Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Collector
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This may be the place I was born, but I'm reminded once again that the Bednickers are an insane family.
In this family, people are judged solely by their skill and achievements, with no exception for the direct bloodline of the Family Head.
On top of that, their reclusive nature is incomparably stronger than any other family's...
To what extent, you ask? Enough to send a Collector after the Family Head's own child.
So, what is a Collector?
“A-a-a-a Collector…! Gulp…”
“Eek! I didn't do anything!”
The servants beside me screamed, falling into a collective panic.
Some turned as pale as if they'd seen a ghost, while others looked on the verge of collapsing, foaming at the mouth.
Even hearing just a fragment of the rumors about the Collectors that circulate within the Bednicker family would naturally provoke such a reaction.
The executioners of the Bednickers, the fangs of the Iron-Blooded Duke, his hunting dogs...
They are called by many names, but the most common title is Collector.
This is because their mission is generally to retrieve something.
‘And what they retrieve is almost always a life.’
First of all, it's obvious that if I just sit here, my tendons will be severed.
How did my past self deal with this?
- A-a-a Collector!? A Collector is here?
- N-no way…! I'm a Bednicker! The Family Head, Father, wouldn't do this…!
I tried to escape reality with words like that, then fled, only to be caught by that old man and forcibly subjected to the collection.
In other words, my tendons were severed.
This is the role of those known as Collectors.
The Bednicker family is also known as a Renowned Martial Arts Family, which is why they are extremely secretive about the family's esoteric martial arts.
If anyone is caught leaking the family's secrets to an outsider, not only the perpetrator but also those around them will lose their lives.
Since I, too, was treated reasonably well by the family before the Blessing Ceremony, I naturally have information about the Bednicker's martial arts in my head.
That must be what the higher-ups find displeasing.
The Council of Elders judged me unworthy of using the Bednicker's martial arts and must have intended to make it impossible for me to use them any longer.
From my perspective, it was deeply unfair, but the Council of Elders probably considered it a lenient punishment.
‘Usually, they would sever the tendons in all four limbs or just kill the person outright.’
Of course, I wasn't given consideration because I was a blood relative, but because I was still young and my level of achievement was insignificant.
‘What should I do about this?’
I have no intention of just sitting here and letting it happen.
If I lose the use of my right arm, my future combat power will drop by at least thirty percent.
Especially since the martial art I learned—the Arts of the Greatest of All Time—already has a heavy emphasis on external techniques.
‘On the other hand, is there a way to overcome this situation?’
It's uncertain.
Well, given the state of my body.
Not only do I lack even a speck of internal energy, but it's also impossible to escape from the Collector in this frail body.
Even if I ran with all my might, he would catch me within three breaths.
‘Why did it have to be when I'm fifteen?’
I haven't panicked, but looking at the situation, it could hardly be worse.
I sighed and looked at Keian.
Despite my rather long silence, he waited calmly.
Is this his final courtesy as a Collector?
Or does he think of me as a cornered rat?
I began to speak, intending to at least buy some time.
“Sir Keian, it's been a while.”
“Indeed. Have you been well?”
Been well?
He can't possibly have missed the sight of me lying in a sickbed, wrapped in bandages.
“You seem sharp, so have you developed dementia?”
“Pardon?”
“…is what I almost said.”
I quickly smoothed things over and continued in a calm tone.
“You seem to have come in a hurry. Have you eaten?”
“I ate lightly. I always eat sparingly before an execution.”
“What about a tour of the mansion? I can have a servant show you around, starting with the gardens…”
“I appreciate the consideration, Young Master. But I wish to focus on my duties right now.”
So that's not going to work at all.
I was trying to buy time to come up with a plan, but even that was proving difficult.
I didn't have high hopes, but as expected, he's a difficult opponent to persuade with words.
‘One month…’
No, even just one week would have made the situation much better.
But for now, all I could do was keep talking, so I opened my mouth again.
