A moment of silence followed after the young man who called himself Carzakh shouted in the hall.
I looked at the brown-haired youth and said, "The Carzakh I knew had a lot more beard."
"That was back when I was stuck in the mountains! Now that I'm back in civilization, of course I have to take care of my appearance again," he replied.
" Mm. Fair enough. I'll admit your voice sounds like Carzakh's, and I suppose that smooth face could've been hidden under a beard," I remarked.
He looked at least twenty years younger than I expected, though it wasn't entirely impossible. After all, my father had the ultimate baby face.
Still, something didn't sit right with me.
"Sir Walter, can you leave for a moment?" I asked.
"Huh? But..." Walter paused and glanced at his fellow knights. "I understand."
They left the room.
The young man whistled as the door closed. "What? I thought you'd be treated coldly in this family, but it turns out they respect you quite a bit."
"Isn't this a meritocratic household?" I shot back.
" Oh. Looks like you've earned some recognition."
I sat across from the self-proclaimed Carzakh and studied his face closely. His hair and eye color were similar, and the placement of his facial features matched.
It was odd how young he looked, but I had a more pressing question.
"What's with that arm?" I asked, pointing to his right arm.
The Carzakh I remembered from the mountains had been a one-armed man, having lost it during a battle with the Sapphire Snake.
"This?" He chuckled, clearly unbothered by my question. "Well, Luan, it's all thanks to you."
"Me?" I asked, confused.
"Yes," Carzakh continued, explaining the situation.
After he and Arjan sent me away, the cave's collapse intensified. A rockfall separated him from the priest, and with no strength left to fight, he lay down. When he regained consciousness, he found himself trapped by rocks on all sides.
"I've lost count of how many times I've found myself in situations like that," he said. "At some point, I got hungry and dizzy, so... I ate it."
"Ate what?"
"The Jewel Beast."
I blinked. "You ate the Sapphire Snake?"
"Yes."
"That thing's edible?" I exclaimed.
"Probably not. Damn near shattered all my teeth. But what choice did I have? It was that or starve."
In the end, he ate the Sapphire Snake's body, and soon realized his body was changing. When he finally consumed the core, buried deep within the heart of the beast...
"I felt a tremendous cold and thought I was going to die. Then when I opened my eyes, I was like this."
"I see."
"I was originally a bit young, but now I'm twenty years younger. And look at this." Carzakh waved his right arm.
I squinted slightly. "Your severed right arm grew back?"
From what I'd heard, Carzakh had undergone what was commonly called a metamorphosis. I hadn't expected him to reach such a level.
Had his body been entirely reconstructed after eating the Sapphire Snake's meat and core? It made sense, given the new arm, but it was still hard to believe. Yet the proof was standing right in front of me.
"The real problem is this handsome face. No one believes me. At the entrance, they treated me like a madman. Honestly, it was disappointing," he whined. "How can there not be a single person who remembers my past?"
Was Carzakh always this talkative? He had seemed a bit chatty before, but now my ears were starting to hurt. He must've been dealing with a lot of mental strain from being locked up here for days.
"I don't know if anyone even remembers me. It wasn't just Delac, but even the Great Masters were gone."
"We had the training camp," I said matter-of-factly.
"Yes. The timing is unbelievable," he commented. "Anyway, I was locked up at the main house for a few days. After finally getting released, I tried to head into the forest, but I was caught by these bastards. It seems the information wasn't shared properly."
"So that's why you're here?"
Carzakh nodded. "Exactly. But they're the knights of the Badnikers, so I couldn't fight them. I was so frustrated I almost died."
I felt a pang of anger when I realized what had happened. Was this the reason Carzakh hadn't joined the training camp? A series of small events had snowballed into that chaotic mess.
Things really went wrong, I groaned inwardly.
If only Carzakh had arrived before the regression, everything would have turned out differently. I felt sad but decided not to dwell on it. It was already in the past.
"In any case, I am stronger now than I was in my prime, Luan. Before, I couldn't kill the Sapphire Snake without your help. I monopolized its by-products, so I will owe you for the rest of my life." Carzakh smiled confidently. "In the future, I'll be your backer. If anyone bullies you, just let me know. I'll take care of everything."
" Oh. " That was reassuring to hear. "Okay. Then risk your life with me."
"What are you talking about?"
I briefly explained what I had discovered.
Carzakh's expression changed as he listened, finally becoming bewildered when he heard the words Demon King's Summoning Ritual.
"A Demon King's Summoning Ritual? In the Badnikers' territory of all places?" he muttered.
"Why are you so surprised? Didn't Assad tell you everything?" I probed.
