Chapter 78. Why Are You Staring Like That?
I looked down at the Geumma mage writhing on the ground.
No—before that, there was something I needed to confirm.
“You’re a Geumma mage, right?”
“…….”
“Looks like you are.”
He’d been rendered unable to speak, but even just from his eyes, it was enough to infer an answer.
Those trembling pupils—
they were wavering like they were saying, “How did you know?”
“Good. So you are. Then those sprawled out over there are your lackeys?”
“U-ugh… keuk!”
“Why are you staring like that?”
The Geumma mage, whose jaw I’d kicked, flopped backward onto the ground.
Even then, the blood pooling in his mouth sprayed in a long line and spattered my robe in dots.
“…Tsk.”
I flicked the blood droplets off with a few taps, then, seeing the stains that wouldn’t come out, I tore it off like I was ripping it.
It had already gotten ruined from the fight just now, so I didn’t particularly regret it.
It was just disgusting, with filthy blood on it.
Anyway.
“There are three things you have to keep in this conversation.”
I grabbed the Geumma mage by the bangs and met his eyes.
“First, open those eyes politely. Better yet, fix your gaze on my feet. Because I can make it so you can’t open your eyes at all.”
But was he used to acting like a boss among sewer rats, or what?
Despite the warning, his eyes didn’t become polite. No—he just pierced me with even greater malice than before.
But who am I?
I’m someone who went crazy because I have too much fear.
When I see something scary, I can’t hold back.
Crunch, crack.
The Geumma mage who ignored the first warning clutched both eyes and screamed like he was tearing apart.
“U-uaaah—!”
“Do you feel like being polite now?”
No answer.
If a superior asks you something, you should answer clearly with “Yes” or “No,” not gestures.
Of course, I’m a generous man, so I let that slide lightly.
Now next.
“Second. Don’t try anything funny. Geumma mages have something called 탈각 or whatever—everyone’s got some special trick, right?”
Professor Felina knew quite a lot about Salvatium and Geumma mages.
탈각 (脫却) was one of those.
‘They say you can perform magics that stray from the natural order?’
Forbidden magic is generally not aligned with the natural order, but it goes beyond that.
Yeah. Exactly like that.
“…….”
I looked at the Death Knight standing blankly under the Geumma mage’s command.
Its form was different from the Death Knights people usually know.
A Death Knight should be nothing more than a bony skeleton you can’t distinguish from a skeleton warrior except for its handsome armor—
but what lurked inside that armor wasn’t bone.
It was a dull black fog.
‘Quite….’
It was dangerous.
If the Geumma mage hadn’t ordered it to “stop,” it would’ve been hard to predict the outcome.
That was why I tore out his tongue first.
Then the third.
“Answer what I ask honestly, exactly as it is. I’m not in a very good mood because of you bastards.”
Of course, there was no answer.
No—was it only natural there wasn’t?
I looked at him, suddenly thinking.
“Are you unable to answer because you can’t talk? If that’s the case, nod.”
I asked, and then admired myself.
‘Ah!’
What a merciful measure this is.
Even considering an opponent who showered me with curses without question or discussion.
My heart is this wide.
Not like the sea, but at least like a little mountain spring.
But.
“You’re really dramatic, aren’t you?”
The Geumma mage didn’t seem to have the presence of mind to accept my mercy.
“U-ugh… uhh….”
Groaning in pain and writhing.
It looked like my words weren’t even reaching his ears, and suddenly a thought came to me.
“If they’re ears you don’t need….”
Then he didn’t need to keep them, right?
But this was a matter of necessity.
If we were going to keep even a minimum conversation going, we needed a channel of communication.
So instead, I decided to give him a little help.
“It’ll sting a little and hurt.”
I wrapped my grip in Seonghwa (成火) flame, then brought it to the injured area.
“Let’s think of it as getting all the pain at once, alright?”
Soon, a scream that sounded like it would tear apart spread throughout the Hamelin Great Forest.
This is what I think.
People have a “line.”
I tend to place that line at “malice,” and this Geumma mage crossed the line I set—by a distance so far it was hard to measure.
That’s what it was.
…After some time passed like that.
“You’re okay now, right?”
“Ugh… uhh.”
The Geumma mage nodded vigorously.
Compared to his malice, his resistance to pain didn’t seem that high—he looked tamed now.
“From now on, you have to answer what I ask properly. Got it?”
“U-uhh.”
The conversation was extremely smooth.
