Chapter 434: Proof of Existence (22)
Chapter 434: Proof of Existence (22)
The traces left by the brief battle were horrific.
The clearing, torn apart in various places, was an unsightly mess, with mounds of overturned earth and gravel scattered haphazardly. It would likely cost a significant amount to restore it.
Of course, that was a problem for another day. For now, I focused on calming the agitated Ria and decided to carry the unconscious Sir Reynold on my back. A sense of urgency gripped me; if I left him like this, I might end up having to clear away a corpse.
To think a man who had earned the title of 'Great Mage' could fall so anticlimactically.
It was a national loss. As a noble of the Empire, I had a responsibility to preserve Sir Reynold's life. It was only after we returned to the orphanage and borrowed a bed that we finally had the chance to talk.
After hearing the general gist of the situation from me, Ria cleared her throat with a soft ahem. Seeing her unable to meet my eyes, it seemed she at least felt a bit guilty. Then again, from Ria's perspective, the situation was bound to be misunderstood.
Let’s imagine it for a moment.
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rings in your ears. You were just on your way back to the orphanage from the city. Wondering what’s happening, you rush toward the source, only to find your beloved older brother panting and covered in dirt. To make matters worse, the middle-aged man standing opposite him is in the middle of casting a terrifyingly powerful spell.
There was every reason to strike him from behind.
Nevertheless, a misunderstanding was still a misunderstanding. Morally, it was right to apologize, so I didn't go out of my way to comfort the dejected Ria.
I could thank her later.
If that magic had been completed, I would have been the one lying in that bed.
Though, even if that had happened, a part of me still wanted to see the sight 'beyond the boundary.'
But there was no point in dwelling on that now. I shook my head a few times to clear my complicated thoughts. I still had a question I needed to ask Ria immediately.
"Ria, this gentleman is...?"
At my faint voice, Ria snapped back to attention.
Sitting beside Ria was a young man wearing glasses, an awkward smile on his face. Judging by his unfamiliar face, he was clearly a guest, and it was a breach of etiquette not to introduce a guest.
With an apologetic expression, Ria finally spoke.
"Ah, this is the representative dispatched from the Shylock Merchant Guild. His name is Perry Quars..."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Ian Percus."
The man extended his hand with an affable smile.
The slight bow of his head showed his respect. It was a gesture that wasn't excessive, yet clearly showed how much he acknowledged me.
As expected of a merchant. He was a man naturally accustomed to social maneuvering.
That made me dislike him even more.
The more silver-tongued a man was, the more frivolous his conduct tended to be. This was especially true for merchants and politicians.
I could already see a future where he’d be juggling several women, only to soothe his lover later with a face full of feigned innocence.
What a scumbag.
With my keen eye for people, I immediately disqualified him as a candidate for Ria's boyfriend. There was no way I was handing over my precious Ria to some lowly merchant.
Unaware of my thoughts, the man continued with his flowery words.
"I have heard many tales of your heroism, Sir Ian. I have admired you from afar for a long time, so to meet you even for a brief moment like this is..."
"Did you come here alone with Ria?"
As I shook the man's hand, I asked the question with pointed emphasis.
Perry looked at Ria with a bewildered expression. Ria, however, looked just as confused as he was.
The silence didn't last long.
Perhaps thinking it was just a casual question, a friendly smile returned to Perry's lips.
"Yes, I was fortunate enough for that to be the case. I plan to stay at the orphanage for a while to conduct our negotiations."
"Wait, you're staying at the orphanage?"
Suppressing the urge to jump up, I asked while trying my best to maintain my composure.
Even so, I couldn't hide the furrowing of my brow.
Regardless of my reaction, Perry just let out a hearty laugh.
"Yes, it's a place that has often helped us out."
Before I could ask what he meant by that, Ria gave me a pointed look and spoke.
"Brother, Mr. Perry is a representative from the Shylock Merchant Guild. Of course they have a connection with the orphanage~"
Her voice was full of charm. To an outsider, it would look like a conversation between siblings overflowing with affection.
