I, Who Came From the Abyss, Will Save Humanity Again Today - Volume 2 Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Hit Me

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“That’s right. Lafayette is my eldest son, and he’s also your… also Peylo’s big brother. Parsifal, whom you met yesterday, is our family’s second son, haha.”

Duke Scalliger sat down across from me.

“Unlike Parsifal, that pleasure-seeking rascal, he’s had a strong sense of responsibility since childhood, so I’ve already handed over most of the territories under my jurisdiction to him to govern. Most of these are quite far from Winter City, so he rarely stays at Shanter Castle. However, I notified him two days ago about your upcoming visit, he’s probably on his way back now.”

“……”

Indeed. Last night’s dream wasn’t just a simple dream, but a memory that truly existed within this body.

Otherwise, how could I have dreamed of someone I’d never met, yet who truly exists?

Since Lafayette is really Peylo’s brother, then who was that young man who forced her off the cliff?

If I remember correctly, that person’s name was Edward, with the same black hair and black eyes, which means he also bears the surname Wintermoon. And from the information in the dream, Peylo seemed to trust him, or at least had trusted him before. Yet that person deceived Peylo for some purpose, ultimately leading to her accidental death three years ago.

Three years after that, I suddenly came to this world, and for some unknown reason, I possessed looks identical to Peylo, and even glimpsed fragments of her memories twice.

Following this line of thought, whether I am Peylo or not, her death must be connected to the Abyss in some way, and I must investigate this matter thoroughly.

Where should I start?

Should I first ask the Duke about Edward?

……No, that’s not appropriate. Edward is very likely also a member of the Valen Empire’s royal family, and this must involve deeper reasons, while the information I currently understand is far too scarce. Anyway, I’ll be staying here for a while, so it’s not too late to ask after learning more about the situation.

Then it seems there’s only one direction left now.

“Duke, here, are there cliffs?”

Duke Scalliger seemed confused by my words, as if he couldn’t understand what I was saying.

“She’s asking if there are any cliff-like places near Winter City.”

Carlos added from the side, and I nodded slightly.

“Cliffs, huh.” The Duke pondered for a moment, then said, “There aren’t any nearby, but there are many in places further away. May I ask what Miss Sylvia wants to know?”

“Looking for, very deep, cliff. Many, snow mounds.”

“Snow mounds?”

“You mean there are many hills near the cliff, right?” Carlos added.

“Yes.” I nodded again, giving Carlos a thumbs up.

Not bad, Carlos my boy, you perfectly interpreted what this lady meant.

As an attendant, I’ll grudgingly say you pass, worthy of praise.

“Hills… the terrain around Winter City is quite complex, there are countless places like what you described.”

Hearing the Duke’s answer, I tried hard to recall the scene from the dream, attempting to grasp some more useful information to narrow down the search range to a minimum.

After thinking for a long while, I realized that the place where Peylo fell had no particular characteristics, aside from those omnipresent hills, there seemed to be nothing else that could serve as a reference point.

I felt discouraged immediately.

It seems the plan to visit the actual site will have to be scrapped. I can’t possibly walk through every cliff around Winter City, can I?

“Little Syl, just say directly what you want to do. With your infant-level expression ability, you shouldn’t try to beat around the bush like adults, okay?”

Hearing Carlos’s words, I immediately shot him a death glare.

This guy dares to look down on me, and to think I just praised him earlier, ptui ptui ptui, I take back the praise I gave him.

Always making me angry, is he afraid he doesn’t know how to write the word ‘death’?

“Is Miss Sylvia looking for some place?” the Duke asked.

Hearing this, I thought for a moment, but still slowly shook my head. Seeing this, the Duke understood I didn’t want to continue this topic and didn’t pursue it further.

Unlike yesterday’s formal attire, the Duke was dressed more casually now. The sleeves of his simple shirt were rolled up high, revealing most of his sturdy arms.

Only then did I notice that his left arm was a metal prosthetic, with fingers made of five sharp blades, black in color yet gleaming with an ominous cold light. The other end was firmly fixed to the end of his upper arm with a leather sleeve, and though it couldn’t move normally, it must be terribly lethal as a weapon.

“Hmm? Curious about this?” Seeing me curiously looking at his arm, the Duke placed the prosthetic on the table with a “clang” without any hesitation, then said, “Two years ago while fighting the Abyss, my left arm accidentally touched the black mist, so I cut it off. Hahaha! Carlos was there too, he almost lost his life at the time, and afterward I got fitted with this.”

I nodded to show I understood, then couldn’t resist poking it with my finger.

“Zing——”

The moment my fingertip touched the metal, the five sharp blades that served as fingers quickly extended, becoming nearly half-meter-long sharp blades, startling me so much I nearly jumped up.

Lightly patting my small chest, my eyes gradually brightened as I looked at the prosthetic.

