novelraw Chapter 91 : A Little, I Think I Understand
Chapter 91 : A Little, I Think I Understand
Chapter 91: A Little, I Think I Understand
To a mercenary, death was nothing unfamiliar.
Escort requests that involved leaving the city.
Extermination requests to subjugate monsters.
Even on battlefields where people died in vain.
As those around them died, they could stain their hands with blood whenever necessary.
The Calimacos Mercenary Band was no exception.
They too had always lived with death at their side.
Everyone knew it.
Even so, Robin found it hard to accept this situation.
Plip. Plip.
Raindrops fell.
Tears became rain and washed over the bodies of the deceased.
Robin called Mirian again and again, but no answer returned.
“Ah… h-hic…….”
“…….”
“Ah… haaahhhhhhh!”
Swaaaaa.
Robin wailed as if he had lost his mind.
The mournful roar did not last long.
The raindrops that had fallen one or two at a time grew heavier, pouring down until they obscured vision.
Perhaps that was the signal.
The Imperial Knights, who seemed like they would chase them to the very end, stopped.
Wilcock’s knight order gathered in formation.
Leonolf pushed his way out from among the knights and spoke.
“Children of Runeberg, it is time to punish the enemies who dared to invade without fear.”
Leonolf strode before the knight order and shouted.
“Advance!”
Knights armed with high-quality gear no less impressive than the Imperial Knights began to move.
As they drew their swords in unison, blue aura illuminated the front.
Not to be outdone, the Imperial Knights also began to form ranks.
“…Paul! Robin!”
Someone roughly shook Robin, who was holding Mirian and crying bitterly.
“H-hic… sorry… I’m sorry……. Please don’t do this…….”
“Robin!”
“Paul……? Sis… Torgen…….”
Unable to finish his words, he smacked his lips clumsily as emotions overwhelmed him.
Smack!
His cheek stung as his head snapped to the side.
Robin, having been slapped, stared blankly at Paul.
“Stop bawling. What are you, a little kid?”
The harsh rebuke brought his senses back, if only a little.
Paul’s appearance could only be described as battered beyond recognition.
His armor was no different from rags, and blood flowed from everywhere.
“We need to get out of here. If we get caught up in a clash between knight orders, it’ll be a headache. Get up.”
“I’m not going without my sister.”
“Mirian is dead. I feel for you too, but there’s no time.”
“But she’s still this warm…….”
Robin could not continue.
Whether it was because she was soaked by the rain, or because this was how it always was when someone died.
Mirian’s body was growing cold.
The colder it became, the tighter Robin held onto Mirian.
He wanted to feel even the last remaining warmth.
He could not leave her to be trampled by the knights like this.
“I’ll take my sister with me. Paul, please… take care of Torgen.”
The corpse, its upper body torn to shreds, stood upright with both legs planted on the ground.
If not for Robin, no one could have believed it was Torgen—it was that horrific.
Paul frowned deeply, glanced once, then grabbed Robin by the collar.
“This is a battlefield. People die like flies—that’s reality! Take a corpse with you? When you die, you get kicked aside, become food for wild beasts, or rot where you lie. Stop being spoiled!”
“Paul, at least you go. I’ll…….”
“You little punk……!”
Paul forcibly pulled Robin to his feet, but immediately collapsed.
With his shinbone broken, he could not even support his body, let alone walk.
“You… with a body like that, you really…….”
Dududududu.
Knights in plate armor charged in from both sides.
There was no escaping.
Shing!
Paul roughly drew his sword.
-Paul, I’m counting on you with the rest.
“I must’ve gone crazy, listening to the words of a dead kid.”
Paul was the one who bought time so the remaining mercenaries could retreat more easily.
He clashed with the Imperial Knights and restrained them as much as possible, but not everyone could return alive.
Kkaang!
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Paul, the unchosen prodigy.”
“Yeah, you. Was your name Nelson?”
“You remember me. I’m honored, senior.”
Robin’s eyes turned toward Nelson.
The one responsible for killing Calimacos.
‘That’s right. That man is the root of it all. The Demon Tribe, the knight order—every last one of them.’
Robin’s eyes were stained with killing intent.
It was a killing intent so dense it could not belong to someone who had only just learned it.
Paul and Nelson both sensed the killing intent that made the hair on their bodies stand on end.
Paul spoke to the knight before him.
“Actually, I’m not a prodigy.”
“I know. That title was meant to mock you, senior.”
