The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 42

Black Wizard

Step- Step-

‘It’s not easy to meet the Ghoul King for three days in a row.’

After finishing his duty of monitoring the Ghoul King.

Kent felt a headache as he walked out of the underground prison.

Even for Kent, a long-lived being, monitoring the Ghoul King for the share of both Yuri and Reina was mentally taxing.

“Give Reina her meal, water the garden, and then prune the plants, huh.”

Despite his exhaustion, Kent quickly walked towards the Special Guard building.

Reina wouldn’t have been able to eat during her 8-hour watch, so he was going to bring her the porridge he had prepared in advance.

After that, he had to tend to the nature he loved.

“···.”

What Kent saw when he returned to the Special Guard building was Rael touching the chest of a sleeping Reina.

Rael’s eyes widened as soon as he saw Kent, and Kent immediately picked up the huge planting trowel stuck in the garden.

It was a cool and quick decision befitting a giant.

“Rael, I never thought you were that kind of guy…”

“··· Kent, just listen to me.”

Rael flinched, looking at the planting trowel that was as big as himself.

If he didn’t explain himself right away, his head might be smashed, so Rael quickly spoke.

“I understand you suspecting me, but I really didn’t do anything. Reina just grabbed my hand and fell asleep.”

Rael earnestly appealed with innocent eyes.

If he had bad intentions, he could have done anything to the sleeping Reina.

But Rael didn’t do anything.

He was innocent.

“You’re saying you buried your hand in the chest of a sleeping Reina and didn’t do anything?”

Kent raised the planting trowel as if he had made up his mind.

He was going to hit first and listen to the explanation later.

“No, this crazy elf took my hand!”

Rael had no choice but to raise his arm.

As he raised his arm, Reina’s hand sleepily followed.

“··· Huh?”

Kent stared at Reina’s hand.

Even in her sleep, she was pulling Rael’s hand into her chest.

“I’m really innocent, Kent. I’ve lived a good life.”

Rael was right.

It wasn’t that he was touching Reina’s chest, but that Reina was pulling Rael’s hand.

Kent put the planting trowel back into the garden and bowed his head.

“It was true. I’m sorry, Rael.”

“··· Yeah. Just don’t pick up the shovel first next time.”

It wasn’t a pleasant experience to have a giant try to smash your head with a huge planting trowel.

“Umm. Ugh···.”

Even in the midst of all this, Reina kept pulling Rael’s hand, and Rael eventually left his hand in Reina’s chest.

He felt embarrassed for some reason, doing this in front of Kent.

“I’ve never seen Reina act like that before. Did she eat some thousand-year-old ginseng [a type of Korean ginseng believed to have potent medicinal properties] full of natural fragrance or something?”

“··· I’ve never even heard of that. Anyway, can you take care of this, Kent? I have things to do, but I can’t go.”

Rael had been held captive by Reina for over an hour.

His arm was starting to go numb, and he actually had things to do in the afternoon.

“Falling asleep while holding someone else’s hand is a characteristic of young children… I can’t understand why Reina is doing this. For the time being, I’ll put my hand in instead of yours.”

“···?”

Rael frowned, looking at Kent.

Was that the alternative he came up with?

“Kent, you trashy giant. Finally revealing your true colors.”

Rael covered Reina’s face with his remaining hand.

As he had seen at the festival, giants were originally a race that was true to their instincts.

He thought Kent was a little different from the others, but it seemed he had succumbed to his instincts after all.

“··· Rael, stop with the strange misunderstandings. Unlike humans, giants don’t get excited even when they see elves. You can think of it as similar to how you see Vermeil III.”

To Kent, elves were no different from beasts.

In fact, giants other than Kent tended to ignore all other races.

“There are quite a few humans in the world who get excited even when they see beasts. There’s a possibility that you’re one of those guys.”

“Are there such guys among humans···.”

Kent’s eyes trembled at Rael’s words.

He had learned one of the shortcomings of humans that he didn’t want to know.

His love for the human world diminished a little.

“Tsk. I’m just kidding, don’t be sad. Now, hold her hand for me. My arm is really going numb.”

“Okay. I promise I won’t do anything weird, so don’t worry.”

Kent reached out his hand in place of Rael’s.

He was looking at Reina like a beast, so he had no feelings about reaching out his hand.

Slap-

However, the moment Rael let go of her hand and Kent’s hand touched Reina.

Reina’s hand slapped the back of Kent’s hand and moved like a snake to grab Rael’s hand again.

“···.”

Kent, who stroked the back of his hand, stared intently at Reina.

It was just sleep-talking, but he felt strangely bad.

