novelraw Chapter 173 : Chapter 173
Chapter 173 : Chapter 173
Chapter 173 - Cannot Go Back (4)
It didn’t seem like it had snowed enough to pile up before I entered the basement, but at some point, a blanket of white snow had accumulated around the entrance to the basement.
Podeuk.
I walked forward, stepping on the snowy ground, and as a result, filthy footprints were engraved on the white snowfield.
It wasn't a matter of my feet being covered in blood, or Giovanni's blood splashing on me when I cut him, but the feeling of the white snowfield being dirtied was like that.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue once, then arrived at a tree growing nearby and opened my mouth.
And what I muttered was.
“Miss Aisa.”
The name of Aisa, the princess’s closest aide, a part of the Guard Knights.
“Have you finished your business, Young Master?”
Then, from the other side of the tree, a voice was heard with a speed close to an immediate reply.
It was Aisa’s voice, which I had grown quite accustomed to over the past year.
“Yes, please take care of the rest.”
“As you wish.”
The conversation did not last long. We only exchanged necessary business and then ended it.
When I looked back, there was nothing where the owner of the voice should have been.
It wasn't particularly surprising. I had seen this scene many times before, but I also had a memory of seeing this scene repeated quite a few times during my recent few regressions.
“I hope it’s the truth this time.”
Like the weariness embedded in that mutter, these processes were also starting to get tedious.
Unlike the previous events where checkpoints were set according to the incidents, since I had regressed back to a previously set checkpoint, it took quite a long time to regress and return to this point.
Roughly two weeks. It meant that to repeat this incident, I had to repeat a full two weeks again.
The fact that I could repeat my training during that time was certainly a merit, but…….
‘It feels like I’m getting dull.’
I tried to act as normal as possible to those around me, but it would have been impossible not to scatter a sense of unease.
Including Yuna and Khan, there were too many people with good intuition around.
Sueuk.
I slowly reached out my hand towards the gently falling snow.
And I fell into thought again.
In an environment where I was bound to become dull, the one fortunate thing was that there was a motivation for this task.
Although it was by no means a motivation with a good meaning, or good content.
Come to think of it, in that respect, it might not be any different from usual.
***
In the entertainment district on the outskirts of Endinium, a man slowly walked out of a pub.
A man who seemed to be in the transition period between youth and middle age. He walked slowly down the road, crossing under the not-so-fancy and now somewhat tacky-looking lights.
He seemed to be quite drunk, as his gait was wobbly.
-Did you hear that story? About the Knight Executioner.
-I heard that several knights have already been caught and killed. Those monsters.
-They say the northern region is swarming with monsters. The southern region has rebels…….
-But I wonder, were the knights who were caught and killed by the Knight Executioner really punished for their sins?
The topics that leak out of a pub are usually such gossip.
Among them, the main story was one of the topics that were currently heating up the public, the story of the Knight Executioner.
Even while the entire continent was in chaos recently, this situation, which was receiving the most attention, clearly indicated the blow the existence of the Knight Executioner had dealt to the group called knights.
Knights are strong.
Knights are just.
Knights are noble.
That was the image of knights established in traditional society.
They were truly objects of admiration, idols of the absolute majority.
But in the public's perception, those knights were no longer just strong beings, and they were also changing in the direction of not being just and noble beings.
The possibility that those strong and noble knights had brought death upon themselves due to their sins.
It was as if the foundation of the Empire, which deserved to be called a ‘knight society,’ was shaking.
The knights had not changed, it was just that the perception was slowly changing.
“Well, I’ll be……”
The drunkard who was making his way through the crowd scratched his head with a flushed face and muttered so.
Jeobeok.
How long had he walked like that? The man, who was precariously but without colliding with anyone making his way through the crowd, soon found himself alone in a dark alley.
Just as a silence so profound that even the sound of his footsteps echoed clearly settled in the alley…….
Jeobeok.
Jeobeok.
Only two sets of footsteps remained in the alley.
“…….”
The man's gait, who had been clowning around by occasionally mixing in nonsense and swaying movements, became stable.
