The Mad Swordsman of the Shadow World
Chapter 60
"They were wiped out?"
Barkanis's southern branch.
Branch Chief Buren's voice came out low and strained.
The subordinate standing before his desk answered with cold sweat running down his face.
"Th-That is... the verification team found the site. Team Leader Leolkan and everyone with him... were found dead."
CRASH!
The cup on the table flew past the subordinate's head and shattered against the wall.
"Do you even hear what you're saying, you bastard?!"
Buren shot to his feet.
His bloodshot eyes bore down on the subordinate.
"You're telling me Leolkan was killed by some brat who isn't even fifteen yet?!"
"I-I'm sorry!"
The subordinate bowed so deeply that his head nearly struck the floor.
"Th-There were traces showing that the target fled west, so the verification team is currently following..."
"Shut up."
Buren ground his teeth and walked toward the window.
The rage boiling in his head slowly cooled into cold calculation.
Leolkan is dead.
That fact meant only one thing.
Leolkan had been one of the most capable tracking team leaders in the southern branch.
For a man like him to be wiped out together with his entire team meant...
This isn't something we can handle... with ordinary people.
Then who should he send?
The faces of the remaining team leaders in the southern branch passed through Buren's mind one by one.
But every one of them was inferior to Leolkan.
Sending them would only increase the number of corpses.
Damn it... Who...
Then suddenly.
One person came to mind.
Buren slowly turned his head.
"Didn't you say Karven was somewhere nearby?"
"K-Karven, sir?"
The subordinate's face immediately stiffened.
Karven.
A member of the eastern branch, and a man considered among the strongest in the entire organization.
But he was also infamous for his savage and uncontrollable personality.
Last year, while pursuing a target, he had supposedly burned down an entire checkpoint at a border fortress, forcing the organization to clean up the aftermath.
Buren had heard that Karven was somewhere in the south on another assignment, but...
"Contact him."
"B-But... he's not someone Branch Chief Buren can easily control..."
"Now!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The subordinate practically sprang from the room.
Left alone, Buren pressed his fingers against his temples.
He knew better than anyone that Karven was a rabid dog that was difficult to control.
But with Leolkan dead, Karven was the only person in this region capable of handling a monster like Theron.
Sometimes, the only way to catch a mad dog...
Was with another mad dog.
Buren stared out the darkening window.
I absolutely... cannot lose him.
The report had already gone up to their superiors.
They had failed to capture the fugitives alive.
Now an entire tracking team had been wiped out as well.
Their last remaining card was the boy called Theron.
If Buren lost even that final card, the next head to roll would be his own.
The longer one survived in this organization, the better one understood how that person dealt with failure.
Buren's eyes trembled uneasily as he stared at the closed door.
It had been three days since Theron left the mountain range and began heading north.
Hardin's work disguising their trail seemed to have shaken off the trackers for a while.
Even so... I can't let my guard down.
Hardin had said they were the type who never gave up.
For now, Theron had merely bought a little time.
Nothing more.
Theron lightly placed his bandaged foot on the ground.
Fortunately, after several days without pushing himself too hard, most of the pain had faded.
He rose and looked toward the valley ahead.
The Silent Land.
That was what people familiar with the area called this place.
There was no grand reason behind the name.
The entire area was surrounded by ridges, so little wind entered, and perhaps because of that, very few animals lived here.
It was simply unnaturally quiet.
Hunters considered it useless because there was nothing to hunt.
Herbalists avoided it because there were not enough herbs to make the journey worthwhile.
It had been a long time since people stopped coming here.
But for Theron...
This is definitely the place.
Mardian's Root.
A dark crimson root that bled scarlet sap when cut.
At this point in time, most people did not even know its name.
If anything, most dismissed it because its sap resembled blood.
But considering the path ahead...
It was exactly what Theron needed most.
Amplification.
Mardian's Root amplified the growth of whoever consumed it.
The same amount of Mana Method training would establish mana faster.
The same physical training would mature the body more deeply.
The problem was that the difference would never reveal itself after only a day or two.
Only after months and years of steady effort would the gap begin to widen.
To anyone looking for immediate results, it was completely useless.
So it was only natural that the world had yet to recognize its value.
Theron himself had only learned about it in his previous life through a completely accidental encounter.
Back then, I barely paid attention.
This time was different.
To the current Theron, it was more valuable than almost anything else.
The reason was simple.
This body had only just begun building its foundation.
He possessed the complete version of Wandering Wind.
Inside him was a Mana Method that still needed to be completely fused into one.
For the next several years...
If every moment of this body's growth was amplified...
I might gain power... that can't even be compared to my previous life.
Theron entered the valley.
True to its name, the Silent Land was quiet.
There were few birds, and the wind was gentle.
It did not feel eerie.
Just deserted.
Shaded places. Moist cracks between rocks.
That was where Mardian's Root grew.
Theron moved along the northern slope of the valley.
A shaded incline that rarely received sunlight.
He carefully searched every place where thin streams of water seeped between the rocks.
It was not easy.
There were plenty of ordinary roots that looked similar at first glance.
Each time, Theron lightly cut the tip with his dagger.
Clear sap.
Yellow sap.
Neither was right.
There was only one way to confirm it.
