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“No matter how I look at it…”
As the gentle sunset faded and darkness began to fall, Rohan muttered with a frown. His voice was filled with unease.
At first, he hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Everything had happened so quickly. The missing mercenary had suddenly appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Rohan and Arpel had hurried to chase him into the forest.
It was only when they entered the deep forest that their rational minds began to raise questions. Arpel, belatedly examining the inner forest, added:
“The traces are fading. This doesn’t seem to be a path used by villagers.”
The path was still there, but signs of human passage had faded. The dirt road narrowed, the surrounding grass grew thicker, and the occasional signposts had long since vanished.
The mercenary’s sudden appearance, their hurried steps towards the forest, and how quickly he vanished as if intimately familiar with the forest’s geography…
Why would the supposedly missing mercenary be crawling around in such a deep forest where people rarely ventured? It seemed like the behavior of someone with suspicious intentions.
The place where they had spotted the mercenary was also on the outskirts of the village, where human traffic was extremely rare. Perhaps even that action had been calculated. Rohan’s eyes slowly sank as he recalled these troubling points.
“…Looks like we’ve been lured.”
If his guess was correct, there could be only one reason for drawing them into such a remote forest.
As if to prove their suspicions correct, slight movements could be felt from all around.
Sensing the movements with clearly impure intentions, Rohan whispered softly:
“Arpel.”
“Yeah.”
Though he only uttered the name, Arpel understood Rohan’s words perfectly. He reached into his hood and pulled out a silver ball about the size of an adult’s fist… then, without hesitation, threw it high into the sky.
Bang—!
Red fireworks burst in the sky. It was one of the items Dein had handed them along with the map before they left the mercenary guild.
‘This is one of the items recently developed by the guild. It’s designed to explode when a certain external force is applied. Though its firepower is weak, the color of the fireworks is vivid, making it suitable for use as a flare.’
If you need our help during the investigation, please throw this.
Rohan remembered Dein’s face, smiling broadly as if to instill trust. At the time, he hadn’t been particularly impressed, but seeing the fireworks now brilliantly decorating the dark sky at the border of evening and night, his thoughts changed. He had to admit, Dein’s confidence was warranted.
Simultaneously with Arpel’s sudden action, someone sprang out from the bushes right in front of them. A cold blade struck fiercely, as if about to sever Rohan’s neck.
The red fireworks flashing in the sky illuminated the attacker’s face clearly. Eyes still tense with nervousness flashed with killing intent.
In that instant.
“This is…!”
Arpel transformed into a sword, and Rohan, gripping that sword, swung it lightly. It was a simple, uncomplicated movement, but it easily deflected the man’s sword that was swinging down with all his might.
Although his face was revealed as his robe slipped off when he swung the sword, Rohan paid no mind and prepared for the next attack.
Sure enough, following the first man’s attack, sword strikes came rushing in from all directions. However, none of their attacks reached Rohan. They didn’t even graze the edge of his clothes. As if they were confused by the situation unfolding before them.
It wasn’t the jaw-dropping skill, nor the unprecedented sight of a person transforming into a sword that caused their confusion.
“…Rohan. It’s Rohan! Why is this person here!”
“This, this wasn’t mentioned…!”
Before they voluntarily pretended to go missing with other intentions, there were various rumors they had heard while staying at the guild. The story about Rohan was one of them.
The one blessed by the Demon Sword of this era. The one showing heroic actions, personally purging the heretics disturbing the empire.
His actions gained even more attention when it became known that he had prevented a tragedy in Bemos Village not long ago. As the momentum of heretics causing trouble throughout the empire subsided, there were even baseless rumors circulating that they had all gone into hiding out of fear of him.
Along with this, information about his appearance also circulated among the mercenaries, so it was only natural that they immediately recognized Rohan’s identity. Their will to attack was instantly halved. As famous as his actions were the stories about his unfathomable martial arts skills.
Did that thought bring about a vague fear?
“Ugh…!”
“Guh!”
The already unsightly swords shook mercilessly, as if expressing those emotions. Instead of attacking Rohan, they collided and tangled with each other.