“Still, I worked twice as hard as others. That’s why I know knight swordsmanship better than anyone.”
“The more I hear, the more regrettable it sounds. And yet you still weren’t appointed.”
“You’re missing the point. To my eyes, I can see exactly where your swords are headed.”
Paul subtly circled around Robin as he faced Nelson.
It was to protect Robin.
Even while doing so, he deflected every single one of Nelson’s strikes.
Paak!
Paul kicked off the ground and scattered dirt toward Robin.
Because of that, his attention shifted just a little.
The mind that was about to be swallowed by killing intent barely avoided crossing the line.
Robin only realized later that Paul had blocked it for him.
Chaeng! Cha-chaeng!
Even amid the clash between knight orders, Paul prevented anyone from encroaching on his area.
Nelson had inwardly underestimated Paul, but he revised his judgment.
Fighting spirit that deflected aura, and swordsmanship that could be called orthodox.
This was just like…….
“Verman’s secret technique. Was it called Cleaving the Sea? The stance was roughly like this.”
“How do you know that……!”
“Cleaving the sea is too grand. I call it this.”
From Paul’s sword, stretched toward the sky, fighting spirit extended long and slender.
Nelson sensed something wrong and hastily chose to evade.
“Knight Cleaver.”
The fighting spirit stretched high into the sky, as if forming a gigantic longsword.
A blade made purely of fighting spirit fell as if it would split the earth.
Nelson avoided it by a hair’s breadth, but Paul remained calm, as if he had expected it.
Three or four Imperial Knights behind Nelson were torn apart just like that.
It had been a sudden ambush while dealing with an enemy.
“The Wilcock knights over there look restless. Seems like they’ve prepared something—shall we take a look together?”
“…I won’t go easy on you as a senior anymore.”
“You really don’t listen. Look, he’s taking something out.”
As Paul said, one of the Wilcock family’s knights took something out.
It was a stone.
A weapon of war that Robin had defended at the cost of his life.
Paul leaped back to create distance and covered his ears.
* * *
Just before the rain poured down.
Leonolf Wilcock summoned a loyal knight and gave a single instruction.
If they became entangled in battle after clashing with the Imperial Knights, use the weapon of war.
To prepare for this, the knight order set out wearing earplugs to block out noise.
The chief of staff asked Leonolf.
“Is it really all right to ignore the Imperial Family’s intervention?”
“It will probably become difficult from here on.”
“Then why, exactly?”
“If we retreat here, Wilcock’s prestige will fall to the ground. Besides…….”
Leonolf continued, smiling viciously.
“The ones who annihilated the Imperial Knights won’t be us, but the Demon Tribe. The crafty Demon Tribe betrayed Count Betterot and slaughtered indiscriminately before being killed. Can’t you see the picture?”
“That would suit the Imperial Family as well. If the truth comes out, it would only elevate the name of Wilcock…….”
The chief of staff looked at Leonolf, unable to gauge his true intentions.
Even with sudden variables, he found the optimal move.
Unlike past heads of the family, he was born with a political sense.
“But countless people are watching.”
“That’s why magic is frightening. Even when you see it with your own two eyes, you can’t uncover its mystery.”
He manipulated even public opinion by exploiting information gaps.
It sounded absurd, but with this man, it seemed possible.
“But why go so far as to use a weapon of war? Even if they’re the Imperial Knights, we have the numerical advantage.”
“Advantage? No. If we clash head-on, we’ll have to give flesh as well. And this is a good opportunity.”
“An opportunity, you say……?”
“If we reveal part of the weapon of war, what do you think will happen?”
“They’ll find it unpleasant, but they won’t be able to touch us carelessly.”
Leonolf was looking beyond even the aftermath of the war.
The Emperor’s power was immense.
Even so, they could not end the war here.
In Runeberg, there was an ill-tempered bear.
A bear that never left its territory, but mercilessly tore apart any intruder.
As long as one did not provoke it first, nothing would happen.
To hunt it, one would have to accept considerable effort.
That was exactly the position he desired.
Kang! Ka-gang! Kang!
The sound of aura-wreathed swords colliding stimulated Leonolf’s ears.
Both knight orders swung their swords with all their might.
Their formations were in disarray, scattered here and there.
“Chief of staff, send the signal.”
“Use it now?”
“I don’t think there could be a more appropriate moment.”
The chief of staff followed Leonolf’s command.
The loyal knight shattered the stone.
And the Imperial Knights suddenly slammed their heads into the ground.
Bow down.
A majestic shout spread across the battlefield.
