Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Severed Heads and Defiance
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Herilda couldn’t believe it even as she watched it unfold right in front of her.
It was an assault by over a hundred thieves. Among them was Rialkan, an executive of the Black Ogre Band who had relentlessly tormented them.
As Herilda looked at Rialkan, the man—tied up and sitting on the ground—spat out blood-mixed saliva.
“Ptoo! You fucking bastards…… You think you’ll get away with this?”
He glared at the people with the ferocity of someone ready to snap his ropes and charge at them any second.
“The main force will be here soon. Over four hundred in the main force, coming to crash this place, you fucking bastards!”
He stood up from his spot.
His leg wound was quite severe, causing him to stagger, but once he barely regained his balance, he locked eyes with Lian amid the crowd.
“It’s you, the one who caused all this shit.”
Grit.
His eyes quickly turned bloodshot.
Rage boiled up so fiercely it seemed like it would burst through his skull. Soon, Rialkan looked at the people, including Herilda.
“You bitches…… I’ll rip every last one of you apart and feed you to the pigs. Go ahead, do whatever you want. Let’s see who dies more miserably.”
At Rialkan’s threat, the people flinched and began to tremble.
It felt like their main force would come charging in at any moment.
At that moment,
Step, step.
Lian, who had been silently staring at Rialkan, started walking somewhere.
Rialkan and the others’ gazes followed Lian.
Swish.
Lian silently grabbed the hair of a thief’s corpse on the ground.
It was already dead, but that didn’t matter.
Slash!
The people flinched as they watched Lian sever the corpse’s head in an instant.
His action was so brazen.
“It’d be too much hassle to haul all of them…… Should I just kill them and load only the heads onto the wagons?”
Lian shook the head in his hand as he looked at Rialkan.
Rialkan’s mouth, which had been flapping nonstop until moments ago, clamped shut tight.
Gulp.
In the chillingly silent atmosphere, someone’s dry swallow echoed.
Lian’s actions in just a few seconds had been so savage that they dominated the mood.
Lian fixed Rialkan with cold, sunken eyes.
“Say one more word. I’ll just lop off all your heads and escort you to the kingdom like that.”
Grrrr.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Rialkan clamped his lips shut with all his might.
Just in case any sound leaked out.
That was when Herilda cautiously approached Lian.
Her tone was vastly different from before—extremely careful.
“Um……”
“Hm?”
“What should we do with these guys……?”
“Send them to the kingdom for the bounty.”
“How?”
“People will come soon. I’ll handle this, so don’t worry…… There’s one thing you need to do.”
“Something I need to do?”
Herilda’s eyes widened round as she asked.
It was almost comical; she looked like a completely different person now.
‘She’s totally different from when she’s fighting.’
It was like being stared at by a docile, fluffy puppy.
Lian nodded, suppressing a laugh.
“From now on, gather everyone in this neutral zone. Persuade them if you have to, or subdue them by force—it doesn’t matter.”
It could be seen as the very first mission he was assigning to Herilda.
At Lian’s words, Herilda’s eyes sharpened once more.
“Understood.”
“Within a week.”
“Yes!”
Herilda gave a resolute reply and soon led the people away.
Once Herilda and the fifty-odd people left, Lian looked back at Rialkan and said,
“You lot stay put under that tree until I say otherwise. I’ll give you water, but the moment you pull any funny business……”
Whoosh!
Screeeeech—!
It was rapid fire in the truest sense.
The moment he nocked an arrow toward the tree, it shot out straight.
Thud!
Rialkan flinched at the destructive power that buried the arrowhead deep.
“I stake my neck that ten funny guys means ten heads exploding.”
Nod, nod.
“Move. Now.”
At Lian’s command, they scrambled to obey for dear life.
* * *
Swoosh—! Thud! Snap! Boom boom!
The wooden training dummy, relentlessly pummeled, was a mess on the verge of breaking.
But Isaac, gripping two wooden swords, had no intention of stopping.
‘Already a week……’
For the past week here, all he’d done was train with the others.
Of course, the process had included procedures related to promotion exams.
Contribution to the kingdom.
It was quite amusing—they scored it out of 100 points, and the Silver Knights’ average was around 60.
Most of that wasn’t from personal achievements but from how much their families had contributed to the kingdom.
In contrast, Isaac’s was purely his own merit.
An impressive 80 points, top-tier for Silver Knights.
And these contribution scores were publicized to the entire unit. Was that why?
At some point, more guys started sneaking glances at Isaac during training.
“That’s the guy, right?”
“A commoner, and he got 80 contribution points?”
“Maybe from a merchant family? Some commoners have loads of money.”
“Hey, you know Bilson?”
“Bilson the butcher?”
Nod.
“They say his family donates a full plenium to the kingdom yearly in offerings. And that guy’s contribution is only 72.”
“……How much money do you have to dump to hit 80?”
All sorts of baseless rumors about Isaac began to circulate.
Isaac paid them no mind.
There was just one thing that irked him.
‘……The training intensity is too weak.’
Having grown accustomed to the Arrowhead Unit’s drills, the Silver Knights’ training felt unsatisfying.
So after official training ended, he always did about six hours of personal practice.
Some called him a training maniac for it.
“Hey—! There you are?”
And this was the guy who’d been steadily visiting Isaac every day for the past week.
