A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"I'm tired now, Master. I can't even pick her up."

Bray can now confidently tell Juexiang that he is tired, extremely tired.

Saving this suspicious woman isn't out of the question, but only if he gets enough rest.

He yawned, but ultimately didn't dare to sleep in this forest surrounded by twisted creatures.

Although the polluter should be dead, the effect of the concept has completely disappeared.

But the distortions and changes that life can bring are irreversible. Once a persimmon is trampled, you can't simply restore it to its original state.

"Tired...?" Jue Xiang was stunned when he heard Bray's reason for not going to save the woman.

“Yes, I’m tired.” Bray nodded honestly.

Although he only swung his sword a few times, he was undoubtedly exhausted.

Don't expect him to be tireless like a berserker; he can't do it.

"Master is really useless..." Zekyou muttered.

"..." Despite being looked down upon by Jue Xiang, the fact that he was tired would not change.

So Bray remained calm and sat down to rest.

But the sword standing in front of him was telling everyone around him not to approach recklessly.

Bray was indeed very tired, but after a short rest, he could still deliver a powerful blow.

For him, one sword strike was enough to protect himself.

---

The fishy smell in the air began to fade.

However, the strange creatures crawling all around tell everyone that this place is no longer a place where normal people can set foot.

Perhaps later there will be commissions specifically for people to hunt down these twisted monsters.

Otherwise, if we let them continue to develop, who knows what even more terrifying things might happen.

Of course, none of this concerned Bray; he had already taken care of the most crucial guy.

He almost died because of this.

Judging from the process and outcome of the battle, he seemed to have no risk of dying at all.

But Bray knew that he only had a sword and nothing else.

If the sword can't defeat the opponent, then I might as well just wait to die.

"Nice figure." Bray crouched down, sizing up the woman he had carried out.

She's definitely a mature and sophisticated woman, maybe even a year or two older than me.

She was naked when he carried her out, so Bray spread his coat over her.

"Master..." Juexiang should be puffing out his cheeks by now.

Of course, Bray couldn't see it.

After Bray finished speaking, the woman groaned and woke up.

It was as if Bray had been talking too loudly and woken her up.

"I..." The woman opened her eyes and saw a guy with a blank look squatting next to her.

This left her unsure of what to say.

Not only was Bray's right eye vacant, but he was also wearing an eye patch.

The woman was unsure what kind of person Bray would be.

Or what's wrong with her now...? Why can't she remember anything?

"What's your name?" Bray asked directly, ignoring the woman's confused expression.

“Marienvis…” Although she had forgotten many things, she could still remember basic things like her name.

“Then it seems he hasn’t lost his memory.” Bray nodded to himself.

Actually, he was just testing Marin.

Then he went straight to the point and asked Marlene what had happened to her and why she was inside the armor.

Bray, in turn, told her what he knew.

At first, Marlene was a little confused, but fortunately, what Bray said helped her recall a lot of things.

For example, they might say they were abducted, that their family originally lived in Risak, or that they were a bard.

Bree rested his chin on his hand, observing Marin.

Based on the current information, it is impossible to explain why she appeared inside the body of the Aragami.

However, Marlene also lacked any conceptual aura, therefore she was not the source of the Aragami.

This is such a hassle; he doesn't want to use his brain.

“Your home is in Risak, right?” Bray asked.

“Yes…” Marlene unconsciously sat up straight, her tone becoming polite without her noticing.

I don't know if it's because Bray looks too fierce.

But you can't say that Bray is fierce, because he also has a bit of a Zen-like quality to him.

He gives off the impression of being neither a good person nor a bad person.

If an elderly woman falls down on the roadside, he probably wouldn't be too eager to help her up.

Ah, isn't this the most heinous criminal...?

“How about I take you home?” Bray said to Marlene.

"Really?" Marlene was overjoyed upon hearing this.

She knew she couldn't get back to this place on her own; all she could rely on was Bray.

“It’s paid,” Bray added.

“But I don’t have any money right now…” Marlene nervously clutched the clothes covering her body.

