The Second Outing (2)
The Second Outing (2)
The outing was no different from before.
Knights protected the Grand Archduchess and the Princess at their sides, while disguised knights hid among the crowd to escort them.
Havier also diligently scanned the surroundings beside the Princess.
He was skilled, had a great personality, and worked hard, so he was bound to succeed after graduation.
But the commotion from a few days ago had left its mark on the outing.
The outing was cut short, and the number of places they planned to visit was halved.
They skipped the government district and missed more than half of the famous landmarks.
But they ended up visiting the shopping district filled with street vendors again.
The noisy street vendors were no different from before.
The Princess and the Grand Archduchess browsed the goods just as before, and the vendors' scams were exactly the same.
"It's not an artifact. After the Great War..."
"This bracelet is also just a normal..."
The Grand Archduchess's appraisal of the artifacts, which I had heard before my death, once again depressed the street vendors.
And, just as before, the Grand Archduchess recognized a damaged artifact.
I bought the item at a low price and gave it to the Grand Archduchess, just as I had before.
Today, I intended to act as much as possible as I had before my death.
Although I had already caused a lot of trouble, seeing the Kingdom's knights tied up at the border guards made it seem like more trouble was bound to brew.
I couldn't afford to ruin things by acting differently for no reason.
After clearing up the misunderstanding over how cheaply I'd bought it, just as last time, I waited for the incident to occur.
"What the hell is all this! It's a complete shitshow!"
A moment later, I saw a noisy group approaching from a distance.
They were the people I had been waiting for.
The mercenaries I had seen—and killed—before my death were approaching.
'There seem to be more of them than before. Is it because of what I did?'
There were more mercenaries, and their expressions were different from before.
Unlike when they had thrown a tantrum in the shopping district before my death, there was now a faint trace of murderous intent in their expressions.
'Why are they so angry?'
I was quite perplexed by the mercenaries' different attitude.
It also looked a bit dangerous, and it seemed like I shouldn't act the same way as before.
"You pieces of trash! Our kingdom is suffering like this because of you bastards!"
"Do you bastards even know that the money you raked in was earned with our blood, sweat, and tears?"
"We should kill every last one of these bastards!"
Unlike before, the words the mercenaries spat out as they passed the street vendors didn't sound like an act.
Their growls, laced with barely concealed murderous intent, were genuinely heartfelt.
"Smash it all!"
"Die!"
"Wreck everything!"
And the violence that followed went beyond a simple riot.
In addition to smashing the stalls as they had last time, the mercenaries were beating up the street vendors themselves.
"Aaack! Help me!"
"Ah, it hurts!"
"Ugh. Argh. Urgh."
Among the mercenaries enthusiastically beating the vendors, I saw one muttering to himself with tears in his eyes.
I could hear his quiet muttering.
"Damn it, even killing you bastards won't satisfy me! Do you have any idea who passed away? We worked together so many times—he wasn't someone who should have died like this!"
Only then did I realize why they were so angry.
It seemed the mercenaries and the knights were closer than I had thought.
But even so, that was no excuse for terrorizing the street vendors like this.
The other people, who didn't know the reason, naturally had no way of understanding their outrageous behavior.
"Stop them immediately!"
The Grand Archduchess screamed at the top of her lungs.
The knights escorting the Princess rushed at the mercenaries.
Their response was different from before, when they had merely tried to stop the violence.
Most of the knights swung their swords while they were still in their scabbards, but a few drew their blades and confronted the mercenaries.
The fight was much more intense than before.
A bone-breaking, blood-splattering brawl erupted all around.
Senior Havier also trembled with the urge to join the fight, but he didn't forget his duty to protect the Princess.
He stood in front of her and watched the fight.
The fight, which had turned the shopping district into a disaster zone, gradually drew closer.
Although it was much more violent than before, the course of the battle remained unchanged.
Though more knights had been reinforced, the number of mercenaries had grown even more.
There wasn't a huge difference, but the mercenaries were gradually gaining the upper hand and closing in on the Grand Archduchess.
Soon, the Princess and the Grand Archduchess would be caught up in the fray, and Knight Vid and his companions, who were watching from afar, would step in.
This was something I had prevented in my previous life, too.
I intended to stop them this time as well.
Even more decisively than in my previous life.
With Senior Havier on guard, I didn't have to worry about the Princess.
I stepped forward and drew my sword.
The blade flashed in the sunlight.
"Who the hell are you!"
A mercenary who was beating up a vendor shouted when he saw me approach.
I didn't answer him.
Instead, I swung my sword.
Splash!
Red blood sprayed into the air.
"Aaargh!"
A scream rang out along with the spray of blood.
The mercenary clutched his arm and rolled on the ground.
The startled mercenaries stopped in their tracks and stared at me.
But I didn't stop.
I moved swiftly, swinging my sword.
Blood splattered, and screams filled the shopping district.
The panicked mercenaries scattered in all directions.
The fighting around me stopped first; the beaten vendors and the knights still fighting all stared at me in shock.
"No, this is too harsh..."
The Grand Archduchess was shocked too and tried to stop me.
Even I thought I'd overreacted a little.
It felt like a soldier firing a gun at thugs causing a ruckus in the street.
But we were already in a relationship where we killed and were killed by each other.
Not killing them and leaving their limbs intact was already an incredibly generous measure.
