“What a joke.”
“What? What did you just say, you bastard?”
His voice rose, apparently believing I had mocked him.
“I mean, isn’t it true? You spent your entire life scraping by in a third-rate Mercenary Guild, and the best scheme you could devise for one big score was stabbing your client in the back. Even you have to admit that’s pathetic.”
“You son of a bitch!”
His face turned red as he charged at me with his mace raised.
“Come out.”
A sword rose from the shadow beneath my feet.
[Haa. I nearly died of boredom waiting.]
Faced with the unbelievable sight, the bastard stopped dead in the middle of his charge.
“Wh-what the hell? Are you a black mage?”
“Don’t give me that black mage bullshit. I’m going through all this trouble to stop those bastards.”
Grumbling, I gripped the sword and pointed it at John.
CLANK.
“Anyway, what do you think of him?”
[His quality is somewhat lacking, but he is not bad.]
“Really?”
John shouted.
“What the hell are you talking about, you son of a bitch?!”
“Ah, sorry. You can’t hear her.”
I rushed toward him.
“What I mean is…….”
SLASH—!
“Ghah!”
“You’re finished.”
Blood spurted from his neck.
“Ghk, ghk!”
He clutched his heavily bleeding throat.
Air leaked from the hole in his neck like a working bellows.
“You…… fu…….”
THUD.
Unable even to close his eyes before his sudden death, the bastard collapsed.
[Come here.]
The Demonic Sword released black mana.
[Wh-what is this?! No!]
John’s filthy soul, covered in grime like moss, began to be dragged from his body.
He reached for his fallen body, but his hands were already those of a dead soul and dispersed like smoke.
[No!]
SSSSS.
The wicked soul was absorbed into the Demonic Sword.
[That was delicious.]
I returned Fafnir to my shadow.
Knock, knock.
I tapped on the carriage window, but there was no response.
“You do not need to worry. I have defeated all the enemies.”
There was a brief hesitation before the carriage window cautiously opened.
“What happened?”
“There were traitors within the Mercenary Guild. They poisoned and killed the escorts, but I dealt with them.”
Fear flashed across the woman’s face.
Her voice trembled when she spoke.
“Th-thank you.”
“There is no need. I was contracted to escort you to your destination. I am merely performing my duty.”
RUSTLE.
At that moment, the sound of dry leaves breaking put her on edge.
“What was that?!”
I closed the carriage window again.
“Please remain inside for a moment.”
Step. Step.
“I have some uninvited guests to welcome.”
Three men wearing black masks revealed themselves.
“To think you noticed our covert approach. You have sharp instincts.”
“Covert, my ass. You rustled around loudly enough to frighten a young lady from a fine family.”
“You insolent bastard!”
SHING.
The two masked men standing on either side immediately drew their swords.
The man in the center, who had remained slightly behind them, raised his right hand and stopped them.
“Now, now. Do not be so hasty. Should we not have a conversation first?”
At his words, the two masked men sheathed their swords.
“Enough with the talk.”
The central man stepped toward me.
“Do not be so hostile. Let us make a deal. You are a mercenary, are you not? Take a generous payment and walk away.”
He was underestimating me.
He seemed to think I was merely a lucky newcomer stepping forward out of worthless ambition.
“Don’t you think too many people have died for that? You seem like the type to hand me a stack of money, send me away, and stab me in the back.”
“To be honest, using poison was those two dead men’s own decision. We only told them to bring us that woman. We never said how they should do it.”
“So all the dead mercenaries were their fault? You had nothing to do with it?”
“Frankly, the others dying means your share of the payment increases. You benefit as well. Let us end this here. Take the money and withdraw.”
“Money. Money is good.”
But still.
SHING.
The masked men radiated killing intent when I drew my sword.
“No matter how much money you have, I doubt it’s more than that woman possesses.”
GRIND.
A vein bulged on the forehead of the man who had been rambling.
“You foolish bastard. Drunk on your own bravado, you insist on making this troublesome.”
“Kill him!”
CLANG—!
The two masked men charged toward me.
They swung their blades from opposite directions, displaying coordination that could not have been achieved after practicing together only once or twice.
“Hah!”
“Die!”
Their shouts rang in my ears.
“Fafnir.”
[Very well.]
The shadow beneath my feet surged.
I gripped the handle of the Demonic Sword as it rose and slipped directly inside the range of the masked man on my right.
“Huh?!”
His breath caught when I suddenly appeared before him.
That was his final sound.
SQUELCH—!
“You mad bastard!”
The moment their companion’s head was severed, both the masked man on the left and the one who had given the order charged at me.
Neither was my match.
In an instant, I cut through the left man’s neck and drove my blade into the one in the center.
“Ghk!”
“Don’t die yet. Answer my question. Where did you hide the head of the Richgold Merchant Company?”
“How do you know about that?!”
“You don’t need to know.”
It was not as though he would believe me if I said I had investigated it in my previous life.
“GRAAAAGH!”
“If you don’t want to die right now, answer quickly.”
“Our base! He’s at our base!”
“Are you joking?! How am I supposed to know where your base is?!”
