Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Unexpected Visitor
"PHEW!"
Alec Hyuma didn't even leave a corpse behind.
This was because the magic bestowed by Iblis, as well as his own life force and body, had been completely drained by Adi and Diablo.
'This is truly a demon sword.'
The sight of a person being devoured whole was honestly not a pleasant one to witness.
-Hehehehe, consider yourself fortunate. If even a little residue of magic had remained, you would have suffered greatly.
"I know."
The vigilante group and villagers had already fled to a secret location, and as long as Rebecca, who was safely hidden in the underground shelter prepared for emergencies, was safe, the incident would be more or less over.
That's when Diablo asked Rudian.
-But why did you hide that human woman separately? Is she yours?
"...What nonsense are you talking about?"
Let me emphasize this again, but Rudian has no intention of getting involved with Rebecca.
The reason he hid her separately was solely to prepare for any contingency.
"There was a possibility that she might have been the target of the demons. If that were the case, mixing her with the villagers would be meaningless. It's better to keep her in sight."
Of course, this incident had concluded with the result being the disappearance of Caslay, but still.
-Kekeke, well, that descendant of the predator was quite useful. If she were to awaken, she might become quite formidable... Though she wouldn't be a threat to me, she would be a calamity for most others.
Diablo had clearly seen through Rebecca's true nature, despite only glimpsing it briefly.
For Diablo, the primordial Demon King, to make such an assessment of "a mere human" meant that her potential was truly remarkable.
-Why not awaken her and keep her by your side? She's also exceptionally beautiful, isn't that the type human men prefer?
"Shut up, please."
Having seen Abel suffering from her attention in , Rudian absolutely did not want to do such a thing.
Her awakening was ultimately the choice of the protagonist Abel, and if possible, he wanted to let her just live a normal life as she was.
Rudian firmly rejected Diablo's suggestion.
"Don't speak about her anymore. I have no intention of continuing any relationship with her."
If the original story continues and Rebecca later becomes Abel's companion, they might meet again someday.
But that time is not now.
At Rudian's firm statement, Diablo did not try to persuade him further, but left a final comment in a peculiar tone.
-Well, we'll see if that's how things turn out, kukkuk...!
***
Although Alec Hyuma had been eliminated, the incident wasn't completely over yet.
"Do I really need to run away?"
As far as Rudian knew, the total manpower of Cooper's special detachment from the Kingdom of Rohans amounted to 1,000 people.
Since Bernard Kalcho, who was personally executed by Alec, was just a squad leader, at least dozens of squads were expected to gather here soon.
Having already drawn on Diablo's power once, Rudian was already at his physical and mental limits.
"Alright, let's take Rebecca and flee."
If he did this twice in a row, his life would definitely be in danger.
-Master, just a moment...
Just as Rudian quickly decided to flee, Adi, who had been monitoring the surroundings, suddenly appeared to report the situation.
-Someone is coming.
"Damn it! They're already here?"
Given that Bernard Kalcho had already invaded, it wouldn't be strange for others to arrive at any time.
Rudian grumbled as he tried to get up.
-But they don't seem to be enemies.
"...What?"
Rudian heard from Adi that instead of Cooper disguised as demons, an ordinary elderly man and a young girl were approaching.
'An old man and a young girl?'
That's an unusual combination for... Travelers.
Even though this place was somewhat removed from the frontlines, it wasn't a place for non-adventurers to wander around freely.
'...What should I do?'
Rudian contemplated whether to avoid the approaching pair but decided to just stay put.
If they weren't enemies, there was no reason to flee with Rebecca when his strength was already depleted.
Ten minutes passed.
Step, step.
Rudian watched as the man and woman slowly approached him past the village entrance.
Then he broke into a cold sweat and inwardly cursed Adi.
'How are they an ordinary man and woman!'
On the surface, they certainly appeared to be ordinary travelers in travel clothes.
But upon closer inspection, their attire was far from ordinary.
The material of their travel clothes wasn't common cloth but tanned leather from high-level monsters, and the enormous sword on the man's back was a high-quality weapon with complex craftsmanship.
The conclusion was obvious.
'Anyone can see they're nobles!'
If he had known they were nobles, he would have just left the place!
While Rudian was trying to decide how to respond and choosing his words, the noble-looking girl with glamorous golden hair flowing down to her waist greeted him first.
"Hello there?"
It was a greeting delivered with a refreshing smile, but Rudian couldn't receive it straightforwardly.
'...The smell of blood!'
Though they looked clean on the outside, the unmistakable smell of blood could be sensed.
This wasn't some nonsense about having the scent of blood embedded in their bodies from countless murders; these people had actually engaged in quite an intense battle just before coming here!
"Ah, hello."
But refusing to answer when a noble spoke first was a serious crime in this world.
Rudian fixed his gaze and slightly bowed his head as he returned her greeting.
"Hmph, like a cautious puppy."
The old man next to the girl stroked his chin beard and grinned.
