Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Swordsman and the Lady
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At Tiger Girl Camilla's declaration, Jane was the first to show denial.
"No way. Aren't you misunderstanding something? Did you get brainwashed or something?"
But Camilla's eyes were filled with such conviction that Jane's faith began to waver. And in those clear pupils, even the possibility of brainwashing vanished.
Camilla was sincerely insisting that the Godfather was that nameless swordsman.
"No way..."
"Jane. You've always been like this since the old days. Words don't get through to you. So..."
Flung.
The tiger girl threw off her top.
'Oh my. What a sight.'
Dominik turned his head and sneaked a sidelong glance at Camilla's upper body.
And felt disappointed.
Scales had sprouted across Camilla's upper body like armor.
Then, remembering he had one too, Dominik reflected alone while Camilla roared and charged at Jane.
"I'll carve the truth into your body!"
Rawr!
With a tiger's roar, she lunged at Jane bare-bodied.
True to her nickname "Rending Tiger," she pressured Jane with claws serrated like saw teeth.
The speed, proficiency, and power were worlds apart from when she swung her saw.
Only then did Dominik revise his assessment of Camilla.
'Now she finally seems like a Rank 4.'
He had thought she built her reputation by brute-forcing with her saw, but seeing her move with claws proved otherwise.
The saw had just been phase one.
As Jane dodged Camilla's claws, the building behind her was sliced into five pieces like tofu.
'Yeah. Now that's Rank 4 level.'
Smashing walls and collapsing mansions with a saw was too ordinary for a Rank 4.
You had to slice a building with a casual swing to be a proper Rank 4.
Now it was finally a match worthy of Jane.
While Dominik watched with arms crossed, Jane dodged Camilla's attacks and recalled his teachings.
- "Power is good. At Rank 4, you can easily slice buildings."
Dominik had said that while cleanly bisecting an innocent tree with his sword.
- "But no matter how strong, it means nothing if it doesn't hit. Don't waste power on attacks that won't land."
- "And when you're confident it will hit..."
'Go all out!'
Clang!
The full-force thrust aimed at her chest bounced off pathetically.
Jane, also a Rank 4, left a slight scratch on the scales, but it regenerated in an instant.
Even the deep scars etched on her face were regenerating in real-time during the fight.
"Tch."
The old Jane would have grown impatient at the regeneration and forced another reckless attack.
But having learned composure from Dominik, she cleanly gave up and retreated.
'I can't cut through those scales with my skill.'
Even if she did, regeneration made it pointless.
Fortunately, Camilla had unscaled spots.
Under both armpits, under the chin, and her face.
While Camilla hacked through buildings haphazardly, Jane dodged and targeted those spots.
And the moment Camilla lunged forward dramatically,
'Now!'
She jammed a dagger into the soft spot under her extended left arm.
The instant Camilla's left arm went limp, Jane grabbed it and slammed her to the ground with a judo throw.
Dodging the flailing right claw, she twisted the joint and stabbed a dagger into the right armpit too.
No matter how good the regeneration, it couldn't heal while a blade was lodged inside.
Straddling the now-armless Camilla, Jane halted her dagger before her face.
"It's over."
"Then why aren't you killing me?"
"You need to explain that claim from earlier in detail."
"I told you. The Godfather is that man."
"I'm asking you to explain what that means."
The Godfather had made his name in the underworld by slaying that nameless swordsman.
But if he was the man himself?
And what about the head hung in the square?
When pieced together, the Godfather's actions were full of contradictions.
As if reading Jane's turmoil, Camilla grinned wickedly from the ground.
"Then confirm it yourself."
"?!"
In that instant, a shadow fell over the two women and Dominik.
A belated storm raged in.
Jane and Dominik grimaced against the wind and looked skyward.
Smooth scales gleaming like obsidian. Crimson eyes like rubies.
On the side of the sky-blocking wing, sunlight poured down under the missing stump.
Grrr...
Red eyes harboring hatred for its lost half and wisdom accrued over ages gazed down at the ground.
[Child.]
As the dragon opened its mouth, the storm subsided.
Camilla smiled toward the black dragon.
"Father..."
[I'm sorry. I'm late.]
"It's fine."
Jane's pupils shook violently.
It wasn't just shock at the Godfather's appearance.
The presence emanating from the dragon was a staggering Rank 7.
'Why?'
The Godfather joining suddenly was in the scenario.
If he wasn't an idiot, it made sense for him to appear with the 8th and 9th executives before they fell one by one.
But predicting he was a dragon bordered on delusion, so it wasn't in the plan.
Even more incomprehensible was why a dragon hid behind a marquis playing mafia godfather.
'Wait.'
Fixated on the dragon, she overlooked something.
'If the Godfather's here... then where's the 9th executive?'
Before her thought finished,
Thud.
The dragon tossed a bloodied, half-lidded tax official next to Dominik.
