Volume 2 - CH 39

Act 2-39: The Way of the Sword(Side: Signiel)

A jungle in the northernmost part of the Amelia kingdom! In the past, this place was under the governance of the beastfolk tribes, but the Amelia kingdom had snatched this land from them.

Most of the northern area ruled by the kingdom was covered by a sea of forests. This sea of trees could make anyone lose their sense of direction. Moreover, various poisonous trees or plants also grew here.

Even the great Glitnir empire had given up the notion of invading the Amelia kingdom from this forest. Anyone with normal common sense wouldn’t dare to step into this jungle since it was the place of certain death.

As for why I, Signiel, am wandering around this jungle, it’s simply because I’ve left the empire army. I left a note on the way back to the Glitnir empire mentioning that I would be leaving. To be exact, I’ve cut off all relationships with them. In short, I’ve deserted.

I had lost in a fight against that black-haired swordsman. It was an utter, complete defeat. In fact, the impact wouldn’t have been this big had I lost by a narrow margin, like when I fought Arnold. But, that hadn’t been the case. My opponent had toyed around with me in that fight as if I were a child. That fight had made me realize that I was nothing more than a cocky thug, or a fallen mercenary to that black-haired swordsman.

”There is still a sky above the sky in this world. Therefore, you mustn’t neglect your daily workout in case you need to fight a strongman you might meet in the future.” My grandfather used to repeat this to me day after day since my childhood.

However, in his generation, or rather, up until a while ago, no one in the empire could beat me in a sword fight except for my grandfather. Thus, I had become cocky. I neglected my grandfather’s advice and even went against him by joining a trivial group called the six generals.

My reason was that I had gained everything I had to gain as a swordsman. Well, reality showed me that it was nothing more than a ridiculous hubris of mine. A frog in the well who doesn’t know the vastness of the world, that’s what I was. As a result, when I left the empire, my prided sword art had been treated like child’s play. At that moment, I had realized that I had forgotten the most important thing about being a swordsman.

「I can’t go back anymore.」

Such words escaped my mouth as I really felt that I had lost my place in my birthplace. Whenever I remember that, I feel like my heart is about to get crushed.

The current emperor of the empire, Amnes Zi Glitnir, is a cool-headed person. However, even as a joke, me deserting the army wouldn’t escape his eyes. Even I understand that my decision might lead to the fall of Gastrea’s house in the worst situation. I feel bad for placing such a huge problem on my grandfather and my family. But, if the current me, who has lost the most important thing about being a swordsman, returns to the empire, I’m sure that I won’t be able to grasp my sword again in my entire life. This is a premonition I’m getting.

Thus, I have to do this no matter what.

Suddenly, several black shadows rushed out from the gap between the trees.

『GUOOOOOOOOOOOO!!』

I looped off the head of a bear-like monster that swung its right arm from behind, then stabbed into the forehead of a giant monkey that jumped out from a branch above me with the returning blade.

At that moment, a dull pain ran through my left foot. When I looked down, I saw that a big snake had taken a bite off my left foot.

「Dammit!」

I stabbed my sword into the head of the snake and beheaded it. Then, I hurriedly pried off the bitten part with my knife and smeared the wound with some medicinal herb and a bit of liquor I had brought with me.

Such a failure! That was a poisonous snake. What a joke! Someone who brazenly claimed to be the strongest swordsman until a while ago will die because of such a ridiculous reason. Maybe, I’m nothing more than a third-class swordsman.

My vision started to fade, and my body sweated like a waterfall.

Paralysis poison, eh? I’m definitely going to become prey to a monster once I lose my consciousness. This place is different from the comfortable places I’ve been living in until now, after all.

Soon, my entire body got paralyzed. I looked up to the sky as I fell on my knees.

「Kuhaha…」

A parched laugh escaped my mouth. I, who had deserted the army as I couldn’t let go of my sword, would die alone in a place that no one knows about, eh.

「Well, it can’t be helped I guess.」

I had gotten conceited just because of a little bit of talent and had never faced my sword properly. By the time I realized this, it was too late. The path of the sword is a thorny, never-ending path of training and improving myself. I have yet to reach that level. And what made me realize this was the unsightly fight between me and that black-haired swordsman.

「But, no… I don’t want this kind of end. Sword God, please! Please give me one last chance!」

My consciousness disappeared the moment I raised my left hand.

◇◆◇◆◇◆

When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

I tried to raise my body, but it wouldn’t budge at all. When I tried to move my head—the only part of my body that could move right now—I saw the worried look of a silver-haired beastgirl.

「Ah, Dad, Mom, he woke up!」

The silver-haired beastgirl looked overjoyed when she saw me waking up. She left the room in a hurry as she called her parents.

A while later, a silver-haired beastwoman and a huge, blonde beastman with an unshaved beard entered the room.

「Are you an Amelian?」

""

The blonde, giant beastman asked me straight away. Upon a closer look, I realized that my limbs were bound by ropes on the bed. There was a chance that my answer could determine my life and death.

Anyhow, I felt like I had already lost my life when that snake bit me. Let’s struggle a bit more to survive this precarious situation.

「No, I’m from the empire.」

The silver-haired beastwoman twitched. That’s a natural reaction. The empire is well known for its invasions of other tribes after all. From her perspective, I’m the beastfolk-tribe’s enemy.

「What’s the reason you visited this land?」

The blonde, giant beastman asked me a troubling question.

「About that, I just somehow… ended up in this place.」

「Somehow?」

「Yeah, I deserted my birthplace and came here.」

The steep face of the silver-haired beastwoman and the blonde beastman loosened a little bit.

