Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Senior's Handaxe (3)
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Several mercenaries stood before my eyes.
As expected from a gambling den, there were quite a few former gladiators among them.
"Capture them and teach them a lesson."
The gambling den's proprietor, who seemed to look down on the defense knights as a joke, issued her command leisurely while lighting her pipe.
"And while you're at it, find out who's behind them. That would be even better."
The madame's red lips pursed around the pipe.
"Even a defense knight wouldn't squeeze their way in here unless..."
As befitting the Queen of the Underworld, she had sharp eyes.
"They're probably acting on someone's orders."
The bald man she'd let in earlier after a bribe especially irritated her, and he rested his hand on his waist.
"So, just make sure they can still talk, right...?"
A broad, long greatsword and a club hung there.
"I don't care if they lose an arm or a leg in the process."
――――――!!
The moment he drew the club, he aimed for my arm.
But at that instant.
I pushed his sword hilt back into its sheath with my palm.
Then I swung my elbow around and smashed his jaw.
"...!!"
A clear striking sound echoed through the VIP room.
Like the bell signaling the start of battle.
"Grab them!!"
He clutched his jaw and shouted.
Any ordinary man would have been knocked out, but as expected of a captain, he had tough resilience.
――――――.
The gladiators standing behind him charged all at once.
The first to move was a man wielding a massive club.
He looked like he was from the northern tribes, wearing a thick helmet.
But his upper body was bare.
Just covered in scars from repeated sword slashes and tears.
――――――!!
The man gripped the heavy bludgeon with both hands and swung it.
His blow shattered a lamp standing behind him.
In that gap, I lowered my stance and rushed at him.
Then, the moment he tried to raise the club again.
I kicked his knee with all my strength.
"Kruk...!!"
No matter how muscular, a knee is inherently fragile.
With his support collapsed, he began to topple.
The next one to come at me was a dual-wielder.
Just seeing the wooden swords gripped in both hands reminded me of someone, making me scoff.
"Uwaaaah!!"
He charged with a loud yell.
Dual-wielders like Allen always rushed in first—that was the key.
Seize the momentum with twin blades, then overwhelm the opponent with it.
But I'd grown familiar with that style through Allen.
He swung both arms like scissors toward my neck.
At that moment.
The two wooden swords clashed with a loud crack.
Because...
"What the...!!"
When he swung his blades, I'd closed in right into his guard.
At the same time, I thrust my dagger into his side.
Deep enough to freeze his movement.
"Gurk...."
In an instant, two gladiators went down.
The mercenary captain I'd smashed in the jaw hurriedly shouted.
"Subdue the woman first!! Then focus on the guy!"
Take out the easier target to build momentum.
A captain's sound strategy.
But he'd overlooked one thing.
"Slicing a woman disgusts me, but no choice...!!"
The men, sensing the urgency, swung their three-section staffs at Miya.
Miya stared blankly at the blade.
She fixed her gaze on the sharp edge flying right toward her face....
Then twisted her body, clamping the man's arm in her armpit.
She pressed her elbow down hard, snapping his hand.
Like a lever.
"Kraaak...!!"
Clearly, the burly men's raw strength was superior.
But Miya was that much more agile.
"Feeling slighted? I'm a knight too."
The Empire's lady knight picked up the fallen three-section staff.
She spun it expertly, as if it were her own main weapon.
"I'm his senior."
She smiled brightly.
And then....
――――――!!
She hurled the staff at the madame holding the long pipe.
"...."
The madame swallowed hard.
She stared down at her pipe's stem, severed cleanly by the weapon.
It had been so vicious she could barely roll her eyes to see it.
"Put that out?"
Blue mana cloaked Miya's black eyes.
The solidly trained mana I'd praised since the past enveloped her body.
"It's no-smoking right now, and it's bothering me."
The thick tobacco smoke filling the sealed space.
Irritated by it, Miya's cat-like sharp eyes gleamed.
Then she bounded like an animal across the distance, targeting the madame.
"Eek...!!"
Even the hitherto leisurely madame startled at Miya's swift movements.
She hurriedly backed away and fled through the back door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Miya pursued her with a cold, expressionless face.
A narrow passageway.
Young prostitutes and cloying perfume wafted from everywhere.
The lady knight, nobler than any, cleaved through it ahead.
As she rounded the corner.
"...!!"
A waiting gladiator's club targeted her.
Miya bent at the waist with her signature fluid motion.
