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Chapter 18 – Swordmaster Cain (1)
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 18 – Swordmaster Cain (1)
Late at night.
The only light illuminating the area was the moonlight.
Ketal, satisfied after completing the nighttime patrol mission, was walking towards his lodging with a contented expression.
He had resolved ten tasks today.
Even the minor tasks felt quite fulfilling.
And as he speeds up like this, the time it takes for him to be recognized as a true mercenary will become even shorter.
It was a very fulfilling time.
Ketal leisurely made his way to his quarters.
And then, he saw it.
An old man blocking his path.
The old man was there, half-hidden in the darkness.
There was nothing but darkness illuminated by the moonlight.
It’s a well-known fact that it’s dangerous to wander around at such times, even a three-year-old child knows that.
So, there were only two individuals on the street at the moment: a barbarian and an old man.
Ketal spoke up.
“The one who’s been following me all day. What’s your business?”
To that, the old man.
Swordmaster Cain couldn’t immediately respond.
He was very surprised.
‘He noticed?’
He wasn’t just observing from afar.
Even though Ketal couldn’t use aura, he was a strong one.
Therefore, he concealed his aura.
Even if his senses were sharp, it would be impossible to detect his aura.
But Ketal’s tone clearly indicated that he was aware of being followed.
With no response from the silent old man, Ketal frowned.
“Could you be a bandit?”
Ketal put the silver coins into his pocket.
The vigilant gaze made Cain puzzled.
‘Calling this old man a bandit.’
Even bandits would quietly retreat upon seeing Cain.
But Ketal had a serious expression.
“It seems like there are bandits around even though the security seems fine.”
“No. I…”
Cain tried to deny it, but he kept his mouth shut.
Trying to talk about his own identity was also ambiguous.
Even if he said he was a Swordmaster, no one would believe him.
Especially when the other party was a barbarian.
Without any specific knowledge, he couldn’t decide how to introduce himself.
There was no denial twice.
Ketal was convinced.
The old man in front of him was a bandit.
“Even with that old body, do you have to resort to banditry? It seems like the economy isn’t doing well. It’s sad.”
Saying that, Ketal laughed.
His laughter made Cain feel uneasy.
‘…Why laugh when being robbed?’
Could it be that the barbarian is driven by bloodlust, wanting to kill someone?
Of course not.
Banditry is something everyone experiences in fantasy at least once.
It was just simple enjoyment.
“It would count as an achievement if I subdue you and take you away.”
“No…”
Cain tried to say something, but he closed his mouth.
Upon reflection, it might have been a good opportunity.
He hadn’t come here to enjoy a banquet with the barbarian.
He had shown himself to find out about his identity and strength.
Since he was mistaken for a bandit, directly confronting him might be another way.
Thinking so, Cain tensed his muscles.
The Swordmaster and the Barbarian were in a standoff.
The first to move was the Barbarian.
Ketal stomped his foot.
At that moment, Cain thought so.
When the image of Ketal reappeared, he was right in front of Cain.
“What!”
Cain was startled.
If he stayed like this, his neck would be caught by the barbarian.
He moved according to the instinct that had kept him alive on countless battlefields.
He summoned aura.
The mysterious, miraculous power contained within his body was activated.
It circulated throughout his body in an instant, giving him a transcendent power of perception.
Cain rolled his foot.
Kwong!
The smoothly paved stone floor shattered.
His body recoiled backward in an instant.
Ketal’s hand sliced through the air.
“Ho?”
Ketal’s face showed interest.
“You’re quite fast.”
Ketal admired.
And Cain swallowed his saliva.
He had almost been caught.
If his reflexes had been a little slower, he would have been caught for real.
‘It’s unbelievable.’
He had easily passed through Ketal’s detection area.
It was amazing in itself, but what was even more shocking was:
‘I didn’t sense the flow of aura from him.’
He’s a Swordmaster.
Naturally, he should have been able to sense the movement of mana wielded by the opponent.
But he didn’t feel it from the barbarian.
Nor did he sense mana.
The meaning was clear.
‘… Did he move that fast with just a pure human body?’
Before properly being astonished by this fact, Ketal looked at Cain with an interested face.
“Interesting.”
He murmured like that.
Cain felt a chill down his spine for a moment.
‘With full power!’
It’s not a test or anything.
He can sense even the slightest movement of a fly sharpening his senses.
And then, Ketal’s foot moved again, and his body disappeared.
He expanded his senses to the extreme.
This time, he couldn’t miss Ketal’s movements.
