RING—!
His skull rang with a piercing ache.
CLANG— At the same time, the sword slipped from Rohan's grasp and fell.
This happened whenever he took a life's memories, but the pain from a human's was far worse.
The surrounding noise reached him as a tinnitus-like buzz.
"Hans! Hans! Someone bring a tourniquet, fuck!"
"What are you doing? Get that bastard!"
"Kill him!"
SHING, SHING, SHING!!!
The sound of swords being drawn from their sheaths echoed through the square.
Only after some time passed could Rohan collect himself.
'They look familiar.'
When he raised his head, the soldiers' faces seemed familiar.
It was thanks to the memories he had absorbed from the soldier he killed.
Gleaming swords pointed at him from every direction.
"You son of a bitch. Do you have any idea who you killed?!"
One of them, unable to contain his fury, charged.
When the man rushed Rohan, the other soldiers hesitated with their swords raised.
If they joined in rashly, they might cut down their comrade as well.
'That's Dave.'
The man Rohan had just killed was Hans, the spy.
The man charging him was Hans's close friend.
The man lunged with his sword raised, but Rohan remained calm instead.
'He suffered a cut to his side in a recent battle.'
The memories of the man he had killed were already inside him.
Information about the swordsmanship the man had cultivated throughout his life had also organized itself into fragments.
'Can I put the swordsmanship into practice immediately?'
He was curious.
He could find out through the man before him.
But Rohan's sword lay on the ground.
There was no time to pick it up again.
"Die!"
The man swung his sword diagonally.
Using the evasion technique in his memories, Rohan narrowly dodged the blade.
An evasion technique taken from Hans's memories.
'It works!'
The corners of Rohan's mouth twitched without his realizing it.
Another person's memories had translated into his own movements.
His heart raced at the fact that a dead man's experience could truly become his.
"You're smiling? You crazy bastard."
When Rohan grinned as he avoided the sword, the man lost control of his anger and swung again.
Rohan's eyes swept over the man's movements in an instant.
His footwork. The preparatory motion for his swing. The direction of the hand gripping his sword.
Rohan took in the information at a glance, and the man's sword path formed in his mind.
'It's the second form of Carnia swordsmanship.'
A horizontal slash.
Recover the sword, then a diagonal slash.
After that, a thrust.
Though he had never seen the swordsmanship before, the movements looked as familiar as if he had practiced them until last night.
Whoosh, swish, swish!
The man swung his sword, but the blade cut only air.
That did not mean his swordsmanship was crude.
With Rohan's original physical abilities, dodging should have been impossible.
'My body can't keep up.'
That was how Rohan actually felt.
It was as if his mind and body were moving separately.
He could evade only because he understood the swordsmanship and could predict the sword's path.
Had he been unable to predict it, he would certainly have been injured.
"Argh!"
The man's face flushed scarlet with rage.
Having lost all reason, he began swinging his sword wildly.
'I can't read it.'
It was no longer possible to predict him.
This swordsmanship did not exist in Rohan's memories.
'I'm at a disadvantage.'
If he could not predict the path, he would be unable to dodge even if he saw the blade coming.
His body could not keep up with his mind.
Having grasped the situation, Rohan put some distance between them.
Dave strode toward him.
Just as the man, certain of victory, raised his sword high.
Rohan ducked and burrowed into the man's reach.
"Huh?"
Dave's startled voice rang out.
The longsword came down too late and ceased to be a threat once the distance had closed.
Rohan wrapped both arms around the man's waist and hooked his leg to bring him down.
Perhaps because of their difference in weight, the man staggered once but soon recovered his balance.
Just as composure returned to his face.
Rohan immediately shifted his encircling arms toward Dave's side and pressed his fingers hard into the old wound.
"Agh, aaaargh!"
Dave's back arched like a bowstring drawn taut.
CLANG. His sword flew from his grasp as he strained unsuccessfully to wrench Rohan away.
Rohan relentlessly crushed the wounded spot with all his strength.
"Agh! S-stop! Stop!"
Dave's screams grew louder.
Crack... pop...
Before long, an unnatural sound emerged from a human body.
It was the sound of the barely closed wound splitting open again.
The robe Dave wore was swiftly dyed crimson with fresh blood.
"Urgh... s-stop!"
He writhed in pain, but each struggle only drove Rohan's fingers deeper into the wound.
"Urgh— gurgle..."
At last, Dave's eyes rolled back with a phlegmy rattle.
Like a pillar toppled by the wind, his rigid bulk fell backward with a thud.
With the body blocking his view gone, Rohan saw countless eyes staring at him as if entranced.
