The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 8

The Traitor Elf

In truth, senses are as ambiguous a concept as the soul.

The well-known five senses merely receive external stimuli, but human senses clearly encompass something more.

Sometimes, you experience inexplicable sensations in life.

A sudden chill down your spine, a nagging feeling in your heart, or the sense that someone in front of you is lying.

You know something’s there, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is.

I slowly drew my sword, closing my eyes.

“… Hooo.”

Having lived an ordinary life in my previous existence, I quickly realized my senses were exceptional.

I could tell the orphanage food would taste bad today, and it was obvious the beggar in front of me was cursing me in his mind.

This made everyday life easier in general, but the biggest difference was when I held a sword.

‘It was fascinating when I first held a sword.’

My senses sharpen even more in actual combat.

I don’t even need to face an enemy.

The world changes just by holding a sword.

Swish-

The sword emerged from its scabbard.

It’s a pretty decent sword I received upon becoming the captain of the guard.

Carefully opening my eyes, I saw a different world than before.

Woooong-

The sword aura clinging to the blade contained a flash of sharpness.

A smile unconsciously crept onto my face at the sensation I hadn’t felt in a while.

Extending my foot diagonally, I brought the sword down from above.

The sharp sense of reading the sword’s path was still alive, and there was no hesitation in the blade.

Whoosh-

I raised the sword again and looked at the empty air.

As befitting a medieval fantasy, the sword was ridiculously heavy, but thanks to mana [magical energy], I didn’t have to do anything ugly like being dragged around by it.

‘Still, heavy is heavy.’

I swung the sword again under the hot sunlight.

I didn’t learn swordsmanship separately, so I don’t have a sword style.

I just imitated the movements of swordsmen I saw in real combat.

My strong and well-performing body perfectly realized my thoughts.

Quickly penetrate and slash the chest, then stab the sword into the solar plexus.

Lowering my body and retreating, then pushing the opponent away with a shoulder charge.

Bring the sword down as if to smash the head of the enemy whose posture has collapsed.

My body moved as I thought about how to efficiently cut down the opponent.

It’s not just wildly swinging your arms.

The legs, waist, back, and shoulders. The whole body naturally flowed with the movement.

How long had I been swinging the sword?

The sweat-soaked clothes stuck to my back, and my arms and legs trembled and throbbed.

‘I’ll get hurt if I move any more.’

The sharp senses also clearly know my body condition.

I shook off my disappointment and sheathed the sword.

To be honest, sword training is quite fun, even though it’s tough.

There’s an old saying that a genius can’t beat someone who works hard, and someone who works hard can’t beat someone who enjoys it.

‘What a load of crap.’

I realized the secret of that saying in this life.

In the first place, being able to enjoy work means you’re a genius at it.

If you learn one thing and understand two or three, how can you not enjoy it?

I was like that too.

I didn’t learn swordsmanship, but I became the captain of the guard with a sword I learned by observation.

“I just needed to enjoy sucking honey as the captain of the guard. Hooo. What a shitty life.”

I raised my arm and wiped the sweat that had flowed down to my eyelids.

I’m usually in this state when I hold a sword.

The sensitive senses consume a lot of mental and physical strength even if I don’t move my body much.

“That’s why it’s hard to hold a sword.”

I need to control this sense well, but I haven’t reached that level yet.

It would be helpful to meet a swordsman who relies on senses like me, but… I haven’t seen such a person yet.

“··· Hmm?”

I felt a gaze and turned my head.

Before I knew it, a fox had come up and was looking at me.

“What?”

Why is there a fox here?

Could it be a polymorphed dragon?

The thought of a dragon made my body stiffen.

Haaaack-! Haaaack-!

However, the fox approached with a gentle expression and began to hiss.

It was an animalistic behavior that anyone could see.

“No, why is a fox hissing…? Does it think it’s a cat?”

I can feel the fox looking at me clearly.

It’s cute, but doesn’t hissing mean it doesn’t like it?

“Ah, does it want to eat this?”

I rummaged through my pocket and took out some jerky.

It’s an essential item for the guard that I take out and eat whenever I’m bored.

Hack-! Haaaaack-!

The reaction is so hot that it seems like this was the purpose.

“Okay. Even animals have to eat to live. You’re having a hard time making a nest in a place like this. Tsk, tsk.”

