Episode 16
* * *
Over there, at the end of a dark, winding alley.
“It’s here, it’s here!”
The child who had been desperately grabbing Charlotte’s skirt stops in his tracks, and the crying that had been going on just a few seconds ago suddenly stops.
“Why, why? Where is your mother?”
After that, he runs away from the two people.
“be careful.”
Dale quietly reached out his hand to stop the flustered Charlotte.
“Oh my, this is it!”
Beyond the stone wall at the end of the shady alley, a shadow appeared, waving a few dark weapons in his hand as if showing off.
“Why is your noble son coming to such a shabby place?”
Shadows that had been hiding one after another block the two people as if surrounding them.
‘Five people in total.’
There is one high-level thief, and the rest are several levels lower.
Although he has not formally learned the Aura method like the knights, he utilizes the power of the Aura in his own way.
It would be enough power to subdue two or three of the Duke’s knights.
The experience of going through hardships and honing one’s skills from the bottom is definitely not something to be taken lightly.
Dale coldly counts their numbers and levels, and Charlotte, who belatedly realizes the situation, raises her hand over the hilt of her sword.
“Your Majesty, please step aside quietly.”
Looking at that sight, the senior shepherd ‘Jade’ opened her mouth.
“Our goal is that little girl.”
“… … !”
At those words, Charlotte’s expression hardened coldly.
“I cannot hand over the Orhart family’s daughter to rascals like you.”
“Ha! The chivalry of protecting a lady is admirable.”
Ship Jade continues mockingly.
“But, Confucius, there are things in life that must be dealt with according to time and place.”
I will never lay a hand on the Prince of Saxony. So, just step aside quietly.
Throw away Charlotte.
In simple terms, that was their point.
“… … .”
Dale remains silent without answering. Charlotte glances over. For a split second, she senses a faint sense of anxiety that Dale might abandon her.
“I, Dale of Saxony, swear to protect the daughter of House Orchard on the name of the Duke.”
That’s why.
“Don’t worry.”
“D, Dale… … .”
Dale answered with a smile.
“You promised.”
Dale’s promise to protect her in the name of the Saxon family until her sword can reach the heart of the Holy Swordsman.
“I guess you’ll have to experience the bitterness of the world a little.”
Jade clicked her tongue quietly at the sight. That was the end of the conversation.
All that remains is to exercise your skills.
After subduing the eldest son of the Duke’s family without any major injuries, he takes the woman alive in his hands. Just at that moment, he was about to send a signal to his subordinates.
Dale extended his finger.
Magical power begins to swirl along the tips of your fingers.
‘magic!’
The Duke’s prodigy possesses unparalleled talent in swordsmanship and magic. Jade, sensing this fact, kicked the ground before the magic could reach him.
Five shepherds rush in at once, and in their center lies a young boy and girl.
In a fight with a wizard, distance is life. Furthermore, no matter how talented Dale is, he is still just a nine-year-old child. He cannot compare to Jade’s blade, which has been through all kinds of hardships.
It should have been so.
Phew!
Just then, the wind blew.
‘wind?’
No, it wasn’t the wind. In this place where not even a breeze was blowing, Dale’s cloak began to flutter madly.
One of his subordinates, unable to fathom the implications, rushed to subdue Dale.
“Get out of here now, you idiots!”
Jade took a step back, feeling a chilling fear run through her body.
Swish!
A shadowy blade rose from beneath Dale’s feet. It became a pitch-black skewer, and aimed for the nape of one of the subordinates rushing behind him.
Through the gap in the Adam’s apple.
“Ugh, ugh!”
Phew!
Blood spurted out.
“That’s four.”
Without even looking at him, Dale muttered, his voice devoid of even a shred of emotion.
Shadow Blade, the first form of Dale’s artifact ‘Shadow Cloak’.
But that wasn’t all.
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Dale snapped his fingers at his subordinate, who had died after having his Adam’s apple impaled on a skewer.
The dark magic runs through the blade of the shadow cloak as a conductor.
Crunch.
The subject’s body twisted into impossible angles. At the same time, the corpse began vomiting.
“Ugh, ugh!”
All the internal organs poured out through the throat.
The heart and intestines, lungs and stomach and rectum… … living parts that are of no use to the dead.
And towards the empty body of the corpse──the ‘shadow’ rising from Dale’s cloak passed through the throat.
Like a living snake, breaking away from the shadows beneath its feet to take on another independent form.
The second form of the shadow cloak.
