The Piper Knight
The Piper Knight
I had written reports, shared a glass of wine with about a hundred knights at the tavern. Then, after pretending not to notice the knights who had somehow gotten a keg of beer and were spouting the absurd sophistry that beer wasn't alcohol but just watery grain stew, I left the tavern to find that night had already deepened and the cold was biting into my bones.
Looking at it this way alone, it was hard to believe this was a city at the heart of the war. There were more intact buildings than collapsed ones, and the people I saw were so bright it was as if the city had already been completely recaptured.
They said we were sending back news of successive victories, so there was no particular reason to dislike the atmosphere, but as I strolled through streets drunk on that mood, a creeping anxiety started crawling up from inside for the first time in a while.
The reason, of course, was Water Buffalo Horn.
He was strong. So strong that I could barely hold my own even after throwing everything I had at him. Maybe because he used Magic Power as well, surprise attacks didn't work on him like they did on Envelde, and he was outstanding in every aspect, even countering my Magic Power-infused weapon with improvisational skill and judgment.
I'd never been the type to be so self-absorbed as to be a frog in a well, but I couldn't deny that I'd been made to feel how long the road ahead was for the first time in a long while. Even my tagging along on every sortie of the airborne unit these past few days, cutting into my sleep, had stemmed from that anxiety that I couldn't stay still... but...
...but even after all those battles, I didn't feel like anything had changed. The only comfort, if any, was that my dragon riding skill had improved considerably.
"Heh heh, so that's why a status window is a cheat key, huh?"
The ability to see exactly what and how much you'd become stronger and would become stronger, assuming it was 100% accurate, seemed like a truly amazing ability. Psychological stability was really something that couldn't be ignored, because with just a status window, you could get an estimate immediately.
Still, I couldn't just suck my fingers and wish for an ability I didn't have, so I had to train hard with what I did have. In that sense, I had to study some magic before sleeping tonight.
As I walked down the still unfamiliar street, with about twenty more minutes to go, I hummed a song from memory to stave off boredom. What came out naturally wasn't a song from my previous life, but a tune a minstrel had sung at the Adventurers' Guild.
Even though my previous life had been longer than this one, I wasn't sure exactly what I felt when I realized that many memories were fading. It seemed like a feeling of reminiscing about distant memories and laughing, 'That's how it was back then,' ... and also like chewing over memories full of bitterness and regret and feeling sadness.
The important part was that my attention had become somewhat scattered in the process. I was late to realize that time had passed and I was almost at my lodgings, and that someone's presence was blocking my path ahead.
"Sir Eldmia Ega?"
"Hm?"
A voice I'd never heard before, and a hood pulled low over a robe. Considering the weather, it wasn't particularly strange attire, but since I'd been reminiscing about my past life, the thought that crossed my mind was that it looked very much like an assassin's outfit.
And that thought saved me. The reason I was able to dodge the bastard's thrust as he closed the distance of at least ten steps in an instant and thrust a dagger from within his robe was purely thanks to having habitually tensed up because of that idle thought.
The passing impression was that it was a highly practiced strike. As if honed solely for this one attack, the thrust flew toward my side, and my body moved before my head could understand it.
"Ghk!"
Though he was quite surprised that I'd dodged it, the bastard tried to correct his posture immediately, but my limbs shot out faster than he could.
I supported the bastard's left hand that held the dagger with my right hand, swung my left palm to dislocate his wrist, and not wanting to let him escape backward in a panic, I grabbed his forearm and slammed a low kick. His forward leg, the right one, bent at an impossible angle and then tore open.
I had absolutely no intention of holding back. Who was behind it? It was already too late to figure that out, and I'd rather not know than die from a careless response.
So without even giving him a chance to scream, I swung the right hand still gripping his arm and drove an uppercut into his solar plexus. To kill him for sure, attacking his neck would have been better, but if he had some self-destruct mechanism while close, it'd be hopeless, so it was to push him away.
The crunch of bones transmitted clearly through the gauntlet, and maybe about five seconds passed before the assassin's body flew backward. Though I had been extremely tense due to the unexpected attack, the techniques I'd drilled into my body through repeated practice paid off, and I was uninjured.
"Gurgk, ghk!"
I'd thought his heart would burst and kill him right away, but surprisingly, the assassin still clung to life, writhing and vomiting blood.
"Tougher than I thought."