“I see. But as you can see, I'm not in good shape. It's late, so perhaps the execution could be postponed until tomorrow…”
“Forgive my impertinence, Young Master.”
Keian looked at me and showed the back of his hand.
In that instant, a sharp dagger shot out from his sleeve.
“Gah!”
Amidst the maid's shrill scream, Keian continued in a calm tone.
“This Keian has never once postponed a collection, not even for a single day.”
Of course, he hasn't.
He isn't called the Iron-Blooded Collector for nothing.
Thud.
Having finished speaking, Keian walked toward me.
His steps, neither fast nor slow, made him seem like a mere administrator carrying out his official duties.
‘Seriously?’
Am I really going to have my tendons severed the moment I return to the past?
As the possibility I had only half-believed became a reality striding toward me, my head suddenly cooled.
Still sitting on the bed, I looked up at Keian.
“…”
Then, for the first time, this heartless old man stopped and looked at me.
He didn't show it, but he seemed puzzled by my reaction, which was different from what he had expected.
In that brief moment, I came up with a quick plan and opened my mouth.
“I am not a target for collection.”
The hand reaching for me paused for a moment.
“The Family Head is the one who decides on the collection. To deny that decision is to go against the Family Head's will.”
“Wrong. The Family Head only makes the final decision. It is the family's Council of Elders that determines the target of the collection and the severity of the punishment.”
“…”
At that, the old man's expression changed for the first time, but the change vanished faster than it had appeared.
“You are correct, but it was also the Family Head's decision to delegate that authority to the Council of Elders. In the grand scheme of things, it is no different from the Family Head's command.”
“Then what about in the smaller scheme of things?”
“You're quite persistent in splitting hairs. Stalling for time will change nothing.”
“You're right.”
“…?”
“Subduing me would be easier for you than blowing your nose into a tissue. You can do it anytime. So, is there really any reason to be in such a hurry?”
“As I said, I have never once postponed a collection, not even for a single day…”
“Right. A day. There's still some time left before today ends, isn't there?”
Keian looked at me quietly.
He hadn't aged for nothing; it was difficult to guess what he was thinking.
All I could do was pray that this old man's caution would hold him back.
- Ruan Bednicker, who has always been pathetic, is acting as if he has some backing. Perhaps his words aren't just empty chatter…
Even just that thought would be good enough.
“…”
The silence was longer than I expected.
This silence was a good sign for me, but it was no time to relax.
He's a man who strictly adheres to the chain of command, so he'll soon decide that his personal thoughts are irrelevant.
So, before that happens, I just need to make the ripples of his uncertainty even larger.
“Sir Keian, the Bednicker collections must be carried out with the utmost thoroughness and precision. Because once it's done, it cannot be undone. It won't be too late to make your judgment after hearing me out. I promise to accept the punishment without another word afterward.”
And I added something the family's conservatives would appreciate.
“On the name of Bednicker.”
He remained silent and expressionless, but if he was the Collector Keian I had seen and heard about in the family, this would work.
It had to work.
“…”
Finally, the hand clad in a pitch-black glove was fully withdrawn.
And the oppressive pressure I had felt until moments ago melted away.
“Have all the servants leave.”
“Alright.”
At my slight nod, the servants rushed out as if they'd been saved.
Unsurprisingly, not a single one of them offered to stay by my side.
Shing…
And the dagger that had been about to sever my tendons disappeared back into his sleeve.
Next, Keian took a pocket watch from his coat and glanced down at it.
“11:56 PM.”
“…”
“There are about four minutes left until the day ends.”
Keian said, looking at me.
“Go ahead and speak, Young Master. Tell me the basis for your claim that you are not a target for collection.”
For now, I've avoided the worst-case scenario.
The scenario where my tendons are severed before I can do anything.
“If, by any chance, you have delayed this collection without a clear reason…”
Of course.
“I will have no choice but to increase the severity of the punishment.”
