Lingering Embers (1)
The same scenery, once again.
It didn't matter to me since I would just come back to life even if I died, but I had no desire to lose an innocent carriage and horse.
Pretending nothing was wrong, I adjusted my grip on the reins and drove slowly forward.
I acted as if I knew nothing, just like any other day, even slowing down slightly.
The light definitely flew in from the right.
Keeping my head facing straight ahead, I glanced sideways out of the corner of my eye.
As I did, I noticed the bushes rustling unnaturally.
Through the gaps, I spotted two crouched human figures.
I quietly pulled the carriage over to the shoulder.
I drew a dagger from my breast pocket.
Without a moment's hesitation, I hurled it toward their hiding spot.
I had aimed directly for the neck, but the blade veered off course and embedded itself in a shoulder instead.
"Argh!"
There was no way I would make such a mistake. Seeing the necklace around his neck glowing faintly as it swayed, it seemed he was wearing some kind of defensive artifact.
The pointy-eared elf, who looked every bit a mage, clutched his shoulder and snapped irritably at his masked companion.
Judging by his build, the masked one didn't seem like a normal human either.
Then again, no one but marginalized demi-humans would take on such dirty work.
"Y-you said we just had to bring the target back! Nobody said we'd have to fight a guy like that! We're screwed if we start a fight on the main road!"
"...I'm going to demand more money when we get back."
I had no intention of killing them.
But I at least needed to hear who sent them.
Even though it was obviously Roselyn.
Drawing the sword at my waist, I lunged forward.
The distance closed in an instant.
The mage hurriedly raised his hand.
I could see light gathering at his fingertips.
To do this without a staff meant he was likely a fairly skilled mage, but... he was far too slow.
Before the light could even burst from his fingertips, I was already right in front of him.
Stepping into his space, I struck his wrist with the pommel of my sword and lashed his neck with the flat of the blade.
The stray light scattered and exploded harmlessly into the empty air.
On the battlefield, such a thing would be unthinkable.
The bastards who knew how to cast spells there... handled swords far better than most ordinary soldiers.
Mages who couldn't defend themselves had long since died and rotted away.
In any case, seeing an opening, the masked one drew a dagger and lunged at my flank.
He was reasonably fast.
Decent enough for a lowly, wretched demi-human.
I twisted my upper body slightly, letting the blade slip past.
I felt the cold sensation of steel brushing right past my ribs.
At least I wasn't cut.
While appearing to dodge, I raised my elbow and stepped even closer.
Then, pivoting my body, I aimed straight for the masked man's temple.
Thud!
The blow landed cleanly.
I grabbed the staggering opponent's wrist, twisted it, and drove my knee into his ribs.
The dagger slipped from his grasp and clattered uselessly to the ground.
I tripped the silent foe, slamming him face-first into the dirt, then stood over him and kicked the back of his head.
I only kicked him twice, fearing any more would kill him.
Though getting hit in the back of the head like that would probably turn him into a vegetable anyway.
I didn't want to deal with cleaning up corpses all the way out here.
A thick cloud of dust kicked up around us.
If this were the battlefield, I would have sliced them both in half long ago. Trying to keep them alive felt awkward and unfamiliar.
Still, I held back just enough to ensure they wouldn't die.
I walked over to the mage, who was still clutching his neck and coughing on the ground, and pressed the tip of my sword against the nape of his neck.
A fair amount of blood was seeping from the shoulder where my dagger remained embedded.
"You'd better answer carefully. Who sent you?"
The masked one was already half-unconscious, letting out nothing but faint groans.
The mage was the only one left who could actually speak.
"..."
"I'll ask one more time. Who sent you?"
As I pressed the tip of the blade slightly deeper, the mage gasped and opened his mouth.
"She looked like the daughter of some noble house... We don't usually exchange names for this kind of work..."
"What did she look like?"
"Dark hair and... purplish eyes! They were blue, but with a violet tint! I-I told you everything, so please, can't you just let us go?"
It was obviously Roselyn.
I wasn't surprised, but I did feel a surge of irritation.
