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Volume 1, Chapter 34: Earl Aubock③

Lambert returned to the『Spirit’s Dusk』 headquarters ahead of Fiona and Co.

However, despite its location in a deserted back alley, he expected there to be people inside, but he couldn’t sense anyone inside.

And yet, the ground was flattened by so many footprints.

Upon arriving in 『Spirit’s Dusk』’s headquarters, which was the rented upper floor of 『Fairy’s Stove』, he found out that the wall and the windows of the building had been destroyed.

He had no doubt that this incident was instigated by the Earl.

「… So, he took control of the base, meanwhile ambushing the members of the guild. It seems he’s quite thorough.」

Despite his nonchalant tone, Lambert was burning with rage inside.

He was infuriated at anyone who dared to harm 『Spirit’s Dusk』 and its members. They were the only ones who accepted someone as suspicious as him.

Fiona, Lloyd, and Lily would surely be saddened when they saw the tragic state of their base.

In addition, he felt disgusted with Earl Aubock’s vicious yet meticulous acts toward 『Spirit’s Dusk』.

Even though he had never met the Earl in person, he had no doubt that that person was a scoundrel, through and through.

I guess further investigation is unnecessary; raid his base immediately.

He had no idea what happened between 『Spirit’s Dusk』 and Earl Aubock in the past, but he deduced a few reasons that could have led to this event.

After all, this sort of scenario had happened time and time again throughout history. Lambert was no stranger to it. If a man of power wanted to eliminate someone, he would take aim at the person who posed the most threat.

『Spirit’s Dusk』 ‘s guild master, Germain, was secretly investigating Earl Aubock’s evil deeds.

Germain himself had hinted to Lambert that he wanted to leave the city.

Maybe the reason 『Dragon’s Enchanted Metal』 targeted the much weaker 『Spirit’s Dusk』 was because Earl Aubock wanted to seal Germain’s mouth forever.

Lambert entered 『Spirit’s Dusk』 guild’s room.

He didn’t expect to meet any other members of 『Spirit’s Dusk』, other than the ones he knew since it was such a small guild.

The room was just the right size to fit an office for the guild master, an information desk, and two other adventurers.

Is the guild master, Germain, the reason behind this? No, the area around this place might be rather deserted, but for a city this size… It would be much better if they ambushed Germain when he was alone.

He didn’t find any corpses inside the guild’s room.

Although he had no idea whether Germain was kidnapped or had managed to escape, either way was fine for Lambert because that meant, at the very least, Germain was alive for the time being.

He opened the door to Germain’s office.

The shelves had been ransacked, stray documents littered the floor, and drawers were left haphazardly hanging open.

「In this sort of situation, robbery can be ruled out since it seems the culprits were searching for something.」

Upon muttering so, Lambert heard a voice from outside.

「It seems there are still some remaining.」

The door of the room was suddenly kicked open as a slender man in a black coat made his grand entrance.

「Oh, it seems they left someone here as a lookout, huh.」

Without skipping a beat, Lambert drew his greatsword and swung it.

His greatsword repelled a silver needle that was fired from a gap in the window. At the same time, he took a sweeping strike at the man in the doorway.　Hit with the full force of that attack, the man was thrown back and crashed against the wall. A large spurt of blood spilled out from the resulting wound in his chest.

Lambert picked up the silver needle and then sent a piercing glare at the hidden assailant.

One person distracted him, while another person attacked with a hidden weapon from his blindspot.

A cheap trick like that wouldn’t work against Lambert.

「You people are probably on standby to kill or kidnap anyone who returns. I know you’re hiding over there. Come out and accept your fate like a good child.」

Lambert threw the needle through the window, back where it came from.

Another man’s hand grabbed the needle in midair, leaping through the window to enter the room.

That man wore similar black clothing from head to toe. He was quite tall, though not as tall as Lambert.

Breaking the windows as if following the previous person, four more people appeared. From their body shapes, Lambert could deduce that two were men of similar build, one was taller than the other two, while the remaining one was a woman.

That number of people was the number he sensed from earlier. In short, there was no one else waiting to ambush him.

「What a surprise, to think that 『Spirit’s Dusk』 has such a powerful member. Though I received news that you destroyed our main force while conquering the labyrinth, I never expected that you could detect our presences. Since when did you sense us?」

They seemed to be proud of their ability to erase their presences.

The tall man who fired the needle seemed to be their leader. He was enraged at how easily Lambert not only located them but also defended himself against their prided silver needle and killed one of his subordinates.

「I felt five malicious intents before I entered this building.」

The tall man’s forehead wrinkled at Lambert’s explanation.

Lambert’s reply only worked to further enrage him.

However, Lambert was just stating the truth.

They might’ve skillfully disguised their presences, but there was no way they could escape Lambert’s undead perception.

