The Swordmaster's Laborer Debut!?(3)
The incident happened with no warning at all. In an instant no one had anticipated, in a place no one had considered.
─RRRRRUMBLE……!
"W-what the—? What's this—?"
A violent tremor surged up from beneath the ground. The laborer staggered, spreading his legs to regain his balance—and in that moment, a monster's snout burst straight up through the floor and swallowed him whole.
The laborer, caught in the cylindrical maw lined with jagged teeth, felt his entire body being shredded apart as if dragged across a saw blade.
"Ghk—AAAAAGH—!"
"W-what the hell is that!"
"It's a monster! Run!"
"Damn adventurers—! It's a monster, I'm telling you, a monster!"
His scream became the spark that sent everyone scattering. The laborers fled, while the adventurers charged in the opposite direction, weapons drawn.
But the monster that had so suddenly revealed itself simply slipped back beneath the earth as if nothing had happened. The adventurers who finally reached the hole stared down into the deep burrow and realized what they were dealing with.
"It's a Death Worm……"
"A, an upper-rank monster……"
"A monster……!? W-we can't possibly beat something like—"
A Death Worm. A creature that lived underground, cleaning up the scraps left above ground—nature's scavenger. Not a single person present could explain why this scavenger was suddenly targeting living humans.
It was something no one had ever noticed. Knights had no interest in monster ecology, so naturally they wouldn't know. And even adventurers had no reason to understand what would happen if they left slain monsters' corpses unattended.
After all, adventurers made their living off the byproducts harvested from monster carcasses. They certainly didn't leave bodies lying around.
"─Everyone, don't be afraid!"
Just as the adventurers were trembling at the appearance of an upper-rank monster they couldn't possibly hunt, Beige bellowed, brandishing the sword he'd brought from far away.
"If we all pool our strength, we can take down any monster, upper-rank or not! Together, we can defeat any creature that exists!"
Beige's words—backed by the fact that he'd just punched a higher-rank adventurer into submission—combined with the gleaming blade in his hand, and the panicked adventurers slowly began to recover their composure.
But as if to punish him for shouting so loudly, the ground beneath Beige's feet began to shake violently. The Death Worm's snout burst through the trembling earth, aiming straight for Beige.
"Guh—!"
Beige swung his sword at the Death Worm that was about to swallow him whole. He knew his swordsmanship wasn't particularly impressive, but he figured it was better than dying without putting up a fight.
However, that swing produced results far beyond anything he could have imagined.
─KIEEEEERC—!
"W-what—?"
The Death Worm was cleanly severed in half by the blade. Even the flesh behind where Beige hadn't struck was cut through all at once.
As he stood there, dazed and wondering how such a thing could have happened, the adventurers who had been watching erupted in cheers.
"Oh, WOOOOOOOOO—!"
"What the hell! You! How did you just do that!"
"You were hiding your strength!"
"N-no—this was me……"
It wasn't me. As Beige tried to say that, he looked down at the sword in his hand. Not a single drop of blood stained its gleaming surface.
What if this sword was something special? And if the feat that had just occurred was truly his own doing?
"─The Blue Son, Beige, did it!"
"WAAAAAAAH—!"
"Beige! Beige! Beige!"
At that moment, Beige reveled in the praise raining down on him.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Evan, having recalled his mind-blade, let out a long sigh as he watched Beige.
'Why did you take my sword……'
He'd been about to step in himself—but Beige had taken his sword, leaving him no choice.
As a result, Evan had been forced to attempt the No-Form Sword, Sky-Cut, and Defense-Ignore sword magic combo in a rush. He'd never succeeded at it even once during practice.
'Did my No-Form Sword skill improve? Or is it something else……'
Perhaps the Super Perception he'd gained after his relationship with Seolhyang had helped. Either way, he could now channel sword magic through his No-Form Sword.
That was a tremendous advantage. It meant Evan could unleash nearly the same combat power anywhere, anytime—even with empty hands.
Considering that some Transcendents saw their combat ability plummet simply because they lacked a weapon, this proved he was one step ahead of them.
"─Eri."
"Ah, Mr. Beige. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. But……"
Beige approached Evan, hesitantly looking down at the sword before carefully extending it toward him.
As Evan took the sword back, Beige bowed deeply in apology.
"I'm sorry for using your sword without permission. If I'd known it was something so incredible, I never would have used it so carelessly."
"It's not that incredible."
"……No way. A sword that lets a low-rank adventurer like me slice a Death Worm in half with a single strike?"
"I bought it at the smithy for five thousand elsos."
"……What?"
Five thousand elsos. Expensive, yes—but absurdly cheap for the kind of devastating power Beige had just demonstrated.
A sword capable of producing magical effects like the one Beige had just shown would start at a minimum of one hundred thousand elsos. No one could make a blade with that kind of performance at that price.
And that meant the one who had just defeated the Death Worm was……
"My hidden power, then……"
"That's not it."
"Huh…?"
