episode_0048

It was a split second.

“Do, run away!!”

“Eww… !”

“Fuck, I really cut it! Kaaah!!”

Everyone except this one, who had his shoulder cut off and was lying on the ground, got out of the way. They were all in a line.

The criminals who had been threatening with fierce faces were frightened by just one of Louis’s graceful sword movements.

In this alley, dark even in broad daylight, only the leader and Louis, who had collapsed with blood dripping from their shoulders, remained.

“Ugh… . Please! Save me… ! Please, I beg you… !”

“… .”

The leader who had charismatically led his subordinates was now crawling on the ground like an insect, holding his bleeding shoulder, begging for mercy.

Louis just looked down with cold eyes.

If someone who didn’t know saw it, it would seem like a cruel prosecutor weighing the lives of people with the power to decide their fate, but that wasn’t the case.

Louis was simply dumbfounded.

‘I… cut a person… It feels different than when I cut a piece of wood. It feels completely different. The feeling of cutting through skin and muscle and the tip of the knife touching bone… .’

Louis stares blankly at the tip of the sword.

Perhaps because he found it terrifying, the thug who had cut off his shoulder began to ask for forgiveness again and again.

“Nari! Please…! I will never do something so outrageous again…! Just spare my life! Please spare my life!!”

“… Oh, right.”

I’m finally coming to my senses. The excitement of the first battle has subsided a little.

It was my first time cutting a person. It was a completely different feeling from when I cut a piece of wood.

He advanced forward, using the swordsmanship he had learned from Harryba, and thrust his sword out. The thug was unable to respond to the quick and precise movements, and half of his shoulder was sliced off.

“Please! Mom, at least save my life…!”

“I have one question for you.”

“Yes! Yes! Nari. Ask me anything! I’ll answer everything!”

“Why are you doing this?”

“… Yes?”

“Why don’t you work diligently and do such a reckless thing?”

“That, that’s…! Ah! It’s because we were born so lowly! We are lazy by nature and don’t know how to work diligently, so if you forgive us just this once, we will live as if we were dead…!”

The criminal’s head felt slightly hot when he heard the ignorant questions, but because his desire to live was so great, he just had to please them.

“… I see, it’s your nature.”

“Then, will you spare my life?”

“Just one more question.”

“Yes, yes! Of course… !”

The criminal felt something hot draining from his shoulder. His body was getting colder.

“What on earth is that fancy building over there?”

“Ah, that’s it. That… That building was suddenly built a few months ago! They say that inside that building, there are costume shops, makeup shops, and beauty shops for prostitutes and strip dancers, and because of that, all the stores that were there originally went out of business. ”

What kind of crazy businessman would build a new building in the slums? Louis’ mind is in turmoil.

‘… Is it the bank manager’s work, or. Is there anyone who can handle this level of business on his own. Maybe Campbell? Or maybe not… .’

“Then lead me to that building. If you help me get inside, I will greatly appreciate it.”

“That, that! That’s not right! A guy like me would be in big trouble if he got close to that place! That, that’s what it is. I’d rather die… !”

The captured criminal began to tremble noticeably. It may have been due to the loss of blood, but he appeared to be gripped by fear.

‘… Are you more afraid of getting close to that thing than of the threat right in front of you? The closer you get, the more suspicious it becomes.’

“Nari! Please, I, I didn’t start out as a robber or kidnapper! Until recently, I was just quietly gathering herbs in the wasteland, but after this invasion, there’s a rumor going around that the bankers will monopolize access to the wasteland and tax the spoils of small-time adventurers like us… .”

“That’s it. I don’t want to hear any more. I know what you’re curious about, so leave now.”

“, thank you. Nari! This favor! This situation! I will never! Never forget it! ”

The thug, who was wallowing in a pool of his own blood, ran away screaming so loud that the blood vessels in his eyes burst.

“… gone.”

All the tension in Louis’s body is released.

“Was the sword this heavy?”

I was still in the afterglow of my first battle.

“Haha, you made a complete mistake, Master.”

At the end of the alley, a woman’s silhouette slowly approaches Louis.

“Who are you! Reveal your identity!”

Louis tensed up again at the sudden appearance of the figure and tightened his grip on his sword.

“Those who shed blood will never forget that moment.”

Again-

“The author will try to get revenge on the master someday.”

Again-

“I’m saying that you shouldn’t just let it go.”

“Ah, is that voice?”

