141_Keireki Era_Spring
Aldoharth’s Point of View
"The tenth one, huh."
I heard the sound of the last regular soldier falling.
The man, whose heart was split by my sword, lied as if in a peaceful slumber.
I could have spared him, let him escape.
But I couldn’t.
"Even if it's a form of mutual solace, forcing someone with similar wounds to deliver the coup de grâce is a cruel request.
For someone like me, who has to carry it out, it becomes an unbearable mix of envy and emptiness. It's truly heartless."
What use is there in speaking to the dead?
My homeland, in the East, was a place where war was a constant.
The embers of conflict, sparking and smoldering, would often flare into roaring flames.
It was during one of those 'often' moments that my family, my master, and even my lord were consumed.
Not all my acquaintances perished.
But many of those who survived lost their minds and could no longer understand me.
If someone had been skilled in killing at that time...
Ah, indeed, Zerogram.
I would have wished for it too.
How dare you make me remember that. How dare you force me to relive it.
… How dare you remind me of the powerlessness that prevented me from saving you.
I cannot be at peace unless I make someone atone for this suffering.
Hoisting his lifeless body onto my back, I begin to walk.
Suou’s Point of View
After slaying the tenth regular soldier, I became certain that the townsfolk had been evacuated by the mayor.
I’m glad I encountered him on my way here.
Once I explained the situation, he took action immediately.
Holding off the regular soldiers was honestly a life-or-death endeavor, but it was a task entrusted to me by my partner.
There was no way I could betray his request.
Our destination is the checkpoint leading to Izumist.
If they can escape near the checkpoint, the pursuers should hesitate to follow.
With my current abilities, I cannot contend with knights.
I’m sure my partner feels the same.
… But if we continue training together, we’ll eventually have the power to reach even their lives.
Aldoharth’s Point of View
"Your report, gentlemen. The situation?"
"They escaped, nearly all of them. From the direction, it seems they’re heading towards Izumist."
"Nearly all?"
"It seems a few were used as playthings by the regular soldiers."
"You didn’t stop them?"
"You must be joking."
One of the knights said this with a smirk.
I see—they took the lead themselves.
"Sir Aldoharth, what is 'that'?"
Another knight pointed curiously at the bundle wrapped in my cloak.
"This? Well… perhaps it’s a reminder. Or maybe, atonement."
"Atonement?"
I gently placed Zerogram’s corpse on the ground.
"It seems I must provide you all with another lesson, albeit in a different form."
"What do you mean by—"
"Reparation," I said, unsheathing my blade in one swift motion.
The knight I struck was a favorite of the Count and bore magic inscriptions to enhance his defenses.
However, the quality of such inscriptions depends on their cost.
Even as one of the Count’s favored knights, he wasn’t gifted anything extravagant.
Magic inscriptions of high caliber are like living entities, capable of sustaining and maintaining their magic continuously.
When inscribed for resilience, such inscriptions—if crafted skillfully—provide exceptional durability regardless of the bearer.
Inferior ones, however, consume ink each time they’re activated.
In other words, the 'resilience inscription' on him was of poor quality, requiring him to expend ink to activate and maintain its effect.
But he, being a man with only enough ink to barely qualify as a mage, could not sustain it.
After indulging in the townsfolk for 'entertainment,' he had little ink left, rendering the inscription ineffective. With one stroke, I severed his head.
"Sir Aldoharth, what are you doing?!"
The other knight, unlike the first, possessed the innate talent for magic.
He began preparing for battle by channeling ink into his staff, which served as his magic focus.
Magic is potent.
It was developed through research by our demonic ancestors to replicate the extraordinary abilities humans possess.
From my personal perspective, magic is harder to master than skills or techniques, but easier to wield once learned.
Depending on one's ink capacity and intellect, it can be used with surprising ease.
However, that’s merely the ability to 'use' it.
True mastery is another matter entirely.
Those who genuinely understand magic, unlike the average mage, require no incantations.
They can shape ink as they wish.
Magic is the art of manipulating power, something many fail to grasp.
That said, this knight lacks such talent as well.
He began chanting.
While incantations may not impede magic's use as a weapon, they highlight a lack of true understanding.
As expected, he lacks even the aptitude to wield it effectively as a weapon.
My tail struck his staff, disrupting the flow of ink.
The energy that had been forming through his chant dispersed, spilling his ink wastefully. He struggled to regain control to stabilize it.
At that moment, he should have discarded his staff and used the magic as a mere diversion, even with reduced potency.
He should have created distance from my blade.
But alas, I cannot leave him with such a lesson.
What do you think about this chapter?
