Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: An Unconventional Meeting
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“Just two of us? Seriously? Is it really alright for the eldest son of a duke to travel like this?”
“The Seven Swords of the Continent is with me, so what is there to worry about? And…”
“And?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Dale shook his head at Master Baro’s question.
Strictly speaking, there weren’t just two of them there.
The two men rode on horseback, crossing the lands of the Empire. They had no guards to protect them, nor any other attendants.
They traveled past the northern territories of the Empire where the Duchy of Sachsen was located, heading toward the far eastern region, where the Desert of Scorching Sands stretched out.
“I’ve already spoken to my father. I’ll be back in the Sachsen Duchy before news of my absence gets out.”
“Well, everyone’s plans sound grand when they’re making them, don’t they?”
Master Baro said with a chuckle.
“The bastards who got a one-way ticket across the River Styx from my blade, they all had their own grand plans right up until their heads came off.”
“…”
Atop his galloping horse, Dale shook his head in disbelief.
“So, do you have a proper way to contact these Assassins of the Mountain?”
“We are to rendezvous with someone who can contact them along the way.”
“A human?”
“Perhaps.”
“Hmm, this is giving me the damn chills.”
“Do you know something about them?”
“They’re a lot like our fanatics.”
He was likely referring to the Shadow Court.
“They’re an assassination guild in elven society that truly believes they’re carrying out a divine mandate. It’s funny hearing me say this, but they’re mostly a bunch of psychos you can’t reason with.”
“You seem to know more about them than I thought.”
“Ah, did I not tell you?”
Master Baro answered Dale’s question nonchalantly.
“My old master was from around there.”
As he tossed the words out so casually, Dale’s breath caught in his throat.
“…What did you just say?”
Dale asked again, incredulous, and Master Baro replied as if it were obvious.
“Uh, isn’t that why you brought me along?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Hmph. Son of a bitch.”
“What is it?”
“Well, I don’t think my master will be too pleased to see my face.”
“Did you make enemies with the dark elves over there?”
“Well, there are many ways to interpret the situation, depending on your perspective…”
Master Baro trailed off, lost in thought for a moment.
“I’m suddenly feeling the urge to go back to the duchy.”
“…For fuck’s sake.”
In more ways than one, it was already too late.
***
Little is known about elven society. They make their homes in the Land of Crystal, also known as the South Pole; the Land of Scorching Sands, known as the Far East; and finally, the Great Forest, where the Blue Magic Tower is located. Since all three are hardly suitable for human habitation, not even the Empire has coveted their lands.
They have built an extremely exclusive and closed-off society, a community that values discipline of the strictest kind.
That was the extent of Dale’s knowledge.
In that regard, Sephia was open-minded and liberal, unlike other elves. What seemed trivial at a glance was likely an unforgivable taboo in their elven society.
“…”
He hadn’t expected to see Sephia by coming all the way here.
Sephia probably didn’t even know that Dale was repaying her debt. This was nothing more than Dale’s own way of settling the debt he owed her.
He had steeled himself for this the day he lifted her curse. Nothing had changed.
It was a free city in the eastern part of the Empire where they had arranged to meet with the Sorceress Council.
By the time Dale and Baro arrived after a week and a few days of roughing it, the evening twilight had already settled deep.
“Let’s meet here tomorrow morning.”
“Hmph, I don’t suppose I need to stick by your side day and night?”
“There’s no need for you to cling to me even in a place like this.”
“Heh heh, as expected of the eldest son of House Sachsen. Not just anyone can do it.”
Dale booked two rooms on the second floor of the tavern and began to walk away. Master Baro remained on the first floor, propping his legs up on the bar and starting to chug down mugs of beer.
A shabby room on the second floor of the tavern.
It could hardly be called a bed, just a pile of straw spread out on the floor.
“Lady Orelia.”
In the empty room, Dale murmured softly.
Instantly, the shadow at his feet shimmered and began to form a human silhouette.
As always, it was Lady Shadow, the shadow that assisted the ‘Black Prince’ of House Sachsen.
“You called.”
“You haven’t eaten yet.”
“A meal…”
Orelia smiled bitterly as she spoke.
“When I am within your shadow, I can forget so much of the world.”
The right to stay within her shadow, granted by a special contract with Shub.
By existing in the shadow cast by the ancient Mother of Darkness, she could escape the many limitations of a human body.
Just like Dale himself, who now possessed a body of dark blood.
“Just as your body does now.”
Dale quietly drew a breath at Orelia’s words.
“Even the past, when I fought for the old Bratinaa Kingdom under a goddess’s revelation, now feels like a distant dream from a bygone era.”
“…”
“Without needing to think, without needing to suffer… I can feel myself slowly drifting away from being human.”
