<h4>Chapter 67: "Bk''s Legend"</h4>
Vikir became a legend among the Bk that day.
He discovered that the gue afflicting Bk''s champions was actually a simple opiate subtly distributed by unfamiliar vendors, giving them a significant advantage in trade, which they had been losing.
Additionally, he extended the range of his zing bolts and developed an oil barrel bolt system, instantly earning him legendary status.
His poprity was bolstered by his previous efforts to address the n''s food shortage by hunting down an oxbear that only the bravest warriors could hunt.
"I will allow you to bathe in the Wellspring of Courage," Chief Aqu dly granted Vikir''s request.
However, she wondered how she could deny her daughter''s request when she was so determined.
With such a noble cause, how could anyone refuse?
Even the initially skeptical elders were now looking at Vikir with approving faces.
However, one of them, the shaman Ahheman, stroked his beard in dissatisfaction.
The shaman had a history of misdiagnosing drug-afflicted heroes as "cursed".
While Vikir''s actions had made the Bk n brighter and more vibrant, it had also made things very difficult for Ahheman.
His position was much diminished, and his voice much weaker than before.
For this reason, he couldn''t oppose Vikir''s decision to enter the Wellspring of Courage.
Aiyen leaned in with a wide smile and whispered in Vikir''s ear.
And then she fell silent.
Vikir frowned and turned his head.
"Do you have something to say?"
"Nothing."
"Why did you put your mouth in someone else''s ear?"
"Just... I wanted to."
Aiyen still grinned inadvertently.
She opened her mouth again.
"Well, in the meantime, why don''t you say a few words?"
"Why?"
"I have a feeling that guy over there seems like a fraud."
"Why?"
"...I just suspect."
Vikir agreed with Aiyen.
The only difference was that he was able to use his rationale, along with his instincts, to sense something off-putting about Ahheman.
He had described the drugs the vendors distributed as a gue, a curse that could only be cured by shamanic rituals.
In this way, he asserted his authority as a shaman and bolstered his position.
This was despite the fact that his granddaughter, Ahul, was suffering fromplications from drugs.
Additionally, Vikir still remembered what the vendors had said so casually thest time.
"You don''t know what you''re doing! This is a sacred trade!"
"This is a sacred trade, sworn to by the Lord of the Wilderness!"
''Even the Shaman of Bk favors us for the Lord of the Wilderness...!"
Thest one cut off mid-sentence, but the sharp-eyed Vikir had already sensed what was going on.
Vikir tranted the vendors'' words into the localnguage, and Aiyen''s eyebrows shot up in unison.
"We can''t let this chatan get away with this! I treated him like a blessing, and now he''s stuck with an alien power...!"
"Calm down. You''re still angry. You have no hard evidence."
"Then you''re just going to sit back and watch!"
Aiyen''s heart raced, and Vikir shouted after a moment of silence.
Vikir spoke in a soft tone, and Aiyen''s eyes narrowed as she listened.
"...Do you think I should do that?"
"Yes. If we wait a little longer, it will reveal its own tail."
"Hmm. That doesn''t sound like a bad n."
Aiyen thought for a moment.
But, she wasn''t in the mood to think for too long.
"I see. I guess nothing is lost by doing as you say. Let''s just focus on what''s important right now."
Vikir nodded at Aiyen''s words.
As she said, getting his body back in shape was the most important thing right now.
A short whileter.
Night fell, and a beautiful full moon rose.
The wilderness seemed to have forgotten the previous carnage in just a single day.
As the bright, round moon rose, Depht opened his mouth as if to swallow it.
Sssssss...
A gentle breeze rustled the leaves.
Then, with a strange shifting of the world''s crust, the rock cracked and hot water began to rise from beneath it.
The Wellspring of Courage.
Blessed by Adonai, the archer king of Bk''s distant past.
It was a sacred ce that few of Bk''s warriors were allowed to enter.
Vikir stood alone before it.
In the depths of the hot, steaming waters, some sulfurous gas seemed to be boiling.
In the shallows, some small creatures were eager to appear and take a dip.
They didn''t move as Vikir approached.
There seemed to be an unwritten rule that creatures entering the hot springs here, regardless of their longstanding hierarchy, didn''t disturb each other.
Vikir removed all his clothes.
He closed his eyes, pushed aside the rabbits, hares, and hedgehogs that were crowding his body, and sat down.
"...!"
