episode_0007

‘…Not as bad as I thought.’

I killed Hains.

His throat wasn’t completely slit, but he wouldn’t survive.

My first murder.

Contrary to my worries, my heart was calm.

If anything, I felt even calmer after killing him.

“It’s Hains’ revenge!!!”

Without a moment to gather my thoughts, they came at me one by one.

Just like Hains, they all rushed towards me, drawing perfect straight lines and aiming for my neck.

And so, I killed nine people, including Hains.

“Attack them all at once, you idiots!!”

Beddy’s command in the current situation was right.

It would only benefit me if they attacked one by one.

Now, they all surrounded me and charged at me simultaneously.

Eleven of them.

“Die!!!”

“You bastard!!!”

“It’s the forum’s revenge!!!”

Each of them hurled words of resentment mixed with blame as they charged at me.

Their attacks were relentless.

I awakened the dormant mana within me and wielded my sword.

The sound of the sword humming could be heard.

“Heh! Sword expert!!!”

“This is insane…!”

Frantically defending against the attacks, some of them tried to retreat.

But it was already too late.

With one swing, the eleven men who rushed at me were dead.

“Now, there are… seven left.”

A mass slaughter that happened in an instant.

There was no guilt in the killings.

But my heart was sinking.

‘I don’t feel good.’

Clearly, I’m not a murderer.

With a sinking heart, I glared at Beddy.

Beddy, with a fearful expression, was gradually stepping back from me.

“Beddy!”

At my call, Beddy adjusted his posture.

Beddy forced a awkward smile.

Eyes filled with fear.

“I-I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

His confident attitude from earlier was nowhere to be found, and Beddy had turned into a meek lamb.

Truly a ridiculous man.

After all, as a man, he should be like Ras…

“…I’ll find a way to kill you.”

Knowing the gap in strength with the opponent, one should ignite the enmity.

“Yes, that’s right! You clearly said you needed money. I’ll give you money!”

Money… I needed it.

No, I did.

But what I needed was money to use as travel expenses to the south.

Now that I’ve already arrived in the south, I no longer need money.

‘If I need it, I can sell the mana stones.’

There was also something I didn’t want to accept, the dirty money from Beddy.

“I don’t need it.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing. I have a lot of money. More than you can imagine. Yes, I have more money than the value of those mana stones.”

“I said I don’t need it?”

I moved towards Beddy.

Of course, I didn’t just walk.

As I walked, I approached the remaining enemies one by one, two by two.

Finally, when I arrived in front of Beddy, only three humans remained in this place.

Me, Beddy, and Ras.

“Beddy… You don’t seem like the type to do this kind of thing a couple of times.”

There was no hesitation in luring me into the mine with these people.

In other words, it was said that he had done this kind of thing several times.

I glanced at the twenty-five corpses.

A scene that could only be described as a massacre.

“I’m definitely not a good person for doing this kind of thing.”

Objectively and subjectively, I was not a good person.

I used to pickpocket when I was young, and now, I killed over twenty people like this.

If I were a good person, I wouldn’t have pickpocketed when I was young, and I wouldn’t have killed all these enemies like this.

So, I was not a good person.

“But I don’t think you’re a bad person either.”

Even when pickpocketing, I only stole from the rich.

The people I killed now were also in self-defense.

‘It might be excessive self-defense… but it’s better to leave no enemies behind.’

“But you, you’re a bad person.”

Beddy could be clearly labeled as a bad person.

The one who tries to kill others, how did he earn his money?

He must have committed all sorts of bad deeds.

That was enough.

To rationalize killing Bedi and his companions like this.

“Please spare me…”

“Stop it. I have no intention of sparing you.”

I raised my sword and slashed Bedi’s throat.

And so Bedi died.

And the remaining one.

Ras.

He was trembling with fear, but Ras did not stop sending enmity towards me.

“…Did you kill my brother.”

In the face of my overwhelming power, Ras was mistaken.

I decided to correct that mistake.

As a final act of mercy before killing.

“I didn’t kill him. I was saved at that time too.”

“Saved?”

“Yeah, the old man saved me.”

“The old man?”

“Gumseong… He’s your enemy.”

I revealed the identity of his enemy on the last journey.

And at that moment when I was about to end all the past causes.

Suddenly, a stone flew towards me.

I quickly dodged the stone.

“Die!!!”

Ras, who had drawn a dagger, rushed towards me.

His stance was unstable for blocking.

But I managed to dodge Ras by rotating my body.

“Ugh… damn it…!”

“…You had a hidden move.”

I seemed to have let my guard down unknowingly.

Of course, I didn’t take my eyes off Ras.

I didn’t see Ras throwing the stone.

I didn’t feel any mana separately.

That meant that a different type of power acted on the flying stone.

Naturally, Ras was the culprit.

“So this is an ability.”

Ras’s ability was probably similar to telekinesis.

It might have been impossible to move a small stone, but it was enough to create a small gap in me.

It was at that moment when I was feeling the novelty of this ability.

Thud, thud, thud!

The ground trembled, and the sound of a group of people riding horses approached.

The origin of the sound was Bedi’s group and the direction they came from.

“Who are you?”

The sound was getting closer.

I hurried to greet the guests, but I realized my current state.

“Insane!”

