“So, have you thought of a plan?!” “Not yet… but for now, I’ll deal with the problem right in front of us!”
It’s me, Shuri here. To do what I can, I’ve escaped from the dungeon with Garn’s help. The bright candlelight hurts my eyes, but I can’t worry about that now. Currently, I’m running through the castle hallways. My destination: the food storage. The first thing I thought I needed to solve was alleviating the people’s dissatisfaction and weakening both factions. From what I heard from Garn, this castle should have an excessive amount of food brought in. I’ve heard it’s for the stockpiles of the First Prince and Second Prince factions. The fact that it’s not gold or jewels reminds me that we’re truly in a warring states period. In such a situation, hoarding and monopolizing food is really terrible, I think.
“By the way, are we close to the food storage yet?” “Yeah, there’s a warehouse just down these stairs… Can you hold out?”
Actually, I’m at my limit. We’ve finally reached the stairs to the warehouse, but I’m already at my physical limit. I can’t afford to complain though. We descend the stairs and open the bolted door, and I’m taken aback.
It’s a mess.
There’s no cold air for preservation, and food is piled up everywhere in this dusty, dirty basement. The amount of food is ridiculous. Potatoes, radishes, carrots, onions… There are chunks of beef and whole pigs laid out. However, there are a few items I don’t recognize.
“This bright red cabbage… is it called red cabbage?” “That? It’s a specialty that grows around here. Regular cabbage gets sweet when boiled, but that one gets spicy.”
Sp-spicy cabbage?
“What about this bright blue leek?”
It’s not green. Blue. When I say blue vegetable, I don’t mean green. It’s blue. Sky blue.
“Ah, that’s sky leek. Sky leek has a refreshing sourness. It’s mainly used as a garnish.”
G-garnish…
“What’s this weird, squishy thing?”
What could this pink, slimy substance in a bottle be?
“That? It’s not that unusual. It’s a liquor drunk by lords, royalty, aristocrats… well, people of high status.” “L-liquor?” “Ah, you don’t know? It’s called slime liquor. You cut out the roots of the slime tree, boil down the juice from those roots, and then age it. It goes down smooth but it’s a strong, dry liquor.”
I’ve never heard of a slime tree… Oh no, I didn’t expect to encounter such unique fantasy world ingredients here…! Until now, I had only dealt with ingredients I was familiar with, so I didn’t know. Well, maybe Gungrave just didn’t like these things? Hm? Spicy?
“Is this red cabbage spicy?” “Ah, the red cabbage? Yeah, it’s spicy. But it’s a refreshing kind of spicy. Not the kind that makes you regret eating it.”
Spicy… cabbage. Here we have whole pigs and whole cows. Lots of vegetables too…
“Garn. All the ingredients here. Who do they belong to?” “What’s here includes reserves for the domain, as well as stockpiles for the First Prince and Second Prince factions. Look, see how those shelves over there are divided? That’s what that is.”
Hmm, indeed there are unnaturally partitioned food shelves. This environment, this amount of food. I pondered for a bit, but decided I had to be honest.
“I’ll be frank. These ingredients. They won’t last three more days.” “What? We’ve applied preservatives, you know. Rubbed them with salt and such.” “The humidity, temperature, and dust are the problem. How have you been handling the ingredients up until now? Were you just eating whatever looked like it wouldn’t keep, one after another?”
The moisture I’ve felt since entering this basement, caused by storing liquid dishes together with everything else. The room that’s slightly warm from the underground heat. The uncleaned environment. It’s the perfect breeding ground for microorganisms and bacteria. It could rot at any moment. Sure, rubbing them with salt will preserve them to some extent. But there’s a limit, right? This damp, lukewarm temperature. It’s only suitable for breeding bacteria…
“Change of plans. Originally, I was thinking of borrowing a bit from the First Prince and Second Prince factions’ stockpiles. But now we’ll use all of the two factions’ food and the reserves that are about to go bad.” “Hey! What are you planning to do with all this food?! And what are you going to make with so many ingredients?!” “It’s obvious. We have whole cows and pigs here, after all.” “Ah, well… yeah, we do have whole animals. Literally whole, with all the organs intact… What are you planning? If you butcher and process those, you’ll end up with a ton of meat.” “What are you saying? We’ll use the organs too.” “What?!” “Yes, the organs, the meat, the tendons. We’ll use it all.”
Spicy red cabbage, sour sky leek. Let’s make use of these and create… A massive amount of hot pot!
“Are you guys ready?”
The five of us, captains of the Gungrave Mercenary Group, stand before the castle gates. Each of us has already entered a battle-ready state. Kuuga, Tegue, Arius, Lill. Everyone already has the eyes of warriors on the battlefield.
We exchange glances and nod to each other.
“Let’s go.”
We stand before the gates.
“Sorry, we’ve been summoned by Lord Gyngus to enter the castle. Here’s the letter of proof.”
I hand the letter to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper looks at it, his face stiffens for a moment, and then he quickly gives orders to open the gate. How obvious. I think this without showing any sign on my face.
“This way.”
The gatekeeper indicates a side entrance next to the gate. We pass through it and see…
Dozens of soldiers waiting with drawn swords in the castle courtyard.
“As expected. We’ve been set up.”
Kuuga grins, baring his teeth. At that moment, a man approaches us.
“Excuse me, Sir Gungrave.”
A man wearing slightly grand armor addresses us.
“By Lord Gyngus’s orders, we are to detain you.” “May I ask the reason?” “There’s nothing in particular to say. If I must, it’s about the cook.”
Just as Kuuga said, it was as expected. I take a step forward. In any case, information is important.
“What are you talking about? I was just called here because there was something to discuss. There’s no reason for such unfair treatment.”
I try asking while pretending not to know. Behind me, Tegue looks like he wants to say something, but Arius stops him. This guy hasn’t realized we’re gathering information.
“Let me see Lord Gyngus. Where is he?” “We have no intention of talking. Wait in the dungeon.” “Is our cook in the dungeon?” “Not in the same place.”
Hmm, so not in the general prison, huh?
“The general prison, is it?” “Come quietly.” “Let me talk to Lord Gyngus. Let me speak with him.” “Be quiet. He’s busy.” “I understand he’s working. But this is important.” “I told you to be quiet. If you understand, then…”
Alright, Gyngus is working. In other words, we need to pay attention to where Gyngus goes for work. Tegue is investigating that.
“I can’t accept this as it is. At least let me see our cook.” “That’s enough talk.” “Wait!” “We’ll talk later. If you want to see the cook, behave yourself.”
…Looks like that’s all the information we can gather.
“…You guys. Information sharing.”
I whisper quietly to the others.
“Gyngus is in his office. Shuri is indeed in a special prison. We’ve confirmed the locations of the general prison and the office. Recall the castle locations we haven’t confirmed. Operation conditions: Do NOT kill any of the castle guards. Make it flashy but only ‘incapacitate’ them. That’s all.” “Roger,” “Understood,” “Got it,” “Okay.”
The guys behind me respond to my instructions. Those responses aren’t the ones they use when interacting with Shuri. It’s the voice they use when they sense a battlefield, a killing field. Flat, emotionless voices. Showing no mercy to the enemy before them.
“Arius. Show them one.” “Understood.”
Arius steps forward in front of us.
“Wh-what are you planning to do?”
The man who had been negotiating with us shows a confused expression. Of course he would. Suddenly, the targets they were trying to capture are showing signs of resistance. But we have no intention of showing mercy either. Arius draws two staves from her waist and raises them to the sky.
“My magic is a bit different, you know? Spell release. ‘Control the air in this space.’“
As she chants those words, a torrent of magical power overflows from Arius’s body, dominating this area. And then it happens. The space in front of us warps slightly, enveloping the courtyard. It engulfs the soldiers.
“Gah, kah!” “I-I can’t breathe!” “Agh!”
Suddenly, the soldiers claw at their mouths and throats, convulsing as if drowning. Some desperately stand, while others crawl on the ground, moving their mouths wide. However, the soldiers gradually lose consciousness. I don’t know what she did, but…
“Don’t kill them.” “Yes. I’m only making them faint.”
Arius judges the timing and waves her staff. Among the soldiers who have mostly fainted, the few who managed to maintain consciousness open their eyes wide.
“Kahaa!!” “I-I can breathe?” “Hahyuu… haa…!”
However, the remaining soldiers look unwell. They certainly won’t be able to stand up and come at us right away.
“It’s better if you don’t push yourselves.”
