Dragonslayer’s Class Regression Chapter 164

Chapter 164

“MMM.”

Rick regained consciousness and woke up.

Blinking his eyes, he quickly got up and looked around.

The cave was now clean and organized, with his companions all asleep at the campsite.

‘The… spirit?’

It felt like everything before he fainted was a dream.

But the pain in his shoulder told him it definitely wasn’t a dream.

“UUUUGH.”

Painful groaning came from somewhere. Rick looked around carefully again and found an old man bound completely, groaning in pain in a corner of the cave.

‘Who is that?’

He got up and approached the restrained Dusk.

That’s when Zeke’s voice was heard.

“It’s better not to touch that monster.”

When Rick turned around, Zeke was standing nearby with snow he had gathered.

He put a pot of snow over the fire and approached where Rick was.

Passing by him, Zeke went to Dusk and kicked him in the solar plexus.

“UUUUGH!”

Dusk twisted his whole body in pain.

Rick asked Zeke in bewilderment.

“Z-Zeke sir. What happened? Who is this old man?”

“This is him. The sorcerer who controlled the spirit.”

“Really? Goodness. You caught the sorcerer, Zeke sir!”

“Yes. Luckily, the Deep Breath of the Fire Giant I had as a last resort worked well.”

Rick fully believed Zeke’s words seeing the burn marks throughout the cave. These weren’t marks that could be left by Arin’s fire magic.

And the Deep Breath of the Fire Giant would have burned until it consumed the tree spirit since its flames never extinguish – a powerful enough item to completely turn the situation around.

By the time Zeke finished preparing the food, the others had woken up.

Though everyone suffered from headaches due to the evil tree spirit’s bizarre curse, they seemed in good spirits since everything ended safely.

While eating warm soup and bread, Jason said.

“We saved time since we don’t have to go to the dungeon.”

“We were lucky. If the sorcerer had been waiting with traps in the dungeon, we might have missed him.”

Rick was terrified at Zeke’s words. He couldn’t help but shudder thinking about what happened last night.

Rick said to Zeke.

“Since we caught the sorcerer, shall we go to Panstas and then to House Graham, Zeke sir?”

Zeke nodded.

“Good. We should be able to catch a carriage to Barkal from Gorka village. I know the fastest route is taking the direct train to Panstas from Barkal.”

After finishing their meal, the group dragged Dusk along and headed toward Gorka village as Zeke suggested.

Luckily, they were able to catch a regular carriage heading to Barkal right away.

Jason remained vigilant in case the evil sorcerer tried to curse them and escape, but Dusk was broken after being interrogated by Zeke all night.

He had already painfully realized there was no escaping Zeke’s grasp even if he tried to run.

* * *

“WHEW! So many people.”

Barkal was one of the larger cities among the Free City Alliance of the Northern Continent.

It developed as a mining city centered around the ice mountain range’s gold mines, but lately was famous for metal manufacturing including steel.

Perhaps because of this, dwarves made up the largest portion of the population.

And fitting for a place with many dwarves, half the people in the city were drinking beer like water even though it was still daytime.

Rick headed to the Adventurer’s Guild branch in Barkal with his companions.

Though not as large as the headquarters in Argos, the Barkal branch was quite sizeable.

“Everyone wait in the waiting room. I’ll process the paperwork with Zeke sir.”

Zeke and Rick headed to reception dragging Dusk along.

The process finished after Rick filled out simple documents and showed the commission from House Graham.

He received tickets for the special criminal transport section of the direct train to Panstas and returned to Zeke.

“I got the earliest time. The train departs tonight.”

“Good. We should put this one in the branch prison and get some rest and sleep.”

Since they had sealed all of Dusk’s abilities with the soul binding technique, it was fine to put him in prison.

After dealing with Dusk, while Rick’s group rested at the inn, Zeke decided to look around Barkal city.

Zeke walked through Barkal’s streets lost in thought.

This was because Barkal was the city where he had stayed the longest in his previous life, except for Himonas.

‘Not much different from back then.’

From the alley where he drank with his unit members after finishing Northern Alliance missions, to where he ordered equipment – all the places that remained in Zeke’s memories were still there.

Though now they were memories that only Zeke remembered.

Entering a restaurant he frequented in his previous life, Zeke ordered skillfully.

As the restaurant owner who he used to greet daily didn’t recognize him, Zeke keenly felt once again that he had regressed to the past.

Northern food was rough but full of sincerity.

Tasting the food here after several years, Zeke felt like he had returned home.

‘To feel nostalgia for home here that I didn’t feel at House Draker.’

After a long time, Zeke heard the conversation from the next table while savoring his food.

“The Grand Duke’s situation is getting worse.”

It was a unique table where a dwarf, human, and naga were sitting together.

The naga, a snake-person, elegantly cut and ate a boiled duck egg with their characteristically flexible movements.

“I told you. At this rate, Himonas will be split into several pieces.”

At those words, the dwarf gulped down his beer and slammed the glass down hard.

“Again! Again! Are you going to keep saying such unlucky things, you snake!”

The human who looked like a mage next to him spoke with a troubled expression.

“It’s problematic when you keep making such discriminatory remarks about species. You’ll definitely make a slip of the tongue in an official setting someday.”

The dwarf ordered another beer with an annoyed expression.

The naga, who had already finished eating the boiled duck eggs, flicked their tongue and said.