“So amazing!”

“Hahaha! Amazing, right? It’s now my most precious weapon.”

Oh right, weapons.

Engel said Duke Scalliger was the most skilled exotic weapon designer at the Central Workshop, this would be a good time to talk to him about my requirements.

“Duke, sir……”

“No need to be so formal, you can call me… just call me Uncle Scalliger.”

I nodded.

“Uncle, my weapon.”

“Weapon? Oh, His Holiness did mention it in his letter. Miss Sylvia, your purpose for coming here is to get a suitable weapon, right?”

“Mm.”

“Tell me, what kind of weapon do you want?”

“Want a scythe.” I said without hesitation.

“A scythe? Are you sure about a scythe? Forgive my directness, but that’s not easy to use. Although there are fellows in the Shanter army who use scythes as weapons, they’re all sturdy men with stable centers of gravity.” At this point, the Duke sized me up briefly and couldn’t help but smile, “Looking at your small frame… you probably don’t even weigh 50 kilograms? Won’t you consider a rapier or other lighter weapons?”

I firmly shook my head at him.

“Must be a scythe.”

“Alright then, we’ll do as you wish, a scythe. Now let’s talk about your specific requirements, what kind of scythe do you want?”

I tilted my head and thought for a moment, then looked at him with a serious face and said: “Very big, very long, very hard.”

“……Could you be more specific?”

I frowned, isn’t this specific enough?

“Can pierce, person 2 meters away.”

“Uh……” Duke Scalliger’s mouth twitched, his expression troubled as he forced a smile.

Carlos covered his face.

“Let me explain. When Little Syl fought the Abyss before, she used a farming tool called Shandao. I think what she needs is this kind of weapon with a huge attack range, to make up for her own shortness……”

“Who are you calling short!” I gave Carlos’s waist a hard punch, making him quickly surrender with raised hands.

“Ahem, alright stop playing, your punch really hurts…… Where was I? Oh right, to make up for her own, ahem, inadequacy.”

“Who’s inadequate!” I made to punch him again.

This really makes me angry, is this guy helping me or mocking me?

“……Do you still want me to continue? If not, you can explain yourself.”

When he said this, I couldn’t bring myself to punch him anymore, and could only glare at him resentfully.

“Make up for that, anyway Duke, you understand the meaning, right?”

Duke Scalliger looked at Carlos, then turned his gaze to me, smiling and nodding.

“So let’s make the scythe’s length and size according to the Shandao standard, about 2 meters should be good. I’m sure Duke has his own judgment about the specific details. As for the material, of course it should be made to the Central Workshop’s highest standards. Regarding the weight…… Little Syl, how strong are you?”

How strong?

I haven’t really paid attention to this, haven’t used full strength much lately.

All I can think of is the battle with the Endless Abyss in the small village, when I was able to firmly block its terrifying black blade that could easily split huge rocks with just a farming tool in my hands, and then use pure brute force to change its flight trajectory.

This shouldn’t be something just anyone can do, right?

Thinking of this, I nodded quite confidently at the two of them.

“Very strong.”

“In that case, let’s test it. Little Syl, use your full strength… no, use half your strength first, come on, punch me.”

“Sir Carlos, the castle has equipment for testing grip strength and arm strength, we can have someone bring it over later to try.”

“No need for such trouble,” Carlos waved his hand at the Duke, then looked at me and said, “Little Syl, hit me.”

“……”

Fine then.

Since you’re insisting, how can I not satisfy your request?

After taking a shallow breath, I raised my little fist toward Carlos.

“Wait! What are you trying to do?”

Carlos hurriedly jumped to one side, and I, who had already gathered my strength, immediately looked at him in confusion.

“You told me, to hit you.”

“But you can’t just aim for the face! Where were you aiming just now? It was my face, right?”

……Tch, this guy figured it out.

I clicked my tongue rather unhappily.

“Let’s do this properly.” This time Carlos was much more cautious, he clasped his hands together and held them up at chest level, legs spread in a horse stance, “Punch at my palms.”

I stood up and walked in front of him, once again raised my fist, and swung it at him with a slight whooshing sound.

“Bang——”

Carlos’s body immediately moved backward, his feet even leaving the ground for an instant, he hurriedly steadied himself, his shoe soles making a harsh scratching sound against the ground, followed by a “thud” as he hit the wall behind him.

“Ssss——” Carlos kept shaking both hands, sucking in cold air from the pain.

“Who, who told you to hit me so hard?”

“Didn’t use strength.”

“Bullshit, you think I’d believe that?”

I humphed twice and didn’t pay him any more attention, sitting back down in my seat and giving the astounded Duke an innocent look.

“How can you have such great strength, how could your Body Refinement Power reach this level?”

“Woke up, just like this.”