Does this fox know that this place is the eye of the storm?

I’ll take you to the orphanage before the Demon King goes wild.

Hack- Haaack-

The fox rubbed its head against my leg as if agreeing with my words.

I tore off some jerky and threw it in front of my shoes.

The fox ran to the jerky with its eyes on fire.

Chomp chomp chomp-

“You eat well.”

The fox immediately buried its face on the floor and started eating the jerky.

At that rate, it seems to eat better than the puppy I raised in the orphanage.

‘The puppy was so cute too….’

I squatted down and stroked its head because I thought of him, and it didn’t resist, so it seems to have been touched by people to some extent.

It seemed to be lowering its head even more to make my hand comfortable.

I handed over the whole jerky because it was so cute.

“This is a really smart guy.”

“Vermeil III? Where are you? Vermeil II….”

At that time, a familiar voice was heard.

I was feeding jerky to the fox and raised my head, and I made eye contact with Reina, who was making her hands like a megaphone and looking around.

“Vermeil III…?”

She wriggled her lips as she looked at the fox (probably Vermeil III) eating jerky under my knees, then looked at me again and turned her body.

Seeing that, I called her name.

“Reina.”

“···.”

Tak-

Reina’s back stopped at my call.

Nominally, I was her older brother, so she was worried that I might order her to do something.

But I was a gentle man.

“You can call me comfortably when Gent isn’t around.”

“··· You’re not going to tell Gent, are you? Rael, older brother.”

“Don’t worry. No, I don’t want to hear that from an elf who is older than me in the first place.”

Reina in front of me looks like my age on the outside, but she is more than 100 years older than me.

To get out of the Elven forest, you have to complete the coming-of-age ceremony, and the standard for an Elven adult is 100 years old.

You have to think about my position of hearing the word older brother from an elder who is older than my grandfather in my previous life.

“Old! I’m only 150 years old, so I’m not 200 years old yet? If you count it as a human age, it’s about 15 years old.”

“··· What kind of new age bullshit is that? 150 years old is 150 years old.”

An old hag who has lived for over 100 years is insisting that she is 15 years old.

This is a really absurd race.

“Well, think what you want. Humans are short-lived, so the standards will be different from elves. More than that, it’s amazing? This child hates human touch. It took Yuri and Gent quite a while to become friends.”

Reina watched my mood, approached, and slowly stroked Vermeil III.

I thought it was a human touch, but it was an elf’s touch.

“Really? Such a docile fox?”

Looking at it eating jerky, it looks like a stray animal that eats anything well.

“It’s not a fox, it’s a spirit animal. The level of the soul is different. Ordinary humans would get goosebumps just by looking at it? In this child’s eyes, ordinary humans are no different from beasts.”

“Ah···.”

It’s that damn soul again.

I don’t know why I hear it so often these days.

If I had known it was this important, I would have done something about it sooner.

“You secretly broke the promise with Gent too. Vermeil III also likes you. Rael, you’re a kinder human than you look?”

Reina smiled brightly and praised me.

I didn’t do much, but she says I’m kind.

Is it because I didn’t call her older brother?

‘She’s more innocent than she looks.’

For reference, being innocent is not a compliment.

Living with innocence in this harsh world is just being crazy.

The same goes for non-human races.

I also had opportunities to interact with other races while working as an Imperial Guard, but they were all steeped in the human world.

‘Except for a few oddballs.’

However, there are occasionally other races who maintain such innocence.

Reina seems to have been out of the Elven forest for quite some time, but she still retained her innocence.

‘There is a reason for everything in the world.’

I learned something while surviving in a fantasy world.

You should be suspicious of anything suspicious.

There is only one reason why a different race is so innocent for their age.

‘…They’re fucking strong.’

Strong enough that no one dares to object to her words.

Even if she makes a stupid opinion that is too pure, they silence it with force if they oppose it.

That’s why she’s still maintaining that innocence.

Then her usual life of lying on a hammock all day makes sense.

‘The craziest guy is the scariest anywhere.’
Yuri is extremely sensible, and Gent is strong, but he’s not the type to suddenly punch someone.

But I have no idea how Reina will move.

‘Let’s keep our distance from the crazy elf.’

I thought so and subtly stepped back.

But Reina smiled brightly without knowing my feelings.

“It’s a good thing. I’m going to District 2 tomorrow, but I don’t know the way well, so I needed someone to go with me. Will you go with me?”

