The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 23

The Lucky Letter Requires Discretion

The continent’s only Dragon Lair was filled with wondrous magical artifacts.

Among them were tools that revealed phenomena beyond curses or blessings.

“Hmm, so it took the form of a letter… Aha?”

Of course, Tia, with her millennia of accumulated knowledge, had already surpassed the capabilities of mere magical tools.

Tia began to decipher the flow of magic within the letter Rael had brought.

“Aaaagh…”

The magical tool was being used on Rael.

Rael was sitting in a place that resembled a dentist’s chair from his past life, having his blood drawn.

The crazy dragon wanted his blood to learn information, so he had no choice.

“Rael, this is definitely a curious item. I didn’t bother reading the one Reyna gave me. Where did you get it?”

“…It’s a letter that’s been circulating in the lower districts of the Imperial Capital since last night. I don’t know the source either.”

“Well, I think I understand the structure. It’s quite an interesting device.”

“Tia, could you stop drawing blood before you tell me? I’m starting to get a headache…”

“Your body is sturdy, you won’t die from this much… Alright.”

Swish-

Tia waved her hand, and the magical needle stuck in Rael’s arm melted away.

‘Does this crazy dragon think that as long as someone doesn’t die, it’s all the same?’

Rael felt a throbbing pain as he rose from the seat.

“…So, what exactly is that letter? You took my blood, so you should tell me properly.”

“I can sense a very faint magical energy from the letter. The fact that an elf wrote it and it has magical energy means… you can think of the letter itself as a kind of magic circle.”

“A magic circle?”

Aren’t magic circles supposed to use magic?

Why does it feel like magical energy?

“‘Magic circle’ is just an easy way for you to understand it. More accurately, it’s a device that calls upon ambient magical energy. At first, I thought there was some kind of spell involved, but it’s neither a spell nor a curse.”

Tia looked at the letter with curiosity.

What was contained in this letter was a technique from the Forbidden Alheim.

“This is a technique of the demons… It’s closer to a religious ceremony than a spell. A word you might understand is, hmm… You can understand it if I say it’s like a rite or ritual, right?”

“A rite or ritual…?”

“It’s a demon’s method, so there isn’t a word that perfectly fits in human language. Here, Rael. Look at this letter.”

Rael examined the letter Tia handed him.

The letter, forcibly broken down by the dragon’s magic, had transformed into a faint stream of magical energy.

“The content of this letter is actually a simplified formula for calling magical energy. It’s easy enough that someone without any abilities can write the letter and it will work, but the efficiency is just as bad.”

Indeed, the magical energy contained in the letter Tia showed him was very small.

It was easy to recognize because its form was revealed, but it was so faint that it felt like it would blow away with a puff of air.

“Then, what is the person who made this letter trying to do with such a small amount of magical energy?”

“I told you, it’s a ritual. The magical energy contained in one letter is small, but the moment these letters spread throughout the city by the thousands, or even tens of thousands… A ritual targeting the entire city is completed. It’s a clever method.”

“Is that even possible? Just because fragments of magical energy gather, it becomes a ritual.”

“Of course, there must be a mastermind to complete the formula. Rael, are you perhaps just physically strong and a little lacking in the head?”

“…”

Rael, who had the impressive academic background of a high school graduate, felt slightly offended by Tia’s words… but he didn’t bother to argue.

He didn’t have the confidence to win a battle of wits with Tia.

Rael opened his mouth again to change the subject.

“So, what is the purpose of the ritual?”

“Target tracking.”

“…Target tracking? No, they spread lucky letters throughout the capital just for that?”

“The amount of magical energy is sufficient, but the quality of the magical energy gathered by the simplified formula itself is poor. They can’t do anything too grand.”

Tia placed the letter on the table and sprinkled Rael’s blood, which was in a beaker.

As smoke rose with a hiss, Tia sent magical energy flowing again.

“What are you doing? Why are you pouring my blood into the magical energy?”

“You said you felt uneasy when you looked at the letter earlier.”

“Yes. I did.”

The moment he finished reading the letter, an unknown sense of unease enveloped Rael.

It was thanks to that feeling that he came to Tia.

“But I also read the letter, and I didn’t feel any unease. Even if your body and senses are dragon-level, I’m a real dragon, right? I felt something strange there.”

