Chapter 17: Awaiting the Truth

With the arrival of dawn, the exhausted candidates gradually disappeared one by one.

It seemed that everything had come to an end.

Rien stood up and stretched. He had already scattered all the seeds that needed planting; now all that remained was to guide their completion.

“With them, my plan can finally be carried out…”

Yes, the plan. Rien had already conceived an idea regarding the Severed Tail case.

However, lacking both combat strength and sufficiently capable executors, even the best plan was mere empty talk.

But now, barring any accidents, he would soon gain the power he needed, along with some very useful pawns.

He had originally intended to vanish at this moment, but he vaguely sensed a gaze upon him.

A gaze strikingly familiar.

At the entrance of the hall, a small figure’s vertically slit pupils suddenly changed, attempting to strip away her disguise!

“Heh, she’s already figured out how this dream works—knowing that if you sever the link voluntarily, it can reconnect? Interesting.”

She, the Dragon Huntress secretly linked to the network, hid in the shadows, trying to use her innate dragon eyes to see the truth.

What she didn’t know was that as the master of the dream, Rien had already been aware the moment she linked.

Nor did she realize that the eyes watching her were ones Rien knew all too well—too well indeed.

“Little one, little mother dragon, didn’t your father teach you not to use Dragon Eyes casually? Among the Dragonborn, the one who reveals their Dragon Eyes first is deemed to have initiated an attack.”

The voice of the heroic spirit echoed softly in the little girl’s ear, seeming to resonate right before her eyes.

Startled, she jumped. Dragonborn were not regarded lightly in this kingdom, especially given her extremely special identity.

Fortunately, after looking around and confirming no one else was in the hall, she breathed a sigh of relief, realizing the voice was heard only by her.

The next moment, she glared back fiercely.

“My father died long ago,” the girl enunciated clearly, and Rien read the words from her lips.

Soul shrugged and muttered a half-hearted “sorry.”

Why mention the father? Because, according to Soul’s experience, such a high concentration of bloodline strongly suggested a direct lineage to a great dragon.

If it were maternal, she would likely be a half-dragon rather than a full Dragonborn.

In truth, the origins of Dragonborn across the continent were too varied... Everyone understood dragon nature was promiscuous; there were countless types, branches, and subspecies of Dragonborn carrying even a trace of dragon blood.

There was even a grim joke that direct-line Dragonborn were often fatherless because great dragons were born of mothers only, with no father to raise them.

This was beyond Rien’s knowledge; his understanding of dragons was essentially zero, relying solely on the “virtual AI prompter” guided by his apprentice.

“AI Soul” continuously offered choices for every action, thought, and word; Rien only needed to make instinctive decisions.

Even on topics he didn’t understand... as Soul spoke, he began to comprehend.

Rien noticed that he could apparently absorb knowledge through interactions with his disciples.

It seemed, however, that he could only glean such knowledge during these exchanges.

“Perhaps I can guide these disciples to ask the questions I want answered…”

At this moment, Rien grew increasingly grateful for Soul’s arrangement. Without having a backdoor candidate, it would be difficult to maintain the strong heroic spirit persona and intervene effectively.

Despite the angry little girl, Rien remained unfazed.

“Why haven’t you left yet? It’s dawn.” Though he spoke, he also pulled out a set of barbecue skewers, clearly indifferent to the answer.

If she came looking for a barbecue... well, they might as well eat together.

The meat grilled quickly and without reason, filling the sacred hall with the aroma of roasted meat.

The little girl clearly wasn’t so idle; after confirming no one else was present, she bit the bullet and asked a question she had longed to know the answer to.

“Did the former hero, the kingdom’s former hero Lex Thorn, also become a heroic spirit?!”

“I don’t know,” Rien replied casually, but when he looked up, he saw a pouty, sulky face.

The little one was quite rude, yanking a skewer of grilled meat from Rien and stuffing it into her mouth.

Seeing this, Rien chuckled and continued grilling the next skewer.

An old man grilling, a child eating—it looked like a grandpa taking care of his grandchild… Given the strange sense of kinship, Rien felt no aversion.

The girl ate more and more heartily… She discovered not only was the food delicious, but she didn’t have to worry about her figure or dieting, which delighted her immensely!

“Slow down, no one’s stealing from you.” Rien said, handing her a cup of water—which was not his doing but the influence of the suit controlling his body.

Watching the meat-smeared little girl, Rien smiled and said,

“Lex Thorn, huh…”

“Ugh!” The girl suddenly stopped eating, then clutched her throat, choking.

This was no prank by Rien. Half annoyed and half amused, he patted her back to help her breathe.

But when she stopped coughing, she fixed her gaze on him, hoping for an answer.

“...I know a little about his abilities and story. He should qualify as a heroic spirit. But before heroic spirits are awakened, they cannot recognize each other; at the moment of death, our lives end and freeze. So I truly don’t know.”