Arius says, looking at the fallen soldiers. Her eyes are cold, devoid of emotion. Different from the looks she usually gives Shuri. Yes, a gaze of contempt, as if looking at mere trash. Eyes at absolute zero, as if saying the humans before her are an inferior species.
“I controlled the air in this area. Did you know? Humans can’t live without breathing air. And within that air, various types of gases are mixed and present. I was simply ‘distancing’ the necessary air from around you. Right now, I can only manipulate an area this size, but eventually, I want to be able to control the air of an entire battlefield.”
I don’t understand it, but to the eyes of Arius who has grasped the “truth,” this world appears to be composed of many substances piled up, floating, and existing. Among those, Arius realized that “humans live by breathing air.” It might seem obvious, but she grasps and controls all of that air.
This is Arius, the 『Witch of Truth.』
“Let’s go.”
Arius says, and we step into the castle. We pass through the open doors and move forward.
“W-wait.”
Someone calls out from behind us. It’s the guy who was spouting off to us earlier. When I turn around, I see he’s still so exhausted he can’t even stand up. Of course. He had his breathing stopped.
“Wh-what about your cook? Are you okay with what happens to him?” “Huh?”
I put on a malicious smile.
“You guys really think you can do that?”
The man looked dumbfounded, unable to comprehend my words.
“The guys up top haven’t given you any information, have they? Our cook, Shuri Azuma, is a man who received an engraved knife from the Nouviche royal family. And he has skills so great that Princess Tevis herself tried to recruit him. In fact, the food he makes has impressed and captivated the princess. If you harm someone like that, Nouviche will surely fly into a rage. Don’t you know about the tragedy of Arturia? They’re under trade sanctions and facing food shortages after trying to recruit and insulting Shuri. It’s a problem. Can you really do anything to him?”
The man looks surprised, hesitates, and then hangs his head in humiliation. Of course they can’t. They can’t touch Shuri when they can’t even handle one country. I don’t like playing this information card, but… Grasping and manipulating information, dominating the battlefield. Once on the battlefield, cutting down enemies with that sword. Capable of both scheming and combat.
That’s me, Gungrave, the 『Demon of Sword Schemes and Strategies.』
It’s pretty embarrassing to call myself that, though.
“Let’s go.”
I step into the castle. The others follow.
“Time to take this castle.”
Now then, let’s make them pay for underestimating us.
“Listen up, you guards!! If you lay a hand on Shuri, we’ll pay you back a hundredfold! If you don’t want to die, give Shuri back right now!”
As we enter the entrance hall, guards come pouring out. About twenty of them, I’d say. Looks like they have no intention of giving in to threats. The entrance hall has a central staircase leading up to corridors extending left and right on the second floor, with corridors continuing on the first floor beside the stairs. The floor is covered with red carpet, suggesting unexpected wealth. The sight of guards emerging from the second floor and the depths of the first floor reminds me of ants coming out of their nest.
“Gungrave. Let me handle this.”
Tegue speaks up from behind, taking out a large number of arrows from the quiver on his back. He takes out the bow attached to his waist and unfolds it. This is a special longbow developed by Lill before. It’s foldable, and when extended, it can shoot arrows hundreds of meters away. Just touching the mechanism with one hand opens it, and the string is stretched to both ends simultaneously using magic engineering technology. I’ve heard that the string is made by crushing magic crystals into powder, which transforms into a thread-like form when activated. The strength of the string is extraordinary, and at this stage, only Tegue can use this bow. A plain blue bow. That’s Tegue’s beloved weapon.
“A bow is useless at this distance! Everyone, attack at once!!”
Encouraged by the man wearing grand armor who I assume is the guard captain, the twenty guards all come rushing at us at once. It’s a flood of people. If we were to face them head-on, the five of us would be turned into mincemeat in an instant.
If we were to face them normally, that is.
“You’re stupid.”
Tegue nocks three arrows at once and fires. The three arrows hit the sword-wielding hands of three guards with pinpoint accuracy.
“Gah!” “Oww!” “Ugh!”
The three guards drop their swords and crouch down. But the remaining seventeen come charging in without concern. Even seeing this, Tegue remains calm. He nocks three more arrows and releases them. They hit three more men. Again, right in the hands holding their swords. Nock, release. Nock, release. Nock, release. Like a precisely crafted doll, Tegue’s expression doesn’t change as he methodically fires arrows. There’s a kind of beauty in the way he shoots without moving a step. Even the trajectory of the flying arrows is beautiful, and he doesn’t miss a single shot. Tegue continues to repeat the motion without taking a single step. Before we know it, only two are left standing. Their faces have turned pale as they look at their comrades writhing in pain from the arrows stuck in their arms. It must be a nightmare. Anyone would be terrified if their subordinates were rendered unable to fight in an instant, without even being able to get close.
“Here we go.”
One arrow released by Tegue hits the thigh of the man next to the guard captain. Unable to even cry out, the man falls to the ground. Only the guard captain remains. Tegue calmly nocks another arrow.
“Last one.” “W-wait! Wait! I was just following Lord Gyngus’s orders!” “That makes it even worse.”
The sound of the bowstring, ‘twang’, echoes. That arrow lands with a soft ‘thud’, hitting the guard captain’s thigh.
“Ow, aaaah!!”
Even the guard captain rolls on the floor from this merciless attack.
Superior scouting skills. The ability to erase his presence. Above all, the skill to handle a bow with 100% accuracy within his field of vision, and the composure to never miss.
Tegue, the 『Bow Saint』. This is the moment that shows why he’s called a saint.
Storing his bow away, Tegue turns to face us.
“Gungrave. The path is clear.” “Yeah, where was Gyngus’s office again?” “At the back of the third floor.” “And the stairs?” “At the end of the right corridor on the second floor.” “Got it. Let’s go.”
We ignore the soldiers crawling on the floor and head up to the second floor. As we walk down the corridor, we don’t pass a single maid. They’re probably holed up in rooms around here. They must have sensed the commotion outside and quickly taken shelter. We can ignore them for now. Our goal is to rescue Shuri. But before that, we need to nail down Gyngus. After causing such a commotion, there’s no way he won’t take action. There’s a possibility he’ll bring Shuri out as a hostage and keep him close, but that would be convenient for us. We even leaked the information that Shuri was being recruited by Nouviche, just to make sure he wouldn’t be harmed in the worst case. We’d be in trouble if they didn’t act.
“Gungrave”
Suddenly, a sword scabbard blocks my path. Kuuga had drawn his sword from his waist, scabbard and all, to stop me. And in front of us stands a sturdy man. A muscle-bound man about my height, holding a battle axe. This bald man in armor stands in our way.
“Kuuga.” “I know. That type is my prey.”
Kuuga, licking his lips like a writhing snake, puts his scabbard back on his waist and steps forward. Kuuga draws his sword from its scabbard. It’s just that simple action, but how can it be so graceful, beautiful, and divine? Damn, he’s gone far beyond me before I even noticed.
“Are you the strongest one here?” “That’s right. I’m the strongest in Lord Gyngus’s army.” “Oh? So you’re confident in your skills?” “Of course. Don’t lump me in with the trash from earlier. Now that I, Adra, have appeared, you’ll die here.” “’Capture’, not kill?” “After the disrespect you’ve shown? Don’t think you’ll get away with just losing an arm or two.” “Excellent.”
Kuuga takes his stance. It’s the stance of the Soft Sword technique. I’ve seen it on the battlefield before. It’s a unique stance where he floats his heels with his feet shoulder-width apart, slightly turns his left side forward, and tilts his sword as if aiming for the gaps in his opponent’s ribs. He says it allows him to both retreat and advance, and it’s suited for piercing the gaps in armor. Kuuga’s foot inches forward. The distance between them is about three meters. Normally, the big-bodied Adra with his battle axe would have the advantage in reach. He should have air superiority. However, Kuuga isn’t fazed by such a handicap at all. At least, he shows no sign of agitation. He maintains his dignified stance without wavering. It’s a kind of prayer stance. The ultimate form of a single-minded swordsman offering himself to the goddess of victory.
“I won’t kill you. But I’ll make you lose badly.” “Nonsense!!!”
