The Sword Master’s Son-in-Law

– Remnants of the Past (3)

At the fountain in the heart of the city of Murid.

There, Vedi and his group were waiting for me.

But the number in Vedi’s party was larger than I expected.

‘I thought there’d be, like, a dozen or so.’

Even a quick count put them over twenty.

‘I was hoping for fewer people…’

The thought of the battle ahead with them made my chest tighten in a peculiar way.

Perhaps that was only natural.

If the number of people I had to kill increased, of course I wouldn’t feel good.

I wasn’t some murder-loving fiend, after all.

“Ah, you’ve arrived. You’re later than I anticipated.”

Vedi greeted my late arrival warmly.

I expressed my apologies for that.

It was more like ‘pretending to.’

“Haha, my apologies. Did you have to wait long?”

“Ah, no, not at all.”

“…That’s fortunate, then.”

Bedi’s words were a lie.

Bedi had been waiting for me for quite a while.

I had arrived much later than the others.

And before speaking to Bedi, I’d overheard them.

Hmm… perhaps he’s fled?

Fled?

Yes. Unless he caught wind of things and ran, there’s no reason he’d be this late.

Is that so…

Shall we send some men to confirm?

That was the conversation I overheard.

It’s true I woke up late.

But frankly, it wasn’t even that much of a lie-in.

Just…

‘We only discussed the meeting place, not the time….’

I’d naturally assumed we’d depart at noon.

Hence, the leisurely pace.

But it seemed they’d been waiting for me since quite early in the morning.

Their persistence is remarkable… or perhaps just diligent.

“I should have arrived sooner.”

“Haha, no need. Considering the time needed for preparations, you’ve arrived perfectly.”

Bedi let out a hearty laugh.

But his eyes didn’t join in.

They seemed to be reproaching me for my tardiness.

‘If you’re going to play the part of a merchant, at least practice concealing your emotions…’

To reveal them so openly.

Or is he revealing his emotions so openly because he looks down on me?

Bedi, still wearing a charming smile, said,

“Shall we set off, then?”

“Ah, yes! So, should I follow at the rear?”

“We would appreciate that greatly. Alright, everyone! Let’s get going!”

“““Yes!!!”””

And so, my journey with the merchant Bedi began.

*

First day of the escort.

As I expected, perhaps.

Nothing happened.

So the night arrived, and it was time for sleep.

I closed my eyes, feigning slumber.

“Vedi Merchant Lord, I have a question.”

“What troubles you?”

The voices of Vedi and one of his underlings drifted from afar.

I strained to listen.

“Why are we letting him be like this? Surely it’s time to spring the trap, wouldn’t you say?”

I wondered the same.

I’d been tense, anticipating an attack at any moment.

Frankly, I’d even braced for it right as we left the village.

“You lack a certain… appreciation.”

“My Lord?”

“You don’t understand how delicious it is to make a man miserable. What do you think he’ll be feeling when he reaches the outskirts of the South safely?”

“I… I wouldn’t know.”

“He’ll be giddy, thinking he’ll soon be able to sell those magic stones. And then, betrayal! Imagine the depth of his despair.”

“Aha! Truly, you are… the Merchant Lord!”

He was truly vile.

But I was grateful for his vileness.

Thanks to that mindset, I could likely relax until we reached the South.

*

“Miss Asia…are you truly determined to march out to war?”

Asia Messiah gazed at her nanny, who was regarding her with such worried eyes.

To her, who had no mother, her nanny was like a mother herself.

Thus, she cherished her nanny’s worries as she would her own mother’s.

“Yes. I must.”

“Even so…”

Her nanny knew Asia’s skill.

Indeed, Asia was an unparalleled swordsman amongst her peers, a true prodigy.

The blood of the Sword Saint did not lie.

But worry was unavoidable.

“You know the reason I must go into battle, don’t you?”

Asia’s reason for seizing this opportunity to march to war.

It was to earn merit.

“You know. The nobles of the South are slowly distancing themselves from our House.”

Now that the Sword Saint had not returned.

The pressure from the Royal Family grew ever stronger.

At this rate, she would be forced to marry the First Prince.

That pressure was beginning to affect the Southern nobles.

The nobles of the South were beginning to turn away from the Messiah County, burdened by the Royal Family.

More accurately, they were starting to side with the Royal Family.

Asia, therefore, resolved to act directly.

To bolster the southern alliance by offering aid to the nobles.

“Now is the time to solidify the Southern League. I, as the next head of the family, cannot be absent.”

“Even so…”

“Don’t worry, nanny. You know how strong I am.”

“…Be careful.”

“Needless to say!”

In truth, Asia’s goal extended beyond merely winning the favor of the Southern nobles.

A grander ambition.

‘I must earn merit, and grow stronger than I am now.’

If the Messiah family lacks a Sword Saint, then she herself would become the new one.

To withstand the King’s pressure and become the new Sword Saint was her current objective.

“Then, I shall depart!”

The nanny watched Asia’s retreating figure, leading the knights, her expression still etched with worry.

*

The journey to Bedi passed quickly.

They were already nearing the South.

Perhaps that was why.

