I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 247 New Quest (1)

Yuri’s gaze towards Lisa shifted drastically.

The look of confusion he had when facing an unknown, mysterious creature was completely gone. Instead, his eyes now held the familiarity and affection one might have when looking at something known and dear.

Theresia and Arin, who were observing the change from up close, exchanged a brief comment.

“…Did he just call her a money pouch?”

“I heard that too.”

“How terrible.”

Gunter, Poppy, and Mucci, though they said nothing, nodded vigorously in agreement.

However, neither Yuri, who uttered the words, nor Lisa, who heard them, seemed to think much of it.

Yuri’s eyes were filled with satisfaction as he looked at Lisa.

‘Where did this little treasure come from?’

Here in the Cradle, Points were everything; there was no currency more valuable than that.

But he wouldn’t be in the Cradle for a thousand or ten thousand years.

In a few years, he would have to step back into society.

At that point, he would inevitably be desperate for the currency accepted in the outside world.

‘Having a hefty money pouch like this one means there’s nothing to fear in this world!’

Especially when that money pouch was said to be the heaviest in the world.

And such a thing was casually within arm’s reach, as if tempting him to pick it up quickly.

Yuri struggled to suppress his joy and excitement at the sight.

‘To catch such a big fish perfectly, I must be cautious… very cautious!’

Even though it seemed like she was currently inviting him with an “Hurry, take me with you!” attitude, one could never predict how people’s minds might change.

Lisa’s attitude could also change at any moment.

Especially those like her, who had a screw or two loose, were completely unpredictable.

Therefore, for now, the most important thing for him was to ensure that this money pouch, which he might not be able to open anytime soon, remained intact.

He had to make sure nothing went wrong until he could finally open it in a few years.

After composing himself, Yuri spoke.

“All right, Lisa Verfort.”

Yuri had quickly adopted a tone specifically for Lisa.

And in front of him, Lisa bowed her head respectfully.

“Please, speak, my Lord Yuri.”

“No need to go far and make it inconvenient; just set up your residence where you originally intended.”

“Would that be permissible?”

Lisa’s face lit up, and Yuri smiled back, nodding.

“It’s perfectly fine, as much as you want.”

“Thank you for your great kindness.”

Seeing Lisa’s joy, Yuri gestured toward someone.

“Hey, come over here.”

“Me?”

Mucci, pointing at his own face, was surprised by Yuri’s sudden call.

As Yuri beckoned him over, Mucci hesitantly approached.

Yuri patted Mucci on the waist and spoke.

“Lisa, if you have any trouble or need to relay a message to me, tell this guy. Mucci, make sure Lisa isn’t uncomfortable, and if anyone harasses her, come straight to me.”

“Huh?! Why… why me…?!”

Mucci, stunned by the sudden responsibility, looked at Yuri.

“Tsk!”

“Ooh… Ah, okay.”

Mucci nodded meekly after Yuri gave him a sharp glare.

Yuri then pulled Mucci closer by his ear and whispered softly.

“The moment anything happens to Lisa… you’ll be spending seven days straight in hell.”

“…?!”

Mucci felt a chill run down his spine at Yuri’s grim warning.

‘Se… seven days in hell?!’

That meant Yuri would make him work without letting him sleep for a whole week.

As Mucci froze in place, Yuri patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry too much; if you take care of Lisa like you’d take care of yourself, there won’t be any issues.”

“Ooh…”

Seeing Yuri’s sly smile, Mucci regretted his decision.

‘If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have come here…’

His unnecessary meddling had landed him with this troublesome task.

He hadn’t expected to be backstabbed like this.

At that moment, Mucci realized.

‘Ah… this is why people get distrustful of others!’

Mucci had wanted to show others that sincerity still existed in people.

But instead, he ended up learning about human distrust firsthand.

With this small realization, Yuri gave Mucci a final pat on the shoulder.

“I’m heading out. If anything happens, contact me through Mucci… Let’s see each other often.”

“Take care.”

Yuri waved lightly as he left, followed by the rest of the group, leaving Mucci behind.

As Mucci watched them disappear into the distance, he awkwardly extended a hand towards Lisa.

“Uh, so… let’s get along from now on.”

“…”

Lisa glanced down at Mucci’s hand briefly before responding in a flat voice.

“Yeah, sure.”

She then turned away, showing little interest, and walked off.