It was only then that she realized the clothes she was wearing were Bray's.

“No… even if you want that…” Marlene bit her lower lip, her voice trembling slightly.

"Master, it seems she has misunderstood something," Zetsu said.

"..." Bray was speechless. He really just wanted money.

“1G,” he said, holding up one finger.

"What?" Marlene hadn't reacted yet, staring blankly at Bray.

“I said, when you go back, give me 1G, and we’ll be even,” Bray said irritably.

"Just that little bit?"

“You can give me ten thousand too.” Bray shrugged.

“Thank you…” Marlene hesitated for a moment before saying to him.

"Don't thank me yet, take care of your clothes first."

As it stands, Marin can only wear his own clothes.

"Do you hate the smell of sweat?" Bray asked.

“It’s acceptable…” Marlene said, head down.

---

Before returning to the capital to complete his mission, Bray made a special trip to Risak to take Marlene home.

However, this place happened to be not far from the imperial border, so he didn't take a long detour.

Marin returned home safely.

It seems that something ambiguous happened during the trip, but by the way, it was one-sided.

Bray didn't feel that anything ambiguous had happened at all; he usually just looked up at the sky.

Nothing more beautiful happened between him and Marlene.

One was the rescuer, and the other was the rescued.

Bray suddenly had a good deed and sent Marlene home, and Marlene was very grateful to Bray, but that was all.

"Thank you for saving my sister, thank you so much..." A young man kept thanking Bray.

This guy, who's about the same age as Bray, has probably thanked me a dozen times already.

“You’ve thanked me enough.” Bray shook his head; he was practically brainwashed by the word “thank you.”

"The reward," he said, extending his palm towards Marlene with a blank expression.

Marlene smiled slightly. After spending some time with Bray, she discovered that although Bray was strange, he wasn't a bad person.

She took a coin out of her clothes and carefully placed it in Bray's hand.

“Whenever you come to Risak, I will always welcome you,” Marlene said.

“Okay.” Bray nodded casually, accepting this verbal free meal ticket.

Perhaps this is the best ending for him and her. Apple's new book will be available on July 1st, please support it.

By the way, after the new book is released, I won't focus on this book anymore; I'll basically be updating "The Assassin's Log" twice a year.

If it's an "if" line, then updates will be sporadic, and I'll only maintain a minimum standard of around 8 words per month.

There won't be any updates today, because I need to write and upload the drafts for my new book.

Today, the sky is clear.

Bray looked up and stared blankly at the sky, just like always.

However, his surroundings were different from those in the Central Continent; it was covered in snow.

The skies over other continents are different from those over the central continent.

"Master, you're looking at the clouds again." Zetsu-hyang had gotten used to his Master looking up at the sky.

“Hmm…” Bray responded casually to the final resounding reply.

"Then wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth first," Juexiang couldn't help but say.

Why do I drool when I look at the sky? The clouds aren't cotton candy.

She couldn't understand what her Master was thinking.

After hearing the words of the final climax, Bray wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

It wasn't that he thought there was anything delicious in the sky; it was just that he had been mouthing for so long that his saliva started drooling from the corners of his mouth.

He is currently located within the territory of Snowwind Fortress in the Northern Continent.

It has been two years since I first accepted the commission to defeat the Aragami.

In the past two years, I have accepted commissions from both the Empire and the Federation.

They're basically all related to the gods of the wilderness. If they weren't related to them, Bray wouldn't even bother to take them on.

The Empire and the Federation did secretly issue commissions to themselves that were completely unrelated to the Arasen.

However, Bray found these tasks boring and meaningless, so he didn't accept any of them.

Later, some people said that as citizens of the empire, this was practically treason.

After all, Bray not only accepted the Federation's commission but also failed to help the Empire, thus betraying his own country.

However, Bray couldn't understand how these people thought.

He never did anything to harm the empire, not to mention that he killed several of the empire's devastating gods that were on the verge of destruction.

Are these people... idiots?

He claims to be a sword saint while simultaneously discrediting himself.