Episode 34 – Deborah Leclaire

*

If two people of similar skill fight, the outcome is usually decided by the difference in their weapons.

The difference in weapons here refers to whether one can attack from a greater distance, or inflict greater damage, and so on.

I’m holding a dagger, and my opponent has a longsword that knights would use.

It was already an unfavorable fight due to the length, but an even bigger problem was that our skills weren’t equal either.

Judging by the size of that longsword, it’s clearly a two-handed sword, yet she wields it effortlessly with one hand.

Thanks to that, gauging the distance wasn’t easy either.

The trajectory of her fast sword, with barely any telegraphing, came at me in an instant, like it had been fired.

I rolled to dodge, but her sword grazed my side.

That’s the fifth time I’ve been cut already.

There’s no pain, but there’s bleeding, so the blood-soaked clothes are hindering my movements.

Fucking hell.

I can’t beat her with my current skills.

Of course, I have divine power and the chain imbued with mana as trump cards, so it’s not like I’ll be subdued here, but…

“Hehe, you’re quite nimble. And tough too. I kinda want to take you home and raise you?”

That woman is no ordinary person either.

Even if I used everything I had, I couldn’t guarantee that I could kill her for sure.

If I can’t kill her definitively in this place, it’s better not to reveal my divine power or mana.

If she sees my powers and manages to escape, it’s bound to cause trouble.

In the worst case, if it’s revealed that I have the Demon King’s power, the entire city might be subjected to a thorough search.

The moment that happens, my revenge might turn to dust.

Clutching my side, I took a stance and glanced at the bed for no particular reason.

The corpse on the bed was already stone-cold dead.

It’s already been two weeks, so I don’t think Banata-yang is going to be alright.

I can only hope she’s still alive and rescue her as quickly as possible, but I didn’t expect to encounter this kind of interference.

I pretended to catch my breath and subtly adjusted my grip on the dagger, making it easier to throw without her noticing.

I spoke to distract her.

“You’re quite skilled,”

“Oh my, thank you.”

“With that level of skill, you could kill the thugs in this neighborhood without even touching a hair on their heads, so why bother sneaking up on him while he was sleeping?”

“Hmm?”

She seemed to not understand what I said for a moment.

I gestured with my eyes towards the bed, and she turned to look at it, finally understanding what I meant.

“Ah, I didn’t kill him.”

“No, what kind of lie is that?”

“What can I do? It’s the truth. That guy was already dead before I got here.”

“You were wiping a blood-soaked knife next to the corpse, and you expect me to believe that?”

“That’s his blood.”

She pointed behind me.

What,

Did she expect me to make the foolish mistake of taking my eyes off such a monstrous opponent?

I wasn’t going to fall for such a stupid trap.

I didn’t pay any attention to her gesture and kept staring at her.

She chuckled and said,

“What, you think I’m going to attack while you’re turned around? Hahaha,”

“I’m not bold enough to let my guard down in front of someone like you.”

“Hahaha, kid. Don’t worry, I won’t attack.”

She laughed and then dropped her sword to the floor with a thud.

Now’s my chance.

I threw the dagger at her.

“Ah, yeah, I figured you’d do that.”

“What?”

She casually caught the incoming dagger.

My jaw dropped in astonishment.

Honestly, I was quite proud of my dagger-throwing skills.

Not as good as Robin, but I was still skilled enough to toy with Daniel, a swordsman, using only dagger throws.

During my time in the Hero’s party, and even before that as a thief, my dagger throwing was my pride and specialty.

And yet, she just did that.

Caught it like a kid catching a ball.

It felt like my pride was crumbling.

Of course, it wasn’t just my pride that was crumbling.

“You cheeky little brat.”

She appeared in front of me in an instant.

No, she flew.

Before I could even react, her knee slammed into my solar plexus, and I went flying into the wall behind me.

Kwang!

With a loud crash, I slammed into the wall, and she was instantly upon me again.

