Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 469

469.

‘Chris.’

A sigh of relief escaped me as soon as I checked his condition. Just like in the tent I visited earlier, everyone here was sitting quietly without any restraints. However, Chris was gagged, with his hands and feet tied. The fact that he was bound meant he hadn’t undergone the gemcrafting yet. As I approached, he reacted immediately, unlike the others. Sensing my presence, he looked up and gasped when he recognized me.

“Hello, Chris? You look terrible.”

“Ugh, mmmph! Mmmph!”

“I know, just wait a moment.”

I shattered the lock on the iron bars in one swift motion and went inside, removing the gag from his mouth. Chris, gasping for air, stared at me with disbelief.

“You, you, what happened?”

“I came to rescue you, of course.”

“No, not that! How are you wandering around here? Weren’t you captured back then?”

“What do you think?”

Chris pursed his lips at my smiling retort. He must have felt ashamed to think he could have avoided capture in that situation.

“I’m really sorry. If I had been more alert… I’m scared of ghosts, but I don’t usually lose my mind like that. I couldn’t calm down for some reason back then.”

“It’s partly because of the drug. I didn’t realize the hallucinogen was wearing off either. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

“But why are you only carrying a sword? What about your spirits?”

“I can’t summon spirits right now.”

“What? Then how did you even get here…?”

Chris couldn’t finish his sentence because I struck his chains with my sword, breaking them. He stared blankly at the severed chains before looking back at me. Instead of explaining, I held up my empty wrist, which had nothing on it. It seemed our time together hadn’t been in vain, as Chris immediately understood what it meant. He groaned softly, looking bewildered, but his expression became even more complicated.

“Is the weight amplification device usually this effective?”

“I’m surprised too. More importantly, can you stand up?”

“No, I was just about to say that. Just leave me here.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I can’t feel my legs right now. I think they’re broken.”

Unexpectedly, I quickly looked down at his legs. His pants were stained with blood. With a bad feeling, I rolled up his clothes and saw his upper body was covered in bruises.

“…What happened?”

“I woke up while being moved. I resisted and was subdued, and I think I got hit wrong in the process.”

I could guess what happened. They probably left his broken legs alone, planning to treat them after the gemcrafting. It was cruel of them to keep him shackled even in that state.

“He’s here!”

A loud voice echoed from the entrance. One of the soldiers had finally found me. As if on cue, I heard the sound of them rushing in from all directions. Chris looked at me with a hardened expression.

“Just go.”

“…If I was going to do that, I would have done it already.”

I wondered where Ciel was. I wanted to make a good first impression if possible, but it couldn’t be helped at this point. I sighed and stood up. As I walked out of the iron bars to face the approaching soldiers, Chris sent me an anxious look.

“Hey, you idiot, El! What are you trying to do? I’m telling you to run away!”

“I’m not going alone. I have to save the other three anyway.”

“You moron! Don’t do anything reckless! What are you going to do by yourself? You can’t even summon spirits right now! Are you going to get caught again after escaping?”

“Who says I’m going to get caught?”

I had already assessed the soldiers’ skills. I had been running away because it was the easiest option, not because it was the best. I knew what the best course of action was in this situation.

I readjusted my grip on the sword, but it felt different than usual. Come to think of it, I had taken this from another soldier. I was too distracted to stop by the armory. But it didn’t matter since I had a weapon.

“Just wait there quietly.”

“El!”

Ignoring his urgent cry, I immediately kicked off the ground and charged forward. I landed right in the middle of the soldiers. Had they thought I would just run away again? The soldiers who had been facing me were surprised by my sudden charge and couldn’t react immediately. It seemed they were always surprised every time I did the same thing, showing no improvement. They might have been caught off guard because they had only been keeping each other in check. The price for that would soon be paid in full. The gasps turned into screams in an instant.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaagh!”

Red blood splattered everywhere I stabbed and slashed. The approaching soldiers fell like dominoes. Some fell faster than they could even raise their swords. It didn’t take long for everyone surrounding me to collapse to the ground.