Besides, despite the spurting blood and the chaotic screams, their wounds weren't actually that deep.
They were wounds that would heal after the mercenaries drank a potion and rested for a week or two.
I had no intention of inflicting severe injuries in front of others. I just wanted to make the injuries look severe.
And just as I'd expected, everyone else believed I had severely wounded the mercenaries.
The Duchy Knights, the street vendors, the Grand Archduchess, and the Princess alike.
And even the Empire people who were watching from afar.
Seeing me swing my sword, the Empire people rushed over in a single bound.
"Stop this instant! Are you trying to kill them!"
At the very front, the hulking man, Vid, charged at me in a furious rage.
This was exactly what I had been waiting for.
I swung my sword at him too.
Clang!
Our swords clashed, and he growled at me.
"Damn it! To think you possessed such skill!"
Vid's eyes weren't filled with the competitive spirit he'd shown before.
Instead, he was burning with anger over his companion's injury.
To me, who knew what would happen next, it was simply laughable.
While Vid fought me, his companions scattered in all directions to protect the mercenaries.
I sneered inwardly at Vid as I clashed with him.
At this rate, there was no way they could hide that they were on the same side.
"My goodness, with such skill, are they targeting the Princess and the Grand Archduchess!"
His companions looked flustered at my words.
"No, we were trying to protect the Grand Archduchess..."
Among them was someone trying to steer things back to how they were supposed to go.
But the words he blurted out only created an even bigger problem in the current situation.
The man quickly covered his mouth, but there was no one present who hadn't heard him.
Even though everything had gone completely awry, Vid had no time to worry about the situation.
That was because I was attacking him with all my might from the very beginning.
Although I had sealed my other abilities and wasn't using my weapons or other artifacts, I was unleashing my pure, unadulterated strength.
Vid, too, had to do his best as well.
He couldn't use his fire-breathing ability either, and he couldn't properly display his swordsmanship without revealing his identity.
As before, I felt as though I was being pushed back, but because I had prepared in advance, the gap wasn't that large.
As we fought on equal terms, the soldiers burst in.
"Everyone, stop fighting!"
By the time they arrived, Vid and I were the only ones still fighting.
I stopped my sword. Vid looked at a loss when I halted my blade.
He looked incredibly disappointed.
For a man who had been so worked up over his companion's injury to get so absorbed in a fight so quickly.
At that rate, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was truly addicted to battle.
After examining the wounded mercenaries and confirming their injuries weren't severe, the Grand Archduchess gave the soldiers an order.
"Arrest them immediately. They disguised themselves as citizens of the Kingdom and harmed our Duchy's people. Investigate them thoroughly!"
She was different from before, when she had responded passively.
She took direct command of the soldiers, sent the injured vendors and bystanders to the clinic, and had the ruined street cleaned up.
She no longer looked lost in thought as she had before.
She looked as though she had made a firm resolve.
'This is for the better, right?'
I felt a little worried by the Grand Archduchess's changed demeanor.
I briefly stopped Vid as the soldiers were dragging him away.
He frowned when he saw me.
It seemed he was finally getting a proper look at me.
"My God, your age... That's impossible. To have such skill at that age..."
He seemed utterly shocked to see me, but I still had something left to surprise him with.
I raised my sword and subtly showed it to him.
The tip of the blade shimmered.
Vid's eyes widened.
I whispered softly to the wide-eyed Vid.
"Let's have a proper match next time."
At my words, he licked his lips.
Right now, it felt like that man would follow me instantly if I called him out.
And that was exactly why I had shown him my ability.
After Vid and the mercenaries had been dragged away by the soldiers and the street was somewhat cleared, the Princess came over to my side and spoke.
"I was startled because you suddenly swung your sword again this time."
It was only natural for her to be startled. Not just the Princess, but everyone had been shocked.
"I'm sure you have your reasons, Young Lord Alex, but I think there would be fewer surprises if you let us know in advance."
The Princess was certainly right. Ever since my death, I had been running around on my own without explaining anything.
"I will explain on the way back."
I still had work left to do. I only hoped that by then, everything would be wrapped up so that a lengthy explanation wouldn't be necessary.
And so, the outing came to an end once again.
After the outing, Senior Havier, seemingly dissatisfied with himself for having stood idly by, resumed his training.
Balea's eyes sparkled even brighter as she looked at me, and the Grand Archduchess, who seemed to have resolved something, gazed at me with a peculiar look.
While everyone else's outing had ended, mine was not yet over.
After everyone returned to the royal palace, I headed to the administration department instead of returning to the border guards.
After meeting Senior Benjamin there, I headed to the detention center where prisoners were temporarily held.
The detention center was attached to the castle wall near the northern checkpoint.
Though it looked like an ordinary prison, it was currently used only to temporarily hold smugglers.
A few hours later, I saw a man stepping out of the prison.
It was exactly as Senior Benjamin had told me.
Even though the matter had grown larger than before, his release remained unchanged.
But the man who had fought me had been locked up separately because of his skill, and I was able to learn the time and place of his release from Senior Benjamin.
I blocked the man's path.
The man looked at me in surprise.
I raised my sword and said,
"Is it a bit too soon for a rematch?"
Vid smiled as he looked at my shimmering sword.
"No, let's go right now."