SMSK 23

Chapter 23. Free City of Bertas (5)

Gaon.

The owner of the Celestial Dragon Bird’s corpse.

Information that he was staying at Madame Durdamel’s inn had already been obtained.

So the butler who left the mansion immediately headed to the inn.

Located in the eastern part of Bertas, the inn wasn’t far from the Brickwood estate.

“Hm?”

Before long, the butler arrived and frowned slightly at an unexpected sight.

‘What is that…?’

Fwoosh, whoosh—!

In the backyard of the inn, a man was swinging a sword.

As his arm moved, the blade sliced slowly through the air.

‘…He’s unskilled.’

His movements were awkward, cut off unnaturally.

The way he held the sword was clumsy, and his stance unstable.

Even without deep knowledge of swordsmanship, it was obvious at a glance—this was nothing like a seasoned swordsman.

It looked more like a frail noble’s youngest son playing pretend with a sword.

‘Could that guy be Gaon?’

Dark blue hair and a cold impression.

His appearance perfectly matched the report the butler had received.

The butler approached the man and greeted him politely.

“Excuse me, might you be—”

Fwoosh—

But the man completely ignored him and continued swinging his sword in silence.

The butler clenched his teeth slightly but kept a courteous smile and spoke again.

“Are you Lord Gaon? I’m Taylor, the butler of the Brickwood family and manager of the East Division auction.”

“I came to speak with you regarding the item you’re registering for the auction…”

Pause—

Finally, the man stopped swinging his sword.

With a sigh that suggested he found this all troublesome, he glanced sideways and replied.

“I entrusted full authority over the transaction to the intermediary.”

“…Just a simple verification process. I know it’s a hassle, but I ask for your cooperation.”

Clink—

Gaon slowly lowered his sword.

Then, wearing a displeased expression as if saying “go ahead and speak,” he turned to listen.

Though something about the man’s attitude was irritating, Butler Taylor promptly got to the point.

“May I ask how you came into possession of the monster’s corpse?”

There were generally three ways to obtain ownership of a monster corpse:

Discover it first when it’s unclaimed.

Buy the ownership from its current owner.

Or kill the monster yourself.

Butler Taylor carefully watched for subtle changes in expression as he waited, but Gaon remained unshaken, just as when they first met.

So Taylor continued.

“Judging by its massive size and unique appearance, it seems unlikely you killed it yourself. I assume you stumbled upon it in some uncharted territory—”

“I killed it.”

“…Excuse me?”

Taylor’s face twitched slightly.

That was the last answer he’d expected.

But Gaon simply repeated it, unfazed.

“I said I killed that monster.”

Taylor scanned him up and down with narrowed eyes.

It was such an obvious lie.

This man didn’t look like someone who could take down a Celestial Dragon Bird.

For starters, the aura he gave off wasn’t any different from a normal person’s.

A true warrior made your legs tremble just by standing nearby. But this man emitted none of that dreadful presence.

‘And more importantly…’

…Even without going that far, that sloppy swordsmanship from earlier made it laughably easy to see he was lying.

‘And yet he spouts that blatant lie without flinching?’

Proof that the man had no grasp of the situation.

The puzzle was coming together.

The suspicion that Hakun Durdamel was pulling strings behind this man became all the more convincing.

“Of course, I’m sure you have no reason to lie…”

Taylor pressed further.

“It’s just—I’m concerned there might’ve been some ‘instruction’ from the Durdamel Trading Company. If so, the Brickwood family can offer you protection.”

His tone was polite, but the message was clear.

We know you’re just a puppet and the real players are behind the scenes.

Come clean, and we’ll let you live.

It was both a veiled threat and a bribe.

Twitch—

‘Oh…?’

Smirk—

As expected.

Though brief, Taylor caught it—a minute crack in the man’s indifferent expression.

‘So our suspicions were right after all.’

The interrogation disguised as verification continued, but Gaon never revealed the truth.

Not that it mattered.

Butler Taylor’s suspicion had already solidified into certainty.

“All right, the verification process is complete. There should be no issue registering the item in the auction.”

Scratch, scratch—

Butler Taylor of the Brickwood family nodded repeatedly as he jotted something in his notebook.

I almost let out a laugh in disgust.

He was trying to reassure me, pretending everything was fine—so insincere it made me sick.

…I couldn’t even keep a straight face anymore.

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave. I wish you peace until we meet again, sir.”

Before long, Taylor left the inn.

Heh—

I snorted as I watched him walk away.

‘You think I don’t know what you’re up to?’

Brickwood’s scheme was obvious.

I’d seen it countless times even while playing the game. There was no way I’d fall for it.

But there was a reason I played along with Butler Taylor’s game.

‘I’m going to blow this wide open and uproot them all.’

My plan was to turn this small ripple into a giant wave.

One so big that Brickwood would self-destruct from the backlash.

‘Still…’

—Sir, do you have any companions?

‘…So they’ve done their homework.’

Taylor had subtly asked about Adelia. That alone showed how thoroughly they’d investigated.

But mentioning her could jeopardize my plan, so I pretended not to know her.

Just said she was one of the mercenaries who accompanied the caravan through the frontier.

