The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 126: Public Enemy

“…….”

The next morning.

When Isaac slowly opened his eyes, a throbbing pain washed over his body and made him curl into himself.

It felt as if ages had passed, yet the battle against Hellic—once the Primitive Helmut—and the escape from the Malidan Wall had been only yesterday.

No, perhaps more than a day had slipped by; ever since crossing into this place, his sense of time had dulled.

The sky here is perpetually dark—there’s no way to get a feel for time.

Back at the Malidan Wall, the escape had felt interminable.

In this sun-less world, darkness filled the hours where daylight should have been.

He sat up and surveyed the empty room.

The house had only two rooms.

Last night, Rihanna and Sharen had debated who should share a room with Isaac; he had firmly insisted on sleeping alone.

The result: the sisters bunked together.

“Hmm…?”

A strange, earthy scent pricked his nose.

At first it seemed foul, but the longer he breathed it in, the more pleasantly medicinal it became.

Stepping outside, he found Rihanna and Sharen seated around the table where they had taken refreshments the night before.

They appeared to be setting out breakfast, as though they had been waiting for him.

“Isaac! You’re awake!” Sharen greeted him with a sunny smile.

“Come sit. Rancelon brought us provisions,” Rihanna said calmly as she placed dishes on the table.

“…….”

He had always thought the phrase peaceful daily life could never fit Helmut, yet looking at this scene he felt—unexpectedly—that it wasn’t so bad.

Breakfast was similar to yesterday’s, except for one peculiar soup: the source of that pungent aroma.

“Does this have medicinal herbs in it, too?” Isaac asked.

“Seems so. I suppose he’s looking after us in his own way,” Rihanna replied.

“Everything they make tastes bitter,” Sharen muttered, sticking out her tongue.

Today, the peddlers were due to arrive and open a market in the village.

While the northern warriors rested, they planned to stroll the stalls and learn more about village life and the transcendents.

【What good is hating humans?.】

“…….”

Rancelon’s words still echoed in Isaac’s ears.

They had startled him precisely because they sounded sincere—almost too favorable toward their side.

Slurp.

As he drank the soup, Isaac mulled over the lingering sense of disquiet in one corner of his heart.

****

Following the main road their party had used yesterday, merchants spread mats and quietly unpacked their bundles.

The scene differed wildly from any market Isaac had pictured.

There were none of the bustling footsteps or boisterous haggling voices one normally associated with a bazaar.

On the contrary, the place was unnervingly silent.

Trades were whispered, furtive. Merchants half-hid their faces and kept wary eyes on their surroundings.

So that’s why Rancelon told us to cover our faces.

Before coming, Isaac had been given a wide-brimmed hat; he now toyed with its edge.

It was called a satgat, and he remembered seeing a fellow pupil of the Grandmaster wear one.

At that sudden memory, a heaviness settled in his chest.

‘I hope the Grandmaster is all right.’

Forced to cross blades with a comrade she had long sought—she must be in turmoil now.

Isaac was about to sink deeper into worry when Sharen tugged lightly on his sleeve.

“Isaac, look at that.”

Pulled from his thoughts, he followed the direction of her finger.

“A potion that erases memories?”

“……A potion that erases memories?”

She was pointing at a small, slender flask.

The label on the front read Potion to Erase Memories.

A burly transcendent sitting beside the flask nodded at the three with a knowing smile.

“We all have things in life we’d rather forget, don’t we?”

“…….”

For a moment Isaac’s heart wavered—but only for a moment.

He had noticed the labels on the other bottles lined up beside it:

-Elixir to Send You to Paradise

-Draught for Escaping Life

-Potion for Your Final Moment

-Medicine That Opens Dying Eyes

Every claim was extravagant and suspicious.

Rihanna caught a whiff of the acrid fumes leaking from the stoppers and frowned.

“It’s liquor—and extremely strong.”

“Oho, such a discerning nose. Are you in that trade, miss?” the merchant asked, mistaking her keen sense for that of a transcendent.

He said nothing further.

Here, sellers did not chase customers or force bargains.

They simply held their ground and waited for passers-by to approach of their own accord.

Perhaps because this is a village of condemned…

The atmosphere was less that of an ordinary market and more of an underground bazaar.

‘Getting information won’t be as easy as I thought.’

Isaac scanned the area in silence.

Judging by the stiff set of Rihanna’s mouth beneath her hat, she was thinking the same.

On the other spread-out bundles lay all sorts of items, yet each was either unfamiliar or too dubious to warrant interest—objects whose extravagant promises only fed suspicion.

-Necklace of the Dead

-Bell of Silence

-Colorless Confection

Sharen perked up at the mention of sweets, but the moment she saw them she shook her head.

