Chapter 21: Training(3)
Chapter 21: Training(3)
"Wind Blade."
A blade-like wind poured forth from the orb. It was hard to believe even seeing it with my own eyes, but its power was in no way inferior to when the bandit or Lina had used it.
The blade of wind shot forward with a murderous force, as if it would slice through anything in its path.
CRASH—
After the storm passed, a silence fell. The White Witch nodded. It seemed I had done it without any problems.
The tingling sensation of using magic still lingered in my hand. This feeling could be addictive.
"You did quite well."
'It'd be stranger if he couldn't do it with that much talent.'
But the White Witch's praise didn't even reach Kerry's ears. So this is magic.
A man's dream! A wave of emotion washed over me, the feeling of having finally achieved that dream.
It was the joy of fulfilling my dream of becoming a mage. It felt like all my hardships in this other world were finally being rewarded, just a little.
'Do I finally have a way to protect myself now?'
It might still be weak, but it was a start. I just had to take it one step at a time.
"So. How does it feel to have the magic you so desperately wanted in your hands?"
"It's amazing! I feel like I could fly!"
To think I'd given up on something I could use so easily. Of course, it was only thanks to a series of fortunate encounters.
As Kerry ran around the meadow, overjoyed, the White Witch spoke in an unexpectedly lonely voice.
"Now that... you've learned magic, will you stop coming?"
"What are you talking about? You think I'll stop coming just because I learned this one thing? You'd better be prepared to have all your knowledge squeezed out of you, Witch. When that happens, I'll promise you your freedom."
"Do you intend to spend a lifetime with me? A lifetime wouldn't be enough for you to drain my well of knowledge..."
"We'll have to see about that. I'll be in your care from now on, Witch."
Saying he had to sleep now, Kerry left. He vanished without a trace, just as he had arrived.
Only then did the White Witch let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm not alone..."
*
Morning came. My body felt stiff and sluggish, as I'd been cutting back on sleep lately to visit the White Witch.
I was spending more and more time sleeping in the moving carriage.
But the results were so great that I didn't feel tired at all.
"Sirs. We'll be arriving at the castle soon."
The coachman called out to us. The words woke me right up. So the long journey was finally coming to an end.
Just as the coachman said, a castle was visible in the distance. It wasn't a huge castle, but it was of a respectable size.
Lina looked out the window with a complicated expression.
She looked worried that something might go wrong. Day and night, Lina was always worrying about others.
"Whoa, whoa."
The coachman reined in the horses. His job was done. It seemed he wouldn't be going inside the castle, as the process was more troublesome than one might think.
"Sirs. Take care on your way in."
"Thank you for your hard work."
I didn't know where it was headed, but the carriage began to turn back the way it came.
We walked toward the castle entrance. It wasn't wartime, so security wasn't especially tight, but I could see two guards standing watch at the gate.
Seeing them yawning and dozing off during their shift, they didn't exactly look like model guards.
Lina's party got in line behind the others waiting to enter the castle. Soon, it was our turn.
"Show me your permits. If you don't have any, pay the toll."
You needed a permit to enter the castle. In this world, a permit served as a kind of identification.
Of course, you could still get in without one. You just had to pay and submit to an inspection for dangerous items.
"We don't have permits. We'll pay the toll. How much is it?"
The guard answered with a bored expression.
"10 silver."
'That's way too expensive.'
I've only been in this world for two years, but that was long enough to know this was a rip-off. From what I'd heard, the usual price was 1 silver per person.
But Lina, probably not wanting to raise her voice, quietly took out the money and handed it over.
"What's this?"
"It's 10 silver... is the amount wrong?"
"That's not it. I meant 10 silver per person. The young lady seems to have trouble understanding."
"You... son of a bitch."
A torrent of curses was about to erupt from my mouth, but Lina clamped a hand over it. Our regressor is such a sucker.
This is exactly the time you need to let loose with a stream of curses to feel better.