The clearest emotion in them was bewilderment.
"Wh-what?"
"Dave lost?"
No one appeared to have predicted Rohan's victory.
Some went deathly pale when they saw the blood dripping from his hand.
Someone among them shouted.
"Wh-what are you standing around for?! Kill him!"
"He attacked two of our own! I don't give a fuck if he's a kid—just kill him!"
Coming to their senses, the men began bellowing.
They surged forward with their swords raised toward Rohan.
"Stop!!"
A colossal voice thundered across the square.
It was loud enough to make their eardrums hum.
Shupern's figure appeared before Rohan in an instant.
'When did he...?'
To Rohan, it looked as though Shupern had vanished from afar and reappeared.
Shupern's hand seized Rohan roughly by the throat and lifted him.
"Urk."
Rohan struggled, but Shupern did not budge in the slightest, as though Rohan were pushing a boulder.
In that brief instant, Rohan felt the unfathomable gulf in their strength.
It felt as though an insurmountable wall blocked his way.
Powerful curiosity blossomed in Rohan's mind.
'He's strong. Is Reinach even stronger than this?'
Then how strong would Rohan have to become?
Even as his mind gauged his goal, he could not breathe and his vision began to blur.
"You... will have to answer for what you've done."
Shupern's voice sounded like that of a beast.
That was Rohan's final memory.
***
SPLASH—!
Cold water poured over Rohan's face, opening his eyes.
He found himself inside a prison.
Shupern stood beyond the bars.
He held a green brooch in his right hand.
'That is...'
An artifact that detected lies.
Its brilliant green light turned red when it detected a falsehood.
Rohan recognized it immediately.
The memories of Hans, the soldier he had killed, were inside his mind.
"Explain."
Shupern spoke curtly.
Rohan answered at once.
"The man I killed was a Noxis spy."
There was neither reason nor need to lie.
As expected, Shupern's eyes naturally went to the brooch.
The green brooch did not change at all.
"Proof?"
"There should be a vial inside the corpse's clothes. It contains poison. He was going to put it in the soldiers' rum."
"A vial."
Shupern immediately jerked his chin at a soldier by the entrance to the underground prison, ordering him to check.
The soldier gave a short salute and hurried out.
Shupern's gaze returned to Rohan.
"How do you know that?"
How should he answer?
Rohan's gaze went to the brooch.
Any clumsy lie would be exposed at once.
Should he reveal that he could take memories?
'...No.'
It seemed best to conceal anything concerning memories.
The brooch's ability was to detect lies.
That was separate from discerning another person's abilities.
He only needed to state facts.
After briefly collecting his thoughts, Rohan answered.
"I saw him pour the vial into a barrel at the back."
"You saw him?"
He had indeed seen it in the memories, so it would not be a lie.
As expected, the brooch still did not change.
"That alone wouldn't have been enough to know he was a spy."
"I remembered seeing him in a Noxis uniform."
"......."
When the brooch remained unchanged, Shupern wore an incredulous expression.
It lasted only an instant before his face returned to its usual impassivity.
"Understood for now. However."
Shupern stopped speaking and stared at Rohan.
His middle-aged face was covered in scars, but his gaze remained piercing.
"You had learned swordsmanship. Noxis swordsmanship, at that."
"I only copied what I saw."
"You saw that as well? Have you ever learned swordsmanship?"
"No."
"Ha!"
An incredulous sigh escaped him.
Meanwhile, the soldier who had left to check for the vial returned.
"Knight Commander Shupern. There... was a vial on Hans's corpse!"
Shupern's brow furrowed as he took it.
Rohan asked.
"What will happen to me?"
"You performed Noxis swordsmanship."
That clearly warranted execution.
"No matter how ignorant of the world you may be, killing an imperial soldier with Noxis swordsmanship..."
"He was a spy."
"That requires further investigation."
Rohan rose and took a step toward Shupern.
"I want to become a knight."
"You must not become one."
"Why? You said you'd let me join if I knew how to use a sword."
Shupern himself had nodded to that promise.
He stopped speaking for a moment and stared at Rohan.
"Knowing how to swing a sword isn't enough to make you a knight. You...... don't have the temperament for it."
"......."
"I'll investigate further, then release you. If I spare you, never come near this place again."
It was an unmistakable order to leave.
Rohan stared blankly at Shupern as he walked away.
As Shupern turned and left the underground prison.
An unfamiliar voice came from deep inside the prison.
"Knight Commander, give us some water."
"We'll all die at this rate."
The words were a request, but the tone held mockery.
