The Six-Winged Mark
When Sarah came to, Luden asked after her, worry plain in his voice.
"You feeling okay? Nothing hurts anywhere?"
"Uuugh. N-now that you mention it, everything hurts, yep."
Sarah, who had been trying to get up, winced at the words and sank right back down.
Figures.
While Blood Fang had dominated her, Sarah had swung power beyond her body's limits, forgetting even the pain it cost her. Muscles had torn in several places, and small wounds covered her from head to toe.
Luden turned his gaze to Blood Fang.
Has it calmed down?
The sword that had once spewed such murderous malice now sat quietly in Sarah's hand, no different from any ordinary blade. Even the thick scent of blood that used to cling to it was gone.
"Sarah, has anything changed? Like suddenly wanting to drink blood?"
"Eeeh? Sarah likes milk better than blood, yep!"
Definitely the usual Sarah. Perhaps because she'd become the sword's master, the thirst for blood seemed to be gone entirely.
"Has she really become the Demonic Sword's master?"
He honestly couldn't tell. This was a first for Luden, too—earning a demon sword's recognition wasn't exactly a common occurrence to begin with.
Then it happened.
With a soft slurp, Blood Fang suddenly went limp and ran down like slime—only to be sucked straight into Sarah's wounds.
"Huh?"
"Hm? Ewwgh?!"
Luden froze in alarm, and Sarah's eyes went round as she sprang up from her spot.
"What was that?! That's gross, yep! Get out of Sarah's body right now, please!"
She hopped about, shaking herself all over, but Blood Fang showed no sign of coming back out. Luden, frozen for a moment, soon noticed something and his eyes went wide.
"Her wounds...?"
They were healing. The wounds covering Sarah's body faded at a visible pace, fading until only faint scratches remained.
Could that be Blood Fang's doing?
Luden didn't actually know all that much about the sword. It had only become famous because the Sword Demon had wielded it—before that, not even its name had been known. But for something called a Demonic Sword, it wouldn't be strange for it to harbor an unknown ability or two. The problem was that he had no way to judge whether this one was dangerous.
I'll have to keep watching it for now.
He resolved to look into the demon sword as soon as he had the chance. Perhaps he could find something about Blood Fang in books or old records.
"Huh? Sarah feels lighter somehow, yep."
"Well, it doesn't seem to be doing you any harm, at least."
Watching her spring briskly to her feet, Luden let out a long sigh and pulled bandages from his inventory pocket. Sure enough, her ankle was swollen like a balloon.
"The trip back is going to be rough on you."
Still, with Blood Fang recovered, no more monsters would come flocking to this place. For Luden, that meant one source of future anxiety dealt with. He would have liked things to end there—but unfortunately, there was still business left to handle.
"Come to think of it, there were those two."
Luden turned his head toward the two bodies lying cold in the snow. Ched and Seria. In the end, they'd become offerings to Blood Fang without their identities ever being uncovered.
"Sarah, lend me your shoulder for a second."
"Leave it to Sarah, yep!"
With Sarah supporting him, Luden approached Ched's corpse. The body had been cut in two, blood and viscera spilled across the snow—a gruesome sight.
"Who the hell were these guys?"
Suspicious from top to bottom. The unprovoked attack, the skill that had been anything but ordinary. Most of all, their purpose in coming here gnawed at him.
Judging by their reactions, these two were definitely after Blood Fang.
Luden had future knowledge to guide him, but where on earth had these two learned about the sword? Even knowing this location was suspicious in its own right.
"Too many things don't add up."
Without ceremony, Luden rummaged through Ched's body, looking for anything that might hint at who they were. All he turned up was a money pouch and some dried meat and fruit that passed for rations.
He pocketed the money for now.
"Sarah, how's that side going?"
"All done, yep!"
"...Stop playing with someone's head."
At some point, Sarah had built a snowman and crowned it with Seria's head. The craftsmanship was honestly impressive; Luden frowned at the sight, and Sarah came bounding over, Seria's head in hand by the hair.
"Does Luden want to make one too, yep?"
"I never said that. And stop shoving that thing at me!"
Even Luden had his limits when it came to dead men's heads being thrust at his face. But then, his eye caught on the back of Seria's neck.
"Hold on. Give me that."
"Hm? Here, yep."
Luden accepted the head she so innocently handed over and checked the nape.
"What's this?"
A tattoo of wings. Three pairs, spread wide open—wings that closely resembled the angels he'd often seen in temple murals and the like.
Luden's expression turned grave, and not simply because it was a strange tattoo. He hurriedly examined Ched's body as well.
"Thought so."
Sure enough, the same tattoo marked the man's right wrist.
"Why are they here?"
Shock and disbelief tangled in his voice. And no wonder—Luden knew this tattoo.
"Abraxas."
The name of a secret organization that lurked in the shadows across the continent, all to resurrect a fallen ancient empire.
A year had passed, and the brutal winter was finally beginning to loosen its grip. It was a touch early for spring, but the howling winds had lost much of their fury, and the deep drifts of snow piled everywhere were slowly melting away.