「Why are you escaping from your homeland?」

「It’s desertion. I feel disgusted by what I did until now.」

""

「Do you have proof of that?」

「Ain’t have anything to prove but my words though.」

「I see…」

The giant, blonde beastman touched his chin, but…

「Understood! Sorry for the trouble, but please leave this place as soon as your injury gets better.」

「Dear!」

The silver-haired beastwoman spoke with a rather impatient voice, but…

「It’s okay! This fella’s eyes aren’t rotten.」

After saying that, the blonde beastman left the room along with the silver-haired beastwoman.

◇◆◇◆◇◆

Two weeks have passed since then. They have released my bindings, but they still remind me to not leave my room except for when I need to go to the toilet. Most of my injuries have healed as well. I can finally move normally.

「And then, we’re going to go to meet Myu immediately.」

The girl, Mya, repeated this so many times while energetically jumping around.

It seems Mya and her younger sister had escaped their hometown when the Amelia kingdom soldiers had raided their hometown in the previous war. Although Mya was secured in time, her younger sister, Myu, had gotten caught by the kingdom army.

And then, they received news that Myu had been sold to a slave trader in one of the Amelia kingdom’s cities―Barse.

「Rather than that, you two managed to break out safely?」

I asked so while looking at the giant, blonde beastman, Gauss, and the silver-haired beastwoman, Ululu.

Apparently, the one who had raided their tribe was the army of a big-shot noble in the kingdom. Breaking through their encirclement wouldn’t have been a simple matter.

「Naturally, the ones who remained there were prepared to die. But then, we were saved by a certain person.」

Gauss replied with a distant look on his face as if he were recalling that day.

「A certain person?」

「Sorry, but I can’t tell you about his identity! What I can tell you is that he’s from the empire.」

Gauss was a tight-lipped man. Telling me that information was the most he could do. However, such a piece of information is trivial for me. I honestly don’t care about it.

「Is that the reason you saved me?」

「Yeah, at least, we know that not every human is evil. That war reminded us of that fact. Anyhow, the ones who got spared from that encirclement were the ugly betrayers of our tribe.」

It seems they got betrayed by their fellow tribesmen too.

「So, we told a human merchant that we’re willing to pay for Myu. She should be under the care of a slave trader in Barse city. We’re going over there to negotiate with him.」

「Acquaintance, the one who saved you guys?」

「To be exact, that person’s subordinate. In fact, he was the one who had provided us with this place.」

「I see…」

Only a small number of existences can break through the encirclement of the Amelia kingdom’s army. So maybe ―

Suddenly, the sound of incoming footsteps interrupted my train of thought. The next moment, the door was vigorously opened.

「The merchant has returned!」

A young beastman shouted.

「Really!」

Gauss sprinted out the moment he heard that news. Ululu, Mya, and I then followed him.

A sea of people were spread out before us, and in their middle was a man in his golden age, spotting a nice beard.

The man straightened himself.

「My deepest apologies!」

He said while bowing to the Gauss family.

「Myu has been bought eh…」

Gauss’s shoulder dropped. The color drained from Ululu’s face. Mya started to cry, knowing that she won’t be able to meet her younger sister now.

「Yes, it seems I was a step too late.」

「So, do you have any idea about the identity of the buyer?」

「About that! The slave-dealer showed a strangely strong rejection when I asked him about the identity of the buyer. Maybe, the other party forbid him to speak about their identity.」

「But you should at least know some information about them, right?」

The merchant shook his head.

「There is one thing I can tell. That slave trader is terrified of the buyer. So, the buyer might be some bigshot of the kingdom, royalty, or else… the Underworld King.」

It’s the worst. The buyer turned out to have an extremely troublesome identity. Moreover, it was impossible for the Gauss family to buy Myu back if the identity of the buyer was one of the first two.

「Understood. I’m going to look for them.」

Gauss stood and said that.

「Please cease that thought! You’re way too conspicuous. They’ll execute you if they capture you.」

The merchant chided Gauss with a calm expression.

「What should I do then!?」

Gauss asked back with an impatient look on his face.

「My subordinates are still investigating the identity of the one who bought the little miss. Please wait for a bit!」

The merchant persuaded Gauss in a calm voice.

「My… apologies! I’m just… shocked. And thank you very much for your help!」

Gauss bowed to the merchant. He gritted his teeth until he was bleeding to endure the frustration.

(Good grief! What in the hell I’m thinking about…)

I’m in the middle of desertion, and yet I can’t even do anything for them.

「I’ll look for Myu too. It’s much safer and easier in my case since I’m a human.」

「You are?」

The merchant looked at me as if he was trying to evaluate me.

「Name’s Sieg. Use me as you see fit until we find the girl.」

The merchant touched his chin and pondered the offer for a while.

「Understood. Please be my temporary bodyguard for now.」

In the end, he respectfully nodded.

「Roger!」

「Are you sure about this, Sieg? You’re a runaway, right?」

Gauss asked with an impatient expression.

「Yes! You saved my life back then. I’ll return this debt of gratitude with interest by returning your daughter. Ain’t gonna have any problem with it, I presume?」

Gauss looked even more frustrated, but he still bowed to me.

「Please, save my daughter!」

He squeezed his voice and made that request.

In this way I, Siegniel found a goal. At the same time, I also got sucked into the giant storm centred around a true Monster called Kai Heineman.

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Character design: One of the worst character designs in my opinion, Kyuubi and Fenrir. The former for her “Unbalanced Breast”, and the latter for his color.