Mucci, feeling embarrassed by her reaction, pulled back his hand and scratched the back of his head.

“…Not long ago, she was the one who said we should get along.”

Was she really the same Lisa from before?

‘How can someone change this much?’

Lisa’s interest had always been Yuri, and Mucci was merely a means to get closer to that interest.

Now that she had achieved her goal, she no longer had any interest in him.

Realizing this, Mucci felt somewhat hurt and slumped his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Yuri’s group had reached the vicinity of the Demon King’s Castle.

Around that point, Yulia spoke up with a questioning tone.

“If you care about her so much, why not just take her into the Demon King’s Castle?”

At Yulia’s question, Yuri glanced briefly at Lisa before replying.

“I don’t know why, but it seems like she has some strange fantasy about me… There’s no need to shatter that, right?”

“Oh…”

“Fantasies are more mysterious and beautiful when left hidden.”

Yuri said with a faint smile, and the others around him nodded in agreement.

Gunter, in particular, was the most enthusiastic.

“I agree with that a thousand times over… no, ten thousand times!”

Gunter, who had once formed an unrealistic fantasy about Yuri when they met as children, could relate all too well now that he was paying the price.

Ignoring Gunter’s reaction, Yuri stared at Yulia.

“So… how long are you planning to follow me?”

At Yuri’s question, Yulia flinched and replied awkwardly.

“I haven’t finished drinking the tea from earlier…”

“You did finish it, didn’t you? It was completely empty.”

“Oh! I left something inside?! I’ll just go get it…”

Yulia tried to sneak past Yuri into the Demon King’s Castle, but Yuri grabbed her by the back of the neck.

“What kind of trickery is this?”

“Ugh…”

Dangling from Yuri’s grasp, Yulia resorted to her last tactic.

She put on the most pitiful and forlorn expression she could muster.

Looking up at Yuri with tearful eyes, she asked in a quivering voice.

“Can’t I… live here too? Hm?”

With her white hair and red eyes, she resembled a small rabbit, her appearance charming enough to be considered lethal beauty.

If it had been anyone but Yuri, she might have succeeded.

“Nope, get lost.”

Yuri flatly rejected her and threw Yulia far away.

As Yulia was flung through the air, she pouted and shouted.

“I have information on the second-year quest!”

Yuri, however, paid her no mind, waving dismissively as he entered the Demon King’s Castle.

At that moment, Theresia, who had been following Yuri, glanced back briefly and locked eyes with Yulia.

Heh—

Theresia’s smirk, barely noticeable, lingered in Yulia’s view before disappearing.

“Huh?”

At that instant, Yulia felt something swell up inside her chest.

“That… that brat!”

If she hadn’t seen it wrong, Theresia’s smile had definitely been one of victory.

Furious, Yulia resolved herself.

No matter what, she would find a way to get into the Demon King’s Castle too.

* * *

After getting the shopkeeper’s approval.

The skilled boys and girls, whose craftsmanship even Yuri acknowledged, quickly erected a few wooden structures.

Afterwards, a small sign was hung in front of the buildings.

If you don’t want to see blood, don’t mess with these kids.

—Yuri Holland

The blood-colored, ominous warning sign was enough to make even those approaching out of curiosity back away.

It allowed the new neighbors near the Demon King’s Castle to settle safely.

As the rumors of the new neighbors near the Demon King’s Castle spread.

“Yuri! The 50th Cadet Class is being summoned!”

The 50th Class received a summons.

* * *

In mid-February, when the harsh cold still lingered.

Shh-shh—

On a black sailboat cutting through the frigid wind, the members of the 50th Class sat, exuding a blade-like aura.

Seeing their relaxed yet scattered stances, the Bespectacled Man’s eyes gleamed.

‘…The atmosphere has certainly changed.’

These were the kids who had once shown nothing but clumsiness just a year ago.

In just one year, they had transformed, exuding the aura of seasoned mercenaries.

Though the Bespectacled Man had supervised other new cadet classes several times, never had he seen such a dramatic change in such a short time.

And he knew exactly where this change stemmed from.

Was there anyone in the Cradle who didn’t?

“Yawn… When is this starting?”

Yuri, sprawled out with his head resting on Arin’s lap, y

awned widely.

He was the problem.

The Bespectacled Man clicked his tongue inwardly as he looked at him.

‘Tsk, just how relentlessly must he have worked them?’

