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Volume 1, Chapter 32: Earl Aubock ①

When Lambert and Co. entered Ainsaz’s Underground Labyrinth, Germain, the guild master of 『Spirit’s Dusk』, went alone to the company that sponsored his guild. They were the ones who gave the harvesting commission.

He wanted to talk with the other party about moving『Spirit’s Dusk』’s base to another city, and whether they would keep the contract or not.

Germain had been using his position as one of the guild masters in Ainsaz City to investigate Earl Aubock, the region’s feudal lord.

But he stopped his investigation immediately, judging that it was too dangerous to continue due to the dark rumors surrounding the earl that he discovered with a mere cursory investigation.

He was originally unwilling to halt, but upon hearing Fiona and Co.’s story about Cradle, an adventurer of the 『Dragon’s Enchanted Metal』 guild, he was forced to reconsider as to not involve unrelated people in his problems.

Germain turned around when he came close to Ainsaz’s back street.

He noticed that someone was following him. It appeared that they were planning to kidnap him when he entered the back alley.

「Since how long have you guys been following me?It’s ’bout time you come out from your hiding place.」

A man appeared from the corner as if to answer Germain’s question.

It was a man with a stubbly beard and bluish-purple hair.

That man had a rather slovenly appearance compared to his well-ordered clothing.

In spite of his handsome face, he clearly lacked any semblance of ambition.

He carried two swords on his back and another one strapped to his waist.

「Who’re you? Someone related to Earl Aubock?」

The man just shrugged his shoulders with a bored look on his face upon hearing Germain’s question.

「My bad, I’ve no intention to introduce myself to a small fry like you.」

「… Suddenly sending an assassin like this to kill me, it seems the earl is far more of a scaredy cat than I thought.」

Germain drew his longsword and readied himself to fight.

「To think that I’ve been marked since quite a while ago. Well, I just need to defeat you and lay low after that.」

「Too late. If I’m not wrong, your subordinates were exploring the underground labyrinth, right?」

「… How did you know that?」

After asking that question, Germain realized that Earl Aubock might’ve made his move faster than he expected.

He thought that it was only his life at risk, but he never expected that the Earl would stoop so low as to aim for his subordinates’ lives too.

And most of all, the company that was partnered with the 『Spirit’s Dusk』 guild also acted as the Earl’s spy.

In short, the whole Ainsaz City was like a nest, mired in Earl Aubock’s spiderweb to catch any who dare oppose him.

Doing something like entering the nest was asking for death.

「None of them should be alive by now. Well, I’ve no interest in dead men anyway.」

「W-Why! They’ve nothing to do with this!」

「They might’ve nothing to do with this matter with the Earl. But we’ve got no idea how much they know about your investigation into the Earl. That’s why crush ’em all is the best choice for him. Not involved in this matter? Hah, you’re too naive, aren’t you?」

It didn’t mean Germain was too naive to not consider this outcome.

If one had to guess, this failure was caused because he underestimated Earl Aubock’s cruelty. The lord was quite thorough, nipping his problems in the bud.

「I’ve to say that Earl Aubock has investigated your background. You might’ve forgotten about your house name, but surely, that weak house’s lazy son won’t forget about his enmity toward Earl Aubock, right? Even though you’d be alright if you forgot about your past, and yet, you chose to poke the hornet’s nest.」

Germain’s background was exactly as that man had said: he was the second son of a baron house that, because of their hostility toward Earl Aubock, was wiped out on false charges.

He, the second son who ran away from the house to become an adventurer before the age of ten, never returned.

For this reason, he wasn’t dragged into the conflict that resulted in his entire family’s execution.

But Germain, who vowed to himself that he’d clear his family’s name to repay their kindness in raising him until he was nine years old, set up an adventurer’s guild in Ainsaz City and began his investigation.

「…………」

Germain drew his sword and then stabbed toward his foe.

「Give it up. You probably think that you can do something about the situation since you’re fairly powerful, right? Don’t get cocky. Fighting small fry like you will only dull my blade.」

The man spoke with an emotionless voice.

Surprisingly, the man didn’t act cocky, he was simply stating the truth to Germain.

That man had absolute confidence in his own power.

Even so, that didn’t mean that Germain would just obediently let the man capture him.

He maintained his stance as he kept glaring at the man.

「Ha~h, guess I’ve no choice… HAAAAH.」

The man shouted.

He dashed toward Germain while swiftly drawing his sword.

A metallic clank resounded as their swords crossed.

— So heavy… and swift too. Though I barely managed to counter his attack, this man… He is clearly holding back.