Adra kicks off the ground and closes in on Kuuga. An agility unexpected from his large frame. He swings the battle axe raised above his head, putting that speed into the blow to crush and slash Kuuga. As this steel torrent becomes a waterfall of death, Kuuga takes a slight step to the left. He dodges by a hair’s breadth. The battle axe that smashes into the ground tears through the carpet, shatters the floor, and gets stuck. However, Adra is also a first-class warrior. When normally there would be an opening, he rotates his entire upper body by shifting his weight slightly with his right ankle. The battle axe bounces off the ground and changes direction. It aims for Kuuga’s flank at terrifying speed. But Kuuga is also a first-class swordsman. He vertically positions his sword to receive the battle axe. Normally, it would shatter even the sword and bisect Kuuga’s body. Kuuga knows this too. That’s why he can seamlessly execute his next action. He manipulates the vertically positioned sword, making the battle axe’s trajectory change direction as if sliding along the sword. The sword’s direction changes from vertical to horizontal above his head. During this time, the battle axe moves as if it had been tracing this path from the beginning, with absolutely no resistance. Thanks to this perfect parry, it only cuts through the air.
“Wha—” “Soft Sword Technique: ‘Willow Flow’.”
According to Kuuga, this world is filled with flows of power. The “Willow Flow” technique is about seeing through and manipulating these flows, these currents of power. Actually, I’ve experienced this technique myself, and it was incredible. The scene was as if the swung sword was avoiding Kuuga’s body of its own accord, the axe blade unable to even graze Kuuga’s body as it was deflected. Parry, parry, parry. Gradually, Kuuga switches from holding his sword with both hands to using just one hand, and continues to deflect. To those watching, it might seem ridiculous. A pretty boy a head shorter than his opponent is lightly deflecting the full-power attacks of this big man. Before we know it, Kuuga has even lowered the hand holding his sword.
“Y-you…!!”
Anger flashes across Adra’s face. Yes, Kuuga is… He’s deflecting the axe with his bare hands.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
Tegue next to me watches with sparkling eyes. Even Arius looks surprised. Lill is expressionless as always. I can never tell what she’s thinking.
“Is it? Anyone could do this with enough practice.”
Kuuga responds casually to Tegue’s words. This attitude further grates on Adra’s nerves. The speed of his axe swings increases, but Kuuga perfectly counters even this. What he’s doing, put into words, is simple. He’s just lightly tapping the axe’s blade or handle, or the arm or hand, to deflect its trajectory. Or he’s guiding it to the ground, or adding a touch to direct it upwards. But the level of what he’s doing is far more incredible. One wrong move and his head and body would say goodbye. It looks like he’s playing around while crossing the line between life and death. Yet he survives and doesn’t lose concentration. This technique with just his left hand. This is the true form of the Soft Sword Technique “Willow Flow”. The ultimate form of self-defense. The state of mastery Kuuga has reached seems to exist far beyond what I had imagined. That’s why he’s reliable. Even now, Kuuga never stops training. He continually hones his techniques, his body, his mind. That sword overwhelms others and slaughters all enemies before him to protect his comrades.
This is Kuuga, the 『Hundred-Man Slayer Sword King』, the man I rely on.
Gradually, fatigue appears on Adra’s face. Not just fatigue. It’s a face of humiliation and a breaking spirit. Looking closely, what Kuuga had been deflecting with his palm has become even more incredible. It’s his fingers. He’s deflecting with just his index and middle fingers of his left hand.
“Damn you!!!!”
With a last-ditch effort, the axe is swung down in a vertical chop. It’s an all-out attack that could be called the final blow. Kuuga raises his left hand. And he neither deflects nor parries.
A loud impact rings out.
It should have surely torn through flesh, crushed bone, and severed the arm. But Kuuga’s face shows nothing. No pain, no suffering. And his left hand… It wasn’t cut at all. The axe hits his arm and stops, unable to cut even a single layer of skin.
“Hard Sword Technique: ‘Negation Mass’. It’s a technique that instantly compresses and tightens the flesh to its limit, making it impenetrable to blades or arrows. Ideally, I’d be able to do it with my whole body, but for now, I can only manage my arm.” “No, being able to do it at all is abnormal.”
Ignoring my retort, Kuuga casually brushes off his arm. For a big man like Adra, it would be nothing, but Adra staggers and falls on his backside. The expression on his face is that of a child whose spirit has been crushed. The fact that even his absolute confidence in his strongest attack couldn’t inflict even a single wound has killed Adra. As a warrior, his confidence… Adra probably can’t fight anymore. A heart shattered so completely will never return to what it was.
“So, you’ll let us pass, right? You understand it’s pointless to continue, don’t you?”
Adra can only nod in response to Kuuga’s question. He’s realized that no matter how much he resists here, he can never match this man. In talent, in effort, he can’t reach Kuuga. He probably won’t be able to fight anymore. Poor guy. Until he met Kuuga, this man Adra was probably a good soldier whose confidence matched his ability. But because he encountered an absolute strength that can’t be overcome by talent or effort, Adra has been crushed.
“That’s what he says, Gungrave. Shall we go?” “Yeah, let’s.”
We pass by Adra and walk down the corridor. Even as we do, Adra doesn’t move at all. Well, I did see him hanging his head and crying, but… Well, it’s not our concern anymore.
“…”
As we progress down the corridor, Lill suddenly turns around. She’s looking at the corridor behind us, the path we’ve come through.
“What’s wrong, Lill?” “It would be troublesome if we’re interrupted here.”
Troublesome?
“Is someone coming?” “My ears can hear several footsteps from far away. But it’ll still take them a while to get here. They’re probably gathering more people.” “Lill, you could hear that?” “No.”
Lill shakes her head in denial.
“Lill just thought about what might happen next.” “Ah… I see.”
We’re about to confront Gyngus. And we’re doing it with hostility. At that time, it would be troublesome if guards or whoever else interfered.
“So, she’ll wall it off.”
Lill raises her foot and stomps hard on the corridor floor. Then, light from magic letters shines from her foot, spreading across the corridor. About three meters away from us, the corridor rises up, the ceiling also deforming. Finally, it completely blocks off the corridor. That twisted corridor has become so messed up that not even a single person could pass through.
“Now no one can get through.” “But how are we going to get back?” “According to the information, there’s a way back if we take a big detour from here. And with Lill here, we can fix this and pass through again, so it’s not a problem.”
Lill says this with an utterly nonchalant face. I whisper quietly to Arius.
“Could you do the same thing?” “I could if I tried, but not with Lill’s precision. It might end up more distorted, possibly leaving gaps big enough for people to pass through. More than that, it would consume a lot of magical power.”
In other words, it’s not something that can be easily done. Lill’s power to do this so effortlessly. There’s probably some trick to those shoes. And it’s clear that they’re a product of countless adjustments and research. But it’s not just that. Of course, our equipment is top-notch, but Lill’s own equipment is outstanding. The back of the white coat she’s wearing is covered in so many magic letters it would be foolish to try counting them, with effects including durability, blade resistance, pierce resistance, fire resistance, cold resistance, water resistance – a parade of defensive capabilities. Her clothes and pants have the same properties, and her shoes even have ground manipulation, weight reduction, and hardening capabilities. It makes you want to ask where these legendary equipments came from. All of these are created by Lill’s first-class developments. The same goes for Tegue’s bow.
Lill, the 『Genius Inventor』. She’s an indispensable existence in our group.
The five of us. Each with our own strengths, working together, we’ve proven we can even take down a castle. But we’re not enough on our own.
“Tegue. Where’s Gyngus’s office?” “At the end of this corridor.”
We five might be able to survive on the battlefield. But we’re hopeless when it comes to other things. Just us isn’t enough to function as a mercenary group. The behind-the-scenes support that strengthens our bonds and protects the circle of our mercenary group. The warmth that gives us joy in surviving. Teaching us the ordinary pleasure of being with comrades.
Shuri, you really are an indispensable existence for us.
That’s why we’re going to save you now. With that determination in my heart, I stand before the door at the end of the corridor. We haven’t taken much time to get here. It’s truly been a blitz operation.
“Let’s go.”
As if talking to myself, I open Gyngus’s door. Inside are Gyngus and the woman I’ve heard called Aeclys. I see, she really is dressed as a man. If I hadn’t been told, I might have seen her as an androgynous pretty boy. Gyngus looks surprised. So does Aeclys.
“Gungrave…!” “Hey there, Lord Gyngus. As your letter said, we’ve come.”
There’s no need to use polite language anymore. I speak casually.
“How did you get here… What happened to the guards!” “We mowed them all down to get here. It was easy, you know? We might as well have just walked through. Those soldiers you trained aren’t much, are they?”
Of course, this is half truth and half lie. It’s true it was easy, but that’s because I was with these guys. Naturally, I have no intention of telling him the whole truth. I speak the truth while deliberately leaving room for misinterpretation. This too is a negotiation tactic. Gyngus’s expression changes from anger to resignation.