Instantly, the girl’s expression fell, and then she turned her attention back to the feast.

Eat, I’ll finish your meat! Drink your water!

“I thought you’d ask about the current hero, Lena.” Suddenly, Rien added.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!” The unexpected remark interrupted the girl’s meal again.

This time she clutched her neck and lay on the ground for a while before recovering.

She looked at him with grudging resentment but was less emotional this time.

“Do you know her whereabouts?”

“Heh, who knows? Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” Rien smiled, deliberately ambiguous, toying with her.

With her hopes dashed again, the girl ignored the mischievous old man and lowered her head to eat her fill.

The meat’s flavor was strange, something she’d never tasted before, and the spices too—but it was truly delicious.

The dream was destined to end. As the thoughtful, satisfied girl vanished, she didn’t forget to flip off the old man and make a face.

Rien himself didn’t care. He noticed the sudden clarity in her eyes and knew his objective had been achieved.

“She has eyes and ears outside as a heroic spirit; otherwise, there’s no reason she’d know about the second-generation hero Lena.” This piece of information, it seemed, the clever girl had caught onto.

Next, he would guide things further, allowing his true identity to make an appearance.

Watching from outside might be safe, but it was not his style.

“Tsk, looks like it’s time for me to wake up.” The hall began to dissolve; the longest night had finally ended.

At the word “wake,” Rien awoke.

“Familiar ceiling.”

Awakening once more from sleep, Rien immediately grabbed the longsword by his bedside, instinctively alert.

This was a habit ingrained from shedding Soul’s body—always be ready for battle.

No one could be sure if the one waking him was a friend’s call or an enemy’s betrayal.

The next moment, he shook his head… This was no wilderness filled with monsters and bandits; he needed a moment to adjust.

Looking out the window, the scenery was the same, his body and power nearly unchanged, but Rien’s mood was completely different.

Before, it had been a hellish difficulty like a moth to a flame; now, it seemed he had found a way to solve the puzzle.

“Dragon Huntress, Shadow Cutter, Moth, and Broken Bone…”

At Rien’s request, they had become accustomed to calling each other by their “codenames.”

From now on, in dream training, only codenames would be allowed—preferably in the real world as well.

After all, the simplest way to monopolize heroic spirits was to eliminate all competitors in reality… Rien had even hinted that they were not the first chosen; strange things had occurred before.

Was it true? Unknown. But Rien wove a story and seemed to have found a way to solve his identity issue.

For the story’s authenticity, he did not intend to reveal it himself; he waited for his juniors to “dig out the truth” on their own.

This was also a form of test and trial.

Those chosen by “unyielding justice” likely had high moral standards, but excessive zeal could also lead to “sacrifices.”

Paladins were not incapable of wrongdoing; as long as it was for the “greater good,” their brutality was sometimes unfathomable.

“A bit beyond expectations, but still manageable…”

The Dragonborn girl had initially tried to take control with intelligence.

Heroic spirit Soul, however, used sheer power to show who was in charge here.

Golden race? What difference did it make? Under the heavy greatsword, all beings were equal.

In that state, Rien was another Soul—a heroic spirit at the pinnacle of strength.

After suppressing dissent, Rien had gained preliminary trust and authority, yet had done nothing.

This was the first training session; the others had been forcibly brought in, still wary, and Rien did not expect results or agreements.

In the final moments, borrowing Soul’s body, he chatted to deepen understanding.

He casually mentioned anecdotes and events from the Church Kingdom era; whether they could verify them was their own matter.

“They all have strong personalities, or perhaps too strong.”

Aside from Rien’s backdoor entry of Shadow Cutter, the other three had such stubborn characters that they could argue even lying down.

Rien’s original plan was to have them probe each other in the dream, playing the mask game like adults.

But now, two of their identities were revealed, and they had become enemies… Shadow Cutter (Talia) would likely expose herself soon.

“By the way, I urgently need a holy artifact for ‘Holy Power Magic’ and the ‘Cursed Gauntlets of Mighty Strength.’”

When heroic spirit Soul casually mentioned this, the assessment would no longer be limited to dreams; they could cooperate and trade in reality. She suddenly realized this.

“I have no money, but I badly need them…”

As Rien expected, she took the dead horse as a live horse, openly requesting to buy these two rare items.

As a tool figure, this young lady was quite qualified.

“The purity is too high, it’s almost embarrassing to use.”

But this undoubtedly placed her in extreme danger… When you accept the goods, your true identity will naturally be exposed.

Letting this pawn in through the backdoor was also Rien’s way of having someone around who could stir the pot and glean a thread of intelligence.

“...I need to treat her better.”

Such a good tool figure was hard to find.

The righteous should not bleed and cry.

“What she wants most now is probably to solve the Severed Tail case… If all goes well, it should be done in about a week.”