The real persuasion starts now.
* * *
Keian Goldan, age 68.
Among the Bednicker Collectors, he had the longest career, yet his performance record never fell out of the top three.
Because he had not made a single mistake during his long career, some called him the Iron-Blooded Collector.
Even Keian had not expected this.
That he would feel such an emotion on this assignment.
Ruan Bednicker.
The stain on the Bednicker name, the Iron-Blooded Duke's only failure, a seller of precious swords, an incompetent child.
On top of that, he possessed zero Blessings.
A brat from a Great Family, bearing a shame worse than death.
Keian held no particular grudge against this boy.
Only a very faint sense of pity.
But watching Ruan Bednicker's actions after the Blessing Ceremony, that pity had transformed into contempt.
Failing to receive a Blessing was, of course, a terrible thing, enough to make one want to die.
As someone of ordinary lineage, Keian couldn't even imagine that despair.
But so what?
It had already happened; it was the reality he faced.
If one couldn't comprehend and accept it, they couldn't take a single step forward in reality.
But Ruan Bednicker had stopped in his tracks, then took a step back and vanished from sight.
After that, Keian too had forgotten the name Ruan.
…That was, until he received the order.
It wasn't a particularly special mission.
The fact that the target was the Family Head's kin was a bit unusual, but Keian had performed similar tasks many times during his long career.
Just because he was kin, just because he was young.
His emotions should not have been stirred.
The stain on the Bednicker name, whom he faced for the first time in a long while, greeted Keian with a completely different attitude.
The typical attitude of those who witnessed a Collector was...
Generally, denial of reality, with the occasional person who resists.
Very rarely, there were those who tried to negotiate, but the words that came from their mouths had never once slowed Keian's hand.
Until today, that is.
“The fact that the Council of Elders sent a Collector…”
A badly swollen face, a body wrapped in bandages.
Ruan spoke from his pathetic state.
“Means there's something they want to retrieve. In this case, it would be the Bednicker's family swordsmanship. Naturally, since it's impossible to make me forget the swordsmanship I've already learned, you were going to sever my tendons.”
‘Precise.’
But from the moment they met, Keian had been consistently overwhelmed by this brat.
Now he understood why.
He couldn't sense in Ruan the disposition most people showed when facing a Collector.
In other words, he had no fear.
It was a little different from simply being fearless. It didn't seem like he failed to grasp the situation.
If that were the case, he wouldn't have been able to bring Keian to the negotiating table in the first place.
“Then shall we talk fundamentals? Why would the Council of Elders want to retrieve the swordsmanship from me?”
“As a mere Collector, I have no way of knowing the Council of Elders' criteria for judgment.”
“I see now that you're quite good at playing coy. Shall I tell you, then?”
Ruan suddenly put on a solemn face and did an impression.
“The Bednicker's heirloom arts are wasted on a brat who looks like he'll live and die pathetically.”
“…”
“Something about tarnishing the Bednicker name, or selling off precious swords… many things were probably said, but the real reason is this. They saw no potential in me.”
Keian didn't know if these words were true.
No matter how long he had served as an executioner, he couldn't know the private opinions of the Council of Elders.
However…
The words Ruan spoke matched perfectly with the reason Keian had unconsciously thought of.
“Then I will argue this. This collection will undoubtedly be a loss for the future of the Bednicker family.”
“What do you mean?”
“To put it simply, you are about to snap the seedling of a great tree.”
“An arrogant statement.”
“It's the truth.”
Tick-.
At that moment, Keian's gaze was, for some reason, fixed on his pocket watch.
The time had become 11:59 PM.
Less than a minute remained until the day was over.
If so, he should carry out the collection immediately to not be late.
“I need the swordsmanship I learned from the Bednickers.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I'm going to create a new martial art based on it.”
Tock-.
Until the minute hand finally ticked past and the day changed.
“…”
The Collector, Keian, still had not moved.