Looking closer, Rohan saw five men in Noxis uniforms bound there.
Their uniforms were stained with blood in several places, as though they had suffered every kind of torture, and they looked haggard.
Shupern glanced at them and spoke in a low voice.
"You slaughtered civilians, yet you ask for so much. You'll be executed after midnight tonight."
Civilians.
The word suddenly reminded Rohan of his mother.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
The look in Rohan's eyes changed as he regarded them.
Though they had clearly been sentenced to death, they snickered at Shupern.
Creak, thud. Shupern vanished as the old underground prison door opened and shut.
All at once, only Rohan and the five Noxis soldiers were left in the prison.
'There were Noxis soldiers here?'
An indescribable feeling surged within him.
Rohan knew exactly what it was.
It was the same emotion he had felt hunting his way from rabbits to foxes, foxes to wild dogs, and wild dogs to wolves.
'Then there's less than an hour until midnight?'
The bell had just rung eleven times.
Rohan's grin widened.
***
One bell rang after midnight, and Rohan opened his eyes.
The prison had only one passage, so the only guard stood at the entrance.
The man on duty from midnight was Kaisen.
He was notorious for always falling asleep during his watch and being reprimanded for it.
He was most likely fast asleep by now.
'Would this be enough time?'
Rohan rose.
His body cracked from sitting on the rough floor for so long.
The Noxis soldiers were imprisoned in the distance.
Several raised their heads at the noise, but soon let them fall again.
They did not seem to have much strength left.
'Was it around here?'
Rohan looked away and began digging at a spot in the ground.
The shadow of the third iron bar cast by the torch that lit the prison.
The prison had a dirt floor, making it easy to dig.
After he dug for some time, his hand struck something.
'Found it.'
He pulled out a key.
It was information that had flowed from Hans's memories.
Hans, the Noxis spy, had hidden an emergency key in the prison in case he was ever detained.
Rohan immediately reached through the bars and inserted the key into the lock.
Click... creak...
The noise from the old hinges filled the prison.
At the same time, every Noxis soldier raised his head.
They seemed startled by the sound of the prison door opening.
Rohan waited for a moment, but heard no sign of anyone at the entrance.
As expected, Kaisen appeared to be sleeping deeply.
'Now.'
Rohan opened the door, took a torch from the wall, and approached the Noxis soldiers.
FWOOSH—
He illuminated the cell with the torch and examined their faces.
They ranged from young men to gray-haired men of middle age.
After scrutinizing their faces, Rohan spoke.
"You're Noxis soldiers, aren't you?"
The wide-eyed soldiers shuffled toward him.
Pressing their faces between the bars, they spoke.
"Kid, open this door too."
"Let us out. We'll do anything you ask."
"What do you want? Let us live too."
Ignoring them, Rohan spoke.
"Then you must know a lot too?"
The soldiers' faces quickly turned menacing.
They looked ready to curse him, but forced smiles instead.
The key to the lock on their cell was in that child's hand.
"Of course we do. Let us out and we'll tell you everything."
"That's right. What are you curious about? We'll tell you anything."
"Shh. An officer might come if this keeps up."
Rohan remained unmoved by their coaxing.
Only the crackle of the torch in his hand echoed through the prison.
When they realized Rohan had no intention of opening the door, curses finally spilled from their mouths.
"Fuck. Now even some kid is here trying to pry information out of us."
"Open the door while we're still asking nicely. Then we'll tell you what you want to know."
The corner of Rohan's mouth twisted upward.
Then he murmured as if to himself.
"There's no need for that."
One of the burly men, offended, could no longer contain himself and swore.
"Fuck! What the hell are you trying to do? You need us if you want information. Did you think we wouldn't realize we're still alive after midnight because you need it?"
"I'll learn everything anyway. That isn't what I'm curious about."
Rohan looked coldly down at the five men.
Rohan knew very well what it meant for soldiers to harm civilians.
From the memories of the men he had killed, it was clear these men were trash not worth saving.
Rather than emotional agitation, a different emotion showed in Rohan's eyes.
"Will I still receive your memories if you burn to death?"
It was curiosity.
Rohan picked up a jar of torch oil from against the wall.
Glug, glug, glug—.
The oil soaked the dry straw in the cell and the soldiers' clothing.
"W-wait! Who are you to do this......?!"
"The Knight Commander won't let you get away with this!"
Rohan tilted his head.
"The Knight Commander himself said he would kill you at midnight."
"W-wait!"
Without hesitation, Rohan threw the torch into the cell.
FWOOSH—!
"Aaaaargh!"
Five screams erupted at once.