Chapter 2
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Kind Hans
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Kind Hans
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The faint sound of a whistle, which I hadn't heard upon entering District 7, was now audible. It was gradually getting closer.
“What's all this commotion in the middle of the night? Did a demon show up or something?!”
“It's nothing serious. Please go inside and try not to come out for the rest of the night.”
“Right, what demon would come to a rural castle like this? Even a demon would go to a city far away! And even if one did show up, young Aron here would take care of it like last time!”
The woman nodded, her plump cheeks trembling, then mumbled in a quiet voice, “Alright? Just for about a month…,” before heading inside.
I stood there for a moment, letting the falling rain soak me. Should I call for backup? Maybe I should bring Berman along. But if I did, the moment we found Hans, there would be no turning back. Berman was a particularly inflexible bastard.
Before Hans’s face was hung on the castle gate, I wanted to at least hear his excuse.
‘Tch. Ignorant fools. It's either the death penalty or acquittal with them.’
Grumbling, I drew my sword. It was a standard-issue blade, nothing special, but after more than two years of use, it felt like an extension of my hand. I held the sword upright, held my breath, and slowly made my way into the dark alley.
Smashed wooden crates were scattered about in a mess, as if someone had passed through in a hurry. *Hoo…* I breathed out, relaxing my muscles.
Soon, I spotted two blue lights in the darkness. Eyes as blue as a summer sky shone with a dignified glow in the deep, settled darkness. It was Hans.
Wearing a piece of black cloth over his head, he was collapsed in a corner, staring at me.
*Gulp.* I swallowed nervously without realizing it. He might be a gentle soul, but he was a mage. I wasn't as bad as Kel with his mage-hating obsession, but unpleasant stories about mages were widespread in this world, and the mages I had encountered were hardly normal.
*Plink.*
As a raindrop hit him, he flinched noticeably and curled up. It was then I noticed that the area around his left arm was empty.
The left side of the black cloth was red, and beneath it was a puddle of blood and rainwater. The red puddle was momentarily fading, then growing darker again.
My eyes met Hans’s once more. His blue eyes widened. It seemed he recognized me. He started to open his mouth.
Seeing that, my mind grew complicated.
*You can never know what a mage is thinking. A mage's words hold an unknown power that can control or kill people.*
*A mage is a demon permitted by the emperor.*
My deliberation was short. I knew Hans wasn't a bad person, but there was no harm in being cautious. In this goddamn place, you had to be careful about everything.
I took a deep breath. I tensed the relaxed muscles in my legs and kicked off the ground. A small splash erupted from a puddle on the ground, wetting the mud-brick walls on either side.
*Tap.*
I stared at the blue eyes visible between the falling raindrops. The blue eyes did not waver.
Another step. I was now close enough to slit his throat with a thrust of my sword. His mouth opened completely.
I leaned forward and pushed the sword forward with force. A silver arc cut diagonally through the air. Just before I could plunge the sword into his neck.
“…Hyung.”
What came out of his mouth was neither a spell nor a curse. It was just his usual, calm voice. Though it trembled slightly.
My sword was lightly pricking his neck. A drop of blood fell from it.
As he looked up at me, the black cloth fell away, revealing his full appearance. His face was full of exhaustion, but his usual intelligence was still there. His left arm was cleanly severed from the wrist, and his right hand was clutching something.
With my sword still aimed at him, I stomped on his right forearm. His hand opened, and its contents were laid bare.
A piece of fancy-looking pink cloth. It was clearly a woman’s undergarment. A blood-stained one at that.
‘…This bastard really stole a woman’s panties.’
With a conflicted heart, I looked down at Hans.
Hans, who was soon scheduled to enroll in the Academy, was a young man with a brilliant future guaranteed. Just by entering the Academy, a managerial position in the empire was assured, and he could even go on to enter the Mage Tower.
And what about his usual conduct? He smiled and greeted everyone he met, earning him the nickname ‘Kind Hans.’
For a guy like that to steal the underwear of a young lady just coming of age, causing everyone in the castle to run around like idiots in the rain at night… It was hard to believe, but the proof was right before my eyes.
“…What is this.”
