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Rohan moved immediately. The gracefully curved blade slashed at Rafon’s chest. However, what flew into the air was just a piece of cloth cut by the sword, not blood droplets. Rafon had hastily retreated backward, realizing a beat late as the magic-imbued sword moved.
“A cowardly surprise attack…!”
“Are we in a position to worry about such things?”
Rafon bared his teeth as soon as he barely avoided the attack. Rohan smiled at his expression flickering with killing intent.
His gently curved eyes were saying it. That they weren’t close enough for friendly guidance, and in fact, didn’t he already suspect? About what happened in the village.
At this, Rafon bit his lip. Only then did traces of anxiety begin to show in his blatantly crumpled expression. He twisted his grip on the sword. The air instantly became tense.
“Let me see it once, that skill you’re so proud of…”
“…”
“And your loyalty to your master.”
A soft voice flowed out. It was a gentle and tickling voice, as if soothing a frightened child. And this became the signal to end the strange psychological warfare that had continued since their first encounter.
Tap tap tap. The sound of a single sprint crossed the silent forest. Rohan, who had slowly blinked, recognized the situation unfolding before him and let out a hollow laugh.
He thought the strange eye movements were looking for an opportunity to kill him, not gauging the angle to escape.
“Ha, really…”
Hopeless.
A bitter evaluation flowed through his gritted teeth. Rohan quietly stroked his face and briefly looked back. The clergyman who had been tightly bound to the tree trunk seemed to have lost consciousness by now, taking shallow breaths with his eyes tightly shut.
Arpel, quickly realizing what Rohan was worried about, added:
<I don’t sense any other presence nearby. Although his condition isn’t good, it’s unlikely to worsen significantly if we leave briefly, so he shouldn’t be in danger.>
“…Okay, thank you.”
Hearing this, Rohan immediately adjusted his grip on the sword. His body, which seemed to lightly kick off the ground, shot out through the densely packed trees in the blink of an eye.
***
Faintly feeling the cool breeze brushing his body, Arpel once again gauged the gradually distancing presence. It was to carefully check on the wellbeing of the seemingly fragile human. Perhaps it was also due to reading some of Rohan’s lingering concern.
Although he had sufficient ability to catch Rafon who had fled outright, he couldn’t easily move. He was worried about the man who would be left alone.
If Arpel hadn’t quickly scanned the surroundings and additionally checked the man’s condition and informed him, Rohan would have had difficulty making up his mind even afterward.
Some might call it foolish. But Arpel loved this aspect of Rohan immensely. The way he could be infinitely ruthless towards enemies, yet couldn’t easily overlook someone he cared about even slightly being in trouble.
<Pretty.>
“What is?”
<Nothing. It’s nothing.>
Rohan asked about the unintentionally leaked true feelings. Arpel smiled silently while naturally brushing it off. Although it wouldn’t be visible to Rohan’s eyes as he was in the form of a sword, not human, he still smiled.
It didn’t matter if he acted foolishly. Even if he made wrong choices, it didn’t matter. Because he could correct them. It wasn’t particularly difficult for Arpel, who had promised to be together for a lifetime. That alone was enough.
Rohan increased his sprinting speed. Because the trace he had widely spread in the forest from the moment he started chasing was indicating that not much time remained.
Clang!
In an instant, a sword striking from the side aimed at him.
“Damn it…!”
Rohan, who easily blocked the attack by twisting the blade sideways, shrugged his shoulders. He even added a light comment on top of that.
“That just now was quite good.”
“You bastard…! Don’t look down on me too much!”
“I was being sincere.”
Rohan smiled bitterly. Though he hadn’t tried to completely hide his presence, Rafon not only noticed it but even hid in the dense forest to attempt an ambush. It wasn’t bad skill and judgment.
So if he had thought carefully, he might have found another breakthrough in the previous situation. But what he chose was to run away.
Rafon, who had taken a step back, immediately rushed forward. The heavy sword falls from above. Rohan, who quickly twisted his body to narrowly avoid the blade, immediately spun around and kicked Rafon’s side.
“Ugh!”
A painful groan escaped from his mouth as he exposed his body, unable to defend in time. Although he didn’t say it out loud, his glinting eyes seemed to be inscribed with such words. That it was cowardly and vulgar. Why fight in such a way while holding a sword?
Rohan snorted.
“The empire has been peaceful lately…”
Given the increasingly rampant specters day by day, the expression “peaceful” didn’t fit. However, if one only considered international politics, not specters… it had been quite a while since the empire had been at war. It meant the knights had grown soft in peace.