"But acceptable for a warrior. You have quite a good sense."
The puppy comment might have provoked him, but Rudian's expression remained stoic.
'They're powerful! Incredibly so!'
Though he hadn't checked the information on the girl at his side, Rudian couldn't dare to act rashly based on the message his status window was sending him.
-Current user's capacity cannot identify the target's information.
The same message he saw when he encountered Diablo in the boundary world.
If they weren't human, Adi would have given him separate notice.
This meant that the opponents were pure humans yet at a level beyond Rudian's capacity to assess.
What that implied was...
'Master-level practitioners!'
Sword Master.
The realm that everyone who trains with the sword aims to reach.
In , which suffered from serious power inflation, even Sword Masters were regularly swept aside.
But that was only from the middle part of the story when gods began actively participating.
In the current situation, before the original story had even begun, a Sword Master could certainly be considered the ultimate weapon of human forces.
"Hmm..."
The old man looked around, passing by Rudian who was breaking into a cold sweat.
Needless to say, in the old man's view, there were corpses of enemy soldiers disguised as demons scattered around.
Fortunately, almost no traces remained of the battle with Alec Hyuma, so there was no worry about being discovered, but the feeling of guilt was unavoidable.
"These... Did you do this?"
At the old man's question, Rudian shook his head and answered.
"I didn't do it alone. I did it with the village vigilante group."
If the old man had been from the Kingdom of Rohans rather than the Morian Empire, he probably would have had to forfeit his life.
But Rudian boldly assumed that the old man and the girl were allies.
The old man nudged the body of a soldier cut in half at the torso with his foot and said,
"But this corpse seems to be your handiwork."
At such accurate insight, Rudian had no choice but to nod.
"...Yes, I did that one."
"Hoho..."
For some reason, the old man laughed as if amused.
All the corpses around were either cut into pieces or killed by spears and arrows, so for a skilled swordsman, the difference would have been obvious at a glance.
But then an odd statement came from the old man's mouth.
"I've heard that the Lion Hearts is the finest knight order in the borderlands, and indeed, it seems they have some capable talents."
'...Huh?'
Rudian tilted his head in confusion at the old man's sudden, irrelevant remark.
"You seem to be still in your teens, which noble family do you belong to?"
Before Rudian could answer the old man's question, the girl beside him opened her eyes wide.
"It's been a while since Uncle has shown such interest in someone!"
"His skills warrant it. Although this area, Iskar, may be a large territory, it's still just a border territory. There shouldn't even be a proper academy here. Yet at that age, he's already awakened to magic—wouldn't that pique your interest too?"
"...!"
He was instantly found out.
Fortunately, unlike when he faced Alec, the existence of his magic wasn't exposed, but the fact that the old man could detect the presence of magic just from his appearance was definite proof of his extraordinary skill.
The girl also showed a surprised reaction to the old man's words.
"Magic? But he's not even a graduating student from the Maha Empire Academy?"
"If he were an academy student, I would already know about him."
Rudian was gradually realizing that his opponent was a much bigger figure than he had thought.
'Who on earth is this? He seems like an extremely high-ranking noble, but appearing suddenly without any guards...'
They seemed to be allies, but they didn't appear to be nobles from the area.
Plus, they were emanating such a strong smell of blood...
They were suspicious in many ways.
"So, what is your name?"
When the old man questioned him again, Rudian reluctantly answered.
"My name is Rudian."
"Your family name? Is there any reason you need to hide it?"
Ah, how should he answer this?
It was quite a troublesome question, but Rudian sighed slightly and continued.
"I don't have a family name."
"...You don't?"
The old man's eyes widened.
"I am a servant of Lord Calline von Iskar."
"What? You're not a knight?"
"What?"
This time, not only the old man but also the girl was shocked.
Yes, I understand.
Learning that a swordsman who has awakened to magic is not even an apprentice knight, let alone a formal knight, but a mere servant, would naturally be shocking.
Of course, the fact that the magic was not obtained through martial training but through the most unorthodox of methods did prick his conscience a bit...
"This is my hometown, and I fought only to protect the village."
In reality, he fought not for the village but to protect his assets, and to test the power he had recently acquired, but...
Just as words can sound different with subtle changes, how you package something affects how it's perceived.
"And who might you two be? I don't believe I've seen you around here before."
After working as Calline's servant for several years, Rudian prided himself on having memorized the names and appearances of almost all the vassal nobles under Count Iskar.
The fact that these nobles didn't exist in Rudian's memory meant that, in all likelihood, they were from outside.
"Us, you ask?"
At Rudian's question, their expressions changed to ones of amusement.
Just as he was thinking about how varied their expressions were, Rudian froze in his thoughts as soon as he heard their introduction.
"I am Viscount Kaitel von Delphione."
"I'm Luciella von Delphione."
The guardian deity of the Morian Empire, and the eldest daughter of the Delphione ducal family.
They were people in positions that Rudian never dared even dream about.