Even with their ears covered, Paul and Robin focused to avoid losing control of their bodies.
A few among the Imperial Knights tried to endure, but gradually fell to their knees.
Their heads felt as heavy as if pressed down by lumps of iron.
“Damn it… were they hiding another one?”
Only Nelson and a handful of others held out to the end.
They had seen Demon Tribe members and monsters alike fall to their knees, but experiencing it firsthand left them unable to hide their shock.
Someone who appeared to be Wilcock’s knight commander shouted.
“From this moment on, execute the enemy. If they possess useful information, binding them is acceptable. Judgment is left to each of you.”
“”Yes!!!””
Execution began in the truest sense of the word.
It was a one-sided execution.
Knights who had honed their swordsmanship all their lives and even mastered aura.
Among them, the heads of the Imperial Knights—said to be the finest in the empire—fell with shocking ease.
Most accepted death calmly, but not all of them did.
“Daaamn it! I can’t die like this!”
One Imperial Knight clutched his heavy head and rose through sheer tenacity.
That knight died without even being able to properly extend his sword.
“If you spare me, I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Some surrendered.
“Could you deliver the letter in my bosom. I beg you.”
Some left desperate requests to the enemy.
They were naturally ignored.
Like a farmer pulling weeds, the Imperial Knights met their end.
Amid executions bordering on massacre, Nelson could do nothing but watch in a daze.
Paul did not bother to hasten Nelson’s execution.
He had expended a great deal of mental strength in the recent attack.
Thud.
He sank down beside Robin and looked down at Mirian.
How many people could smile at the moment of death?
Just looking at the knights dying moment by moment made it clear how difficult that was.
Mirian’s lips were curved upward.
Why had Mirian been able to smile at the final moment?
“I think I understand, a little.”
Paul murmured while watching Robin cover Mirian with clothes so she would not be soaked by the rain.
It was as careful as wishing someone would not catch a cold, or hoping a sleeping person would not wake.
“This tiresome battle is over, at least.”
“…….”
“What was her end like?”
“She gave everything for me, until the very end.”
“Tell me in detail.”
Robin began speaking from the moment Paul charged toward the Imperial Knights.
As he spoke of Felix, Torgen, and Mirian’s deaths, this horrific reality became real.
Each time he spoke the words aloud, he acknowledged it.
Those Robin had loved were no longer in this world.
“You did well, Robin. You did your best.”
“…Was that really the best I could do?”
“It’ll be hard. The world will feel like hell, and endless self-loathing will torment you as you feel utterly pathetic.”
“Yes. It really… feels like hell.”
“No comfort will reach you. Even so, I can promise you this. This too will pass, and a day will come when it dulls.”
“Paul, are you really fine?”
“I’m the same as you. I’ve been through something similar a few times, so I just recover faster.”
Swaaaaaa.
After that, silence followed.
Only the heavy raindrops filled the space between the two.
When only high-ranking Imperial Knight officers remained and the executions were nearing their end.
Betterot’s forces advanced.
Toward this direction.
“Those bastards are persistent. Do they only feel satisfied after spilling more blood?”
“Please move my sister. I’ll crawl after you.”
“Cut the nonsense. You’re a patient.”
Paul lifted Robin and carried him on his back.
Robin’s eyes would not leave Mirian, but he turned his body away.
Robin no longer forced the issue either.
Step. Step. Step.
Paul’s footsteps were as steady as the ticking of a clock’s second hand.
Behind them, Nelson resisted and screamed at the top of his lungs.
His voice was so loud it pierced through the sound of the rain.
They were probably trying to take him prisoner, since there was much information to extract.
Swaaaaaa.
“…….”
Suddenly, it became quiet.
Paul stopped and set Robin down.
“Paul?”
“…Who are you people?”
Paul asked toward the place they had been just moments ago, his face stiff.
Near Mirian, Nelson should have been restrained.
Instead, the knights who had tried to bind Nelson were lying fallen.
When Robin turned his body, his eyes took in more than a dozen silhouettes.
They were neither knights clad in armor, nor mercenaries, nor soldiers.
All of them were wearing masks.
‘Who are those people…….’
There was no sound of approach.
They were simply there when he turned around.
The fact that they wore masks alone gave him a bad feeling.
Among them, one person stood out in particular.
A man wearing a straw hat was staring in their direction.
For some reason, it seemed as though he was looking at Robin.
He opened his mouth.
“Good day.”
It was a voice he had heard somewhere before.