Swish-

The magical energy imbued with Tia’s power wriggled and floated in the air.

Soon after, something flowing out of the magical energy clung tightly to Rael’s blood.

Tia nodded, as she expected.

“Just in case, I compared your blood with the target of the tracking… and it matches exactly. The goal of this ritual is to find Rael, to find your existence.”

“…Me? They did this crazy thing just to find me?”

Rael frowned.

‘What the hell?’ He wondered if it was Ferma, but the magician wouldn’t use magical energy.

“It’s true that you’re the target, but it’s not just because of you.”

Clack-

Tia snapped her fingers, and a glass orb flew over.

It was a magical tool containing the ghastly energy of the Ghoul King.

“I said this is a demon’s method. Of course, they’re also tracking the ghastly energy.”

“Ghastly energy… Are they perhaps tracking the Ghoul King?”

“Yes. Actually, I expected the Ghoul King from the moment I knew it was a demon’s method… But why are they tracking you? Are you perhaps an enemy of the demons?”

Tia tilted her head, looking at Rael.

This human was quite fascinating, but even for demons, it would be difficult to recognize this human’s existence from the Forbidden Zone.

“…I have no idea either.”

Rael narrowed his brows and looked back at his past life.

He had recently crushed a demon’s familiar, but… that probably wasn’t it.

Even in the original novel, familiars were beings that died countless times.

‘Wait a minute…’

Suddenly, he remembered what happened at the Special Guard building.

Clearly, Yuri had also said she felt uneasy.

Rael told Tia about Yuri.

“Yuri? Ah, you’re talking about that princess?”

“Uh… Yes. That person.”

Rael was slightly taken aback by Tia’s sudden words.

He shouldn’t know that Yuri is a princess yet.

But it would be strange to explain the human situation in detail to a dragon… so he just nodded.

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a human filled to the brim with blessings to the limit of their body, so I remember her.”

“…To the limit?”

The fact that Yuri’s body was covered in blessings was something he heard from Reyna, but it seemed that it wasn’t just because she was royalty that she received so many blessings.

‘If I think about it… the Second Princess was supposed to seize the throne with overwhelming force.’

But the Yuri next to Rael right now was just a kind neighborhood girl.

It seemed that the Special Guard was hiding secrets one by one.

“Well, have you asked everything you’re curious about?”

“Yes. In the end, we need to find the mastermind to solve the case.”

He had to find and deal with the mastermind.

Then, no matter how many letters spread, the formula wouldn’t be completed.

“Yeah. Good luck.”

“…Aren’t you going to help?”

“I was asked not to go outside the Special Guard in exchange for being allowed to research the Ghoul King.”

“Without Tia’s help, the Ghoul King might be kidnapped, and the empire could be in danger.”

Rael stimulated Tia’s emotions with sad eyes.

But the dragon, who had lived for thousands of years, didn’t understand human emotions.

“Then you can tell the empire. If they can’t handle something like this, humans deserve to perish.”

“……”

‘What kind of heartless dragon is this?’

It seemed that he couldn’t expect any more help from Tia.

Rael stood up from his seat with a look of disappointment.

‘To Baggus… No, there’s no way the beggars can catch magical energy.’

He thought he was getting lucky thanks to the beggars lately, but it seemed like it was time to suffer again.

It was time for Rael to run on his own feet.

*

“…But do I really have to run on my own feet?”

Afternoon, with the hot sunlight scorching his entire body.

Rael sighed as he walked through the alleys of District 4.

Now that he was actually moving, it was both annoying and he didn’t know what to do.

He could see scattered letters everywhere in the alleyways.

Stupid humans were directly spreading magical energy throughout the capital.

“I told Yuri, so I guess I can just wait… but I feel uneasy for no reason.”

He told Tia’s words only to Yuri, as it would be best if the Second Princess quietly handled it with her power.

Yuri said she would report to her superiors as soon as she heard Rael’s story.

Rael would be able to get things done just by staying still, but he came out because he didn’t want to just sit still until then.

If it was a butterfly effect caused by him, he had to deal with it as soon as possible.

‘Lucky letter… Was there such an incident in the original story?’

Even when he retraced his memories, it didn’t appear in the original story.

It might have simply not been described, but the problem was that the lucky letter was tracking Rael.