But I knew.
I knew Ria was slightly clenching her teeth. Furthermore, the look in her eyes as she watched me was far from ordinary.
It was a warning to knock it off.
Only then did a piece of information flash through my mind.
'Shylock Merchant Guild.' It was a name I had heard somewhere before. Hadn't I heard about them at the Holy Kingdom's military camp during the last mass outbreak of demonic beasts?
They were the great merchant guild that was supposedly sweeping up demonic beast corpses across the Holy Kingdom.
They were also the ones who hadn't shown up in the area of the Hellhole, where the demonic beasts had actually appeared in massive numbers.
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
I had been planning to investigate them eventually. But here they were, coming to me without me even having to lift a finger. Naturally, I should have welcomed them with open arms.
And yet, why did I feel so reluctant?
A groan escaped my lips. Perry was just blinking with an innocent face.
A merchant pretending to be pure—it was utterly loathsome.
The only pure merchant in this world was our Ria.
But in the end, I had no choice but to let out a heavy sigh. It was clear whether personal feelings or official duty should take priority.
"Then, I look forward to working with you for a while."
"I look forward to it as well, Sir Ian... I heard the Saintess is also staying at this orphanage. It is a deep honor to meet two of humanity's heroes."
Elsie and Celine are here too.
I grumbled inwardly but didn't make the mistake of saying it out loud. I had to avoid making him suspicious at all costs.
Instead, I decided to give Ria a firm instruction.
"Ria, you come to me every night before bed to get checked."
"What kind of bullsh— I mean, what are you talking about, Brother?"
The corners of the girl's mouth, which held a forced smile, trembled.
She was clearly showing her dissatisfaction, but I didn't retract my statement. Instead, I just snorted and turned my head away.
It was just as the indignant Ria was clenching her fists.
"Uuugh..."
A heavy groan drifted from somewhere. As soon as Ria and I heard it, we jumped to our feet in surprise.
On the bed, the middle-aged man's eyelids were fluttering.
It was a sign he was about to regain consciousness. I first signaled Ria and Perry to be quiet with a glance, then asked in a cautious voice.
"Sir Reynold, are you awake?"
"What... happened to me...?"
Ria's apology followed, and I had Ria and Perry leave the room so I could explain the situation in detail.
Ria aside, Perry was a member of the Shylock Merchant Guild. There was no reason to reveal our secrets to a member of a suspicious organization.
As my explanation continued, Sir Reynold's expression hardened by the second.
Eventually, he even spoke in a displeased voice, as if he found it absurd.
"Who on earth came up with such a ridiculous deduction? How dare they think that of me..."
"It was Her Highness the 5th Princess."
At that, Sir Reynold's mouth snapped shut. Then, a long sigh escaped him.
"...I suppose I was a bit suspicious."
Only then did Sir Reynold begin to listen quietly to my further explanation.
The fact that his arrival coincided with the appearance of the Masked Assailant.
The fact that it was hard to guess why he would visit the Holy Kingdom at this specific time.
And the fact that Sir Reynold was the only skilled lightning mage in the vicinity.
As my explanation went on, the middle-aged mage's face became one of disbelief. However, perhaps because he realized there were indeed many reasons to be suspicious, he didn't show any sign of scolding me again.
He simply shook his head.
"Fine, it was my fault... Haa, if I had known it would come to this, I would have revealed it sooner."
With his arms crossed, Sir Reynold buried himself deep into the pillow. It didn't take long for his hesitant lips to open.
"Did I ever tell you how I ended up living as a mercenary?"
I quickly racked my brain, retracing the past. Soon, the memories of that day began to resurface.
"You said your engagement to your beloved was broken off..."
"That's right. But actually, there was one more reason."
As he poured out his past, the middle-aged man's face grew lonely. Even his eyes seemed blurred, as if reflecting faded memories.
"I was stubborn. I wanted to marry that woman so badly that I ran away from home and started living as a mercenary with her."