“I know this looks strange, but it was something I had to do.”
His expression was as serious as a hero facing a demon king, leaving me at a loss for words.
How in the world could stealing a woman’s underwear become something that *had* to be done?
I considered all possibilities, but none of them made any sense.
“And I felt bad for stealing it, so I spent all the money I had left to leave a Beatrice underwear set in its place.”
‘Isn’t that missing the point?’
He looked me straight in the eye, as if he were truly proud. Beatrice-brand… I also wondered how he had managed to obtain something so hard to find even with money in a remote castle like this.
First, there was something I needed to check. I grabbed the chest of his clothes and ripped it open. The worn fabric tore at once, revealing bare skin devoid of muscle.
Those who accept a demon develop a horrific scar near their heart. It's called the Devil's Handprint. That’s why checking the chest was the easiest way to determine any connection to a demon. It was a method I often used myself.
But his chest was clean.
‘Not a demon either… So why the hell?’
If he had been a demon, this situation would have been more understandable, but there was no Devil's Handprint anywhere. He was of sound mind, and his blue eyes were clearer than anyone’s.
*Patter, patter.*
He didn't flinch, even as raindrops fell into his eyes, and continued to look up at me. Looking at those straightforward, transparent blue eyes, I sorted out my thoughts.
If this were Seoul, I would have handed him over to the police without hesitation. He would be punished through a proper legal process.
But this was a goddamn place where demons and magic were real, and people were tied to stakes and burned at the slightest opportunity.
A guy who stole the precious daughter of the lord’s underwear would have his mouth gagged to prevent him from uttering any demonic whispers, and without a trial, his head would surely be hung on the castle gate, becoming the new mascot of Casedic Castle.
Leaving a Beatrice underwear set behind would be of no help against that ignorant verdict.
I looked in turn at his empty left arm, the underwear clutched in his right hand, and his blue eyes.
Is losing an arm sufficient punishment for stealing underwear?
I didn’t know. It wasn’t my place to judge, but the thought of handing him over and then having to look at his head on the castle gate for half a day while on duty made me want to puke.
I would surely lose sleep for months over a sense of guilt not worth a single coin.
A habit I’d developed since coming here. Deliberate briefly, act quickly. I grabbed the fallen man by the scruff of his neck and pulled him up. Thanks to his severed arm, he was lighter than I expected. I took out a low-grade potion I’d bought just in case and poured it onto his wound.
‘My precious 90 silver…’
For a moment, I thought what was running down my face might not be rainwater. Bubbles formed as the bleeding stopped. I covered his mouth as he tried to say something and started walking.
‘Should be around here.’
In District 7, there was a hidden opening our squad sometimes used. It was originally bought by Kel for his trysts with a married woman, but after he drunkenly bragged about it at a bar, everyone had been using it secretly.
Passing a house with a collapsed roof, I kicked a high pile of rotten firewood, revealing a hole just big enough for one person to squeeze through. I threw him in front of it.
“…Hyung.”
He kept calling me, tangling my already complicated thoughts even further. The opening led to a pool of filthy water. A fitting escape route for a panty thief.
I had no idea what story led him to steal underwear, nor did I particularly want to know, so I just waved my hand.
“Thank you.”
Clutching the underwear to his chest with his one remaining hand, he struggled through the muddy water. The sight was so absurd I chuckled. It was a world full of incomprehensible events.
‘Ah, right.’
I grabbed the back of Hans’s neck as his body was submerged in the dirty water.
Hans looked up at me with questioning eyes. I put a moderate amount of force into my fist and punched him in the cheek.
He screamed, but submerged in the filthy water, he only managed to release a stream of bubbles. A moment later, he disappeared beyond the wall.
In a way, I had just helped a pervert who stole women’s underwear, but the weight that had felt like a stone in my chest lifted.
*Pitter-patter. Thud, thud.*
I heard footsteps fading into the sound of the rain. Soon, only the rain remained.
“I’m really doing all sorts of crazy shit.”
I picked up a large stone from nearby and repeatedly slammed it against the wall above the opening. My glove tore on the rough surface of the rock, but I didn’t stop.
