Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Swordsman and Lady
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Dominique's lips twitched.
'As expected of the protagonist.'
The past few months of training hadn't been in vain.
She dragged her pained body to block the old butler's strike.
The old butler composed his expression and glared at her.
"Does seeing this young face stir some lingering attachment in you?"
He delivered the line, mindful of the line between rudeness and propriety.
To the old butler's question, she shook her head.
"I heard everything while lying there. To sum it up, that lizard impersonated you, and the swordsman who saved me was you all along. You never actually died from the start."
"That seems to be the case. Circumstances demanded it. So, do you have some question for him that makes you block my path?"
"No, I'm not interested in a lizard like this."
"Then you shouldn't block me at all. Or are you trying to steal my revenge?"
"That's not it either."
She shook her head.
"I've long since let go of my thirst for revenge after meeting someone dear."
"Then yield him to me."
"That's why I'm telling you this. This isn't like you, Dominique."
She fixed him with her steadfast gaze.
Dominique acknowledged that she had completely forsaken her vengeance.
"What is 'like me,' then?"
"You said you abandoned your revenge."
"Yes, so I thought. But facing this scum directly, it doesn't feel that way anymore."
"Just to be sure, did you approach me because of this?"
"No. It was coincidence for me too. Of all faces, this is one I didn't want to see again."
The old butler gave a wry smile as he glanced at the Godfather.
"I thought I had no more honor left to lose. This is shameful. Perhaps it's the fate brought by my own misdeeds."
"Yeah. Maybe it is fate."
Jane stepped in front of his gaze, raising her sword.
And...
"Remember our contract?"
"?"
Slash.
She severed the Godfather's unprotected neck.
Not out of vengeance, but to save her spiritual pillar.
Without sparing a glance at the rolling head wearing the swordsman's face, she turned back to Dominique.
"Now the revenge is gone. What will you do?"
"You'll regret this, Miss Jane."
It felt like a dagger piercing her heart.
That the old butler who once called her "miss" now used her name—it hurt more than expected.
But she steeled herself for his sake.
"You've saved me twice now. It's my turn."
The two clashed.
The old man's movements were as flashy as when he had toyed with the Godfather.
Even against Jane, his strikes held no mercy.
In a normal spar, she would have been utterly overwhelmed.
But she was fully matching Dominique's sword.
As if she had perfectly grasped his intent.
Jane locked their crossed swords, fixing them in place, then questioned Dominique.
"Your sword... where was it forged?"
Dominique nodded.
"By brothers who shared blades with me."
Dominique tried to steady his emotions.
He had blood brothers, but never shared swords with them.
His swordsmanship was self-taught anyway, but he did have a sword and brothers, so it wasn't entirely a lie.
Justifying it to himself like that, recalling sad memories wasn't hard.
Missed opportunities from botched schedules.
Side characters abandoned due to poor acting and character collapse.
Commoner foods he could no longer enjoy after adopting the stern Duke persona—foods he never could again...
'Sniff. I want jjajangmyeon.'
Not sure if they even sell it in this culture.
Recalling all this, Dominique put on a somber expression.
"We swore on our blades to live for honor. Under that oath, we took each other as masters and honed our swordsmanship."
Thinking of another discarded side character, he feigned regret.
That failed character had taught him lessons, birthing the nameless swordsman persona—so not a lie.
In a way, his brothers had helped forge his skills.
Hearing this, Jane gave a faint smile.
"Then the sword I forged through spars with you—isn't it the sword of your brothers too?"
Dominique's eyes widened like full moons.
Ooh! What an interpretation!
It brimmed with romance, so he went along with it.
"...It might be."
Dominique made his sword tip quiver slightly.
She didn't miss the tiny opening.
"Gould!"
The light spirit burst in a flash before his eyes.
Dominique closed his eyes, relying on other senses.
Three sensations registered.
Presence from the front,
sound from the right,
killing intent from behind.
'Front.'
But the old butler thrust toward the right and back.
In that instant, both swords slipped from his hands.
Just as he had done at their first meeting.
When he opened his eyes again, Dominique saw the blade hovering at his throat.
"One win for me."
"...You've mastered freely wielding your killing intent."
"I told you. I've long let go of revenge."
"Congratulations."
Dominique's gaze softened to paternal warmth as he looked at her.
Exposed to his nostalgic eyes, she scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Honestly, even if it was luck, I won this time, right?"
"Not luck—you claimed a rightful victory."
There are no absolutes in strength.
Just as Dominique had felled the Godfather through his carelessness, it was natural for him to lose, having underestimated her growth.
Gaining confidence from his words, Jane declared with the victor’s right.
"Then let's say I've inherited your brothers' legacy. From now on, we forge new honor together? Forgetting revenge."
"Haa."
The old man let out a sigh laden with emotions, shoulders slumping.
"A complete defeat for me. I lost my reason for a moment. My apologies, miss."
"You taught me everything, so what’s there to apologize for."
She returned his sword to Dominique.
As he took it, she collapsed into his arms.
"I'm tired. Carry me."
"Yes, miss."
The old butler scooped her up with one arm.
With the squinting tax officer hovering at his back.
"You know psychokinesis too?"
"I'll explain later."
"Got it."
Together with the two, Dominique headed to the hospital.
Preparing for their parting.
Weeks passed since defeating the Godfather.
Forcing the marquis from his seat wasn't hard.
Though high in rank, the Godfather had shattered his limbs to puppet him.
