Episode 43. The Road to Capotini (2)
“Hey, hey… you little rat, what have you done!”
Deckers got up, shouting. It was a slogan to get him to his senses, but in reality, nothing changed. His trembling body was proof of this.
It was just a moment. In that single moment, in an invisible movement, all five of his men lost one of their feet.
Are you a child of a famous swordsman? Or a student at a magic school? Damn it! If you’re going to get caught in the wrong place, you’re going to get caught in the wrong place.
“Is this your den?”
Rubin walked into the cave. When he looked around the den, it was a shame to call it a rabble.
There are ranks of bandits. There are bandits who can threaten the knights of noble families, while there are those who are just small-town thugs. These guys were naturally the latter.
“Did you kill anyone here?”
There were signs of unintentional killings. Judging by their crimes, it must have been a hostage negotiation gone wrong. Rubin figured out that these sloppy guys had killed a couple of children here.
“Do you think you can kill me with that?”
Rubin turned his head and asked. Dekus, who thought he was approaching without making a sound, flinched.
But he had no intention of giving in like this. His opponent was a mere ten-year-old boy. No matter how much he flew and crawled, he would be no match for himself, who could operate the aura.
“I don’t know what you did a little while ago, but… … .”
The longsword that Dekus was holding was covered with a translucent layer.
“That’s as far as cheekiness goes, kid.”
“Come?”
“I was thinking that I would finally be able to make some money. Things… went wrong. You, because of you, five guys… … .”
“Why are you panting so much? Do you need to take a dump?”
“What, what did you say!”
Dekus was furious at Rubin’s taunt. Dekus was struggling to hold onto the aura that had been manifested. He began to stagger as if he was holding something he couldn’t lift.
“Stop whining and just go and poop. I’ll wait.”
Dekus opened his eyes wide and staggered. At that moment, Rubin, with a movement that could not be detected, passed Dekus and walked towards the cave entrance.
“Oh, I’ll just go out. Come out when it’s resolved.”
“Hey, this kid!”
Finally, Dekus decided to settle this situation right away. He rushed towards Rubin, swinging his sword with aura as hard as he could.
Boom.
“uh?”
A vibration sound rang out and dust blocked my vision. And then the next moment.
“Kwaaaaak!”
Where Dekus had swung his sword, his men lay fallen. All five of them died, spitting out blood.
“f*ck! Come on, come on… … .”
Dekus, exhausted from a single attack, could only watch as his subordinates, who had died along with Aura, disintegrated into dust.
He didn’t seem to know that an aura that couldn’t be properly operated was nothing more than a blind siege weapon.
“Let me ask you a few things.”
Rubin’s silhouette was visible in the dust that floated around like a wall. A dagger was held at the end of the silhouette’s arm.
“Sir, really?”
A strange light was floating around the dagger. It was definitely an aura. Dekus wondered if this whole situation was a dream.
Even if you beat him a lot, he was a child who was barely thirteen years old. Do you think that a child like that could manifest Aura?
The child waved his arms lightly as he came through the dust. Unlike himself, the child not only displayed his aura steadily, but also maintained its shape while swinging it.
Rubin, who had come up right in front of Deckers, asked softly.
“What family are you from?”
It was a question I asked because it was possible to manifest an aura, even if only slightly. Because manifesting an aura meant that before becoming a bandit leader, one belonged to a swordsmanship family or a knighthood.
“Oh, now that I think about it, it probably means nothing.”
“…what?”
It’s obvious that he would have been expelled. Most swordsmen’s way is to mercilessly throw away those without talent.
If he was still barely able to manifest his aura at such a late age, he wouldn’t have been worth keeping under his command. So Rubin changed the question.
“Are there people in the village who can help you?”
“… … .”
“Or are all the townspeople your gang?”
“… … .”
Dekus tried to grab the longsword, but the aura wouldn’t come back. He didn’t even have the strength to move the sword itself.
furthermore.
Every time their eyes met, his breathing became suffocating. An incomprehensible energy slowly began to suffocate Dekus.
Deckers was unable to move as if he was caught by something, and had to meet Rubin’s gaze.
“If you don’t intend to answer, then whatever.”
Rubin looked down at the dagger filled with aura. It was a waste to even use aura to kill such a rascal.
Not only did he reap the aura, he also reaped the darkness that was slowly weighing down Dekus.
Then, Dekus felt as if the water he had been immersed in was suddenly drained away.
He felt that this was the moment. This was his only chance to counterattack.
Swish.
But before he could muster the strength to grip his sword, Rubin’s dagger flashed past his Adam’s apple.
“Ugh, ugh… … .”
Rubin stood up and looked around at the cleaned up bodies of the thieves.
-I guess we’ll have to find a suitable time to use the Aura next time.
Haneke, who had been watching the whole situation, stepped forward and spoke.
Rubin was already able to freely manifest his aura. The next step was to use his aura. And that was a feeling that had to be cultivated only through actual combat.
‘There will be another chance, unfortunately.’
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Rubin asked as he walked down towards the village.
‘Haneke, do you recognize the aura written by that thief?’