「Now tell me, who are you people?」

「Fine, consider this as a present before you die. We’re the Dark Guild, 『Dark Night’s Short Sword』… Or should I say, we are the infamous shadow of Ainsaz, the hidden dark guild, the Earl’s private force, 『Dark Night’s Short Sword』. I am their leader, Hailzard. Don’t think that we’re cowards for ganging up on you; we have our own pride.」

The one named Hailzard crossed his arms.

There were four silver needles in each of his hands, inserted in between the fingers.

Upon seeing that, the other three also drew their weapons.

「Private army? You’re quite a chatterbox, huh.」

「Assasination isn’t our only speciality. We fight as a team when we face people head-on. In addition, we also have our pride, seeing as you so easily threw back our dark weapon.」

「…?」

Lambert didn’t understand what that man meant. There was a pregnant silence.

「Running away after we blatantly challenge you will only make us lose face. Be surprised, now that you’re trapped in our battle formation, this silver needle will be the end of you!」

Hailzard sprung into action while spewing such confident words.

The other three also followed in a similar fashion.

Clinging onto the ceiling, Hailzard fired all eight of his silver needles.

At the same time, the other three leaped at Lambert, each from a different direction.

「You bastard, what the hell have you been blabbering about up till now?」

Lambert swung his greatsword thrice.

His sword easily bisected the ceiling and desk like they were made of tofu.

Two of the three assailants were also struck by the greatsword. The last one couldn’t withstand Lambert’s overwhelming killing intent and barely got away from the deadly slashes.

The eight silver needles were also scattered around the room, with Lambert pinching the tip of one of the needles.

From Hailzard’s perspective, he only caught a glimpse of the moment when Lambert’s sword hit two of his subordinates. He didn’t see how Lambert managed to catch the tip of the silver needle.

「S-Such agility…!」

「How can you spew such nonsense right now?」

「What?」

「The killing intent I released just now wasn’t even a tenth of what I can do when I’m going all out.」

At that moment, Hailzard finally realized that the man he picked a fight with was an abnormal monster.

「T-That’s impos-」

But the scene of Lambert dispatching his subordinates in just a moment convinced Hailzard that Lambert was simply stating the truth.

Nevertheless, Hailzard chose to not believe him.

Lambert brushed the tip of the silver needle with his armor-clad finger, inspecting it closer

「Colorless poison… This thing isn’t my area of expertise.」

Lambert held up his arm, preparing to throw the needle.

When he threw it, not even Hailzard could anticipate its trajectory.

Hailzard’s eyes opened wide in terror.

The needle pierced through Hailzard’s chest and struck the wall behind him.

「The poison might spread faster if it’s stabbed near your heart, rather than waiting for it to circulate.」

Lambert, who could throw a thin needle until it pierced both the human and wall, was most likely the only one qualified to say those words.

「…」

Hailzard placed his hand on his chest.

A cramped smile contorted on his face as he looked at the blood dripping down his chest. He couldn’t help but flash a glare at Lambert.

Cold beads of sweat dripped down his face.

「S-Splendid…」

Hailzard used the last of his strength to say that word.

He then fell forward, the blood from his chest pooling on the floor.

「Contrary to his job as an assassin, he was a prideful man. Though I couldn’t bring myself to hate him, I’m starting to feel that he wasn’t the right fit for this role.」

Lambert sheathed his sword again after making sure that Hailzard was really dead.

「Hehehe… No matter how powerful you are, you’re no match for Hector-sama… Your power might surpass him, but his technique has reached the divine territory. Remember that you can’t escape from Earl-sama.」

The one who said those words was the one who dodged one of Lambert’s three slashes, the sole woman of 『Dark Night’s Short Sword』.

「Oh, so you say that after seeing the difference in our abilities just now.」

「I’ll go to the other side first then. It’s not like Earl-sama would spare me if I returned. I’ll be waiting for you there, after you have suffered a horrifying fate in the land of the living.」

She was trying to act tough, but it was clear that she was bluffing.

Lambert could see just how much she feared Earl Aubock and the man named Hector.

Seeing that woman putting more power into her jaw, Lambert quickly struck the side of her head with the sheath of his sword.

「BUUUH?!」

A molar and blood flew out from that woman’s mouth.

There was something like a black stone on top of that molar.

「Poison for suicide, huh.」

Lambert crushed that molar as he muttered lightly.

「K-Kill me now! Kill me! I’d rather die than face your pity!」

The woman screamed while blood spilled from her mouth.

「And yet, you’re the one who fell first after getting exposed to my light killing intent. That makes you the most cowardly amongst your peers. The reason you’re not dead is precisely because you didn’t jump forward. Do you really think that I’m sparing your life out of pity? No, it’s because I can make full use of you. You catch what I mean, right?」

「U… G-Guh…」

The woman reached into her mouth, searching the back for the place where the molar used to be, but it had been cleanly knocked out.