Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Fortress City (7) - Duke Edwin
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1.
A man clad in pitch-black armor. In his hand was a flail as enormous as his hulking frame.
"You, what—"
—Whoosh!
Rather than reply, he hurled his body at the incoming mass of iron tearing through the air.
Boom!
He felt the ground quake beneath his feet and knew right then: this was an opponent he absolutely could not clash blades with. And conversation was pointless too.
He drew his sword and swung. The enemy dodged effortlessly. Then the man's arm moved, whipping the flail around. Identical motions, but worlds apart in results.
Whoosh—
The bone-chilling sound forced him to leap back.
'Is this guy even human?'
No matter how he looked at it, this wasn't human strength. He'd consumed an elixir, yet the thought of meeting that weapon head-on didn't even cross his mind.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The black armor rattled as the man began swinging the flail like a madman. It felt just like a tank barreling forward.
'Gotta stop his attacks first.'
He retreated bit by bit, observing the movements. Fortunately, the speed wasn't overwhelming—dodging was manageable.
As he kept backing up until his back hit a wall, he deliberately exaggerated his motions to bait an attack. The eyes visible through the helmet gleamed.
'Fast!'
The strike came far quicker than before. He hurriedly summoned his mana and slipped away. The flail whistled past by a hair's breadth.
Boom!
A deafening roar erupted, kicking up clouds of stone dust. He snapped his head up to see the man's arm trembling violently.
'Chance.'
He gripped his sword tight and thrust straight ahead without warning. The blade tip flew precisely toward the side. Any of the humans he'd fought earlier would have died in one strike. But the armor's power was immense.
Scraaaape—
Sparks flew instead of blood. The armor wasn't even scratched, let alone sliced.
"Fuck!"
The black-armored man scoffed and hoisted his flail.
Boom!
'Can I pierce it with mana?'
If he were a knight, maybe. But with his crude mana control, it was out of the question. The armor was that solid and well-made.
'This is the worst.'
He'd fight head-on under normal circumstances, but the situation was downright awful. The opponent was knight-level—or equivalent—with vastly superior weapons and armor.
One disadvantage was bad enough; here, everything was stacked against him. And on top of that, his stamina was already drained.
'Time to run.'
The decision came quick, and so did the action. As the black-armored man swung down his flail, he summoned his mana.
He poured the sluggish, mud-like mana into his legs and kicked off the ground. He crossed the air in an instant and escaped.
"Don't run."
He glanced back at the voice. The man was charging like a bull. He was using mana too—the speed was incredible.
Whoosh!
He grabbed a wall and whipped around the corner. His hair whipped in the wind battering his back as he broke into a full sprint.
⚔ STATUS UPDATE ⚔ 💨 Agility: 34 → 39 He quickly opened his status window and dumped all his hoarded remaining points into it. His body instantly felt lighter and faster.
'Still not enough.'
He opened the shop and bought the item he'd favorited.
⚙ SHOP PURCHASE ⚙ 「Purchased ‘Sharp Senses’.」 「Your senses become a bit sharper.」 The moment the window popped up, the world changed.
Starting with the hyper-intuitive visuals before his eyes, to the sounds reaching his ears, the stench pricking his nose, even the air brushing his skin.
Everything felt acutely sensitive. Information that had been vague until now flooded in with crystal clarity.
'Is this mana?'
The faint mana within him sharpened too. He figured he could handle it a little better now.
Whooooosh—!
Through his heightened senses, something ripped through the air toward him. Direction: straight from behind.
"Ugh, fuck!"
He ducked frantically, and something whistled right over his head. Sweat slicked his palms.
Boom!
A brick slammed into a distant wall. Thrown with such force it exploded like a grenade, shards scattering everywhere.
"Don't run!"
"Fuck off!"
He flipped the bird over his shoulder and summoned mana. At the corner, he grabbed the wall and wrenched his body left. He righted his mana-disrupted balance and dashed onward.
Boom!
The brute in armor didn't even think to stop—a massive quake rocked the wall.
"There he is!"
After sprinting for what felt like forever and bursting out of the alley, a group in crude armor waited, weapons drawn. A few nocked arrows.
'Shit.'
He spun to dive back into the alley, but the black-armored man emerged slowly.
'It was a trap.'
No wonder someone with that skill had approached so leisurely. This was all to herd him here.
He let out a deep sigh and swept back his hair. He dropped his sword to the ground and raised both hands skyward.