“Elder Brother. It’s over now. I never thought they’d mow down so many soldiers and make it here.” “I guess so. Well then, shall we report the details to the lord? And I’ll have you tell the truth with your own mouth. I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on, and we have our own information. Lies won’t work, understand?” “…Father is probably being confined to his private room by my private soldiers right now. There’s nothing more to say. Kill me, expose me, do whatever you want.”
Gyngus draws a short sword from his waist and throws it in front of us. He has a good sword. It’s unadorned, but the sharpness of the blade is beautiful. Quite a masterpiece. And he throws it to us. …There’s no trap. Even when I signal Tegue with my eyes, he can’t detect any trap. This means there really is no trap here.
“A lord’s son confining the lord. Don’t you care about your life?”
Even if it’s family, the other party is the ruler of this domain. There’s no way confining such a person would go unpunished. Considering the previous incident, where he handed over a poisoned wine glass knowing the lord’s constitution, it’s clear he can’t escape the death penalty. It’s a thorny path with an extremely slim chance of grasping the future.
“Why were you so fixated on the lord’s position? If you think about it normally, you’d realize that if your brother handled internal affairs and you controlled the military, it would bring great benefits to this domain. If you were both aware of your strengths and weaknesses and supported each other, at least this situation wouldn’t have happened.”
Even as I say this, I think it’s almost impossible. Becoming a lord means gaining the power to control both civil officials and the military. If that happens, Gyngus, who controls and educates the military, becomes a “hired manager”. All his pride and passion would be no different from being “kept”. Above all, people have a desire to aim higher that they can’t discard. That’s especially true for nobles. They seek more wealth, more power, larger territories. I’m the same. I want to obtain a country. I’ve fought this far with that single-minded goal. There’s no way these words from someone like me would reach Gyngus.
Huh, to think I’d spout such lines.
Is this because I’ve been involved with Shuri? Maybe a bit of his kindness has rubbed off on me.
“You understand too, don’t you, Gungrave?”
Gyngus says with a smile. It’s a sneer, but directed at himself, not at me.
“In the end, I’m just a fool drunk on power. You’re the same, aren’t you? You want power. You want wealth. That’s why you lead a mercenary group, moving from battlefield to battlefield, spending your subordinates’ lives to earn money, right?”
I feel Arius’s aura change sharply. Damn, I wanted to get angry first. If I got angry first, I wouldn’t have to stay calm. If the boss gets angry along with his subordinates, the conversation won’t go anywhere.
“That’s right. I was just a greedy man. That’s all there is to say. Hurry up and kill me.” “I refuse.”
Gyngus looks at me with a puzzled expression. What?
“We came here without killing anyone to get Shuri back. I won’t kill you at the very end and ruin it all. I won’t kill you. I won’t kill your brother next to you. I won’t kill the lord, or the subordinates. That’s our resolve.” “Ha!! Are you trying to play the good guy now and avoid responsibility?!” “No. We’re not killing for Shuri’s sake.” “What…?” “It’s exactly what I said. If we made a bloody path to get here, we wouldn’t be able to face him. When he comes with us, we never leave a single drop of blood on the road. That’s all there is to it.” “There’s no way you can do that. Since when did the great Gungrave Mercenary Group start saying such soft things?” “Since we met him.”
Yes, because we met him, we’ve been able to come this far. Him, who never says he wants to go home in front of everyone. Him, who only sheds tears and shows homesickness when he’s sick in bed. Because we’ve bound him this far, this is all we can do. At least, we want to keep this promise.
“…Hah, then that’s fine.”
Gyngus draws a short dagger from his waist. I hadn’t been wary of it because it seemed like a ceremonial dagger, but why now?
“I’ll take care of my own end.”
With a swift motion, he puts the ceremonial dagger to his throat. He pulls it in one go.
“…!!”
Fresh blood scatters. It splatters on the floor. A red stain spreads.
Gyngus is surprised. He thought he had slit his own throat, but. At the last moment. Aeclys had intervened to stop him.
“…Elder Brother, why?”
Gyngus asks Aeclys, dazed, the ceremonial dagger fallen from his hand. She must have suffered a deep wound to her hand. A gash runs from her palm to her forearm, dripping blood. But Aeclys doesn’t cry out in pain or make a sound. She just looks straight at Gyngus.
“Trying to die, trying to kill yourself is such a stupid thing to do!”
Aeclys shouts.
“To begin with, it was wrong that Father tried to make me a man and fix things. If that accumulated dissatisfaction and anxiety was tormenting you, Gyngus. Then it’s Father’s and my fault. It’s not your responsibility. If Gyngus is to be executed… I’ll take the death penalty in your place.” “What?! That’s impossible!” “We can report this incident to Nouviche with me as the culprit and inform the people. As for Father, we can say he was threatened into doing it. It’s okay. No matter what happens. I will protect you.” “Why!” “Because I’m your brother… no,”
Aeclys smiles.
“Because I’m your big sister….”
At those words, Gyngus freezes. He freezes, unable to move. He just sheds tears.
“You idiot…”
Gyngus says this and throws the ceremonial dagger in front of me. Then he stands before me and says:
“Sir Gungrave. I humbly ask for your forgiveness for this disrespect. It’s clear that you can’t sheathe your spear. I understand. As an apology, please punish me with that ceremonial dagger. You can kill me or torture me, do as you please.” “You…”
I felt anger rising, a blue vein throbbing at my temple. Does this brat think he’ll be forgiven just because he suddenly took on a virtuous attitude?
“I know. This kind of apology is meaningless.” “If you know that, then why!”
Aeclys shouts from behind Gyngus.
“You can’t die! You still have to live! If you die, the military will run wild!” “Indeed. But I can’t think of any other solution.” “Don’t screw around with me.”
I suppress the urge to shout and squeeze out the words.
“I came here without killing anyone because I wanted to get Shuri back. I’m not going to kill you at the very end and ruin it all.” “Even so, there’s nothing else I can do anymore.” “Wait!”
Aeclys intervenes between me and Gyngus. Spreading her arms to protect Gyngus behind her, Aeclys looks straight into my eyes. There was the figure of an older sister trying to protect her only little brother.
“We will give Gyngus appropriate punishment. We’ll return Shuri too. We’ll give you reward money, goods, territory. If that’s not enough, we’ll even award you a medal. Please. Just don’t kill Gyngus.” “You were trying to run away with Shuri, weren’t you?”
Aeclys freezes at my words.
“Saying you didn’t want to be the heir and all that, you were trying to run away with Shuri, weren’t you?” “T-That’s…” “I can’t trust the words of someone like that.” “I-it’s true that I didn’t want to inherit the domain. I was working to be able to smoothly hand over everything to Gyngus.” “Elder Brother…?” “…It’s true, Gyngus. I never intended to become the heir. Even the food I was gathering, I was planning to distribute to the people when the time was right. If the lord’s family hoarded food, the backlash from the people would be terrifying. That’s why I was gathering it, to distribute the wealth.” “Then, what I was doing…” “No, whether it was a pose or for real, you had to take that attitude. Otherwise, you couldn’t maintain your faction, and it would cause distrust among your subordinates. It’s not meaningless.” “But” “What you did was out of genuine concern for this domain. I was just following up on your actions.” “Hey, don’t change the subject.”
I press the issue as the conversation was about to go off track. Aeclys, this one can’t be underestimated. We shouldn’t take lightly the ability of someone who has been handling internal affairs until now.
“What I want to say is, return Shuri to us. We’ve had this long, convoluted conversation, but that’s all we’re asking for. We’re not particularly seeking your apology. But if you’re going to apologize, pay with something tangible. Like territory, money, whatever. We’ve become criminals, been imprisoned, and had our comrade taken hostage. If you’re going to apologize, it should be commen—” “That won’t be necessary!!!”
At that moment. Suddenly, a voice rings out in the room. Literally rolling through the opened door, the one who appears before us is someone. Someone I’ve wanted to see. Someone we’ve been separated from for a long time, someone we’ve been thinking about how to save. Without him, we’d be in serious trouble. An important subordinate, comrade, and family.
Shuri Azuma appears before us.
“The fight is over!”
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Chapter 34
“So, have you thought of a plan?!”
“Not yet… but for now, I’ll deal with the problem right in front of us!”
It’s me, Shuri here.
To do what I can, I’ve escaped from the dungeon with Garn’s help.
The bright candlelight hurts my eyes, but I can’t worry about that now.
Currently, I’m running through the castle hallways.
My destination: the food storage.
The first thing I thought I needed to solve was alleviating the people’s dissatisfaction and weakening both factions.
From what I heard from Garn, this castle should have an excessive amount of food brought in.
