I Won’t Let You Live in Shame
A barren room with nothing in it but a bed, a desk, and a clothes rack.
This was the lodging where Luke stayed.
Luke lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
“...I feel like death.”
There wasn’t a single place on his body that didn’t hurt. This was what it meant for every muscle and joint to ache all at once.
Every time he tried to move, a groan escaped him of its own accord.
“He really took the chance to beat the hell out of me.”
When had he last been beaten like this? It felt like a long time ago.
He could barely move a finger, and yet for some reason, laughter kept bubbling up from inside him.
“...He’s strong. Definitely.”
Kael was strong.
To be honest, Luke had been confident.
He might not have been able to touch Kael in swordplay, but he had some confidence in hand-to-hand combat. He had thought that even if he couldn’t win, he could at least land a solid hit.
And yet, to his shame, he’d been almost completely one-sidedly beaten down.
This time, there was no excuse.
The difference in physical ability had been minimal. The reason for his defeat had been a lack of skill and experience.
Kael had used a fighting style Luke had never seen before. It had been frighteningly efficient, and chillingly experienced. It had felt as if Kael were toying with him on the palm of his hand.
A complete defeat.
Luke accepted it.
What he couldn’t let go of was the question.
That sword strike Kael had shown him then had been close to perfection, no, it had reached something bordering on ideal.
Luke had been so stunned the moment he faced it that he’d nearly lost his wits.
And yet today, compared to that day...
“...It was slow.”
Slow, and weak.
Technically impressive, yes, but not enough to make him gasp in admiration.
Of course, swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat were different things. Luke understood that much.
Even taking that into account, though, the gap had been too large.
...Why?
Then one possibility flickered through Luke’s mind.
“...An injury?”
Nothing else could explain it.
Only then did the scattered pieces begin to click into place, one by one.
Why Kael had barely ever used a sword until now.
Why a swordsman with such extraordinary skill had become the guard captain of a city that was going to ruin.
Everything started to make sense.
Kael had probably suffered a serious injury for some reason.
Not the sort that could heal in a short time, but a fatal wound.
And if a man capable of wielding a sword like that had sustained such an injury, then the one who had fought him must have been a monster among monsters.
“...At the very least, they’d have to be Imperial 5 Swords level.”
He still didn’t know why Kael had chosen this city of all places, but there had to be a reason for it.
Nox was a terrible place to recuperate, but as a hideout, there was nowhere better.
It was that closed-off a city, for all its notorious reputation.
Not that every question had been answered.
Luke still had plenty of curiosities about Kael.
Why was he a guard captain, specifically? And what kind of connection did he have to the Imperial family?
But Luke decided he wouldn’t pry into those questions.
Everyone had at least one past they didn’t want exposed. Kael probably did too.
Luke looked at his own hand, stretched out toward the ceiling.
Not long ago, he’d been leaning on alcohol every day because it was hard to endure anything sober.
But now things were different. Now he kept a clear head at all times.
Because he had finally found where he was supposed to be.
The path ahead, once so blurred, was slowly becoming clear.
“I really am... an idiot.”
It seemed he’d grown attached to this damn guard unit after all.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“So, basically, as long as nothing weird happens, nobody’s going to figure out you’re here, old man?”
[Correct.]
Balmung answered Kael’s question.
From the moment Kael had entered the room, he’d been asking Balmung one thing after another.
After Luke had caught him practicing earlier, the problem he’d been putting off had started to weigh on him again.
If it came out that the guard captain of a frontier city was carrying a national treasure, there was no telling what would happen. It was the kind of problem that made him tense up on instinct.
Balmung was Kael’s greatest weapon, but at the same time, his most dangerous weakness.
The Empire’s declared state of emergency was still in effect.
Balmung, the Empire’s national treasure and the Sword of Heaven’s Will, was still missing, and the bounty on it was absurd. There were more people than he could count dreaming of a life-changing payday if they could find Balmung.
With the Imperial investigators tearing through the entire continent, if word ever got out that he was carrying Balmung...
That would be the day his life was over.
I’d be heading straight for the chopping block.
His grand dream of living long enough to decorate a wall with shit would shatter, and he’d vanish forlornly into a hangman’s mist.
That kind of future was not in Kael’s life plan.
So he had to hide Balmung’s existence as thoroughly as possible.
[Most of my power is sealed at present. In addition, a high-level recognition-disguise spell is running at all times, so unless some ancient dragon-level being comes along, no one will be able to discern my identity.]
“Then what about Baekyeom?”
[Baekyeom is a different matter. The instant you use it, even the recognition-disguise spell becomes useless, so you should restrain yourself as much as possible.]
“...If something like that existed, you should’ve told me sooner. Why are you only bringing it up now?”
[You never asked.]
What?
He was genuinely speechless.
This was a matter of life and death for him, and this cursed lump of scrap metal was acting infuriatingly relaxed about it.
