Chapter 24
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: It Was a Mess
Ever since we first met, Iodine had been sulking whenever she saw me.
“Senior. Why the long face? The exchange went well, didn't it?”
When I tapped her shoulder and asked, she bit her lip hard and glared at me.
I think a curse word just reached the tip of her tongue...
But in the end, she suppressed it and looked away from me again.
“Come on, what's wrong? You're not going to talk to your one and only junior ever again?”
When I tapped her shoulder once more, she finally couldn't hold it in and screamed.
“This isn't right! It's not right! Is this really how a senior and their only junior should be speaking to each other? This is a public setting! What kind of junior speaks so casually to their senior in a formal place! A knight without courtesy is no different from a robber! Don't you know that?”
Iodine, rebuking me with a sound argument.
However, the junior Lansen who used to be flustered by Iodine's nagging was no more.
“Yeah? Then you should have won.”
“Ghk...!”
Silenced by a single sentence, Iodine clamped her mouth shut.
I could feel her firm resolve to not speak with me at all rather than engage in a conversation that broke etiquette.
I chuckled and stretched my whole body.
Indeed, there's nothing like stretching and teasing others to ease the tension.
The past fourteen days.
It was a time spent striving to completely master the Art of Entrusting the Sword, which I had awakened to thanks to the Grand Duke.
And finally, today had come again.
Two failures.
The day to repay that humiliation.
Rather than feeling nervous, I was excited.
Because the Art of Entrusting the Sword had opened a far greater horizon for me than I had ever imagined.
“Wow! Sir Lansen, you even won against Sir Iodine?!”
A voice, sparkling like the color of fresh green, came from my side.
Milo.
The one I couldn't protect.
Even now, he was stuck right beside me, his eyes shining.
Watching him, Iodine tilted her head.
“But... Trainee Milo, why do you like Junior Lansen so much?”
It seemed even Iodine, who had been keeping her mouth shut, was too curious to hold this question back.
The grand banquet hall, on the last day of the exchange.
Today, I had deliberately brought Milo with me over to Iodine's side.
To protect them both.
As a result, Iodine also showed interest in Milo.
She must have found it strange how he ceaselessly looked at me with sparkling eyes, while all the other trainees treated me like a villain.
“Ah! Sir Iodine! Listen! The thing is, I...!”
Milo straightened his posture, about to repeat from start to finish everything he had already chattered to me about.
I placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Milo. Let's not give up this time.”
“Huh?”
“Let's not give up until the very end. There might be a way.”
“What does that...? Ah! Sir Lansen! Look over there! It's starting!”
The boy, who had been tilting his head with wide eyes, pointed at the skylight in alarm.
Dong—
A bell rang.
Yes.
It was beginning.
The psychedelic gate appeared, and trainees everywhere were mutating into monsters.
It's finally here.
“Junior Lansen!”
Iodine called out to me, her expression hardening.
But I gently pushed her away.
“Junior?”
“Iodine. Listen to me carefully. From now on, you will lead the knights and evacuate the unaffected trainees.”
“What are you talking about? We have to hold back the enemy before we can even think of evacuating...!”
“I'll hold off the monsters. Once the evacuation is complete, gather all available forces. Look to the south of the city; there will be a strange light. Attack that place and eliminate the source.”
At my words, the look in Iodine's eyes changed.
She instantly erased her confusion and sharpened her gaze.
“...Junior Lansen. Do you know something?”
“Don't hesitate for a second.”
“What on earth are you talking about...”
“Even if you encounter an elder from our school there. I'm telling you, do not hesitate.”
“Are you... talking about the Grand Duke's brother?”
I just shrugged my shoulders.
After repeating time about three times, it became clear.
Kashigiere Celsius, also known as the Grand Duke's brother.
Grand Duke Laitena's older brother.
That man.
He is definitely involved in this incident.
Anyway, I've said what I needed to say. The rest is up to Iodine.
“Junior. I understand what you're saying. But, facing those monsters alone is absurd...”
“Iodine. You lost to me last time and promised to grant me one wish, right?”
“Wait! That was...”
“This is that wish. Do as I say. You'll only get in the way if you're here anyway.”
“...”
Iodine gritted her teeth.
It was for this moment.
The reason I earned that wish.
To make her follow my orders at this very moment.
No matter how I thought about it, this was the only way to perfectly complete this mission.
“There's no time. Move quickly.”
Overwhelmed by my request, backed by my skill, Iodine had no choice but to back down.
“I understand, Junior. I'll do as you say. But...”
After hesitating and hesitating, she lightly punched my chest and said,
“Don't you dare die, Lansen.”
“Yes, yes, Senior.”
After a few more moments of hesitation, Iodine finally left to carry out my instructions.
Only then did I look at Milo beside me.
His shirt was already torn, revealing his light green skin, and his body was considerably contorted.
“Grrr... S-Sir Lansen... Grk... My... body... feels strange...”
Right, Milo.
Let's endure this.
This time, let's find a way for everyone to live.
Graaaaaah!
A monster lunged at me with its jaws wide open, and Milo, once again, charged at it to protect me.
But this time,
I won't let him die.
One step ahead of Milo, I cut down the monster.
Swish!
A wolf monster's head was severed and fell, struck by a sword that shot out like lightning.
White flames erupted from the severed neck.
Yes. This is it.
This is how amazing it is for one's reaction time to become zero.
Humans have their limits.
No matter how fast their sword, there's an unavoidable delay between the moment they decide to attack and the actual execution.