"I don't know about anything else, but—misunderstanding that part could be dangerous, so I'm telling you. Please don't go around saying it, okay?"
Evan let out a long sigh and pushed back the hair covering his eyes. His pupils, gleaming like black crystals, were revealed—and Beige swallowed hard as he stared at them.
"Look, here."
"W-what? What are you—?"
"My face. Doesn't it look familiar to you?"
At those words, Beige began scanning Evan's face intently. Despite knowing he was a man, some androgynous allure emanating from him stimulated Beige's optic nerves.
Sweating and swallowing as he dragged out the moment, Beige soon realized who Evan's face resembled.
"……T-the Swordmaster Evan?"
"Yes. That's right. I am that Swordmaster."
"But, the adventurer guild said you were a new recruit…… And your name was——"
"I had my reasons for hiding my identity."
"Reasons? What kind of——"
At that moment, instead of saying something like 'I lost my adventurer guild registration and the staff didn't recognize me, so I hid my identity for fun,' Evan simply smiled faintly.
Watching Beige's face redden at that smile, Evan shook his head, letting his hair fall back over his eyes.
"Anyway—don't go around thinking I'm super strong and jumping into fights, okay? If you die, it'll just make my dreams restless."
"Y-yes. I'll be careful. Careful……"
"Good! Then let's go, Mr. Beige!"
Evan said that and returned to the construction site.
Beige could only stare at his retreating back.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Despite the major incident that had just cost a life, construction continued. Of course, given that the same thing could happen again, mages were stationed around the laborers at all times.
The atmosphere suggested that human lives were of little importance compared to the great project decreed by His Majesty—but no one existed who would defy that atmosphere and call for a work stoppage.
"Eri! Hand me that!"
"Me too!"
"Y-yes, coming."
Watching all of this, Evan gradually began to learn about something called "social awareness."
Social awareness meant reading other people's cues.
More precisely, it meant reading the cues of something stronger than yourself. The laborers here were weaker than the Spear King. They were weaker than the knights and mages who monitored (guarded) them under the Spear King's orders.
Outmatched in both power and force, they had no choice but to read the room—even if people were dying.
That was what social awareness was.
'Something I don't need……'
Having felt no necessity for it whatsoever, Evan finished his work and headed toward the foreman's tent.
Inside, the foreman who supervised the laborers and a knight who received reports from the foreman were talking about something.
"─Huh? You—what do you want, kid."
"Ah, nothing much. I'm just tired of it. I want to quit."
"Quit?……Did you not even read the contract when you signed? You can't leave here for a month. If you want to go, try walking back."
"Hmm……I think talking to that knight over there would be faster."
Evan left the incomprehensible foreman behind and looked at the knight standing behind him. The knight, who had been looking at Evan with the expression of 'what does an adventurer want with me,' immediately straightened his posture when he saw the Swordmaster's insignia Evan pulled out.
"P-pardon! Knight Michael at your service!"
"Knight, is it all right if I go back now?"
"O-of course! You can take the train that's arriving soon!"
"Thank you."
Leaving the still-dazed foreman behind, Evan exited the tent and was guided to a VIP tent by the knight who followed him out. He waited there.
After a short while, the whistle of a train carrying new workers and materials sounded in the distance.
"I hope your journey is pleasant!"
"Yes——"
Evan climbed aboard the train and slumped into a plush seat, completely relaxed. The laborer work hadn't been hard, but it had involved a lot of bothersome things.
He'd endured those troubles, figuring there was nothing more to learn. That was why he'd gotten on the return train.
'Ah, I want to see Sister Seolhyang soon.'
For a virgin boy who had only just discovered the taste of a woman, holding out for a whole week was pretty impressive, he thought.
Evan smiled happily, thinking of Seolhyang waiting for him at home.
'Hmm?'
Outside the window, a monster was running alongside the train. The train had just departed, yet this creature was keeping pace with its speed.
There should have been a monster-approach prohibition magic laid around the railway…… As Evan stared at the monster in curiosity, the train shook.
THUD—!
"……What was that."
Something had dropped onto the train.
Onto the train that was already speeding along.
That something walked steadily toward the train's connecting section, then opened a door and stepped into the cabin where Evan was sitting.
"─What an interesting thing."
A man reeking of blood appeared. Evan frowned and stared at him.
The man spotted Evan and slowly approached his seat. Sitting down opposite Evan, the man crossed his legs and looked at him.
"Kid. Is this train heading to the kingdom?"
"……Who are you calling kid, mister?"
"Anyone smaller than me is a kid."
"Then there's no one older than you, mister."
"So it seems. Euhahahaha—!"
The man, laughing, only then noticed the blood smeared all over his body and pulled a handkerchief from his coat.
He wiped away the blood with a handkerchief of a pattern that was impossible to imagine from his appearance, then neatly folded it and tucked it into his inner pocket before speaking.
"I'm Atlas. Call me Ras."
"……I'm Evan."
"Oh, you're——"
The train's whistle echoed through the car.
We said nothing. We just stared at each other.
That was the best conversation.