Inheriting the Trading House (1)
Armed's obsidian spearhead struck Tushkin Gabi's right shoulder. The bone armor encasing his skin shattered, and the obsidian dug deep into his red muscle beneath. It was unfortunate that the bone armor's strength was no joke. The obsidian fragmented on impact with the armor but didn't lose its momentum, leaving Tushkin Gabi's shoulder riddled with hundreds of obsidian shards like shotgun pellets.
Groaning in agony, Tushkin quickly assessed the situation. For some reason, the bleeding in his shoulder wouldn't stop. It might be better to sever it from the collarbone and attempt regeneration. But his two opponents weren't about to let him do that.
Kriel and Morgina charged at the silent Tushkin. He was a merchant, not a warrior. That was the root of his miscalculation. To subdue Kriel and Morgina, he recklessly expanded his body. The massively enlarged form was too big for the room, hindering his movements, and its vastly increased surface area couldn't evade the strikes from two seasoned warriors.
Even as he took a beating, Tushkin Gabi resisted fiercely. If nothing else, he had plenty to say about the final charge against him. It was true that he had lent money to those pest-like mages from the Abyss Prevention Society on incredibly generous terms. But wasn't it their own fault for not repaying on time?
Blocking Kriel's club swing with his right arm—his elbow bending in a direction it absolutely shouldn't—Tushkin spat out his grievance.
"Are you insane, Armed? Blame your society's mages and their wrecked sense of economics—why's that on me?!"
Tushkin's indignant rage echoed. Armed replied coldly.
"You knew their heads were full of flowers and still loaned them money? That's intent. Do you know how much hell I raised to liquidate them just to keep our society's credit rating from tanking?!"
"Isn't it your fault for hoarding all the trash-rated debtors—"
The truth cut too sharply, piercing Armed's lungs. But as an excellent mage, she wasn't rattled by the abyss seed's furious nonsense.
"Shut up, you old bastard! I'll kill you!"
Having calmly stated her position, Armed loaded a magic catalyst from her subspace pouch. The new catalyst she drew was a venerable relic that had retained its form through thousands of years—a piece of history predating the founding of Ket County itself. It was the foundation of countless civilizations and a tool of strife since ancient times.
"What the hell are you—?"
It was a rock. Stunned that Armed's proudly unveiled trump card was just a plain stone, Tushkin failed to react to Morgina's attack. Though his body had grown enormous, it retained a human shape. And Morgina was an expert at turning fully intact bodies into mutilated wrecks.
Morgina smashed Tushkin's shinbone to pieces with the iron maces in both hands. He collapsed with a scream. In that interval, Armed finished her preparations.
She undid the hair tie securing her ponytail. The tie in Armed's hand had become a sling. It was her backup weapon of choice from her mercenary days, when mana shortages were common. The rock-loaded sling began to whirl with a sinister hum.
At peak acceleration, Armed hurled the stone with all her might.
"Dodge—!"
He couldn't fathom why they needed to evade a mere rock, but defying a mage's orders on the battlefield was unwise. Kriel immediately grabbed Morgina, tucked her under his arm, and bolted toward Armed.
That was when the stone struck Tushkin. An ominous glow flickered within it, soon swelling into a brilliant halo that engulfed the rock. The halo morphed into a fireball. Transforming from fist-sized stone to head-sized inferno, it finally detonated.
The blast engulfed about a third of the room in flames. Tushkin Gabi's bedroom, befitting the family head and rivaling the combined floor space of ordinary homes, saw over half its lavish furniture—and its owner—reduced to ash in an instant.
The shattered wall revealed the garden beyond. The floor was the same; one wrong step and they'd plummet to the first floor.
Kriel gazed at Armed with eyes full of wonder.
"Feel free to admire your fiancé's skills."