I’ve heard it’s for the stockpiles of the First Prince and Second Prince factions. The fact that it’s not gold or jewels reminds me that we’re truly in a warring states period.
In such a situation, hoarding and monopolizing food is really terrible, I think.
“By the way, are we close to the food storage yet?”
“Yeah, there’s a warehouse just down these stairs…
Can you hold out?”
Actually, I’m at my limit.
We’ve finally reached the stairs to the warehouse, but I’m already at my physical limit.
I can’t afford to complain though.
We descend the stairs and open the bolted door, and I’m taken aback.
It’s a mess.
There’s no cold air for preservation, and food is piled up everywhere in this dusty, dirty basement.
The amount of food is ridiculous.
Potatoes, radishes, carrots, onions…
There are chunks of beef and whole pigs laid out.
However, there are a few items I don’t recognize.
“This bright red cabbage… is it called red cabbage?”
“That? It’s a specialty that grows around here.
Regular cabbage gets sweet when boiled, but that one gets spicy.”
Sp-spicy cabbage?
“What about this bright blue leek?”
It’s not green. Blue.
When I say blue vegetable, I don’t mean green.
It’s blue. Sky blue.
“Ah, that’s sky leek.
Sky leek has a refreshing sourness.
It’s mainly used as a garnish.”
G-garnish…
“What’s this weird, squishy thing?”
What could this pink, slimy substance in a bottle be?
“That? It’s not that unusual.
It’s a liquor drunk by lords, royalty, aristocrats… well, people of high status.”
“L-liquor?”
“Ah, you don’t know? It’s called slime liquor.
You cut out the roots of the slime tree, boil down the juice from those roots, and then age it.
It goes down smooth but it’s a strong, dry liquor.”
I’ve never heard of a slime tree…
Oh no, I didn’t expect to encounter such unique fantasy world ingredients here…! Until now, I had only dealt with ingredients I was familiar with, so I didn’t know. Well, maybe Gungrave just didn’t like these things?
Hm? Spicy?
“Is this red cabbage spicy?”
“Ah, the red cabbage? Yeah, it’s spicy. But it’s a refreshing kind of spicy.
Not the kind that makes you regret eating it.”
Spicy… cabbage.
Here we have whole pigs and whole cows.
Lots of vegetables too…
“Garn. All the ingredients here.
Who do they belong to?”
“What’s here includes reserves for the domain, as well as stockpiles for the First Prince and Second Prince factions.
Look, see how those shelves over there are divided?
That’s what that is.”
Hmm, indeed there are unnaturally partitioned food shelves.
This environment, this amount of food.
I pondered for a bit, but decided I had to be honest.
“I’ll be frank. These ingredients.
They won’t last three more days.”
“What? We’ve applied preservatives, you know. Rubbed them with salt and such.”
“The humidity, temperature, and dust are the problem.
How have you been handling the ingredients up until now? Were you just eating whatever looked like it wouldn’t keep, one after another?”
The moisture I’ve felt since entering this basement, caused by storing liquid dishes together with everything else.
The room that’s slightly warm from the underground heat.
The uncleaned environment.
It’s the perfect breeding ground for microorganisms and bacteria. It could rot at any moment.
Sure, rubbing them with salt will preserve them to some extent.
But there’s a limit, right?
This damp, lukewarm temperature. It’s only suitable for breeding bacteria…
“Change of plans.
Originally, I was thinking of borrowing a bit from the First Prince and Second Prince factions’ stockpiles.
But now we’ll use all of the two factions’ food and the reserves that are about to go bad.”
“Hey! What are you planning to do with all this food?!
And what are you going to make with so many ingredients?!”
“It’s obvious.
We have whole cows and pigs here, after all.”
“Ah, well… yeah, we do have whole animals.
Literally whole, with all the organs intact… What are you planning? If you butcher and process those, you’ll end up with a ton of meat.”
“What are you saying?
We’ll use the organs too.”
“What?!”
“Yes, the organs, the meat, the tendons.
We’ll use it all.”
Spicy red cabbage, sour sky leek.
Let’s make use of these and create…
A massive amount of hot pot!
“Are you guys ready?”
The five of us, captains of the Gungrave Mercenary Group, stand before the castle gates.
Each of us has already entered a battle-ready state.
Kuuga, Tegue, Arius, Lill.
Everyone already has the eyes of warriors on the battlefield.
We exchange glances and nod to each other.
“Let’s go.”
We stand before the gates.
“Sorry, we’ve been summoned by Lord Gyngus to enter the castle.
Here’s the letter of proof.”
I hand the letter to the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper looks at it, his face stiffens for a moment, and then he quickly gives orders to open the gate.
How obvious.
I think this without showing any sign on my face.
“This way.”
The gatekeeper indicates a side entrance next to the gate.
We pass through it and see…
Dozens of soldiers waiting with drawn swords in the castle courtyard.
“As expected. We’ve been set up.”
Kuuga grins, baring his teeth.
At that moment, a man approaches us.
“Excuse me, Sir Gungrave.”
A man wearing slightly grand armor addresses us.
“By Lord Gyngus’s orders, we are to detain you.”
“May I ask the reason?”
“There’s nothing in particular to say. If I must, it’s about the cook.”
Just as Kuuga said, it was as expected.
I take a step forward.
In any case, information is important.
“What are you talking about? I was just called here because there was something to discuss.
There’s no reason for such unfair treatment.”
I try asking while pretending not to know.
Behind me, Tegue looks like he wants to say something, but Arius stops him. This guy hasn’t realized we’re gathering information.
“Let me see Lord Gyngus. Where is he?”
“We have no intention of talking. Wait in the dungeon.”
“Is our cook in the dungeon?”
“Not in the same place.”
Hmm, so not in the general prison, huh?
“The general prison, is it?”
“Come quietly.”
“Let me talk to Lord Gyngus. Let me speak with him.”
“Be quiet. He’s busy.”
“I understand he’s working.
But this is important.”
“I told you to be quiet. If you understand, then…”
Alright, Gyngus is working.
In other words, we need to pay attention to where Gyngus goes for work. Tegue is investigating that.
“I can’t accept this as it is.
At least let me see our cook.”
“That’s enough talk.”
“Wait!”
“We’ll talk later. If you want to see the cook, behave yourself.”
…Looks like that’s all the information we can gather.
“…You guys. Information sharing.”
I whisper quietly to the others.
“Gyngus is in his office. Shuri is indeed in a special prison.
We’ve confirmed the locations of the general prison and the office. Recall the castle locations we haven’t confirmed.
Operation conditions: Do NOT kill any of the castle guards. Make it flashy but only ‘incapacitate’ them.
That’s all.”
“Roger,” “Understood,” “Got it,” “Okay.”
The guys behind me respond to my instructions.
Those responses aren’t the ones they use when interacting with Shuri.
It’s the voice they use when they sense a battlefield, a killing field.
Flat, emotionless voices.
Showing no mercy to the enemy before them.
“Arius. Show them one.”
“Understood.”
Arius steps forward in front of us.
“Wh-what are you planning to do?”
The man who had been negotiating with us shows a confused expression.
Of course he would. Suddenly, the targets they were trying to capture are showing signs of resistance.
But we have no intention of showing mercy either.
Arius draws two staves from her waist and raises them to the sky.
“My magic is a bit different, you know?
Spell release. ‘Control the air in this space.’“
As she chants those words, a torrent of magical power overflows from Arius’s body, dominating this area.
And then it happens.
The space in front of us warps slightly, enveloping the courtyard.
It engulfs the soldiers.
“Gah, kah!”
“I-I can’t breathe!”
“Agh!”
Suddenly, the soldiers claw at their mouths and throats, convulsing as if drowning.
Some desperately stand, while others crawl on the ground, moving their mouths wide.
However, the soldiers gradually lose consciousness.
I don’t know what she did, but…
“Don’t kill them.”
“Yes. I’m only making them faint.”
Arius judges the timing and waves her staff.
Among the soldiers who have mostly fainted, the few who managed to maintain consciousness open their eyes wide.
“Kahaa!!”
“I-I can breathe?”
“Hahyuu… haa…!”
However, the remaining soldiers look unwell. They certainly won’t be able to stand up and come at us right away.
“It’s better if you don’t push yourselves.”
Arius says, looking at the fallen soldiers.
Her eyes are cold, devoid of emotion.
Different from the looks she usually gives Shuri.
Yes, a gaze of contempt, as if looking at mere trash.
Eyes at absolute zero, as if saying the humans before her are an inferior species.
“I controlled the air in this area.
Did you know? Humans can’t live without breathing air. And within that air, various types of gases are mixed and present.