Despite crossing swords with Germain, the other man did not flinch in the slightest; his face remained expressionless.

He seemed effortless with every movement as if he couldn’t care less about what happened, and yet there was no hesitation. Each attack was as swift and ferocious as the last.

「Despite having such a twig-like body…」

「Hey, I’m not done yet.」

The man raised his hand and then swiftly slashed down at Germain.

「GUH!」

Germain barely managed to raise his sword to block the attack from above.

Before Germain could regain his stance, another attack quickly followed, aiming for his head.

Germain barely managed to dodge that third slash.

He tried to counterattack, but he realized that man had been ready to launch his fourth strike on Germain. All Germain could do was parry that fourth strike.

— I thought he was all talk, but it turned out he was a master. I need to end this fight before this man goes all out…

Germain changed his tactics, focusing entirely on dodging the mysterious man’s attacks, while looking for an opening to take advantage of.

Germain analyzed the mysterious man’s eyes to anticipate the trajectory of his next strike.

Then, he noticed something.

That mysterious man still had that bored look plastered on his face. There was almost no ripple in his eyes.

And instead of looking at Germain, the mysterious man’s eyes were fixed on a location far behind Germain.

— Such sharp and terrifying swordplay even without looking at me… Just like a puppet.

The sound of clashing metal resounded as their sword met.

Germain slashed his sword to the side to parry the mysterious man’s strike, and then, he noticed the truth behind his opponent’s bizarre swordplay.

「N-No way, that sword is…」

「Took you long enough to notice, huh. This is a special move created by the swordmaster Bellgayne, which was then inherited by his eldest son Alrex and passed down to his descendants. It’s known as the 『Forty Nine’s Swordrain』, and you’re already under the downpour.」

The most important thing in a sword fight was how much someone could take advantage of their opponent’s moves.

As long as someone could cram all of the sword skills into their head, it was a simple matter to gain an upper hand against any kind of swordsman.

But it was basically impossible to do so.

But, 『Forty Nine’s Sword Rain』 was the kind of sword skill that forced any kind of opponent to attack the user. [Note: Nine Sword of Dugu Qiubai?]

The user would then use the counter that he prepared beforehand. It was the kind of sword skill that always made the other party lose their initiative to attack.

In theory, it was the best sword skill to corner an opponent.

In short, no matter how careless that mysterious man was, he could launch the forty-ninth attack in a seamless strike, leaving Germain with no gap to launch a counterattack.

There wouldn’t be any opening before the mysterious man launched his forty-ninth strike.

「I’m not done yet! I’ll definitely spread the word of Aubock’s evil deeds and restore my family’s honor…」

Germain, who was getting impatient, forced himself to make his own thirteenth strike.

That mysterious man calmly changed his grip and struck Germain’s skull with the pommel of his sword.

That strike almost knocked Germain unconscious, and he fell down.

Blood dripped down his injured head, as he raised his face to look up at the mysterious man.

「Could it be that you… are someone from Alrex’s house?」

「Wrong. I just learned this sword skill after I saw it used once when I had a dispute with that house. It was designed to be easy to use, after all.」

The man lightly muttered those words.

Germain was dumbfounded; he couldn’t believe what he heard a moment ago.

「I tried to learn this sword skill since it looked interesting, but it turned out to be just a child’s play, definitely not worth my time. I quickly got bored of it.」

The mysterious man then cracked his neck and returned his sword into its scabbard.

「Even though I’ve learned it up to the forty-ninth strike, I’ve rarely met anyone who could survive more than the twentieth strike. Good grief, what a boring job.」

It was clear that the gap between Germain’s skill and that of that man was insurmountable.

Germain, who understood that fact, lost his will to fight back.

He detested Earl Aubock, who had executed his entire family and smeared their honor with dirt.

Even the swordsmanship that he learned after shedding blood and tears couldn’t defeat his nemesis’ pawn.

He felt guilty and wanted to apologize to his subordinates who ended up involved in this matter. And lastly, he wanted to confirm their safety.

But, he really had no way out of the current predicament.

He knew that wish was impossible.

「… I’ve heard a rumor before about the earl’s most powerful subordinate who rarely appeared in public… Are you that rumored person?」

「Earl Aubock’s order was to capture you and kill that armored bastard along with the other three. Rest assured, that Earl is a real asshole. It’ll be better if you die here rather than meet him in person.」

The mysterious man ignored Germain’s question as he stated that fact.

Thus, Germain’s consciousness descended into darkness.