episode_0037

37. Failure of Revenge.

However, the knight guarding Grand Duke Loadson’s office is no pushover.

A highly selected talent, so to speak. The knight, facing Sarah, shouted loudly.

“Max! I’ll hold her! Strike!”

“······!”

Sarah, startled, looked back at Max. That was the knight’s intention.

“Caught you off guard!”

Clang!

The sword stroke, swung high, exposed Sarah’s armpits completely.

An opportunity. The knight quickly swung down. Sarah made a swift decision.

‘I can’t dodge.’

Splat!

A fountain of blood erupted from Sarah’s front. A fatal wound to anyone looking. But the knight’s expression hardened.

It was shallow. She leaned back, avoiding immediate death. Her flexibility was unbelievable, as if she had no spine.

Thanks to that, the right to attack now belonged to Sarah.

Whoosh─

Her sword strike came down.

Clang!

At that moment, Max, quick as lightning, blocked it.

“Ugh!”

His stance wasn’t ideal, protecting his fellow knight. He was easily pushed back by Sarah’s strength.

She maintained her force on the sword while rotating her body.

Martial Arts. Lv 2

A spinning heel kick, leaving afterimages like a whip, struck Max’s chest directly.

Thud!

Concentric circles of force rippled from the point of impact. Sarah could feel it. Ribs pierced his lungs.

“Uwoooo!”

The remaining knight, seeing Max’s condition, flew into a rage. He charged like a wild boar.

Thud!

A hulking knight, probably three times Sarah’s weight. Sarah’s breath was constricted.

“Keheek······.”

That was also true for the knight. Sarah’s chokehold was cutting off the knight’s air supply.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

The knight pulled a dagger from his chest and stabbed Sarah wildly. But Sarah didn’t budge.

Side, chest, thigh, etc. Blood flowed from everywhere, but she endured.

Just as the knight’s breath was about to give out…

Wham!

“Keuheok!”

A blue metal boot kicked Sarah’s chin upward. Sarah flew far away and collapsed.

The owner of the boot turned around and said.

“Shall I kill her, young master?”

“No. I have many questions to ask.”

“Yes.”

The owner of the boot, the bodyguard, looked forward again. And his eyes widened.

“Hoo, her will is impressive. Her senses must be failing her.”

Sarah was staggering to her feet. She planted her sword on the ground, barely taking a step like an old man leaning on a cane.

It wasn’t a simple kick. It was a technique that infused mana at the moment of impact, causing a concussion.

One might think it didn’t work, but judging by her frantically spinning eyes and trembling ankles, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Interest flickered in Loadson’s eyes. He said.

“What family do you belong to? Possessing that level of skill, and even a female knight? I’ve never heard of you.”

“Young master. It’s dangerous.”

The bodyguard stopped him, but his master’s curiosity was strong.

“Who sent you? Did they even know that Sir Robin was resting? I can’t figure it out.”

“······.”

Sarah was silent. Not that she wanted to speak, but her tongue was twisted, making it difficult.

The bodyguard, realizing her condition, relaxed slightly.

“It seems you have no intention of answering. Tie up that knight. I’ll interrogate her later.”

“Yes!”

The soldiers answered loudly and approached Sarah.

Sarah’s figure was hidden by the soldiers’ bulk. Loadson said to the knight who fought her.

“Are you alright?”

“······I’m sorry. It’s all due to my lack of training.”

“Haha, how could this be your fault? From the looks of it, she’s a knight the family raised with care, you did well enough.”

“Thank you.”

At that moment, the bodyguard, who had been listening silently, suddenly looked surprised.

“Young master! Behind you!”

“Hmm?”

Crash!

“······!”

“Keuheuk!”

Fragments of the carpet that had been laid on the hallway scattered in disarray.

Lord Loadson blinked and looked forward.

A blade was pointed at him, leaving a distance of about a hand’s breadth.

He slowly lowered his gaze. There stood the torso of the female knight who had raided the mansion.

“······!”

Her head was also rolling on the floor. The bodyguard had beheaded her.

After spotting an opening, she used the power of [Endurance] to the fullest, aiming for Loadson.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t overcome the bodyguard’s wall, but it was definitely an unexpected move.

“······.”

“······.”

For a moment, silence lingered in Loadson’s mansion.

That was how lethal and sharp Sarah’s assassination attempt was.

Thus, someone’s revenge ended futilely. At least······

Thud─

In this timeline.