'Then again, if we cause trouble and can't get into the castle... that would be a headache, too.'
From the regressor's perspective, it made sense to think it was better to just hand over a few coins and get in easily.
Lina handed the guard 40 silver, the share for all four of us. The weight of the coin pouch seemed to wake the two guards up, their eyes widening.
'40 silver is more than half a year's living expenses from my adventurer days. You shameless bastards.'
The guards snickered, pleased with themselves. Just when I thought we could finally enter the castle safely...
...the guards suddenly blocked our path as we tried to walk past them.
"The payment is settled, but there's still one more thing to do, isn't there?"
'The search for dangerous weapons.'
Searching for dangerous weapons was a castle guard's duty. If it were just a search of our luggage, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it also included a body search.
The problem was that we had two stunningly beautiful women with us.
The men sent us overtly lecherous smiles.
They aimed particularly filthy, sticky gazes at Lina.
'If I went with my gut, I'd just kill them.'
I'd finished charging the magic orb before bed. I was in the mood to give them a little Wind Blade surprise right here.
Even as the bastards taunted us, openly declaring their intent to search our bodies, there was nothing we could do.
That's the rotten absurdity of this barbaric world!
"Lina. Let's give up on entering through the main gate for now. There's no need to endure this kind of humiliation."
I made sure to memorize the faces of these two guards. When we finish our business and leave the castle later, I'll give them a little magic spell as a gift. They'll be jumping for joy.
"..."
Lina nodded as well. It seemed Natasha also had no intention of letting such lecherous men lay hands on her.
"Get away from me! Only my husband is allowed to touch my body!"
At Natasha's words, the guards first looked at me with envy, then immediately shot me jealous glares.
Guys like this are all the same.
"You, get over here! I'm going to search you first. If you refuse, you won't be getting into this castle. Got it?"
I couldn't take it anymore and was about to punch the guard right in his face.
Just then, another guard from atop the castle wall shouted down.
"Hey! The young lady is coming! Open the gates wide!"
Hearing that, the two guards began to move in a flurry. It was the exact same way soldiers acted when a high-ranking officer arrived.
"You lot, step aside for a moment. We'll get to your body search later."
Looking behind us, I saw an ornate carriage passing by. I watched it intently and had a hunch.
'The young lady... the young lady... Lina definitely said the lord's daughter here was named Victoria.'
Could the person in that carriage be Victoria? Of course, she might not recognize the regressor, and it could be someone else in the carriage, like an older or younger sister, not Victoria herself.
But for us, who were having trouble getting into the castle, simply calling out her name was a small risk.
"Victoria!"
As the carriage clattered closer, I called her name once more.
"Victoria!"
"Th-that crazy bastard, what is he doing?! Hey! Stop him! How does he know the young lady's name?!"
"Victo—mmph!"
I tried to shout her name again, but a guard quickly clamped his hand over my mouth. I didn't resist, though.
The carriage was already slowing down.
"We're fucked."
I heard the guard holding my mouth mutter under his breath. Should've behaved yourself.
The carriage stopped, its window covered by a curtain. The curtain parted slightly, revealing a cascade of blonde hair.
The owner of the carriage spoke, her face still hidden.
"Who dares to call my name so freely?"
The guard tried to keep my mouth shut, but it was no use. I bit down on his fingers as if to sever them and opened my mouth.
"Aaargh! This bastard bit my hand!"
"It was me! I apologize for calling out your name so rudely, my lady. But I could not stand by after being subjected to such a galling injustice."
If Victoria was Lina's companion in her past life, couldn't I assume she was a decent person to some extent?
I was betting everything on that small hope.
'And meeting Victoria here is a stroke of luck. If we miss this chance, who knows when we'll see her again. Might as well tell her about the assassination plot while we're at it.'
"An injustice?"
"Yes. These men... mmph!"
The guards' faces turned pale as they tried to cover my mouth with all their strength. One of the guards waved his hands dismissively and said.
"I-It's nothing, my lady. J-Just a small disturbance. We'll handle it."