I was simply ‘distancing’ the necessary air from around you.
Right now, I can only manipulate an area this size, but eventually, I want to be able to control the air of an entire battlefield.”
I don’t understand it, but to the eyes of Arius who has grasped the “truth,” this world appears to be composed of many substances piled up, floating, and existing.
Among those, Arius realized that “humans live by breathing air.” It might seem obvious, but she grasps and controls all of that air.
This is Arius, the 『Witch of Truth.』
“Let’s go.”
Arius says, and we step into the castle.
We pass through the open doors and move forward.
“W-wait.”
Someone calls out from behind us.
It’s the guy who was spouting off to us earlier.
When I turn around, I see he’s still so exhausted he can’t even stand up.
Of course. He had his breathing stopped.
“Wh-what about your cook? Are you okay with what happens to him?”
“Huh?”
I put on a malicious smile.
“You guys really think you can do that?”
The man looked dumbfounded, unable to comprehend my words.
“The guys up top haven’t given you any information, have they?
Our cook, Shuri Azuma, is a man who received an engraved knife from the Nouviche royal family.
And he has skills so great that Princess Tevis herself tried to recruit him.
In fact, the food he makes has impressed and captivated the princess.
If you harm someone like that, Nouviche will surely fly into a rage.
Don’t you know about the tragedy of Arturia?
They’re under trade sanctions and facing food shortages after trying to recruit and insulting Shuri.
It’s a problem. Can you really do anything to him?”
The man looks surprised, hesitates, and then hangs his head in humiliation.
Of course they can’t.
They can’t touch Shuri when they can’t even handle one country.
I don’t like playing this information card, but…
Grasping and manipulating information, dominating the battlefield.
Once on the battlefield, cutting down enemies with that sword.
Capable of both scheming and combat.
That’s me, Gungrave, the 『Demon of Sword Schemes and Strategies.』
It’s pretty embarrassing to call myself that, though.
“Let’s go.”
I step into the castle.
The others follow.
“Time to take this castle.”
Now then, let’s make them pay for underestimating us.
“Listen up, you guards!!
If you lay a hand on Shuri, we’ll pay you back a hundredfold!
If you don’t want to die, give Shuri back right now!”
As we enter the entrance hall, guards come pouring out.
About twenty of them, I’d say.
Looks like they have no intention of giving in to threats.
The entrance hall has a central staircase leading up to corridors extending left and right on the second floor, with corridors continuing on the first floor beside the stairs. The floor is covered with red carpet, suggesting unexpected wealth.
The sight of guards emerging from the second floor and the depths of the first floor reminds me of ants coming out of their nest.
“Gungrave. Let me handle this.”
Tegue speaks up from behind, taking out a large number of arrows from the quiver on his back.
He takes out the bow attached to his waist and unfolds it.
This is a special longbow developed by Lill before.
It’s foldable, and when extended, it can shoot arrows hundreds of meters away.
Just touching the mechanism with one hand opens it, and the string is stretched to both ends simultaneously using magic engineering technology. I’ve heard that the string is made by crushing magic crystals into powder, which transforms into a thread-like form when activated.
The strength of the string is extraordinary, and at this stage, only Tegue can use this bow.
A plain blue bow.
That’s Tegue’s beloved weapon.
“A bow is useless at this distance! Everyone, attack at once!!”
Encouraged by the man wearing grand armor who I assume is the guard captain, the twenty guards all come rushing at us at once. It’s a flood of people. If we were to face them head-on, the five of us would be turned into mincemeat in an instant.
If we were to face them normally, that is.
“You’re stupid.”
Tegue nocks three arrows at once and fires.
The three arrows hit the sword-wielding hands of three guards with pinpoint accuracy.
“Gah!”
“Oww!”
“Ugh!”
The three guards drop their swords and crouch down.
But the remaining seventeen come charging in without concern.
Even seeing this, Tegue remains calm.
He nocks three more arrows and releases them.
They hit three more men. Again, right in the hands holding their swords.
Nock, release.
Nock, release.
Nock, release.
Like a precisely crafted doll, Tegue’s expression doesn’t change as he methodically fires arrows. There’s a kind of beauty in the way he shoots without moving a step.
Even the trajectory of the flying arrows is beautiful, and he doesn’t miss a single shot.
Tegue continues to repeat the motion without taking a single step.
Before we know it, only two are left standing.
Their faces have turned pale as they look at their comrades writhing in pain from the arrows stuck in their arms.
It must be a nightmare.
Anyone would be terrified if their subordinates were rendered unable to fight in an instant, without even being able to get close.
“Here we go.”
One arrow released by Tegue hits the thigh of the man next to the guard captain.
Unable to even cry out, the man falls to the ground.
Only the guard captain remains.
Tegue calmly nocks another arrow.
“Last one.”
“W-wait! Wait! I was just following Lord Gyngus’s orders!”
“That makes it even worse.”
The sound of the bowstring, ‘twang’, echoes.
That arrow lands with a soft ‘thud’, hitting the guard captain’s thigh.
“Ow, aaaah!!”
Even the guard captain rolls on the floor from this merciless attack.
Superior scouting skills. The ability to erase his presence.
Above all, the skill to handle a bow with 100% accuracy within his field of vision, and the composure to never miss.
Tegue, the 『Bow Saint』. This is the moment that shows why he’s called a saint.
Storing his bow away, Tegue turns to face us.
“Gungrave. The path is clear.”
“Yeah, where was Gyngus’s office again?”
“At the back of the third floor.”
“And the stairs?”
“At the end of the right corridor on the second floor.”
“Got it. Let’s go.”
We ignore the soldiers crawling on the floor and head up to the second floor.
As we walk down the corridor, we don’t pass a single maid.
They’re probably holed up in rooms around here. They must have sensed the commotion outside and quickly taken shelter.
We can ignore them for now. Our goal is to rescue Shuri.
But before that, we need to nail down Gyngus.
After causing such a commotion, there’s no way he won’t take action.
There’s a possibility he’ll bring Shuri out as a hostage and keep him close, but that would be convenient for us.
We even leaked the information that Shuri was being recruited by Nouviche, just to make sure he wouldn’t be harmed in the worst case.
We’d be in trouble if they didn’t act.
“Gungrave”
Suddenly, a sword scabbard blocks my path.
Kuuga had drawn his sword from his waist, scabbard and all, to stop me.
And in front of us stands a sturdy man.
A muscle-bound man about my height, holding a battle axe.
This bald man in armor stands in our way.
“Kuuga.”
“I know. That type is my prey.”
Kuuga, licking his lips like a writhing snake, puts his scabbard back on his waist and steps forward.
Kuuga draws his sword from its scabbard.
It’s just that simple action, but how can it be so graceful, beautiful, and divine?
Damn, he’s gone far beyond me before I even noticed.
“Are you the strongest one here?”
“That’s right. I’m the strongest in Lord Gyngus’s army.”
“Oh? So you’re confident in your skills?”
“Of course. Don’t lump me in with the trash from earlier.
Now that I, Adra, have appeared, you’ll die here.”
“’Capture’, not kill?”
“After the disrespect you’ve shown?
Don’t think you’ll get away with just losing an arm or two.”
“Excellent.”
Kuuga takes his stance.
It’s the stance of the Soft Sword technique. I’ve seen it on the battlefield before.
It’s a unique stance where he floats his heels with his feet shoulder-width apart, slightly turns his left side forward, and tilts his sword as if aiming for the gaps in his opponent’s ribs.
He says it allows him to both retreat and advance, and it’s suited for piercing the gaps in armor.
Kuuga’s foot inches forward.
The distance between them is about three meters. Normally, the big-bodied Adra with his battle axe would have the advantage in reach. He should have air superiority.
However, Kuuga isn’t fazed by such a handicap at all.
At least, he shows no sign of agitation.
He maintains his dignified stance without wavering.
It’s a kind of prayer stance.
The ultimate form of a single-minded swordsman offering himself to the goddess of victory.
“I won’t kill you. But I’ll make you lose badly.”
“Nonsense!!!”
Adra kicks off the ground and closes in on Kuuga.
An agility unexpected from his large frame.
He swings the battle axe raised above his head, putting that speed into the blow to crush and slash Kuuga.
As this steel torrent becomes a waterfall of death, Kuuga takes a slight step to the left.
He dodges by a hair’s breadth.
The battle axe that smashes into the ground tears through the carpet, shatters the floor, and gets stuck.
However, Adra is also a first-class warrior.
When normally there would be an opening, he rotates his entire upper body by shifting his weight slightly with his right ankle.
The battle axe bounces off the ground and changes direction.
