Chapter 11
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: War
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War. Melissa must be furious down to the tips of her hair.
Our Count Regent wants war.
Never! Again! War!
The tension was thick enough that swords could clash at any moment, and as I watched with an intrigued expression, the two of them turned their piercing glares on me.
"Hey! You got us into this mess, so why are you sitting there all relaxed?!"
Melissa finally shouted in anger, and I nodded along, still sitting with my legs crossed.
"No, you said you had something to discuss, but you two were too busy bickering, so I was just waiting."
She stared at me in stunned disbelief at my absurd response.
"W-What do you want to say?"
"Nothing much. Bishiri Cascadia, you kidnapped the families of every merchant under contract with the count's household. I'll assume you did it because you could handle the fallout."
"What?"
Melissa scowled fiercely and glared at Bishiri, but he was shockingly brazen about it.
"Hmph, what nonsense. You're just spouting lies without a shred of proof."
"Ah, yeah, I figured you'd play it that way. No need to talk more, then. Count Regent, this is a report on the previous order."
"Uh... huh?"
"Bishiri Cascadia kidnapped and imprisoned the territory's people. I've confirmed it myself. Therefore, I request that he and everyone who collaborated in the kidnapping and imprisonment be punished."
No one there failed to grasp the meaning.
At the same time, one of the knights guarding Bishiri Cascadia drew his sword again.
Sching!!!
Thud!
But the sound of the sword being drawn didn't even finish before it all stopped.
Everyone inside froze in shock at the sudden turn of events.
"Didn't I say there's no second chances?"
The knight who had drawn his sword to threaten me was sent flying into the wall with a blade embedded in his head.
He hadn't even reacted to the sword I'd thrown before he was killed.
"Wh-What?!"
Bishiri was horrified that one of his guards had died at a speed he couldn't even perceive.
Melissa looked equally stunned, realizing I'd snatched her sword without her noticing and used it to kill an Expert-level knight.
Killing someone.
I'd given a lot of thought to that heavy proposition. This was reality. My homeland on the Lazeros Continent, not the Labyrinthos.
But unlike my previous life, screwing up here didn't mean the police would come knocking.
It had order, but the law of the jungle hadn't vanished.
Equating my past and present lives would be foolish.
The remaining knights belatedly drew their sword auras and turned their eyes toward me.
But by the time they saw the corpse and looked back, I was already pulling the sword from the head of the knight embedded in the wall.
The swordsmanship I'd built in the Sword Hall was deeply tied to speed.
Dealing with mere Experts like this was no challenge at all.
The standoff escalated in an instant, and the atmosphere turned vicious.
"Leon... have you been hiding your power?"
"Let's get this straight—I never hid anything. As you can see, I'm just an Aura User who can't even form sword aura."
"......"
Right, no ordinary Aura User could exhibit this speed and power.
The fact that I'm a dullard hasn't changed much.
But I'm in a state that can't be compared to the norm.
I grinned and was about to toss the sword back to Melissa when I paused.
It was a sturdy blade, tough enough to withstand my aura output to some degree.
Better for my hands to be stained with blood than hers.
My uncle Tibel Cascadia and his son Bishiri were cancerous tumors eating away at the count's territory itself.
From the moment they showed their greed for the count's title, smiles vanished from the faces of the count's family and the territory's people alike.
To them, the count's land was just a means to luxury and glory, with no regard for the sacrifices along the way—classic petty villains.
"My father and I are both officially certified Experts by the kingdom. Melissa has only manifested sword aura; she's not a formally certified Expert. You know whose claim to succession that tilts toward in this situation."
"Is that your position?"
"You idiots don't even realize the massive force you're up against!"
He seemed to firmly believe in his backers and their power.
Probably thought he could force it as a done deal, even if the royals objected.
At least a marquis or higher.
Some major noble from the capital must be backing him.
"Neither you nor my uncle are fit to be Count Cascadia. Only my little sister Melissa, whom Father chose."
"You brat."
"You know what? Nobles can be truly barbaric in their own way."
"What are you getting at?"
"They spout bullshit so confidently without grasping that it could get their skulls split by an axe."
The killing intent I'd been suppressing started to leak out.
"That's why they die. They don't get it. What are you waiting for? If you want to live, come at me."
Why would I let scum like this survive to become future trouble?
Of course, my lack of sleep had my irritation at a peak, playing a big role too.
Sching!!
In an instant, the knights responded to Bishiri Cascadia's signal and drew their swords en masse to subdue me, standing right in their midst.
The fight erupted in a flash, started by Bishiri's guard knights.