At some point, I couldn’t hear any more screams. Only after taking a breath did I realize there was nothing blocking my path. Those who hadn’t entered the entrance yet were hesitating with pale faces. They didn’t seem to want to attack, even though their comrades had all fallen. I tilted my head, signaling them to come in, and they made strange noises and retreated further.

I felt like the temperature around me had dropped. My cheek felt itchy, and when I wiped it with the back of my hand, it was covered in red blood. I clicked my tongue and shook it off, feeling a piercing gaze from behind. I turned around and saw Chris with a blank expression. He looked somewhat dazed. Feeling a bit awkward, I shrugged.

“These guys are weaker than I thought.”

And I think I’m stronger than I thought. I shouldn’t be saying this after coming all this way, but.

* * *

“Do you know how many vital points a human has?”

Trowel’s sparring sessions always included theoretical education. He favored quick swordsmanship that could take down enemies swiftly, and to do that, he used methods that delivered sure hits even with simple movements. He only aimed for parts that could be fatal even with a single strike.

This method was used in sparring as well, and he never held back. Frankly, it was called sparring, but it was like a life-or-death battle for me. He always attacked vital points in various ways during sparring, and after it was over, he would set up a wooden mannequin and instruct me to strike the same spots. If I couldn’t follow properly, the sparring would start all over again.

Thanks to that, I had a clear understanding of how many vital points a human had and how to target them. I also tried hard to use the same techniques during sparring. I had been praised for improving a lot lately. But I rarely succeeded properly. That wasn’t just a problem with my skills, but also because my opponent was too strong.

“It will be easier when dealing with humans.”

Trowel had said that too. He also added that I was at a level where I wouldn’t be easily defeated anywhere. He said that decisiveness would be a more important issue for me.

“Decisiveness?”

“Have you ever killed a person?”

“…….”

“No, to be exact, can you kill someone?”

I thought I knew what he was trying to say. After thinking for a moment, I slowly nodded. It was unsettling, but I could do it if necessary. But Trowel chuckled.

“Your swordsmanship doesn’t show that?”

“Really?”

“You have a habit of releasing your strength at the crucial moment. Your defense is fine, but when you attack. The moment you realize that this strike will be fatal, you unconsciously back off. This is a phenomenon that mainly appears in inexperienced kids who have never harbored murderous intent.”

I do that? I was embarrassed by the unexpected words. I had been aware of the problem of not being able to cut people for a long time. Rather, I was consciously trying not to cross the line. I thought that was how I could protect what I loved.

But if you ask me if I still do that now, honestly, that wasn’t the case. The line I had unilaterally set in my mind had already been crossed at the moment when I aggressively attacked Karyuan, the evil god. I was in a state of losing my mind with anger, but at that point, I could no longer be the same as before. If the same situation happened again, I was confident that I would do the same thing without hesitation. But was that not the case? I felt strange because my thoughts and actions were moving separately.

“A weapon is ultimately for killing. Most of the time you have to hold a sword is during wartime. There will also be times when attack is the best defense. At that time, whether you can kill your opponent or not will make a significant difference.”

Perhaps that’s why Trowel’s kind advice didn’t resonate with me. I unconsciously thought that it wasn’t the content I needed. Maybe Trowel wouldn’t agree with that thought if he saw me now.

‘See, Trowel.’

Thud, thud, I had been hearing regular sounds near my ear since a while ago. It was the sound of blood dripping from the tip of my sword onto the floor. I took a breath to calm my slightly rough breathing and slowly looked around. The air was filled with the stench of blood. There were corpses everywhere I looked. They were people who had been alive just a moment ago. But they would never open their eyes again. I was the one who made them that way.

‘I can do it.’

It’s not pleasant, but it’s not something I can’t do. It was exactly as I expected. No, in some ways, it felt even more indifferent. It was as if I had never hesitated to harm people. My mind was calm even with the corpses right in front of me. It seems Trowel is wrong sometimes.