“GRAAAAGH!”
After writhing in agony for some time, he finally revealed the location of their base.
“See? If you’d answered earlier, you wouldn’t have had to suffer.”
“S-save me! I told you everything I know!”
“I’d like to spare you, but…….”
[I am hungry.]
The three souls were dragged toward the sword.
“GRAAAAGH! No!”
[That was delicious.]
RIPPLE.
I returned the sword to my shadow and knocked on the carriage door.
“I have a question for you.”
The door opened, revealing the frightened woman.
“Yes, please ask.”
“That bastard said the head of the Richgold Merchant Company was abducted and taken to their base. Is that true?”
“Y-yes. I heard the news and was hurrying back.”
“What did you intend to do after returning?”
“I planned to gather my family’s soldiers and rescue my father.”
I looked into her eyes.
There did not appear to be the slightest falsehood in her words.
“If I rescue the head of the merchant company, what will you give me in return?”
Her eyes widened.
After examining me briefly, she took my hand.
“If you can truly do that, I will give you anything within my power. My father will never forget this debt either.”
As he should not.
If he appeared to forget, I would beat the memory back into him.
I removed the mask from one of the fallen men.
“What is your name?”
“Mitchell. Mitchell Richgold.”
“Mitchell, there is an empty cave a short distance from here. Hide there for a while.”
“Then what will you……?”
“To catch a tiger, one must enter the tiger’s den.”
I untied the horse fastened to a tree in the forest and connected it to the carriage.
“I’ll be back shortly.”
The empty carriage rolled toward the enemy base.
***
Isaac.
A bandit, assassin, and kidnapper.
He was the sort of worthless man who would do anything for money.
At present, he was in a foul mood.
At the request of a regular client who frequently hired him, the abduction of the head of the Richgold Merchant Company had proceeded smoothly.
Isaac had assumed he merely needed to force the man to sign the letter of authorization and then kill him.
But had the old bastard eaten something strange?
No matter how much Isaac beat him, his spirit refused to break.
He stubbornly insisted that he would rather die than surrender the merchant company.
So Isaac had sent his men to capture the man’s daughter, Mitchell or whatever her name was, to use as leverage.
Yet far too much time had passed, and they still had not returned.
“Did something happen?!”
His instincts as a piece of trash warned him.
Something felt wrong.
Just as Isaac was about to order his subordinates to investigate—
“A carriage is approaching!”
The extravagant carriage supposedly carrying the woman was heading toward their base.
Isaac believed his worries had been groundless.
Until an unfamiliar man stepped out of the carriage.
***
“So this is the gathering place for trash who’ll do anything for money?”
Silence descended.
“Who are you?”
Isaac placed a hand on his sword.
I removed my mask and smiled.
When Isaac shouted, his subordinates poured out.
At least a hundred men surrounded the carriage and me.
“Why is there so much trash here?”
Killing intent poured from both Isaac and the men encircling me.
They were wicked men who committed murder and other crimes as casually as eating meals.
Their familiarity with taking lives only made them more confident.
“Do you even know where you are before running your mouth?”
I crossed my arms and deliberately provoked him.
“Where else? A garbage dump reeking of filth.”
“You bastard!”
“Your lives aren’t even fit to be used as manure. I’ll put them to good use.”
My provocation worked, and Isaac shouted an order.
“What are you waiting for?! Kill him!”
At his command, swordsmen charged from every direction.
RIPPLE.
I drew Fafnir from my shadow.
[What is this? A banquet hall?]
“Eat as much as you like!”
CLANG—!
I knocked away an incoming sword with the sound of clashing metal.
“That belongs to me now.”
I caught the falling sword and infused it with mana.
SWISH—!
The sword flew from my hand with the sound of cutting wind.
Before the enemies could react, it had already buried itself in a man’s heart.
“What the hell?! The sword is flying!”
“You don’t have time to stand around being surprised.”
I swung the Demonic Sword and cut through the neck of the nearest man.
[I shall enjoy this.]
“GRAAAAGH!”
The soul of the decapitated man was drawn into the sword.
The men who witnessed it began stumbling around in confusion.
If they approached, the mysterious Demonic Sword stole their souls.
If they remained at a distance, the sword swimming through the air pierced their vital points like a ghost.
“Aren’t you coming?”
I rested Fafnir against my shoulder and looked around.
These bastards discarded other people’s lives like worn-out spears, yet now that their own lives were at risk, they shoved one another forward.
“Then I’ll come to all of you at once.”
I raised the Demonic Sword high.
“Fafnir.”
WHOOSH.
Pitch-black flames bloomed from the sharp blade.
“Burn them all.”
[As you wish.]
“GRAAAAGH!”
The black flames danced.
Each time the fire curved through the air, another enemy was set ablaze.
After one great display of fire, every enemy had been reduced to ash, and their souls became offerings to the Demonic Sword.
“Y-you are…… N-no, who might you be, sir?”
“Ha. You’re deciding to show manners now? You’re far too late.”
Though I would have killed them all even if they had been polite from the start.
WHOOSH.
The black flames surged toward him.