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Chapter 45 – Prestige (2)

Chapter 45 – Prestige (2)

“…Hm?”

For a moment, Ketal couldn’t grasp what had happened.

The reaction was completely unexpected.

Lost in thought, he watched the direction the woman had left, then continued on towards the lord’s mansion.

Early in the morning, people began to appear gradually.

They glanced at Ketal.

Previously, in such situations, the people of the territory would either shy away, trembling, or avoid eye contact.

But this time was a bit different.

There were still those who trembled and averted their gaze.

But the meaning behind it was quite different.

The fear in the eyes looking at Ketal was not as prominent as before.

Of course, there was still fear, but there was more curiosity and interest.

“…Is that him?”

“It seems so.”

Whispers exchanged among themselves.

They tried to keep it quiet, but it didn’t matter much to Ketal.

“That barbarian is the nemesis of demons?”

“…The one who protected Lord Aquaz…”

‘What’s going on?’

The whispers Ketal heard were vastly different from what he had heard before.

He couldn’t understand what had happened at all.

Perplexed, Ketal entered the lord’s mansion.

It was the same inside the mansion.

The maid who saw him screamed and gasped, but soon calmly guided him.

It was a completely different attitude from before, when she had trembled and guided him with a pale face.

Ketal met with the lord who was waiting in the reception room.

“I’ve heard about your situation from Lord Aquaz.”

The lord spoke up.

Aquaz had conveyed everything to the lord before leaving.

The lord nodded respectfully.

“I was told that if it weren’t for you, we might have been defeated. If that had happened, this territory would have been doomed. Once again, I express my gratitude.”

“I don’t want to see people dying because of me. I just did what was necessary.”

Ketal replied calmly.

The lord, upon hearing his answer, looked at Ketal with a subtle expression.

“Are you feeling okay? I heard the demon tried to brand you.”

“It’s not much of a problem. I didn’t even understand what the branding was about.”

“…Is that so?”

The lord made a slightly uneasy expression.

Ashetiar.

A demon with a name recorded in history.

Upon hearing that such a demon had appeared before Aquaz, the lord jumped up from the sofa.

At first, he resented it.

Why did such trials keep happening in this small territory?

And then, upon hearing that Ketal had single-handedly defeated such a demon, he felt relieved.

“I knew he was strong, but…”

Toying with Ashetiar, who had defeated Aquaz, as if it were a toy.

Ignoring the demon’s branding without any countermeasures.

How strong could he possibly be?

Although the lord knew that Ketal was powerful because a superhuman Cain was right next to him, this was beyond his imagination.

“But something seems to have changed around here.”

“Around here?”

“The people of the territory.”

“I see.”

The lord nodded as if he understood.

“Rumors about you have spread.”

The revived guards and mercenaries were making a fuss.

That a demon with a name had descended upon the village.

That they had engaged in a battle for their lives.

They couldn’t just quietly sit there, even though they were lifelong companions.

During the Karthos incident, there were fewer than ten people, so they could somehow cover it up, but this time, there were too many people.

Above all, since one village was destroyed, they couldn’t hide it.

The lord also expected rumors to spread.

But there was one aspect that was different from his expectations.

Those who went with Ketal had fainted during the battle.

The clash of divine and demonic forces.

Those who couldn’t handle mysticism couldn’t possibly endure it.

Most of them had fainted before Aquaz could even use the scriptures.

And those who remained conscious, except for one during Ketal and Ashetiar’s clash, had all fainted.

By the time they regained consciousness, everything was already over.

So they could only speculate, and naturally, they came to one conclusion.

The last thing they saw was Ashetiar’s defeat.

And Ketal’s battle.

People thought.

Aquaz had lost to Ashetiar. But it wasn’t a true defeat; she had one last move.

And Ketal had bought time for that last move, and in the end, Aquaz had exerted her strength and lent the power of the gods to Ketal.

With that borrowed power, Ketal defeated Ashetiar.

Such rumors were spreading throughout the territory.

Ketal stroked his chin as if he found it interesting.

“So, it’s spread that much.”

“I’m sorry. I tried to correct it, but too many rumors had already spread and started to distort. Once it gets to that point, no matter what we say from this side, it won’t be accepted, so we couldn’t touch it. And above all, we needed to hear your opinion first.”

From Ketal’s perspective, it was almost as if his rightful reputation had been usurped.

He didn’t just endure until Aquaz gathered her strength; he overwhelmed the demon alone, and Aquaz only contributed a little to the final blow.

However, Ketal didn’t pay much attention to it.

“It doesn’t matter. If that’s what people believe, then it must be the truth.”

“Thank you.”

The lord breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that Ketal didn’t care much about reputation, but this was different.

One who single-handedly overwhelmed a demon.

The value of such reputation transcended imagination.

If it were to change to just barely enduring, even if one didn’t care about reputation, it could cause annoyance.

Ketal spoke up.

“So, am I now known as the nemesis of demons?”

“Yes. Rumors have already spread in the territory, recognizing you as the nemesis of demons.”