The effect was truly enlightening.
As he entered the hot spring water, his inner body quickly settled.
"That old shaman wasn''tining in vain, I guess he wanted toe in."
His mana became purer, and the bones and muscles in his body fell into ce.
Perhaps Baskerville had a simr effect to the River Styx flowing within it.
The Wellspring of Courage was only slightly less potent than the River Styx, but the best part was that there was no age limit on its use.
The only drawback was that it was only avable a few times a year, on full moon nights.
As Vikir soaked in the hot springs, he pondered various things.
It had been a while since he''d been here.
I wonder how Baskerville is doing without him, how the Dark Horse City is doing.
...Well, probably very well.
''But Mr. Chihuahua is probably throwing a fit."
Vikir sneered and dismissed the thought.
Then, somethingpletely unexpected happened.
Something so surprising that even the mighty Vikir was stunned.
"Surprised?"
In what seemed like no time at all, Aiyen was soaking in the hot springs next to Vikir.
She leaned forward toward Vikir, grinning widely, not wearing a single thread of clothing.
Seeing this, Vikir thought to himself.
''Even I, who have survived the Time of Annihtion, didn''t sense her approach. I must learn this stealthy move.''
It would serve him well in the future.
While Vikir pondered his strategy.
"..."
Aiyen muttered, disappointed at Vikir''sck of response.
"Have you be such a man that seeing a woman''s nakedness has no effect on you?"
"Don''t you go around naked all the time?"
"Not quite. There''s a difference between naked and barely covered."
What''s the difference?
Vikir didn''t know what to say to that, so he just turned his head back in the direction he hade from.
Meanwhile, while Vikir was lost in thought, Aiyen was thinking somethingpletely different.
In fact, she intended to see this through to the end tonight.
It''s a bit of an ego thing to ask someone to choose you as a mate, so I wanted to naturally follow through with something (?) in a shy
(?) ce and in a natural atmosphere (?), and just go with the flow.
''He''s cleaned up, his reputation in the vige is good, he''s not bad for a husband, and he''ll stay here today and heal his body so that he''s good enough for his family, and then the rest will take care of itself.''
Her mother, Aqu, had given her simr advice.
So Aiyen had gone all in and brought her favorite drink to bathe near Vikir.
But.
"But, doesn''t your presence diminish the magical effects of the hot springs? Why did youe in? Surely the chief said only I shoulde in?"
Vikir is now standing there arguing over this.
Aiyen eximed in dismay.
" ... Does it matter now? A true Bk doesn''t argue over such trivial matters."
"It doesn''t matter, but I''m just asking, not arguing, but surely. If you don''t want to answer, you don''t have to."
Vikir replied with a casual expression, and when he turned away again, Aiyen''s forehead furrowed.
" ... Show me what it is then?"
A moment.
...Boom!
There was a ssh.
Aiyen jumped to her feet and stormed at Vikir.
Vikir''s demeanor was still casual, but his pupils were widened with a hint of surprise.
Seeing that, Aiyen smiled mischievously and jumped on top of Vikir''s body.
"You will stay still, ve."
"..."
"This master will take care of ..."
At that exact moment.
A snap, a crackle, a pop!
A group of sshes erupted from beyond the spring.
A few shadows began to creep through the steam.
"Wow-it''s the Master!"
"Brother Vikir!"
A group of children started to rush in from nowhere.
"????"
Aiyen looked up, bewildered.
Vikir, pinned underneath her, turned his head as well.
Bk''s children had been gathering into the hot springs for some reason.
Each of them was sick from the side effects of the drugs the vendors were selling.
Naked, the children ran towards Aiyen and Vikir.
"Master, let''s y!"
Aiyen cried out.
"Hey, you two, you''re splitting the magical effects of the hot springs! Who told you toe in here!"
"th...the chief-oh!"
When the children replied in a stuttering voice, Aiyen pped her forehead with the palm of her hand.
She had been yed by her mother.
Even by her mother.
"You''re talking differently. You said earlier that a true Bk doesn''t argue over such trivial matters... "
Vikir pointed out with a serious face.
Aiyen sighed deeply.
The children were already ying with the rabbits, hedgehogs, and squirrels that hade in earlier.
Vikir was soaking in the hot springs, just trying to heal.
Aiyen, having given up on everything, opened her arms to Vikir.
"Wee to officially join the Bk."
She didn''t know what else to say.
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