Chapter 207 - Prologue

After Shiori's death, Ken and the other two heroes grieve deeply. The person who was most devastated by Shiori's death was Ken. She has the closest relationship with him. Moreover, Shiori died trying to protect him. The incident made Ken sad and afraid of the fate that awaited them in the future.

Ken and the other two heroes have lost one of their friends who were summoned together to that world, and it was their first experience. In addition, they are afraid because the enemy they are fighting will become stronger in the future. They didn't know if they would be able to endure to the end and return to their homeworld.

Ken, Sayuki, and Kazuki decided to return to the Adrienne Empire to calm themselves down. They are down and need time to be able to forget the incident. It was natural considering their young age.

After arriving at the empire's territory, Ken parted ways with the other two heroes. He didn't return to the imperial palace but preferred to stay in one of the inns in the capital area. Ken still remembers everything about Shiori, and he wants to seclude himself to put his mind at ease.

Ken locked himself in the inn room for a few days. He still kept thinking about Shiori having sacrificed herself for him and Ken blaming himself for his helplessness at that time. Food and drinks are delivered directly to his room by the innkeeper.

A few days later, Ken finally came out of his room. His face was pale, and there were big eye bags from lack of sleep under his eyes. Ken decided to take a walk downtown and refresh his mind.

Ken strolls through the bustling market. The streets are lined with shops and stalls selling all kinds of daily necessities, snacks, hobby items, and weapons for a mage or knight.

When Ken passed one of the stalls by the roadside, he saw an old book titled 'Complete History of the Clorius continent'. He was intrigued after seeing the book because he had never seen such a book in the imperial library. He had read a book about the history of the Clorius Continent, but that book only explained general things and was already known to many people about the continent.

Ever since being summoned to that world, all Ken did was practice his innate abilities. Apart from that, he also reads books in the library to find a way to return to his original world, and he does so secretly.

At first, Ken felt strange when he was first summoned to that world. There should be cultural and linguistic differences if he were in another world. But Ken and his friends can directly interact with people in that world. Ken felt they were speaking in Japanese, but when he read the book in the library, he realized they were not speaking in Japanese but Clorian language. It was the native language of the Clorius continent and was understood by most of the world's races.

Ken thought it was one of their innate abilities after being summoned to that world, but after he checked it many times, he didn't find anything other than the two innate abilities he already knew. It wasn't long after that Ken finally learned that the ability was a basic skill that was given to him and his friends when summoned to the Clorius continent. That skill was imprinted directly in the brain and worked automatically. Since knowing that, Ken has kept reading books in the imperial library while trying to learn the Clorian language without using his language comprehension skills.

Ken stopped and intended to look at the old book. But when he was about to take the book, it turned out that other people were also interested in it, and their hands were holding the book simultaneously.

The person who fought over the book with Ken was a girl with long white hair sparkled like pearls. Ken couldn't see her face because the girl covered it with a veil and only showed her beautiful silvery-white eyes. Ken could even tell that she was a beautiful girl from her amazing curves and smooth skin.

"I'm sorry, miss. But I saw this book first. Can you let it go?" Ziel spoke politely to the girl.

"Hmm… on what basis are you saying that this book was seen by you first? Aren't we holding it at the same time?" The white-haired girl said coldly to Ken.

Ken frowned upon hearing the girl's answer. He couldn't deny it because what she said was true. Ken still wants the book because he feels he will get important information about the Clorius continent in it. So he had to be more stubborn for now.

"This book is very important to me. So, can you be generous and let me have it?" Ken didn't care if the person in front of him was a beautiful girl, but he felt he had to get the book no matter what. He felt he would regret it if he gave up and let the girl have it.

"Not only you, but I also need it. A gentleman like you wouldn't fight over a book with a girl." The white-haired girl was also as stubborn as Ken. She gripped the book tighter and almost scuffed the cover.

A vein appeared on Ken's forehead when he heard the girl's words. Although the girl covered part of her face with a veil, Ken felt that the girl was smiling mockingly at him. Ken felt a little annoyed with the girl's attitude. He was about to reply to the girl's words, but the voice from the stall owner stopped him.

"Sir and Ms, If you guys want to fight, please do it somewhere else and not in front of my stall! People avoid this place because of your bickering!" The stall owner raised his voice slightly in anger.

Ken and the white-haired girl felt embarrassed after hearing the stall owner's words. They had unknowingly argued in front of the shop and made other potential buyers run away. But they still didn't want to let go of their grip on the book.

"I apologize for arguing in front of your stall and disturbing your other potential buyers, uncle. I saw this book first, but this girl, for some unreasonable reason, asked me to give it to her." Ken tries to convince the stall owner to sell the book to him.

The white-haired girl frowned after hearing Ken's words. She knew what Ken meant by saying that, and she would never let him succeed.

"I touched the book at the same time as him, uncle. So how could he have seen it before me? I told him to act like a real man and not fight with a girl just for this book. But I didn't expect this person to turn out to be not a man." The white-haired girl said in a soft voice to the stall owner but then sneered at Ken in a slightly harsh voice.

"Okay! Okay! You don't have to argue about who saw it first! Give me 5 gold coins for the old book and go fight somewhere else!" The stall owner was annoyed by their bickering. Ken couldn't help but give 5 gold coins to the stall owner and left the place.