At the truth finally revealed, my expression became complicated.
If that was the case, the logic he used to persuade Senior Elsie at the Percus mansion would become laughable. Hadn't he told her to choose her family over love?
But the young Reynold had chosen love.
He might have regretted it later and returned to his family, but judging by his expression, that didn't seem to be the case.
"I was happy. It was a time that shone brighter than any other. But the end of it was..."
I recalled the wound Sir Reynold had mentioned not long ago.
After seeing the mysterious girl, he had lost all his comrades to demonic beasts.
Yes, all of them.
Realizing that, my silence grew even heavier.
"The anniversary of their deaths is in a few days."
With a bitter smile, he pulled a pitch-black rod from his coat. It was the same object he had used during our duel.
It seemed to have the effect of amplifying mana.
It couldn't have been easy to obtain such a precious artifact.
"It was the last gift I received from her. Until recently, my heart ached so much every time I saw it that I couldn't even take it out... Then, I suddenly realized."
Whir, catch.
The middle-aged mage repeatedly tossed the pitch-black rod into the air and caught it. It was as if doing so was the only way to steady his heart.
Sir Reynold had once shown me an old staff. Back then, he said it was something he used during his mercenary days, but it seemed the item he truly cherished was something else entirely.
No, rather, because it was so precious, he probably couldn't even bring himself to look at it.
"...That I still have a past I need to settle."
His words were calm, but they had a solid core. It was because they contained such a firm resolve.
Heh, heh, the Great Mage burst into laughter, as if he found himself ridiculous.
"I think being with you was the catalyst."
At the sudden confession, my eyes filled with questions. Sir Reynold's eyes were fixed on the empty air.
"You, throwing your life away in a battle with no chance of victory, and Elsie, who doesn't care if she dies a dog's death... It reminded me of how I used to be. There was a cowardly man who lived only by covering up his wounds because he was too pained and afraid to dig them up."
I wondered what kind of comfort I should offer.
But I decided to keep my mouth shut. No words would be able to heal his wounds.
Only revenge could.
He had come here to put an end to the nightmare he had dreamed long ago.
"Please keep this a secret from Elsie."
"Because it's embarrassing."
As he said that, Sir Reynold's expression wore a rare look of bashfulness.
The next day, I repeatedly agonized with a weary face.
Then who was the Masked Assailant?
It was just my intuition, but Sir Reynold didn't seem to be the one. In the first place, it hadn't even been revealed what kind of techniques the Masked Assailant used.
There was no reason to unconditionally suspect a lightning mage.
If there was any consolation, it was that Senior Elsie's face had brightened noticeably.
She seemed very happy that the suspicion had been cleared from her uncle.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say the suspicion had lessened.
It was hard to unconditionally trust Sir Reynold's statement. He could have just made up a story to fit the circumstances, and he had shown strange symptoms whenever the 'girl' was mentioned.
Should I try contacting the Princess again?
It was at that moment that the incident occurred.
That night, I was sitting hunched in a chair, lost in thought. No matter how hard I tried to organize the information, no answer came. Just as I was about to stand up, thinking I should consult the Saintess instead.
A faint scream brushed past my ears.
The volume was truly nothing more than a lingering echo, but I recognized the owner of that voice instantly.
It was my younger sister.
My body immediately kicked off the ground and shot forward. Concentrating all my mana into my leg power, I arrived at the scene of the scream in mere seconds.
And I saw it.
A young man standing blankly, dripping with blood.
And the Masked Assailant standing silently opposite him.
Ria was crouched on the ground, trembling violently.
The moment I saw that scene, I was seized by a strange premonition.
He's going to die.
That Masked Assailant was trying to kill the young merchant dispatched from the Shylock Merchant Guild. Though I didn't know the reason, one thing was certain.
I had to stop that bastard.
A roar immediately erupted from my mouth.
"You son of a—!"
My hand axe began to scatter light as it tore through the air.