Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: A Fortuitous Poison
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I’m not exactly a lucky guy.
Back when I was a mercenary.
What I thought was a D-rank mission turned out to have the danger level of a B-rank, and only two of the ten who participated survived.
Of course, we didn't escape unscathed.
One guy lost a leg, and I got a hideous scar carved into my face.
A guy I happened to get into a fight with at a bar turned out to be an executive of the criminal underworld that ruled the back alleys…
And the very day I bought a new sword and swung it around proudly, the blade shattered.
If I were a lucky person in the first place, I would have received four or five Blessings from the start.
That’s why this current situation was a bit bewildering.
I mean, come on.
The ultimate poison the enemy used as his trump card was the best medicine in the world for me.
Even a heroic epic written like this would get torn to shreds.
“Haaaah…”
I exhaled a hot breath.
A heat like lava radiated from my shoulder.
This heat coursed through my entire body as if to incinerate it, reaching my dantian in an instant.
It was at that moment that the inferno-like momentum faltered.
It had encountered the fire energy seated in my dantian.
Of course, the total amount of fire energy was pathetic.
It hadn't even reached the level of a campfire, let alone the White Sun, the final stage of my ultimate goal.
But I was certain.
This energy, condensed with painstaking effort, this ki built through the arts created by the World's Greatest, was the purest yang energy in the world.
To put it simply.
The fire energy accumulated in my dantian was, in theory, a superior version of every flame in existence.
*Gulp!*
The two yang energies merged naturally.
It almost looked as if the fire energy was effortlessly swallowing the heat.
In fact, that was the very nature of flame.
When water and water collide, waves crash.
When earth and earth collide, an earthquake occurs.
When wood and wood collide, they entangle and intertwine…
Few things are as difficult to mix as metal.
But when flame meets flame, they simply and naturally become one.
“Hah.”
This time, I let out another, shorter breath.
My head was hot, and my body was even hotter.
A pleasant warmth, like soaking in a hot bath, enveloped my entire body.
I briefly savored the temporary sense of euphoria, then charged toward Osel.
“What…!”
Osel’s face contorted in what looked like genuine surprise this time.
Though with that toad face of his, I couldn't be sure if I was reading him right.
I threw a palm strike just before reaching him.
White Sun Eclipse, Second Form.
Fire Wheel.
A burst of flame shaped like my palm shot toward Osel.
Fire Wheel was currently my only long-range technique.
It wasn’t particularly powerful, but it was suitable for harassment, so I used it often.
It also consumed a surprising amount of internal energy, which was why I couldn't use it until just now.
The Fire Wheel exploded on Osel’s face. The sparks flying in all directions made it look quite spectacular, but the actual impact wasn't that great.
“Cover me.”
After giving Arjan a short command, I closed the distance with Osel.
He violently shook his face to extinguish the flames and shouted.
“How in the world can you still move!”
“‘The line between medicine and poison is a fine one,’ you said. Thanks for the New Year's gift.”
“You, you… How dare you…!”
Just then, Osel’s throat bulged, and he spat at me.
Predictable bastard. More poison?
I dodged the purple fluid Osel spat out, instantly closing the distance and diving into his guard, then unleashed a flurry of punches into his plump torso.
*Th-th-thwack!*
I can't say it felt good to hit him, what with his slippery skin.
It wasn't just unpleasant; the lack of friction seemed to allow him to deflect some of the attack's force.
‘It’s going to be hard to finish him off with physical force alone…’
Osel seemed to realize this too and sneered.
“With mere fists, you can’t—”
Osel’s words were cut short and turned into a scream.
A dagger was now embedded in his large eyeball.
Nice assist, Arjan.
I watched Osel clutch his eye and thrash about.
He was a more troublesome foe than I’d expected, but now I had the means to solve the problem.
As my master used to say,
most of life’s problems can be solved with an immense amount of internal energy.
I forced internal energy into my fist.
Like I was packing it down, pushing it right to the brink.
And when the condensation of internal energy reached its peak.
I threw a straight punch.
White Sun Eclipse, First Form.
Scorching Heat.
Despite its grand name, Scorching Heat was a simple straight punch—
but even an ordinary technique’s power can vary drastically depending on how much internal energy is infused into it.
Besides, every form of the White Sun Eclipse is a finishing move to begin with.
“Gack…”
Osel’s head snapped back, and his disgusting tongue lolled out like a rope.
The reaction was good, but this attack hadn't fully connected either.
It was then that a plausible idea came to me.
I grabbed his limp tongue, pulled it, and wrapped it around his neck.
“Wha—?”
The moment the now-blind Osel made a stupid noise, I yanked on his tongue.
Only then did Osel realize the situation and begin to struggle.
“Butler!”
Thankfully, Arjan was quick on the uptake.
Without needing an explanation, she moved on her own, planting daggers all over Osel’s body to stop his movements.
