Chapter 390

Prica furrowed his brow while looking at Raon Zieghart and the Light Wind squad's shoes.

'They are ordinary boots.'

They were easily walking on the muddy ground even though the combat boots they were wearing were nothing but a hindrance when it came to walking on a swamp.

Countless people had visited the swamp in the past, but it was his first time seeing an entire squad having no problem with walking.

'Moreover…'

Unlike Raon Zieghart's void presence, which felt like he didn't exist at all, a frightening madness was glowing from the eyes of the Light Wind members.

"Ugh…"

Prica couldn't see straight into their eyes and groaned.

'What kind of people even have that look in their eyes?'

He'd heard the rumor that the Light Wind squad was often called the Mad Dog squad, but they were even worse than anything he'd imagined. He hurriedly lowered his head because he felt like he would be devoured if he kept looking at them.

"Uhh…"

"I-is that the Light Wind squad?"

"They are a bit different… no, a lot different from the rumors."

"I can't even look at them."

Rangers—including Wellis—swallowed nervously, frightened by the savage pressure coming from the Light Wind squad.

Raon approached them without making the slightest sound, as if he was walking on dry ground, and smiled.

"Did you come to fetch us from House Arianne?"

"Ah, yes! I'm the third team leader of the Rangers, Prica."

Prica bowed while hiding his panic.

"Nice to meet you. I'm the Light Wind's vice squad leader, Raon Zieghart."

"Ah…"

Raon's bow wasn't rude or excessive. His heart was throbbing upon realizing that the famous White Sword Dragon was greeting him back.

"We-welcome to House Arianne… Hieeh!"

Prica saw the three warriors behind Raon while raising his head and unconsciously screamed.

The pressures behind the green, black, and purple eyes made his heart shrink in fear.

"Rangers? I can tell that they are agile."

"But they look like wimps. Can they even fight with those bodies?"

"Their shoes look special."

"Uhh…"

The three of them were casually talking about him, but he couldn't open his mouth because their pressures were crushing him.

'They must be the Light Wind squad's team leaders.'

He'd heard the rumor that the Light Wind squad's team leaders had excellent results in the Six Kings tournament, and he could tell that they were monsters beyond what the rumors stated.

"Contain your pressures already."

Raon clicked his tongue while looking behind him, and the entire Light Wind squad—including the three team leaders—suppressed their pressure.

It was proof that Raon was in perfect control of the squad.

"I'll follow your guidance."

"Ah, understood. Let's leave right awa—ah!"

Prica was going to depart right away but suddenly stopped. He opened the carriage behind him and took out the swamp boots.

"Those are the vine boots that allow you to walk on the swamp. It should be a lot easier to move around while wearing those."

"In that case, please give us two pairs of them."

Raon nodded and extended his hands.

"Two of them?"

"Since walking on the swamp is part of their training, everyone except for those children will keep walking like this."

He pointed at the two small children. They were the ones who seemed to be having a hard time standing on the swamp, unlike the other Light Wind swordsmen.

"Young master! I'll keep going without them! Mister Mark said he would help me!"

The twin-tail girl energetically waved her hand.

"I'm also doing it if you are! Vice squad leader, I won't wear the boots either!"

The boy who was giving a sharp impression clenched his fist as if he were competing against her.

"You heard them. I appreciate the offer, but I must decline."

Raon smiled faintly and shook his head.

"Hmm, understood. Let's go."

Prica extended his hand and pointed ahead.

"Wellis, you should guide them from the front. I'll follow after cleaning up."

"Ah, okay."

Wellis swallowed nervously before he advanced, and Raon followed him along with the Light Wind squad.

'Even that idiot isn't going to play a prank on the Light Wind squad.'

Prica put the boots back into the carriage and examined the swamp and the carriage's condition before following the party from behind.

Wellis bit his lip while walking in the front.

'I'm so screwed. What am I even supposed to tell the higher-ups?'

They'd even paid him to soak the Zieghart swordsmen in mud so they wouldn't be able to move for a while, yet not a single one of them fell in the swamp. They were going to arrive at House Arianne in perfect condition.

'There's nothing I can do when they are walking perfectly fine without any boots… Hmm?'

He walked while looking at the ground and noticed that an area in the swamp ahead of him had a lighter hue.

'The clear swamp!'

It was the area of the swamp with a higher proportion of water because the sand either subsided or spread sideways. Even the Light Wind squad would end up falling into the swamp if they went over there.

'Alright.'