At the same time, she kicked up into the man's groin and spun once.
"Kruhuk...!!"
The waiting man clutched his legs and crumpled.
But true to gladiator spirit, he soon swung the club again.
Miya kicked out once more, shattering the club's haft completely.
Then came a mana-charged fist.
Pow!!
"...!!"
The massive mana from her dainty fist burrowed into the gladiator's solar plexus.
His flesh twisted like a whirlpool, unleashing indescribable agony.
"Gurk...."
The gladiator clutched his chest.
Unable to say a word, he knelt.
"Haa.... Haa...."
Miya shook her throbbing instep.
Then she resumed chasing the Saria madame at full speed.
Her black eyes sparkled with spirit.
She'd been cooped up in the headquarters office, buried in paperwork.
The fresh outdoor air and fieldwork thrilled her heart.
Perhaps because of that.
Miya's lips kept curling up as she pursued.
Soon, the red dress caught her eye.
Desperately fleeing, but just an ordinary woman in the end.
"That's far enough."
Miya drew the weapon she'd prepared from her back pocket.
Vice-captains used greatswords and spears.
Ekina and Camilla wielded rapiers.
While everyone wielded their noble arms.
The fallen noble Miya's lanky frame wielded...
――――――.
None other than a "handaxe."
Perhaps because it had been so long since holding her main weapon.
Miya's blood boiled throughout her body.
The hot blood surged from her heart down her arm.
The moment it reached her fingers.
――――――!!
Miya hurled the handaxe at the madame.
Knights weren't permitted to kill, of course.
Even criminals were Imperial citizens.
Killing would bring headaches.
Yet Miya knew that and still boldly threw the honed axe at the madame.
Because she was that confident.
Kwaang!!
The axe flew precisely above the madame.
It severed the clothesline overhead....
"Kyaaak!!"
And thick garments rained down on the madame's head.
"W-what...!! What sorcery is this!!"
Buried under the pile, she flailed and lost balance.
Blind, she staggered as if struck by a blinding spell.
"Sorcery?"
Miya approached, breathing roughly.
Meanwhile, Saria tumbled to the floor with the bedding.
"Got you."
Miya flipped the blanket, looking down at Saria with lipstick smeared to her cheeks.
The madame glared resentfully and cried out.
"Is this how Imperial knights treat women?!"
Facing capture, Saria appealed to her pitiful femininity as a last resort.
"My body's the pitiful one here?"
Miya smirked and bound her with rope in response.
"Thought that sluggish body could escape?"
In a way, the madame and Miya were similar in height and build.
But Miya's bone-deep training from cadet days gave her a glamorous yet slim figure.
"Kuhk...."
The madame bit her lip hard.
Then she retraced the chaotic path back with Miya.
"Uht...."
Mid-stride in her dignified return, Miya felt a twinge in one ankle.
Not wanting to seem weak to a criminal, she swallowed the pain.
――――――.
The battered VIP room's back door opened again.
Miya indifferently shoved the madame—her bare back exposed—inside.
"Veil, I caught he—...."
She'd returned confidently, sure her accomplishment outshone mine.
At that moment.
"As expected, you caught her, Senior."
Gladiators lay sprawled like carpet on the floor.
I met her eyes as I sat resting atop them.
"I believed in you."
I smiled and rose from the chair piled of gladiators.
I approached the madame, stunned by the fainted mercenaries.
"Running that desperately means your mighty 'backer' must have boasted proudly."
I narrowed my eyes foxily at her.
Only then did the madame grasp the situation and gulp.
"W-what... who the hell are you people...."
She mumbled, head bowed.
In response, I answered honestly.
"Told you—defense knights."
"No defense knights like you I've ever seen."
I tilted my head at her reply.
"Knights come here often, then?"
"We paid tribute regularly.... In a way, we were a licensed operation...."
Licensed operation.
Hearing that, I couldn't help but scoff.
"Absurd. Enough nonsense—spill your backer."
I slammed the desk.
The startled madame flinched.
"Who approved illegal gambling for this Imperial Sword Tournament?"
"I-I don't know...!! Just that it was orders from some high-up...."
Saria shook her head frantically.
"A middle-aged man with glasses, flashy gold frames...."
Middle-aged man with glasses.
I furrowed my brow.
"Gold frames...? Slimy-looking, skin-and-bones type?"
"Yes, how did you...?"
Miya also tilted her head at my question.
I smirked in response.
"Leon's financial secretary."
