Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Hunt the Weak Ones First. (9)
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It was a payment resolution stating that deliveries to the western border would begin from her forge.
'As expected.'
I smiled faintly where no one could see.
There was no way a master blacksmith of her caliber would collapse so easily. As I thought, she had more than enough strength to escape the pit of despair if given the chance.
She stamped the seal vigorously.
'Diego Kindriel.'
It meant I approved the deal with her. Not as myself, but as the lord.
'Good thing everything's wrapping up nicely.'
I'd profited greatly from the Guardian's Gauntlet this time, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to equip some other armor.
'Wonder what else there is besides the gauntlet.'
The best option was accessories. Unlike armor, you could wear several on your body.
I touched my empty earlobes. Then I ran my fingers between my bare digits.
'With looks like mine that suit accessories so well, it'd be a waste not to use them.'
A burly brute wearing a ring would look hideous. But a pretty boy like me? Whatever I wore would become a work of art in itself.
'Above all, they have the advantage of utilizing magic crystals.'
If I inlaid them with processed magic crystals, I could gain multiple effects at once. Ten fingers, after all.
'It might be a bit early, but preparing ahead can't hurt.'
I pictured a certain girl who chugged fire brandy like water, then promptly erased the image from my mind.
Casually, I asked Philip,
"Any rumors going around the village?"
Philip paused, halting the hand sorting documents. He stared at me as if trying to gauge my intent before answering.
"Nothing... at all. There was a brief restriction on access for repairs at Magna Morten, but after that, everything's been running smoothly."
"Good, as expected."
I chuckled and flipped through the documents.
Philip's response was thoroughly satisfactory. He would no doubt give the same answer to Lord Diego, who would return tomorrow.
"By the way."
As I picked up the next document, Philip lowered his voice to a whisper.
"What?"
"Rumors of something ominous have started coming from Cader Territory."
Cader.
The territory where I'd recently wiped out that slave trader.
'Brothels, gambling dens, even slave trading. Come to think of it, that place really has it all.'
I clicked my tongue inwardly and asked,
"When was that place ever quiet? What's the rumor?"
"A bunch of corpses poured out from one of the shops there."
"A bunch? How many?"
I asked calmly. Philip shook his head as if the mere thought chilled him.
"At least ten bodies, they say. The problem is the state of those corpses."
"The state?"
"Well..."
Philip trailed off, as if it was too hard to put into words. Finally, he seemed to steel himself and spoke.
"All the corpses were like they'd been in a grave for years. Like shriveled zombies, you could say."
"I see."
"Yes. Just a few days ago, it was a perfectly fine shop selling tableware. Not some abandoned building for years."
Philip lowered his voice even further.
"And there are more than one or two strange things about it."
"Like what?"
"For starters, why would so many corpses come out of a normal tableware shop? So some people are suspecting it might've been a slave trading front..."
He said that, then swallowed hard.
"No way... right? It isn't, is it?"
His eyes twitched with suspicion. He knew I'd gone to deal with the slave traders recently.
I glanced at him and tilted my head as if utterly clueless.
"What?"
Philip's lips quivered, his gaze pleading desperately.
*It wasn't you, was it, Young Master? Please say it wasn't.*
It was a question too anguished to voice aloud.
"Why are you staring like that? Spit it out if you have something to say."
At my cold urging, a sigh of resignation leaked through Philip's gritted teeth. He bowed his head deeply.
"...It's nothing."
He seemed to quickly realize he'd get no answer from me.
'What kind of answer was he hoping for?'
I smirked, gazing at his neatly combed hair.
"So, what next?"
"...The guards who checked the bodies were stunned, saying they'd never seen such gruesome corpses. Like a scene cursed by some spell... That's how the talk is spreading."
"A curse, huh."
"Yes. But there's another rumor going around too. That it wasn't a curse at all, but the work of a single demon swordsman."
I asked back in an intrigued tone.
"Demon swordsman?"
"Yes. They're saying a swordsman with black hair and black eyes swept the place clean."
Philip tilted his head. Then, subtly, he glanced at my hair and eyes.
Anyone could see: blue hair, cyan-purple eyes. Unmistakable colors.
"Uh... so,"
The suspicion slowly faded from Philip's eyes. The worry that I might be the source of this ominous rumor.
"They're saying it was punishment for running an illegal slave trade, or maybe a rival outfit's doing... Rumors are flying."
"Hmm."
"But apparently, none of the money or valuables in the shop were touched. So it's hard to see it as a simple robbery or revenge killing."
By now, his face was one of complete conviction.
