* * *
“What? Glen and Flüde have been kidnapped?!”
The moment I received the news, I rushed to the scene.
The place had not exactly been intact the last time I visited, thanks to the Black Snake bastards making a mess of it, but now, as though one disaster had been piled atop another, it was in complete ruins.
The weapons shop’s front door had been smashed apart.
Soldiers from the lord’s castle lay dead around the shop.
The ground was drenched in their blood.
Swoosh.
‘…They have been dead for roughly four hours.’
I had lived by the blade in Murim for years. Something like this could be determined at a glance merely by examining how much the blood had congealed.
“Ah… Y-Young Master! You have arrived?”
“The Knight Commander is inside.”
The soldiers clearing the scene guided me to where Haver was.
“Young Master! What brings you all the way here at this late hour…?”
“A problem occurred with the work I was responsible for. Do you think I could sleep after hearing that?”
“Even so, this is a dangerous place….”
I understood that he was worried, but this was not the time to listen to his complaints.
“Enough. Report the situation.”
“…Understood.”
Haver must have realized from my gaze that I was serious, for he began his briefing in a grave voice.
“The first witnesses were the platoon that arrived to relieve the guards assigned to protect the Glen Weapon Shop.”
“How often were the guards rotated?”
“Every four hours.”
“They knew the schedule and timed their attack accordingly.”
“…That is correct.”
After nodding heavily, Haver continued his report.
“The attackers were most likely members of the slum organization known as the Black Snake. Most of them appear to have possessed unremarkable abilities, but several seem to have been quite formidable.”
“How did the knight die?”
“He was killed in a one-on-one duel.”
“Hmm… That is surprising.”
Someone strong enough to defeat a knight.
As far as I knew, Verdin’s slums were small and insignificant even by underworld standards….
“You are saying that a mere street gang has someone as skilled as a knight?”
“That… I cannot say for certain.”
“A platoon commander is still a knight.”
Even the most inexperienced knight was a swordsman of the ‘Expert’ rank.
Since the enemy had defeated an Aura user, the attacker had to be at least of the same rank.
“Could you not determine what sort of person the attacker was from the marks left on the dead knight’s body?”
“Well… The knight’s corpse was the only one that had been severely mutilated.”
Moreover, the attackers had supposedly used nothing but thoroughly basic swordsmanship when cutting down the soldiers.
“They must have plenty to hide. It seems there are quite a few things they desperately do not want us to discover.”
“That is correct. I have served in Verdin for ten years, but this is the first time I have ever heard of someone that skilled operating in the underworld.”
“Then there is a high possibility that the person entered the underworld recently….”
Several weeks ago, mercenaries had been hired for the Monster Subjugation Campaign.
Perhaps the culprit was among them.
“Examine every record of people entering and leaving the territory over the past month, including the mercenaries hired by the castle.”
“Whoaaaa! As expected… Young Master Evan truly is a genius!”
“…Stop making such a fuss.”
He was an incurably doting fool.
I asked whether there had been any other unusual discoveries.
But his reaction was…?
“Hmm… There was… perhaps one other unusual detail, but the contents are somewhat difficult to interpret….”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“Er― Well, you see….”
The way he stammered without answering seemed suspicious.
Then I noticed the note clutched in his left hand.
“That is it, is it not? Hand it over.”
“What?! N-No! This is merely….”
“Merely what?”
“Well… I believe this should be reported to the Marquis first….”
Aha.
He could not show it to me, but he could show it to the Marquis?
I did not know what it contained, but that only made it seem more suspicious.
“Haver, I am the one primarily responsible for this matter.”
“E-Even so, I cannot show you this!”
“Is that so?”
Haver discreetly hid the note behind his back.
But did he truly think I would obediently withdraw because of that?
‘If he will not hand it over, I will have to take it myself.’
Whoosh―
I stepped forward using the Shadowless Dark Step, closing the distance in an instant as I reached for Haver’s left hand.
