Chapter 183: A Man Kicked by a Horse Dies
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 183: A Man Kicked by a Horse Dies
Dodging the horse's attack by a hair's breadth, the Third rolled backward to retreat.
Its momentum was terrifying. If his reaction had been even a fraction of a second slower, the enraged horse's forelegs would have crushed his shoulder.
But it was too soon for a sigh of relief. The Lion Horse, frustrated that its decisive blow had missed, scraped a hoof against the ground and immediately gave chase.
Black Shadow Qi Arts!
A pitch-black aura billowed from the Third's entire body. The energy of the Black Shadow Qi Arts concealed him within a veil of darkness, but the Lion Horse's mane quivered strangely, once again pinpointing his exact location.
Realizing the mane's ability too late, the Third's eyes widened.
Is it reading the wind with its fur? What an ability. A steed this magnificent was a rare sight even back in the days of the kingdom…!
I have no choice. I wanted to subdue it without injury since I need the horse, but...
The Third pulled a throwing dagger from his coat. As he infused it with Qi, a black aura erupted from the blade and instantly melted into the darkness.
In the dim street, the Third unleashed a volley of invisible daggers.
“A mere beast!”
One good stab should calm it down. The blades, shimmering in the darkness, flew toward the horse and its rider. Not even someone cloaked in Qi Deflection would escape unscathed, and a beast that could only rely on its innate strength would surely howl in agony.
However.
Ting.
With a pathetic sound, the dagger was deflected. The Third's eyes shot open.
In the blink of an eye, a tough, sturdy cloth armor had enveloped them—both the rider and the horse, covering every vital point.
It was possible. The Third was well aware of this. The Military State had its packets.
But what surprised the Third was something else.
The cloth… doesn't even have a scratch? From a dagger infused with Qi?
Had the Third known his opponent's identity, he might have understood.
The 3rd Seamless Cloth, Weaver Sephier Bakiya—head of the Military State's top holding company and a collaborator in the creation of combat arms.
By name and by right, the greatest alchemist and tailor in the Military State.
To call the clothes she created with a lavish expenditure of resources mere 'cloth armor' would be an insult to the legacy built by the name Seamless Cloths.
But the Third did not know this, so his frustration was only natural.
Peto shrugged. "The boss provides excellent employee benefits."
As he finished speaking, a mask-like balaclava covered his face. Clothing that perfectly enveloped the entire body—something only a packet could achieve.
Though he wore cloth armor, Peto's appearance was nothing short of the second coming of a knight of old.
Wielding a riding crop instead of a spear, Peto aimed at the Third and declared, "Peto Tinheart of Schevali. I ride forth— Ah, shit! Old habits! This is why I shouldn't hold a weapon!"
Peto, shuddering at the habit ingrained in him from his days as a squire, extended his whip. It cracked down upon the Third, who had retreated to dodge the horse.
This was why knights once ruled the world. Atop a creature far faster and stronger than any human, they were incarnations of violence, wielding power from on high.
Only a knight could stop a knight clad in expensive armor and cloaked in Qi.
“Kugh…!”
Pushing his camouflage to its limits, the Third managed to evade a few more times, but his opponent was a horse. The Lion Horse, even with a rider, could dig its hooves into concrete and twist its massive body as if it had forgotten the concept of inertia.
Trying to slip past it was too risky with the whip-wielding rider. It wasn't the whip itself that was frightening, but the fact that being caught by it for even a moment could mean being trampled to a pulp under its hooves.
“If it weren't for the horse… the horse!”
It was a fatal miscalculation, failing to grasp his opponent's skill—or more accurately, the capability of his equipment.
But how could he have known? After the fall of the knights, the bloodlines of fine steeds had dried up in the Military State, and packets were invisible until activated.
And on top of that… To think a horse could wear barding from a packet…! If it weren't for the armor, a mere beast would be nothing!
Was it because of his distracting thoughts? In the instant the Third faltered, the Lion Horse was upon him.
As if to say, Finally got you, the Lion Horse grinned and rammed the Third with its head and shoulder.
“Kugh…!”
He leaped back to disperse the force, but a shock that felt like his whole body was being wrung out like laundry still washed over him. If he hadn't covered himself in Qi, his bones would have shattered.
Even as he was sent flying, the Third skillfully unwrapped his cloak and threw it over the horse's head. Seizing the moment the startled horse paused, he deftly launched himself onto a nearby lamppost.
Left like a dog that had been chasing a chicken, Peto looked up. The lamppost was quite high; his whip could reach it, but it wouldn't deal any significant damage.
Having secured his safety, the Third gritted his teeth and retorted, "Just you wait. Next time, I'll find you when you're not prepared."
It was a solemn warning, coming from a Shadow, but to Peto, who had been pushed into this fight himself, it was just absurd.
"Sorry, but it's not like I came here prepared to fight, either. My whole life has been a series of unexpected incidents."
"Like the kid your sister-in-law had?"
A voice drifted out from the dark street.
*
So busy, so busy.
I contacted the Shelter and told them to get the kids out, and I sent a messenger to tell the Family to prepare for a fight. Those two groups have some muscle of their own, so they won't go down easily.
Hah. Playing babysitter and lookout. Where else could you find a kind and helpful neighbor like me? The Military State should hurry up and award me the Order of Brave Civil Merit.
Anyway, that's taken care of. All that's left is the Market. And that place has me worried. Unlike the Family or the Shelter, it has a lot of openings to exploit.
If they were just fighting the Transportation Union, it wouldn't be my business, but these Shadow bastards are a different story.