*Yeah, no way Young Master took them all out alone.*
That was the expression he wore.
"I see."
As I nodded silently, Philip continued.
"As you heard, it's hard for one person to massacre that many. And the state of the corpses is so bizarre... Everyone's dismissing it as nonsense."
"That's all?"
"Yes."
I picked up the seal again, my interest gone.
'Shouldn't have left any alive.'
Those slave traders too drugged to touch. Apparently, a few had come to their senses.
'They must've seen me when I assimilated with Requiem.'
That's why they remembered me as a swordsman with black hair and black eyes. Lucky break.
Thankful for the fortune, I resolved myself.
'Next time, kill them all.'
I had to prevent any witnesses that could expose me. It would cramp 'Abel's' movements in too many ways.
'Later on, killing just a few should be enough to fill my belly.'
With a smile, I stamped the last document. I was pleased at the prospect of some leisure time ahead.
Philip tapped the documents I'd handed him on the desk to straighten them.
"Next are the letters addressed to Ovest Territory."
He approached with a thick bundle of envelopes.
"Tch, quite a lot."
I clicked my tongue briefly and took the letters one by one from his hand.
"This is a request for military support from Eck Territory in the southwest. Monsters are appearing frequently, they say."
"Our noses are already in the grindstone. Next."
"Nar Territory sent a promotional flyer for their local specialties."
I skimmed the flyer roughly, then crumpled it up.
"Throw it out."
"Next is..."
Philip's words slowed.
I tossed the balled-up flyer up and down repeatedly, then looked up at him.
"...Ah."
Philip let out a belated low groan. In his hand was a thin envelope.
'Ah, got it.'
I recognized it immediately. But I pretended not to know and cocked my head.
"Why haven't you opened it?"
"Uh, this... um..."
Philip's eyes wandered briefly before settling.
"Looks like it's the wrong envelope now. I'll handle it."
He quickly pulled out another one.
"Next is a promotional flyer for a winter sea trip hosted by Sud Territory."
"Let me see."
I took the other flyer from Philip without a word. Pretending to read it, I glanced sideways at him.
"Huu."
I saw Philip secretly swallow a sigh of relief. A look of ease washed over his wrinkled cheek.
'...Ha.'
I swallowed a bitter smile inwardly.
'Looks like he aged ten years.'
Of course, I could order him to bring the envelope back even now.
But I didn't. I had no intention of opening it anyway, and I already knew who sent it.
Fine cream paper with ornate designs, tied neatly with a red ribbon.
'A letter from the imperial family.'
But the one who could open it wasn't here right now.
The addressee: Diego Ovest Kindriel.
Letters from the imperial family were special; no one but Diego could look inside.
'Of course, Abel wouldn't care about that.'
That's why Philip had panicked and made excuses to divert the letter. Worried that if Abel realized what it was, he might open it.
'Hmph, pointless meddling.'
I already knew the contents anyway.
Untie the knot and unfold it, and at the top would be the imperial family's large seal. Below, in an antique script, the meeting date and agenda.
'Regular Noble Conference.'
This letter arrived in each territory four times a year. To summon the lords to the capital.
The conference reported each territory's status and decided policies accordingly. With the empire's real powers gathered, its importance was immeasurable.
Decisions there shaped territory management decisively.
'But Diego never attended in person, not once.'
He always skipped under the excuse of guarding the border. Instead, he sent a direct knight as proxy with his views.
Even with his son right there.
'That says just how little trust he has in Abel.'
In the original story, Abel didn't even know such letters existed.
If he learned there was a Noble Conference four times a year, and his father sent someone else every time instead...
'He'd learn what true unfilial means.'
Well, that's the original Abel's story, so whatever.
I had no such intentions now. I wasn't angry or particularly sad about it.
I just calmly pondered what to do.
'Let's see, this conference is...'
About a fortnight from now, on November 1st. Lasting around three days.
But in the original, Ovest Territory didn't attend this one.
'Because of Requiem's emergence.'
It took time for news of Ovest Territory's total annihilation to reach the capital.
By the time the imperial family noticed the anomaly, Abel was already dominated by Requiem and had entered the western mountains. He rampaged, slaughtering monsters indiscriminately, laying waste to the range.
Devouring that immense life force turned Abel into a national disaster-level calamity. Only after armies sent to stop him were massacred did the imperial family urgently summon knight orders from each territory.
'Of course, that won't happen this time.'
I frowned, recalling the original plot.
"Ah."
Then, a realization hit me like a punch to the solar plexus, and I let out an exclamation.
"Cain."
This conference is where he, the original protagonist, appears.