The moment the old butler's gaze fixed on the official, a scale-covered bull beastkin appeared behind him.
"Gasp!"
Tyrant Gauro
The Godfather's closest confidant, said to rival him, and the mafia coalition's number two.
The Godfather rarely needed to appear because most issues were handled by this bull beastkin.
The beastkin aimed for the old butler's back with a fist.
Dominik easily dodged, but immediately after, the bull stamped hard and rammed him with its shoulder.
Boom!
A sound unimaginable from hitting a person echoed as Dominik's form flew to the city's far side.
"Domi..."
Before Jane could call the butler, the dragon swept her off Camilla like swatting a fly.
Dazed by the sharp pain, Jane couldn't even scream as she crashed into a distant wall.
Ignoring Jane entirely, the dragon fretted over Camilla.
[Daughter. Are you alright?]
"I'm fine, Father."
The Godfather used telekinesis to pull the daggers from Camilla's wing roots.
While Camilla regenerated, the scale-clad bull who blasted Dominik spoke to the dragon.
"Father. I'll handle that old man."
[Always indebted to you.]
"It's the duty of the eldest son."
The bull clasped fists in salute and pursued Dominik across the city.
The black dragon watched his departing firstborn's back, then looked down at Camilla again.
[Better now?]
"Sorry. As your eldest daughter, I keep disappointing you."
[No. You're doing plenty well. Children grow slowly in their parents' shadow.]
Warm words unfit for those ferocious eyes.
Camilla clasped fists emotionally.
The dragon, smiling fondly, soon erased it and glanced toward where he sent the elf flying.
*
From the crumbled wall, Jane clutched her side and emerged.
'This is trouble.'
If only the bull had come, she and Dominik could manage somehow.
But she never imagined the Godfather would appear like this.
'Never thought he'd show up.'
The Godfather was infamous like Count Rex of the neighboring territory for never appearing.
No one could imagine a figure unseen for a century would suddenly reveal himself.
That wasn't the only problem.
'Hyrudin got taken out too.'
The squinty-eyed tax official was already down.
Given the Godfather was that black dragon, it was expected, but now the other mafiosi he blocked would join.
'Wait. Black dragon?'
Flashbacks of past nightmares played.
Black dragons.
The hateful lizards that burned her village.
Her thoughts reached there, and finally, the Godfather's missing wing stump caught her eye.
'No way...'
The one that demanded human sacrifices from her village...
Jane's mind grew even more chaotic.
Meanwhile, the black dragon finished talking with Camilla and met Jane's eyes.
[You who harmed my daughter...]
Then, the tiger beastkin spoke to the low-growling dragon.
"One moment, Father."
Camilla whispered a quick summary into the Godfather's ear (wherever it was), including Jane's past and the nameless swordsman connection.
"Father. Give this child a chance like you gave me."
The dragon's eyes seemed gentler after Camilla's words.
The black dragon glanced at the staggering Jane, then
[Understood.]
nodded and began shrinking.
Polymorph
The form dragons used for amusement and communicating with humans.
Finally, the half-wing absorbed into his back, completing the Godfather's polymorph.
The glossy black hair like scales and red eyes remained.
But that face revealed a cruel truth Jane refused to accept.
"No... No way..."
Camilla looked at her old friend with sympathetic eyes tinged with mockery.
"See? This is the truth."
"No!"
The Godfather sent a benevolent smile toward Jane, who denied it like a scream.
[I understand, child. I know your pain.]
"Don't make me laugh! Don't taint my memories!"
Jane lunged desperately with her dagger.
The Godfather partially dispelled polymorph, snapping the dagger with scales.
[A disobedient child needs discipline.]
Thwack!
His light kick struck her solar plexus.
Several ribs cracked as she slammed back into the rubble she just escaped.
[I'll discipline you until you understand.]
Meanwhile, the old butler Dominik, embedded in a distant city wall by the bull beastkin.
He couldn't hide his bewilderment either.
'What the hell. Why'd the boss come out first?'
It felt like the plan had gone awry.
'Damn black lizards as always.'
They'd always been experts at ruining plans since old times.
The butler rolled his shoulders pretending stiffness and extricated himself from the wall.
To grasp the battlefield, he quickly spread his senses over the city.
First, a bull-head rushing to finish him.
Ignoring that, he focused on the lizard facing Jane.
'Huh.'
Why does that discarded side character of mine look identical? Impersonation?
The issue was the tiger girl calling that black lizard the nameless swordsman—Jane's benefactor.
Things were thoroughly tangled.
Dominik quickly sorted the situation.
'So the swordsman was me, Jane's like this because of me, and that lizard's impersonating me...'
After brief deliberation, he reached a conclusion.
'Guess I'll launder the side character one more time.'
He didn't know how the black lizard found a disguise corpse and impersonated him, but it seemed circumstantial.
Just launder it again.
History belongs to the victor anyway.