"No, I didn't hear any of that," Carzakh replied, dazed. "Assad just told me the training camp had started and that I should hurry over. I thought I was just going to act like a Great Master."
"Ah."
So Carzakh hadn't been told the full story.
If he'd known about the ritual, he would've rushed in without hesitation—that's just who he was.
It seemed the family didn't fully trust Carzakh, either. It wasn't surprising, though, since they had also kept it from Junian.
"So you know who the priest is?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Who is it?" he pressed.
"The Martial Arts Master," I answered.
Carzakh was momentarily speechless.
"Juan? Really?" His surprise seemed greater than I'd anticipated.
"I'm almost certain."
"I-I see." Carzakh's expression grew uneasy.
I studied his face and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. In any case, if this is happening, I have to help. What are you planning to do next?"
"Move with me for now. But you shouldn't join the camp right away. Senior, you should hide in the forest," I instructed.
I wanted to keep Carzakh's existence under wraps for as long as possible. Just as Luke had ambushed the unsuspecting Juan, I wanted to leave that role to Carzakh this time.
Unexpectedly, Carzakh disagreed. "No. If Juan is the priest, you might as well let me join the camp."
"How come?"
"Just that alone will change his behavior," he replied.
Change...
It wasn't necessarily a good thing for me, given what I knew of the future
However, Carzakh spoke with such conviction. "Luan, please trust me. I can't explain it clearly, but things won't turn out badly."
I hummed in response.
Carzakh was a former mercenary, and veteran mercenaries shared a common trait—they sometimes had a gut feeling, an instinct, about things that couldn't be explained.
I had experienced it myself a few times. What seemed like a promising quest would suddenly feel off, and when I turned it down, the mercenaries who went on it were wiped out or something similar.
"Okay." I nodded. "We'll go to the camp together. But you have to hide the fact that you met me."
***
We returned to the camp.
As I sprinted through the forest with Carzakh, he suddenly spoke up. "I've been meaning to tell you something since I first saw you."
"What is it?"
"You've been through something, haven't you?"
What was he talking about?
I tilted my head as Carzakh continued, "I've gained a strange fate, even ate the Sapphire Snake's core, so it makes sense that I've grown stronger quickly. But I feel like you've made just as much progress."
I remained silent.
"No, it's not just about progress," he added. "Honestly, you feel like a completely different person from the one I met before. Though, you weren't ordinary back then either."
Should I say, "As expected of the Swordmaster?" His insight was sharp.
I chuckled and replied, "A lot has happened. I've been through as much as you have. I also received an elixir from the family head."
"An elixir?" he echoed.
"This." I pulled out the Spirit Jade from my pocket and showed it to him.
Carzakh's eyes widened slightly. "It is a Spirit Jade. It looks top-grade, given its size."
"Do you want it?" I offered.
"What nonsense about wanting it?" Carzakh shrugged off my joke. "I ate the Sapphire Snake's core, so I'm not exactly on good terms with Fire Qi anymore. You enjoy it for me."
"Okay."
"Still, that guy Delac must like you quite a bit. There were plenty of other ways to use this elixir," he remarked.
We continued chatting as we returned to the camp.
"Wouldn't it be awkward if we went in together?" Carzakh said.
"Probably."
"Then I'll take a walk around the area. You go ahead."
"Okay. I'll see you later."
I parted ways with Carzakh and headed back to the infirmary.
Junian, sitting on a chair and writing something, turned toward me. "You're back. Did you achieve your goal?"
"Yes. I have a strong helper," I replied.
"Really? Now you can finally tell me who the helper is."
I hadn't mentioned to Junian that I was meeting Carzakh, mainly because I was uncertain if I'd succeed. But now, I had no reason to keep it from her. "It's Carzakh."
Junian tilted her head slightly. "The Swordmaster?"
I nodded. "Yes."
"When did he come back?"
"I think it's been about a week."
"Really?" Junian paused, her expression lightening. "If it's the Swordmaster, then we're not short on power. Even if the opponent's a priest, it's a fight worth taking."
I rolled my eyes for a moment, checking the time. I'd been on the move since early this morning, so there was still plenty of time.
The hero disciples should be in class by now. If I remember right, it's Juan's class— Wait!
A sudden thought crossed my mind, and I looked at Junian. "Instructor Junian, do the instructors here also share rooms with someone?"
"Usually it's one person per room. Why?"
I didn't answer but asked instead, "One more thing. There aren't any communication crystals inside the instructors' building, right?"
Junian looked at me with some doubt but nodded. "Except in the control room. The crystals are mainly used to monitor the hero disciples."
"I see." I met her gaze and asked, "Where is Instructor Juan's room?"