After striking it for a while, the stones above the opening fell and filled the gap.
I dug into the ground with my hands and used the wet earth to reinforce it. By the time I finished, steam was rising from my body. It looked a bit obvious, but it blended in with the shoddily built castle wall.
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The whistling grew closer, and District 7, which had been filled only with darkness, was now illuminated by countless torches.
‘Shit.’
I looked up at the cloud-filled sky and ran a hand through my rain-soaked hair.
The sky was still black, but funnily enough, the damp, sticky, and irritating rain now felt refreshing.
***
“Wow, that Hans fellow must be more impressive than he looks, huh? Even the knights couldn't catch him.”
Kel muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm and his face full of annoyance.
“He’s a mage, so maybe he used magic to escape? Don’t you think so, Squad Leader?”
asked Brick with his round face.
“You idiot, Brick. If magic could solve everything, his arm wouldn’t have been cut off. Why do you think that arm is hanging on the castle gate?”
Pul, with his snake-like eyes, sneered next to him.
“Th-that’s true, isn’t it?”
“Aaargh… I only got two hours of sleep yesterday… I think I’m going to die.”
“You won’t die from missing a little sleep, Quarter.”
“What do you know? I might die. Sleep is more important than food to me.”
“All of you, quiet.”
“Berman, acting all important again. You’re just a regular guard like the rest of us.”
The rain showed no sign of stopping. As a result, the guards, who had been searching in the rain for three days and nights, were on edge, ready to explode at the slightest touch. Well, it wasn’t much different from usual.
“You’ve all worked hard. Now that we’ve confirmed he’s not in the castle, the search is over.”
The lord must have been furious, as he sent knights and the inner wall guard out of the castle in pursuit.
They were all on horseback, so I might be greeted by Hans’s handsome face on the gate tomorrow, but I had done enough. I could only hope that one of his spells made him run faster.
Kel, Brick, and Quarter collapsed to the ground. Quarter, with his eyes closed, looked ready to fall asleep right there.
“…But Squad Leader. What do you mean the ‘search’ is over? That sounds a bit strange.”
The first to notice was the snake-eyed Pul. At his words, the squad members’ eyes all turned to me.
“We still have patrol and watch duty. It’s our squad’s turn for the day shift today.”
I didn’t want to deliver this news either, but what could I do? We could only blame the fact that we lived in an ignorant age without labor laws.
“Aaaaaaaargh!!”
Quarter, who had his eyes closed, let out a long scream as if he’d been stabbed.
Perhaps for Quarter, working without sleep was more painful than being stabbed with a knife.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“Come in.”
“Aron. The Captain is looking for you.”
The door opened, and Jayden, with his square jaw, came in.
‘Ah, I’d forgotten.’
I irritably scratched at my unruly, untrimmed beard.
Sadly, this long day was far from over.
***
“Come in.”
The Captain’s voice, unusually stern, came from the other side. He was clearly with a superior.
I briefly checked my attire before opening the door. The Captain stood there in his ill-fitting armor, and in the chair where he usually sat was a man with a bushy beard. His features were bold, his gaze intense; he reminded me of a tiger.
‘Magistrate William.’
I instinctively straightened my posture at the man’s identity. This was the man to be most wary of in this castle, second only to the lord himself. The Captain beside him gestured for me to come closer.
“You’re Aron, I presume. A pleasure. I am Magistrate William.”
William rose from his seat. He was so large that he nearly touched the ceiling. I was tall myself and rarely had to look up at anyone, but to see William, I had to tilt my head all the way back.
William extended a hand calloused and rough. Without a moment’s hesitation, I removed my glove and shook it. I could feel his sturdiness just from the handshake.
“I hear you were close with the criminal, Hans.”
William narrowed his eyes, looking down at me.
‘This crafty son of a bitch?!’
I hastily glanced at the Captain, but he was looking elsewhere.
“We… were merely acquaintances.”
“I see. I was told your squad headed straight for District 7 during the search. Why was that?”
William’s amber eyes stared at me intently, as if trying to see right through me.
[Your name is Aron. Aron.]
Somehow, his gaze reminded me of someone else, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.