The conversation with the Geumma mage ended around when the moon set and dawn grew faint.
Fwoosh…….
I burned the remnants that had been the Geumma mage, and only then did I slump down onto the spot with a thud.
Chirp, chirp.
Before my eyes, a peaceful Hamelin Great Forest scene spread out.
Thirteen corpses of black mages that would become monsters’ daily feed, burning remnants, and on one side, a can—faithfully following orders whether its summoner died or not.
‘…Yeah. This is peace.’
Anyway, I had a pretty long conversation with the Geumma mage.
First, the Geumma mage’s goal really was Destrow.
‘He said he came with one companion, didn’t he.’
I wondered if the black mages counted as companions, but it seemed he didn’t even put them within the bounds of humanity.
But there was the question of what connection Destrow and I had….
I glanced down.
I looked at the letters densely written on the ground.
They were the Geumma mage’s answers.
Since he wrote them with eyes that had already gone dull, most of it was hard to read, but roughly interpreting it, it was like this.
‘The original target was Oberon. The final target was his teacher, is that it?’
Well, there were various circumstances before and after.
Besides that, I exchanged many questions and answers.
- The monsters in the vicinity—how did you deal with them?
Methods for driving the Hamelin Great Forest monsters out beyond a certain area.
- They say Geumma mages each have their specialty—what’s yours?
The ability he originally possessed.
And more.
Of course, he tried not to answer some sensitive parts.
But what is conversation? Communication. And I had my own expertise in this kind of conversation.
After a little back-and-forth, he spilled it readily.
But there was one thing he didn’t answer.
- What is Salvatium’s goal? How big is it? Spill everything you know.
At that moment—
- Grrrk, kek.
The Geumma mage coughed blood and died.
‘Looks like there’s some kind of taboo placed on it….’
Good thing I’d already asked everything I needed—if not, I would’ve been in trouble.
Of course, it was a pretty obvious pattern, which is why I asked it last.
Anyway.
“…Hoo.”
I took off my mask for the first time in a while and sat in the middle of the Hamelin Great Forest with my bare face.
“Seriously… cough!”
A fistful of blood leaking out past my lips.
As dark, murky blood soaked the ground, only then could I calm myself down somewhat.
“Really… they were some damn bastards.”
I’d acted calm in front of the Geumma mage.
But my condition after the battle wasn’t normal either.
The black mages’ magic—I managed to analyze it and endure, somehow.
But the biggest problem was this.
“Tsk.”
Under clothes lifted slightly.
Ssssss… ssk….
On the exposed skin, two forces wrestled, pushing and pulling over territory.
One was—
‘Was it called the Sins of Thirteen?’
An ancient curse activated using thirteen lives as a medium.
The curse’s energy wavered ominously, clumped around the lower abdomen area, and around it, dense characters formed a ring.
Characters… meaning—
‘Bizarre glyphs.’
A row of unknown symbols stretching from the left chest, from the Fire Seal.
Meaning, the Fire Seal’s ability, triggered again, was fighting against the terrifying curse called the “Sins of Thirteen.”
Fortunately, the fight favored the Fire Seal.
Even right now, little by little, it was causing the curse’s energy to subside.
And since I also had lingering curses from the black mages all over my body—the aftereffects, too—
‘Came to catch rats and almost went straight to the grave.’
Honestly, I came thinking it’d be around Friegen’s level, but I really almost died.
Anyway.
“…Hmm.”
After checking my condition, I lifted my head.
The aftereffects of the small curses would resolve themselves with time.
And as for the “Sins of Thirteen,” our kind magic tome was working hard.
‘Hang in there, you bastard.’
There was nothing to worry too much about.
But….
“What do I do about that.”
I looked at the can standing there solemnly.
The can standing in the morning sunlight—how should I put it. It was, indeed, dignified.
‘He used a Master Knight as the material?’
No wonder its movements weren’t normal….
“Hmm.”
To be honest, I can’t say I’m not tempted.
‘It really was… impressive.’
After all, a Master Knight.
It can’t fully demonstrate its living power, but since it inherited the soul, it could use its unique swordsmanship in full.
If I kept it with me, it would probably be a big help.
‘And I just so happened to get the controller, too.’
A pitch-black bracelet the Geumma mage had been wearing.
If you wore it and gave a command “out loud,” it would follow that order thoroughly….
“What do I do. What do I do. What do I do with that….”
I agonized for a moment.
Then I made my decision.
