Chapter 9
I’ll translate the chapter into polished HTML, keeping the dialogue split naturally and preserving the series tone and character voices. Then I’ll do a quick pass to make sure the output starts with the required title line and contains no Korean.CHAPTER_TITLE: Chapter 9: Don’t Open Your Eyes So Kindly
Luke stared fixedly at Kael.
He’d dealt with plenty of that type before.
Judging by his build, the man looked like he’d done some training, but he didn’t look like someone who had spent years honing the sword.
The match was decided before it even began.
The result was already clear in Luke’s mind. That was why he felt neither tension nor excitement.
He just wanted to end this annoying fight as quickly as possible.
“Ah, but if we just fight, that’d be boring. Want to make a bet?”
“...A bet?”
Luke frowned. What was this all of a sudden?
“How about this? The loser becomes the other’s dog. One that listens when his master calls.”
Kael twisted the corner of his mouth. It was a low-grade provocation, but it worked perfectly.
A cold smile appeared on Luke’s lips.
“...Don’t go back on your word later.”
“That’s what I was about to say.”
“Hah.”
Luke let out a small sigh and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.
At that very moment, Luke vanished from sight.
Kael’s eyes widened.
With the sensation of his hair standing on end, a chill crawled across the nape of his neck.
Kael moved on reflex. He sprang forward and twisted his body at the same time.
Whoosh.
Luke’s sword sliced through empty air.
If he’d been any slower, even by a moment, his neck would have been gone.
The icy sensation sent a shiver down his spine.
And right alongside it came irritation.
What the hell is wrong with this crazy old man? What the hell is he trying to do? I almost got sent to the afterlife.
[Hmph. You were all swagger earlier, and now you want to rely on me? If you can’t even dodge something like that, maybe a clean death wouldn’t be so bad.]
Oh, I see. Then do you want to spend a week in an outhouse, old man? If you can’t even dodge an outhouse, I’m pretty sure melting you down and using you as a candlestick would be more useful to the world.
[Kraaaagh! Fine! I said fine!!]
Balmung convulsed in a fit.
Well, really. Who asked him to come in swinging like that?
“Hmm. Didn’t think you’d be able to dodge that.”
Luke tilted his head slightly.
His expression never changed.
Just from looking at him, Kael could tell Luke didn’t see him as a threat at all.
Oh, really?
Just as irritation was about to boil over, Balmung’s voice stabbed into his ear.
Draw me.
Kael placed his hand on Balmung.
At the same time, Luke’s figure vanished once more.
But this time, Kael’s body moved before he could even think.
Hmph. You’re a pathetic little fool. All you know how to do is play cheap tricks.
With a sullen snort, Balmung came free of the scabbard.
The movement hadn’t been deliberate. It was as if someone else had taken control of his body and pulled him along.
It was a bizarre feeling.
Kael had been a professional athlete once. More than that, he’d belonged to the sort of category people called a “genius.”
That was why he understood just how extraordinary this feeling was.
The movement of muscles, the breath, the handling of his gaze, the angle of his wrist, the arc of the blade.
He had not become someone else. This was still his own body moving, after all. The problem was that it was doing so with extreme efficiency, pushing physical ability to its limit.
The body’s limit.
Balmung was drawing out the full potential of Kael’s entire body to the point where it screamed in protest.
In that instant, lightning flashed through Kael’s mind.
At the same time, two lines met in the air.
Balmung and Luke’s sword collided.
Bang!
Pain shot through his hand, sharp enough to numb the grip. Luke’s eyes went so wide they looked ready to split open.
The metallic shriek nearly tore his ears apart.
Luke’s sword snapped in two. The broken blade stabbed into the ground.
A tremor ran down Kael’s spine.
One exchange.
The battle had ended in a single exchange.
Human beings, for all their ignorance, always saw too little.
Back when he’d faced that monster called Harkan, he hadn’t felt anything like this.
He hadn’t felt exhilarated. He’d only been too busy screaming in pain.
Even the most precious jewel was nothing more than a lump of stone if nobody had the eyes to see it.
But this was different.
Even if everything still seemed impossibly distant, he could see it, however faintly.
Still, he couldn’t afford to stay lost in admiration forever.
His mind, which had been soaked through like damp cotton, began to sharpen.
...What the hell.
Luke was down on one knee.
He had failed to hide his shock. He looked at Kael with a stunned expression.
“Cough!”
He coughed up blood. Quite a lot of it, too.
Luke wiped blood from his mouth and looked up at Kael. Then, in a trembling voice, he spoke.
“You... just what exactly are you...?”
Before he could finish, Luke suddenly toppled over and lost consciousness.
...Huh? He didn’t die, did he?
For a moment, that worry seized Kael.
After confirming that Luke’s life wasn’t in danger, he let out a relieved breath.
“Damn it, you scared me.”
Who wouldn’t get a shock if someone suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed?
...What a twist.
The moment the unmistakably boozy Luke rested his hand on the hilt, his figure vanished from sight.
Back then, it had truly sent a chill down Kael’s spine. Still, in the end, he’d succeeded in subduing Luke with Balmung’s help.
Good thing I didn’t pass out this time.
He’d nearly ended up unconscious right alongside Luke.
When he’d dealt with Harkan before, he’d gone straight out cold afterward, too.
So this is the result of training.
In fact, Kael had been doing practice runs during the journey to Nox. He’d trained his body and swung a sword exactly as Balmung had ordered.
You only live once.
That was something he’d felt only after being abandoned by the Empire.
No matter how pretty the words were, in the end, nobody protected anybody else.
He had to protect his own body. If he didn’t want some dog’s death, then he’d have to grow stronger, one way or another.
