Chapter 95
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: The Cursed Manor (4)
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Both men held swords, but the fight was one-sided.
The black-haired man tossed his sword aside the moment it began.
He dodged an attack while the red-haired man was stunned, then closed the distance and threw him over his shoulder.
He picked up the fallen sword and plunged it into his chest.
It was all over in less than ten seconds.
“Damn it.”
Heath rummaged through his pocket and flicked two gold coins my way.
I reached out and snatched them from the air.
As Heath had said, the red-haired man wasn’t a bad fighter.
Against anyone but that man, he might have easily scored a few victories.
The reason I chose the black-haired man was simple.
‘He’s filled with killing intent.’
Under normal circumstances, tossing away one’s sword and charging in was reckless.
Only two kinds of people could pull that off.
Someone mad with revenge, or someone whose goal isn’t to fight, but to kill.
“Oh?”
Duke Phelia showed an interest in the black-haired young man.
“Another round?”
“No way!”
Heath seemed thoroughly sulky.
The Colosseum event didn’t end until evening was setting in.
Of the twenty participants, only four survived.
Among them was the man I had bet on.
“Four should be enough for tonight’s banquet.”
So the rumors were true.
Just as Duke Phelia was about to rise from his seat, Jef approached and whispered something to him.
“Bring him here.”
“Understood.”
“What is it?”
“It seems that black-haired young man wishes to see me. He’s skilled, so it wouldn’t hurt to see his face.”
A moment later, the man came up with Jef.
After showing his respects, the young man stood up.
His gaze was fixed on Liz.
‘So that’s whose grudge it was.’
I quietly placed a hand on the sword at my waist.
“Lady Liz, do you happen to know a woman by the name of Serka?”
“Who? I’ve never heard of her.”
Liz placed a hand on her cheek and tilted her head.
Her eyes met Lee Eun-hee’s, who was standing behind her.
“I believe that was the name of a former maid.”
“Was it? I find it so difficult to remember names.”
At Liz’s words, the young man’s eyes twitched, and his face hardened.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you please find Serka for me?”
Liz stared at the man with a look that said, *And why should I?*
“She is my one and only younger sister.”
“Haa.”
With a faint sigh, Liz turned her eyes back to Lee Eun-hee.
‘What’s with her?’
Lee Eun-hee hesitated to answer, looking flustered.
“I was told that Serka returned to her hometown.”
It was the head butler, Jef, who answered.
Having witnessed what happened to Luria with her own eyes, there was no way Lee Eun-hee didn't understand the meaning of ‘returned to her hometown.’
“Serka never returned home.”
“She must have wandered off. We have no obligation to ensure a maid who quits makes it home safely. Is that all you have to say?”
“…She’s not the only one.”
“…”
“It’s not just Serka! So many people have vanished from the Phelia household recently! This is all, all! It’s all your fault!!”
The man pointed a finger at Liz, unleashing the killing intent he had been suppressing.
A dagger hidden in his clothes was aimed at Liz.
*Clang.*
The sound of metal rang out as my drawn sword met his dagger.
The man gripped the dagger tightly, nearly dropping it.
It would have been better for him if he had.
I twisted my sword slightly, severing his arm along with the dagger.
“Why?! Why would you do this?! Aaargh!”
Jef and Duke Phelia’s guards moved to protect the Duke, while Heath shielded Liz.
Blood gushing from the severed arm soaked the floor.
‘Disgusting.’
It wasn’t the gruesome body that was disgusting.
It was this situation.
The sight of Liz’s lips curling into a smile as she listened to the man’s screams.
And my own situation, having to kill the man before me, was just as disgusting.
This young man’s rage was not his alone.
It was the fury of all those who had been oppressed simply for lacking mana, for not being part of the ruling aristocracy.
The surface of the Sky Sword in my hand glowed red in the sunset.
*Swish.*
The tip of my sword passed through the man’s chest, splitting his body.
His body collapsed into the pool of blood he had shed.
Time, which had seemed to stop, began to flow again.
The sun was hidden by clouds, and darkness crept in.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
Liz let go of Heath’s hand.
Heath quietly placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You did well.”
I silently sheathed my sword.
“Thank you for saving Liz.”
“I only did what was necessary.”
“Still, I don’t think you needed to kill him. I was starting to like him, too.”
Duke Phelia walked past me and examined the face of the young man, who had died with his eyes open.
‘That crazy bastard.’
It wasn’t just Duke Phelia.
The other guards next to him had been staring daggers at me for a while now.
“Father, Ruin is new here, that’s all. Please forgive her; she was only acting out of excessive loyalty to me.”
Liz lifted the hem of her dress slightly and bowed her head.
“Ahem, I wasn’t planning on scolding her.”
“I’m so relieved.”
“Still, the fact remains that you saved Liz, so I wish to reward you. Come to my study after the banquet.”
After the banquet meant it would be nearly midnight.
“Understood.”
This wasn’t the time to argue over minor details.
* * *
“You went too far.”