“Keeeeeek!”
Shadow Parasite.
“I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m hungry!”
The voice that had been echoing in his ears like an auditory hallucination was now being spat out through the vocal cords of the corpse.
Kwajik!
Some of the ribs, no longer needed to protect the internal organs, protruded like blades from the corpse’s hand.
Frosty Bone Sword.
Recalling the basics of the Shadow Soldier that my father had taught me, a new Shadow Soldier combined with the malevolence of the Shadow Cloak. The ‘Shadow Soldier’ kicked the ground.
There is no need to give separate instructions. It moves according to the will of hunger and darkness that has taken root in the body of the deceased.
Dale’s cloak of shadows still flutters in places where there is not even a breeze.
It is not easy to approach.
“Stop that body!”
Jade gave orders to her men and then readied her blade again.
This is not a situation where you can be lenient just because you are of the Duke’s bloodline.
The responsibility that the organization will have to bear for your actions in the future is secondary. If you let your guard down, you could get your balls blown off right here and now.
──That’s the ‘realm of talent’ that a nine-year-old can display? No way. He had risked his life in the underworld his entire life, so he could sense it intuitively.
The technologies that are unfolding in that child’s hands right now.
It is not a realm of nature that can be understood by the fact that he is a genius child prodigy of a duke’s family or the son of a magician.
It was a bit more sinister, more vicious, more pure evil without any trace of nobility.
“You little monster… … .”
Jade grabbed the blade and kicked the ground again. Using the power of the aura to circulate through her body, she was able to do so at a speed that surpassed the limits of the human body.
At the same time, the magic weapon he was holding in his hand was scattered in a fan shape.
But countless pitch-black shadows rose from beneath his feet like shields and struck his blade.
‘This is the gap!’
The amount of shadow blades that the cloak can generate will be proportional to the amount of magic power. Even if the eldest son of the Duke’s family had genius-like talent, the magic power he just consumed for defense would not be small.
Taat!
Jade ran, dodging the skewers of shadow rising along her feet.
He fanned the dark energy he held in his hand again, forcing them to use their shadow cloak for defense before dashing forward.
The distance between us narrowed in sync.
“──.”
The cold element condensed all over Dale’s fingertips.
But even if it was a bolt magic shot right in front of her nose, Jade was confident that she could dodge it.
For skilled assassins, it is not difficult to dodge the bullets fired at them from right in front of their noses.
No matter how much the bolt magic is strengthened with additional formulas, it cannot match the destructive power and speed of an actual arrow.
At least that’s what he knows about ‘Bolt Magic’.
“Double Barrel” · “12 Gauge 00 Buckshot”.
That was until Jade began to speak in a language that she could never understand, the ‘otherworldly language’.
Ice crystallized along Dale’s fingertips, and Jade focused her senses to read the trajectory of the crystallized ice.
But when the large ice cube shatters and shoots out again into nine ice balls.
“… … ?!”
It was nearly impossible to escape the volley of ice projectiles scattered in the shape of shotgun bullets.
Even though countless pieces of ice were embedded in his body, Jade did not back down easily.
I gritted my teeth in agony as my body was torn to pieces and my internal organs were crushed.
‘Not yet, not yet… …!’
‘Not yet.’
The opponent’s body has been strengthened with auras, and Dale’s ice bullets are no match for the stopping power of actual firearms.
Jade barely avoided a fatal wound, and moved her legs while vomiting blood and enduring the pain of her internal organs burning.
Once again, the distance has narrowed.
Zero distance.
‘I won!’
Jade adjusted her grip on the hilt of her sword, confident of victory. She had no idea what Dale had muttered earlier about the meaning of the phrase ‘double barrel’.
Double Barrel.
In order to understand the ‘otherworldly language’ that Dale muttered in this world, perhaps it should have been said like this.
──Memorize (Charge the spell).
Taang!
The final moment. When the 12-gauge buckshot, literally ‘shot from the nose’, was once again sprayed in the form of ice beads.
‘This freaking bastard… … .’
There was no longer any human form left there.
But the fight wasn’t over yet. No, to begin with, it was a massacre that couldn’t even be called a fight.
“I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m hungry!”
A shadow soldier who swings his two hands and the bone blades that protrude like claws.
As the white blade with a cold frost slashed through the member’s abdomen, his internal organs were torn out through the gap.
Dale turns his head away from the echoing screams.
He didn’t even look at the tragedy unfolding behind him, but instead turned to Charlotte, who was trembling on both legs next to him.