“Hey, enjoying the ride? Acting as an escort for free, even though there’s nothing to escort.”

“The Iron Mercenary made it to the South with ridiculous ease, like a leech.”

Bedi’s men began to openly express their hostility towards me.

Among them, the one who showed the most animosity.

A fellow named Ras.

“…”

Ras didn’t directly scorn me like the others.

He simply continued to stare.

And that was the most unnerving.

Facing such intense enmity all day long, a sense of irritation began to brew.

‘Come to think of it, Ras was the gatekeeper. He’s probably the one who told Bedi about me.’

Ras, the gatekeeper.

His open animosity, so different from the others, suggested he was likely closest to those five men from before.

‘Well, it seems the time is drawing near.’

Judging by their increasingly rude treatment of me, it appears the moment is fast approaching.

Twenty-seven men.

The enemies I must slay.

Tension tightened my grip, unbidden.

“A fork in the road.”

Bedi shouted from the lead.

Two diverging paths.

One bearing the tracks of passing carriages, the other utterly devoid of any sign.

Besides, the road’s surface was rough going.

And yet…

“I’ll go right.”

He chose the road, rough surface and all.

The meaning was simple.

He was choosing a desolate place to kill me.

‘So, he really means to.’

Now they exchange glances amongst themselves, quite openly.

Likely passing along a signal.

‘There aren’t any truly skilled ones among them to watch out for.’

Little more than thugs, stronger than your average Joe.

Roughnecks, back-alley bullies, that kind of strength.

Twenty-seven of them gathered here.

‘It shouldn’t be too difficult to handle them. However…’

Having decided to confront them, I need to steel myself.

Which meant I had to kill them all.

I had no intention of being a hypocrite.

If they drew a knife on me, I’d have no choice but to kill them.

‘Murder, huh…’

A normal person would be overwhelmed by the thought of murder.

But I was different.

My mind calmed, settling down.

‘Am I a psychopath?’

I was about to kill someone, and yet my mind calmed itself.

Not even in my previous life had I felt like this.

Well, whatever…

‘Better than being burdened by the thought of killing.’

Better than dying from a mistake caused by tension.

To be killed by twenty-seven thugs.

‘I don’t even want to imagine it.’

If the end of my life comes again, I don’t want to die pointlessly.

All the more so since my death in my previous life was so futile.

‘If I die, I want a meaningful, magnificent death, not falling down the stairs.’

I wanted to make the most of the final moments of this life.

Perhaps these thoughts were what dispelled my aversion to killing.

I was sorting things out in my head when:

“We’re here!”

Bedi’s shout.

Simultaneously, Bedi’s crew surrounded me.

I deliberately put on a look of bewilderment.

“W-what… What is the meaning of this?”

Bedi broke through the encircling net, approaching.

“Arthas, was it? Ahem, you may not know me, but I know you.”

“Know…?”

“The goods you intend to sell in the south—magic stones, wouldn’t they be?”

“H-how did you…!”

So it was as I suspected.

Bedi was after the magic stones.

“Those are my property. You shouldn’t go around stealing other people’s things.”

“…”

“Now then, I believe I’ll be taking them back.”

I saw a man approach Bedi.

Raas.

Raas pleaded with Bedi.

“Please, just a moment!”

“Raas? Ah… that’s right. Very well, have your way.”

Raas took a step towards me.

“…I know you didn’t kill my brother.”

“Brother?”

“You remember him, surely. A sturdy man with a scar on his forehead.”

Sturdy?

I wouldn’t know about sturdy, but…

“I do know a man with a scar on his forehead.”

“Who killed him?”

Who killed him, he asks?

Should I tell him?

I considered it for a moment, but quickly shook my head.

“Even if you knew, there’s nothing you could do.”

A thug like this would never stand a chance against the Sword Saint.

“You b*stard!!!”

Raas shouted, starting to lose his temper.

But he retained enough sense not to charge.

“Hmph… He’ll spill the truth after some torture.”

Raas looked at Bedi.

“Brother Bedi, I beg you.”

Bedi offered a vile smile.

“Understood. Everyone, don’t get unnecessarily hurt by acting out. Treatment costs money, you know. Subdue him.”

“““Yes, sir!!!”””

The thugs gradually tightened the encirclement.

In that moment, I drew the sword the old man had given me.

“Ooh…!”

“A masterwork of a blade!”

“Boss, how about that sword as a bonus?”

“Good! We’ll give the sword to the one who contributed the most!”

At Bedi’s words, one brute broke free of the encirclement and rushed forward.

Surely…

‘The one who gave me the most grief, wasn’t he?’

Haines.

Haines was definitely his name.

Haines charged towards me.

I swung my sword at the oncoming Haines.

No need to use mana.

Just swordsmanship.

I drew a perfect line.

And…

“Ugh…!”

Haines, his neck severed, fell to his knees.

A moment of silence.

Then, Bedi shouted.

“What are you doing! Everyone, rush him now!!!”

Bedi, having recognized my skill, became desperate.

So desperate that he hastily ordered his men to ‘rush him now.’

At that command, the brutes who had been slowly closing the circle began to charge at me one by one.