70
Clever Duel
Nova glared with a distorted face and her mouth twitched, but unlike usual, she was swallowing her words.
“What is it, an orange?”
“Whew… Are you crazy?”
Nova took a deep breath for a moment and then spoke again.
Looking at his face, which was distorted unlike usual, it seemed that he was not in his right mind. He was angry from head to toe.
‘Did you notice? You’re quick-witted, as expected.’
I decided to go out even more shamelessly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. A heatstroke orange.”
I answered, digging my ears as if I had heard something out of the blue.
Nova glared at me, pursed her lips, then let out a long sigh. Then she took out a walnut and put it in her mouth.
Ododok-.
The sound of walnuts crunching sounded somehow ominous.
“Yeah, there’s no way our Aaron Squad would do that. Even though Aaron Squad usually beats up people and doesn’t know how to open doors, he goes around breaking down walls.”
“I haven’t broken anything recently.”
“···Even though I’ve broken walls before. I’m not the kind of idiot who goes up to the tournament arena, fights with a knight, and then swings it around like a toy while screaming, right?”
Ododok-.
Nova, who still had a murderous look in his eyes, let out a breath as if he was annoyed, then straightened up and glared again.
“Are you insulting Dark Vader, the most popular Dark Vader in the Castle of Cassidy right now? Orange of the establishment. Aren’t you afraid of the heat of the crowd?”
“What about Dark Vader? Some people call him Duckgu Bae.”
“How dare someone… Ahem… I personally like Dark Vader.”
“I guess so.”
Nova shook her head slightly and got up from her seat.
Then the crumbs around Nova’s mouth fell to the floor without any resistance.
“The job has already been done and it doesn’t seem like you’ll listen even if I tell you… Where are you looking at right now?”
“Hmm? No, because the crumbs fell.”
“I feel strangely uneasy. Anyway, Dark Vader and Kurtun will fight in the finals.”
Nova approached me and tapped my chest plate. Unlike Nova, it sounded heavy and full of eggs.
“Kurtun demanded something other than 40 gold from the lord as the prize money. The lord had no choice but to accept it.”
Nova’s face crumpled. It was an expression as if he had seen a bug or smelled something very unpleasant.
“What is it?”
“A night with Vivian. Of course, she said she dressed it up with weird words like tasting or incense… No, that could really be true.”
Nova tapped my chestplate lightly with her palm this time. It still made a heavy sound. Unlike Nova’s.
I thought of the stubborn young lady for a moment. If he could just sit down and talk to the stubborn young lady for ten minutes, all those thoughts would disappear. It was clear that he had never talked to the stubborn young lady before.
“I see.”
Nova looked up at me at my short answer and chewed her lips as if she was thinking about it. I waited for him, thinking that Nova’s eyelashes were thicker than I thought.
“Tell Dark Vader to abstain.”
Nova said something unexpected.
As I squinted my eyes, Nova continued speaking.
“I don’t know how powerful Dark Vader is, but he was a member of the Imperial Knights. There’s a high chance he’ll die. Even if we win, the problem will be bigger. We can’t kill someone related to the Imperial Family, and if we leave him alive, there’s no way to predict what he’ll do. It’s not something worth risking for just 40 gold.”
Nova, who had been speaking at length, took a deep breath for a moment. Nova’s eyes, which seemed to be made of melted gold, stared at me.
I focused on the part of Nova’s words that said, ‘It’s only 40 gold.’
‘How much money does this guy have? Has he lost his sense of money because he’s managing his budget?’
“And this is our problem to solve, not Dark Vader’s. Dark Vader has no reason to risk his life.”
Kkung! Kkung! This time, Nova tapped my chest and a cheerful sound came out. At that, I tried to hold back my laughter and opened my mouth.
“They say Dark Vader is a man who knows no defeat.”
“What about defeat… you don’t know how to open the door.”
“You don’t even know how to abstain.”
“···Why are there so many things I don’t know?”
I looked at Nova, who didn’t say a word, and took a moment to think about my words. However, I wasn’t thick-skinned enough to continue this childish behavior for too long.
“I don’t know. Anyway, are you sure about 40 gold?”
“Is that the problem? Now?”