Wellis changed the direction slightly to guide the Light Wind squad toward the clear swamp.

Unfortunately for them, it was dark in the area because the sun was setting, and he could guess that Raon and the Light Wind squad wouldn't be able to avoid getting their clothes wet no matter how powerful they were.

Wellis guided the Light Wind squad towards the clear swamp in a natural manner and secretly looked back when Raon was about to step on the swamp. And…

Whaam!

Along with a tremendous noise resounding throughout the swamp, the mud soared like a fountain before falling back down.

Whack!

The mud fell straight on Wellis, and he had to roll on the ground.

"Kueeh!"

Every single piece of the mud felt as painful as a bulky man's punch. It hurt so much that he couldn't even stand up.

"Grr…."

He was about to sink into the swamp when a hand suddenly appeared and grabbed him by his collar to drag him back out.

It was Raon's doing. He took him out of the swamp with a gentle smile on his face.

"Are you okay?"

"Thank yo—hieeh!"

He was trying to express his gratitude when he noticed the frightening glow from Raon's eyes. His teeth clattered because he seemed to be telling him that his head was going to roll if he did anything funny again.

"I-I beg your pardon!"

Wellis suddenly bowed to the point where his head reached the swamp instead of thanking him.

'He's the type of person I should never offend…'

He thought he was gentler compared to the Light Wind squad, but it was a grave mistake. There was a good reason why he had those monsters as his subordinates.

"Hey, you idiot!"

Prica came running from behind and smacked the back of Wellis's head.

"I told you to stop it!"

He immediately turned around and bowed to Raon.

"I'm sorry! He's just too mischievous. I'll be guiding you from now on."

"It's fine."

Raon smiled faintly. He pointed to the front as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Let's get moving. I'd like to arrive before it's too late."

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the gray castle walls on the swamp.

'Are these House Arianne's castle walls?'

He could feel a sturdy and unshakable pressure, as expected of castle walls that had survived a long period of time.

However, he could feel openings from various spots despite their proper appearance. It implied that it wasn't maintained too well.

How peculiar.

Wrath furrowed his brow while looking at the castle.

The one who built this castle must've been rather strong.

'How do you know that?'

It has a perfect balance.

'Balance?'

The castle was made with a perfect balance, and it's impossible to achieve for an ordinary person. It's completely broken though.

He lost interest and sat on Raon's shoulder to start murmuring that they should eat something already.

'He's not wrong.'

The first head of House Arianne was supposed to have subjugated the Swamp of Death alongside the first head of House Zieghart. It was only natural that he was a powerful person.

"A castle floating on a swamp. How lovely."

Burren seemed to be surprised at the castle's existence as he nodded in approval.

"Are you finding everything lovely or something?"

Martha was also surprised, but she frowned without showing her emotion.

"How pretty…"

Runaan's eyes were sparkling. She must've liked the contrast between the castle's appearance and the swamp.

Whaam!

While everyone in the Light Wind squad was surprised while looking at the castle, the gate was violently opened while pushing the swamp away.

They must've taken some kind of measures so that the mud from the swamp couldn't enter the castle.

A swordswoman with a brown ponytail walked out from the opened gate. She seemed to be in her early twenties, but she must've been older than she looked.

'She must be Wendy Arianne.'

She was the only Master of House Arianne and the youngest daughter of the head of house that was mentioned in Judiel's booklet.

"Thank you for coming all the way here. My name is Wendy Arianne, the leader of the Amber Blade division."

Wendy Arianne bowed to Raon. She seemed to have figured out Raon's identity at a glance.

"Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm the Light Wind's vice squad leader, Raon Zieghart."

Raon lowered his head and examined Wendy's energy.

'She's trained properly.'

She seemed to be lacking in experience, but she must've been continuously training her aura blade for a long time.

She was at the entry level of Master and was weaker than Mark Goetten, but she had the potential to climb higher if she trained properly.

'She's better than I expected.'

Raon had thought that everyone would be a mess because there was only one Master in House Arianne and the other swordsmen were supposed to be weak. However, that wasn't exactly the case.

Wendy Arianne at least had the eyes of a true warrior.

While Raon was observing Wendy, she was also examining Raon and the Light Wind squad.

'Hmm…'

Wendy narrowed her eyes upon noticing that no one in the Light Wind squad had any mud on their clothes.

'What's going on?'

Raon's case was understandable since he was a Master, but no one in the Light Wind squad was wet even though they were clearly wearing ordinary boots.

The only one covered in mud was Wellis even though he was a veteran ranger.