"..."
"It's true."
From inside the carriage, Victoria studied Kerry's face. He didn't look like someone who'd just been cheated out of a few coins by some guards.
He looked genuinely enraged.
"Remove your hands."
"B-But, my lady!"
"I said, remove your hands from that man's mouth. Did you not hear me?"
When the guards hesitated with troubled faces, an armored knight beside the carriage gestured with his eyes while fiddling with the hilt of his sword. The meaning was clear: obey the order.
In the end, the guards had no choice but to release me. I began to speak with relish, determined to make them pay.
"Thank you, my lady. First, let me tell you what these men did. I don't know what the official toll for this castle is, but these bastards committed fraud."
"How much did they take to make you so angry?"
"The toll is set by the lord's authority, yet these men took it upon themselves to charge 10 silver per person. Isn't that just too much?"
"That is indeed quite a lot to take."
Victoria's reaction was lukewarm. But there was no need to worry. The real tattling was just getting started.
"But the reason I'm truly angry isn't just about the money!"
Whether it was 10 silver or 100, it wouldn't mean much to the daughter of a lord. How much money must a noble have?
She might not be able to truly sympathize with the plight of a commoner, for whom 10 silver could be a matter of life and death.
But what about as a fellow woman?
"After taking 10 silver for the toll, these bastards..."
Before I could even finish, the guards realized what was coming and began to beg.
"Sir! I-I'm sorry! I've committed a crime worthy of death! Please, just spare me this once."
"It was just a small misunderstanding, wasn't it? Right? Please..."
The bastards started begging for their lives, but I didn't have an ounce of mercy for them. How dare they try to lay their hands on Lina and Natasha.
That was a crime worthy of death.
"After taking our 10 silver, these men tried to harass the women under the pretext of a body search!"
"A body search... harassment?"
In that instant, I could clearly feel a murderous aura radiating from the carriage. As expected of a former hero's companion, her personal might was clearly nothing to scoff at.
Struck directly by the killing intent, the guards' legs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground.
'Shit. That's terrifying...'
The explosive aura began to subside, as if she were catching her breath.
"By harassment... do you mean they intended to satisfy their own selfish desires under the excuse of searching the women's bodies?"
"Precisely."
"Hah..."
A deep sigh escaped from the carriage. The guards were on their knees, begging for forgiveness.
"Overcharging the toll set by the lord is a grave crime, but to also attempt to harass women? Your sins are too heavy."
"We're sorry, my lady! We swear it will never happen again!"
"We're sorry! We're sorry! Please, just spare our lives..."
"Why would I so easily take the lives of the city guard?"
"Then..."
'Don't tell me she's going to let them off?'
My anxiety was short-lived. I couldn't help but nod at Victoria's next words.
"The crime of coveting another's money and body can be paid for by cutting off your hands."
"M-My lady!"
"That's no different from a death sentence for us!"
Victoria ignored the pleading guards and spoke to me.
"With this, will you not forgive the wrongdoings of our city guard? I will have all the money you paid returned to you. On behalf of the leadership of Cardiff, I apologize."
"This is not something you need to apologize for, my lady."
She's the same type as Lina. She reeks of a sucker. And with that, the matter with the guards seemed to be settled.
The carriage curtain began to close, as if its business was done. But I couldn't let Victoria leave just like that.
"Excuse me, my lady! The truth is, we came here to meet you."
The carriage curtain opened again.
"Come to think of it, I forgot. How is it that you know my name?"
Victoria studied Kerry's face carefully.
She hadn't noticed before, but looking closely, she could sense a certain dignity about him.
He was quite different from an ordinary commoner. His skin was clear, and he had a good build, comparable even to her largest escort knight.
'The son of a fallen noble?'
If so, she might have seen his face somewhere before. Perhaps he had come to borrow money, relying on that small connection.
But the completely unexpected words that followed made Victoria's eyes widen.
"There are people after your life, my lady. We came here to warn you."