“Of course it is the most important issue.”
“No, I said the opponent is a knight from the Imperial Knights. Are you listening to me···.”
“Thoughtful Orange.”
As soon as I said that, Nova’s mouth closed. Nova frowned as if she was annoyed, but the corners of her mouth moved.
Nova took a deep breath and handed me a large brown envelope from the desk. The packaging was familiar. It seemed to have been obtained from the White Leaf Information Guild.
“Information on Kurtun. He’s quite famous, so there’s a lot to dig up. Pass it on to Dark Vader.”
“A thoughtful, versatile orange.”
“If I can win… no, I will win unconditionally. Then I will do whatever it takes after that. Since I can’t come anyway, it’s half and half, right? Just like the mercenaries say.”
Nova, with a relieved face, gave me a gentle push.
“Orange with a twist.”
Kkung kkung!
“Win, I’ll tell you as much as you want.”
Nova laughed without hiding it, pounding her chest.
‘If you know the meaning of the gong, you’ll be in big trouble.’
I nodded, smiling to myself.
“Oh, and if you’re going to do it, how about doing it with this rhythm?”
I beat my chest to the beat.
Ding ding – the sound was heavy and it didn’t taste good.
Nova frowned for a moment, then let out a long sigh. Then she began to beat her chest at the rhythm I had taught her.
Kkung- kkung kkung.
It was a great voluntary dance.
I couldn’t help but laugh at Nova, who was beating his chest with a serious expression.
Nova screamed when she realized she had been tricked, and I ran out of the room.
***
I sat on the roof overlooking the tournament and looked down at the stadium.
It was a place I discovered thanks to the heretic interrogator. While I was patrolling, I saw a familiar face peeking out from the rooftop, so I followed him up and found that it was a pretty good place.
Normally, if you were to climb onto a roof wearing such heavy armor, you would collapse, but this place was so sturdy that it did not collapse.
It was the home of the stonemason Phelps, and unlike those men who were drunk and wandered around the walls with a lack of awareness of safety, he was a very careful man who wore safety equipment he had made himself.
‘I didn’t know that caution would lead to this.’
I shook my head slightly as I watched the inquisitor eating the cake with a polite expressionless face. How could he find such a place, let alone a cat?
I took out the paper Nova had handed me and slowly read it through.
‘Kurtun Miharta. What a fucking name.’
As Nova said, it seemed like he was quite a famous person, as there was quite a bit of information written about him.
He joined the Imperial Knights at a young age. However, because he was too young and hot-blooded, he had a passionate romance with a maid in the Imperial household, and as punishment…
‘This kid was a gossip?’
If I had messed with a maid in the palace and it had ended with just a neutering operation, I would have been lucky…
‘Still, that’s a shame. I guess I just have bad luck.’
Hmm… I turned the page with a sigh. Even after getting neutered, the guy lived diligently in his own way.
It was full of stories about the royal family being demoted to an unknown department and all sorts of things that happened to them.
‘Defense with the thick dagger in your left hand, attack with the rapier.’
There was no useful information about combat. It was just written that he was stronger than everyone else and weaker than everyone else, but it was clear that there were few who didn’t know about combat.
This was a place where even a knight would die from a mercenary’s sword if he was stabbed in the back of the head while defenseless. In a tense situation where swords were exchanged, even the smallest variable could overturn the situation, so there was no absolute powerhouse.
It wasn’t for nothing that knights wore iron all over their bodies.
‘I don’t know what that inspiration was, though.’
I put my thoughts aside and read the paper again, slowly figuring out how to attack the guy.
‘I think it’ll be resolved neatly if the guy breaks the rules and gives himself an excuse…’
At that moment, the heretic inquisitor knocked on the door next to me.
When I turned my head, the heretic inquisitor handed me a handful of cake with a strangely regretful look on his face.
I didn’t want to eat it, but seeing him make that face, I took it and put it in my mouth because I wanted to take some medicine.
It was very sweet, as if it was a cake from Hasson Bakery. I guessed that the reason the Catholic Church had such a cake was because of that cake.
The lip-biting inquisitor nodded, and I nodded along.
Waaaaaaaaaa-!!!
Just then, I heard cheering and looked down to see one of the knights thrusting his sword into the nape of another’s neck.