Orelia, Lady Shadow, said with a bitter tone.
“It feels as though my entire existence is to be a sword in the shadows, wielded for your sake whenever needed.”
“Is that what you desire, Lady Orelia?”
To drift away from being human. Dale asked again, and Orelia answered coldly.
“Because you desire the fall of the Empire.”
Her will was beyond doubt.
“In the shadows, I can know and feel many things about you. And I can also see how much effort you are dedicating to the Empire’s destruction.”
Dale remained silent.
“My role is simply to watch over that and to wield my sword so that your will may be done.”
The watcher in the shadows spoke.
“For that, I will gladly become a puppet dancing in your shadow.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.”
Dale said, and Orelia smiled without a word.
***
At that same moment.
“Hey, who the hell is this piece of trash? Doesn’t even recognize his betters…”
Leaving Dale and Orelia’s room behind, an unexpected commotion was unfolding on the first floor of the tavern.
On every city street, and especially in its heart, the tavern, there are always gangs who can’t control their strength.
From petty thugs who terrorize the city and are feared by the people, to full-blown gangsters who establish their organizations to profit from the city.
But Master Baro was not the kind of man to bow his head meekly before them.
“Well now, look at these motherfuckers.”
Facing a group of men with menacing axes hanging from their waists, Master Baro casually cursed.
“Who the hell do you think you are, starting a fight with a man trying to enjoy his drink? Huh?”
The faces of the people throughout the tavern turned pale, and one of the gang members burst out laughing as if on cue.
“This bastard, looks like he doesn’t know the rules of this city yet.”
As he said this, he reached for the handaxe at his waist to make a show of force.
“Huh?”
But he couldn’t feel the handle of the axe. No, he couldn’t feel his arm at all.
*Splaash!*
Only the gushing blood told him what had just happened.
“You think I busted my ass getting here just to watch you pricks flex your muscles? Huh?”
Master Baro was still leaning back with his feet on the table, sipping his beer and speaking nonchalantly.
*Swish!*
But again, a line of blood was drawn across the body of another gang member.
“Aaargh!”
With each instance, an arm or a leg was severed, and screams echoed through the tavern.
“I may not know the rules of this city, but I know damn well how to survive in this country.”
Master Baro said, sipping his beer as screams rang out behind him.
He watched the backs of the gang members who, belatedly seeing their comrades fall, were trying to flee.
“Well now, where do you think you’re going after starting all this trouble?”
Something slammed down into the feet of the desperately fleeing men—or more precisely, into their insteps.
It was a hidden weapon.
As if to say they wouldn’t be allowed to escape any further, the weapon had pinned their feet to the floor.
With screams echoing behind him, Master Baro turned his head.
“Oops, my bad.”
The eldest son of the ducal house he served was standing there.
“…What are you doing here?”
“My deepest apologies.”
Master Baro scratched his head awkwardly.
“I’m the type who just can’t walk past a bunch of idiots.”
“…”
Dale turned his head to see the gang members, now in a sea of blood, begging for their lives.
“We were supposed to meet our contact here. Drawing this much attention isn’t going to do us any…”
It was at that moment.
“Good.”
As if on cue, a suspicious figure in a robe appeared at the tavern entrance just as Dale finished speaking.
“I never imagined you would summon me in such a manner.”
It was the clear voice of a woman, and Dale looked up.
“Truly classless, rude, and utterly boisterous.”
The woman finally pulled back her hood. Crystal-colored hair cascaded down, revealing two pointed ears.
“The ‘Black Prince’ I imagined would have summoned me with a bit more elegance and grace.”
Dale’s breath hitched for a moment.
She was a Snow Elf. But she was not Sephia.
“I am Erze, a sorceress of the Blue Magic Tower.”
“Heh heh, who said anything about calling for you? Now that’s what I call a serious case of princess syndrome.”
Master Baro burst into hearty laughter at the sight. For a moment, Erze blinked in surprise.
After blinking, a blue chill began to swirl throughout the area.
“No, you’ve come to the right place, Lady Erze.”
Dale quickly interjected into the unexpected situation.
“This man will, as promised, take us to the ‘Assassins of the Mountain.’”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Master Baro, flustered, took another sip of his beer.
“My apologies for not recognizing you, elven lady.”
“…It’s late, so I was planning to visit tomorrow morning, but things seem to have turned out this way.”
Dale also said awkwardly, looking around the room.
“There’s no good in drawing attention, so shall we get moving right away?”
At his words, Erze finally gave a silent nod, leaving behind the sea of blood that had suddenly engulfed the entire tavern.
In more ways than one, their first encounter had been hopelessly tangled from the very start.