I Wanted a Second Life, Not a Second Chance (Part 2)
Demonic energy.
The faint scent of it drifts to my nose.
It's unmistakable. The scent I've inhaled countless times on the battlefield and shared with most of my life.
But it's not clear. Mixed with various impurities, so it's not coming from a demon but from a monster approaching.
'Good thing I brought my small sword.'
Even though it's not the massive greatsword I usually carry, just a decorative one, it will suffice to take down the monster.
I pull the sword from the sheath in my arms and hold it in one hand.
Then I shake the makbu who is still sleeping soundly nearby, unaware of the world around him.
“Makbu, makbu! A monster is here!”
“W-what?! A monster?!”
The makbu, who had been sleeping so deeply I couldn't tell who was carrying him just moments ago, startles at the monster's sound and bolts upright.
He immediately clings to the side of the horse, having already sensed something amiss.
However, it's truly strange. There shouldn't be any proper monsters with this much demonic energy scent in a remote frontier area like this.
But right now isn't the time for investigation.
The demonic scent is growing steadily closer.
“Get into the carriage. I'll handle this.”
“Y-yes, I understand!”
Already, the gleam of eyes flashes beyond the bushes.
The makbu rushes into the carriage and hides his body.
I grip the sword in one hand.
Clack.
The carriage door locks just as the monsters emerge from the bushes.
Grurrr... The low howling that shakes the forest air turns out to be wolves.
Robos, a wolf with black fur around the shoulders and a body colored in the purplish hues common to battlefields everywhere.
They are called Robos.
“...As I thought, no monsters in these parts.”
Meaning they only appear on the battlefield. Or at least near the front lines. No way such monsters would appear this far from the capital.
Five of them in total.
If I think simply, they might have migrated and are lurking here.
“Hmph.”
I take a deep breath and flex every muscle in my body.
I sharpen my nerves and tighten my grip on the sword.
Strike first.
Tung! Tung!
I plant my feet and spring forward.
The distance that had been far shrinks in an instant, and suddenly Rigel is behind one of the Robos.
At the same time a wet, slicing sound echoes.
Red blood sprays, and the neck is cleanly severed.
I don't stop the chain of attacks. I land and spin, kicking off again in a leap.
Second strike.
Again, blood sprays as the Robos' neck is cut.
Chop!
Surprise attacks end at two.
After I sever the heads of two Robos and land on the dirt ground, I check if any other signs appear.
“There are three Robos left.”
Pfuit.
I pull out two small needles from my waist pouch and throw them.
One sticks straight into one's head, while the other is knocked into the air, allowing the target to dodge before it charges toward me.
I rush under the airborne attacker, slide, and slice completely from the belly down to the lower body.
“Hah.”
Blood rains down from the head to the upper body.
Two Robos remain.
While the pouring blood blinds my vision, I wipe the blood from my face with my hand.
One is revealing sharp fangs right in front of my eyes.
“In a flash, if I blink once, Rigel's head would be crushed into tiny chunks of flesh and bones.”
Chop!
At that instant, before the makbu could scream, something incredibly swift flickers dimly in his eyes.
And the Robos charging toward Rigel is sliced cleanly in half.
“Grrrrr! Grrrrr!”
At that moment, a rough howling like scratching comes from the side.
A wolf is rushing toward me from the opposite direction of the attack.
My body balance is already off, so if I try to correct my stance, it will be too late.
'Then what.'
I don't stop my movement.
Instead, I add force to the turning body and spin a full circle at high speed.
Then I bring the pommel of the sword hilt straight down onto the Robos' skull.
Kw-aang!
A loud impact echoes through the forest, and I feel a solid, hard sensation like something shattering in my fingertips.
The Robos can't even let out a howl, collapsing with a violent shake.
The battle with the Robos is over.
From inside the carriage, the makbu opens the door and comes out to Rigel.
“Y-you... are amazing... killing five monsters so easily... like that...”
“Into the carriage! Don't come out now!”
Just as Rigel grabs the makbu's collar to push him inside, the makbu sways, looking severely dizzy.
Soon he loses consciousness and collapses to the ground.
Rigel, holding his breath against the incoming scent and shaking off the blood on his sword, looks toward the dark, dense forest.
Then he throws the sword with all his might toward that place.
Thud!
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
Along with the sound of something sticking into a tree or bush, a human scream like tearing echoes.
Walking toward the sound, a human shape slowly emerges from a hidden spot.
“You're the one who commanded the monsters?”