“M-Monster…”

I heard someone muttering. I looked over and saw a soldier who was far away flinching and stepping back. He couldn’t come closer even though he was pointing his spear with trembling hands. It was understandable since the comrades who had approached me had fallen one after another. The others who were spreading out the encirclement next to him were all in a similar state. They all had expressions of being fed up.

But honestly, I was the one who was fed up. I understand that they have troops because of their dishonorable profession, but there were more soldiers than I thought. There were archers, spearmen, and even mages who had joined in since a while ago. At this point, it seemed like it could be considered a legion. Thanks to that, I had to fold up my expectations that the situation would be easier after breaking through to some extent. Rather, it seemed like the number of people gathering was increasing as I went on.

“El, it doesn’t seem like this will end like this. Leave me and go now.”

It wasn’t just me who felt that the situation was getting worse, I heard a voice urging me from behind. It was Chris, who I had just carried out because there was no way to move him. He was constantly fidgeting because he felt awkward being carried on my back, who was smaller than him.

“Just hold on tight. It’s already hard to balance while carrying someone bigger than me.”

“But… but this is too embarrassing.”

“Is this the time to worry about your pride? I’ll pass you on to other people even if you don’t want to when we meet them, so just bear with it until then.”

“Do you know where everyone else is?”

“I’m looking for them now.”

“You’re not thinking of going around and looking at them one by one, are you?”

Of course not. No matter how reckless I am, I wouldn’t waste time like that. The good thing about being outside is that I can move to where I want to go. For example, I can go directly to meet those who are too far away to call.

—Contractor of the King!

Just in time, translucent fairies flew in from the sky. They were natural sylphs [air spirits]. I greeted them happily and heard the news I had been waiting for.

—We found one of the humans you described. There’s a man in the third tent on the right who looks like what you said. He looks like he’s in his twenties, has light brown hair, and black eyes. And he was tied up in chains.

“Really?”

—Yes! We’ll keep looking for the others, okay?”

“Okay, leave it to us. You need to find two more people, right?”

“That’s right. I’m sorry for asking you for this favor even though we don’t have a contract.”

—It’s okay. This is so much fun.”

With a giggle, the sylphs flew away again. I’m glad I asked the spirits for help. I was worried that they might refuse because they weren’t the same attribute, but fortunately, the natural spirits were very happy just because I could communicate with them. Of course, the fact that I am the contractor of the Spirit King has the biggest impact on readily granting my request.

“It looks like Neb is over there.”

“What the heck did you do? You said you can’t summon spirits right now.”

“There’s a way.”

I vaguely answered and heard a sigh. “I don’t think I’ll be surprised even if you say you’re a dragon now.” His mumbling voice was filled with deep resignation. I just chuckled at the words that didn’t know anything.

“If I were a dragon, I would have teleported a long time ago.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

While we were having a dazed conversation, I rushed in the direction the sylph had told me. Those who blocked me were quickly defeated as they had been until now. Still, it wasn’t without reward that I rampaged, and the number of people who rashly attacked me had definitely decreased.

As I entered the tent, I saw a familiar structure. Among them, I found a welcome face in the prison at the very end. Neb, who was clinging to the bars, noticed us and widened his eyes, probably sensing the commotion outside.

“Neb!”

“El! Chris!”

I immediately broke the iron bars and cut the chains. Even after being released, Neb couldn’t hide his bewildered expression.

“Am I dreaming right now…?”

“It might be better if it was all a dream. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Oh, no.”

“That’s good. Then please take care of Chris.”

I handed him over, and Neb panicked and quickly supported him. His expression was serious as he quickly examined him, as if he had finally come to his senses.

“Chris, what happened? Where are you hurt?”

“His leg is broken.”

“Oh my god…”

In the meantime, the chasing soldiers rushed in. As I was about to go forward, a translucent barrier formed in front of me along with some mumbling. It seemed they had cast a defensive spell to prevent me from rushing in. Since they blocked the only entrance and put up a barrier, we were naturally trapped in the corner.