Snatch―
“Hup?!”
Startled, Haver sucked in a sharp breath.
His reaction was understandable.
The technique I had just used was the ‘Seizing Hand.’
It was a martial art used to seize an opponent’s hand or weapon, a technique that did not exist in this world.
“There we go! Let us see.”
“Y-Young Master Evan? What exactly was that just now…?”
Haver stared blankly as though he had been bewitched by a ghost, but I paid him no attention.
My only concern was the contents of the note.
「The weapons shop owner and his son are in our custody.
If you want them to live, come to the location designated below within twelve hours.
Evan Verdin must come alone.
If you violate these conditions, the hostages will be killed.」
The message was brief, but its meaning was clear.
A black snake emblem had been stamped beneath it.
It was identical to the one I had seen when dealing with the Black Snake bastards before.
Heh.
“These bastards… are trying something rather adorable.”
A cold sneer spread across my lips.
Meanwhile, a peculiar anxiety appeared on Haver’s face.
“Um… Young Master Evan?”
“What?”
“You are not actually planning to do as they say, are you?”
His voice was cautious.
I could feel how desperately he hoped my answer would be no.
Not that I cared.
“No. That is exactly what I intend to do.”
“What?! Young Master! This is obviously a trap!”
As expected, the mountain of a man immediately began whining.
Even so, I did not so much as blink.
Glen and Flüde might become my financial lifeline in the future.
I could never allow worthless vermin—whether they were black snakes or common earthworms—to take them away from me.
“Yes. I know.”
“You know, and you are still going?!”
Haver practically leaped in alarm.
He insisted that even if I complied with their demands, there was no guarantee they would release the hostages.
Rather, it was far more likely that I alone would be placed in danger….
“Yes, yes. I know all of that.”
“…Pardon?”
That was precisely why I had a plan.
Haver once again fell silent, blinking his enormous eyes with a blank expression.
“I will explain the operation now. Go to Father afterward and tell him to proceed exactly as I say.”
Whoosh―
“…Gasp?!”
I deliberately used the Shadowless Dark Step to approach Haver until I was standing directly beside him.
He was startled that he had lost track of my movements, even if only for an instant.
Then, after hearing my plan, he was startled once again.
However, his gaze still showed lingering unease.
“Young Master Evan, even so….”
“Do not try to stop me. I am going no matter what.”
“Sigh… Understood.”
In the end, Haver had no choice but to surrender completely.
The moment our conversation ended, he raced toward the Marquis at full speed.
Meanwhile, I headed toward the slums, which were still submerged in darkness.
* * *
“Are you in your right mind?!”
The bespectacled butler raised his voice the moment he heard the story.
Sebas pounded his chest in frustration as he berated Haver.
“No matter how insistently the young master demanded it, you should have restrained him by force if necessary!”
“No… Listen, Glasses. Has Young Master Evan ever been anything like an ordinary child his age?”
“Hah― Even so! You said the enemy was skilled enough to kill a knight. How could such a young child possibly withstand someone like that?”
“Hmm? Well…….”
Haver firmly expressed his opinion on that particular matter.
“Hmm… I have not mentioned this until now, but Young Master Evan has already reached a level where he can manifest Aura.”
“What?! Haver, what are you saying…?”
“Moreover, although it lasted only for an instant, he displayed movements that even my eyes could not follow.”
The way Evan had glided toward him like a shadow.
The technique he had used to seize Haver’s left hand as well.
Haver was convinced that even if Evan fought the enemy leader who had killed the knight, he would not be overwhelmed one-sidedly.
‘When he dealt with those Black Snake bastards last time, his Hidden Weapon Arts were also extraordinary.’
He had thrown three daggers at once and planted every one cleanly into an enemy’s vital point without making a single mistake.
Even after killing them, there had not been the slightest tremor in his eyes.
‘Just how harshly must he have been raised while living outside the castle…?’
