Mavros Territory, Bessare.
Just as people described when they mentioned this city, this city truly acted like a military base.
In this city, there were no idle civilians and no abandoned areas, as everything revolved around one central theme—the military.
Almost everything sold in this city was related to the military, and the people living here were all engaged in jobs contributing to military development. Whether it was producing food, forging weapons, or even making daily necessities, all these industries mainly served those fighting on the front lines, which were the knights and soldiers—or, more accurately, the Mavros family leading them.
Thanks to this, the city had a strong militarized atmosphere, as the citizens moved with the discipline of military training, making everything appear well-organized. Even the merchants' shouts and the hammering sounds from the industrial area blended perfectly into the rhythm of the city.
"Bessare... We've finally arrived."
Inside the carriage, Nibald took a moment to introduce Bessare to everyone, giving them a basic understanding of this militarized city as they approached their destination.
By the way, Nibald and Andrea were now riding in the same carriage as Riezel and the others.
It couldn't be helped.
Because of Felix's death and all the Hadyth family's knights gone, Nibald and Andrea could no longer travel to Bessare in the Hadyth family's magic carriage like before, so at Riezel's invitation, they joined his carriage.
Just like that, they set off together, and after traveling for most of the day, they finally reached the outskirts of Bessare before sunset, just before evening fell.
Through the window, Riezel could see the city getting closer.
In his view, a city that looked as if it was forged from steel grew larger and larger, allowing him to take in every detail of its appearance bit by bit.
Fanny and Gerald also saw the steel city, their faces growing tense.
"We're finally here..."
Gerald spoke while looking conflicted.
"Finn..."
Fanny, with a face full of concern, clutched her small hands to her chest, worried about her younger brother, who was likely missing.
"Sir Brynhart, are you sure you want to enter the city with us?"
Nibald asked with a worried expression—or rather, an anxious and helpless expression.
"You killed Count Hadyth's son, so he must've got the news by now. Under these circumstances, I really don't think it's a good idea for you to come with us into Bessare."
Bessare was the domain of the Mavros family, the city where the Guardian Sword Saint, Raven Mavros, resided. Considering Riezel had just killed his nephew, if he waltzed into the city as if nothing happened, trouble was bound to follow.
Nibald genuinely hoped Riezel wouldn't enter the city, and it would've been better for him to lay low for a while to avoid running into Raven.
"You know, I originally didn't plan on entering Bessare, but now..."
Riezel spoke while glancing at Lizbeth, who was riding in the driver's seat, guiding the horse, but unlike usual, she now looked a bit down.
"I really wanna meet that Guardian Sword Saint, meet Count Hadyth, and ask them how the hell they've been raising their kids."
Needless to say, Riezel was really pissed off this time.
He had already killed Felix, avenging Lizbeth and getting rid of a menace in Mavros Territory, but that alone didn't make him feel any better.
Felix's reckless behavior definitely came from the indulgence of his parents—at the very least, Riezel didn't believe Felix's father was clueless about all the 'good deeds' his son had been up to.
Naturally, the same went for the Guardian Sword Saint, as Riezel didn't buy the idea that he was ignorant of his nephew's character.
Yet, they chose to turn a blind eye, letting Felix do whatever he wanted.
Just because of that, they weren't innocent.
If Felix had only harmed the refugees in this territory or people Riezel didn't know, he would've just killed him, avenging those who suffered, and left it at that. But since Felix decided to mess with Lizbeth, Riezel wasn't going to let this slide.
"Raven Mavros, huh..."
Riezel muttered the name of the Guardian Sword Saint he had learned from Nibald on the way, before turning to Nibald and asking casually.
"Sir Garland, judging by your expression, you seem to think that if I run into him, things are gonna get pretty messy?"
Hearing this, Nibald gave a bitter smile.
"Isn't that obvious? I mean, if two Sword Saints clash, wouldn't that be a huge problem?"
Nibald sighed helplessly.
"You two are two of the strongest swordsmen in Jinas, and neither of you is your average Sword Saint."
"Sir Raven isn't just the current Sword Saint but also a marquis who guards the border and leads the kingdom's army."
"Sir Brynhart isn't just a Sword Saint either but also a Tactical-Class Magician with power that could affect an entire army."
"If you two really went at it, that'd be a disaster, no?"
Anything else aside, just talking about Raven—if something happened to him in his conflict with Riezel, the border would lose its guardian, and trouble would break out in no time.
Meanwhile, if Riezel really got serious and unleashed Tactical-Class Magic without holding back, that would be just as devastating for Bessare.
What made it even worse was that there were plenty of people who would love to see that happen.
For example, those in Reiburg.
For example, those in the other neighboring countries.
If those scheming foreigners heard about a clash between Riezel and Raven, they would be thrilled, probably wishing for the fight to tear Jinas apart.
When the time came, who knew if someone would secretly scheme to escalate the conflict on purpose?
For this reason, Nibald truly wanted to avoid any situation where Riezel and Raven would meet.
Unfortunately for Nibald, Riezel didn't care about any of that.
"If he really had any concerns, then he should've known what to do." Riezel said casually, "But if he didn't care about any of that and still wanted to go against me just for that piece of trash, then I'd be happy to play along."
Honestly, he couldn't care less about Jinas.
He didn't truly belong to this kingdom or even this world in the first place. In this world, the only thing he genuinely cared about was the Frenzel family, where Yuri was, while everything else had nothing to do with him.
With that in mind, he was determined to visit Bessare.
"But—"
Nibald wanted to persuade Riezel further, but Riezel raised his hand, stopping him.
"More importantly, I'm curious about the Guardian Sword Saint's strength." Riezel said with a faint smile. "I know he's a Sword Saint, but besides me, isn't there a total of six Sword Saints in this kingdom? Where does he rank among them?"