Seriously, isn’t this teleportation?

“There was another kid who did the same thing you’re doing, back in the day.”

“What’s that…”

“Now, look over there.”

She stepped on my face, turning it to the side.

Forcibly made to look to the side, my gaze landed on a corner of the room.

There, a person covered in cuts was embedded in the corner, unconscious.

“See? When I got here, that guy had just killed the man in the bed.”

“Okay… can you get your foot off me?”

“Hmm, you’re a strange one.”

“What is it?”

The woman pressed down harder on my face.

I struggled to remove her foot, but the metal shoe didn’t budge.

She tilted her head, looking at me.

“You act like you can’t feel pain.”

“… I do? It hurts like hell, so get your foot off me.”

“Hmm…”

She seemed to lift her foot slightly, but then slammed it down with all her might.

With a premonition that she would do that, I moved my head to the side the moment she lifted her foot.

Kwajik!

An enormous cracking sound exploded just 1cm from my ear.

Rolling my eyes to the side, I saw her shoe had pierced through the wall.

Because this neighborhood is near the sewers and landfill, they build the buildings with stone instead of easily rotting wood.

In other words, she kicked through a stone wall.

I looked up at her, feeling absurdity flying away.

In a posture that seemed to pin me against the wall with one foot, I asked with a strange mix of embarrassment and fear.

“Who… the hell are you?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“You’re not from this back alley world, are you? Covering your hair and wearing a mask, you must be someone famous trying to hide your identity. Who are you?”

“Hehe, I’ll tell you if there’s a chance later. Let’s not rush things, shall we?”

Huh?

‘Let’s not rush things, shall we.’

That’s a familiar phrase.

I’ve said it a lot, and heard it a lot too.

Most recently… yeah, I said it to Daniel on Salvia Baron’s ship, ‘Forget-Me-Not Woman.’

Where did I hear that phrase before?

Ah,

‘Let’s not rush things, Ed. You cheeky little brat.’

Ah, no way.

No way, holy shit.

Damn it, that’s someone I can’t beat even if I die and come back to life.

I had a hunch who I had picked a fight with.

The moment I realized her identity, I felt goosebumps all over my body.

I quickly slipped between her legs and jumped away from her.

With a cracking sound, she pulled her foot out of the wall and turned to face me.

“So, shall we start round two?”

“No, no, I won’t.”

Without realizing it, honorifics slipped out.

I can’t win.

It felt like pain was suddenly surging in various parts of my body that shouldn’t even be able to feel anything.

Of course, it’s not real pain.

It’s the memory of pain.

The memories of the past, when I was beaten to a pulp, still seemed to linger in my dead body.

She would personally pick me up when I collapsed from exhaustion, then beat me to make me move again.

Looking closely, a strand of blue hair peeked out from under the turban wrapped around her head, probably due to the battle just now.

Ugh, that damn blue hair.

It was certain.

The master who trained me and Robin, and the captain of the Royal Knights.

‘Deborah Leclaire.’

People praised her martial prowess, and nobles unanimously praised her exemplary character.

In fact, she was the captain of the knights, leading them, and also trusted by the royal family to the point where she was in charge of educating the princes and princesses.

But I, who had quit a life of crime and received training directly from her to become a thief in the Hero’s party, knew for sure.

That she was a hardcore sadist.

I looked back at the spot where I had been lying just a moment ago.

The hole her foot had made in the wall was revealing the next room.

Oh my god,

Let’s not forget.

I’m someone who has been resurrected after 20 years.

When she trained me, she was in her early 30s, so she must be in her mid-50s now.

It’s the age when ordinary people retire, and the age when knights who have pushed their bodies hard usually prepare for death, but her strength and movements were still at their peak.

I heard that she was forced out of her position as captain of the knights by Robin, but why was she forced out?

And if she was forced out, why is she doing vigilante work in the middle of the night instead of resting at home?

I was feeling fear for the first time since being resurrected.

She looked at me carefully and said.