It seemed that since it was a battle between knights, it would be more advantageous to take the penalty for defeat, so they did not cut off the neck. The opposing knight bowed his head as if admitting defeat.
Scar shouted the winner’s name and the two knights bumped fists and turned around cleanly.
It was a neat and sports-filled ending, but the uncivilized medieval people were full of complaints and jeered.
The victorious knight raised his hand with a bewildered expression, but the boos did not diminish, but rather increased.
‘Even if you had to take the loss, you should have shown that you were cool by beating him appropriately.’
I was astonished at the cunning knight’s response.
Deokgu! Deokgu! Deokgu!
Even though I didn’t have a match today, the crowd still chanted for Dark Vader.
I shook my head after briefly contemplating whether I should change into my uniform, go down, and show off some performance of beating up a few guys.
The match continued and a guy named Kurtun came up.
‘I’m sorry···.’
I observed the guy with a strange sense of pity.
This time, I approached my opponent in a more nervous state than before, but the result was the same.
A stab like an island.
‘Right knee.’
I’m starting to get used to the guy’s stabbing.
Knock knock.
Just then I heard someone coming up and turned my head.
He was a Parsi inquisitor.
The guy put a plate of cake on the table and went back down.
The retired heretic inquisitor took the cake and started patting it leisurely again.
‘I met the wrong senior.’
Seeing the expression on Parsi’s face as he went down, it seemed like he knew too.
***
‘···hmm.’
Baron Fullfoot let out a small sigh.
“We have to catch him right now!”
Gerald shouted, his sagging jaw shaking.
After the knight of the Fener family was captured by Deokgu Baeida and manipulated like a toy, Gerel continued to act like that.
“For what crime?”
“…Of course! It’s the crime of fabricating a story! What are you talking about!”
Geral hesitated for a moment at Nova’s cold question, then shouted with spittle flying from his mouth.
“Isn’t it enough to be thankful that you didn’t kill me?”
“What does that mean? I received a disgrace worse than death! To have suffered such a thing in front of so many people, my honor, the lifeblood of a knight, has fallen to the ground!!”
‘You have no intention of hiding it now, do you?’
Pulpouts clicked his tongue as he watched Geral shouting arrogantly.
Baron Fullfoot grimaced at the return of his chronic headache, which was the result of using his head too much lately.
“And do you know how much he demanded as a penalty?! He demanded 10 gold! 10 gold! Demanding a penalty from a guy who was on the verge of death! If that’s not robbery, then what is it!!”
At Gerel’s continued shout, Pulpouts burst into laughter as if coughing.
’10 gold. The distribution is huge for its size.’
Considering that the usual loss amount was 5 gold, this was an excessive amount, twice as much. Even if you won the match, the loss amount was implicitly set at 5 gold in consideration of the nobles behind you.
‘But 10 gold… Well, that’s an ambiguous amount.’
It was clearly an excessive demand, but it was also an amount that would be difficult to summon the nobles behind it.
‘Strong and smart.’
Although it was risky, he was a talent I wanted to have by my side.
“Mocking the knight! Hiding his identity! And even that barbaric violence! He is clearly a suspicious person! He must be caught and punished immediately!!”
Gerald shouted in a fit of rage like a loyal subject.
Knock knock.
Pulpouts drummed his fingers on the table to collect his thoughts. A headache was bothering him, but he fought to keep it in check.
“That bastard right now···!”
“Shut up. Geral.”
Fullfoot couldn’t hold it in any longer and raised his voice.
Looking at Gerel’s wide-open eyes, Pulpouts opened his mouth again.
“You want to question what happened at the tournament? Are you trying to ruin my reputation?”
“That··· That···.”
“And the price of defeat. I really don’t understand why you are so enraged by the knights’ work.”
“···.”
Gerald’s face turned red, but he didn’t open his mouth and just lowered his head.
Fullfoot sighed as he looked at Gerel, Nova sitting across from him, and the constable with his eyes tightly shut.
Cassidy is like a candle in the wind right now, and he’s fighting this useless battle…
“What happens in the tournament has nothing to do with me.”
When I spoke in a strong voice, they answered quietly.