All the guards he'd brought were entry-level Experts.
A realm even one ordinary Aura User would struggle against.
But that didn't matter to me.
And Bishiri Cascadia, who had been pressuring Melissa, was mid-level Expert.
So he must be feeling his pride deeply wounded right now.
"Fine. I'll teach you manners myself."
"For a bandit, you're awfully cocky."
As his aura raged wildly, his guard knights fully drew their sword auras and surrounded me.
At the same time, footsteps echoed from all directions.
By the sound alone, about seven people.
Definitely the ones who'd come to assist Bishiri and were waiting outside.
They must have planned to resort to force if things went south.
"Leon!!"
Melissa shouted belatedly in alarm, but I hadn't returned her sword.
I had no intention of letting her hands get bloody in the first place.
More sword-wielding knights poured in.
Not all Experts, but solid Aura Users with decent skill.
For Tibel's forces, the number of Experts was higher than expected.
Probably mercenaries my uncle Tibel Cascadia had borrowed from outside to achieve his goal.
Likely supplied by whatever high-ranking central noble was backing Tibel.
"Subdue them appropriately. You can kill Leon."
Bishiri glared coldly at me and Melissa before heading outside.
Whoooosh!!!
The sword slicing through the air toward me was sharp and sudden.
But I ducked slightly to evade its path, then charged straight at the oncoming Aura User knight.
"Urk?!"
Startled by my unexpected speed, the knight hastily raised his sword.
Claaang!!!
My blade struck his with tremendous force, sending his sword flying with a deafening clang.
No mere experience could produce that feat.
"Crazy?! What kind of strength?!"
He tried to retreat for safety, but my foot was already pinning his, blocking his escape.
His next words were predictable with his footwork disrupted.
"Urk?!"
Slash!!!
His collapsing stance left his neck wide open to my swinging blade, tearing it clean off.
I was just an Aura User, but with far more aura than normal, I could draw it out like an Expert's sword aura.
I wrapped around the headless knight from behind, using him as a shield, then pivoted on one foot.
Two Expert-level knights' sword aura-clad blades pierced the corpse, aiming for my opening.
But I pulled back a step faster, using the body as a shield to block them.
Disbelief crossed the faces of the two Experts.
"Stabbing your own ally? Are you even human?"
"Wh-What kind of..."
Of course, the knights weren't idiots; they quickly withdrew their swords and attacked again.
In response, I kicked the pierced corpse at them.
While doing so, I smoothly drew the dagger from its waist.
The knight batting away the flying body raised his sword high.
But before it could descend, my dagger shredded his body.
He wore light armor protecting vitals, but the human body has plenty of weak points.
The physical enhancement of Aura Users who can't draw sword aura is all about the same.
Aura increases with realm, but since cases like mine—overwhelmingly more aura than even a Sword Master despite not being an Expert—were unknown, they couldn't gauge my enhanced body's efficiency.
The blade was short, but no big issue.
After that, I pierced the dense formation's weaknesses, weaving through the remaining six Aura User knights like a storm.
I slashed one with Melissa's sword, seized their weapons to parry incoming strikes with overwhelming force.
Overwhelming speed, overwhelming power.
The knights couldn't hide their shock at physical abilities defying common sense.
Slash!! Spurt!!!
Rampaging through their ranks limited even the Expert knights' attack range and frequency.
Using allies as shields for one-sided assaults left them furious.
The other knights tried counterattacking, but I yanked nearby ones into shield positions or dodged subtly to block.
Their focus had fully shifted from the unarmed Melissa to me.
"Gaaah!!"
"S-Spare me!"
As the desperate cries rang out, my sword flashed faster and sharper.
The two Experts, in this bind, included allies in their swings to cut me down.
Claaang!!!!!!
But shock etched their faces at what followed.
"I-In sane?!"
"What the..."
Their thrust swords cleaved through their ally knights like tofu and grazed me.
Yet despite the sword aura, not a scratch on my body.
"S-Sword Master's barrier..."
"Impossible! A Sword Master?!"
The technique called protective aura in wuxia tales. But blocking sword aura takes more than the basic version.
No wonder they were stunned—their sword auras weren't child's play.
Even crude, an Expert's sword aura could slice thick metal effortlessly.
For theirs to leave no mark, dismay and despair clouded their faces.
"Does my sword look like it has blade aura to you?"
"D-Don't talk nonsense!! What you just showed was clearly..."
"Enough."
After severing the last corpse's neck, I lowered Melissa's sword and took a step forward.
Boom!!!!
Uncontrolled aura erupted wildly, pressuring everything around.