So, Cain quickly realized that his arm was caught by him.
‘What!’
He expanded his senses!
He knew he was going to grab his arm!
How could he not react!
Ketal broke his arm as it was.
It wasn’t just the sensation of being caught.
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
It was as if his arm was stuck in a rock, and it was forcibly dragged along as the rock rolled.
It was an absurd force.
“Ugh!”
Cain hastily focused mana on his arm.
He felt a monstrous power that surpassed the realm of humans.
He tried to exert force to escape.
But it was impossible.
No matter how much a human tries, just like a flood that cannot be stopped, the hand that grabbed Cain’s arm was unaffected.
‘Wha, what power!’
The power struggle itself was futile.
Cain gritted his teeth.
Crack!
The mana within his body began to manifest in the world.
A blue light emanated from Cain’s arm held by him.
It emitted a mysterious light that could be recognized even in the darkness like pitch black. Ketal’s pupils dilated.
“Ho?”
Crack!
And that blue energy, like slippery oil, allowed Cain’s hand to be pulled out of Ketal’s grip.
“Pant, pant.”
Cain breathed heavily.
He widened the distance and expanded his senses even more.
Ketal, who had been looking at his hand for a moment, nodded.
“These days, bandits have all sorts of skills.”
‘What bandit nonsense!’
Cain felt like screaming.
What he had just done was manifestation of mana.
He wrapped it around his body.
It was a state that only the top ranks of the first class could achieve.
Why would someone at such a level do something like banditry?
But Ketal sincerely believed in bandit skills.
Cain looked at Ketal’s arm that had grabbed him with amazement.
Reflexively, he manifested mana.
The manifested mana tore even hard steel to shreds.
For a human body to be so shattered upon contact was normal.
But Ketal’s arm was perfectly fine.
There was not a single scratch.
That made Cain even more bewildered.
‘What kind of body is this?’
Even the manifested mana couldn’t withstand it.
He couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“It’s interesting, but not that impressive. I think it’s time to finish this.”
Ketal declared so.
He intended to keep his word.
He moved his body again.
He arrived near Cain at a speed even Cain couldn’t grasp.
Cain reflexively grabbed his sword.
The mindset of not using the sword because it’s a test had disappeared.
Only the thought that he’d be in trouble if he didn’t draw it dominated his mind.
But that judgment was too slow.
He should have drawn the sword as soon as he saw Ketal.
Thud.
Ketal’s hand lightly pressed on Phomel.
Just that made it impossible to draw the sword.
“Ugh!”
Cain tried to resist somehow, but his consciousness was finally severed as Ketal’s hand approached his head.
“Hmm.”
Ketal held the fallen Cain and was quietly impressed.
‘Is this what bandits in the fantasy world are like?’
A mere bandit using such strange skills.
Indeed, it’s fantasy.
If you can’t do that much, you can’t survive in this world as a bandit.
‘He seems stronger than that knight.’
This is the class of bandits in fantasy!
Ketal was satisfied.
It might have seemed strange in a rational sense, but he had an attitude of accepting everything in fantasy.
Ketal lifted the fallen Cain.
He had succeeded in controlling his strength, so he had only made him unconscious.
“Well then.”
‘I’ll wake him tomorrow.’
He dragged him into the lodging without delay.
And the next day.
The head of guard, who came to work as always, doubted his eyes.
“…Barbarian. What’s this?” Ketal confidently raised his hand.
In that hand, an old man’s neck was held, dangling limply.
The old man had a very humiliated and embarrassed expression, bowing his head.
It was a ridiculous sight, but as the head of guard who knew the old man’s identity, he couldn’t possibly laugh.
What on earth happened?
Why is Cain here?
No, the Lord, said he would be coming soon.
Then did the barbarian attack Swordmaster Cain?
No.
The other way around?
Swordmaster Cain became interested in the barbarian.
So, did he attack him?
But then he lost?
In that case, is the barbarian stronger than Swordmaster Cain?
No.
That couldn’t be.
He must have let his guard down.
Then what happened?
Will the barbarian become hostile to us?
Countless possibilities flashed through his mind in an instant.
And Ketal calmly shattered those possibilities.
“I caught a bandit.”
“A, bandit?”
It was a completely unexpected word.
Ketal repeated it as if he had heard it correctly.
“A bandit. I’ll hand him over to the guard. This will also be a mercenary achievement, right?”
Ketal said with an expectant face.
The head of guard looked at him with a bewildered expression.
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]