In truth, even while teaching Evan swordsmanship, Haver had realized that his young lord was not a complete novice.
However, since Evan had never mentioned it, Haver had merely pretended not to notice.
“…Yes. If it is Evan, there may not be any serious problem.”
Pervan Verdin finally spoke.
As someone who knew Evan’s true identity, he had little reason to be worried.
‘The super-regeneration ability I witnessed in the Behamag Mountains was absolute perfection.’
Moreover, he had personally witnessed Evan effortlessly dispose of Raph, who had been a company commander rather than a mere platoon commander.
Raph might have ranked lowest among the company commanders, but he could not be compared to a knight of platoon-commander rank.
No matter how Pervan considered it, his monstrous youngest son was unlikely to encounter genuine danger.
GRIND.
‘They dared to target Evan again…!’
Despite his lingering concern, fury toward the person who had orchestrated the incident surged within his chest.
Pervan had kept the Marchioness under constant surveillance.
He already understood exactly how the current situation had come about.
“I will personally follow Evan.”
He ordered Sebas to bring Dorothea, the territory’s Mage.
He then instructed Haver to gather the elite forces required to execute Evan’s operation.
Every one of them was to be of knightly rank.
“Knight Commander Haver obeys the lord’s command!”
“I will bring her immediately…!”
Has one ever heard the old saying?
「Using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken.」
At a single word from the ten-year-old youngest son of the Marquis, Verdin’s core forces—which had defended the Empire’s western border for centuries—were all set into motion.
* * *
Before dawn.
The slums were still submerged in darkness.
A lone boy walked through the dim streets.
Step. Step.
Had they not spoken of a Beauty Beneath the Moon?
Under the piercingly pale moonlight, the fair-skinned boy’s face was as beautiful as a finely sculpted work of art.
Even his clothes were made from soft black silk embroidered with luxurious golden thread….
No matter how one looked at him, he did not belong in these slums.
Swoosh.
“Is this the place?”
After walking for some time, the black-haired boy stopped.
Evan’s deep-blue eyes stared into the darkness.
“Come out.”
His voice was cold.
Someone sauntered out from behind a decrepit building on the verge of collapse.
SPIT―
“Well now… Kid, are you really the lord’s bastard young master?”
The man spat thick saliva onto the ground and stared at him in fascination.
He had a broad, sturdy build, a sword hanging at his waist, and a black snake tattoo on his exposed forearm.
“That is right. I have no business with a lackey like you, so hurry up and take me to your boss.”
“…What did you say?”
Even a common street thug had his pride.
Although Evan was a young master, being dismissed by a mere ten-year-old caused the guide’s temper to flare.
“You f*cking bastard… Do you think those distinguished knights will protect you even here?”
He had only intended to frighten the boy a little.
That had truly been his intention.
Grin.
“I think I could beat the likes of you with a single finger.”
The boy crooked his index finger at him.
The instant he saw it, the thug completely lost his temper.
“You arrogant little brat… You are nothing but a bastard, yet after eating good food for a few months, you have forgotten how to fear death!”
WHOOSH―
A short while ago, ‘that man,’ who had recently become the new leader of the Black Snake, had said that Evan only needed to be brought back alive.
Thus, the thug swung his fist, intending to beat the insolent boy until tears and snot covered his arrogant face—
Tap.
“What…?”
The thug’s enormous fist was stopped dead by something.
It was the boy’s pale, slender finger.
“See? I told you I could beat you with one finger.”
“Ughhh…!”
No matter how much strength he used, the finger would not budge.
The thug felt as though he were trapped in a dream.
The boy, however, smiled chillingly.
Grin.
“Now, clench your teeth.”
“Wh-What did you say…?”
― Aaaaaaagh!
― Aaaagh!
― S-Save meeeeeee!
The merciless beating that followed awakened his entire body to reality.
More certainly than ever before.
More vividly than ever before.