The currencies in that world were gold, silver, and copper coins. One gold coin is equivalent to 1000 silver coins. Meanwhile, one silver coin is equal to 1000 copper coins. So, you could say the book's price was very high because the stall owner deliberately increased the price. After all, he was annoyed with Ken and the white-haired girl.

Ken walked back towards the inn where he was staying temporarily. He put on an annoyed face along the way because the white-haired girl kept following him and never let go of her grip on the book. From another's point of view, they looked like a couple walking hand in hand.

"Why do you keep following me!? Please take your hands off my book because I already paid for it!" Ken couldn't keep quiet because he felt the girl would follow him to his inn.

"Hey! I'm not asking you to pay for it. I'll reimburse you anyway, but you have to get your hands off the book first!" The white-haired girl said in a slightly high-pitched tone to Ken.

"You! Well, I don't want to argue with a girl. We'd better figure out a way to determine who will own this book. do you agree?" Ken took a deep breath and looked at the girl next to him.

The white-haired girl didn't immediately answer Ken's words. She looked like she was thinking. But it wasn't long before she finally spoke.

"Okay. I agree! But how do we determine who will own this book?" The white-haired girl stopped walking and looked back at Ken with her beautiful eyes.

"I've thought about this. We will fight to determine who has the right to own this book. I know you are not a weak girl. Isn't that so, the lady of the divine race?" Ken narrowed his eyes at the white-haired girl.

Ken had known from the start that the girl was from the divine race, and she wasn't weak. Ken kept quiet because he didn't feel any malice from her. It's just that the white-haired girl is a bit annoying.

The girl's gaze suddenly turned cold and released her strength to suppress Ken. But the girl was shocked because what happened was not as she imagined. She saw that Ken was doing well under pressure. The white-haired girl had guessed that the strength of a boy like Ken was at least a Sword Master, but it turned out that Ken was much stronger than that.

Ken is currently a Sword Saint as well as a Sage. The growth in strength of someone who was summoned from another world was extremely fast, or one could say astonishingly. It's been less than a year since he came to that world, but he's already a Sword Saint.

On the other hand, the white-haired girl was a demigod, and her strength was above Ken. Therefore she was confident that she would win the book. But she became a bit pessimistic after learning her pressure did not affect Ken.

"Who are you?" The white-haired girl glared at Ken. She suddenly showed hostility towards Ken.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking someone else's name?" Ken smiled at the girl and ignored the hostility directed at him.

"I…my name is Azalia." The white-haired girl doubted whether she would give Ken a real or fake name. But in the end, she gave her real name.

"Beautiful name! My name is Ken Nijisaki." Ken smiled and praised the girl's name sincerely.

"Okay! We have to go somewhere to solve this problem! There's no way we can fight in the middle of the city!" Azalia's face reddened after hearing Ken's sincere praise. She walked first and left him. Ken nodded, then followed her from behind, and they left the imperial capital.

***

Ken and Azalia were standing opposite in a meadow that was quite far from the imperial capital. Ken holds two swords in his hands, while Azalia only holds a silver sword. The two of them released power simultaneously and made the ground around them tremble. A huge storm was created due to the clash of their forces and ravaged the surrounding area.

"Come on!" Ken and Azalia subconsciously said the same thing, and they moved simultaneously.

Clank!

Ken and Azalia clashed their swords. They both frowned as they felt their opponent was no weaker than themselves. Ken and Azalia kept clashing their swords and unleashing their best attacks for quite a while until they finally kept their distance.

"You're pretty strong for a human race." Azalia felt her hands numb after clashing her sword with Ken many times.

"You are also very strong. More than I anticipated. Looks like I can't beat you with an attack like that." Ken's power suddenly overflowed. Seven-colored mana and aura were released from his body and gathered above his head.

[Seiryu]

[Suzaku]

[Byakko]

[Genbu]

[Manifest!]

The Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Giant Tiger, and Tortoise entwined with the snake formed from the mana and aura pool of seven colors above Ken's head.

Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!

"You...!" Azalia was taken aback after seeing the appearance of the four mythological creatures. But she didn't have time to continue her words because the four beasts immediately attacked her.

While Azalia was busy dodging the attacks from the four mythological creatures, Ken slipped and suddenly appeared in front of her. He unhesitatingly slashed his sword at Azalia.

"Ugh!" Azalia was shocked and quickly dodged the attack, but the veil that covered part of her face was hit by Ken's sword and was torn off, revealing her peerlessly beautiful face. Just when Azalia thought she had managed to dodge Ken's attack, she suddenly heard a voice behind her with cold metal pressed against her neck.

"You lose!" Ken said indifferently. He admitted that his focus was briefly diverted upon seeing Azalia's beautiful face, but he quickly regained his senses and moved with astonishing speed behind Azalia.

"I understand! The book is yours now! Hmph!" Azalia said angrily and quickly disappeared from the place without saying anything else to Ken.

Ken sighed after seeing Azalia disappear from his sight. Then he opened the old book in his hand and saw the writing on the book's first page. There it was written about the four guardians of the continent and the names of the four creatures.

[Nine-headed Imperial Dragon]

[Sacred Demonel]

[Archaic Knight]

[xxxxxx]

Ken couldn't read the last name because the writing was faded.. He couldn't do anything about it because the book was much older than it looked.