Armed shrugged in response. It was her solution to the two weaknesses of her signature explosive magic: massive mana drain and long incantation time. A throwable spell scroll pre-engraved into a stone. Less potent than a full incantation, but the trade-offs were worth it. With enough recovery time and stones from her homeland, she could prep as many as needed—and hurling them required no chant, just a hit to trigger the boom.
As Kriel reeled in shock that a mage's ultimate technique boiled down to a rock, something thudded.
Thud!
Distracted by channeling mana into the stone, the seal on the door weakened. The mage guards hired by Mazarr burst in, smashing it apart.
"Young master! What in the world...!"
Tushkin Gabi's bedroom was a horrific sight. One wall had vanished, letting in the wind; every piece of furniture lay in splinters, most charred to cinders. Worst of all, the family head was nowhere to be seen. Something terrible had clearly happened inside.
The two mage guards exchanged glances. Mazarr hurried over to explain.
"Everyone, calm down. The people I brought aren't enemies of the Gabi Trading House."
"...We believed in you, young master!"
"Huh?"
"It was a long era of humiliation and endurance. Zaren and Arshika care nothing for the trading house's future—they're blinded by greed alone."
"What are you talking about?"
"Lord Tushkin was a good man, but his very existence chained the Gabi Trading House. We support your bold decision, young master."
What the hell? Mazarr was baffled. So these guys thought...
"We'll keep silent about what happened here. If we say Lord Tushkin was corrupted by the abyss, no one will dare question your actions."
They believed Mazarr Gabi had eliminated Tushkin Gabi and was now poised to swallow the chaotic trading house whole—his first step to total control!
"No! That's not it! My father really was corrupted by the abyss!"
"Of course! We believe you, young master!"
"This isn't the time. Zaren and Arshika might use this as an excuse for who knows what. We need to spread rumors quietly that Lord Tushkin was under abyssal influence."
"If we absorb their factions while they're detained for investigation, you'll become head of the Gabi family...!"
Mazarr clutched the back of his neck, on the verge of collapse. Then, riding the wind through the broken wall, ash billowed out. But its movement defied natural flow. All the ash that had been Tushkin Gabi poured outside at once.
"What the fu—?"
Morgina's holy crows dove at the ash, exploding on impact, but it only scattered briefly—the motion didn't stop. The ash that fell beyond the wall gathered into a sticky, amorphous liquid monster. Starting from the ground, it swelled to gaze down at the second-floor bedroom. Without a mouth, it emitted a chilling, grotesque wail.
"Mazarr—!"
With that cry, features etched onto the liquid monster's form. Hideously distorted and constantly melting, but unmistakably Tushkin Gabi's face.
"My god! Lord Tushkin really was an abyss seed?!"
"I thought you used explosion magic to destroy the evidence and pinned it on him!"
"I told you it's not like that!"
"I always saw you as spineless. Zaren inherited my ambition, Arshika my cunning. You alone, the limp weakling, the pretty-boy brat who took after your mother's looks! And yet you've assembled assassins to plot against me! I underestimated you! You're the child most like me—more than qualified to be my new flesh!"
A vibration shook the entire mansion. The others couldn't easily discern it, but Kriel—closest to the abyss here—read Tushkin's action clearly. It was laughter.
"Ku... uh... aghhh...!"
Mazarr teetered, unable to handle his skyrocketing blood pressure. Tushkin's menace was too ferocious to fight while protecting him. Kriel shoved Mazarr to the mage guards.
"Take your employer and get to safety. We'll handle that thing."
The mage guards seized the gasping Mazarr and fled the room. Seconds later, one tossed something to Kriel.
"Catch these! The greatsword was too heavy!"
Tuon and Orishin. Kriel dropped the red club and snatched the two swords. The moment his hands closed around them, power surged through his body. What he'd learned in this world since falling here wasn't club-fighting—it was swordsmanship.
Ah, this cool, heavy sensation.
"Time to return as 'Knight' Kriel."
[Hey. But isn't a knight's essential gear a horse, not a sword?]
Kriel shut his mouth.