“They look disgusting—like they’d taste like rocks.”

Not that they were ever going to buy them anyway.

While listening to Sharen’s grumbling, Isaac glanced over at Rihanna.

“Not what you hoped for, huh?”

“Right. This isn’t the sort of market I pictured.”

They hadn’t come here to shop; they’d come for information—currents and undercurrents alike.

With the market this subdued, there was no way to learn anything useful.

“If there’s nothing else worth seeing, let’s go find Nureumdol! I told him to wait outside the gate. He’s probably still there.”

“…Yeah, let’s do that.”

Like he’s some kind of war-horse, Isaac thought, feeling a twinge of guilt at leaving the big fellow to stand guard at the entrance.

When they reached the gate, they found Nureumdol deep in conversation with an unfamiliar woman.

“Yes, that’s right! I guided those great personages all the way here. They seemed to be in a spot of trouble, so I put my thick skull to work and helped them out!” Nureumdol declared, puffing out his chest.

The woman listened in silence.

A satgat was pulled low over her eyes; a neat, shoulder-length bob framed a face set atop a stature even taller than Isaac’s.

In her hand rested a massive sabre.

The instant Isaac laid eyes on her, they widened.

A fellow disciple of the Grandmaster…

It was “Number Two”—the very woman he knew by rumor.

The moment she turned her head, sensing the party’s presence—

Boom!

Rihanna’s greatsword was already in motion.

A flash of red aura.

Having deemed the newcomer an enemy, Rihanna struck without hesitation; the speed belied the blade’s unwieldy bulk.

But Number Two was no novice.

A sword longer than a man’s height slid free of its scabbard in the blink of an eye.

She drew that blade so fast the air didn’t even stir.

That alone placed her skill on par with the Grandmaster.

Even so, she could not stop the blow completely.

Receiv­ing Rihanna’s strike head-on, she planted her feet, skidding backward across the ground.

Chiiiik—!

Dust billowed; smoke curled from the woman’s heels.

“Haa—”

Lowering her sword, she exhaled, hand tingling from the raw force of Helmut’s strength.

“Tch. Two days in a row the illustrious drop by. Seems I’ve spent every favor of fate in this one place,” she said—a light, almost flippant tone utterly unlike before. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Relaxed, perhaps—but to Isaac it sounded more frivolous than anything.

Rihanna kept her greatsword leveled, refusing to relax. Seeing that, the woman let out another sigh.

“Does your bloodline not understand patience or conversation?”

“……”

The breezy manner was all the more disconcerting; when they had crossed blades before, she had been silent—an assassin loyal only to her master.

Now she felt more like a prickly uncle from the neighborhood.

Come to think of it, the Grandmaster was the same, Isaac reflected.

Solemn when teaching or fighting, yet curiously sloppy in daily life—and quick to sulk, which only added to the light-hearted impression.

“This isn’t work hours,” the woman went on. “No reason to fight; I’d rather not draw my sword for nothing.”

She spoke as if clocking out, then pointed a finger at Isaac, who was standing back from the clash.

“You there—disciple of Number Ten. Good timing. I’ve wanted to meet you.”

Her voice held curiosity rather than hostility.

Remembering how she had swallowed her words when their blades met before, Isaac stepped forward.

“I wanted to meet you as well. You’re my master’s fellow disciple.”

“Isaac?” Rihanna called, worried, but he shook his head.

“It’s fine. If she’d wanted a fight, we’d already be at it.”

A swordswoman on par with the Grandmaster—Rihanna might be able to endure her, but victory was doubtful.

The woman merely shrugged, neither confirming nor denying Isaac’s assessment—clear confidence in her own skill.

After handing his twin sabres to Sharen for safekeeping, Isaac offered a cautious handshake.

“I’m Isaac Logan.”

“For the famed Tenth’s disciple, you’ve got some nerve—walking this close while my sword’s drawn,” she remarked, yet she took his hand lightly.

“I have no given name,” she added. “If that bothers you, just call me Nameless.”

“……”

Isaac couldn’t help thinking that the Grandmaster’s secrecy about her own name must have stemmed from the same reason.

“If my master were here, I couldn’t cut you slack,” Nameless said, casting a glance around the village with a wry grin. “Fortunately for you, I’m alone today.”

Then she chuckled. “Still, you’ve picked a truly peculiar place to run to.”

“You mean Benhaim Village?” Isaac asked.

“Right. Hm… there’s plenty I ought to tell you, but to start with—”

Nameless scratched her cheek and lowered her voice.

“The people of this village are nothing but a blight on both worlds.”

“A blight?”

“Yes—prey that deserves the point of your blade, whether you’re transcendent or human.”

– – The End of The Chapter ––

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