The day Luden left Vincent came around that time.
"Here. This is your payment for all your help. I've included the money for the byproducts of the monsters you subjugated—do check it over."
"Thank you."
Marquis Vincent, handing over the promised compensation, put on a deliberately wistful expression. He had offered Luden a vassal's position several times over the months, and being refused to the very end had clearly left him disappointed.
Well, this much is more than enough.
By his original plan, Luden would have left the moment Blood Fang was recovered, but an unforeseen complication had kept him in Vincent far longer than intended. That complication, naturally, was Blood Fang lodged inside Sarah's body.
And in the end, I learned nothing.
A full month of watching had revealed no particular change in Sarah. Blood Fang remained quiet inside her, showing no reaction, and Sarah herself went about her days exactly as always. He'd asked the Marquis for access to the castle's records, but even there he found no useful clues.
"I've been in your debt this whole time."
"Debt, nonsense. If anything, you're welcome to stay longer."
At the regret in the man's voice, Luden chuckled softly. He appreciated the kindness, but with Abraxas pursuers liable to appear at any moment, he couldn't afford to linger.
They don't seem to know about me yet.
Whether because Ched and Seria had been low-level operatives or for some other reason, Abraxas appeared not to know Luden existed. All the more reason to leave before anyone caught on.
"Then I'll take my leave."
"Off we go, yep!"
"Hmph. Travel safe, then."
The season of waiting on spring's arrival. Luden and Sarah left Vincent behind and took to the road once more.
"This is the place?"
"Yeah. The signal cut off here."
Before the cave where Blood Fang had slumbered, two men were talking—a tall man and a small-framed boy, contrasts in every respect.
The tall man spoke.
"Hmm. There's nothing here, though? You sure this is the right spot?"
"Wait a moment."
With that, the small boy drew a crystal orb from his coat. He manipulated it for a while, then frowned and spoke.
"Both of their signals have vanished completely."
"What?"
The tall man was startled—signals vanishing entirely could only mean one thing.
"Those two got taken down? How? Ched's an idiot who got all puffed up over a few enhancement procedures, so him dropping dead somewhere wouldn't surprise me, but Seria was with him. You're telling me they went down even with her there?"
"...I can't tell the details. But with their signals cut off and the demon sword gone from this place, it seems the plan has hit a snag."
"Ugh. What am I supposed to report this as?"
The man pressed a hand to his forehead. Failing the mission was one thing, but as far as they'd known, they were the only ones alive who even knew the demon sword was sealed here.
"The information didn't leak, did it?"
"Unlikely. The only ones who knew of this place were the ones who sealed the sword. If we hadn't been connected to that, we wouldn't have known either."
"Right. Right, of course. Damn it, this just got complicated."
The man kicked irritably at the snow. The boy ignored him and surveyed their surroundings.
Barely a trace left behind. Whoever they were, they were no amateurs.
Luden had concealed not only Ched and Seria's bodies but every trace of the battle itself. The moment he learned the two were members of Abraxas, he had feared a pursuit team might come sniffing after them.
"Nothing to be done. Let's head back and report."
"What? We're not going after them?"
"Haah. Think carefully. Someone who knew our movements in advance and erased every trace. It might even be them."
Secret organizations working in the continent's shadows were hardly unique to Abraxas. Most wanted nothing to do with one another, but a few were on outright bad terms. If this incident was the work of a faction hostile to Abraxas, it was not a matter two foot soldiers could decide.
The boy said, "However much we want to give chase, permission comes first."
"Whoever they are, the moment I get my hands on them, they won't be getting a clean death."
With that, the two departed.
Just what consequences this small misunderstanding would eventually bring—no one could yet know.
The future knowledge Luden possessed was fragmentary at best.
No—more precisely, the information was simply lacking. Aside from the events he'd been directly involved in, everything he knew was hearsay picked up during his mercenary days.
Some country or other had had this or that happen to it. An ancient ruin had been discovered somewhere, and something had come out of it. Someone had made a spectacular mess of things recently.
All of it was nothing more than "I heard from a friend" rumor. Even that wasn't accurate.
Of course, he knew the major events. But he didn't know the fine details—exactly when they would occur, or what chain of events would set them in motion.
It hadn't mattered much until now.
Minor discrepancies aside, things had gone smoothly enough so far. But there was no guarantee that would hold true going forward. Acting on nothing but outcomes and guesswork had its limits, in the end. Blood Fang alone had thrown one surprise after another at him, hadn't it?
"I never imagined Abraxas would be on the move this soon."
"Hm?"
He'd erased every usable trace before leaving, but this incident had opened the door to entanglement with Abraxas all the same. Madmen who had committed every manner of deranged atrocity in the name of reviving the old empire. Ideology aside, one thing was certain: they were dangerous. And with no telling when he might cross paths with them again, he needed to be prepared.
"Come to think of it, it is about time for a visit."
"Where are we going, yep?"
"Hmm."
Luden scrunched his face in reluctance for a moment before answering.
"There is. A town that's basically a dumping ground where all kinds of trash gather."