into groggy fatigue.
"He just walked in without saying a word. I don't know who he is… so… who is he?"
Still gripping her sword, the red-haired girl—clearly unsettled—turned to the two hunters for answers. Seeing their relaxed attitudes at least confirmed the boy wasn't an enemy, but she couldn't help asking the obvious.
"Oh yeah! Who is he? Captain's boyfriend? Our future brother-in-law?"
Now fully recovered from her Oripathy-induced suffering, Specter had regained her mischievous energy. Her sudden comment was so sharp it nearly made Steven trip over himself.
Skadi, meanwhile, was hugging a red whale plushie—where the heck did she get that?—and tilted her head in slow, thoughtful circles like her brain was still booting up.
"Hmm… well, you could say that. Captain does look at him kinda weird. But officially, he's still just… a teammate. Probably."
She gave the most painfully literal, overprecise answer possible. Then, with a yawn, she turned to the red-haired girl with a dead-serious face and added:
"Anyway, he is our companion. Also, weren't you wondering who healed your wounds earlier? This guy's the one you should be thanking."
Hearing that, Steven puffed out his chest just a little. Saving lives was something he'd done from the heart, but getting a little recognition? He could enjoy that.
"Wha—? Oh no—my bad! That was way out of line. And, um… thank you so much, Doctor!"
Realizing her mistake, the red-haired girl—Sona—quickly sheathed her blade and bowed repeatedly in apology, flustered and remorseful.
She hadn't expected her healer to return so casually, let alone without explaining anything about himself. Thankfully, she'd paused to call out to Skadi and Specter first. If she hadn't, there was a good chance she might've attacked him on reflex when he came too close.
"Fine, I suppose I'll accept your apology. But as for the thanks for treating your wounds... don't think I'll take that so easily."
Steven waved her off with a smirk, already walking toward the bathroom.
"Now, if you ladies don't mind, could you step out for a bit? I've got a shower to take."
Steven glanced at her—yeah, he couldn't really blame the girl. The real problem was the other two.
'Seriously, you two couldn't just let her sleep in your room instead?'
He sighed.
Clearly, expecting too much from Skadi and Specter was his mistake.
"Alright, alright, got it!"
Like a startled squirrel, Sona rapidly nodded her head and scurried out of Steven's room. But as she turned around outside the doorway, she noticed something odd—Skadi and Specter weren't moving an inch.
Steven noticed it too.
With a confused look, he stared at the two girls who were still lingering near the door, eyes sleepy but expressions oddly serious.
"So… did any of those assassins chasing her show up again tonight?"
He figured he should confirm it now.
As far as he knew, they'd already sent the Armorless Union Lazurite and Platinum assassins straight to the hospital. But who knew how many ranks the organization had? Gold, Darksteel, Tungsten? Anything was possible.
The squirrel girl did seem like an important target. No way that sketchy group would just give up.
"Can't really say they attacked, but… someone new was tailing us."
Skadi's tone sharpened noticeably. The sleepiness faded as the topic turned to combat—a realm where she never let her guard down.
Steven nodded as if that was the answer he'd expected.
"So, how did you deal with them?"
The thing about tails was, taking out the watchers didn't solve the problem. If you didn't cut off the puppet masters behind them, they'd keep coming. Over and over.
"I didn't get the chance."
"I didn't even get a word out of them. By the time I noticed they were tailing us... Laurentina had already taken them apart into five neat pieces."
Skadi sighed and rubbed her temple with exasperation.
It wasn't like Specter hadn't gotten better about her wild bloodlust and violent tendencies, but the moment she entered a fight… It was like flipping a switch. She became a tornado of gore and grinning madness.
Steven wasn't sure whether to call it a blessing or a curse.
Specter, on the other hand, flashed him the most innocent, dazzling smile imaginable—like they weren't just talking about her butchering half a surveillance team.
"Alright, fine. Whatever. In any case—out."
Steven waved them off and stepped toward the bathroom, giving the two lingering Abyssal Hunters girls a very clear eviction notice.
"Huh? You don't need us to scrub your back today?"
Skadi tilted her head and asked her question so innocently that it could—and absolutely would—be misunderstood by anyone listening.
Specter nodded along with terrifying enthusiasm, her sleepy expression now replaced with a mischievous grin that screamed drama incoming.
Now, usually this might have been fine… but today, there was a problem.
Because the red-haired squirrel girl standing nearby had not left yet.
Sona, now frozen in place, stared at the trio, wide-eyed and unblinking.
She swallowed hard.
Wait— didn't they call him brother-in-law earlier? What kind of weirdly tangled mess is this relationship?!
<+>
Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 321: On This Land, None Have the Right to Judge Me[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/137777087[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/137777087
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/137777087
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=expanded