Chapter 343: 341 [Cang Qiangwei]
It is indeed him.
Upon hearing the name uttered by Gejiev, the first thought that emerged in Reiger’s mind was just that.
What followed closely as his second thought was rather impolite.
"Could it be that even this time he didn’t make it?"
Such a thought, if revealed, would make any man who is a man want to fight Reiger to the death, right?
But Reiger couldn’t help thinking this way.
After all, if things were as they should be, Brian Angelos shouldn’t have encountered that incident again.
"What happened to him?"
To confirm the current situation, Reiger posed the question to Gejiev once more.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Gejiev himself didn’t know much either.
"Truthfully, I’m also puzzled about what exactly he encountered," Gejiev said, "In my memory, he is someone quite confident in his own abilities. Even during the Royal King’s combat tournament, despite his defeat at my hands, I did not see a trace of discouragement in him at that time; what was there was a resolute determination to beat me."
"At that time, I was clear. This man had not yet conceded."
"Sooner or later, he would make a comeback and challenge me once again."
Gejiev himself was very much looking forward to it.
He, too, saw Brian as a formidable rival, a worthy opponent, and he was eager to battle him again.
Who would have thought...
"Recently, I happened to bump into him on the street," Gejiev’s expression was quite complex as he said, "The him at that time, compared to the him in my memory, seemed like two completely different people."
"If the him from before gave me the impression of a genius Swordsman, then the him now strikes me as akin to a deserter on the battlefield."
"He had lost all his fighting spirit, all his morale, and he could barely even hold onto his sword."
This complicated Gejiev’s feelings.
The existence he considered a strong adversary, his competitor, had suddenly turned up in front of him in such a state, it was almost as if to scream: what kind of joke is this?
"I did ask him what happened, and he gave me just one sentence."
Gejiev lifted his eyelids, looking toward Reiger.
"’I saw a monster’ — that’s what he said."
This statement was indeed somewhat thought-provoking.
"Alright, I think I understand," Reiger nodded pensively, but then asked, "However, why did you think of asking for my help?"
Brian Angelos had clearly lost his morale, lost the confidence as a Swordsman, for him to have fallen into his current state.
Gejiev was right, he had a mental problem, a psychological illness that even a clergyman couldn’t heal.
Under such circumstances, why Gejiev thought of having Reiger resolve Brian Angelos’s issue was indeed a curiosity to Reiger.
To this, Gejiev said the following.
"Although I don’t know what happened, if nothing unexpected occurred, he must have encountered an enemy that humans absolutely cannot defeat," Gejiev said earnestly, "It might be a demon, maybe an expert of the demi-human races, or even possibly a dragon from legends; in any case, his every action and word were filled with the sorrow of human existence and the realization of the weakness of his species."
"He has ceased to believe, ceased to believe in the potential and strength of the human race."
"Therefore, I believe that to awaken his lost morale, it is necessary to let him know that there are indeed real powerhouses among humans."
That’s why Gejiev thought of Reiger.
He had encountered many strong individuals in his life, including those who had entered the Heroic Domain, but if asked who is the strongest in Gejiev’s mind, the only one he could think of was Reiger.
"If it’s you, you can certainly awaken him forcefully, making him realize the possibilities of humanity once more," Gejiev thought.
Owing to these thoughts, after much deliberation, he decided to contact Reiger.
"This is my unilateral request," Gejiev stood up, bending towards Reiger as he pleaded, "May I ask you to help that man?"
Upon hearing this, Reiger watched Gejiev, without responding for a long time.
Gejiev, likewise, wasn’t in a hurry, patiently maintaining his bow, waiting for Reiger’s reply.
Time trickled away bit by bit, making the adventurers in the restaurant start to generate noise.
Just as Reiger was about to speak, ready to respond, a voice interjected.
"Lord Strogonov?"
A voice tinged with surprise suddenly arose, entering into the ears of Reiger and Gejiev.
Reiger promptly closed his mouth, ceasing to speak.
Gejiev, however, was slightly startled and involuntarily straightened up, turning his head to look in the direction of the voice.
The next second, a familiar face came into Gejiev’s view.
It was a male between the ages of youth and a young man.
