Part II
“Welcome! Master!”
Blart, greeted with a loud voice at the entrance, nodded grandly and took his usual seat.
“Hmm? A new girl,huh? What’s your name?”
“Yes! I’m Noir, and I’m honored to meet you, Blart-sama!”
The woman who called herself Noir responded cheerfully, received a gracious nod from Blart, who then ordered her to sit nearby.
“She’s quite energetic.”
“I apologize, Blart-sama. She’s a new recruit who just joined. When she heard you were coming to the shop, she insisted on serving you.”
In response to Blart’s words, the manager of ‘Fairy’s Whisper’ bowed deeply in apology. According to the manager, Noir had just joined a few days ago, but her excitement skyrocketed upon hearing that Blart was visiting.
“Hey, sit next to me, Noir. I’ll let you pour for me.”
“Is that alright? I’m honored to be able to serve you alcohol, Blart-sama!”
As Noir happily poured the drinks, Blart looked her over again. She had a well-defined face, neat black hair, translucent white skin, and her captivating eyes were gazing at him passionately. Blart couldn’t help but swallow hard and cleared his throat before starting to drink.
“I’m not a man who will end up in a place like this! I’m leaving Count Reim’s territory to join the ranks of nobility in a neighboring country!”
“Oh my! Is that so? Then you won’t be able to come to the shop anymore.”
About two hours after entering the shop, as Blart cheerfully discussed his future plans, Noir began to sulk and look lonely. Blart, satisfied with her reaction, burst into laughter and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Noir, I’m leaving this country in a week. I’ll take you with me as my maid.”
“Really? You won’t leave me behind, will you? Could you write down the meeting place and time with your signature, Blart-sama? I’d be sad if your subordinates chased me away.”
With tearful eyes looking up at him, Noir asked Blart for a favor. Blart, nodding with a slack expression, wrote down the place and time, and handed it to Noir, fueled by the effects of alcohol.
“Blart-sama! I’ll hurry to prepare too! We only have a week! I don’t want you to forget our promise!”
Although Blart invited Noir to spend a night after closing, he was gently declined. Accepting it as a pleasure to look forward to in a week, he returned to the mansion in good spirits. The next day, a servant delivered a letter to Blart, who woke up feeling good. He tilted his head at the unfamiliar wax seal and entered his study. Upon opening the seal and checking the contents, he was struck with shock.
[Due to the need to assess the current situation after my appointment to the Capital, I will visit all the towns within my territory. Each governor is to prepare a report on the current status and issues regarding population, tax revenue, production, defense, etc. The visits will start from the southern region, with the schedule set for two weeks from now. —Ryoji Uchino]
Reading the notification from Ryoji, Blart turned pale. He had hidden away thirty percent of the increased taxes for himself. If Ryoji’s visit revealed this matter, he would undoubtedly face judgment. In a panic, Blart confirmed that the visit was scheduled for two weeks later and sent orders to escape to the neighboring country before that, dispatching letters to various locations where he had hidden his assets.
——
“What’s going on?! Why hasn’t the cargo arrived?! And why is no one here?!”
Blart’s voice echoed all around. He had arrived at the meeting place, but no one was there, and the hidden wealth was gone. With a mix of anxiety and anger, he shouted at his guards, clutching Ryoji’s letter tightly in his hand.
[Hey there! It looks like the arrival is going to be about ten days earlier than expected. Sorry about that. Please prepare for my reception!]
Furious at the ridiculous content, Blart crumpled the letter in anger and hurriedly issued a change of orders. He boarded a carriage loaded with artworks and valuables from the mansion and headed to the meeting place.
“Hey! Tell those who went to the hiding spots to come back immediately! Count Ryoji Uchino is coming tomorrow! If we don’t escape quickly, it’ll be our ruin!”
The man ordered to ride off on horseback was about to take off when a group of five approached from the front, and the leader voiced a complaint.
“Hey, hey! Lord Blart! It’s unbearable when orders keep changing like this! And after making us prepare for departure, you want us to hand everything over to a woman? What’s that about?”
“What are you talking about? Where’s the cargo? A woman? Who is that?”
As Blart, unable to understand the situation, sought an explanation, the leader looked at him with an incredulous expression. While gathering the valuables hidden under the initial orders, he received a letter from Blart that moved the schedule up by two days. Just as they were about to depart, a woman arrived with a new order.
The leader felt distrust towards the order from the woman, but after being told that she worked at “Fairy’s Whisper” and was on good terms with Blart, he checked the contents of the letter and indeed found Blart’s signature.
[Leave the cargo and hurry to the meeting place. Hand over all the cargo to the woman who brought the order.]
As the leader looked back and forth between the letter and the woman, he was about to ask a question when he was handed a leather pouch. Inside were thirty gold coins and three small jewels, and the leader was astonished by the amount. The woman had been instructed to hand it over along with the letter.