His body movements also became orderly.
Jeobeok.
Jeobeok.
And, when their footsteps reached the most secluded place nearby.
Seuk.
The man took something out from his bosom, brought it to his face, and spoke into the air.
“It's about time you came out, isn't it?”
A playful voice, still full of composure even in this situation, echoed through the alley.
The voice was already devoid of any hint of alcohol, which was only natural.
“Honestly, I've played along enough, haven't I? I've come all the way to this deserted place, so let's not drag it out any longer.”
That defenseless appearance was to open up a position for an ambush and narrow down the timing.
The man spoke so towards the presence he felt from the back of the alley.
Should I say the man in the mask now?
No, should I say the knight in the mask?
“Acaite.”
Professor of the academy, Master Knight, eccentric knight.
The man who had walked out of the darkness at some point recited the name that contained all those meanings softly.
Gigigik-
With the sound of a heavy executioner's sword dragging on the ground.
“Haah-”
At that sound, the knight in the mask, Acaite, would have let out a small sigh and muttered.
“Ah, what. Is it my turn now?”
“It seems you were expecting it.”
“Looking at your paranoid victim selection method, I couldn't help but think so.”
Even in the dangerous moment of confronting the rumored knight slayer, the masked knight's characteristic playfulness showed no sign of disappearing.
Perhaps it was also because he had expected it.
“Acaite.”
But in contrast to that playfulness, the disheveled executioner opened his mouth and called the knight's name again, maintaining a heavy atmosphere throughout.
“Yeah, is it that wonderful sin revealing time? I heard you only catch and kill guys who seem guilty by your standards?”
Even in the touch-and-go situation, the voice of the masked knight, who maintained a light attitude throughout, was a beat faster, but the executioner's voice was not cut off for that reason.
“……Do you remember when you abandoned everything and ran away?”
A low voice, cracked as if he had swallowed charcoal, to the point of giving a sense of desperation.
“Abandoning friends, comrades, and innocent civilians. For your own safety alone.”
That voice was telling the masked knight.
The sins of his past.
“…….”
Hearing that, Acaite raised his hand and scratched his head.
“You're hitting a sore spot again.”
His flippant attitude hadn't completely disappeared, but it couldn't be denied that the atmosphere had become somewhat subdued, as if he felt something.
Cheok.
Immediately after, the Knight Executioner facing Acaite—Grændal—raised his sword as if there was no time to delay.
With a momentum that suggested he would engage in battle at any moment, Acaite also put his hand on the dagger in his bosom and took a stance to respond.
‘This is not good.’
Acaite thought. This situation was very troublesome for him.
‘Judging from his unwavering posture and the aura he’s exuding, he’s at least at the Master Knight level.’
That in itself was not a problem. The knight named Acaite was in a fairly strong position among the Master Knights, who were considered to be those who transcended human common sense.
However, the problem was.
‘The problem is the difference in information.’
Acaite had almost no information about Grændal's fighting style and methods.
If he gathered a little bit of testimony, he could roughly know the weapon he used, but it stopped there.
There was no way for Acaite to know what kind of tactics his opponent used, or what methods he employed.
‘On the other hand, he probably already knows all about me…….’
Acaite was a veteran among veterans who had been on the front lines for a long time.
In other words, it also meant that as much as his strength, the way he fought was already widely exposed to the public.
And it was as good as impossible that someone with a clear objective, who attacked and killed knights like this, would not have information about his combat opponent.
“Handicap matches are honestly not my cup of tea……”
This situation was the opposite of Acaite's fighting style.
As the one who had instilled the teaching in his disciple, Rain, that ‘creating a favorable situation is 70% of the battle,’ he understood well how important it was to set up the environment before entering the main battle.
Create an environment where you can only win, and win as a matter of course.
That was his way.
But now, that way was completely blocked.
It could even be said that he was in a disadvantageous environment.
“Well, can't be helped.”
But even that could be said to be his area of expertise.
Improvisation in a disadvantageous situation. That was his other strength.
He would make the best choice, and he would find a way out somehow.
Even if he couldn't return in one piece.