That’s why words like “vulgar” come out of your mouth. Only then could Rohan be certain. That the man before him, despite having high potential and excellent skills, was nothing more than a flower grown in a greenhouse.
“Oscar was better than you.”
So with a smiling face, he touched Rafon’s sore spot. Rafon, who hesitated for a moment close to an instant, gritted his teeth. The onslaught of sword attacks began to grow even fiercer.
“Oscar! Oscar! Damn Oscar!! How dare you mention that bastard’s name in front of me!”
A red glint seemed to flash across his blue eyes for an instant. Attacks filled with killing intent poured down one after another. Rohan calmly parried all those swords. Rafon’s lips curled up as he saw Rohan stubbornly defending, as if unable to find an opportunity to attack.
“You provoked me on your own, but now you look ridiculous. Where did that earlier spirit go!”
Hahaha! A laughter that seemed both hearty and unseemly filled the surroundings. Swish! At the same time, the sword blade with a twisted trajectory grazed Rohan’s face, leaving a small wound on his cheek. A round droplet of blood slowly trickled down.
“If I kill you like this and go back, His Majesty will surely praise me. Thanks to you, I’ve achieved my lifelong wish! I thank you in advance!”
Swish! The sword imbued with aura aimed for his neck, making a vicious noise. Rohan, who strongly deflected it, took a step back. It would be more accurate to say he was pushed back. Rafon, who lightly caught his breath, sneered mockingly at the sight.
However, Rohan didn’t show any sign of agitation even when facing such a Rafon up close. His eyes, calm to the point of seeming even more sunken than usual, watched him coldly. It was an alien and chilling sight.
Rafon, frowning deeply, muttered.
“Tch, that’s what happens when you associate with something that’s not human.”
“And what about you?”
“What?”
Rohan tilted his head. His eyes, which had erased even the little remaining expression, stared at Rafon. It was a gaze reminiscent of Arpel looking at him as something worthless. At least, that’s what Rafon thought.
“How stupid must you be to not realize that I’ve been toying with you?”
That must have been why. He couldn’t fully understand Rohan’s words that followed immediately after.
While wielding his sword, his mind gradually understood those words. The first thing he realized was that he was being insulted, and the second thing he realized was…
“…Argh!”
That Rohan had not used his power even once.
The gift of God. The blessing of God. That which is called the power of God itself. In an instant, pitch-black shadow thorns sprang up from the ground.
He barely twisted his body, and endured by striking down with his sword what he couldn’t avoid. He thought he had endured. If only the thorns that seemed to stop hadn’t suddenly changed direction to target him.
There was no way his body, with its balance disrupted from barely avoiding the pouring attacks, could avoid this again. Things stretching out from all directions pierced his hands and feet. Screams poured out involuntarily at the searing pain.
“Do you understand now?”
“Ugh, kuh.”
“The reason I said Oscar was better than you.”
With those words, Rohan lightly flicked his finger. At the same time, the thorns that had dug into Rafon’s body disappeared as if they were a lie. Rafon, who had barely escaped from them, staggered backward. Even so, his eyes were burning with inferiority.
Looking at that sight, Rohan thought. That he couldn’t understand the Emperor who thought to place such a guy by his side.
And that he would show hell to the bastard who dared to speak condescendingly of Arpel in front of him. The shadows of the tall trees rippled pitch-black.
***
“He doesn’t know much.”
<Unless he’s a fool, he wouldn’t tell such a guy.>
The battle with Rafon ended in a boring way. From the beginning, there was no way he could defeat Rohan in a forest full of shadows.
Under the relentless onslaught of shadows, Rafon, who at first tried to endure somehow, quickly crumbled. Only the embers of the burning aura remained where he fell.
However, despite quickly gaining the upper hand, Rohan’s expression was unsatisfactory. It was because things didn’t go as well as he thought.
He boasted loudly about occupying the Emperor’s side, but actually knew little information. The effort spent pouring out attacks to make him feel the fear of death had been in vain.
“Then should I ask that clergyman?”
The only information Rafon divulged was the single order the Emperor had given him.
Visit the temple and disrupt the atmosphere between them, and when the time comes, go to a predetermined location and kill a secured clergyman.
The problem was that he didn’t know why he had to kill, or what to do afterward.
By this point, he could vaguely guess. That Rafon, who visited the temple as the First Knight Commander, was ultimately nothing more than a disposable piece for the Emperor.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