Catching up to foes like these monsters before me—who begin to dodge the moment they see a preparatory motion or read an intent to attack—is an incredibly difficult feat.
But once you achieve the Art of Entrusting the Sword and your reaction time becomes zero, this limit disappears.
How could anyone possibly dodge a sword that strikes before the thought to do so is even formed?
Yes.
This is the feeling.
Swish!
Slice!
With every swing of my sword, a monster's neck is caught.
“Grrr... S-Sir Lansen? Grk...!”
Perhaps surprised by my martial prowess, Milo let out a bizarre cry of astonishment from behind me.
Yeah, that's right. Just watch.
I see the endlessly swarming monsters.
A wide smile spreads across my lips.
There was another reason I had to save Milo.
Of course, the main reason was simply that I wanted him to live.
‘For some reason, all the monsters rush to kill Milo.’
In my previous attempts, it was impossible to hold back all the monsters.
They had a different objective, and no matter how I tried to block their path, the others would just break through the walls and leave the banquet hall.
But as long as Milo is still alive.
Every single one of the over 300 monsters in the banquet hall will charge at him.
‘I won't miss a single one.’
Vanroah, now an extension of myself, cuts through everything in its path.
One head for every strike.
Kaaaaang!
Stronger monsters were mixed in among them.
Monsters that could parry my Aura Blade and even counterattack.
I evade their counterattacks.
I flick my sword away and take down the weaker monsters first.
Zzzzt—!
Sometimes, a horrifying blow would even tear through my Aura Shield.
But I twist my body to dodge even those.
The amount of information my sword conveyed to me was incomparable to before.
I could read moves from much further ahead, and sometimes, the sword would move on its own to create an opening before I could even read them.
I'm intoxicated.
Intoxicated by the sword.
Dodge.
Thrust.
Block.
Cut.
This is fun.
This is exhilarating.
Was I always this strong?
The multicolored moonlight pours in through the skylight.
Beneath it, a dance of aura, blades, and claws.
How long did I fight, lost in a trance?
By the time my aura, which had flowed like an endless river, ran dry, and my limbs ached and trembled as if they would break...
“Hah... hah... hah...”
Only the sound of my breathing filled the vast banquet hall.
I killed them all.
At my feet, the corpses of hundreds of monsters burned with white fire.
Looking at the scene, I realized.
‘In this era, does a knight even exist who could face me?’
What about the Grand Masters, of whom there were rumored to be only three in all of Gloryland and two in Roverland...? How would they fare?
A sense of fulfillment seeped deep into my chest.
Ah,
This journey through time.
It took far longer than I expected,
but I gained so much.
Now, my siblings just need to be safe.
They will be.
There's the clever Sea, and they're all skilled with the sword.
Believing this, I flicked the blood off Vanroah and sheathed it.
The battle was over. All that remained was the cleanup.
“Grrr...”
When I turned around, there was Milo, now completely transformed into a monster.
“Milo, just hold on a little longer. There must be a way to turn you back to normal. You're doing well. Just keep holding on like this.”
I stroked his light green back.
But he shook his head.
“No... Grk. Sir Lansen... It's not like that... Grrr.”
“Don't say that. There are brilliant mages here. They'll surely find a way.”
“I'm sorry... Sir Lansen... It's not like that... I know... I can feel it! Grk. This... it's irreversible... Grk! I... may not die as a knight... Grrraaa! But at least... I'll die as a human. Grrrrr!”
“Milo!”
I couldn't stop him.
Swish!
Milo slashed his own neck with his claws.
Thud. Thud.
Roll...
Tears welled in the eyes of the boy's head as it rolled across the floor.
And,
Kwarururuk!
The great evil hidden within his body erupted into countless tentacles.
His stomach and chest burst open, and writhing tentacles just aimed for me.
“Ah...”
I swung Vanroah, cutting away the tentacles, and approached Milo's tattered remains.
“...You suffered a lot.”
I bowed my head deeply and plunged Vanroah into his corpse.
His body burned with white flames.
My heart feels heavy.
What can't be helped, can't be helped.
I know that, but...
Without suppressing the surging pity, I mourn for him.
Later,
I mean, if you're reborn in about 10,000 years,
be born into our family. I'll treat you well...
“Lansen! Junior Lansen!”
After a long while, I lifted my drooping head at the sound of a voice calling my name.
Through a collapsed wall of the banquet hall, Iodine was leading a group of knights inside.
“You were right, Junior Lansen! The Grand Duke's brother was performing the dark arts of a heretical cult!”
Hoo...
I took a deep breath and straightened my back.
The last of Milo's remains disappeared, turning into white ash.
Shaking off my last lingering feelings, I asked Iodine.
“So, did you cut him down?”
“We did!”
Good.
With this, I've erased one of the Grand Duke's worries... It's not nearly enough, but I suppose I've repaid a tiny fraction of the debt I owe him.
Well done.
The moment I parted my lips to say those words.
Tick-tock-tick-tock.
The sound of a second hand ticking poured in.
“Lansen? Junior! Lansen!!!”
Iodine's voice grew distant.
Ah, right.
I'm going back. Finally.
I thought I'd feel relieved and fortunate.
But this moment, now that it's here, feels somehow...
disappointing.
* * *
When I came to my senses, it was night, and I was in the center of Kushan City.
I slowly turned my gaze to survey my surroundings.
Let's see.
The lord's castle is still half-destroyed.
The streets are littered with bloodstains, corpses, and burnt-out buildings.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Gyaaaak!”
Even though it's the dead of night, faint screams can be heard from somewhere.
As expected.
Kushan City seems to have gone to hell.