“Kent, don’t be too heartbroken. Beasts instinctively discriminate against people.”

Rael smiled with a sense of superiority.

On the streets, even these small things were a battle of pride.

“I’m not heartbroken at all. I’m just curious as to why Reina is doing this.”

Kent began to observe Reina, who was asleep while holding Rael’s hand.

Haa- Haa-

At that moment, Vermeil III approached, wagging its tail.

Vermeil III, a divine creature, licked the sleeping Reina’s cheek and stretched out its body as if satisfied.

“Doesn’t Reina’s face look more comfortable now that Vermeil III is here?”

Rael narrowed his brow as he looked at Reina’s face.

When Vermeil III licked her face, Reina’s face seemed to relax a little, though it was slight.

“Vermeil III is a divine creature that grows by eating demonic energy and ghoul energy. Is Reina’s condition related to demonic energy?”

“Demonic energy?”

Rael tilted his head and sharpened his senses.

If it was the demonic energy of a demon, there was no way he would have missed it.

‘··· What is this?’

Rael, who had heightened his senses, felt a strange magical power from inside Reina’s chest.

A magical power that was similar to demonic energy but different… a magical power that made him feel unpleasant just by touching it.

Why hadn’t he noticed this?

‘It was stained with Reina’s magical power.’

The unidentified magical power was integrated with Reina’s body.

That’s probably why he didn’t notice it right away.

“Kent, I feel a strange energy similar to demonic energy from Reina, do you know what it is?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t properly sense demonic energy on the Special Guard grounds.”

“Incompetent.”

“··· Rael, you’re the strange one.”

Rael had been like that from the start.

He adapted quickly to the Special Guard and had sharp senses.

Kent envied his senses.

“So, do I have to stay like this until Reina wakes up?”

“If the cause is demonic energy as you said… the solution is surprisingly simple.”

Kent turned his head and looked at Vermeil III.

Haa- Haa-

Vermeil III was just panting, unaware of what was about to happen to it.

*

“I almost dislocated my shoulder because of that crazy elf.”

Rael rotated his shoulder as he walked out of the Special Guard.

Kent’s hand had failed, but Vermeil III was quite effective.

Rael made Reina hug Vermeil III and escaped from the guard.

‘That unpleasant magical power… I should ask Tia about it later.’

Rael unintentionally got closer to Reina’s secret.

There was no point in asking Reina, as he wouldn’t get a good answer, so he was planning to ask Tia secretly.

Step- Step-

Rael walked along the iron fence.

This place was rarely visited by people, even in District 4.

In fact, it had been a while since Rael had been here, so he was looking for where the main gate was.

“Is that it?”

Rael, who found the main gate made of iron bars, walked towards it while looking around.

He felt a sense of gloom every time he came near this area.

‘I feel like there might be ghosts in this world.’

Rael walked towards the main gate of the Third Cemetery in District 4.

And he approached the man guarding the gate and waved his hand.

“Hey, Hamel. Anything new?”

“Rael?! What brings you here!”

Hamel is the caretaker of the Third Cemetery.

Of course, he’s only a caretaker in name, and he’s not really a great guy.

He can’t manage hundreds or thousands of graves by himself.

What he does is stand in front of the cemetery and check visitors.

“How’s work these days?”

“Yeah. I should be grateful that I can do even this kind of work.”

Rael smiled as he looked at Hamel, who had a cheerful face.

Hamel was one of the people Rael had personally placed there with the power of the guard captain.

Cemeteries, sewers, waste disposal, etc.

Most of the jobs that commoners shunned were done by people from the orphanage.

It was better to do even that kind of work than to become a beggar.

“I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“Rael, you’ve become famous for catching a demon. Is it true?”

“Don’t believe the rumors.”

Rael always played dumb whenever someone asked him about demons.

Rumors disappear if you do that.

“Well… I thought it didn’t make sense. What brings you here today?”

“I came to see someone I know. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Okay. Have a good time!”

Rael greeted Hamel and entered the cemetery.

In fact, he didn’t have anyone buried here that he knew, but there was something he needed to check separately.

‘Hmm….’

Rael looked around and slowly moved his steps.

Flower beds and fresh flowers beautifully decorated in front of the tombstones.

A few mourners and a statue of Lady Gaia.

Toys and clothes in front of a child’s grave.

The rattling smell of rusty iron fences.

The cemetery exuded a gloomy atmosphere today as well.

In the midst of all this, Rael smelled a strong earthy scent.

‘It’s already been robbed.’

The corpses that will be used in the black wizards’ rebellion tomorrow.

The guys steal most of the corpses from the cemetery, and it seems they’ve already taken them all.