After a brief silence, the meeting resumed.
Fullfoot did not get involved any further and just listened.
It was a conversation between Nova and the sheriff, as Geralt kept his mouth shut.
“The popularity of Deokgu Baeida has skyrocketed recently. I don’t agree with Gerel’s opinion, but it is clear that it is at a dangerous level. We must be on guard.”
Pulpouts nodded at the sheriff’s bold advice.
It had certainly reached a dangerous level. There was no immediate sign of anything happening, but the crowding of people was one of the things the nobles had to be most wary of.
Deokgu had a charm that drew people in.
I couldn’t help but be drawn to the ignorant and hot-blooded beating up of the knight who had been babbling.
But it wasn’t enough to make me throw it away.
Right now, every single hand was precious to Cassidy, so he had to somehow pull them towards him.
Since the name there was Deokgu, I didn’t feel nervous at all.
Is Deokgu’s popularity growing so much that his position as permanent resident is threatened?
‘If such a rumor spreads, I’ll die first because it’s so embarrassing.’
Baron Fullfoot pressed his temples.
It flowed a little strangely, but anyway, the articles were collected as originally intended.
As Deokgu Bae-ida gained both popularity and resentment, even the reporters who waited for the end of the game did not leave and waited to see the results.
First of all, the closest problem was Kurtun···.
‘I don’t think Deokgu will lose.’
Baron Fullfoot took a sip of his wine, which had ice cubes shaped like duckweed.
Of course, I couldn’t go wrong, so I prepared a few more things.
But the best and cleanest thing is when the guy gives a reason to lose to Deokgu···.
‘That clever guy wouldn’t do that.’
Contrary to its appearance, it was a snake-like creature.
“Your Majesty, could you please check this?”
At that moment, Nova handed over the documents.
When I raised my head, the meeting seemed to be over.
Pulpouts checked what was written on the paper and reached into the drawer to take out the seal.
‘huh?’
Pulpouts frowned as he saw that the drawer where the seal should have been was empty.
It seems like things keep disappearing these days.
***
The tournament was salty as sea salt.
Kanna’s special ‘Dark Vader’ ice beer sold like hotcakes, and Hanna gave me a portion of the sales.
Hannah didn’t tell me why she was giving it to me, and I didn’t bother to ask.
Aside from that, I had fines from the troublemakers and the penalty for defeat given by the knights, so my pockets were small and I had to buy a new one.
‘I need to get a sword.’
As my money grew, I naturally wanted items. For now, I thought I should finish the tournament with the sword I borrowed from the weasel, and then I should try to get a separate sword.
A decent black charioteer would give it to me, but I had a good sword that the knight had given me, so if I was going to get one, I might as well spend a lot of money and get a really good sword.
However, it was difficult to obtain such a sword in such a remote area.
‘I guess I’ll have to ask Jackson.’
If it was Jackson, he would definitely get us some good stuff.
If it’s a sword, it won’t take as long as it did with the magic book.
‘By the way, are you reading the magic book?’
I sighed at the ice sculptures of ‘Dark Vader’ beating down his enemies, which were on full display in the inn.
In the center was Kanna, and in front of her was an enormous piece of ice that reached the ceiling of the inn.
Kanna, carrying a wooden bucket over her head, was walking around the area, carving it out like a sculpture.
Wheeing-.
The wind blew from Kanna’s fingers and the ice crackled and bounced sideways. She looked like she was welding, as she was holding a bucket over her head.
‘That’s not the wind magic I learned.’
However, looking at Kua Bao Rou cheering and clapping next to Kanna, it didn’t seem like that was necessarily the case.
‘Why does it always happen like that when I’m next to Kanna…’
Today is the finals day, so Hannah declared that she would be taking a break from business. Kannah had been acting like that since morning.
The finals were the biggest part, so when I asked her why she wasn’t doing business, Hae-na winked and tilted her body strangely as if she was lacking nutrition. I didn’t bother asking her any more.
Kanna called the three Hogu members and climbed onto their shoulders to carve the upper part of the ice.
Wheeeeeeing-.
The ice cracked, but the craftsman Kanna did not stop.
“Can you win?”
Choco asked.
“What do you think?”
I asked back instead.