Kael considered tossing the thing into the toilet, then forced himself to sort out his thoughts.
...I’d better keep my use of this Baekyeom to an absolute minimum.
If his life were in immediate danger, he’d have no choice but to use it. Otherwise, he’d need to hide it as much as possible.
If the moment comes when I have no choice but to use it...
Then he’d have to be prepared to kill everyone who witnessed Baekyeom.
It was a cruel thought, but survival left no room for sentiment.
After that, Kael kept talking with Balmung, and he roughly summarized the information he’d learned.
First, Balmung’s power wasn’t infinite.
Once he used it, he needed time before he could use it again.
In other words, it was rechargeable.
That was why Balmung had spent all day sleeping before.
Just leaving it alone would let it recharge, but very slowly.
For fast charging, special measures were required, and those measures were...
Feeding it blood, right?
Balmung had bristled and insisted that it absorbed mana, not blood, but to Kael, that was a distinction without a difference.
Seriously, what if this is actually a demonic sword and not a holy one?
What kind of holy sword drank blood? The more he learned, the stranger it seemed.
“So, to get back that sealed power of yours, what exactly do I need to do?”
Whether it was a holy sword or a demon sword, Kael needed Balmung if he wanted to stay alive. So if he wanted to recover that power, he had no choice but to take action himself.
[You must find the fragments. The fragments in which my power resides.]
“...And where the hell are those fragments supposed to be?”
[I do not know. They are probably scattered across the continent.]
“...Old man, are you messing with me right now?”
[I wish I were. One piece of fortunate news, if it can be called that, is that once a fragment is within a certain distance, I will be able to sense its location. Once my power returns, I should be able to feel them from farther away as well.]
“Wow. That’s fucking great news.”
Somehow, he’d picked up a world quest.
His head was already starting to ache.
Just from hearing about it, he could already see the road of suffering stretching out ahead.
Damn it... I pick one wrong special perk and this is what I get? Couldn’t you have at least explained it properly?
He was full of regret, but spilled water couldn’t be scooped back up.
If he wanted to survive, he’d have to endure with sheer grit and stubbornness.
[Brat.]
“...What now?”
[What are you planning to do about that Luke fellow?]
“What about Luke?”
[I’d sensed it faintly before, but after today I’m certain.]
Balmung let out a snort of laughter before continuing.
[That one is not human.]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“...What the hell did you do to these guys?”
“Don’t ask. It’s a trade secret.”
“Are you seriously getting revenge on me right now?”
“...Ahem.”
Luke coughed awkwardly.
Kael looked over the newly recruited guards.
Even from the first time he’d seen them, their eyes had already seemed a little off somehow.
Like they were brimming with energy, as if they’d happily beat down even a ghost the moment an order came in.
What the hell did you have to do to people to make them like this?
Or had he selected and gathered only people like this from the start?
Kael shook his head and spoke to the guards.
“So, why did all of you apply to the guard unit?”
Everyone had their own story. Kael was curious about the rookies’ stories.
Nox was a nest of crime, but it was also a land of opportunity. There was one condition, though, if you wanted that opportunity.
You had to throw away your conscience as a human being.
Crime was a sweet temptation.
With so little effort, you could earn such a huge reward that it wasn’t easy not to be seduced by it.
In Nox, criminals made money easily and lived in luxury. That money had been harvested from other people’s blood and suffering.
“If you wanted to make money, there are plenty of other jobs, aren’t there?”
Environment mattered a great deal. Watching people around you make easy money naturally made a person feel deprived.
And yet these men had given up that road and joined the guard unit instead.
The riffraff who came with a light heart had already been filtered out by Luke.
“...That’s true. But I didn’t want to make money at the cost of selling my conscience.”
“My whole family died from drug addiction.”
“My little sister was dragged away right in front of me.”
“How could a wolf’s cub crawl under a dog?”
The rookies began telling their stories. Kael couldn’t tell how much was true, but their eyes didn’t look like those of liars.
Kael was a famous figure in Nox. Not long after being appointed there, he had completely shattered the city’s old order. He’d erased two ironclad criminal syndicates single-handedly.
And then one thought had begun to sprout in people’s hearts.
Ah. So it could be changed.
This damn city could be changed after all.
They had thought it was impossible. They had believed resistance would never change anything.
But after seeing Kael, they changed their minds. He wasn’t just talking; he was actually starting to tear Nox apart and rebuild it.
The people gathered here had applied to the guard unit, admiring him for exactly that reason.
Feeling the rookies’ heated gazes, Kael made a faint expression.
Somehow, their reasons were grander than he’d expected.
Ahem. Clearing his throat, Kael spoke.
“I can’t promise you anything huge... but I can promise you this.”
Kael grinned.
“At the very least, I won’t let you live in shame.”
And so, the cleanup began.