Like in the lab, silence the dead.
Having unhesitatingly killed the protagonist's mentor figure would also create conflict with her beliefs.
'Then let's get serious.'
Time for the twist-filled final boss to take the stage.
Jane attacked the Godfather repeatedly.
But each time, she was powerless flung aside, deepening her despair.
Not just because she was weak.
[You remember. That day, I had to kill my family myself.]
Like slowly gnawing her mind, the Godfather recited the nameless swordsman's exploits.
[Visiting the village, I lost my wing and realized. Humans overflowed with potential unlike arrogant dragons. But my kin interpreted my words differently.]
No.
Impossible.
This is a lie.
She thought the black dragon was lying.
But the details fit too perfectly.
[Never wondered? When you rejected my existence, why I didn't exterminate you immediately.]
Impossible.
Denying it, Jane squeezed out words.
"Then... what about that head in the square?"
[I didn't lie. The swordsman died.]
"What?"
The Godfather reminisced sadly.
[The citizens killed me.]
According to him, the citizens betrayed him while he lived as a swordsman.
The marquis disliked the swordsman prowling his territory.
He put a bounty on the swordsman, who hid to avoid harming citizens.
But the citizens sold him out, and the marquis captured him.
So the swordsman revealed his true form.
Spread black wings, broke the marquis's legs, and made him a puppet.
Then began revenge on the betraying citizens.
[That's when I realized. The only ones I could trust were these children, not humans. Too late.]
Thus he freed the beastkin, taking them as family.
Unlike humans, beastkin never betrayed him, called him father, and showed respect.
So the mafia coalition formed, and the dragon declared the swordsman's death.
From then, he became the Godfather.
"I foolishly resisted Father until I knew the truth too."
Camilla chimed in beside him.
Enraged at the swordsman's death, Camilla had rebelled with Jane and comrades.
While most died of old age, only Camilla reached the Godfather.
And witnessed this truth.
"That's why I parted from you all and started using the saw."
Humans must all suffer.
Their nature is ugly, so it must be endlessly crushed.
The family bosses, discriminated furry beastkin among beastkin, joined this creed.
"Jane. Though different race, you proved loyalty for a century."
[Since my eldest daughter says so, as a father I must oblige. I won't blame you for killing my children. I'm magnanimous.]
"See? Father is magnanimous."
Camilla extended a hand mercifully.
Jane, shadow over her face, shuddered faintly and slapped it away.
[Haa...]
The Godfather sighed deeply and approached Jane.
Then, she pointed her broken dagger at her own throat.
"Don't come closer."
[...]
"You're not him. Don't taint my memories..."
A tear streamed from the elf woman's eye.
Knowing that heartbreak, Camilla soothed her.
"Jane..."
"Don't call me with that filthy mouth!"
The broken dagger nicked Jane's throat shallowly.
Seeing this, the Godfather smiled faintly for a moment, then hardened and approached.
[Daring to die before your parent?]
Suddenly before her eyes.
He twisted her wrist, slapped her cheek.
Then kicked her prostrate belly once more.
[More discipline needed.]
Partially dispelling polymorph below the elbow, revealing claws, he approached the fallen Jane.
Jane couldn't rise.
Her chest tightened.
Broken bones were nothing.
Far worse: the idolized swordsman so corrupted, fooled for a century, pierced her bones.
A man with the swordsman's face approached, baring dragon claws.
Black ink covered one of her life's few happy memories.
Feeling the tear on her cheek, Jane instinctively murmured a name.
"Dominik..."
"You called, miss?"
The Godfather, strolling leisurely toward Jane, halted.
All eyes turned to one spot.
In the blood-soaked battlefield of crumbling buildings, the old butler alone seemed from another world, smiling kindly.
"Didn't I tell you? Until this journey ends, I am your butler."
Light returned to Jane's fading eyes.
The Godfather clicked his tongue and glanced at Camilla.
"We don't need that old man, Father."
Confirmed by his daughter, the Godfather rolled shoulders and approached the elder.
"Know your place, human."
"Heh heh..."
The hands-behind-back elder chuckled and tossed something at the Godfather.
Thud.
A horned round object rolled to the Godfather's feet.
The head of his firstborn and 9th executive, Gauro.
The Godfather's pupils dilated.
Not missing the brief gap, the butler closed in to his feet.
"Fa-ther!"
Amid the eldest daughter's slow scream, a sharp line sliced past the Godfather's arm.
His gaze followed the line.
At its end, a familiar scale-clad black arm flew through the air.
Grasping the situation, the Godfather whipped his gaze forward.
But too late.
Shunk.
A chill deep in his lungs.
As if to inflict pain, the butler twisted the blade, widening the wound.
"Grk."
Air hissed from his lung, unable to scream, trembling toward the Godfather, he said.
"Know your place, lizard."
The ever-kindly smiling elder hardened his expression for the first time.