As swords clashed, clear metallic sounds spread. Following that, groans broken by pain decorated the air.
“This is strange.”
Rohan muttered a small observation while staring at those who had immediately retreated. A puzzled gaze touched his fingertips. Despite deflecting multiple swords at once, the impact felt in his hand was minimal.
…It was such poor skill that he couldn’t even understand how they thought to ambush others. Moreover, their will to fight was ridiculously thin. There were quite a few who didn’t even dare to approach after crossing swords just once. Some couldn’t even hide their fear.
Whether they were targeting him or not, this meant that these people weren’t the type to plan an operation to lure and ambush someone.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything to antagonize mercenaries…”
If so, there must be someone behind them. Rohan spoke as he twisted his grip on the sword. The sound of dry swallowing could be heard here and there.
“Is there no one willing to speak up even now? Surely there’s someone who ordered you to do this.”
It was a statement filled with the conviction that they couldn’t have planned something like this on their own. It was also a reaction showing that he didn’t see those before him as dangerous individuals.
At those words, most of them grimaced terribly, but no one dared to charge. After all, their collective attack had just been blocked ridiculously easily by a single person.
But Rohan didn’t continue speaking further. This was because Arpel, who had been silent while entrusting his body to him, conveyed his voice for the first time.
<…Step back, Rohan.>
And it was a warning, whispering to be careful.
Although he couldn’t immediately understand his words, Rohan knew that Arpel didn’t speak nonsense. The reason he reflexively followed what he said was for the same reason.
“How dare…”
Someone’s voice scattered in the air. A small whisper, close to a mutter, that could be easily overlooked if not consciously noticed. But Rohan heard that voice clearly.
Turning his head towards the source of that voice, he soon discovered a familiar face. A familiar appearance… it was the man who had lured them into this deep forest. Rohan couldn’t take his eyes off him.
Had the brief conversation they just had ignited some spark in his heart?
The man’s eyes were flickering red.
“How dare you insult me? Me?”
The words that burst out, tightly packed with inferiority complex, had little effect on Rohan. However, the aura emanating from the man’s eyes was terribly ominous. It wasn’t mana, nor holy power, nor the aura of a wraith…
Suddenly, the man’s sword burst into red flames.
That was the beginning.
“I can’t, I can’t end it like this… After getting this chance!”
“If we all attack together this time…!”
“If I bring that head, I too can reach a high position like them…”
The people standing around burst into emotions all at once. A desperate will to accomplish something, hope that it would be possible this time, even greed for advancement. At the same time, their swords also began to burn red.
“That’s…”
<Aura.>
“But to call it Aura, the form is too…”
Rohan’s fine brows furrowed mercilessly. Moreover, he vaguely remembered their personal information. The writing that said they couldn’t use Aura.
Setting aside the strange form of the Aura, the very act of emitting Aura was bizarre.
After actually clashing swords, he was certain that assessment wasn’t wrong. It was to the extent that it wouldn’t be strange to compare them to inexperienced newcomers who had just picked up a sword. The sloppy stances that made him doubt if they had been training consistently were still vivid before his eyes.
These were people who couldn’t use Aura. He believed this without a doubt. Those who use Aura should at least have solid sword basics, but he had never felt that from those charging at him.
Despite Rohan’s questioning, Arpel didn’t retract his words. He did so even though he knew what Rohan wanted to say. Because he could hear it clearly.
The waves emitted by the fierce Aura, and the screams of the swords being devoured by it. It was an intuitive judgment possible because he was a ‘sword’, not a person.
<It’s confusing. That’s not ordinary Aura.>
“…What do you mean?”
<Rohan. Focus your mana on your eyes and look at them carefully. Not the outside, but inside their bodies. Then you’ll be able to feel it too.>
Even while avoiding those charging at him with fierce shouts, Rohan diligently followed Arpel’s words. The mana concentrated in both his eyes soon showed him another world.
In a black and white world where time seemed to flow slowly, the only thing with color. The flames burning bright red on the swords were still vivid.
And the starting point of that fire was… none other than the heart.
<What they’re using is Aura that burns human life.>
Arpel added in an icy voice.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