“Anyway. When Himonas splits, our side will take a hit too. The Grand Duke is clever and excellent, but still young and inexperienced. Without someone to firmly support them from behind, it won’t last a few years.”

The human nodded at the naga’s words.

“I agree with that statement. With the northern lords like rough wolves baring their teeth and watching for opportunities…”

The dwarf snorted and said.

“You lot don’t properly understand the Himonas Knights! No matter how much the northern lords act up, only the Grand Duke can move the knights!”

The snake-person spoke while licking up the ice cream that came as dessert.

“Who doesn’t know that. I told you. The Himonas Knights are like an ultimate magic that can never be used. The moment you use it, the situation ends anyway. It means mutual destruction.”

Listening to the three people’s conversation, Zeke realized that Himonas’s situation was gradually heading in a bad direction.

One of the reasons was that the Thistle Knights, who made up a large part of the Himonas Knights’ forces, had gone to where the Empire and Drake were roaming through the Ice Mountains, causing disruption to their military strength.

‘That naga is right. The moment the Himonas Knights are used, the north will enter into war, and Himonas’s precariously maintained blood alliance will shatter.’

After talking about Himonas’s situation for a while, the three people got up from the restaurant saying they should go drink.

Zeke also finished his meal and returned to the inn where Rick’s group was staying.

Although he was concerned about the situation with the Northern Grand Duke and Himonas, it wasn’t a problem he could directly intervene in.

‘This is a problem she must overcome herself. If I intervene clumsily, it will only harm both of us.’

Zeke suppressed his desire to run to Himonas right away.

As soon as he met Rick’s group, they stopped by the branch to pick up Dusk and went to Barkal Station.

The special section Rick had received had iron bars installed to contain criminals, and Zeke put Dusk inside before taking his seat.

Jason stretched and said.

“UGH! Since it’ll take fifteen hours, let’s take turns sleeping. We couldn’t even sleep properly at the inn.”

Claire next to him retorted sharply.

“You could have rested during the time you were trying to pick up women at the inn restaurant. Why don’t you learn from Rick who only has eyes for Arin?”

Jason replied with a smirk.

“If I had to choose between being a virgin or a playboy, I’d choose the latter.”

Soon Jason fell asleep snoring in his seat, and Arin and Claire also fell asleep leaning on each other.

Rick approached Zeke and said.

“I’ll keep watch, so please get some rest too, Sir Zeke.”

Instead of answering, Zeke asked Rick.

“How did you learn the Five Light Sword Technique?”

Rick’s eyes suddenly shook violently.

He slowly opened his mouth while looking at Zeke.

“So you knew.”

“I didn’t think an ordinary adventurer would have learned the secret sword technique of the Thebea Royal Guard Knights. Actually, I’m curious about Jason’s background too. The other party members’ skills are also not ordinary.”

“While everyone has their circumstances… in my case, it’s family matters.”

“Family matters.”

Rick hesitated before slowly speaking.

“What’s there to hide from you, Sir Zeke, who saved my life. Actually, Rick isn’t my real name.”

“It was an alias?”

“Yes, my real name is Jefrik Solma.”

‘Huh?’

The name Jefrik wasn’t unfamiliar. Zeke soon realized the identity of that name.

‘The Mist Knight Jefrik Solma, one of the Five Star Knights.’

He was one of the future Five Star Knights he had wanted to meet in Valhalla, but couldn’t contact because he was out performing graduation field training missions.

Jefrik saw Zeke’s reaction and asked.

“Do you know about the Solma family?”

“I only know that they’re an old noble family of Thebea.”

“A noble family. Yes, that’s how it’s known to the outside.”

He slowly continued speaking.

“Actually, I’m practically abandoned by the Solma family.”

“Abandoned? What do you mean?”

“The Solma family has to compete harshly with blood brothers for the sake of the name of nobility. Due to my personality, I couldn’t adapt to such a family atmosphere and always fell behind in competition.”

Zeke recalled something after hearing Jefrik’s words.

‘Ah, now that I think about it, that person was in the Solma family. Jonathan Solma.’

Jonathan was Jefrik’s older brother and one of the knights renowned as a genius from a young age.

He was promoted to Blue Knight before thirty, and during the Continental War, he was one of the main knights of the Western Resistance who fought against the Imperial Army until the end.

From Zeke’s memory, he met his death in a battle with Abel Drake, the Knight of Madness.

‘Is it because of an inferiority complex towards his excellent brother?’

Jefrik sighed again and continued speaking.

“I entered Valhalla after leaving the family to try to fix my personality, but I dropped out right before graduation.”

“Isn’t Valhalla the famous knight school? Why drop out…”

“I couldn’t focus on the graduation exam because I was too worried about whether the direction I was thinking was right. In the end, I couldn’t properly finish and now I’m wandering the continent as an adventurer.”

Zeke clicked his tongue internally at Jefrik’s words.

‘He thinks too much.’

While being cautious could be a strength, sometimes it could also be a weakness preventing major decisions.

Jefrik was exactly such a case.

He looked at Zeke and said.

“Sir Zeke. How can I become strong like you? I… want to break through this wall.”

He seemed completely lost and wandering after being unable to break through the wall and letting his worries drag on for too long.

Looking at Jefrik, Zeke said firmly.

“Honestly, I think you’re too caught up in your Imagination.”

Jefrik made a bewildered expression at Zeke’s unexpected answer.

“What? What do you mean?”

Zeke looked at Jefrik and grinned.

“Jefrik, have you ever truly pushed yourself to your limits?”

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