“Hey, you. Come here.”
[I. Re. ceive. the. com. mand.]
Sure enough, when I put on the bracelet and gave the order, the Death Knight walked forward.
But.
Boom—!
“Tsk.”
It leapt and landed in a single bound.
Why couldn’t it even follow a simple command normally.
Anyway, I looked up at the Death Knight, who was staring down at me with solemnity, and gave an order.
No—before that, I gave another order.
“Get down to my eye level.”
Clank.
Even if it’s a summoned thing, I don’t like something being above me.
‘Tsk. If I just grow more, then I can—’
Thinking about it calmly, I don’t think I’d reach that much.
Was it because it was a Death Knight? Or was it that huge even when it was alive?
Just in height, it easily looked near two meters—an owner of a majestic frame.
Anyway.
The first command I gave the Death Knight.
“You’re free. Go regain your rest.”
It was liberation.
No matter how powerful a force it is, as a human, there are things you should do and things you shouldn’t.
As I was even moved by my own magnanimous mindset—
[Free…dom.]
A low voice reverberated in my ear.
[Freedom… is it.]
Like someone waking from a long sleep, the Death Knight chewed and spat out the word as if entranced.
That was when an unknown wave burst out of the Death Knight.
Paaak—!
Those ominous characters shattered into pieces.
[…So. The suppression has been removed.]
Something that had been binding the Death Knight—suppression—had been removed?
The Death Knight looked up at the sky with a strangely light expression.
Like someone who’d been locked in prison for a long time and was seeing sunlight for the first time.
The Death Knight stared endlessly at the sky.
Then its gaze lowered at that moment.
[However, little one.]
Little one?
[Was it you who killed the damn thing that bound me? Hm……. You look so scrawny—like you can’t even boil and eat thin gruel.]
Can’t even boil thin gruel?
‘What do you mean, scrawny?’
My growth wasn’t finished yet, but thanks to the magic tome’s ability upgrading my mana-enhanced physique, the base was excellent.
I didn’t have bulging muscles like that Dollenpe family’s second son, whoever, but still, I was—
“No, f*ck.”
This isn’t it.
They say when a person is dumbfounded, their thoughts go off track—this was exactly that moment.
“Hey.”
[Hey?]
I stood crookedly and looked up at the Death Knight.
Since I’d already straightened my knees that I’d bent earlier.
Anyway.
“So, you’re free, right?”
[So?]
“I heard that if you’re an undead, huh? It’s really, insanely painful.”
[Mm. It is painful. Even now, it’s somewhat painful.]
“Then hurry and get in the coffin—what are you doing? I’m busy enough to die.”
Normally, undead with a self like this return to rest the moment they’re ordered to be freed.
—That’s what the Geumma mage had said.
So I planned to get rid of it quickly and join the main force, but what is this.
[Didn’t you say I am free?]
“I did.”
[Then staying in this world is also my freedom.]
“…….”
Hearing it, it’s true.
‘It’s also a true statement that deserves a beating.’
But considering my condition right now, I didn’t hit the Death Knight.
Absolutely not because I felt like I’d lose.
And even less because I was afraid of the swordsmanship of a Master Knight who’d regained reason.
Anyway.
“I see. Then enjoy your freedom. Let’s each go our own way.”
A clean farewell.
If it were someone like Oberon, he might hesitate to release a Death Knight who regained reason into the world….
‘Not my problem.’
Whether it burns or rots in this world, whether it goes to the continent and raises hell—everything is the choice of the vicious Death Knight.
So I turned to leave, but—
[Yes. Then guide me.]
“…F*ck.”
A familiar pattern flashed through my mind.
“Is it House Brando, by any chance?”
[Hoh? Does Brando practice swordsmanship these days?]
I asked just in case, but it wasn’t that.
So with every step I took—
Clank.
I took another step… and if I stopped, it stopped too—clank… thud, stopping.
“I swear… living this long, I never thought I’d see this kind of bullshit.”
[For someone so young, your mouth is foul.]
“I’ve eaten enough.”
[Like me? Even when I died, I lived several times longer than you.]
What the….
“You never heard ‘there’s no order to dying’?”
Ah, is that not something I should be saying?
Feeling like I was getting tangled up, I clamped my mouth shut with a “Ghn,” but the Death Knight’s reply hit a blind spot.
[I already went once.]
“…Mm.”
[They call this experienced hire, don’t they?]
Seriously.
It really was a f*cked up day.