She was probably aiming for his tendons, but it didn't seem to have much effect.
I doubt she missed, so maybe his physical structure changed when he became a monster?
Still, he could feel the pain, as a monstrous scream erupted from his mouth.
His appearance, his scream…
He no longer felt human to me.
‘Just die quietly…’
Osel thrashed about like a madman, twisting his entire body, while I clung to him like a monkey and tightened my grip.
To be honest, I was struggling too.
My muscles were trembling from the strain on my weak body.
But this was the right way.
This was the safest way to kill Osel.
The fact that he was screaming was proof.
If he were full of demonic energy, he wouldn't feel pain, which meant the demonic energy in his body was steadily disappearing.
How many trees did that bastard Osel break while he was flailing around?
I felt the strength gradually drain from Osel’s body until, finally, he stopped moving completely.
“…Is he dead?”
“…”
The dead tell no tales.
At Osel’s silence, I released all the tension in my body.
“Phuhaaa…”
Seriously, I’m going to die.
What kind of fortune was I hoping to find, coming to these mountains anyway?
‘Oh, right. It was the Iron-Blooded Duke’s order.’
Damn it, my head's not working straight.
As I gasped for breath, staring up at the dark sky, Arjan approached.
“…Is he dead?”
“Yeah. For real this time.”
My mouth could still flap, at least, so I answered her question.
Arjan looked down at Osel’s corpse with a complicated expression and remained silent for a long time.
A moment later, she turned a similar gaze on me.
Then she asked a rather random question.
“Is your shoulder all right?”
“My shoulder? Ah—”
She meant the spot where Osel’s dagger had struck.
“It’s fine. A little spit will heal this right up.”
It was a bit of an exaggeration, but not entirely untrue.
Exceptional regenerative ability was one of the strengths of the Flame Arts of the Greatest.
“Still, you should at least disinfect it to prevent infection.”
“Alright.”
A brief silence.
Then, after a moment of hesitation, Arjan asked.
“…Young Master.”
“What.”
“Are you really the Young Master?”
It was similar to the question the first knight I subdued had asked, but I couldn't retort with a witty comeback this time.
The person asking was different.
No matter what, Arjan was someone who had spent nearly a year with me.
And I could say with certainty that she was the one who had witnessed Ruan Bednicker’s pathetic state more than anyone else in the mansion.
How in the world was I supposed to convince someone like her?
“I am.”
Convince her? To hell with that.
I *am* Ruan Bednicker, so what?
Partly because I was exhausted, I decided to forgo any troublesome excuses.
“What about you, Butler?”
“Pardon?”
“I saw you fight. Just like those guys said, you’re no ordinary butler. What exactly did you do at the main house?”
“That is…”
Arjan hesitated.
“Hard to talk about?”
“…Not particularly.”
“Forget it. I’m not going to force it out of you.”
I forced myself to my feet.
My body groaned in protest, but I couldn't lie here forever.
Osel had said nocturnal monsters were rare in the area, but after all this commotion, even the sleeping ones would have woken up.
“Let’s do this. You have questions about me, and I have questions about you. The common ground is that neither of our questions has led to suspicion. Right?”
“Pardon?”
“We don’t have any animosity toward each other. We just fought together as a team. Right?”
“Well, that is true, but.”
Arjan’s bewildered face somehow looked younger than usual.
I suddenly wondered how old she was.
She might not be that much older than me.
“So let’s just put aside any minor questions that come up until we get out of these mountains. We’ve dealt with these guys, but that doesn't mean we're completely safe.”
“…”
Arjan hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes slightly.
She seemed to be organizing her thoughts.
“I understand.”
She nodded more readily than I expected.
“Good. Then—”
I walked over to the dead Osel, his tongue lolling out, and began to search his pockets.
“What are you doing?”
“We need to find out more about these guys. There might be a clue among his belongings. You search the other knights. Oh, I left one of them alive.”
“Hm. Understood.”
Osel would probably have the most clues.
Anyone could see he was the leader.
As expected, I found quite a few useful things in Osel’s pockets.
Twelve gold coins.
A rough map of the Jewel Mountains.
And a note written in a script I’d never seen before. The characters were as small as grains of rice, densely packed onto the page.
“Young Master, there are no living knights.”
“What?”
I instinctively tucked the gold coins into a deep pocket and tilted my head.
“Really? I made sure to go easy on that one.”
“It seems he swallowed poison…”
“Huh.”
Did he commit suicide after seeing Osel lose?
Or before?
In any case, he had no attachment to life.
Arjan came over and reported.
“Also, there was nothing of value on the bodies.”
“Really? I found these two things.”
I showed the map and the note to Arjan.
Arjan looked at the map, then at the note, and her brow furrowed.
Slowly, her expression turned to one of utter shock.
Slightly intrigued, I asked.
“Butler, don’t tell me you can read this?”
“Ah…”
A look of dismay spread across Arjan’s face.