"I surrender."
*
"Don't try anything stupid. If you twitch, you're dead."
"Yeah, yeah."
With his hands bound and a black cloth over his head, soldiers dragged him along. Walking the streets, something felt off.
'Why aren't zombies swarming?'
The path so far wasn't through his cleared zones. Even if it was, he hadn't cleared anywhere near this extensively.
'Means the people here cleared it. But why?'
No stench assaulted his nose either. And he swore he felt eyes on him from all around.
'What's really going on here?'
After a long trek, they plopped him down somewhere and yanked off the hood.
"Ugh..."
Sudden blaze of kaleidoscopic light flooded in. He looked up to see stained glass depicting a woman with hands clasped in prayer.
"You've arrived."
A man sat across from him, backlighted—so directly opposite. Blond in priestly robes. Church worker, maybe?
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Duke Edwin, currently guiding the lost souls here."
'Duke Edwin?'
A name he'd heard earlier during the waterboarding.
"Uh, yeah. Pleased. Name's Hanson."
"I know. I also know you haven't been in Edanbora long."
Hanson rolled his eyes at Edwin's words. How the hell did he know that?
"Lots of questions swirling, I bet. Who am I? Where's this? Why grab you?"
"Honestly... yeah. So many my head hurts."
"Nothing to hide, so I'll be straight. As I said, I'm Duke Edwin. This is Edanbora's religious district."
'Religious district...'
Past the residential areas, plaza, and commercial zones—deep in Edanbora.
'Am I really there?'
It looked church-like, but he hadn't thought it was literal.
"And why I'm here: to save the suffering flock of Edanbora."
"Save them? What kind of saving?"
"How's life in the fortress city?"
Edwin answered the question with another.
"Not..."
"Not bad, right?"
The absurdity peaked when he asked and answered himself.
"Walls and soldiers protect from beasts, food aplenty. Clean clothes, comfy beds. 'Good' fits better than 'bad.' Right?"
"Y-yeah."
Hanson leaned back against the chair and nodded vaguely. The guy was just talking to himself anyway.
"Know what life is like here?"
"No."
"No soldiers guarding from beasts, food always scarce. Filthy clothes, monster howls every night, shitty beds. Pure hell."
"That so?"
"Yes. But!"
Bang—
Hanson jumped at the man's sudden table slam.
"While their own citizens suffer like this, what has Count Bardi done? Why not step up to save them?"
"You've been holed up here, so maybe you don't know—it's not that simple. Count Bardi's short on soldiers; can't move carelessly."
"You believe that?"
"Huh?"
"You really buy the 'short on soldiers' line?"
"It's not about buying it—I saw it with my own two eyes."
Edwin fell silent at that. After a long pause, he spoke again.
"What you see isn't everything."
'Oh, come on.'
Total bullshit.
"Count Bardi knows. Survivors in the residential district. Could dispatch knights and soldiers to save them. But he hasn't. Why?"
"Wow. Real curious."
Even at the sarcasm, Edwin pressed on.
"Because he doesn't want to save them. Rescuing citizens means more soldiers to protect, more mouths to feed. He doesn't want that."
"Wow~"
"That's why he ditched his noble duty. Abandoned them! All while shielded by knights, feasting and partying in his mansion. Isn't that right?"
"Yeah, whatever. But isn't that just how nobles are?"
The sudden shock act was getting on his nerves.
"No! True nobles protect and lead those under their rule! That's what being a noble means!"
The panting outburst left Hanson confused. Was this genuine or theater?
"Then, mind if I ask something?"
"Go ahead. Ask away—I said so, didn't I?"
'You cut me off earlier, you prick.'
He swallowed his rising anger and asked.
"A guy preaching noble duty like that—what the hell are you doing here?"
"I said: saving the suffering citizens."
"No, Duke Edwin. Why's a duke here? You abandoned your own people—why barge into someone else's house and pull this crap?"
Anger sharpened his words.
"This fucker."
The black-armored man advanced with a scowl. Edwin raised a hand to halt him.
"...You're right. I abandoned them too. That's why I'm here—to atone."
The man confessed gloomily. He stared down for a moment, then met Hanson's eyes.
"Hanson, shamefully, we're short on so much. Especially brave, devoted souls like you."
'Not devoted.'
This was all just to survive. With the elixir thrown in, no reason to say no.
"That's why I have a proposal."
"What kind?"
"Care to join us?"