Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: A Scene from Legend - 1
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I stood there with my mouth agape for a while, unable to say a word.
Trail spoke.
[The Demon King of Lies and Deceit, Idria. It seems she's reached out not just to the Martial King, but to Mariana as well.]
‘What’s the secret between Idria and Mariana?’
[You won’t be able to see it. Not at your current level.]
It was incredibly frustrating, but it wasn’t like there was no progress at all.
‘Blood Letters was right after all.’
Mariana has no sins.
But that doesn’t mean she’s uninvolved in this territory’s incidents.
[No sins, but not uninvolved?]
‘Remember what happened with the Martial King? He knew the Withering Jewel was draining the life force from the territory’s people and still used it. That’s why their names were written in his Blood Letters. But...’
[Mariana doesn’t know?]
‘Exactly.’
There was this one time when I was working as a mercenary.
A guy on my team stole the client’s treasure.
He cleverly hid it in another mercenary’s bag.
An insurance policy, in case he got questioned—he could slip away clean.
But back then, my Blood Letters didn’t mark the bag’s owner as the criminal.
It pointed to the guy who hid the treasure in someone else’s bag.
This situation is the same.
Trail muttered as if he understood.
[I see. So Mariana was just being used by Idria.]
‘It’s a guess, but pretty much certain. The problem is what Idria did behind Mariana’s back...’
This wasn’t something I could solve just by pondering it right now.
I slowly opened my mouth, figuring it was time to wrap things up here.
“I get the gist.”
Tibur tilted his head.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean I can’t hand Mariana over to you.”
“......! You’re saying you’ll oppose the Knights of Light? Vice-Captain Jenia, are you just going to let this slide?”
Jenia reacted as if some dog was barking in the distance.
“Huh? Sorry, my ears haven’t been working well lately.”
“Grr.”
“Sir Tibur. Go back quietly. I’m taking full jurisdiction over this matter.”
“Even as vice-captain, this is too much.”
“Are you going to make me pull even more rank? Like contacting the captain, for instance.”
Crunch.
Tibur ground his teeth.
After a brief silence, he turned around.
“Let’s go.”
“But...”
“Now.”
He left the house with his soldiers without so much as a goodbye.
Once the storm had passed, all that remained was silence.
“Sob...”
Aside from Mariana’s crying.
I was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say, when Adwin suddenly spoke up in a surprisingly mature voice.
“Sis. Bro. Gran...”
“......”
“Sis and bro. Could you give us a moment?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll comfort Mom. Me, not you guys.”
This kid.
He held back from asking about the lies I told him about his father or what exactly had happened.
For now, he was focused on consoling his grieving mother.
‘A good son.’
We exchanged glances and nodded.
“Alright. We’ll talk details tomorrow.”
That night, there was a minor episode.
I was deep in sleep when a sharp prick at the nape of my neck jolted me awake.
‘Ah, this guy doesn’t sleep?’
There was a chilling presence charging toward us from afar.
It was still too distant for Jenia or the others to notice.
To spare the party members who hadn’t fully recovered, I decided to make the sacrifice.
In other words, go out and greet it.
[Yawn. What is it? Dawn’s still far off.]
‘You keep sleeping.’
[Yeah, I will.]
I could’ve sworn I heard snoring.
I chuckled and leaped out the window.
After running for a bit, I spotted a masked man approaching, radiating murderous intent.
I let out a deep sigh and said,
“The mask doesn’t suit you at all. Take it off.”
“......!”
“A high-ranking Knights of Light officer like you shouldn’t be doing this. Remove it.”
He didn’t take off the mask.
But he acknowledged he was caught, speaking without disguising his voice.
“How did you know?”
“I memorized your walk and the way you move.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It worked.”
“......Looks like the title Unyielding Sword Emperor wasn’t won on a bet.”
The masked man—Tibur—drew his sword with a slow shing.