After all, it had hurt quite a bit when that wooden splinter pierced my neck earlier.
Even with the enemies right in front of me, a torrent of thoughts began to explode in my mind.
I could just kill these demi-humans right here, turn the horse around, and go find Roselyn.
I've visited the Avenberg estate a few times. It's a magnificent mansion with a river flowing in front and a beautiful flower garden in the back.
It's secluded, and aside from a few knights patrolling the perimeter, there aren't many guards.
I'll go there and take care of the gatekeepers. They know my face, so if I ride up on a single horse instead of a carriage, they'll open the gates without much suspicion.
Then, I'll kill those innocent gatekeepers who opened the gates so trustingly.
I'll make sure to be careful not to let too much blood splatter.
Next, I'll ride to the outskirts of the estate where the knights are training, pretending I just came to watch.
Surely, one of them will notice something off and approach me.
A few words back and forth, and a fight will inevitably break out.
Those idiots despise me, yet they're jealous of me—someone born into the Grian family who can't do a single thing right. They're disgusting creatures who believe the only thing they lack is a noble bloodline.
Anyway, once they pick a fight, I'll fly into a rage, claiming they insulted me. I'll challenge them to a duel, pretend to struggle a bit, and then plunge a hidden dagger straight into their chests.
The rest... well, I can handle them somehow.
And then, I'll go find Roselyn, who will have no one left to protect her...
The delusion spiraled deeper and deeper.
Only after closing my eyes tightly and letting out a long sigh did my sense of reality return.
"Go back and tell her. No matter what kind of pathetic tricks she pulls, I'm never going to see her."
The mage nodded frantically, desperate to live.
Turning my back, I walked toward the carriage, keeping my senses sharp in case they tried to cast a spell from behind.
Even as I drove past them, making eye contact, there was no sign of retaliation.
It felt incredibly awkward.
The fact that we had clashed, yet both walked away without killing each other.
The sheer awkwardness of it made the fingers holding the reins itch intensely.
I scratched at them repeatedly, until I realized I had clawed right through the skin.
Truth be told, I liked being envied by others.
I wanted people to look up to me, even for the most trivial things.
Perhaps it was a psychological deficiency.
After all, I had never received proper praise while growing up.
Maybe that was why... when my dying comrades on the battlefield praised me, I didn't entirely hate it.
It was far warmer than anything I had ever heard from my family.
It was just... I hated the thought of someone I had grown close to suddenly vanishing, so I simply stopped talking to people.
That was why I hated the battlefield.
Even if I survived and came back, those beside me rarely did.
Moreover, even if I did make it back, my body was slowly being consumed by the memories and emotions of that pathetic fool, Lihen... and killing people was never enjoyable.
In that sense, I thought things would get at least a little better once I returned from the war.
I believed I wouldn't be trapped by those memories and emotions anymore.
But now, I find myself wishing I had listened to the Commander and transferred to another front instead.
At least while I was killing and being killed, I didn't have to waste my time thinking about stupid things like this.
Who would have thought that returning to the Grian estate would end with my head smashed in by my own sister?
And all because I smoked a bit, drank, and acted a little irritable.
Besides, Roselyn acts as if everything would be solved if I just stayed by her side, but anyone could see that being near her would only grind my soul down until nothing was left.
Whether it was the Grians or Roselyn, the only answer was to get as far away as possible from any place bearing a noble name.
And the place furthest from that stench of nobility... was the Capital.
Entering the Capital, a literal wave of vitality washed over me.
It immediately gave off the impression of a thriving, prosperous city.
There wasn't a trace of worry or anxiety on the faces of the people.
Of course they wouldn't have any.
The Empire was at war with almost every neighboring nation... but they weren't losing on any front.
There were plenty of ways to make a living everywhere, and even a clueless country bumpkin from the middle of nowhere could come to the Capital, take up a job like adventuring, and feed themselves.
You couldn't say there was no corruption, but it wasn't rampant.
In short... it was a decent place to live.
Thanks to that, the Capital was not just crowded, but practically overflowing with people.
And Arin was here.
Right in the middle of this countless crowd of people.
That girl.