I was covered in blood.

I tried my best not to get blood on me… but in the end, I got splattered with blood from Ras’s unexpected attack.

“What should I do?”

Now that I think about it, the situation wasn’t good.

Situationally, I was a mass murderer who had killed twenty-seven people.

The sound was getting closer.

I thought about running away, but quickly dismissed the idea.

“If I run away, I might be misunderstood.”

There was a possibility of being misunderstood for no reason.

I just needed to honestly explain why this situation had occurred.

So I waited for the guests.

A group that raised a cloud of dust as they approached from afar caught my eye.

It was a knight order.

I quickly checked the crest of the family.

“Huh…?”

If I didn’t see it wrong, the crest was undoubtedly that of the Messiah Viscount’s knight order.

“Why is the Messiah Viscount’s knight order here?”

“Who are you?!”

A man at the forefront of the knight order pointed his sword at me.

“That… it’s a misunderstanding.”

To show that I had no intention of fighting, I lowered my sword.

“Please listen to my story.”

Just as I was about to explain the current situation.

A woman appeared from behind.

A woman with silver hair riding a horse with fine white fur.

Contrasting with her white skin were her red lips and blue eyes.

She had a youthful face, but she was beautiful.

She was so beautiful that anyone passing by would turn back to look.

“Y-you…”

For a moment, my mind went blank.

I had never seen such a beautiful woman in my life.

“Where are you looking with such vulgar eyes at the lady’s face!”

Unconsciously, I was captivated by her beauty.

‘Is that girl the old man’s granddaughter?’

She didn’t resemble him much, but her blue eyes did.

“This guy can’t take his eyes off me!”

In the midst of the knights’ commotion, I hurriedly lowered my gaze to the ground.

But…

I caught sight of it.

The granddaughter of the old man was staring at the pure white sword I had put down.

And even her eyes were shaking.

“Where did you get that sword from?”

Her voice seemed to contain a hint of anger.

***

Waltz, the writer.

It was the writer’s office.

There, Asia was facing off with the writer alone.

“I heard that monsters came out of the nearby abandoned mine.”

“Yes, that’s correct. It seems that with the writer’s forces, it’s difficult to eradicate them, so we requested help from the Messiah Viscount.”

“Understood. I’ll leave right away.”

As Asia tried to get up, Waltz, the writer, stopped her.

“Are you going right now?”

“Yes. That’s my plan.”

“…Take a little rest before you go. Oh, right! Is the rumor circulating true?”

The rumor Waltz, the writer, was referring to was about an engagement with a prince.

Asia frowned at the mention of a rumor.

And Waltz, the writer, confirmed it.

Waltz, the writer, put on a friendly smile, trying to smooth over the situation.

“Haha, what a ridiculous rumor! Who could have spread such nonsense?”

“…That’s right. It’s truly a baseless rumor.”

Once again, Asia tried to leave.

But Waltz, the writer, didn’t stop talking.

“If that’s the case, does that mean there’s no engagement… What about my son? He’s quite a clever lad, even though he’s my son.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

With that, Asia left.

And she headed towards the knights who were waiting for her.

“Have you arrived, Miss?”

“I’m annoyed.”

“Why is that?”

“Waltz, the writer, doesn’t know his place… He suggested an engagement to me.”

“…Is that so.”

The leader of the knights showed a bitter smile.

The news of the disappearance of the sword seemed to have spread throughout the southern region.

It was quite something for a mere writer to send a proposal to the granddaughter of the sword.

“It’s a regrettable situation.”

“That’s right! Grandfather should come back soon.”

“He’s quite the wandering type. He’ll be back soon.”

“Sigh…”

Asia couldn’t easily calm her mind.

The words Waltz, the writer, had said kept coming back to her.

Noticing this, the leader asked subtly.

“In that case, what kind of person would you like to be engaged to, Miss?”

“Strong, kind, and… if possible, handsome.”

“Haha, you have every right to meet such a person, Miss.”

“Anyway, I need to finish the mission quickly and leave. If I stay any longer, Waltz, the writer, might even bring his son.”

“Understood!”

Asia arrived at the abandoned mine with the knights and witnessed a strange sight.

Numerous corpses.

And standing tall among those corpses was a man with black hair.

His face was covered in blood, making it hard to see clearly.

‘Strong…!’

Asia judged the man with black hair to be strong.

All the wounds on the corpses were from a single sword.

They all died from a single strike.

The man standing in front of her must have caused this situation.

It was enough to consider him strong.

‘Who is he?’

Since there seemed to be no signs of a medic, Asia approached the man closer.

But…

“Where did you get that sword from?”

The man with black hair, who had placed the sword on the ground, asked.

Asia knew that sword.

The sword with the pure white blade.

It was the sword of the Sword Saint.

More precisely, it was the sword left by the Sword Saint’s wife.

Asia was certain she hadn’t seen it wrong.

‘Could it be… that this person…!’

A sinister thought briefly crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it.

Although he was strong, the man with black hair was definitely not skilled enough to defeat the Sword Saint.

In the midst of this incomprehensible situation, Asia asked in order to find an answer.

“Who are you… really?”

The man with black hair was taken aback but answered.

“I… I am your fiancée….”

Asiye was left speechless by the unexpected answer, freezing up completely.