“They say you can’t use auras there.”
“okay.”
“Then I guess I’ll win.”
Choco answered briefly and picked up his beer mug.
“okay?”
“Star-killer, do you know how these knights train here?”
He shook his head at Choco’s question.
“He would sit on a silk floor, close his eyes, and meditate. He called that kind of nonsense training. It was called Aura training.”
Vermunt crumpled the beer mug he had just finished drinking with one hand.
The beer glass distorted and the beer inside flowed through Vermunt’s large fingers. I looked away, feeling uneasy for no reason as I watched him.
“Isn’t it funny? We’ve been fighting since we could walk, and we’ve lost to those swindlers. All because of Auror.”
Vermunt’s mutterings were full of the rotten stench of withered emotions. Vermunt’s eyes, resembling sand, stared at me clearly.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s over. You lost to me.”
“Okay. That’s the end of the story.”
When I answered lightly, the guy nodded with a frustrated smile.
“I wish I could tear off his head and drink his blood. I don’t like the look in his eyes.”
“I don’t like it. It tastes bad.”
“You drink well in the desert.”
“There was nothing to drink back then.”
Vermunt frowned. Looking closely, he seemed to be smiling. However, his face was so fierce that it looked like he was frowning.
“It looks really bad.”
As I clicked my tongue, the guy opened his eyes wide and tried to say something, but then drank his beer.
Kanna poked me.
When he raised his head, he saw the ice where the pieces had ended.
It was a scene where Deokgu Beida was holding Kurtun’s severed head. Even below the neck, Kuobarou had lit a small fire, so the ice on the neck section was melting and water was flowing out, which looked exactly like blood.
If I had seen it without knowing, I would have praised it as a great piece, but the problem was that it was that kid who sculpted him.
“Kuh-!!”
I sighed inaudibly as I watched Kanna Yang raise both her arms and make a strange noise.
Then Hannah came out. She was wearing a very fancy dress, unlike her usual baggy clothes. I couldn’t help but look at her outfit, which didn’t look like it could fit a heart protector.
“Aaron! Hmm… Cheer up today too, like usual! Fighting!”
Hannah, who was about to say something, swallowed hard and swung her fists alternately.
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Don’t react so indifferently! If you win today at Deokgu Baeida, you only get 20 Coopers! Aaron’s special price!”
I turned my gaze to the sight of him smiling brightly and making strange hand gestures.
Hannah, smiling brightly, packed up the things she was going to take with her. A small cart was piled with bread and kegs of beer.
“We’ll go watch the finals! Aaron… will you rest at home?”
Hannah winked as if she was lacking nutrients.
I nodded to him and they all went out.
Before Kanna, who was on Choco’s neck, left, she looked at me and pretended to cut my neck with her thumb.
‘Where did you get that from···.’
I shook my head and got up from my seat.
***
Waaa …
Deokgu! Deokgu! Deokgu!
“Kuhh···!!”
I deliberately screamed exaggeratedly and waved my hands wildly, expressing with my whole body how stupid I was.
The crowd cheered even louder.
Now the groundwork is complete.
There were a few times when the performance almost broke, but in the end, he was able to portray the ignorant and invincible Dark Vader until the end.
I knew that Kurtun had been watching my matches, pretending not to care. What would he think of me if he had watched my matches?
‘I guess he’s just an ignorant, strong, and tough guy.’
For him, he played the role of Dark Vader, a barbarian warrior who didn’t fit into the body.
The savage warrior Dark Vader would step forward with his left foot before slashing with his sword, and would also shout loudly, “Kuhhh!!” as he exerted his strength.
The guy on the other side came up.
He brought all the women.
Among them, there was a woman who looked unwell, but she was supported and dragged out by other women.
The gathered women dispersed and took on awkward poses toward each area. I focused on the guy without looking away. His body shook.
The woman who had been on the horse’s back came towards me. Unlike before, she had bruises all over her body.
The woman standing next to me looked out toward the audience and removed the cloth covering my chest.
Waaaaaaaah-!!
There was a tremendous cheer at that.
I almost took my eyes off the guy.
“It’s the left foot.”
Then, amidst the shouts, a woman whispered. Her voice dripped with concentrated hatred.