Since there was no other presence nearby, I drew needles without whistling and drove them into his limbs. Even while dying, he groaned. Even if he made a last desperate rush at me, the needles would restrict his movements somewhat, so I closed the distance without hesitation. The assassin, trembling but rolling eyes full of hostility, looked at me.
But that was all. Just in case, I used Magic Sight, but I felt no Magic Power from him. I wondered if he was a member of the Demonfolk who'd filed down his horns and sneaked in, but he was simply a member of the Human Race. Then again, if he were Demonfolk, he wouldn't have needed to ask my name again; he could have judged by my Magic Power alone.
The fact that he didn't die instantly after taking my sincere attack barehanded suggested he had trained in aura to some extent, but it was clear he would die soon if left like this. For a moment, the thought of using a potion to half-revive him and then find out who was behind it crossed my mind, but fortunately, he opened his mouth first and saved me the trouble.
"Piper Knight... this damn monster bastard... the Demon God will judge you... Cough!"
He probably hadn't intended it at all, but that single curse he spat at me cleared up more questions than I expected.
Just like the Demon King's Army special forces soldier who'd attacked me in the middle of Itisel, and the Demon King's Army I'd merrily thrashed here, they were always spouting 'for freedom,' so lately I'd been wondering what the hell they were fighting for.
You know, the usual trope: rising up to free themselves from the tyranny of the gods, shouting for freedom from the gods.
I couldn't confirm the entire Demon King's Army's intent just from his words, but at least it seemed that ordinary soldiers or those not in high positions weren't fighting for that kind of transcendent freedom. If that had been the case, I'd have added the crime of insolence and punished them even more.
"Thanks, man, that cleared up a lot of questions. While we're at it, were you part of the Special Operations Command?"
The moment he violently coughed up blood, what flashed in his eyes was shock.
After that, he was too busy vomiting out his life along with blood to say anything else, but that alone was enough of an answer, so I retrieved the needles from his limbs and released him from pain by sending a needle into the spot between his brows.
And then I headed back toward the barracks, clutching the scruff of his robe's neck, humming that minstrel's tune.
Before long, I arrived at the barracks illuminated by torchlight, and two guards who had been yawning broadly recognized me and saluted lightly, greeting me.
"You've worked hard, Sir Ega. Is that in your hand... a person?"
Perhaps because it was dark and they couldn't see the blood he was dripping, the guards' faces showed no particular tension. Hm, seeing this, maybe I should be thankful to the assassin who decided to attack me on the road. If he'd broken into the barracks, a lot of people might have died.
"Was an assassin."
While pushing that thought into the back of my mind, I casually tossed the corpse, and the guards' eyes instantly widened.
"An assassin!?"
"Seems like someone from the Human Race who'd sided with the Demon King's Army. I didn't touch any of his belongings, so call someone to check. I was off guard and ended up killing him without having a chance to ask anything."
"Oh, are you hurt anywhere!?"
"I'm fine except for my startled heart from the sudden attack, so don't worry."
I tried a light joke, but it didn't really work. Using exhaustion as an excuse, I left the corpse and cleanup to the guards and returned to my quarters. While I was cleaning and inspecting my bloodstained equipment and getting ready for bed, a visitor suddenly burst in.
"Eldmia! Are you okay!?"
Ragnis's face, deathly pale, synergized with the dark circles from overwork to the point that I wanted to ask her if she was okay.
Apparently truly flustered, she rushed into the room and started examining my body for any wounds, and I had to carefully hold her back and calm her down.
"I'm really fine. I didn't overexert myself, and I'm not hurt. If he'd been Demonfolk, I'd understand, but he was a member of the Human Race. I don't know if he was raised as an assassin or what, but after the first attack, it was nothing."
"Even so, an assassin? Right now the sweep around the Levien area is practically done, and an assassin?!"
I'd thought that since she knew my skills, she wouldn't be too shocked by a mere assassination attempt, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Her mindset of treating a head-on fight and a surprise attack as separate things was truly admirable, but she seemed quite shaken, even trembling slightly, so I comforted her with a deliberately cheerful laugh.
"If anything, that's precisely why they'd use someone from the Human Race for an assassination. How often would those meritocratic bastards put a member of the Human Race forward? It's a relief they aimed for me."
I meant it.
Not only because it had wrapped up more cleanly than if they'd targeted Ragnis or others, but also because it prevented me from getting complacent and made me think I should quickly find the Demon King's Army soldiers belonging to Special Operations Command and screw them over.