Dark... No, Unicorn Knight (3)
However, it wasn't enough to kill him in one blow. It wasn't because my Strength stat was lacking or because I suddenly felt pity for him. I was keeping him alive just a bit longer because there was more information I needed to extract from him.
"What did Eric order you to do?"
I drew my sword and approached Gareth, who had collapsed on the floor, then asked.
"You think I'm gonna tell you?!"
Of course, Gareth spat back defiantly at me, but it was meaningless resistance to someone like me who had the cheat-like perk Mind Reading.
Hmm, before the monsters invade, gather women suitable to sell as sex slaves and deliver them to the slave trader outside the walls... 'Ophilia'? Anyway, the soldiers don't have time to search for the missing women right now, and after the monster war, we can disguise it as deaths in battle for the perfect crime? Eric, that bastard, used his head pretty well.
The moment the word 'Ophilia' slipped from my mouth, Gareth's facial muscles twitched faintly. Mind Reading was more accurate than any lie detector.
Ophilia. I need to remember that name.
"Good. Then, where did you hide the money you've made selling off the territory's people so far? The ledger."
"...I-I don't know! I've never even heard of such—!"
North Wing Cellar, behind the third barrel.
Gareth was kindly projecting the exact opposite of what came out of his mouth right in his head, big and clear.
"North Wing Cellar. Underground wine storage. Behind the third barrel."
As I recited the location syllable by syllable, the light faded from Gareth's pupils.
"H-How...?"
"You told me yourself. Good. One more thing. The names of the scum who sided with Eric and joined in on this crap. Tell me their names."
Knight Order's 2nd Platoon Leader Hector... and North Gate Defense Captain Boris, inner castle financial officer Langton...
"Oh ho. 2nd Platoon Leader Hector, Defense Captain Boris... Financial Officer Langton. ...This place was rotten to the core."
"...C-Crazy...!"
Gareth screamed. He hadn't let a single word slip from his mouth, yet I had seen through everything, and that fact completely broke him.
He really reads minds... This guy's not human...!
"Yeah. Not human."
The indifferent reply slipped from my mouth. Gareth turned pale and gasped for air.
"Think of me as the reaper sent from the heavens to clean up trash like you."
With those final words, I gripped my sword tighter to finish him off and approached.
"Hiiik...! D-Don't come closer!"
Gareth's eyes darted around frantically. Suddenly, he staggered to his feet and started running away.
What a pain.
As I chased after the fleeing Gareth to end him, something caught my eye: the slave girl who had come out from behind the bars and was watching the whole scene, unnoticed until now.
Use that wench as a shield—!
Dare to lay a hand on a virgin in front of me!
Taat-!
The moment Gareth mustered his remaining strength and lunged toward the slave girl, I pushed Violating Footwork to its limit and closed the distance first.
"Huh...?"
In that instant as Gareth let out a dumb sound, my sword mercilessly pierced his throat.
Puk-!
But the problem was the trajectory of the sword he wildly swung in his final death throes.
I quickly reached out and grabbed it, but the deflected blade tip grazed the slender nape of the huddled slave girl's neck ever so slightly.
And because I was standing right in front of her, she ended up seeing my bare face, which was another issue.
"Ah..."
The slave girl's gaze, frozen with blood splattered around her, landed on my uncovered face.
"Ah... golden hair... blue eyes... Kraus."
I kicked away Gareth's corpse, who had toppled over without even a death rattle, and turned my gaze to the slave girl.
"Sorry."
"...Pardon?"
"Your neck got nicked a little. I was half a beat too slow. Should've cut his throat quicker."
"Sorry."
A voice so gentle it was impossible to believe echoed softly in Selin's frozen ears.
[Ah...]
Selin's mind went blank white and stopped.
The man before her seemed much older, a noble so high above the clouds.
And such a person was sincerely apologizing to a mere commoner—no, someone who until moments ago was destined to be sold as a slave.
Right after piercing the throat of a terrifying knight without hesitation to save her.
The small spark of gratitude that had flickered in a corner of her heart when she was first rescued from the warehouse now erupted into a massive blaze, burning through her entire chest.
Someone like me... just worthless trash of a commoner. And yet, he did this for me...!
Then the man picked up the mask that had fallen to the floor and said quietly,
"I'd appreciate it if you kept seeing my face today a secret."
"Y-Yes, yes! Absolutely! I'll take it to my grave forever!"
How could she ever betray that grace? Selin nodded frantically, swearing on her life to keep the secret.
"Good. That's perfect."
The man, now masked again, boldly divided up the thick pouches of money taken from Gareth and the mercenaries among Selin and the freed slave girls.
As people thanked him profusely for his noble act, vowing to pray for him forever and begging to at least know his name, he hesitated a moment before replying in a somehow playful tone.
"My name is Dark... no, Unicorn Knight."
With that, Unicorn Knight turned away without lingering. The gathered slaves hurried off too, fearing monsters might smell the blood and come.
But Selin alone stayed, clutching her hands tightly to her chest, gazing up at the departing man's back with eyes full of awe.
Unicorn... Knight...
Suddenly, hot tears gushed from Selin's eyes.
Aah, that man... he must be the noble knight sent down to earth by the gods...!
Not content with saving them, he even gave them money to survive on. In this horrific world filled only with selfish desires and filthy greed, that man alone was different. Completely, utterly different.
It was the first true light she'd ever seen in her life.
When Selin wiped the tears soaking her cheeks in overwhelming emotion and looked up, Unicorn Knight had already vanished beyond the dark forest edge.
The other slave girls scrambled to pick up every last coin from the ground and scattered, but Selin couldn't bring herself to move.
...No. I can't let him go like this. No, I don't want to part from him! Just the thought of never seeing him again makes me, makes me...!
Suddenly, Selin realized she hadn't even given him proper thanks. She should have knelt and kissed his feet, but she'd just stood frozen, staring at his sacred back.
And that wasn't all. Words from the dead knight's mouth flashed through her mind.
Eric. Slave trader. Names of corrupt knights. Unicorn Knight was clearly about to cut down the massive darkness rotting the entire territory.
It would be dangerous. Maybe even deadly.
...That's okay. Even if I'm just a lowly slave, if I can help him even once on that path...
Even if it meant becoming a handful of dirt on his humble footsteps. Even if it meant being the rag to wipe his sword. Anything.
With her resolve hardened, Selin gripped her skirt hem and hurriedly stepped toward the dark forest path where Unicorn Knight had disappeared, relying on the moonlight.
Even when thorns snagged her toes, drawing blood on her calves, or pebbles dug into her callused soles, she didn't stop. Her frail legs, abused her whole life, now felt sturdier than any knight's.
Just once more... if I can see him just once more...
How long had she wandered? At the edge of a dim forest clearing where even moonlight barely reached, Selin finally spotted a familiar cloak flap.
"...Ah."
A small gasp of joy escaped her lips. As Selin lit up and parted her lips to call that sacred name—
Busuk—!
From the opposite edge of the thickly shadowed forest, something crawled out on all fours, reeking of foul blood.
...A dog?
No, it wasn't. It was a person—a pretty older sister, for some reason walking on all fours like a dog.
"...!"
Selin flinched in shock and hurriedly hid behind a thick tree trunk. Her hands instinctively clamped over her mouth, lest a scream escape unbidden.
"Woof!"
The sister, crawling on the ground like a dog, suddenly grinned brightly and ran toward somewhere.
There was the Unicorn Knight she'd been desperately searching for. But Selin couldn't confidently reveal herself.
Because of what the woman did after barking "woof" and leaping into Unicorn Knight's arms.
The next moment, Selin's pupils slowly, endlessly dilated.