“What’s going on? I don’t remember issuing such an order!”
“No, look. It is my Lord’s signature, isn’t it?”
Confused, Blart took the letter from the leader and checked it. He recognized all the orders except for the last one, which he had no recollection of issuing. However, his signature was unmistakably on it.
“What on earth is happening?”
As Blart and his guards were thrown into confusion by the unexpected situation, lights began to illuminate the surroundings. As they squinted against the brightness, a child approached them.
“Hey, where are you trying to go?”
“Who are you?!”
“You received the letter saying, ‘Hey! It looks like the arrival is going to be about ten days earlier than expected. Sorry about that. Please prepare for my reception!’ right? You should be preparing for my reception, not for escape. And don’t you know who I am? Now that I think about it, you wouldn’t know my face—”
“I don’t care about you! Seize him!”
Upon taking a closer look at the child, they noticed that although he was dressed lightly, sparks were flying from the sword he drew, captivating their attention. Among them, the leader quickly regained his composure and ordered his men.
“Hey, hey. Let me at least say my piece.”
As the man who came to seize him was struck down not by a mithril sword but by a fist imbued with lightning, he fell and lay still.
“Alright! Now, let me introduce myself properly. Hey! You lot! As long as my eyes are black, don’t think you can commit evil deeds! No, that’s not right. Even if the sun allows it… No, that’s wrong too. I, Ryoji, the hero of Drugul, will slay you in the name of heaven! Hmm, what should I say? Alright! Let’s go with this! Now, count your sins!”
As Ryoji was muttering to himself, thinking of his lines, Blart and the men guarding him froze.
“H-Hero of Drugul?”
“That’s right. I am Count Ryoji Uchino. I wanted to say this as part of the template. Bind him solemnly!”
Ryoji replied cheerfully to the trembling voice of the man confirming his identity. Then Blart shouted loudly from behind.
“There’s no way the Hero of Drugul, Count Ryoji Uchino, would be here! This is a fake using the Count’s name! You can cut him down! Do it!”
“Oh! What a wonderful template like villain line! In response, I’ll fight with my all!”
Delighted by Blart’s line, Ryoji readied his sword against the approaching men.
“Take this!”
As one man swung down his sword, Ryoji lightly deflected it and began to backstep while humming a tune.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm, hehehe, hehehe, hmm-hmm-hmm. This kind of song fits, right?”
“Don’t mess around! Get him!”
As Ryoji started humming, one of the men surrounding him lunged at him. Ryoji dodged the incoming sword and slipped into the man’s guard, delivering a knee strike to his solar plexus, causing him to writhe in agony. He then leaped out of the encirclement and struck another man on the back of the head, knocking him out.
“Hey! The opponent is a fake claiming to be the Hero of Drugul! Surround him quickly and finish this!”
“There’s no way I can be surrounded that easily! Special move! Sudden magic attack!”
The leader of the group, observing the situation, attempted to encircle Ryoji again, but Ryoji shot three Fire Arrows in a mocking manner. The men, who had thought they could handle him with swords alone, fell into confusion.
“Opening!”
With the three Fire Arrows disrupting their coordination, Ryoji cut the sword of a man on the edge halfway down the blade.
At the moment when everyone’s astonished gazes focused on the broken sword, he struck another man with a weakened Earth Ball, knocking him out. Then, he knocked out the man with the broken sword with a punch imbued with lightning. As Ryoji moved around freely, Blart shouted angrily.
“Enough! What are you doing? You guys are known for being martial artists! While I’m paying you a high price, why are you struggling against a child?”
The leader glared at Blart, who was shouting from a distance, clicked his tongue, and directed his subordinates.
“Hey! Two of you, attack together! Don’t give him a chance to cast magic! And since we’re enhancing our swords with attributes, don’t take them head-on! You’ll end up like Rosso with your sword broken! Show him the true strength of us martial artists!”
“Nice! As expected of martial artists. I think that’s a precise command. If only I weren’t your opponent!”
After praising the leader, Ryoji created five Water Balls in a stationary state and shot them at the men trying to sneak up from behind.
“Ahhh!” “Ugh!” “What?!”
Suddenly, Water Balls appeared right in front of them and flew toward them. They barely avoided a direct hit, but couldn’t completely dodge, leaving them immobilized by pain. Without checking their backs, Ryoji struck them with Lightning Needles, incapacitating everyone except the leader.
“You’re the only one left! Are you still loyal to Blart?”
“No. I don’t care about Blart. But let me confirm one last time, you really are Count Ryoji Uchino, the Hero of Drugul, right?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
At Ryoji’s words, the leader burst into laughter and spoke to his incapacitated subordinates.