“Is this your first time seeing someone die?”
At least this is the first time I’ve died so horribly.
“……huh.”
Charlotte nodded hesitantly, her expression pale like that of a frightened child.
Dale’s appearance, not sparing any effort. His skills are incomparable to when he fought with a stiletto in his hand.
He himself couldn’t even raise his hand above the hilt of the rapier.
I can’t stand it, my situation is so ridiculous and shameful.
“Ice Bullet.”
Dale pointed his finger again.
Finally, there was one who ran away without looking back in order to survive. The cold element condensed from his fingertips shot towards his ankles.
Taang!
A man fell face down into the gutter with a scream, his ankle completely gone.
“Hee, heeeek, don’t come, don’t come… … !”
And at that moment, the shadow soldier was about to approach to hunt down the last survivor.
“Come back.”
Dale snapped his fingers.
“Keeeeeek!”
The corpse screamed, and its body burst apart as if it were exploding. After it burst, the ‘shadow’ that had been using the corpse as its host was dragged to Dale’s feet.
Dale walked straight towards the man whose ankle had burst and who was unable to move.
“Hey, save me! I’ll tell you everything I know!”
“What do you know?”
“That, that’s right! I’ll tell you everything! I’ll tell you everything, so please save me… … .”
Dale tilted his head.
“There is nothing you can tell me.”
With very dark and black eyes.
“I don’t really want to know.”
In a voice that showed no emotion at all, in a flat tone.
“But why should I save you?”
After a moment of hesitation, Dale answered, pointing his finger at me again.
“You monster, you freaking monster… … !”
That’s it again.
Taang!
And with those words, there was no more screaming, because there was no mouth to scream from.
“This is… … .”
After a moment of silence, Dale turned his head toward Charlotte.
“This is the true face of the Duke of Saxony, whom people fear.”
And he uses the Duke’s notoriety to cover up his own actions.
“As promised, it is the power of the Duke that will protect you.”
“… … .”
At those words, Charlotte quietly bit her lip.
“Are you scared?”
“… … Yeah, a little.”
Charlotte nodded at Dale’s words, her legs still shaking.
“… … But you still fought to protect me.”
But Charlotte pushes her fears aside and smiles softly, with quiet determination.
“thank you.”
Charlotte said, no matter how scared or frightened she was, she would never point a finger at Dale and call him a monster.
“You said you would buy my future.”
Dale nodded silently.
“No.”
No? Dale tilts his head, not understanding the meaning for a moment.
“You taught me the future.”
Charlotte said with a bitter smile.
“… …To me, who has no idea about reality.”
Leaving behind the bloody sea scattered everywhere.
“A future where I can protect our Orhart family with my sword.”
I thought there was nothing but despair. I believed that even if I was protected in the name of the Duke of Saxony, nothing would change.
No it wasn’t.
Only after Charlotte realized the ‘real reality’ she was in could she understand the weight of Dale’s words.
What Dale gave Charlotte that day was a hope beyond compare: the hope that she could protect those she loved with her own sword.
“… … .”
“So, I will become your sword.”
Sling.
Charlotte continued, pulling out her rapier.
“I will practice harder.”
Even though it is a situation where it has no choice but to be protected unilaterally now.
“Until the day I can become a sword that is swung for you.”
“… … It’s trustworthy.”
Dale smiled quietly at the sight.
I didn’t think I had any sense of indebtedness towards Lord Barthel. Taking her in was simply an act for his sake and the Duke’s.
No it wasn’t.
That’s why her volunteering to become ‘Dale’s Sword’ had a greater meaning than Dale thought.
* * *
After the matter was settled, a messenger from the ducal household delivered a letter to the Count of Brandenburg.
It was a letter with the name and signature of the Duke of Saxony directly engraved on it.
‘I know it will be a difficult step, but I would like to invite you to the Duchy of Saxony.’
Very politely, but with an unspoken pressure that could never be refused.
‘Please, out of consideration for our sincerity, do not refuse us.’
It wasn’t that difficult to fathom the situation.
It wasn’t even a problem that the plan to kidnap the daughter of the new sword had already been foiled. Not long ago, his secret agent who had instructed him to contact the Sif Guild had gone missing.
“Those f*cking kids, they’re screwing up the job… …!”
Calling on the black hole to hold someone accountable for the situation. It’s no different from walking into a dead end.
However, even the world’s greatest swordsman had no choice under the pressure exerted by the empire’s greatest noble.
