Chapter 61
Chapter 61
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Side Story - Encounter (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
People's gazes weren't as stinging as expected.
It wasn't simply because he was walking around holding a severed human head. It was because they knew who that head belonged to.
From Leo, especially to avoid meeting the eyes of Mend Decal's killer, people deliberately averted their gazes.
But it didn't matter. The very act of looking away meant they'd already seen what was happening.
Right now, all Leo could think about was this.
'It's starting to stink. Isn't there a decent place to hang it?'
Just as that thought crossed his mind, he spotted a tall tree nearby.
"Perfect."
Muttering to himself, he hurled the head onto a branch. The head dangled there, swaying like a gruesome Christmas tree ornament.
"Hey!"
As he turned to leave after that warning, someone called out to him. Turning around, he saw a knight in chainmail holding a spear.
'...City guard?'
The weapon looked well-maintained, so probably.
"We got a report. Kid, you're coming with me."
"...And if I say no?"
"We can always deal with you on the spot."
The spear tip gleamed sharply in the sunlight. That was probably how the punishment would be carried out.
"What's my crime? Cutting off the money line from your bribe source?"
The guard's face suddenly hardened. It was just a probe, but it seemed to hit the mark.
Shhhk!
Not missing the opening, sand scattered. Rough grains kicked up by his foot stabbed into the guard's eyes.
"Gah!"
Not missing the chance, Leo gripped his sword hilt.
Whoosh!
Even with his eyes squeezed shut, he could swing the spear. As a guard, he had decent spear skills.
"Dance for me. Go on."
The problem was his vision was blocked, so his distance judgment was way off. Hearing Leo's voice, the guard rubbed his eyes and charged in that direction.
"Die...!!"
In that instant, Leo reflected sunlight off his blade. To eyes trapped in darkness by sand, that reflected light was a lethal flash.
"You die, asshole."
Thud!
The flat of the blade struck, sending the guard tumbling. Leo stomped on his gut and started kicking his face.
Thwack! Thud!
After a couple more such sounds, confirming the guard was out cold, Leo snatched his spear and jammed it into the ground beside the tree.
"...This should do it."
Leo wedged the spear between the plates of the guard's armor, creating a scarecrow-like figure.
The pathetic bandit leader and the incompetent guard who turned a blind eye—there was no more fitting pair.
"Kuh... Ptui!"
As a final courtesy bonus, he spit on the guard's facial wounds for disinfection.
"...What a pain."
He wasn't particularly worried about repercussions. If anything, they'd be busy covering up the guard getting beaten by a mere kid and their bribery scandal.
"Guess I'll buy some meat for a change."
The quest reward would be generous, so he figured he'd stock up on dried jerky or something.
With that light thought, Leo headed toward the market street.
And then.
"You there. Stop."
He ran into trouble again.
"...Is my luck cursed today or something? Why do I keep getting picked on..."
Turning around, the rest of his words died in his throat. Behind him stood a miniature sun.
He couldn't comprehend how a human could radiate such brilliance, so for a split second, he concluded the boy—no, girl—was the sun itself.
"You're the one who did that to those people, right?"
The girl with long silver hair and blue eyes asked. Her beauty made the high-quality pendant around her neck look plain.
"...How do you know who 'those people' are?"
Leo quickly regained his composure. As a mercenary, he'd long mastered calming his nerves.
"The one with just his head hanging from the tree, and the one tied to the spear."
At that description, Leo let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. Offended by his rudeness, the girl glared.
"...What, playing apostle of justice?"
"...What?"
"Whether I cut off heads or beat people up, that's none of your business. Unless they're family or friends—which, are they?"
He asked because he was certain they weren't.
"No."
As expected.
"Still, that's unforgivable."
"Who are you to forgive or not? Do you even know what they did?"
"No. But I know you shouldn't do things like that carelessly."
Their conversation kept missing the mark. The market crowd had gone quiet amid the absurd exchange.
"...We can't communicate. Get lost while I'm asking nicely..."
That's when Leo noticed the pendant around her neck. A lion emblem centered on a holy sword—only one house bore that crest.
"...Ha... so that's how it is."
Leo chuckled as he removed his gloves. Then he tossed them at her.
Thwap.
"...You know what that means?"
"You're such a great knight, right? No need to drag this out. Let's fight."
No formality, no courtesy—but the duel was on.
"Fine. Let's do it."
The girl drew her sword from her waist. But it wasn't a battlefield weapon.
"...What the hell?"
A dagger. At worst, a fruit knife; at best, something to cut rope.
"I don't want to swing a real sword at trash like you."
"...Hah... is that so?"