“You guys, all surrender. I take full responsibility. I will make the final flourish. A duel with the Hero of Drugu!”
“I like your spirit! What’s your name?”
“Vitor.”
“Come on! Vitor!”
The leader readied his sword and faced Ryoji, answering quietly. Ryoji canceled all the magic he had been preparing and took a proper stance with his sword, while Vitor smiled happily and swung down from above.
“Oh! What a sharp strike. There’s no lie in being a martial artist!”
Seeing Ryoji dodge with a smile, Vitor closed the distance without fear of a counterattack and unleashed a horizontal slash. Ryoji caught the strike with his mithril sword, using his wrist to lift Vitor’s sword, but Vitor quickly realized and pulled back to regain his stance.
“With that kind of strength, you’re wasting your life!”
As Ryoji closed the distance to try to break Vitor’s sword, Vitor let go of his sword to defend against it. Seeing Ryoji thrown off balance by the unexpected move, Vitor delivered a powerful kick that pushed Ryoji back, then picked up his sword and attacked.
As they exchanged blows back and forth, Vitor understood that he could not win against Ryoji. The swordsmanship he had learned to reach the pinnacle, the experiences he had gained as an adventurer, and the cunning he had learned from the underworld after his party was wiped out—all of it fell short against the Hero of Deugul swinging his sword before him.
“Damn it! Why couldn’t I become a hero like you? Why do you have everything? I want that too! I want it!”
As Vitor shouted, he infused his sword with fire magic and launched a decisive strike, spinning his body to deliver a powerful upward blow. Ryoji met Vitor’s sharp attack with his mithril sword, deflecting it and pressing the tip of his blade against Vitor’s throat.
“Hah! Even the best technique from my adventurer days can’t touch you. As expected of the hero of Drugul!”
“You did well too, Vitor. You might be the toughest opponent I’ve faced, aside from dragons.”
Hearing Ryoji say he was the best opponent aside from dragons made Vitor’s face light up with joy. He knelt down and bowed his head, ready to accept his fate.
“Those are the best words. Finish me.”
“Vitor, you admit that you’ve lost to me?”
“Yeah. I’ll take the fact that I made the hero of Drugul say he struggled as a souvenir to the afterlife.”
With a clear expression, Vitor looked at Ryoji, tilting his head in confusion. Ryoji was deep in thought, matching Vitor’s gaze while storing his mithril sword away. When Vitor tried to ask a question with a puzzled expression, Ryoji silenced him with one hand and pulled out a sword radiating a sinister color from his storage, swinging it down towards Vitor with a cheerful voice.
“Go be reborn once.”
—–
Blart was in shock. He had hired Vitor and his group, known as fighters in the underworld, at a high price and had prepared thoroughly, only to have Ryoji completely annihilate them.
Moreover, he had heard that the hero of Drugul does not kill, yet Ryoji had cut down Vitor without hesitation. Then, as if nothing had happened, he stored his sword away and began to speak to Blart.
“What will you do? If you confess all your wrongdoings here, I might reduce your sentence.”
“Count Ryoji Uchino! I was coerced by the defeated Vitor to partake in his misdeeds! All the blame lies with Vitor! I vow to dedicate my life to your service from now on!”
“…No, no. I have evidence, and you were shouting for me to be cut down. I don’t like such template responses.”
“Then! If you let me go, I’ll tell you where my hidden fortune is! It’s quite a sum! How about that…”
Blart tried to negotiate by offering the location of his hidden fortune. However, he noticed that Ryoji, who should have been smiling, had eyes that were not amused, causing his words to gradually dwindle. After waiting for complete silence, Ryoji began to speak slowly.
“Despite being the governor of the southern region of the Reim Count’s territory, you have repeatedly raised taxes, caused suffering to the people, and embezzled funds. Furthermore, it is utterly disgraceful that you had your subordinates attack me while knowing I am Count Ryoji Uchino. Governor Blart, you will be suspended until further notice! Take him away!”
“Haha!”
At Ryoji’s words, two men suddenly appeared behind Blart, grabbing him by the arms and forcing him into a carriage, taking him away somewhere.
“Oh… People really came out. I was just joking. Where were those guys hiding?”
“Ryoji-sama! That was so cool! My eyes weren’t deceiving me!”
As Ryoji muttered in astonishment, a bright and energetic voice echoed around him from behind. When he turned to look, he saw Kuro, with sparkling eyes, rushing towards him as if about to leap.
“Kuro. Or is it Noir now? Thanks for your hard work this time. Did you manage to secure the hidden fortune that Blart had hoarded?”
“Whether I’m Kuro or Noir, it doesn’t matter. The collected gold and treasures have been sent to Blart’s mansion in a carriage, and my companions are guarding it, so you can rest easy!”