In fact, there were strength differences even among Sword Saints.
It was only natural.
Even among Strategic-Class Magicians, there were differences in strength, so what could a vague title like 'Sword Saint' really prove?
For example, four hundred years ago, Dragon Sword Saint Efastin Tussanlo, who practiced the Holy Dragon Sword Style and was once known as the strongest Sword Saint on the Akasha Continent, was attacked by multiple Sword Saints, yet he managed to hold his ground for a while before eventually being worn down and defeated, which led to the decline of the once-powerful Holy Dragon Sword Style.
Riezel had only ever encountered one Sword Saint, which was Shadow Sword Saint Rohm, and had even fought against him before, giving him a rough idea of Rohm's strength as a Sword Saint.
As strong as Rohm was, however, he was definitely not the strongest Sword Saint in Jinas.
Riezel recalled the moment when he was invited by Hendrick to choose a treasure from the royal treasury and remembered that next to the royal treasury, there was an unremarkable wooden hut.
At that time, before entering the royal treasury, Riezel saw Hendrick bow toward the hut, so he became curious and decided to use the Transparent World to gaze at the hut.
As soon as Riezel saw who was inside, at that exact moment, he knew that he had encountered someone far stronger than Rohm.
Even though the person didn't even show themselves and didn't even release any aura, just seeing them through the Transparent World already gave Riezel an intense sense of danger, making his whole body tense up.
It was at that moment that Riezel realized he might have seen the strongest swordsman in this kingdom, the strongest Sword Saint.
Even though the encounter was brief and he couldn't determine exactly how strong that person was, Riezel was certain that his past self was no match for them.
Riezel couldn't help but feel that the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed.
Back then, after Riezel returned from the world of Demon Slayer, he had already reached Level 6, and although he had just leveled up, with the accumulated proficiency from his previous levels and various combat-type development abilities, his base power was already at the peak of Level 6.
If Riezel used Sun Breathing and entered Strong Attack Mode, he would've easily gained the strength to surpass an entire level and could've matched the limit of Level 7. And with the addition of magic from the world of Danmachi and the Akasha Continent, at his full power, he was definitely invincible at Level 7.
Yet, Riezel in that condition didn't even feel confident against the mysterious person in that wooden hut.
Just how powerful was that person?
Level 8?
Clearly, that was a level even the current Orario in the world of Danmachi didn't have.
Riezel had some guesses about that person's identity, so if there were no surprises, it should be the famous Old Sword Saint who, according to rumors, had always stayed in the royal palace of Jinas, someone who once served the third-generation king.
It was clear that the Old Sword Saint wasn't on the same level as Rohm, which proved that there were differences in strength even among Sword Saints.
If among Sword Masters, there were some whose strength was equivalent to Level 6, a level above the usual Level 5 Sword Masters, then it was certain that within the rank of Sword Saints, some individuals could also surpass Level 7.
Needless to say, the Old Sword Saint guarding Jinas's royal treasury was one such existence.
Understanding this, Riezel wondered whether the Guardian Sword Saint, Raven Mavros, had reached that level.
However, Nibald's answer wasn't that clear.
"No one would dare rank Sword Saints, Sir Brynhart..." Nibald explained while sighing. "But if it's just about estimating their general strength, it's possible to make some guesses."
"Oh?" Riezel's interest was instantly piqued.
Not just him, but Andrea, Fanny, and Gerald were also drawn to the topic.
It was only natural since this was a topic about the strongest combatant of a nation, the strongest swordsmen on the continent—such a topic was fascinating to anyone.
Even Lizbeth, who had been feeling a bit down, seemed to be drawn in, perking up her ears to listen to the conversation in the carriage.
In this situation, Nibald began to explain.
"Hmm... the easiest way to gauge a Sword Saint's strength is by looking at their experiences and age."
"For example, Sir Brynhart, even though you're the youngest Sword Saint in history, since you've only been a Sword Saint for less than a year, a lot of people actually see you as the weakest."
"On the other hand, the Old Sword Saint who served the third-generation king has been a Sword Saint for about sixty years. If he hasn't declined over these sixty years but kept improving, just how strong do you think he is now?"
No doubt, he would be far stronger than the average Sword Saint.
"In the same way, by looking at when they ascended as Sword Saints and how many years have passed since then, one can roughly estimate their strengths."
"Before Sir Brynhart, Jinas only had six Sword Saints, and among them, the Meteor Sword Saint is the youngest and the most recent to achieve it, just four to five years ago, so his strength is considered the weakest."
"As for the One-Eyed Sword Saint who serves the Cordelion family, he is older, but he was born a slave and initially practiced Elementary Swordsmanship, which limited his early growth. Because he only rose to power later, his strength is probably about the same as the Meteor Sword Saint's."
"Meanwhile, the current family head of the Borley family, the seventh-generation successor of the Borley family, started challenging other Sword Masters at a young age and became a Sword Saint at just thirty-two. It's been over a decade since his ascension, so his strength is likely on the stronger side, possibly second only to the Old Sword Saint."
"Sir Raven, on the other hand, became a Sword Saint ten years ago, earlier than the Shadow Sword Saint, the One-Eyed Sword Saint, and the Meteor Sword Saint, but just a bit later than the Old Sword Saint and the Borley family's Sword Saint."
Nibald's point was clear.
"Well, the fact that the king entrusted Sir Raven with guarding the border is enough to prove his capability, so even among Sword Saints, he's one of the best."
Nibald spoke with utmost seriousness.
"If you were to clash with Sir Raven, to be honest, more people would bet on Sir Raven than on you, Sir Brynhart."