With those words, the woman covered her chest with the cloth again and turned away.
‘···Left foot?’
I repeated to myself as I watched the woman staggering after being slapped in the face by the bastard.
Words filled with old feelings could not possibly be meaningless.
If so, it had few implications.
I remembered my first meeting with the guy.
The stride of my left foot was slightly larger.
‘I see.’
It seemed like I wasn’t the only one acting.
“Kuhhh!!! Dark!! Kuhhh!! Vaderaaaaaa!!!”
I raised both my hands in the air, shouting exaggeratedly.
The atmosphere suddenly heated up and the surroundings were filled with shouts of ‘Deokgu!’ once again.
The women filed down, and the man thrust his right foot out. He crossed his arms, pretending to let his guard down, but his hand was around the hilt of his sword.
It was an obvious and low-level provocation.
But this time it was his turn.
“Joyooooong!!!”
I raised my hand and shouted loudly.
The eyebrows of the man who was looking elsewhere rose slightly.
The noisy crowd soon became quiet.
The simpler and clearer the sentence, the better the effect.
I looked around the audience and when concentration reached its peak, I opened my mouth.
“Kurtun is a gozai!!”
I pointed at the bastard and shouted louder than ever.
The audience was still quiet, as if they didn’t understand what I meant, but the guy showed a clear reaction.
The face of the boy who had been calm and unlucky until now was grimacing as if he had been punched. It wasn’t enough.
Then someone in the stands shouted.
“That was a fucking punk!! His skin was so pretty, like a woman’s!! That fucking punk!! Kurtun is a fucking punk! A fucking punk! A fucking punk!!”
It was a weasel. He clapped his hands and kept chanting, “Kurtun! Goza!” and the clean and delicious chant quickly spread throughout the area.
Soon, the stadium was filled with ‘Kurtun Goza’.
“Kurtun is a goza!!!”
I drew my sword and cried out loud.
‘If I ran, I wouldn’t be able to stand this.’
The guy’s mask broke and his ugly true face was revealed.
The guy kicked the ground and ran towards me.
It was so fast that it was hard to believe it was made of iron.
‘Oh, it didn’t run.’
I faced the bastard, shouting ‘Kurtun Goja’ like a spirit.
Chae-Ang-. The guy quickly stabbed his sword, but I was already looking at the guy’s right knee.
I raised my sword as soon as I saw the bastard’s knees bend. I was barely able to strike him with my sword.
My right shoulder blade, where the guy’s sword had grazed, was torn and blood spurted out. It stung a little.
As I got closer, surprise appeared in his eyes, but soon it turned into annoyance.
“Kuhh!!!”
I pressed my sword towards the guy’s shoulder.
The guy took him with a blunt dagger.
He put strength into his hand that held the sword, but the guy’s dagger did not budge. It was Goja’s incredible strength.
‘Come on, you’re a scammer.’
I gave a bland review, stepped forward with my left foot, bent down, and put my weight on my sword. Then the guy’s dagger was pushed away, and for the first time, a look of urgency appeared on his face.
“Kuhh!!”
The guy stepped back and thrust his sword. My sword grazed his right shoulder, and his sword stabbed me in the chest.
A battle that took place in an instant.
His shoulder blade was shattered and there was a small hole in my breastplate.
I followed the guy who was retreating back like a wolf biting the scruff of his neck, taking the loss to maintain my ignorance.
“Kuhh!!”
They stabbed each other with their swords again.
His sword was fast, but mine was stronger.
I didn’t dodge the guy’s sword.
A look of confusion appeared on the boy’s face.
A hole was added to each other’s armor.
Red blood flowed out like a hole in a wine barrel.
The guy swung his sword widely. It seemed like he was trying to gain some distance. Since a slash, rather than a thrust, wasn’t that threatening, I pushed my right shoulder into the path of his sword and advanced.
Boom!
The distance between us closed in an instant as the guy’s sword was blocked by his shoulder plate.
“You crazy… ignorant bastard!”
I was higher up than him, so I could see his eyes, shoulders, and knees. His right knee bent again, and his shoulder shook. It was a stab.
‘Not yet.’
“Kuhh!!!”
