Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Man of the Rumors
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Back alleys are full of dying old thugs and new ones crawling up from the gutter.
And the stories those men usually blab about are mostly their own tales of past glory.
But right now, something truly bizarre was happening in the back alleys.
The bottom-feeders of life, too busy praising someone else to stroke their own egos.
The subject was the reason the thug population had dried up recently.
It was the tales of the "Non-Killer," echoing like hero legends from the dwarf mines.
Some beggars scavenging for scraps had supposedly spied on the scene in secret.
The source of the rumor was unclear, but the total wipeout of thugs had etched it into everyone's mind as fact.
"They say he took down dozens with just a stick. But didn't kill a single one!"
"You writing fairy tales? Non-killing went out of style ages ago, man!"
"Wore a mask, so no one knows who he is."
"Hmph, I heard that too. Barkeep! Hit me with something strong!"
"But... who are you to just butt in like that?"
This was the tavern infamous for thugs shaking down patrons and kidnapping women.
Perfect topic for a drink and showing off your info network.
"No? They say he stomped once and split the ground!"
"...I heard he blew people away with a shout?!"
And so, in the petty pride battles of back-alley men, the Non-Killer rumors began to inflate.
One word, two words. The tales fattened up.
Only one man could laugh heartily inside while listening.
"What a guy."
Billion, the tavern owner who heard every tale in town and self-proclaimed friend of Guro.
Smiling as he recalled Guro coming to him to dispose of a blood-soaked mask.
He was busting a gut not to utter the name of the Non-Killer, Guro.
To Billion, a true friend was one who kept quiet when his buddy succeeded and at least scored a free bottle of booze.
But it was tough.
"Let's talk something else. Heard the Knight Commander's arm got sliced off in the capital?"
"Yeah... isn't that going too far?"
"Well, a bunch of knights rushed him first and got wrecked... Who'd win between him and the Non-Killer? Gotta be the Non-Killer, right?"
"What bullshit. You think the Knight Commander is a pushover?"
"Sigh... yeah?"
His friend dubbed the Non-Killer, and this mystery man suddenly on everyone's lips from the capital.
But Billion ran a tavern, a hub for pride-clashing thugs, so he'd caught a bit of the bug.
He was going mad wondering who would win in a fight.
'I don't know much about the Knight Commander, but Guro... you wouldn't lose.'
Mobilizing every scrap of knowledge about Guro, aching to jump into the argument.
Suppressing the urge to brag that his friend outshone the arm-slicer.
"That guy's a lunatic."
Billion just downed a bitter shot in silence.
After leaving the arena, Dorian's guard relayed messages, and I didn't see the royals again.
The guard said they were picking rewards, so wait a bit.
Aster and I got assigned lodging and stayed there a while.
Time dragged, but Aster was summoned straight to the palace. I figured this wrapped things up fine and waited for her return.
Then, when Aster came back to the inn.
Pushed out the door like she was shoving my back, I stared at the unbelievable sight.
"A carriage?"
"Three times faster than a merchant caravan."
Having worked for a trading company, I was well-versed in carriages.
Maybe from my modern obsession with four-wheeled cars?
Anyway, by my expert eye.
The carriage Aster got from the royals was top-notch.
Plain but refined, judging by the wheel joints and shape.
I explained to Aster, who didn't get what the fuss was about.
"This is the kind nasty nobles ride."
"...? No clue."
"You know, the type who slap the coachman for the slightest bump."
"Oh, so comfy enough for those jerks?"
"You learn two things from one explanation."
"Hee hee."
As expected of my clever lady, nodding right away.
I nodded at the carriage too. The prince had put in real effort.
Four horses pulling it. Coachman looked proper. That said it all.
Aster added the princess had been walking with her neck tilted oddly.
Made sense—neck strain from that chokehold would linger.
"Anyway, we're finally off to my family."
"Yeah, almost forgot."
"......."
"Kidding."
Anyway, my lady was finally heading to her dreamed-of family power struggle.
Excited yet worried, her emotions flipped wildly.
"Sigh... still, I am a bit worried."
"Smiling one second, sulking the next—my feelings are startled."
"That's poetic. Startled feelings."
And something I'd been dying to ask.
'I clearly told them to give proper rewards.'
This carriage wasn't ours.
She'd just borrowed it and the coachman from the palace. I worried if she'd left without real compensation.
I brought it up.
"By the way... is this all you got?"
"Oh, no? Got one more. Honestly, the carriage is just 'whatever'."
"That good? Money, then?"
"Nope."
Flustered, I ducked to meet Aster's eyes.
Not money—what got her grinning like this?
"This."
I peered closely at the paper she handed me.
Squinting through my buzz, it was a land deed.
"Land from the Empire."
"Precisely, the plot my family drooled over forever."
The whole forest next to the Elisia estate.
State-owned, teeming with monsters.
"Value in a monster-infested forest?"
"Famous for underground resources. Magic stones, gold, you know."
She awkwardly made a circle with her fingers, mimicking a merchant.
Adorable, so I mimicked back, thinking.