She looked aside, and his team leader, Prica, shrugged his shoulders. He seemed to be telling her that he brought it upon himself.

'He must've tried to pull a prank and got it right back at him.'

As the vice team leader of the third scouting team, the swamp was no different from dry land for Wellis. Considering the disgraceful shape he was in, Wendy could guess that Raon and the Light Wind squad's skills exceeded the rumors.

'And that's not the only thing that surprises me.'

Wendy's fingertips trembled as she looked at the Light Wind squad standing behind Raon.

'None of them are weak.'

People in the world often said that Raon and Rimmer were the only noticeable people in the Light Wind squad, but she could see that not a single member of the Light Wind squad could be called an easy opponent.

There was one Master among them, four people at the highest level of Expert, and the rest were either at the peak of intermediate Expert or advanced Expert.

Except for the two children, their formation was flawless.

'Is this what a real armed division of Zieghart looks like?'

Zieghart rarely sent swordsmen and employees to inspect the Swamp of Death, but she'd never seen people with such powerful pressures before.

Wendy lightly tapped her forehead to return to her senses and extended her hand.

"Please come this way."

She politely raised her hand towards Raon and the Light Wind squad.

"Our head of house is waiting."

"Understood."

Raon nodded and followed her toward the center of House Arianne.

'What an extravagant place.'

Wendy walked towards an extravagant mansion that looked like it was recently built.

Despite the splendid appearance, Raon couldn't feel any decent pressure from the guards.

'They are even more disappointing than I thought.'

No one met his standards except for Wendy and her subordinates. The laziness must've been even more prevalent than he thought.

The lord's manor of House Arianne was smaller than the Zieghart's, but not in terms of splendor.

They were supposed to be rich thanks to their regional product, and that must've been the reason why every single ornament on the wall looked extremely expensive.

"This is the audience chamber."

Wendy opened the arch-shaped door at the end of the lord's manor. The huge door was opened without any creaking sounds. The oil must've been nicely applied.

Raon could see a stair-shaped platform past the dazzling lighting coming from the audience chamber.

People standing on both sides of the platform seemed to be the executives of House Arianne, and a brown-haired old man was sitting at the top.

His greasy and plump cheeks and jelly belly exposed how much he'd been eating.

Raon walked across the red carpet at the center and bowed at him.

"Greetings, head of House Arianne. I'm Zieghart's vice squad leader of the Light Wind squad, Raon Zieghart."

Raon bowed politely because he was still the head of a house that had been Zieghart's ally for a long time even though it was a vassal house.

"So you are the White Sword Dragon. I can feel the spirit befitting your name."

A greasy voice could be heard from above the platform.

"Thank you for coming to such a distant place. You may stand."

"Thank you."

Raon straightened his back and looked up to the platform.

'So he must be the head of house Arianne, Weegen Arianne.'

Unlike the heads of Zieghart and the other houses, who were radiating with pressure just by existing, the old man in front of him created his presence through the dazzling lighting from the ceiling. There was no powerful pressure, iron will, or calculated intelligence in him.

Is that really a head of house?

Wrath also furrowed his nose in surprise.

His potential is above average, but his achievement is god-awful!

'I agree.'

Wrath was right. His fatness seemed to be the only achievement he had.

"How is the Destructive King of the North doing?"

"He's doing fine."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Weegen Arianne nodded. He smiled faintly, saying that he should visit him in the near future.

"I've prepared a banquet for the Light Wind squad since you came all the way here. Please enjoy it to your heart's content tonight."

He clapped his hands, saying that it would be entertaining. Raon could hear the gritting sound of teeth from Wendy behind him.

"I appreciate the warm welcome, but I have to decline."

Raon shook his head at Weegen Arianne.

"I came to House Arianne because of a request for reinforcement. It would be fine after I'm done with the job, but I believe now isn't the right time to have a banquet."

"Ahem…"

Weegen tapped on the armrest while showing his displeasure. The flesh on his forearm trembled to the wind.

"You probably don't know this, but the water level of the Swamp of Death has always changed often. It's not a big deal here."

"I heard that the number of undead monsters has also increased on top of the water level."

"They are just zombies and skeletons. A few arrows can easily deal with them even with the increase in number."

"Undead monsters are incapable of thinking by themselves. They might be scouting the surroundings from the orders of an advanced monster that appeared."

Raon said what he guessed on the way to House Arianne.

"Ahem, but that's just a guess."

Weegen cleared his throat and buried his back into the chair.