‘They covered it up well, but… it won’t work on me, even if Hamel doesn’t notice.’

A faint lingering magical power and a strong earthy smell that was different from the surroundings.

The smell of soil from deep in the ground.

‘100 bodies…. No, it could be more than 1,000 bodies.’

There are several cemeteries for commoners.

Even if they only take the most recently buried corpses, there would be 1,000 bodies.

‘I’ve made some preparations… but will it be okay?’

The black wizards’ rebellion will eventually fail, but there will definitely be victims in the meantime.

Even though he had placed the Blue Magic Tower in the south, he didn’t know how much the damage would be reduced.

‘… I really wish I could get a little stronger.’

Rael grabbed the scabbard hanging on his waist as if he was disappointed.

Rael had already intervened in the flow of the world.

Now that he had done so, he knew that he himself had to become stronger.

‘I can’t even see where that old man, the Thousand Slaughter Sword Lord, has gone.’

But even when he tried to learn the sword, he couldn’t see the old man.

Appearing when he wasn’t needed and disappearing when he was needed, he was like Carlson.

‘… Come to think of it, Commander Rein was also at the orphanage, right?’

Suddenly, Commander Rein of the orphanage came to mind.

He had the image of an attention seeker, but in fact, Rein was also a great powerhouse.

Besides, he was from a fallen noble family and had received proper swordsmanship training.

It might be a good idea to ask him for guidance sometime.

*

Rein, who was at the orphanage, was faithfully carrying out the Grand Duke’s mission.

He patrolled around the orphanage, subtly checking the physical condition of the orphanage children.

‘Everyone’s normal…?’

It wasn’t that there weren’t any useful children, but there wasn’t a single child with as great a talent as Rael and Carlson.

He was amazed at where those monsters had come from.

“Spare a coin….”

Clink-

Rein threw a copper coin to a beggar near the orphanage.

It was just a feeling, but there seemed to be a lot of beggars near the orphanage.

“Commander Rein, you shouldn’t give too much money to the beggars. They keep coming to the orphanage.”

“··· Is that so? I understand.”

Rein looked down at Sarah, who was standing in front of him.

She was holding laundry in both hands, and it was a strange experience for Rein to have a commoner woman doing laundry speak to him first.

‘She definitely didn’t react like this on the first day….’

As Rael became close to him, a woman named Sarah also began to treat him kindly.

She seemed to have her own standards, unlike her appearance.

Step- Step-

“Oh my! Rael!”

Speak of the devil, and he appears.

“Hello, Teacher Sarah. Commander Rein.”

“··· Um, yeah.”

It was a little uncomfortable that the commoner’s name came out before his… but Rein nodded.

If he could become close to a talent like Rael, such rudeness was not a big problem.

‘Am I obsessing over trivial things…?’

He even wondered if he was strange since this was his first experience.

Rael’s orphanage was that amazing.

“Commander, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Please teach me the sword.”

“Huh?”

Rein blinked at the sudden words.

He looked at Rael and asked again.

“You want me to teach you the sword?”

“Yes, please.”

Rael bowed his head slightly.

It was nothing to Rael, a modern person, but bowing his head was a very effective way to ask for a favor in a medieval fantasy setting.

“Umm… there’s no need to go that far.”

“I know that the teachings of a Sword Master are heavy. Is there no way?”

“No, no, Rael. I’m not such a great guy. I haven’t even properly implemented my domain yet. I just wonder if you have anything to learn from me.”

The teachings of a Sword Master?

That’s not important.

As a knight, it’s not difficult for him to teach the sword to a man the Grand Duke likes.

‘But teaching a genius like Rael is difficult.’

What Rein was worried about was Rael’s genius.

It can be a hindrance to teach a genius who has already begun to bloom.

“It’s okay.”

Rael shook his head.

He knew that his basics were lacking.

It would definitely be helpful to learn from a Sword Master.

“Okay. Then, follow me to the backyard. There’s quite a large space behind the orphanage.”

“I understand.”

Rael and Rein headed to the backyard of the orphanage.

And 30 minutes later.

Rein faced Rael with a troubled face.

“Rael.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“··· I don’t know what to teach you.”

“Is that so?”

Rein’s eyebrows trembled.

As a knight, he couldn’t just stand by and watch Rael’s sword.

“Where did you learn such a baseless swordsmanship?! It’s a problem from beginning to end, so I don’t know what to teach you!”

Clang-!

Rein’s sword, filled with anger, struck the orphanage floor.

“There’s no such thing as wasting talent like this! I’m going to kill the guy who taught you swordsmanship! Bring him here right now!”

‘··· I’m self-taught.’

Rael quietly swallowed the next words.