All Aurors have roots. Just as Rubin’s roots are Brion’s, that bandit leader will also have roots.
-Well, it was so faint that I couldn’t tell.
Having served as the Imperial General for decades, he was familiar with the auras of most of the famous swordsmen’s families. However, it was difficult to know the auras of thieves.
‘You said that each aurora has its own characteristics, like color and shape.’
-That’s right. But not all of them are like that.
Aura is a power optimized for swordsmanship that forms its foundation. Its properties change depending on the philosophy contained in the swordsmanship.
Haneke had seen aurora in the shape of a giant scythe, and another with sharp, forked branches.
However, the aura that the bandit leader showed was so unstable that it was impossible to even understand it. It was such a poor aura that it was impossible to even trace its origins.
-One thing is certain.
‘What is that?’
-He wasn’t going to have a long lifespan anyway. That means he would have died soon even if you hadn’t killed him.
Rubin nodded.
Auror was the foundation and honor of a swordsman. Even though he was such a poor guy that his roots were unknown, if such things were repeated, the knights who had expelled him would surely have taken some action.
‘Honor is praised, dishonor is punished.’
This is usually the belief that makes up a swordsman.
Rubin jumped up into the tree and checked the location of the village. It was time to speed up and head back to the tavern.
* * *
‘Hey, Deckers, you’re doing well, right?’
Mankus sat in a corner of the tavern, fiddling with his glass. His eyes were fixed on the man and woman occupying the counter.
A middle-aged woman and a slightly younger man. They seem like ordinary people, but even that was unusual in the small town of Nekiaville.
Nekiavile was a remote corner of the city, with no major cities or attractions nearby.
It had been a long time since I had seen people riding carriages in this place, which even the officials of the kingdom rarely visited.
Moreover, there was even a nobleman among them who employed those two people as servants.
‘It could be a money-maker. For sure.’
When Mankus entered the tavern, the child was already gone. This means that Dekus’ men had been there.
It wasn’t hard to lure a ten-year-old child. They were easily fooled by even the most novel looking things or shallow lies.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that if you mess with it wrong, you’ll get hurt like poking a beehive. The children of the famous swordsmen or the children of the famous swordsmen can easily trample on an ordinary adult.
Fortunately, however, there were no family crests or anything like that on their carriage. Either they were intentionally hidden, or they were wealthy commoners.
‘Even if it’s just for show, Dekus is a guy who can manifest Aura. He’ll probably be able to handle most things.’
Mankus waited for the time to ripen a little more, his eyes still fixed on the woman who was preoccupied with the snail race and the man who was struggling with her.
Then, suddenly, a commotion broke out.
“This is a scam! This is ridiculous! Why does it keep crawling along just fine whenever I choose it and then suddenly stop?”
“It would have been better if you had just stopped earlier.”
“Hey, coachman! Don’t you think something is strange?”
“What is it?”
“How would I know that? Anyway, this snail race stinks. There’s a foul odor, something about it. Does it make sense that the one I pick is always in last place?”
“I think it would be better to stop now.”
The coachman tried to hold the woman back with an embarrassed look on his face, but she refused to give in.
“I told you, I’m doing this with my own money? I got permission from Ru… Ah, Lord Ruden.”
Through this conversation, Mankus learned that the child’s name was ‘Ludon’.
Okay, this is enough.
I couldn’t wait any longer.
‘Should I start now?’
Originally, the brothers Dekus and Mankus were junior knights of the Flornica family, a powerful family in the area.
They served their family with loyalty, but they could not shake off their rank of junior knights. When they could not even reach the rank of 1st star, the family decided that these two brothers were of no value.
Although Dekus did manifest Aura, it was at a level far inferior to that of the others, and Mankus was unable to even achieve that.
Eventually kicked out of the Flornica family, they took to the small town of Nechiaville, where one person would kidnap a child and the other would rescue him, creating a hostage situation.
It was Mankus’ job to defeat the kidnappers, rescue the child, and get the money, since he looked much cleaner than Dekus.
Mankus approached the two quietly and asked.
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
“Um, what’s going on?”
“Weren’t you with the child just a moment ago?”
Only then did the tutor look around. He couldn’t help but panic as he couldn’t see the young master who was supposed to be there.
But the reactions of the two people were calmer than expected.
“I guess you went to the bathroom, huh? Stop fussing and go. You can focus on the bet.”
Then the woman turned around and began to select a new snail.
What strange people. Aren’t they the children of nobles who are treated with great respect?
“There have been some scary incidents targeting children around here recently… … .”
“Oh, you’re annoying!”
As Tina turned around and glared at Mankus, a little boy appeared in front of them.
It was that kid who should have disappeared by now.
“Are you still into snail racing?”
Rubin passed them calmly and sat down in an empty chair.
It’s only been 30 minutes since the Deckers kidnapped the child. This can’t be happening. Why am I here now?
Mankus hesitated in embarrassment, then felt eyes fixed on him.
It was the gaze of a child. Mankus, who responded to the gaze, soon felt a new emotion. An emotion he had never felt from any child before.
‘eww…….’
It was a fear that resonated deep within my instincts.