'A whole forest...'
Dungeon-like, packed with state-owned resources.
Shaking off the booze, I nodded wide-mouthed.
After crushing the family, develop the forest for massive profit?
Nobles would salivate just hearing it. I chuckled dryly.
One more thought.
'Isn't this overkill?'
Handing over imperial land wholesale?
For free? Jaw-dropping.
Probably the prince's doing?
"The prince... has guts."
Aster opened her mouth like to argue, then shut it and shook her head.
"Yeah... I guess so."
She whipped her head away saying that.
Instant landowner jitters, I figured.
"Anyway, like you said, let's test if it's a good carriage."
"Good idea."
I eyed her quick subject change—something she didn't want to say.
Shrugging it off, I boarded.
On the road.
The carriage glided smooth as predicted. Aster briefed me on family matters and the welcome we'd get.
The kind that might piss us off.
"Th... they're people I'll kick out anyway... but don't draw your sword first."
I glanced at the two cheap swords I'd gotten.
Aster fretted I'd hack through her family.
Having seen the Knight Commander's knights, I had patience.
From now on, for Aster's honor.
And mine.
Skipping forests, barren wastes, and ten villages or so.
We headed to the Elisia Family.
No desire to return to the capital.
Except one itch.
'Heard only rumors of the tyrant—wanted to see for myself.'
How he'd truly turned tyrant.
Ignorance left me puzzled.
Leonhardt lay alone in the quiet sickroom, replaying that fight.
That inhuman strike blinded him in illusion.
Grateful—he'd honored his request. Princess and prince lived.
His men's deaths? Buried in honor.
'Must learn.'
To beat that man next time, endless replays.
Enduring phantom arm pain, focus boiled.
But heavy footsteps echoed from the hall.
'No way?'
Leonhardt strained his ears—unmistakable.
The empire's most feared tread.
He dragged his aching body up, kneeling.
"......I greet the most noble one."
The giant-like man entered the dusty room through the humble door.
Taller than his tallest knight.
Amethyst eyes gleaming, alien menace.
'......!'
Prickling air pressure.
"Did I disturb your rest?"
"No, sire!"
The visitor: the Emperor.
Leonhardt's mind swirled—why was the palace-bound Emperor here?
"Heard you were hurt. Lie down comfortably."
"I dare not..."
"I want to see your strength restored soon. Focus on recovery, even before me."
He bowed deep.
Feeling his throat bob, Leonhardt lay back.
"......."
The long silence was the Emperor's habit.
He waited till maximum unease, drawing raw truth.
Leonhardt couldn't meet those eyes.
"Pity about that arm."
"....... No, sire."
"Would you take the prince's head instead?"
"...! I never wished such a thing."
"For you, I could give it. You're stronger than my son."
The Emperor spoke no idle words.
Against his son, if he willed—capable.
"What say you?"
Chilling pressure as he leaned toward Leonhardt.
Abyssal darkness in those pupils.
"I fought as duty demanded. No grudges, no sorrow."
Impassive, unreadable gaze lingered.
Leonhardt swallowed hard, averting eyes.
"Resent, revenge—all permitted."
"......."
"He left despite orders—because he's the prince."
He rose.
Scattering words: compensate the dead knights, use the treasury freely.
And think of what he wanted. None came to mind, but future needs—he nodded vigorously.
"Oh, right. With one arm gone, live twice as hard."
"I shall remember."
"Good. Rest well."
Leonhardt couldn't fathom the Emperor's joy. His senses failed. That Emperor, pleased?
Visiting a subordinate personally? Unprecedented chaos.
"What... wind blew this?"
Like a calm typhoon passed.
Leonhardt exhaled raggedly, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Footsteps faded.
The Emperor trudged slowly back to the palace.
He knew Rebecca lay beyond this fork.
For capital events, blurry but he saw all.
That stunning powerhouse.
Slicing off an arm included.
"......."
A slight turn, before Rebecca.
Rebecca bowed low, greeting.
"Your Majesty."
"Why did you come?"
Cold tone swallowed her emotions.
She forced out the point.
"......I heard Your Majesty granted the Black Forest to that noble lady."
Emperor nodded curtly.
Rebecca seized the chance, choosing words carefully.
"That seems... excessive reward, so I say."
Many nobles bribed for dibs; it was claimed.
Profits alone could fund three more knight orders.
Rebecca couldn't grasp giving it to a noble lady as "sorry for my son."
The lofty Emperor using "apology"? Baffling.
"......"
Long silence; Rebecca gulped against sore throat and trembling hands.
Emperor spoke.
"Always thought you fit to succeed the Empire... Rebecca."
Hand on her shoulder.
One hand crushed like stone; she shrank.
Low voice shook her eardrums.
"To claim what you want, begrudging a scrap of land,
a bit of resources—
not fit for kingship."
"......... That's."
"Disappointed."
He left fully.
No escort knights—his ironclad decree.
Whoever kills him becomes Emperor.
His back embodied it.
'.......'
Rebecca stood frozen there a long time.
Very long.