“A reputation, huh.”

Ketal scratched his chin.

Honestly, he didn’t care much about reputation.

What he wanted was simply his enjoyment.

He didn’t care about anything else.

But…

“…So people aren’t afraid of me anymore.”

“I don’t know the details, but probably.”

Of course, they wouldn’t come too close.

Even so, it was inevitable that there would be instinctual fear.

But now, the people of the territory wouldn’t run away when they saw Ketal.

“…Reputation, huh.”

Ketal murmured.

Having finished the conversation, Ketal left the estate.

Quite some time had passed, and there were quite a few people on the streets.

They flinched when they saw Ketal.

Some even unconsciously stepped back.

But that was all.

There was no one trying to flee like before.

Now that he knew the details, it was clearer what was in their eyes.

They saw him not as a monster, but as a hero or a great figure.

“…Interesting.”

Ketal murmured.

He had been rejected by people until now.

Whatever he did, they were afraid, terrified, and screamed.

Maybe it was because of his appearance.

It didn’t feel good.

No, honestly, it was sad.

He wanted to enjoy his fantasy, to live with them.

But being rejected didn’t feel good at all.

Still, he thought that if he lived here diligently, he would eventually be recognized and slowly approach them with various requests.

But something that would take such a long time to achieve was resolved in just one battle.

“Is this what reputation is?”

The way people looked at him had clearly changed.

He had barely faced a single demon, yet his reputation had changed so drastically.

It felt really good.

‘Yeah!’

His appearance wasn’t the only problem!

Come to think of it, it’s obvious.

This is a fantasy world.

In terms of historical background, it’s the medieval period.

Moreover, it was a remote territory.

And the more rural it was, the stronger the hostility towards outsiders.

Even in the modern era, if an outsider comes to a rural area, they won’t even share words.

If that’s the case in the developed modern era, let alone the medieval period.

In the first place, if you couldn’t clear the dungeon, you couldn’t even enter the territory.

It’s not because he’s a barbarian.

It wasn’t because of his large stature.

It wasn’t because people felt intimidated by him.

It was because he was an outsider.

Of course, there might be some aversion towards barbarians, but the fact that he was an outsider would outweigh it.

Isn’t that right?

If he was feared because he was a barbarian, then simply enduring instead of defeating a demon wouldn’t have changed people’s reactions so drastically.

It was because people recognized that he had worked for the territory, that he had made an effort for it, that he gained this recognition.

Naturally, it was an incorrect judgment.

Contrary to Ketal’s speculation, the stature of a demon with a name is not insignificant.

To withstand such a presence was a great feat in itself.

Moreover, Ketal protected the inquisitor of the Sun God.

The Sun God was currently one of the most influential churches in this world.

And the Gehentra Kingdom was one of the many kingdoms that served the Sun God.

Just by the presence of the Sun God’s church in this small territory, it was evident.

To have protected such an inquisitor of the Sun God, naturally, people’s perceptions had to change.

On the contrary, even achieving such a feat and still being the subject of fear proved the distance people maintained due to his barbarian status.

But Ketal didn’t know about such circumstances.

He concluded that he was rejected not because of all the reasons, but simply because he was an outsider.

‘Great.’

He would continue to act as he does now.

Ketal moved on with a cheerful smile.

He arrived at the guild hall.

The guild hall hadn’t changed much from before.

Strictly speaking, from the perspective of the guild hall, there hadn’t been any major incidents.

The departing mercenaries all returned unharmed.

Apart from passing on the appearance of the demon to the upper echelons, there wasn’t much to do.

And Rosa gave Ketal another piece of good news.

“Oh, Ketal. Your rank has been upgraded this time. You’re now ranked C.”

“Oh?”

Ketal’s eyes widened.

“C-rank? I’ve been promoted to the second rank. Why is that?”

“Well, because you’ve done a commendable job.”

He confronted a demon alongside the inquisitor of the Sun God.

Although the rumor spread that he merely endured rather than confronted the demon, it was still a remarkable achievement in itself.

“Becoming E-rank is difficult, but once you do, you can quickly rise through the ranks if you have the skills.”

For an F-rank mercenary to become E-rank meant becoming a trusted figure.

From there, if you accumulated achievements, you could quickly reach higher ranks.

Of course, it was unusual for an E-rank to rise to C-rank.

As far as she knew, it hadn’t happened in the last ten years.

“Great.”

Ketal smiled.

It was good news for him regardless.

After Rosa smiled briefly, she began to explain.

“From E-rank, you can call yourself a mercenary. However, you won’t be recognized as a true mercenary.”

An E-rank mercenary was more like a messenger or errand runner who handled small tasks and odd jobs.

But C-rank was different.

“From C-rank, you’re a genuine mercenary.”

C-rank was a level that went beyond just being endorsed by the Mercenary Guild.

It was a rank that had to be acknowledged to reach.

It meant becoming a true mercenary.

With that, he could do many things that he couldn’t do before.