Isaac halted his swinging swords and turned his head.
“……You again?”
“Who else? Got another buddy you’re eating with?”
“You’re not my friend either.”
After chatting daily for a week, it felt a bit more comfortable.
But Janiel’s constant sly approaches weren’t exactly welcome.
Janiel grinned at Isaac.
“Saw your contribution score, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What the hell did a commoner do to rack up 80 points?”
“No idea. If you’re here to interrupt training, just go. I’m not done yet.”
As Isaac turned back toward the dummy, Janiel shrugged and asked,
“But doing personal training for hours after unit drills…… Isn’t it tough?”
Halt!
Isaac, mid-swing, froze and looked at Janiel again.
Silver Knights unit.
The Silver Knights, renowned even in the kingdom for gathering only the most promising talents.
Their fame had been so intimidating that before coming, he’d honestly been scared.
Would he do well in the famed Silver Knights’ promotion exam?
But after just a week here, his thoughts had changed a lot.
Isaac asked Janiel,
“I have a genuine question…… Why doesn’t anyone here do personal training?”
“Hm?”
“I’ve watched for days, and hardly anyone does personal training after unit drills.”
It was pure curiosity. At the question, Janiel looked baffled.
“That’s obvious—they need proper rest to train again. Plus, guys learning family secrets wouldn’t train in such an open spot. Oh, you’re a commoner, so you wouldn’t know.”
“Family secrets…… I get that. But if this level of training is so exhausting they need rest, doesn’t that mean there’s a problem with the individual?”
It was an unbiased, honest thought.
In the Arrowhead Unit, their basic training was nearly double the Silver Knights’ intensity.
And Isaac had done personal training after that grueling routine every day.
At Isaac’s words, the guys watching from nearby started approaching with glaring eyes.
“What’d you say?”
“This level of training? This crazy commoner bastard!”
“Know your place!”
The ones who’d already disliked Isaac closed in, and Janiel glanced at them.
They’d usually backed off at Janiel’s intervention, but not this time.
“Janiel, stay out of this. This is a clear insult to the Silver Knights.”
“Yeah! We can’t call ourselves knight aspirants if we let this slide!”
In an instant, over a dozen surrounded Isaac, glaring daggers.
Janiel, standing with them, let out a small sigh.
This time, he couldn’t help— the justification had fully shifted.
‘They’ve got the moral high ground now.’
Plus, a few here were fairly skilled even among Silver Knights.
He’d hung around Isaac out of half interest, half curiosity, helping him along……
“Isaac, apologize formally to them. No problem will arise.”
“I have no intention of insulting the unit. But I still think the Silver Knights’ training is personally too weak for me.”
“……Hah.”
Why was this little guy so stubborn?
Janiel sighed deeply. Then, one of the surrounding guys said to Isaac,
“Then prove how much stronger training you’ve been doing. Isaac, I challenge you to a duel!”
The man issued the challenge as if he’d been waiting for it.
Isaac stared at him impassively. Janiel frowned.
Of all people, the challenger was top-tier in the Silver Knights.
Janiel sidled close to Isaac and whispered,
“Refuse. It won’t tarnish your honor. Just apologize for the slip-up, and it’s over.”
“It wasn’t a slip, but if my words offended you, I can apologize. However……”
Swish.
Isaac turned to face him.
“I won’t dodge a properly issued duel.”
Otherwise, the unit commander would chew him out big time.
At Isaac’s words, Janiel closed his eyes and covered his face with his palm.
The challenger’s lips curled into a long smirk.
“I’ll school that arrogant attitude of yours. Everyone, back up!”
At his shout, the onlookers widened the circle, forming a dueling ring.
The incident had snowballed, drawing over fifty unit members.
The guy facing Isaac sneered.
“Disgusting, acting all high and mighty like some noble while being a commoner. I’ll teach you a real lesson.”
“……What’s your name?”
“Huh?”
“If you challenge someone to a duel, basic etiquette demands you state your name first…… Didn’t they teach you that?”
“Hah?! This bastard can’t read the room?”
With that, he drew the sword at his waist.
Shing!
“Wait! Duels between unit members must use training weapons!”
Seeing the real blade, Janiel shouted. But the man sneered back,
“That’s for duels with unit members! I’ve never once considered a commoner like that one a unit member. He’s just a fool who insulted our Silver Knights.”
Then he pointed his sword at Isaac.
“I’m Fuchs of the Planell Family. Draw your sword.”
“I’m Isaac, subcommander of the Arrowhead Unit. My sword……”
Swish.
Isaac looked at the wooden sword in his hand. Then said,
“This should be enough.”
Crack.
Fuchs’s expression twisted.
“You’re the type who needs an arm chopped off to learn!”
Fuchs bellowed and charged at Isaac. In that instant, whoosh!
Isaac vanished from sight.
Fuchs, who’d slashed only empty air, looked around in panic.
“W-where?!”
“Fuchs! Above!”
At the shout, Fuchs jerked his head up. But,
Smack!
“Argh!”
With a dull thud, Isaac’s wooden sword cracked against Fuchs’s skull.
Isaac looked down at the fallen Fuchs.
“Next time, I won’t hold back, so focus properly.”
Isaac dragged Fuchs by the collar a few steps, then looked back at him.
“Again.”