The situation struck me as both funny and absurd, so I let out a hollow laugh.
“I can’t wrap my head around this. The vice-captain clearly ordered a retreat. Were you planning some half-baked kidnapping imitation on Mariana? To the interrogation room?”
“......”
“Disobeying orders is one thing, but it’s impossible with your skills anyway. Sneaking her past us.”
“Heh. A wandering mercenary like you wouldn’t get it.”
Killing intent seeped into his voice.
“Jenia might have that lofty title of God’s Proxy, but she’s never truly shown her real strength. Everything she’s done is riding on the captain’s reputation.”
Jenia had surpassed even that captain long ago.
‘Well, she wasn’t famous until she joined Kaild’s party.’
Even the fact that she could wield Agril was known only to a select few in the Knights of Light.
That must’ve been the source of Tibur’s overconfidence, but there was still something I didn’t get.
“Jenia’s not the only one at Mariana’s house.”
“Ha. The Witch of Atrocities? You think that woman cares about anyone else’s business? She won’t help me, sure, but she won’t interfere either.”
“Hmm. What about me?”
“You were never even a factor.”
I smirked and tossed another question.
“What if you got caught?”
“No need to worry about what doesn’t happen if you don’t get caught.”
“But you did get caught. Right now.”
“True. So you’ll have to die.”
“What’s got you so desperate? Got a personal grudge against Mariana?”
Tibur answered surprisingly politely, like he was giving me a parting gift for the afterlife.
“How do you think one climbs the ranks in the Knights of Light? Excluding cheap tricks like Jenia’s.”
“Dunno.”
“It’s the importance of the cases you solve.”
“......”
“Ghost possessions across the whole territory? That’s a special A-rank mission internally. If I solve it solo, I can aim for the next spot up.”
“......”
“It’s unfair for Jenia—who coasted up on her bloodline—to steal my mission. Tonight, I’m smashing that injustice.”
What’s getting smashed is your skull.
I cracked my knuckles lightly.
“Got it. Let’s do this.”
“I’ll even give you time to draw your sword. Draw it.”
“Nah. Just come at me.”
“......?”
“Attack. I’m dying of sleepiness here.”
Realizing I meant it, Tibur gnashed his teeth.
“Don’t regret this. O Heavenly God! Here, your sword... Pfft?”
Crack. Clatter.
His teeth scattered beautifully through the air.
I’d closed the distance in an instant and kicked him square in the jaw.
“Gaaah!”
He floated a few meters in the air before starting to fall.
Thud!
I timed my punch perfectly as he dropped.
“Guh!”
He spat blood and flew off into the distance.
I approached him slowly and said,
“Even the Heavenly God won’t answer a scum like you. If I were God, I sure wouldn’t.”
“Ugh... What the hell are you? Is this a dream?”
“You’d like that, huh.”
“Th-this can’t be. I’m one of the top thirty in the knights. I... There’s no way I’d lose to a guy like you!”
“Nope. You lost.”
“Raaagh!”
Somehow finding the energy, he sprang to his feet.
He charged with full intent to kill.
I’ll give him credit for not dropping his sword even while getting wrecked.
“Die!”
But he was too slow. Way too slow.
For a moment, I recalled Kaild’s sword from before my regression.
I’d thought about it countless times.
Pondered it endlessly.
If we went all out, who would win?
Compared to that...
“You’re too slow.”
I twisted my body lightly, dodging his slash.
Then slapped his cheek with my open palm.
Smack!
“Urk!”
His head snapped 90 degrees.
The few teeth he had left rained down.
......
Jenia probably can’t regrow teeth. What now?
I grabbed the completely knocked-out guy by the scruff and dragged him along.
I figured Neril and Jenia were asleep, so I needed to enter quietly, but there they were, peering down from the second-floor window.
“Uh. Um. Nice night.”
“Out for a stroll?”
“Nope. Fought, as you can see.”
“That’s a stroll for you.”