The male had a pair of upturned sanpaku eyes and two thick eyebrows, his skin darkened from sun exposure, and his golden hair that seemed to be cut short for convenience of movement allowed one to glimpse the man’s pragmatic personality.
"Clem?" Gejiev called out the name of the person, astonishingly asking, "What are you doing here?"
That question, however, the young man named Clem didn’t have a chance to answer.
Because, standing behind him, a person with an overwhelming presence spoke up first.
"This kid came looking for us, huh? Strogonov!"
This was a rather aggressive voice.
Yet the owner of the voice was a woman.
A woman who made one seriously question her actual gender, but who was most definitely, decidedly, a woman.
She had an incredibly robust physique, muscles bulging all over her body, exuding a sense of power, her thick arms reminiscent of logs, and a square-shaped head that resembled a carnivorous beast, intimidating to look upon.
Next to this person stood another who contrasted sharply with her, shorter in stature, resembling a little girl.
This individual was draped in a pitch-black robe that thoroughly concealed their entire body; a strange mask adorned with a crimson gemstone on the forehead made it utterly impossible to discern their face.
These two women, either with an astonishing physique or dressed in bizarre attire, appeared following Clem and stood behind him.
Seeing them, Reiger, as for Gejiev, was taken aback.
"So is it none other than Lady Gegran and Lady Iveyer Ah?"
Gegran.
Iveyer Ah.
These two names might not be familiar to the common folk, unrecognized by many.
However, should another name be mentioned, it would undoubtedly be known to all.
"How fortunate to encounter two members of ’Cerulean Rose’ here today."
That’s what Gejiev said.
Indeed, these two women before him were members of one of the only two Mithril-class adventurer parties of the Re·Yestijie Kingdom, known as ’Cerulean Rose.’
In other words, they were Mithril-class adventurers.
Reiger almost instinctively turned his gaze toward the two and fixed his eyes on one of them.
By some coincidence, that person seemed to notice Reiger at the same time and looked back at him.
Their eyes met immediately.
"Interesting," Reiger squinted his eyes and suddenly smiled.
"......"
As Iveyer Ah was wearing a mask, her expressions and gaze were utterly obscured, yet it was evident that she was observing Reiger, and the more she watched, the more interested in him she became.
The others, oblivious to this silent exchange, began conversing among themselves.
"Why is Lord Strogonov here?"
Clem first saluted Gejiev and then posed the question.
"Like you, I’m here to find someone," Gejiev replied to Clem with an approachable, even friendly demeanor, answering his question without any reservation.
"But you seemed to be bowing and pleading just now, right?" Gegran once again interrupted Clem’s words with her brash manner, "Though I don’t know what’s happened, for the illustrious Kingdom Warrior General to bow and scrape publicly in a place full of adventurers like this—if word gets out, it won’t reflect well on you, right?"
"...I cannot deny that."
Gejiev started to smile wryly.
"Oh?" Gegran’s rugged eyebrows suddenly raised, "Since you realize that, yet still choose to do so, it must mean there’s a compelling reason you had to, right?"
"This really piques my curiosity," she continued.
"And then?"
Gegran shifted her gaze, finally turning to look at Reiger.
"The one our Warrior General lowered himself to ask a favor of, that’s you, isn’t it?"
With those words, everyone’s attention was gathered upon Reiger.
"You are?"
Clem cocked his head, looking puzzled.
Clearly, he had never met Reiger before, nor did he recognize him.
"Hello," Reiger did not show any intention of introducing himself but simply nodded to those looking at him as a form of greeting.
"Let me do the introduction," Seeing that Reiger did not intend to introduce himself, Gejiev took the job upon himself.
"This is Clem, the personal guard of the third princess of the Kingdom, a very hardworking and resilient good warrior," Gejiev’s introduction managed to make Clem feel flattered and a bit embarrassed, so he tried hard to maintain a stern face to avoid creating an unreliable impression.
Gejiev also introduced Gegran and Iveyer Ah, who, as mentioned before, were members of ’Cerulean Rose’ and Mithril-class adventurers.
Last, Gejiev introduced Reiger to everyone present.
"This is Sir Reiger Brillhaut, my savior," Gejiev said.
His words triggered a reaction from everyone present.
"Reiger Brillhaut?"
Gegran seemed somewhat surprised, and with a touch of emotion, she addressed Reiger.
"So it’s you?"