The cash-strapped crown prince had finally dipped into dirty money.
Or perhaps he'd been doing it all along and crossed the line now.
"What do we do, Veil...? This is getting too big."
"It's fine—exactly the scale I expected."
I closed in on the madame.
Casually threw an arm around her shoulders and asked.
"Besides your branch, who else got this contract?"
Saria, who'd answered readily so far.
This time, she hesitated.
"I don't know that mu—."
I boldly gripped her chin, forcing her gaze to mine.
"Think noble knights wouldn't know?"
"Yes...?"
"Private gambling rings have networks—especially your big operation as the hub."
Miya stared blankly at Saria and me, faces nearly touching.
Saria stared into my eyes, her face flushing redder.
Somehow, seeing her, my lips twitched downward.
"W-wait, Veil, let me handle it!!"
Senior rushed over, pushing our faces apart.
Then dragged Saria away.
"As expected, girl talk works better...."
Relieved it was woman-to-woman, the madame sighed in relief.
But that was the madame's mere delusion.
"What?"
Miya drew an axe from the bag tied behind her back.
She showed it to Saria's face like the cruelest bandit and said.
"You. Why's your face red during interrogation?"
Senior's lifeless black cat-eyes pierced the madame.
"Does this look like a joke?"
A voice colder and more vicious than I'd ever heard.
"That axe I threw earlier—think I missed on purpose?"
The madame began trembling.
"Try running again? I'll even let you go."
Miya unbound her with dead eyes.
Urged her toward the back door she'd fled through earlier.
"Go. One more chance."
"...."
Saria, who'd lived like a queen in the shadows her whole life.
Any man she'd tucked under her skirts and toyed with at will.
But now faced a cat-human with a handaxe.
Sensing mortal peril, her legs quivered.
And then....
"I'll talk...."
She collapsed, strength drained.
"Second drawer of the desk over there.... There's a ledger...."
Saria spilled everything in resignation.
Miya smashed the locked drawer.
Kwaang!!
With the axe, opening it easily.
"Here, Veil. Catch!"
Miya tossed the ledger my way.
First time seeing a knight process faster than me.
"Huh...."
I smirked and caught the ledger she handed over.
I checked the list of private gambling operations linked to the crown prince's financial secretary.
――――――
"Urgh...."
After securing the ledger.
We left Rastium with much lighter hearts.
Miya stretched languidly, savoring the feeling of loosening up.
"No injuries?"
I recalled her chasing the madame frantically and asked.
Senior shook her head with a subtle smile.
"Injuries? Against non-knights?"
She unconsciously reached for her chest pocket out of habit.
Then slapped her own hand.
"Good to stretch after so long."
"Glad you look fine."
I eyed Miya's gait closely.
Then noticed a slight flinch every time she stepped with her right foot.
"Senior, why's your leg limping...?"
"Huh? It's nothing—. Used some force after ages—."
Miya brushed it off, acting tough.
She extended her right leg with a flourish to show she was fine.
But.
"Uht...!"
A sharp throb drew a short groan from her.
"See? You were wobbling faintly when you came back."
I looked at her seriously.
Stopped walking and knelt.
"Let me see the injury."
"N-no...."
Miya tried to make excuses.
But soon her swollen ankle was exposed, and she clamped her lips.
"Heavens.... You walked on this?"
"You fought dozens of gladiators.... Embarrassing if I got hurt instead."
Miya sulked.
I replied firmly.
"You caught their leader!"
"Still...."
She avoided my gaze.
I smiled back.
"Capturing the head's always the hardest and most vital part. And it's what 'seniors' do."
Still kneeling, I naturally bent my back.
Glanced at Miya and said.
"So your wound's no shame. A badge of honor."
"W-what are you doing...?"
Miya eyed my back cautiously.
Her cheeks seemed flushed.
"What? You planning to walk home on that foot?"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
Miya bristled like a hissing cat.
Her tear mole wrinkled too.
"Don't worry—not headquarters, I'll take you home. No one to spot us."
Hearing that, Senior's face burned red.
"M-my home...?!"
Miya, who'd never brought an outsider man home.
All sorts of thoughts hit her; she gulped.
"Y-you... mocking your senior again?!"
When mad, she kept adding "nya" at ends.
I shot back indifferently.
"So you hate it?"
Narrowed my eyes.
Miya glanced around furtively, then....
"Just this once...."
She meekly climbed onto my back.
"It's your fault—quitting smoking's making me dizzy...."