“···.”

Haaaack- Haaaack-

The fox hissed and poked my shoe with its paw.

It’s moving its whole body and using body language as if to repay me for giving it jerky.

It seems to mean what kind of mess do you want to see if you don’t go.

‘As expected, a spirit animal is a spirit animal.’

But I’m not an ordinary person either.

I said in a firm voice.

“Of course I have to help. I’m a kind person.”

“Really? You’re a kind human after all.”

“Um. Then. Of course.”

I nodded with a benevolent smile.

*

The next day.

I got permission to go out from Yuri and walked through the shopping district of District 2 from broad daylight.

“Hmm hmm-. Hmm hmm-.”

Clack. Clack.

Next to me was the crazy elf, Reina.

She was humming as she walked, wondering what was so exciting.

“What did you come here to do today?”

“I heard that a newly opened general store is having an opening sale [a promotional event].”

“···.”

You called me for that reason?

Could it be that you called me as a porter [someone who carries things]?

I continued with a sullen expression.

“Then, since I helped you, are you going to buy me food?”

“Huh? Why would I?”

“··· It’s nothing.”

As expected, common sense doesn’t work with this monster.

‘If you weren’t a close aide to the next emperor, I would have turned you upside down. You’re lucky, elf.’

It’s definitely not because I’m scared that you’re stronger than me.

I quietly followed Reina.

“It’s here. Let’s go in quickly. You might not be able to buy a lot if people gather!”

Her words were true.

There was a general store that was really having an opening sale.

I followed Reina inside.

She immediately went to the butcher shop and started glaring at the meat.

“Hmm… What should I buy today? Last time it was chicken, so….”

I spoke to Reina, who was muttering while staring at the meat.

“Are you buying it as fox food?”

“Not a fox, Vermeil III.”

Reina didn’t even look at me and put the meat in her shopping basket.

She was buying so much meat that I wondered if it was okay to buy that much.

“Okay. Is it Vermeil III’s food? That little guy would have enough to eat for the rest of his life at that rate.”

“No? It’s my food?”

“··· Is it okay for an elf to eat meat?”

“What do you mean?”

That’s what I want to ask.

You crazy elf.

“If you’re an elf, shouldn’t you be a vegetarian? You have to love nature.”

“We love the forest, not nature. So we have to eat meat, not plants. Are you stupid?”

“···.”

It’s unnecessarily persuasive, so I can’t refute it.

It’s funny for me to tell the elves of this world what to do, but… uh, isn’t it a little strange anyway?

“Human stereotypes are the problem. Of course, there are elves who are vegetarians, but there are also many elves who eat meat like me. About 5 out of 100 people?”

“If 95 percent are vegetarians, then you’re a weirdo…”

What kind of ignorant elf is this?

Elves were supposed to be more noble, beautiful, and dignified… This is just a pretty-faced thug.

Reina is destroying the world of elves that I knew.

“Northern wild boar. Hmm hmm. Northern wild boar is cheap and good.”

Whether she did or not, Reina filled her shopping basket with meat.

She was sweeping away so much meat from the butcher shop that the surrounding attention was focused on her.

“How do you eat meat? Don’t tell me you chew it raw?”

“The best way to eat meat is grilled.”

I tilted my head as I looked at the meat Reina was picking up.

“You’re going to grill it, but you’re buying the front leg of a northern wild boar?”

Wild boars are stupid animals that can only go straight, so their muscles are concentrated in their front legs.

In particular, the northern wild boar, which runs around the snowy mountains every day, is so tough that it is used as food for animals.

You’re the first person I’ve seen who buys it to grill.

“This is the cheapest. I don’t have money to buy expensive meat.”

Reina picked up the front leg of the northern wild boar even after hearing my words.

“···.”

My heart opened a little to Reina’s honest confession.

Such a realistic reason.

You’re having a harder time than you look.

‘If you think about it, you’ve always worn the same clothes until now.’

Even I, who came from the streets, had such memories.

It’s a tearful memory of buying the cheapest and hardest bread from a bakery and slowly melting it with saliva all day long.

That was the first time I ate tear-soaked bread since the army.

I patted Reina’s shoulder as she was picking out meat.

“Reina. Tell me anytime if you need my help.”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Somehow, my inner intimacy with Reina increased a little.