A sword that pierced the hand of the man in the robe is stuck in the tree.
Rigel grabs the man's jaw and forces him against the tree as if to impale him, staring at him.
***
A monster that shouldn't be in the forest, and a lone male in a robe that shouldn't be in the forest.
Not an adventurer. He's shady, and he doesn't even have proper equipment.
But there's a feeling.
Something in his embrace reeks of something foul.
Whether he screamed or not, I reach into the robe's inner pocket and search.
What comes out is a medal that still feels the flow of mana and demonic energy.
But at the same time, a foul yet alien scent is felt.
This guy.
This guy is the one who tried to ambush me.
“From the way you're dressed, you look like just another mage lying around in the streets. This thing is something no shady guy like you could get.”
Probably, my guess is that this item summoned the monsters to make me attack.
I'm not knowledgeable about magic, but through past experiences, I know at least that this item isn't something this kind of person could obtain.
Which means he received a commission.
“Whose commission?”
“Hic... Hah...”
“Won't you say whose? You won't die from that much, so stop making a fuss.”
But he clamps his mouth shut as if he has no intention of telling me.
Is there no way to make him talk more?
I was about to try torture, but I didn't know how much torture a mage's body could endure without dying, so I couldn't act rashly.
Tap, tap, tap.
So I came up with a good idea.
I pull a needle stuck in the wolf corpses lying on the ground and stand in front of him again.
He looks at the needle I'm pulling with trembling eyes.
“Even if I die, I won't say anything!”
“I know. Besides, I didn't pick up a sword to kill people.”
But I can still make people suffer.
And right now, I know the biggest pain for this mage, or rather male.
“Clap your mouth shut. If you scream, I'll have no choice but to leave you here. This is a remote forest, so there will be wild animals too.”
“I'd rather die...!”
What does that achieve?
I can make him feel it directly.
I bring the needle toward his crotch.
If the pain isn't enough, more pain will do.
His face turns pale as he realizes what the flashing needle will pierce.
“...Kien, the world has rules. If you know that, you'll tell me everything.”
“You handle reverse psychology well.”
With such a proper and gentlemanly response.
Should I heal his hand too?
“Who gave you this item?”
“......”
Ah. So he won't talk, huh?
Just as I try to bring the needle closer again, he taps his shoulder with his hand and waves his fingers urgently.
Only then do I realize.
There is a silent magic spell on him that prevents him from saying specific keywords.
And the symbol he drew in the air with his fingers is an inverted triangle.
“Hah, is that it? This is how you keep your mouth shut.”
The pattern is the emblem of the Royal Mage.
If it's the Royal Mage, it's obvious.
Well, it means he received a commission from Lohen's side to gag me.
It must be because I am in a position that allows some access to kingdom secrets.
Perhaps because they fear I, with my grudge against the kingdom, might spill the information somewhere.
But I made a mistake here.
I don't have much known information anyway.
I was summoned to various battlefields without even a chance to return to the capital and fought, so there's no way I would have known secret information.
“It's not even funny.”
Well, whatever.
Even if I go back with this shitty heart of grudge, that guy is already someone who would have cleared all evidence.
Instead, it would only put me in a difficult position.
No choice but to let it go.
If he wants to disappear from the world, I'll just let him disappear.
It suits my position too.
I scratch my fingertips with the tip of the needle I'm holding.
Blood from the torn skin flows, and blood adheres to the flashing needle.
Then I give it to him.
Next, I tear off the knight order's insignia pinned in my inner pocket and give it to him.
“Report this. Say I was killed by you. Tell them I fell into a ravine or somewhere and was recovered. That's the end of it.”
“Y-yes...”
“From now on, live like a mouse, and there's no way you'll appear in the world, so say that.”
Tsk.
Only the mood is settled.
Looking up at the sky, dawn is just breaking with the sunlight casting over everything.
It's time to leave now.
I walk toward the direction where the makbu is.
Shuuk.
Kaang!
A sound rings through the forest.
The mage who received the needle immediately charges at Rigel, aiming the needle at his chest.
But in a flash, Rigel uses the medal in his hand as a shield and barely blocks the needle.
“Y-you crazy bastard...!!”
After saving a guy who could be killed or made useless, the only thing he does is strike my back.
Unable to hold back his anger, Rigel grits his teeth and steps forward toward the mage.
Crack, crunch.
The medal, the one that controlled the monsters, breaks.
Between the cracks of the splitting medal, something foul and alien is swallowed up.