“I heard your acquaintance was kidnapped?”

“Yes… no, I mean, yes, that’s right.”

Deborah pointed to the unconscious man in the corner with her thumb.

“That guy might know something about your acquaintance. But I have a lot of questions I need to ask him, so I can’t hand him over to you. Instead, I’ll let you know if I find out any information you need.”

“Ha, suddenly? What makes you trust me enough to say that?”

“Ahaha!”

Deborah laughed and approached me.

I tensed up and stared at her.

She lowered her body in front of me, picked up her sword that had fallen next to me, and put it back in the scabbard on her waist.

“From what I can see, you don’t seem like such a bad person, and even if you are a bad guy, I think I can subdue you easily enough.”

As she said that, she lightly tapped my shoulder.

The tension in my body, which had been so tight, suddenly released.

‘… No, it’s because I’m hiding my power. I’m definitely not scared.’

[Yeah, let’s go with that.]

‘… Shit.’

Deborah slung the unconscious man over her shoulder and said as she left the room.

“Let’s meet again at this tavern in three days, at the same time.”

Afraid that honorifics might slip out again, I just nodded.

She smiled and went down the stairs.

*

I waited long enough for Deborah to completely leave the area.

It was such an unexpected encounter that I still felt a bit dazed.

I was overwhelmed by the fear I felt after so long, but now that I’ve calmed down a bit, I also felt relieved to see my master looking so well.

Of course, unlike what she said about seeing me again in three days, I didn’t want to see her again if possible.

I approached the corpse lying on the bed.

“I hope you know something.”

I placed my right hand on the corpse and infused it with mana.

The mana slowly seeped in.

I would have to leave it like this for several days to wait for the mana to fully seep in, but I didn’t have time.

It’s almost dawn.

I had promised to visit Robin’s mansion again this afternoon.

To pay the fee for hiring the maid, Mena.

The amount I offered was so large, and even Salvia Baron wouldn’t carry around such a large sum of money, so I had agreed to pay the outstanding balance today.

[If you resurrect him now, he’ll probably break down in less than 10 seconds.]

‘Yeah, I know.’

To properly resurrect as an undead, you need to be exposed to mana for at least two weeks.

And the longer you’re exposed, the stronger the undead entity becomes.

The fact that I, who had been exposed to mana for nearly 20 years, am a high-performance undead with regenerative abilities was one of the proofs.

The corpse hasn’t absorbed enough mana yet, but even if I wait another day, the result won’t be much different, so I decided to try it right now.

[You know how to do it, right?]

‘I know.’

Feeling the cold mana swirling through my body from my stomach, I slowly removed my hand from the corpse.

The corpse slowly raised its head, following my falling hand.

As I slowly took a step back, the corpse’s upper body gradually rose as well.

Finally, the corpse sat up completely, with its upper body upright.

[10 seconds. Edward.]

Without hesitation, I asked the sitting corpse.

“Banata, green bob cut, late teens, beastwoman. Do you know her?”

“…I know.”

“You kidnapped her.”

“…That’s right.”

“Who commissioned you? Where did you hand her over?”

“The client… noble…”

“…And?”

“The place I handed her over… Charles Bakery back al… ley…”

Peok.

As soon as it passed 10 seconds, the corpse’s head exploded.

I slowly got up and brushed the blood and flesh off my clothes with my hands.

Something came to mind as soon as I heard what the corpse said.

No, honestly, there was nothing to think about.

Charles Bakery…

“It’s the bakery in front of Robin’s mansion… haha,”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

Whether it was Robin’s doing or Jennifer’s, if someone in that house ordered Banata to be kidnapped, they were definitely a disgusting bastard.

Mena was anxiously spending her days without even knowing that her daughter was imprisoned in the mansion where she worked.

If I visit that nauseating mansion today, will I be able to find Banata?

Thinking about the mansion, I remembered that there was a corpse in the family cemetery of that mansion that had been soaking in mana for a long time.

.