Instead of avoiding him to maintain my ignorance, I swung my fist. A hole was pierced in my stomach and the guy who got hit hard by my punch staggered.
The guy’s focus went out.
I swung my fist at him again.
Thud! Thud!
It was only after two more hits that the guy hurriedly distanced himself.
The crowd cheered, but I couldn’t hear or see it.
All I could see was the guy with his mask removed, his original, evil face back on.
It was a short workshop, but I could tell.
‘If this continues, I’ll win.’
If the guy didn’t take out his aura, the outcome was set.
There will be blood and sweat along the way, but it will be plenty.
Looking at his crumpled face, it seemed like he felt it too.
The sound of his heavy breathing lifted me like exciting music, and the red blood flowing from his shoulder tempted me like sweet fruit pulp.
I opened my mouth, maintaining the elation that had been building up until the very end.
“Kuh! Me! Dark! There’s something I’m curious about!”
When I shouted, the guy glared at me with eyes full of hostility.
‘I guess I’ll have to kill him.’
It was an eye that would have been annoying if left alive. It’s not like it wouldn’t have been annoying if killed, though. I had to make an effort to finish it off cleanly.
“God! Pee! Sit down! Pee!!”
I could faintly hear the audience laughing.
The guy’s face suddenly became distorted like a demon’s.
“You are truly asking for your own death.”
The guy’s posture changed completely.
A different pose than before, with the upper body bent and both arms stretched out.
It seems like both swords will be used for attacks.
There must be a reason he takes that stance, even though it’s obvious that a blunt dagger would block my armor.
“Kuhh! Kurtun who poops while sitting down!!”
I was acting all excited and shouting exaggeratedly while thinking about the situation in my head.
What are the odds that a guy who has lost his mind will pull out an aura in a tournament?
“Kurtun!! Go!! Sit down! Fight! Kurtun!!”
A face distorted like a demon.
A distinct murderous intent in the eyes.
The left foot slowly steps forward.
‘100 percent.’
The thrill rose from my fingertips.
The guy’s changed demeanor made my hair stand on end, as if a knife was pointed at my neck.
‘I wonder if it will work on Auror too.’
His mask has come off, but mine hasn’t.
And it was clear that it would be fatal in a split second.
The corners of my mouth went up deeply, but he couldn’t see it because it was hidden by my helmet.
“Kuhh!! Dark!!”
I still stepped forward with my left foot and ran towards him.
***
“It’s the Cassadic Castle.”
The knight hunter nodded at the familiar walls.
“Of course. It’s impossible for anyone to get lost on the way from Karzan to Cassadic unless they’re a very old man. At least they’re not so old that they can’t control their shit and piss yet.”
Phew···.
The knight hunter took a deep breath and calmed his mind.
Many years had passed since the Covenant, but this was the first time I had felt this shaken.
“Hmm? But the line is a bit long.”
Gern… Gern! Not a knight! The knight hunter turned his head at Gern’s muttering.
There were men draped in black cloth and ugly figures standing in a circle, as if surrounding the walls of the Catholic Church. I had seen them before.
‘···These are the guys who are having a meeting.’
The knight hunter scratched his head.
What kind of hair do you have to have to think that line is waiting for you? It was an outrageous stupidity.
At that moment, cheers erupted from Cassidy Castle.
It seemed like the tournament was still in progress.
The smell of delicious food wafted in the air.
The knights are gathered in one place.
The knight hunter walked forward, baring his teeth.
As he was mumbling the covenant, Gern suddenly blocked his way.
“You have to wait in line, you stupid old man.”
Georn spoke firmly, pointing to the corpses that were only nodding their heads.
“Hey, Gern, can you tell me you’re a knight just once? Please.”
The knight hunter made a sincere request after a very long time.
“No, I’m Gern. Get in line.”
However, the answer I heard was still the same.
At that moment, something slowly happened among the gathered men.
A terrifying and terrifying presence. It gradually grew in size by eating the things around it. Eventually, it grew to the size of a castle wall and let out a silent scream.
‘A great darkness. You’re not a knight.’
The knight hunter clicked his tongue in regret.
“No, it’s Gern.”
The knight hunter took a deep breath as he watched the man answer without even asking.
