Chapter 18 : Storm’s New Instructor (2)

“Ah, I’m telling the truth! He’s said to be the top of the new instructors in the swordsmanship department. Honestly, when I first heard the rumor, I thought it was nonsense, but after seeing him today, I completely understand. He’s no ordinary hero.”

“Wait, isn’t Edgar Mulick the hero who was notorious as a troublemaker during our academy days?”

“That’s exactly why it’s even stranger.”

The capital of the Kleppe Kingdom, Tristan.

As the core city where the kingdom’s heroes gather the most, the number of taverns where heroes meet and talk is also huge.

Especially this place, called the ‘Hero’s Tavern,’ which offers premium food and drinks at a high price.

It’s so popular among heroes that there are dozens of branches within the kingdom.

And because heroes gather here, there are countless rumors circulating from their mouths.

“So, that Edgar really awakened the third Crossroad?”

“At least! At least! Honestly, just by watching his movements… It might even have been the fourth Crossroad.”

“Ugh! What do you mean the fourth Crossroad! Then are you saying he’s at the level of Instructor Akina? Say something that makes sense.”

“Agh! I’m telling you, it’s true! How can I prove this?”

And right now.

In a few hero taverns scattered throughout Tristan, a very strange rumor was spreading.

The rumor hadn’t even been around for long.

It started spreading just as numerous heroes—mostly those newly selected as instructors—began arriving in Tristan from the special city of Sachsen.

—A mid-level monster appeared in the Red Bush Zone!

—Edgar hunted all those monsters alone!

—Edgar might have awakened the fourth Crossroad!

Heroes were babbling all sorts of stories.

To sum up their stories briefly, it went something like this.

And then.

“Hmm…?”

In one of the hero taverns located on the outskirts of Tristan.

A regular customer, Toulouan, tilted his head.

He often came here to gather tidbits from the heroes’ stories, but today’s rumor was particularly hard to grasp.

“Owner. Who is this Edgar that keeps coming up in the heroes’ conversations?”

So, he directly asked the tavern owner, with whom he had a close relationship.

The tavern owner widened his eyes and responded.

“You don’t know Edgar Mulick? He used to occasionally appear in the kingdom’s newspapers. The second son of the Mulick family, a hero with no talent for magic… Well, most of the articles were mocking him, though.”

Edgar Mulick.

The second son of the prestigious Marquis family of Mulick, known for their mastery of magic.

As soon as Toulouan heard that full name, he snapped his fingers.

“Ah! Mulick! I remember. But what about that Edgar?”

“Well, according to the heroes who came from Sachsen, that Edgar is apparently a swordsman hero who holds an incredible Crossroad.”

“…What?”

The tavern owner nonchalantly replied while wiping a wine glass.

“Today, a mid-level monster called a Kelleil suddenly appeared in the Red Bush Zone, and they say Edgar Mulick hunted down fifteen of them alone. It’s hard to believe, but there are quite a few heroes who testified the same thing.”

“…!!”

A mid-level monster appeared in the Red Bush Zone.

That alone was a huge incident.

The Red Bush Zone had only ever seen low-level monsters before, and since the source of the monsters’ appearance was still unknown, continuous investigations had been ongoing.

If a mid-level monster like Kelleil appeared there, it would become a danger zone that the kingdom itself would have to step in to handle.

The moment this news was spread, a royal investigation team would have likely been dispatched to the area without delay.

But a hero single-handedly hunted down fifteen of those Kelleil monsters?

And that hero was none other than the second son of the Mulick family, who had been secretly ridiculed as a bastard troublemaker?

‘This is a scoop!’

Toulouan’s eyes lit up.