‘Something related to me is definitely the problem… I can’t imagine where it went wrong again.’

In fact, the fact that Rael was involved in the incident meant that it was different from the original story.

It was clear that it was related to him, but he had no idea what caused this butterfly effect this time.

“Commander!”

“… Huh?”

At that time, as Rael was walking while contemplating, the man who was on the other side waved his hand.

Looking at his bearded face, it was Ren, the fruit vendor in District 4.

“What brings you here! Have an apple!”

“No, thanks. I was just taking a walk.”

“Ah, Commander Rael!?”

As Ren made a fuss, the people around him also approached Rael.

They were all faces he had seen somewhere before.

“It’s been a while! Brother Rael!”

“Take a lucky letter!”

In fact, Rael knew more people in District 4 than in Districts 2-3.

He naturally became familiar with them because he visited the orphanage every day.

“Commander! Let’s have a drink after a long time!”

“That’s right! Hey, get the drinks ready right away!”

“…I came here because I have work to do today, so let’s eat later.”

Rael greeted the people who had gathered and left the alley.

As the surroundings became quiet, Rael turned around and sighed.

‘I shouldn’t go to the orphanage for the time being after all.’

If you think about it, it’s an incredibly dangerous situation.

If there was someone who harbored hostility towards Rael, they could easily learn that Rael cherished the orphanage.

‘I should buy a lot of snacks today.’

The children would be sad if he told them he couldn’t come for a while.

He should also leave some imperial gold coins for Teacher Sara and Sister Reizel.

“Anyway, I came out for now… but there’s no answer like this.”

Rael recalled his original purpose.

He had to find the mastermind who spread the lucky letters.

But the only thing he learned while basking in the scorching sun was that the lucky letters were spreading at a very fast rate.

‘Should I go to the Order [referring to a religious order, likely the Order of the Saintess]?’

Rael basically distrusts the Order, but the only time the Order becomes trustworthy is when it comes to matters related to demons.

Besides, he’s also friends with the next Saintess, so it wouldn’t be bad to visit once.

Thud- Thud-

“…?”

At that time, Rael slightly raised his head when he saw the guard walking towards him from the front.

His face was somehow familiar, and he probably saw him at least once while going back and forth to the Special Guard.

‘Isn’t that an outer perimeter guard? Seeing him here.’

“Ah, Commander Rael. Greetings.”

“Yeah. Are you on patrol?”

Rael scanned the guard up and down and spoke to him.

“Yes. I’m on a regular patrol, but my colleague went to take care of some work for a while.”

He exchanged a few words with him because he had seen his face a few times in the outer perimeter guard.

Rael smiled and took out the letter he had received on the street earlier.

“Here, this. It’s a popular letter these days, so take one.”

“Ah… it’s okay. I’ve already written all seven.”

At the guard’s answer, Rael chuckled and patted the guy’s shoulder.

“Really? Now that I think about it, there’s something I wanted to ask.”

“Yes. What… Keheok!”

Thud-!

A fist filled with magical energy struck the guard’s solar plexus.

The guard, who had been suddenly attacked, staggered back in surprise, and Rael instantly drew his sword and pinned the guard against the wall.

Rael, who had a cold blade against his neck, glared at the guard.

“Keheok, keok… W-why are you suddenly doing this…”

Rael’s eyes sank coldly.

Sharp senses took in all the information about the other person.

His heart rate accelerated, his pupils trembled, and a drop of cold sweat flowed down his cheek.

Surprisingly, his reaction was the same as when they first met and when he held the sword to his neck.

The guy had been nervous since he met Rael.

“The outer perimeter guard has a rule of 2-man 1-team [two-man, one-team] no matter what. An idiot who wanders around alone during work hours is subject to disciplinary action.”

Swish-

Rael’s blade dug into the guard’s neck.

As red blood seeped out, the guard’s body trembled.

“Besides… what kind of bastard carries hundreds of these things around like a mailman?”

Crackle-

As he tore off the guard’s clothes with one hand, hundreds of lucky letters in his inner pocket fell to the ground.

After all, the old saying that you have to move first is not wrong.

Only Rael can catch such subtle magical energy.

“Guide me to your boss. If you don’t want to die.”

Rael said, looking straight into the guard’s eyes.

It’s time to work for the empire’s security after a long time.