It aims for Kuuga’s flank at terrifying speed.
But Kuuga is also a first-class swordsman.
He vertically positions his sword to receive the battle axe.
Normally, it would shatter even the sword and bisect Kuuga’s body.
Kuuga knows this too.
That’s why he can seamlessly execute his next action.
He manipulates the vertically positioned sword, making the battle axe’s trajectory change direction as if sliding along the sword.
The sword’s direction changes from vertical to horizontal above his head.
During this time, the battle axe moves as if it had been tracing this path from the beginning, with absolutely no resistance.
Thanks to this perfect parry, it only cuts through the air.
“Wha—”
“Soft Sword Technique: ‘Willow Flow’.”
According to Kuuga, this world is filled with flows of power.
The “Willow Flow” technique is about seeing through and manipulating these flows, these currents of power.
Actually, I’ve experienced this technique myself, and it was incredible.
The scene was as if the swung sword was avoiding Kuuga’s body of its own accord, the axe blade unable to even graze Kuuga’s body as it was deflected.
Parry, parry, parry.
Gradually, Kuuga switches from holding his sword with both hands to using just one hand, and continues to deflect.
To those watching, it might seem ridiculous.
A pretty boy a head shorter than his opponent is lightly deflecting the full-power attacks of this big man.
Before we know it, Kuuga has even lowered the hand holding his sword.
“Y-you…!!”
Anger flashes across Adra’s face.
Yes, Kuuga is…
He’s deflecting the axe with his bare hands.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
Tegue next to me watches with sparkling eyes. Even Arius looks surprised.
Lill is expressionless as always. I can never tell what she’s thinking.
“Is it? Anyone could do this with enough practice.”
Kuuga responds casually to Tegue’s words.
This attitude further grates on Adra’s nerves. The speed of his axe swings increases, but Kuuga perfectly counters even this.
What he’s doing, put into words, is simple.
He’s just lightly tapping the axe’s blade or handle, or the arm or hand, to deflect its trajectory. Or he’s guiding it to the ground, or adding a touch to direct it upwards.
But the level of what he’s doing is far more incredible.
One wrong move and his head and body would say goodbye. It looks like he’s playing around while crossing the line between life and death.
Yet he survives and doesn’t lose concentration.
This technique with just his left hand. This is the true form of the Soft Sword Technique “Willow Flow”.
The ultimate form of self-defense.
The state of mastery Kuuga has reached seems to exist far beyond what I had imagined.
That’s why he’s reliable.
Even now, Kuuga never stops training.
He continually hones his techniques, his body, his mind.
That sword overwhelms others and slaughters all enemies before him to protect his comrades.
This is Kuuga, the 『Hundred-Man Slayer Sword King』, the man I rely on.
Gradually, fatigue appears on Adra’s face.
Not just fatigue. It’s a face of humiliation and a breaking spirit.
Looking closely, what Kuuga had been deflecting with his palm has become even more incredible.
It’s his fingers. He’s deflecting with just his index and middle fingers of his left hand.
“Damn you!!!!”
With a last-ditch effort, the axe is swung down in a vertical chop.
It’s an all-out attack that could be called the final blow.
Kuuga raises his left hand.
And he neither deflects nor parries.
A loud impact rings out.
It should have surely torn through flesh, crushed bone, and severed the arm.
But Kuuga’s face shows nothing.
No pain, no suffering.
And his left hand…
It wasn’t cut at all.
The axe hits his arm and stops, unable to cut even a single layer of skin.
“Hard Sword Technique: ‘Negation Mass’.
It’s a technique that instantly compresses and tightens the flesh to its limit, making it impenetrable to blades or arrows.
Ideally, I’d be able to do it with my whole body, but for now, I can only manage my arm.”
“No, being able to do it at all is abnormal.”
Ignoring my retort, Kuuga casually brushes off his arm.
For a big man like Adra, it would be nothing, but Adra staggers and falls on his backside.
The expression on his face is that of a child whose spirit has been crushed.
The fact that even his absolute confidence in his strongest attack couldn’t inflict even a single wound has killed Adra.
As a warrior, his confidence…
Adra probably can’t fight anymore. A heart shattered so completely will never return to what it was.
“So, you’ll let us pass, right?
You understand it’s pointless to continue, don’t you?”
Adra can only nod in response to Kuuga’s question.
He’s realized that no matter how much he resists here, he can never match this man.
In talent, in effort, he can’t reach Kuuga.
He probably won’t be able to fight anymore.
Poor guy.
Until he met Kuuga, this man Adra was probably a good soldier whose confidence matched his ability.
But because he encountered an absolute strength that can’t be overcome by talent or effort, Adra has been crushed.
“That’s what he says, Gungrave.
Shall we go?”
“Yeah, let’s.”
We pass by Adra and walk down the corridor.
Even as we do, Adra doesn’t move at all.
Well, I did see him hanging his head and crying, but…
Well, it’s not our concern anymore.
“…”
As we progress down the corridor, Lill suddenly turns around.
She’s looking at the corridor behind us, the path we’ve come through.
“What’s wrong, Lill?”
“It would be troublesome if we’re interrupted here.”
Troublesome?
“Is someone coming?”
“My ears can hear several footsteps from far away. But it’ll still take them a while to get here.
They’re probably gathering more people.”
“Lill, you could hear that?”
“No.”
Lill shakes her head in denial.
“Lill just thought about what might happen next.”
“Ah… I see.”
We’re about to confront Gyngus. And we’re doing it with hostility.
At that time, it would be troublesome if guards or whoever else interfered.
“So, she’ll wall it off.”
Lill raises her foot and stomps hard on the corridor floor.
Then, light from magic letters shines from her foot, spreading across the corridor.
About three meters away from us, the corridor rises up, the ceiling also deforming.
Finally, it completely blocks off the corridor.
That twisted corridor has become so messed up that not even a single person could pass through.
“Now no one can get through.”
“But how are we going to get back?”
“According to the information, there’s a way back if we take a big detour from here. And with Lill here, we can fix this and pass through again, so it’s not a problem.”
Lill says this with an utterly nonchalant face.
I whisper quietly to Arius.
“Could you do the same thing?”
“I could if I tried, but not with Lill’s precision. It might end up more distorted, possibly leaving gaps big enough for people to pass through.
More than that, it would consume a lot of magical power.”
In other words, it’s not something that can be easily done.
Lill’s power to do this so effortlessly.
There’s probably some trick to those shoes. And it’s clear that they’re a product of countless adjustments and research.
But it’s not just that.
Of course, our equipment is top-notch, but Lill’s own equipment is outstanding.
The back of the white coat she’s wearing is covered in so many magic letters it would be foolish to try counting them, with effects including durability, blade resistance, pierce resistance, fire resistance, cold resistance, water resistance – a parade of defensive capabilities. Her clothes and pants have the same properties, and her shoes even have ground manipulation, weight reduction, and hardening capabilities. It makes you want to ask where these legendary equipments came from.
All of these are created by Lill’s first-class developments. The same goes for Tegue’s bow.
Lill, the 『Genius Inventor』. She’s an indispensable existence in our group.
The five of us. Each with our own strengths, working together, we’ve proven we can even take down a castle.
But we’re not enough on our own.
“Tegue. Where’s Gyngus’s office?”
“At the end of this corridor.”
We five might be able to survive on the battlefield.
But we’re hopeless when it comes to other things. Just us isn’t enough to function as a mercenary group.
The behind-the-scenes support that strengthens our bonds and protects the circle of our mercenary group.
The warmth that gives us joy in surviving.
Teaching us the ordinary pleasure of being with comrades.
Shuri, you really are an indispensable existence for us.
That’s why we’re going to save you now.
With that determination in my heart, I stand before the door at the end of the corridor.
We haven’t taken much time to get here. It’s truly been a blitz operation.
“Let’s go.”
As if talking to myself, I open Gyngus’s door.
Inside are Gyngus and the woman I’ve heard called Aeclys.
I see, she really is dressed as a man. If I hadn’t been told, I might have seen her as an androgynous pretty boy.
Gyngus looks surprised. So does Aeclys.
“Gungrave…!”
“Hey there, Lord Gyngus. As your letter said, we’ve come.”
There’s no need to use polite language anymore. I speak casually.
“How did you get here… What happened to the guards!”
“We mowed them all down to get here.
It was easy, you know? We might as well have just walked through.
Those soldiers you trained aren’t much, are they?”
Of course, this is half truth and half lie.
It’s true it was easy, but that’s because I was with these guys.
Naturally, I have no intention of telling him the whole truth.