The training regimen of Yuri Holland, as reported to the Bespectacled Man, was severe to the point of disbelief.

The regular sparring sessions with the 50th Class were a part of that training.

Dragged into these brutal sparring sessions with Yuri, the 50th Class had no choice but to fight for survival.

In their desperate struggle to endure the relentless and merciless training, their skills and demeanor had grown rapidly day by day.

But such rapid growth came with swift side effects.

“Damn, it’s so freaking cold… When are we going to get there?”

“Shut up, idiot. If you were going to die from this, you would’ve died long ago.”

The language of the entire 50th Class was gradually becoming more and more like Yuri Holland’s.

The Bespectacled Man adjusted his glasses.

‘If their families saw this, they’d be horrified.’

In less than a year, the etiquette and refinement instilled over a decade of upbringing in good families had been stripped away.

While the Bespectacled Man evaluated the 50th Class, the black ship docked at an island’s pier.

Led by the Black Sword Corps, the 50th Class began to move.

Soon, they let out exclamations at the sight unfolding before them.

“Wow, what’s that?”

“It’s tall!”

Though they had seen various structures while completing quests in the Cradle, the building before them now was taller than any they had encountered.

“How many floors does it have?”

“About nine? Maybe ten?”

Watching the cadets’ admiring reactions, the Bespectacled Man allowed himself a satisfied smile.

It felt worthwhile, seeing the excitement in the children’s eyes.

But his smile quickly faded.

“Fall in!”

With a short command, the 50th Class promptly lined up.

There was a light buzz of excitement and anticipation in their eyes.

‘This is the first quest of the second year.’

‘What kind of quest will it be?’

Sensing the 50th Class’s eager anticipation, the Bespectacled Man didn’t drag things out and promptly announced the quest.

“This quest is called the Hundred-Day Tower.”

His voice, imbued with mana, reached every corner, and the eyes of the 50th Class shifted quickly.

By their second year in the Cradle, they had begun to guess the nature of quests from their names.

Seeing the change in their eyes, the Bespectacled Man smiled slightly.

“For this quest, all you have to do is climb as high as you can within 100 days in that tower. Of course, what happens inside the tower won’t be as simple.”

The Bespectacled Man’s smile carried a hint of malice as he continued.

“Additionally, the tower has four entrances, and the difficulty will vary depending on the entrance you choose: Easy, Normal, Hard, and… Hell.”

At the mention of “Hell,” the cadets flinched reflexively.

But the Bespectacled Man’s explanation continued.

“The Hundred-Day Tower consists of nine floors in total, and of course, the rewards for the quest will depend on how difficult an entrance you choose and how high you manage to climb in 100 days.”

Naturally, the cadets’ eyes sparkled at the thought of better rewards for tougher difficulties.

Seeing this, the Bespectacled Man chuckled and unusually added a personal remark.

“I know you’re all brimming with confidence after surviving your first year. But I have just one thing to say to you… Don’t get cocky.”

“…”

“In the second, third, and following years, expulsions due to poor grades become less frequent in the Cradle. Yet why does the number of cadets keep dwindling?”

“…?!”

There were only two reasons a class’s total number decreased in the Cradle.

Expulsion of lower performers.

And… death.

The Bespectacled Man was indirectly warning them.

Higher-year quests had a higher likelihood of death.

So if they valued their lives, they shouldn’t get greedy and should choose their difficulty wisely.

The cadets understood the dire warning and stiffened their expressions.

Satisfied with the subdued atmosphere, the Bespectacled Man moved to wrap up his briefing.

“That’s all for the explanation. As for the details, you’ll have to discover them yourselves as you go. But since this is your first quest as second-year cadets… I’ll allow one question, and I’ll answer it on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Having spent a year with the Bespectacled Man, this was the first time the 50th Class had ever heard him offer to answer a question.

Surprised at first, the cadets quickly became serious.

One question.

This was a valuable opportunity that could greatly aid their quest.

As some began to ponder what the best question to ask would be.

Swoosh—

A white hand shot up faster than anyone else’s.

The Bespectacled Man’s expression shifted to one of mild surprise.

“…You were the quickest. What’s your question, Yuri Holland?”

All eyes turned to Yuri.

Under the collective gaze, Yuri asked in a calm voice.

“So, which way do we go for the Hell entrance?”

“…”

The moment his indifferent question ended, a chilling silence fell over the room.