The woman wearing the shabby robe was tall. She was as tall as an average man, with a slender and well-built silhouette.

A crisp, crackling voice that matches the sound of shoes hitting the stone floor honestly.

It was someone Louis knew.

“Hello, Master. I didn’t expect to see you here. Long time no see?”

“Roland!”

Here, the knight Roland takes off the hood covering his head. His silvery hair flutters and then becomes calm again.

With snow-white skin, silver hair and eyebrows, and blue eyes, she was an exotically beautiful woman.

Perhaps because of his mysteriousness, if you saw Roland for the first time, you might mistake him for an elf.

It looked like a work of art standing far away.

She was a noble and dignified knight, but also kind and warm.

“Your Majesty, this is a dangerous place to walk.”

“Roland! It’s been a long time. Oh, you followed me from the castle?”

“No, I was wandering around here and came here because I smelled blood. I never dreamed you would be here.”

Roland smiled faintly. It was not as affectionate as his mother’s, but it was still an affectionate smile.

Roland and Louis were like old friends. They were not simply knights and ducal heirs, but friends who had known each other for a long time.

“Roland, that, that’s why I, here, uh… .”

Louis stammered as he tried to explain why he was there.

It wasn’t easy.

To be honest, I had to confess that my mother was here.

If that happened, it was clear that Roland would immediately summon his knights and turn the slums upside down.

Things are getting worse. Mother’s unauthorized absence was not something that would end with just a few subordinates being fired.

Louis wanted to handle this on his own terms. It was a little greedy.

“Uh… Ah! I accidentally chased after the person I love! It wasn’t stalking or anything, I just followed him because I was worried. And he went into that building over there.”

“Um… .”

Roland tilted his head, caressing his pale, almost white cheek. That gesture alone was breathtakingly beautiful.

“I didn’t know that you had a lover.”

“Oh, that, it’s been a while. Uh, yeah.”

It wasn’t a lie. Louis loved his mother more than anyone else.

“Then it would be better to stay away from that woman for a bit.”

“Why?”

“That building over there is the center of corruption. It is a profane place frequented by women more obscene than the most obscene succubi in Hell.”

It was a remark made without Louis ever imagining that the person he referred to as the woman he loved was the Duchess.

The fact that a son loved his mother so much and was obsessed with her to the point of stalking her was an impossible truth to deduce from the mind of Sir Roland, who was sane and faithful.

“That… Uh, no, the woman I know is definitely not that kind of lewd woman…! I said she’s a very, very ordinary woman!”

“Well, that could be true. But no matter how sane a woman is, once she sets foot in there, she becomes a whore who only pursues fornication.

“That, that…! How can you be sure?”

“That’s because the reason I’ve been busy up until now is because of that building. To be exact, I’ve been investigating the owner of that building.”

“Ah.”

As expected, the Principality of Nise did not just sit back and watch that suspicious building.

“Here is the slum investigation authority and its appendix signed by Treasurer Campbell.”

“Campbell?”

“Yes, because you are always observing the changes in the slums. You are the kind of person who never passes up a place where there is money.”

“Is that so?”

I started to think a lot.

“Anyway, I’ve been wandering around this slum for the past few months, asking questions and observing. I’ve been too busy to attend the banquet.”

“Oh, yeah. Everyone was looking for Roland back then. Was there a reason to keep this investigation a secret?”

“Yes, the Treasurer and I decided that the building was involved with high-ranking officials. And we were becoming more and more convinced. We had to investigate without anyone finding out.”

It made sense. For a building of that size and scale to be built in a slum, it would have taken a double-digit number of practitioners to turn a blind eye.

It was difficult to appease them with bribes alone.

It was easier to just recruit one person from above, just one person.

“Maybe he’s the instigator.”

“So, did you find out anything about that building? I, I have to save my love who went inside right now, there’s no time.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that, sir. From what I’ve heard, the locals here are all afraid of that building and its owner.”

“Are you scared?”

“And I’ve seen them so many times, so scared. Fear is contagious. To be honest, I’m scared of that building and its owner now.”

“But. I have to go in. No matter what you say, my resolve won’t waver.”

Roland stares at Louis’ determined expression.

And then he sighs as if he has no choice.

“Right now, I think there’s only one way to get in there. You have to act.”

“… Acting?”

“Yes.”

Roland takes off his shabby gown.

“From now on, I am your slave.”