Sleeping with the Enemy? (5)
It was the morning before Yugeomgyeong and Robin set out to deal with the yokai.
“From start to finish, everything about him is suspicious.”
Yugeomgyeong had just finished recounting the events of the previous dawn. Vice-Captain Leona, who had listened in silence, finally spoke.
“Which part, exactly? I’d like you to be precise.”
“He was in his underwear at that hour, he came from Goldon, and until he moved you couldn’t even sense him. Just those three things alone—doesn’t something feel off?”
Leona pressed her points one by one, calm and methodical. Yugeomgyeong merely shrugged, as if it were nothing worth fretting over.
“Take them separately and none of it is all that strange. It was the dead of night with no one around—he could have been exercising in his underclothes. Goldon he explained himself: he went there on a commission. And people with that kind of uncanny stealth technique aren’t impossible.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. You can’t look at them one by one—you have to look at the whole picture.”
Leona felt ready to lose her mind.
Even if Yugeomgyeong was her friend of seventeen years and her superior, moments like this drained every last drop of affection she had for the woman.
I can’t even give her a knuckle to the head.
If she did, Yugeomgyeong’s personality being what it was, she wouldn’t drag Leona up on charges of insubordination. A light warning at most. The only reason Leona never followed through was simple: she knew full well that hitting the woman would only hurt her own hand.
“Leona. Don’t put limits on possibility. Think more broadly. Understood?”
“I wonder who should be saying that to whom…”
Leona smacked her forehead with a sharp tak! and let herself sink into the chair.
She wanted nothing more than to sit right there, pretend she knew nothing, and sleep. The fatigue from night watch still clung to her bones. Yet she was the only one in a position to push back against the captain.
“The patrol kids yesterday said his adventurer’s plate was copper. An adventurer of that rank possessing stealth like that? What do you make of it?”
“Adventurer ranks are based on recorded achievements, aren’t they? It’s entirely possible he only recently stepped into the world after learning techniques from some reclusive master living in secret.”
“Ah. Of course.”
Leona stared at Yugeomgyeong with eyes heavy from exhaustion.
The shameless nonsense had reached the point where she couldn’t even manage a laugh.
“You’ve already written an entire novel. There’s a limit to ‘not putting limits on possibility.’”
“Mm.”
Yugeomgyeong avoided her gaze, picked up the cup on the table, and savored her tea.
At this point it was obvious she was deliberately playing dumb.
“Just be honest. You want to believe that man Robin is a righteous person, don’t you?”
Leona had known Yugeomgyeong since childhood. Every time the captain dug in her heels and forced an argument, it always came down to reasons like this.
“Mm.”
“Don’t give me ‘mm.’ This isn’t the first or second time. It’s because you’re this stubborn that the rumors about you being ostracized by the Sword Saint Society started. And they’re not rumors—they’re true.”
“I’m not being ostracized. I’m the one doing the ostracizing.”
“Oh, the words you choose.”
An impregnable fortress of a lone wolf who refused to accept defeat. Leona turned her eyes away from the ugly sight.
People said some things never changed no matter how old you got. But few stayed as unchanging as Yugeomgyeong—past or present, always the same.
“Aren’t you worrying too much? I said I’d take him with me and observe him myself.”
“What a wonderful idea. Looking after the villagers while also watching a man you can’t even tell is friend or foe? Perfect way to get stabbed by a blind blade.”
“Do you think I’d allow a surprise attack? Even if he runs, he can’t outpace my Crimson Flash.”
That absolute confidence belonged only to someone who had earned the title of one of the Seven Sword Kings. This time, even Leona found it hard to argue.
“One more question. On what grounds are you so certain that man has nothing to do with the Runaway Ninja?”
“Instinct.”
“Instinct? My instinct is telling me he’s suspicious.”
“I looked into his eyes.”
Tak!
Yugeomgyeong suddenly slammed her hand down on the desk.
“What—”
Startled, Leona lifted her head. Their eyes met. Yugeomgyeong’s green irises shone with a quiet light.
“I asked him. Whether those words about fighting for the people were true.”
Blind longing, faith, passion. The foolishness and stubbornness of someone still searching for a justice that now existed only in fairy tales—all of it lived in those eyes.
“Without a single moment of hesitation, with eyes that never wavered, he looked straight at me.”
Yugeomgyeong’s expression seemed almost desperate, as if declaring that this time she was certain.
After being deceived again and again, she’s going to believe once more?
Leona still could not understand it.
“…Examine him carefully. Take Kate with you. I’ll handle command while you’re gone.”
They had come too far for persuasion. Half resigned, Leona lowered her gaze.
“Leona. There’s only you.”
Yugeomgyeong gave a short nod and left.
Alone in the small command tent, Leona let out a long sigh.
“Haa…”
She rose slowly and looked around. At the far end of the command post—Yugeomgyeong’s personal space—her eyes fell on a broken weapon wrapped in fine silk.
It was identical in appearance to the Soul Eater, the rapier Yugeomgyeong herself had bestowed upon Aileen Pitman.
The true face of Aileen that every knight in the order except Yugeomgyeong already knew rose once more in Leona’s mind.
She had tried to speak of it several times, but the chance had never come.
“You’re still only seeing what you want to see…”
Leona murmured a low lament and closed her eyes.
And now.
“—Stir-fried pork!”