Alright. Time to check on the Market. Having sorted things out elsewhere, I steered my automaton carriage toward the Market.
"Guess all that running around with the Captain paid off."
Exploring the Military State with the Captain had definitely been worthwhile. I couldn't read the thoughts of a high-ranking Penumbra, but I could at least find their targets in the memories of their messengers and contacts.
As expected, their targets were the Market, the Shelter, and the Family—the organizations that had carved out their own territories in the back alleys of the Military State.
The Shadows, unwilling to share the pie, were planning to use the pent-up discontent of the back alleys as gunpowder and set it all off at once.
However, I'm the type who strikes a match as soon as I see a powder keg. I lit the fuse that was meant to burn slowly and set the whole thing off early.
And this was the result. Not a fight orchestrated by the Shadows, but true chaos, where raw desires clashed.
If you're going to have a conflict, do it with a bang. Don't just dance to someone else's tune.
I was muttering this to myself as I headed for the Market.
There was a commotion up ahead. I craned my neck to look and saw Peto-sunbae on horseback, fighting a Penumbra.
Peto-sunbae, the same man who gave me such heartfelt advice at the host bar… Advice that would have been more credible if he hadn't been kicked out for getting involved with a widow who'd lost her husband in a foreign land.
In any case, the man was fighting well. He acts like he has PTSD whenever knights and squires are mentioned, but I guess his experience getting into brawls over women hasn't faded.
Actually, the horse was doing most of the work, but whatever. Even as the horse rampaged, he stayed in the saddle and kept his eyes on his opponent.
Numerically, it was two against one. Equipment-wise, he had the advantage. And on top of that, he was on a horse. Not just any horse, but an armored one.
Just as I thought. The horse rammed the Penumbra with its shoulder, as expected. Even then, the Penumbra absorbed the shock by leaping backward and used the momentum to vault onto a lamppost.
Hmm. What to do about that? Should I ram him with the automaton carriage?
No, he'd just jump out of the way. Besides, if I crash into it, I'm the one who gets hurt. Not worth it.
Alright. I've decided. I got out of the carriage and approached cautiously. Then, I reached out with my left hand and drew a card.
The 3 of Diamonds, Horn Bow.
I bent the card slightly with my thumb and pinky, gently gripping its body with my middle three fingers. In that state, I infused it with mana. Alchemical transformation.
The card grew, maintaining its curved shape. Soft as a new sprout at first, it gradually stiffened as it grew, until it became so rigid it was difficult to even draw.
The Third, not noticing I was aiming a bow at him, spoke to Peto-sunbae.
"Just you wait. Next time, I'll find you when you're not prepared."
"Sorry, but it's not like I came here prepared to fight, either. My whole life has been a series of unexpected incidents."
"Like the kid your sister-in-law had?"
Oops. The words just slipped out.
Well, that's not important.
Who cares how much chaos ensued when he knocked up the widow a week after her husband's funeral, got his morals questioned, and then resigned and ran away?
The important thing is whether I can hit that guy or not. That's it.
This was a card transformed with an arrow already nocked and drawn taut by a winch. The moment the transformation was complete, it would regain its full elasticity and fire the arrow.
I'd already zeroed the aim. As long as I held my stance, this one shot would be a guaranteed hit, and a fatal one at that.
It's actually more like a pre-cocked crossbow than a horn bow, but hey, it looks like a horn bow.
"A man with no talent has to be thorough in his preparations."
Having finished aiming, I muttered this and completed the transformation. For a moment, it felt as if a giant wall was pushing against my left arm.
Twang. A sound like something being released.
An arrow? But something like an arrow can be stopped with Qi Deflection…
Right. That damned Qi Deflection. No matter how powerfully the arrow was drawn by a winch, it wouldn't do much damage.
As long as he has Qi Deflection, arrows and bullets are less effective than if they were fired underwater.
But I wasn't aiming for your body.
I was aiming for the lamppost.
The arrow pierced the neck of the lamppost.
The soft alchemic steel used for the Military State's infrastructure could withstand vibrations, but it was vulnerable to sharp objects like arrows. Snapping from its center, the lamppost began to fall helplessly.
Qi Deflection or not, Mother Earth pulls on everyone equally. Having lost his footing in an instant, the Third was no exception to her law.
And waiting below was an angry horse. As if on cue, the Lion Horse dug its forelegs into the ground and spun its body around. Its powerful hind legs took aim at the Third.
“No—!”
He tried to twist his body in mid-air to dodge, but just then, Peto-sunbae's whip flew out at the perfect moment. His body, entangled in the whip, froze in the air.
And into him slammed the horse's hind hooves.
The crack sounded more like a statue shattering. Taking an unbearable impact, the Third's body was sent flying.
Unlike an arrow, a horse's kick can't be blocked by Qi Deflection.
The Third Penumbra flew through the air, the whites of his eyes showing.
That's one less of those Penumbra guys, or whatever they're called. Yep, way too many of these small fry running around.
Peto-sunbae, who had just watched a man get kicked by a horse from a front-row seat, muttered blankly.
“…You bastard. The marriage wasn't planned, okay? Don't say things like that in front of the kid."
"You should let me see the kid before you say that. Speaking of which, should we go see her now?"
"No. Stay away. Even I know to treasure my own daughter…."
Its purpose served, the card slowly returned to its original form. The number 3 was still there, but the vertical line of diamond shapes inside it had vanished.
As I was chatting nonchalantly, the door to my carriage opened.