"I've been living in this land for my entire life. This occurrence has repeated every ten years—five, sometimes. It's not a big deal that's worth worrying about."

"In that case, why did you ask for reinforcement from the main house?"

"The Amber Blade division leader was worried for no reason."

He frowned while saying that the reinforcement request was Wendy Arianne's independent action and that she hadn't asked him for permission.

"Hmm…"

Raon kept staring at Weegen instead of looking at Wendy.

'This is exactly what I expected from him.'

The reason why Weegen was being so uncooperative was to hide his incompetence and laziness.

He just believed that the Swamp of Death would remain safe forever because it hadn't changed for hundreds of houses, and Raon could guess that he hadn't even sent out any scouts or subjugation teams in a long time.

If a problem occurred in the swamp, he was obviously going to be condemned by Zieghart. That was why he was trying to avoid the situation at hand and deal with the case afterward without Zieghart's help, which explained his attitude.

'He will make his move after I leave. However, that won't work anymore.'

The money and entertainment he offered would've worked on the other swordsmen and employees dispatched from Zieghart, but it was meaningless against the Light Wind squad since they were only focused on their growth and mission.

"My lord, we still need to confirm even if it already happened befo—"

"I'm the head of house here!"

Wendy stepped up and went on her knees, but Weegen frowned instead.

"The same goes for you, you don't need to do anything unnecessary. Consider this as a vacation and rest. We will deal with the incident since we know this place better than anyon—"

"I've mentioned before, but I need to do my job."

"You don't seem to realize, but you can't enter the Swamp of Death without my permission. Even the rangers have a hard time passing through that swamp, so just rest for now…"

"I'm sorry, but…"

Raon raised his eyes. Weegen's flabby neck trembled upon facing the crimson eyes erupting like a volcano.

"I was given full authority over the case from our head of house."

Taking responsibility signified that he had the authority.

Glenn didn't actually mention that he was giving him full authority, but he did say that the Light Wind squad would take responsibility. That was why what Raon had said wasn't completely groundless.

"Fu-full authority? What do you mean…?"

Weegen dropped his jaw. He apparently didn't expect him to say 'full authority'.

"Are you telling me that you want to do whatever you want here just like during the Call of Swords?"

"..."

Raon didn't respond and stared at him even more fiercely on purpose. He was baiting Weegen into falling for the trap himself.

"Im-impossible. Even though you are the White Sword Dragon, you are nothing but a squad…"

Weegen's lips trembled, and a middle-aged man with an intimidating appearance came next to him to whisper something. Raon couldn't hear him, but he could guess that he was talking about how the Light Wind squad managed to traverse the swamp without wearing the special boots.

'It worked.'

His small lie managed to soak the water and grow bigger and bigger. It was worth teaching the water walking to the Light Wind squad for the past few days.

"Argh…"

Weegen clenched his back teeth while looking at Raon and the Light Wind squad.

'They walked on the swamp with those boots…'

The fact that they walked over the swamp without the special boots implied that they were powerful enough for water walking. The entire squad managed to achieve that feat, meaning that their skills exceeded the rumors.

'They are just children, yet their gazes are so….'

Examining the Light Wind squad was making his knees wobble as if he were facing some savage beasts. Every single one of them had an extraordinary pressure. He couldn't find anyone he could win against except for the two little children.

'The Light Wind squad is such a powerful team.'

Considering their might and pressure, it was completely believable that Glenn gave them full authority.

'Damn it!'

There was no other way. He nodded while hoping that nothing special was happening in the Swamp of Death.

"That's rather unusual of you to decline a vacation. You can do as you wish."

"Thank you for your consideration."

Raon politely bowed before he walked backward. Weegen tapped on his armrest when Raon glanced at Wendy to tell her to leave.

"Wendy, you should sta—"

"I apologize for the intrusion, but can I have the Amber Blade division leader accompany us? I have questions to ask about the swamp."

"Ugh…"

Weegen shook his hand, telling him to do as he wished.

"Thank you."

Raon bowed once again before he turned around. The Light Wind squad was still glaring at Weegen and Arianne's executive like predators even though the talk was over.

'It was worth raising them.'

His name as the White Sword Dragon wasn't the only thing that allowed him to gain full authority. It was thanks to the Light Wind squad walking over the swamp and spreading their powerful pressure around him. A smile appeared on Raon's face, because all of his efforts at teaching them were worth it in the end.

Raon casually shook off his Black Dragon Coat and walked through the Light Wind squad.

"Let's go."