“With what?”
I swallowed the bread I’d brought from the banquet with a glass of milk.
Lee Eun-hee, who had come to my room, grimaced the moment she saw my face, as if she’d seen something she shouldn’t have.
“You can stomach bread right now?”
“Why are you nagging me? Should I starve instead?”
“That’s not what I meant! Do you even realize what you did today?”
I set the empty milk glass down on the small desk.
“I do.”
“That’s why I said you went too far! You didn’t have to kill him like that!”
“And if I’d left him alone?”
“What?”
“An early death is better.”
Lee Eun-hee’s eyes wavered.
She looked like she had something to say but couldn’t get the words out.
After swallowing the last piece of bread, I walked over to her.
“He didn’t want to die like that, either.”
“That’s a thought you can afford only when a clean death is an option. You know that, don’t you?”
“…”
“Even without you and me, he wouldn’t have been able to lay a finger on either of them. It probably would have been the same even if their guards weren’t there.”
On the surface, Liz and Duke Phelia were just nobles who enjoyed luxury.
If I hadn’t killed him, he would have been captured and subjected to every form of torture imaginable.
Judging by the state of the prison, they were no strangers to it.
“If that had happened, he would have been alive but not living. In the end, he would have begged for death. It’s better to die an easy death when you can.”
“I… I still don’t know.”
Lee Eun-hee let out a deep sigh.
It wasn’t as if I had reached this conclusion overnight.
Silence filled the room.
Both Lee Eun-hee and I looked toward the door at almost the same time.
Glancing around, Lee Eun-hee hid inside a nearby wardrobe.
Footsteps stopped, and someone knocked on the door.
It was the head butler, Jef.
I opened the door a crack and peeked out.
“What is it?”
“The Duke summons you.”
Right, he had told me to come to his study.
He’d said after the banquet, but he hadn’t specified a time.
“I’ll be right out.”
Jef saw my disheveled clothes and said he would wait, closing the door.
Lee Eun-hee emerged from the wardrobe.
I gestured for her to leave after I was gone.
Understanding my meaning, she nodded.
After a quick glance in the mirror to straighten my clothes, I left the room.
“Let’s go.”
I followed Jef, who held a lamp, toward Duke Phelia’s study.
‘This is my first time going to the study.’
The study was located in the innermost part of the main building.
Jef knocked softly on the door.
“Come in.”
Jef opened the door for me and gestured for me to go in alone.
Duke Phelia’s study was so large it was hard to believe it was a personal space.
It could have passed for a small library without feeling out of place.
Candles mounted on the walls brightly illuminated the interior.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Yes.”
I sat on a sofa arranged in a corner of the study.
Though Duke Clencia was said to be over a hundred years old, Duke Phelia’s age was not far behind.
Yet, he had the ordinary appearance of a man in his mid-thirties.
Isis’s request was to find the one within the Phelia household who had broken the Taboo.
As for the members of the ducal family, there were only two, excluding Elin who was in the capital.
I wondered which of them had broken the Taboo.
Sitting before me, Duke Phelia offered some honeyed words.
“Once again, thank you for saving Liz. As you can see, she is a very delicate child.”
It seemed the Duke’s definition of ‘delicate’ was different from mine.
“I will grant you anything you desire.”
“In that case… do you happen to know a man named Cale?”
“Many people are looking for others today.”
“He’s from the same Western Guard as me and, until recently, was assigned as your guard.”
“Ah! That fellow! I was wondering who you meant. I remember him. A shame he wasn’t as sharp as you are. He’s in the north now.”
It was a canned response, as if he were reading from a script.
I took a sealed letter from my pocket and placed it on the table.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a letter Cale’s parents sent to the Western Guard. It seems they correspond regularly but were unaware he had been assigned to the Duke’s household. Could you pass it on to him?”
Duke Phelia’s expression changed subtly upon seeing the letter.
“Hmm, now that you mention it, Rudie also asked about a friend named Cale. It seems that fellow has good friends. Well then, may I take this as your request?”
“Of course.”
“I could even arrange for you to meet him, if you wish.”
“If you’re planning to transfer me to the north…”
“Hahaha, why go to such trouble? I can just summon him.”
Cale was alive?
While I was trying to process this, Duke Phelia naturally moved to sit beside me.
Unsurprisingly, I felt an incredibly burdensome, uncomfortable, and oily gaze on me.
When I deliberately avoided his eyes, he grabbed my arm as if he’d made up his mind.
After a moment of struggling, I mustered the courage to turn my head.
“Whether Cale is brought to the capital or not depends on you. No matter how many times I see them, these eyes are such a pity.”
Duke Phelia’s hand crept closer.
I slapped it away and seethed.
“Is… is this woman crazy?! Seriously!”
“Woman? I am a man. If you wish…”
“Damn it, shut up!”
I kicked Duke Phelia and stood up from the sofa.
Looking toward the dark, inner part of the study, I placed a hand on my sword.
“Alright, you can come out now.”