I speak the truth while deliberately leaving room for misinterpretation.
This too is a negotiation tactic.
Gyngus’s expression changes from anger to resignation.
“Elder Brother. It’s over now.
I never thought they’d mow down so many soldiers and make it here.”
“I guess so.
Well then, shall we report the details to the lord?
And I’ll have you tell the truth with your own mouth.
I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on, and we have our own information.
Lies won’t work, understand?”
“…Father is probably being confined to his private room by my private soldiers right now.
There’s nothing more to say.
Kill me, expose me, do whatever you want.”
Gyngus draws a short sword from his waist and throws it in front of us.
He has a good sword. It’s unadorned, but the sharpness of the blade is beautiful. Quite a masterpiece.
And he throws it to us.
…There’s no trap. Even when I signal Tegue with my eyes, he can’t detect any trap.
This means there really is no trap here.
“A lord’s son confining the lord.
Don’t you care about your life?”
Even if it’s family, the other party is the ruler of this domain.
There’s no way confining such a person would go unpunished.
Considering the previous incident, where he handed over a poisoned wine glass knowing the lord’s constitution, it’s clear he can’t escape the death penalty.
It’s a thorny path with an extremely slim chance of grasping the future.
“Why were you so fixated on the lord’s position?
If you think about it normally, you’d realize that if your brother handled internal affairs and you controlled the military, it would bring great benefits to this domain.
If you were both aware of your strengths and weaknesses and supported each other, at least this situation wouldn’t have happened.”
Even as I say this, I think it’s almost impossible.
Becoming a lord means gaining the power to control both civil officials and the military.
If that happens, Gyngus, who controls and educates the military, becomes a “hired manager”.
All his pride and passion would be no different from being “kept”.
Above all, people have a desire to aim higher that they can’t discard.
That’s especially true for nobles. They seek more wealth, more power, larger territories.
I’m the same. I want to obtain a country. I’ve fought this far with that single-minded goal.
There’s no way these words from someone like me would reach Gyngus.
Huh, to think I’d spout such lines.
Is this because I’ve been involved with Shuri?
Maybe a bit of his kindness has rubbed off on me.
“You understand too, don’t you, Gungrave?”
Gyngus says with a smile.
It’s a sneer, but directed at himself, not at me.
“In the end, I’m just a fool drunk on power.
You’re the same, aren’t you? You want power. You want wealth. That’s why you lead a mercenary group, moving from battlefield to battlefield, spending your subordinates’ lives to earn money, right?”
I feel Arius’s aura change sharply.
Damn, I wanted to get angry first.
If I got angry first, I wouldn’t have to stay calm.
If the boss gets angry along with his subordinates, the conversation won’t go anywhere.
“That’s right. I was just a greedy man.
That’s all there is to say. Hurry up and kill me.”
“I refuse.”
Gyngus looks at me with a puzzled expression. What?
“We came here without killing anyone to get Shuri back.
I won’t kill you at the very end and ruin it all. I won’t kill you. I won’t kill your brother next to you. I won’t kill the lord, or the subordinates.
That’s our resolve.”
“Ha!! Are you trying to play the good guy now and avoid responsibility?!”
“No.
We’re not killing for Shuri’s sake.”
“What…?”
“It’s exactly what I said. If we made a bloody path to get here, we wouldn’t be able to face him.
When he comes with us, we never leave a single drop of blood on the road.
That’s all there is to it.”
“There’s no way you can do that.
Since when did the great Gungrave Mercenary Group start saying such soft things?”
“Since we met him.”
Yes, because we met him, we’ve been able to come this far.
Him, who never says he wants to go home in front of everyone.
Him, who only sheds tears and shows homesickness when he’s sick in bed.
Because we’ve bound him this far, this is all we can do.
At least, we want to keep this promise.
“…Hah, then that’s fine.”
Gyngus draws a short dagger from his waist.
I hadn’t been wary of it because it seemed like a ceremonial dagger, but why now?
“I’ll take care of my own end.”
With a swift motion, he puts the ceremonial dagger to his throat.
He pulls it in one go.
“…!!”
Fresh blood scatters.
It splatters on the floor.
A red stain spreads.
Gyngus is surprised.
He thought he had slit his own throat, but.
At the last moment.
Aeclys had intervened to stop him.
“…Elder Brother, why?”
Gyngus asks Aeclys, dazed, the ceremonial dagger fallen from his hand.
She must have suffered a deep wound to her hand.
A gash runs from her palm to her forearm, dripping blood.
But Aeclys doesn’t cry out in pain or make a sound.
She just looks straight at Gyngus.
“Trying to die, trying to kill yourself is such a stupid thing to do!”
Aeclys shouts.
“To begin with, it was wrong that Father tried to make me a man and fix things.
If that accumulated dissatisfaction and anxiety was tormenting you, Gyngus.
Then it’s Father’s and my fault.
It’s not your responsibility.
If Gyngus is to be executed…
I’ll take the death penalty in your place.”
“What?! That’s impossible!”
“We can report this incident to Nouviche with me as the culprit and inform the people.
As for Father, we can say he was threatened into doing it.
It’s okay. No matter what happens.
I will protect you.”
“Why!”
“Because I’m your brother… no,”
Aeclys smiles.
“Because I’m your big sister….”
At those words, Gyngus freezes.
He freezes, unable to move.
He just sheds tears.
“You idiot…”
Gyngus says this and throws the ceremonial dagger in front of me.
Then he stands before me and says:
“Sir Gungrave. I humbly ask for your forgiveness for this disrespect.
It’s clear that you can’t sheathe your spear. I understand.
As an apology, please punish me with that ceremonial dagger.
You can kill me or torture me, do as you please.”
“You…”
I felt anger rising, a blue vein throbbing at my temple.
Does this brat think he’ll be forgiven just because he suddenly took on a virtuous attitude?
“I know. This kind of apology is meaningless.”
“If you know that, then why!”
Aeclys shouts from behind Gyngus.
“You can’t die! You still have to live!
If you die, the military will run wild!”
“Indeed. But I can’t think of any other solution.”
“Don’t screw around with me.”
I suppress the urge to shout and squeeze out the words.
“I came here without killing anyone because I wanted to get Shuri back. I’m not going to kill you at the very end and ruin it all.”
“Even so, there’s nothing else I can do anymore.”
“Wait!”
Aeclys intervenes between me and Gyngus.
Spreading her arms to protect Gyngus behind her, Aeclys looks straight into my eyes.
There was the figure of an older sister trying to protect her only little brother.
“We will give Gyngus appropriate punishment. We’ll return Shuri too. We’ll give you reward money, goods, territory.
If that’s not enough, we’ll even award you a medal.
Please. Just don’t kill Gyngus.”
“You were trying to run away with Shuri, weren’t you?”
Aeclys freezes at my words.
“Saying you didn’t want to be the heir and all that, you were trying to run away with Shuri, weren’t you?”
“T-That’s…”
“I can’t trust the words of someone like that.”
“I-it’s true that I didn’t want to inherit the domain.
I was working to be able to smoothly hand over everything to Gyngus.”
“Elder Brother…?”
“…It’s true, Gyngus. I never intended to become the heir.
Even the food I was gathering, I was planning to distribute to the people when the time was right.
If the lord’s family hoarded food, the backlash from the people would be terrifying.
That’s why I was gathering it, to distribute the wealth.”
“Then, what I was doing…”
“No, whether it was a pose or for real, you had to take that attitude. Otherwise, you couldn’t maintain your faction, and it would cause distrust among your subordinates.
It’s not meaningless.”
“But”
“What you did was out of genuine concern for this domain. I was just following up on your actions.”
“Hey, don’t change the subject.”
I press the issue as the conversation was about to go off track.
Aeclys, this one can’t be underestimated.
We shouldn’t take lightly the ability of someone who has been handling internal affairs until now.
“What I want to say is, return Shuri to us.
We’ve had this long, convoluted conversation, but that’s all we’re asking for.
We’re not particularly seeking your apology.
But if you’re going to apologize, pay with something tangible.
Like territory, money, whatever.
We’ve become criminals, been imprisoned, and had our comrade taken hostage.
If you’re going to apologize, it should be commen—”
“That won’t be necessary!!!”
At that moment.
Suddenly, a voice rings out in the room.
Literally rolling through the opened door, the one who appears before us is someone.
Someone I’ve wanted to see.
Someone we’ve been separated from for a long time, someone we’ve been thinking about how to save.
Without him, we’d be in serious trouble.
An important subordinate, comrade, and family.
Shuri Azuma appears before us.
“The fight is over!”
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