‘Adelia must make her appearance at the very end.’

Only then would my plan to cleanse the rot in Bertas be complete.

‘Anyway…’

Swish—

I picked up my featherblade again and resumed my stance.

Then I continued the movement I’d been practicing before my conversation with Taylor.

‘…This might actually work.’

The previously disconnected and awkward movements began to flow as one.

I raised the sword diagonally to block an incoming attack.

Used my opponent’s force to create a counter-impact at the right moment.

Fwoosh—!

In sync with the imagined attack, my body instinctively took the perfect defensive stance.

The sword path flowed like a river.

The moment my will aligned with it, 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】 was being re-enacted.

“Phew.”

Of course, I still had a long way to go.

The technique was incomplete, and I’d never have this much time to react in real combat.

But even just confirming the possibility was a huge step forward.

Now I knew I could intentionally replicate the moment my body instinctively found the perfect defense.

“Ah.”

Right then, I heard a quiet gasp beside me.

Turning my head, I saw Adelia staring blankly.

Wearing a large backpack, she gazed at the featherblade with sparkling eyes.

I asked her a question, like speaking to a curious child.

“Can you recognize this sword technique?”

“…Yes.”

She mumbled in a dazed voice.

“It’s similar to the movement that deflected my sword.”

“That’s right.”

I nodded.

As expected of Adelia. She grasped the essence of my sword at just a glance.

Since the opportunity had presented itself, I decided to boast a little.

“I slowed it down on purpose so you could see.”

“…!”

“Now, can you perceive its true nature?”

Adelia paused briefly, then answered with reverent awe.

“It feels alive.”

“In what sense?”

“The sword changes every moment. At a glance, the moves seem the same—but upon closer inspection, they vary slightly each time. It adapts to the situation like a living creature…”

Her eyes sparkled.

“It’s like the sword has become an extension of your body, Sir Gaon.”

“…”

“It’s not something you wield… but something you breathe with.”

Her words amazed me.

With a single observation, she had seen through the essence of 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】. So accurately, too.

She truly was a sword genius with the greatest potential in Roel.

‘But even so…’

Even this genius was rendered powerless by this 9-star skill.

That just proved how absurdly powerful 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】 really was.

‘And if I could master it perfectly with no restrictions…?’

Embodiment.

The act of artificially manifesting a skill using swordsmanship talent.

If I could apply that well, I’d not only master this skill, but any future ones I obtained too.

…Of course, that wouldn’t be easy. My stats were in the gutter.

Still, I was okay with that.

Because I knew the perfect method to make it happen quickly.

“If you’re ready, let’s move.”

And that method…

Lay deep within the underground of Bertas—specifically, the area I previously mentioned: the Labyrinth Village.

After quickly tidying up, Adelia and I left the inn.

Before heading to Labyrinth Village…

Our first stop was the Adventurers’ Guild.

Creak—

Opening the door, we were greeted by the clamor of rowdy voices and the clinking of glasses.

Though the building lacked natural light, lamps lit every corner brightly.

“Bwahaha!”

“Listen! This one’s a goldmine, I swear!”

“Shut up and order more drinks, you bastard!”

Laughter from drunk adventurers echoed throughout.

I walked past them and headed toward a wall lined with request notices.

The higher they were posted, the harder the quest—and the better the reward.

Some crumpled and faded requests were so dangerous, no ordinary adventurer dared take them.

Rip—

I reached up and took down the highest one.

The surrounding adventurers clicked their tongues and whispered.

“Again with this…”

“Is he nuts? That’s been posted for over three years now.”

“Why are so many people so eager to die these days…?”

Their interest in me soon faded.

In a world where death was commonplace, one more corpse wasn’t surprising.

‘…But if I complete this and come back alive, will they react the same?’

Thinking that, I couldn’t help but smile.

“This is…”

Adelia came up beside me and trailed off.

Squinting, she stared at the request in my hand.

Then she asked, hesitantly:

“Do you really intend to take this quest, Sir Gaon?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“We’re going to slay the Earth Dragon of the Labyrinth Village.”

“The ancient ■■■… have finally spoken.”

Holy Sanctuary City: Middle Temple.

In the center of a subterranean temple lit by thousands of candles.

A sacred turquoise light rained down on a giant circular altar.

That brilliant energy felt like a divine blessing from the heavens.

Rumble—

As the underground temple shook, a woman gazed into the void.

A Saintess.

The singular symbol of this city.

As golden light flared from her eyeless pupils, her lips trembled.

“The Apostle of the Sword has slain a Dragon.”

Exactly two days later…

News of the Celestial Dragon Bird’s corpse being discovered reached Middle Temple.

…And the holy families began to stir.

Ding—!

〔Hidden Message: Causality is being twisted.〕

〔Hidden Message: #̛̔͌@͑̐͛̈́̕!̇͑̀̅̾͠$͂̊͛͛́̕’s̶͖͔̒͛@̴̻̕͜ s̅̆͌͞t͋̈́͑̈́e̴͔͓p is arriving ahead of schedule.〕

〔Hidden Message: The forgotten Harmonizers are watching your path.〕