Not wanting to prolong such humiliation, the marquis cleanly handed the territory to Rex.
(Bonus: Rex collapsed from joy upon hearing.)
While Rex traveled to the marquisate to assume lordship, the conquest's leads shared unfinished tales.
"But why did that lizard hide behind this half-cripple and play mastermind?"
At Jane's rough phrasing, the half-crippled marquis flinched, but the defeated held no voice.
The squinting tax officer answered her doubt.
"Fear. He thought if he posed as marquis openly, that swordsman would return someday."
"He thought he was dead."
"Mental scars aren't rational."
Fearing the dead man's return, he never showed his face upfront.
"Polymorph works the same way."
Dragon polymorph takes a human form they imagine.
For the Godfather, terror of the swordsman rooted so deep he couldn't imagine anything else.
"A kind of awe. Humans who witness overwhelming fear come to revere it while trembling. Oh, speaking of which, ancient humans with nature..."
Ignoring the tax officer's totemism and religion origins spiel, Jane eyed Dominique.
"Well, in a way, not entirely wrong."
At her gaze, the old butler shook his head.
"A shameful past. Forget it."
Jane grinned mischievously at his words.
"Nope? Not forgetting. Gonna tease you forever? Hehe."
"I've beaten you many times so far. By that right, I demand to be forgotten."
"Nah, I won the last one? You're bad at fighting~"
"...I demand a rematch, miss."
"No way~"
Blinded by vengeful rage before, Jane's true nature leaned this way.
Regaining leisure lightened the mood.
Still, she only acted this way with Dominique.
To others, she was mildly rude, never lighthearted.
'Dominique. You were that swordsman, right?'
She yearned to appear as that childhood kid to her childhood hero.
Another reason: orphaned young (young for an elf at 40), craving indulgence.
"Hehe~"
Knowing her heart, Dominique played along like a father with his daughter.
'That little one grew so much.'
As they reminisced, time neared to join Rex.
In other words, the squinting tax officer and Dominique returning to main characters.
And the day before linking with Rex.
Dominique and the tax officer held their final meeting with her.
Sensing their unusual air, she greeted them solemnly, guessing the farewell.
"Time to part ways, huh. You're heading back to your posts?"
She had foreseen it.
This meeting couldn't last forever.
They were high nobles of the county; she, a background-less vigilante.
They couldn't maintain this indefinitely.
Friendship might linger, but reality's status walls loomed.
The tax officer nodded regretfully, dispelling his disguise.
Squint unchanged, but black skin and pointed ears emerged beneath.
Dark elf.
Third-class citizens elves despised.
But confirming the auditor's identity didn't alter Jane's demeanor.
Her family had been chased by elves too, fostering kinship instead.
"Should I use honorifics now?"
"No. Our county holds all equal under the lord. No need."
"Good. Saying it gave me chills."
She patted the captain's shoulder, turning to Dominique.
Now, what was this old butler's true face?
Under her expectant gaze, Dominique signaled the captain.
"Understood."
The dark elf captain turned away.
As she puzzled at this, Dominique dropped his disguise—a gale rushed from him.
(Note: the wind was pointless flair.)
The fierce blast barely let her open her eyes.
A voice came from the gale's heart.
"Though my face on our journey was false..."
The voice deepened to cavernous timbre.
Finally, Duke's true voice spoke.
"The man who spoke with you was never once untrue."
Her pointed ears perked.
The nostalgic voice.
Until moments ago, she thought Dominique her aged hero, accepting senescence.
A sage elder embracing the natural order post-revenge.
But no.
Her hero hadn't aged a day since then.
If anything, his voice grew tastier... no, cooler.
Duke eased the wind; she finally opened her eyes.
Her gaze traveled upward from below.
Unfamiliar shoes and uniform appeared.
Higher still, a familiar jawline.
Duke smiled at her before donning his helm.
"You've grown splendidly, Jane."
Unchanged from back then.
As she drowned in nostalgia, Duke helmed up.
'Ah...'
Unaware of her regret, he bid farewell.
"Call me friend anytime."
Of course, Duke knew reality forbade it.
He was second-in-command of a vast territory swallowing the marquisate; she, a status-less vigilante.
In modern terms, like an unlicensed NEET versus a 4-star general.
Even in classless democracies, drinks feel walled; here, the gulf was vast.
Duke felt the pang too—this was reality.
She seemed aware, not hiding her disappointment.
"Still, you could invite me for drinks sometimes?"
"You like alcohol?"
"Gonna start liking it."
With revenge done and nothing left, time for hobbies.
"Fine attitude."
Duke nodded, extending a hand.
For the last time, sacrificing some character poise, he patted her head.
"Don't overdo it, kid."
—"Don't push yourself, eat moderately. Kid."
Accepting the touch, she smiled brighter than ever.
"Yeah!"
The next day.
"Looking forward to working with you! Fifth recruit Jane, at your service!"
A bright voice rang from a new inductee in Duke's Honor Guard.
Inside his helm, Duke panicked.
'Didn't you hate authority!?'
He never imagined her free spirit joining Rex's ranks.
So he set the mood for farewell—why this?
But Duke misjudged.
She despised incompetent, corrupt authority—not authority itself.
This Honor Guard wasn't that.
She couldn't fathom Duke's knights corrupting.
"I'll shatter bones for marquisate security under Captain from here on!"
Seeing her crisp salute and the knights' applause, Duke thought inside his helm.
'This is awkward.'
He'd remind her later not to spill tales to the others.