Yugeomgyeong watched carefully as Robin charged forward with those words.
He sprinted as if ready to clash head-on, then twisted his body with fluid grace and landed a clean blow on a Boarusa. Sharp judgment, polished technique, and unpredictable movement combined to excellent effect. Skill enough to make one wonder who his master had been.
Impressive.
Yugeomgyeong nodded without realizing it, then refocused and struck at the abomination before her. One precise thrust through the heart and the Boarusa collapsed.
—Hiihihing!
Crimson Flash accelerated, vaulting over the corpse. The remaining Boarusa scattered in every direction.
“Howling Gale!”
With a dreadful sword-cry, Yugeomgyeong’s beloved blade, the Soul Eater, scattered crimson energy all around her. Everything it touched was torn apart. In an instant the farmland became a blood-soaked mess.
“—Helicopter Sword Style!”
Tudadadada—!
Robin refused to be outdone, shouting technique names as he carved through the Boarusa. The exaggerated motions and battle cries left the villagers trembling in confusion.
“A-Adventurer, sir? Please calm down!”
“Young man! Don’t get too far ahead! You’ll get yourself killed!”
Orphe and the knight Kate stepped in to hold the worried onlookers back while scanning the surroundings. With Robin drawing every eye, no Boarusa charged their way.
“Your companion’s skill is remarkable. Is he truly only a copper-rank adventurer?”
“Once we stop by the guild and take the examination, he’ll be promoted. He accomplished something major in Goldon.”
“Both of you have excellent equipment. That arming sword the man carries looks like a custom-ordered specialty piece. How did he scrape together the money? Don’t tell me he stole it?”
Kate probed exactly as Vice-Captain Leona had instructed, watching for any reaction. Orphe answered without the slightest ripple of emotion.
“Of course not. He took only substantial commissions and built up his fortune. He had quite a bit saved as well. Though now he doesn’t have a single coin left.”
“You’re confident in your own skill too, I take it?”
“I’m not on Robin’s level, but I believe I can pull my own weight.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Adventurers these days all seem to have a few tricks up their sleeves.”
Even while chatting, the two never dropped their guard toward the Boarusa or each other. In the end, however, they never needed to draw their weapons.
“—Omnidirectional Spinning Slash.”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—
Robin’s movements now bordered on madness as he butchered every foe that came near. Even without using ninjutsu, the combat sense he could not fully conceal was superhuman to any ordinary observer.
“That Boarusa would give ten grown men trouble…”
“Amazing! Not quite Yugeomgyeong’s level, but still.”
“He just shouts nonsense and moves weird, yet the things keep dropping.”
“What’d he call it when he charged out alone? ‘Battle cry,’ right? Looks ridiculous, but there’s a reason for all of it.”
“Seeing it like this, it almost makes sense. Maybe we should shout a battle cry before work too?”
The villagers had recovered enough composure to laugh and chatter among themselves. Before long the disturbance was completely suppressed.
The crops had been torn up and monster corpses littered the ground—hardly a pleasant sight even by the most generous measure—but once Yugeomgyeong and the other fighters hauled the bodies away and the residents replanted seeds, the farmland regained a semblance of order.
“Your skill is impressive. Did you learn that swordsmanship from a master as well?”
Having cleared the last of the Boarusa, Yugeomgyeong lightly shook the blood from her body and approached Robin, who had been speaking with Orphe.
“I studied various sword styles and devised the techniques myself. In ‘this world,’ I’m the only one who can use them.”
“In this world? Quite the confidence. Still, you have every right to boast.”
Yugeomgyeong offered her hand. Robin took it without a moment’s hesitation.
“You didn’t need to fight so hard on your own. Aren’t you overdoing it?”
“That’s what adventurers are for. I’m still fine. If I stand in the front line, everyone else takes less damage.”
“Haha! An excellent mindset.”
Yugeomgyeong laughed, nodding in clear satisfaction. Robin smiled faintly in return.
“Rumor has it Yugeomgyeong’s sword reaps souls. Is that true?”
“Who knows? I certainly didn’t start the rumor.”
Yugeomgyeong playfully lifted the Soul Eater. The rippling crimson light that clung to the blade shimmered with an eerie glow.
“Whether it absorbs souls or not, I can’t say for certain. But it does possess a special power. Every time I kill an enemy, I feel myself grow stronger.”
“Doesn’t look like something a blacksmith made. Where did you obtain it?”
“Have you heard of the Watchman’s Gorge? A place where all manner of bizarre things occur. I wandered there once as training and found this treasure.”
Robin suddenly pulled paper and pen from his pocket and began scribbling furiously.
“Watchman’s… Gorge… Understood. Have you ever seen a sister piece? I’d like to get one for myself.”
“There you go saying strange things again. Time to move. Hyaah~!”
Yugeomgyeong urged Crimson Flash forward and once more led the party toward Evergreen Village.
“Come to think of it, the bard who arrived with you two said he’d sing for our knight order tonight. The knights were quite delighted.”
“…Did none of the knights hear the singing that filled the village square?”
“Our temporary base is a fair distance from there.”
“It will be an experience you’ll never forget.”
“That impressive?”
“I’m looking forward to it myself. It would have been a waste for only me to suffer—er, to hear it.”
Robin’s snickering eyes held a faintly unsettling gleam.