***

“······Heok!”

Yohan gasped and sat up in bed.

He hurriedly groped around his neck. For a moment, it felt like he was looking at his body from a third-person perspective.

A floating head, slashes drawn in the air, even a slowed-down sense of time.

“Mr. Yohan?”

Then, Sarah’s voice was heard from beside him. Yohan was startled and replied.

“Yes?”

“Are you alright?”

At that moment, a soft touch was felt on his face. Sarah was holding Yohan’s face in both of her palms as she spoke.

“Do you remember anything? I just regressed.”

Yohan forced his groggy head to turn. It was time to act.

“······Ah! A knight! I was beheaded by some knight. I don’t remember anything else.”

“······.”

Sarah was silent for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Thankfully, it seems you remember to some extent.”

“Do you know something?”

Even Yohan didn’t know this time. It was the first time he had died later than Sarah.

He was actually a little uneasy. He didn’t know what had happened in the timeline where he wasn’t present, and Yohan’s personality didn’t favor such uncertainty.

“A human with the position of Grand Duke in the Zakison family planned Mr. Yohan’s assassination.”

“Yes? Aren’t they the same family?”

That was the first he had heard of it.

“It seems the two of them don’t get along. They don’t like the Zakison family’s power growing. It’s because of the succession competition.”

“······Ah.”

Yohan now understood. A power struggle, a common occurrence even in modern times.

‘Is that why they recruited me?’

It seemed he had unintentionally become involved in the family’s affairs. But he had expected this much.

‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch. If Sir Zakison’s goal is the head of the family, I’ll gladly agree to the deal.’

“For now, I’ll continue to protect Mr. Yohan today. Originally, I was going to participate in hunting medium-sized undead, but I couldn’t bear to leave you······.”

Yohan interrupted Sarah’s words.

“No.”

“······?”

“There’s no need for that.”

Yohan began to explain to Sarah, who was wearing a question mark.

At first, Sarah was against it, but as the conversation continued, she was eventually persuaded by Yohan.

It was dangerous, but it was worth a try.

***

[Situation ENDED! Everyone! Take a break!]

The second wave had just ended. Yohan went into the tent to rest and thought.

‘Is it next?’

Mana was being steadily distributed. In the previous iteration, the lack of mana had held him back, but this time it was impossible.

Sarah, who had returned to her lover’s tone, said.

“Yohan, are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry.”

“······Okay.”

Sir Zakison laughed heartily at the sight.

“Haha! You asked to increase the number of guards this morning, why were you so scared! You’re not usually like this.”

“Isn’t a magician someone who prepares? You can’t miss even one minor thing.”

“Hehe, that’s true. Now! Let’s go out.”

“Yes. Yohan. I’ll be back.”

Sarah and Sir Zakison left like that. Now, it was time to greet the assassin.

***

Fire Arrow.

Whoosh, Pewooong!

An arrow made of red flames clings to the zombie.

Yohan was waiting for the impending assailant while using as little mana as possible.

Unlike usual, he was intercepting in front of Sir Zakison’s tent, so the front view was not well secured.

Seeing this, the soldiers carrying large bags whispered.

“Why is he fighting in the back like that?”

“I know. It would be better to be in the front to gain achievements.”

“Could it be······.”

Various speculations were rampant. But Yohan’s expression was chillingly blank.

He couldn’t spare attention for such chatter.

‘He’s here. It’s him.’

The same knight was approaching slowly. The timing was slightly different than before.

The butterfly effect. That’s the only way to explain it.

Yohan inserted a straw into a water droplet created near his right shoulder.

Slurp, it was as cool as if it had just been taken out of the refrigerator because he had incorporated a slight Freeze spell.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Oh, no thank you! How could I dare to try your precious spell······.”

He tried to offer it to the soldier next to him, but unfortunately, he was rejected.

It seems that the magician’s kindness was burdensome to him.

Yohan decided to change his target.

“That’s too bad. How about you, knight, would you like a drink?”

“······!”

The knight in the steel helmet, who was approaching Yohan, stopped.

“You’ve worked hard. The water is very cold, are you really sure you don’t want any?”

“······I appreciate the thought, but I’ll pass. I’m on duty.”

“That’s too bad.”

“······.”

The knight bowed slowly and walked again. When the distance between them was about three steps, Yohan quietly said.

“I was going to give you a sip of cold water before you died.”