Kuro replied energetically, providing further updates. It turned out that “Fairy’s Whisper” was simply a place Blart liked to frequent and had no other connection. The hidden fortune was quite substantial, with Blart having embezzled over a thousand gold coins through tax increases, in addition to owning art and precious metals.
“Being a governor really pays off, huh?”
“With a large population, if he took a third from the increased taxes, it easily exceeds a thousand gold coins! And that battle earlier was wonderful! I have a question for you, Ryoji-sama! What was that sword you used to finish off Vitor? It felt different from an ordinary sword.”
“You caught on quickly. That sword is a teleportation sword. The person cut by it is sent to a prison of my choosing. It’s convenient, but the downside is that it can only be used when the opponent is defenseless, as you have to strike the designated location accurately. After being transferred, they remain paralyzed for two hours and won’t wake up during that time, allowing me to disarm them.”
“Why did you use the teleportation sword on Vitor?”
When Kuro asked why Ryoji had used the transfer sword, he answered with a smile.
“You know there’s a force called the ‘martial faction’? The Ryoji Uchino territory is in desperate need of patrolling soldiers. If I can persuade Vitor and bring him and his subordinates under my command, things will get a lot easier.”
“Do you think Vitor and his subordinates will agree to be hired as Ryoji-sama says?”
“Vitor should be fine. As for his subordinates, I’m not sure. If I can assess their abilities during the interview, I can get some immediate reinforcements for patrolling soldiers, so I’ll do my best!”
—-
When Vitor woke up, he found himself facing iron bars. He managed to sit up despite his numb body and looked around, but there was no one else there, only silence enveloping him.
“What happened? Why am I here? They’ve taken my weapons and armor, and I don’t even have my item box.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll give them back later.”
Vitor was so surprised that he almost shouted. As he strained his eyes toward the voice, he saw Ryoji slowly walking toward him.
“How are you? Did you manage to rest well?”
“Yeah. I had a nice dream. It was a wonderful dream where I had a tough one-on-one battle with the hero of Drugul. Why didn’t you kill me? I don’t have any information about Lord Blart, so even if I were tortured, I wouldn’t have anything to say. Am I just here for a public execution?”
Ignoring Vitor’s confusion, Ryoji took out a report from his storage and began to read.
“‘Vitor Breton. Age 32. Born in the Reim territory. Trained in swordsmanship at a dojo since childhood and received his full license at 18. Registered as an adventurer and led a party called the ‘Annihilation Hawks’ for about ten years under the title of ‘Pursuing Swordsman.’ Four years ago, during a dungeon raid in the Reim territory, he encountered a dragon, and his party was wiped out. Since then, he has not formed a party or raided dungeons, making a living as a bodyguard and mercenary. Recently, he has been receiving high-paying requests as Blart’s bodyguard.’ I have a question about this report.”
“You’ve done quite a thorough investigation of my background. I’ll answer any questions you have. Is it about Blart’s hidden wealth?”
“Is there a dragon in the dungeon of the Reim territory?”
“That’s what you’re concerned about? What about Blart’s hidden wealth?”
“Forget the hidden wealth; let’s talk about the dungeon. Besides, all the hidden wealth has already been recovered.”
“What about the public execution of me and Blart?”
When Vitor asked with a laugh, Ryoji responded with a smile that matched his.
“What do I gain from a public execution? You might be fine with it, but Blart will definitely beg for his life. It’s a hassle. Besides, you guys are really just Blart’s bodyguards. Don’t you think wanting a public execution shows you don’t value your own life?”
“I… I failed as an adventurer. In the end, I was satisfied to have had a one-on-one battle with the hero of Dryuguru as a swordsman, so I have no regrets. But… those guys, they have fallen as low as they can go and are clinging to me. Please, Count! I don’t care what happens to me! Just save them!”
Ryoji watched Vitor’s tearful plea and nodded lightly before speaking.
“Alright, let’s make a deal. I’ll buy you all together. Until you pay me back, you will be my slaves. Since your faces are known in the south, you will take the position of captain of the patrolling soldiers in the north. You can keep your subordinates as they are. However, they will also need to sign a slave contract.”
“Is that really enough? Even though what we’ve done is just bodyguard work, we’ve been complicit in wrongdoing, you know?”
“What do you want to do, Vitor? Are you going to accept my offer or not? How do you really feel right now?”
“Is it really okay?”
“You’re being repetitive.”
“…I get it. Even if my body decays, I pledge my lifelong loyalty to Ryoji-sama.”
With a look of annoyance, Ryoji declared, and Vitor knelt in the cell, swearing his loyalty to him.
—- Part II end —
Part III tomorrow. It is a 3 part chapter, so tomorrow it will end
Join me on –>discord<— to get update notifications and release schedules. Getting a bit active these days.
Click on the image above for my ko-fi page link
Thanks for the treat.