This, too, was part of that result. However rough it had been, hadn’t he avoided passing out in the end?
Of course, since the training period had been so short, he didn’t exactly feel great.
His whole body was screaming. It was more than simple muscle soreness; it was the kind of pain that made him think, this really can’t be right.
Still, the result wasn’t bad. He’d endured hardship and gained an excellent subordinate out of it, so in the end, it was a profit.
Seeing Luke unconscious filled him with a pleasant sort of satisfaction.
“Now you’d better keep your promise.”
Kael hoisted Luke over his shoulder like luggage. Every movement made his body cry out, but he clenched his teeth and endured it.
He couldn’t very well start whining in front of an audience.
The onlookers had gathered in a crowd, staring at Kael as though they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“Make way.”
Kael spoke, grimacing through the pain.
And like the Red Sea parting, the path opened.
In Nox, power was authority.
The moment Luke had fallen, Kael had effectively seized that authority for himself.
“Honestly.”
With a snort, Kael trudged out through the opened path.
* * *
Back at the guard office, Tomy and Jack remained behind.
The so-called Big Rat and Little Rat were engaged in a heated discussion.
And the subject of that discussion, naturally, was Kael.
“...You think it’s real?”
“What is?”
“That guy said he was going out to bring back Sir Luke.”
“You idiot, does that make any sense? Sir Luke is on a completely different level. The difference in rank alone is huge. That guy... no, that bastard looks like he’s got a little bite, sure, but even if a whole pack of them came at Sir Luke, they wouldn’t even be worth one fistful—”
“One fistful?”
Jack flinched.
The body remembers a voice.
Fear surged up at once.
Jack glanced to the side.
...That traitor bastard.
Tomy, quick-witted despite his build, had already retreated far into the distance.
Jack glared at him in bitter betrayal, but there was nothing else he could do.
Thud, thud.
Footsteps drew closer and closer.
Jack, shaking like a leaf in terror, promptly dropped to the floor.
“S-Sir! What I just said was all a misunderstanding—”
“Shut up and take care of this guy.”
“...Huh?”
Kael tossed Luke, who’d been slung over his shoulder, forward. Startled, Jack fumbled and caught him.
“S-Sir Luke! H-How did this...?”
Jack’s pupils shook violently. What in the world was going on here?
“Didn’t I say I was coming back after sorting out the hierarchy?”
“T-Then... you mean Sir Luke was made like this by you...?”
Jack’s jaw flapped in shock.
Kael had done this to Luke?
It was hard to believe, but Luke lying unconscious in front of them was proof enough.
“More importantly, while I was gone, you seemed to be having a hell of a time badmouthing me behind my back.”
Kael’s mouth slowly curled upward.
At that creepy expression, the color drained from Jack’s face.
“T-There’s been a misunderstanding, sir.”
“Bullshit.”
“Aaaagh!”
Kael had no intention of hearing excuses.
At once, a merciless kicking began.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Under the brutal violence, Jack screamed.
And perhaps because of the commotion, Luke’s eyelids fluttered.
Luke, starting to raise himself, frowned. The pain had become quite severe.
“Sleep well?”
Kael jeered as he looked down at him.
The moment he saw that face, the memory came rushing back.
...I lost?
The outcome had been decided in an instant.
The moment the fight began, Luke had moved behind Kael. It hadn’t been difficult at all. At the time, he’d thought that Kael had dared to bluff with only that much skill.
Kael had dodged the first strike, but Luke had taken that as nothing more than luck. The proof was that he hadn’t even counterattacked.
But that had been a mistake. The instant Kael drew his sword, the atmosphere changed.
He had transformed as though he’d become an entirely different person.
The fine hairs all over Luke’s body had stood on end, and a sense of crisis had washed over him.
It had happened in an instant.
Literally between one blink and the next.
A thin line was drawn through the air.
One single sword strike.
In that moment, Luke felt as though his breath had stopped.
Because the “ideal sword” he had dreamed of, longed for, and painted over and over in his mind had unfurled before his eyes in a perfect arc.
In that instant, he had forgotten battle, and even victory itself.
He had simply been captivated by the sword, like a child.
The moment the blades collided, Luke’s sword broke. The difference in their levels had been obvious, so the breakage had been an inevitable result.
What happened after that was hazy. His mind had grown dull, as though he were drunk, and his breathing had become ragged.
He’d felt a burning thirst. His throat had seemed to scorch.
He wanted to see it again.
Even once would be enough. He wanted to see that sword again. If he could look upon it, he would pay any price.
A fierce longing surged up and flooded his mind. Any person who walked the path of the sword would have felt the same.
He had wanted to say so much, but his thoughts had tangled together like knots, and nothing came out.
Then he’d blacked out.
Luke stared blankly at his own hand.
It was a hand in tatters.
Broken flesh and peeled skin were caked with dried blood.
A dull pain throbbed there. Looking at the ruined hand brought the memory back all over again.
Luke clenched his fist and turned his head.
The young man standing there with his arms folded, one leg cocked lazily as he looked back at him.
For someone who looked like nothing more than a thug, he had wielded that kind of sword.
Luke gave a dry laugh, almost in disbelief.
It was hard enough to believe even after witnessing it with his own eyes. If he’d heard it from someone else, he wouldn’t have even snorted.
“What’s with that look? You already forget your promise? Hm?”
“...”
Luke frowned.
There wasn’t a trace of dignity in that brazen, slack-jawed tone.
...How absurd.
A man that young, with a personality that light and careless, had produced swordsmanship of that level?
Wasn’t that unfair?
Luke had always hated envy and jealousy toward others.
But this time, he couldn’t help feeling it.