How do you see people?
Neril’s deadpan reaction made sense given her usual personality.
But Jenia saying it was unexpected.
“He came, as expected. Sir Tibur.”
“You knew?”
“Not knew, just guessed. He left with that ‘we’ll see about this’ look on his face.”
“......Aren’t you gonna say anything? I just beat up one of your organization’s guys.”
Jenia crossed her arms, seeming to ponder for a moment.
Then she replied with a playful smile.
“I made a resolution while traveling with you, Maide. Meeting Mariana today made it even firmer.”
“Huh?”
“Forget what the knights say. Forget what my father taught. All of it.”
“......”
“And judge with my own eyes.”
“Hmm.”
“Sir Tibur ignored my orders, blinded by promotion. I don’t feel sympathy for someone like that. And...”
She glanced at Neril.
“Better this way. There’s something I wanted him to do after this is over.”
“Something you wanted him to do?”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you later.”
I tilted my head but decided to let it slide.
Only then did I notice something on their mouths.
“What were you eating?”
They answered in unison.
“She woke me up hungry.”
“Neril said she was hungry and woke me.”
“Based on your usual behavior, who do you believe?”
“W-well? Who knows.”
Sheesh.
These two, snacking together in the middle of the night.
Live long enough, you see everything.
I said to Neril,
“Can you hide this guy until this blows over?”
“Yeah.”
She flicked her hand.
Like magic, Tibur vanished from my grip.
Jenia added a light incantation.
“Prison seal in place. He won’t move even when he wakes.”
Neril yawned and asked,
“Where to stash him?”
“Leaving him here would bother Mariana.”
“Yeah. Somewhere people don’t go much.”
“Slip into the castle and toss him in an underground cell? Plenty of empty ones.”
“Please do.”
“I didn’t mean I’d do it, but fine. Tomorrow.”
You two are getting along too well.
Whatever.
Time to head back to bed.
I waved goodnight to them.
They both spoke at once.
“You not hungry?”
“Come eat with us.”
I was about to say no, but Trail chimed in.
[Eat.]
‘Weren’t you sleeping?’
[Woke up hungry. Must be from the exercise.]
I did the exercising.
Next morning.
Down in the kitchen, only Neril and Jenia were there.
Neril was covering her mouth like she felt sick, while Jenia looked fine.
Warm soup and bread sat in front of them.
“Neril, why aren’t you eating?”
“You sure hold your liquor well. We were eating and drinking till dawn.”
“Yeah. So?”
“......Never mind.”
Neril turned to me with a queasy face.
“Good morning.”
“No owner around, so you raided the kitchen?”
“It’s from our carriage. I have that much manners.”
“Hmm. Mariana?”
“Dunno. Probably still sleeping.”
Click.
Someone opened the door and came out.
It was Adwin.
He approached us with a haggard expression, head bowed.
Then, with a sigh too heavy for his age, he said,
“This is too meager. Sorry, I’ll prepare something proper.”
“It’s fine. I couldn’t eat even if you did.”
“......?”
“Where’s your mother?”
At Neril’s question, tears suddenly welled up in Adwin’s eyes.
He wiped them and said,
“She just fell asleep.”
“Just now?”
“Yeah. Stayed up all night. Heard about Dad, and... various things.”
I narrowed my eyes and said,
“Don’t say ‘various things.’ Be specific.”
“......”
“Adwin. We’re here to help you and Mariana. We need info for that, right?”
He hesitated a long time, then seemed to steel himself.
“I told you I can see souls?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve watched Mom’s soul my whole life with these eyes. It’s huge and magnificent compared to others. I thought it was natural. She’s a big deal—seventh in the empire or whatever.”
I figured it’d be something about his father’s secrets.
But Adwin’s words veered far from my expectations, so I couldn’t keep my expression neutral.
“And?”
“It wasn’t. While comforting her yesterday, I felt something subtly off.”