The provocation only annoyed Leo, without igniting rage. He'd endured far worse insults countless times.
"Want me to tell you something?"
Leo gripped his own sword at his waist. Of course, it was a longsword that had claimed dozens of lives.
"The headless guy's the bandit leader who killed and looted people. The beaten one's a guard who knew and looked the other way."
The girl froze for a moment.
"...?!"
He'd said it deliberately to target that reaction. Leo charged immediately. She might call it cowardly, but it was undeniable fact.
Clang!
For a split second, the swords halted. By all rights, Leo's blade should've knocked her dagger aside.
But it was Leo's sword that stopped. He'd struck first, and his weapon had the advantage.
"...I didn't know that."
Yet her dagger gripped his longsword firm. Pressing the tip against the blade at a single point.
A feat more suited to an acrobat than a knight or mercenary.
"...Tch...!"
He'd expected it.
Aura—a technique a lowly scum like him could never learn or even witness.
Thud!
This time, he aimed a roundhouse kick. But as if it were nothing, she dodged his foot and slammed her hilt into his wrist.
The longsword clattered to the ground, and Leo collapsed.
Her dagger pointed at him, her breathing steady as ever.
"I won't make you apologize. I get it now. Get up."
She sheathed her dagger and offered her hand. The merciful, almost saintly scene moved onlookers to tears.
Slap!
Only Leo smacked it away.
"Fuck off... you kidding? Again. Don't look down on me like that."
Leo gripped his sword again with his swelling wrist.
"Why? The misunderstanding's cleared. No reason to fight."
"Maybe no reason. But... scum like me has something called pride."
He swung again. Even with one swollen hand, the blade moved faster than before. The girl seemed about to dodge the swift strike by retreating, but
Clang!
This time, she shattered his sword outright. Leo had pressed the attack, yet Leo was the one defeated.
"Now we can stop, right?"
Her gaze looking down,
"Don't hold back...!!"
Another sword drew from his off-hand. The surprise draw, unswollen hand making it even faster.
"I said no!!"
Stab!
The sword plunged in. A mistake born of the ambush. Blood spurted and flowed. The crowd couldn't even scream at the sudden sight.
"...Keep going like this, and you'll die."
"I know... pretty deep...!"
The dagger impaled Leo. Side of his chest, fabric torn, deep red stain spreading.
"...Step back. If you don't wanna die."
Leo stepped forward instead. The blade sank deeper, pain heralding death.
"...Why are you doing this."
"People like you could never understand, even in a hundred lifetimes...! You worry about how to live tomorrow... but I..."
More blood flowed. The wound near his heart—bleeding severe.
"...I... every day... wonder how I'll die tomorrow...!"
Yet his words didn't stop.
Was it simply because he wanted her to kill him?
Or because he wanted someone—anyone—to hear this?
No one knew.
"...I'm no great person like you... haven't had a reason to live in ages..."
What flashed by his eyes was, ironically, his mother's face—whose body was never even found.
"If trash like me dies to someone like you... maybe... I can go proudly...? Right...?"
It was nearly mad ravings. Madness utterly indifferent to others. With that, the boy gripped her dagger in his bloodied hand.
"...Just twist the angle a bit and it's certain..."
In that moment, Leo stopped. Like a sinner facing his own guilt.
"You..."
The boy released his hand.
"I'll call it quits."
Blood still pouring, Leo tore his sleeve to staunch it.
"...You need proper treatment...!"
"Forget it. Don't mind a loser's wounds. That's more humiliating."
When that didn't work well, Leo eyed a nearby lamp. Hung by merchants for night business.
"Mind if I borrow this, mister?"
"...Huh? Uh, sure?!"
Without waiting for a proper reply, Leo grabbed the lamp.
Sizzle!
He pressed the heated lamp to his chest. The sound of searing flesh and burning smell filled the market.
An act so bold and brutal, unimaginable for a boy.
"This'll disinfect it too."
Looking at the cauterized, oozing wound, Leo said. No one responded.
Everyone was too shocked, hands over mouths.
"Thanks for the use, mister. Wipe it off, good as new."
With that, Leo walked to the inn. As he left, the market buzzed.
Is he insane? High on something?
Did that kid really kill Decal?
Why pick a fight and then try to die?
As they gossiped those questions, Leo argued with the innkeeper about his chest wound before collapsing onto the bed.
"...Ha... damn it..."
If she'd thrust all the way, it would've ended. He had no lingering attachment to this shitty life.
"...Killed a wyvern and all... why the shakes..."
But her hand, trembling as it held the dagger he'd grabbed.
"...Ha... fuck... embarrassing..."
Leo chose defeat over death.
That was Leo's first defeat to Aria.