Chapter 185 - Conspiracy (1)

In the northeastern border region of the Yulisia Principality, there was a village not recorded on any map. The Ilisial Gorge. It was a strange place built with planks stacked in a damp, moss-covered ravine where sunlight didn't reach.

It was a lawless zone where those unwelcome anywhere else gathered—murderers, vagrants, escaped convicts, smugglers, assassins, and the like. There were rules there, but no laws. And if one had power, they could ignore those rules as much as they liked without consequence.

A tall woman with her robe pulled low and crossed through the center of this area. For a woman to walk alone there without any escort was tantamount to suicide, but she paid no heed. When a human shin bone caught on her shoe, she simply kicked it away and continued on.

Such behavior was enough to draw the attention of the outlaws.

Someone whistled as they watched her pass along the dirty street.

Some stealthily followed her as if they had found prey. They seemed unaware of what happens to women who venture in alone.

"Hehe, hehe."

A toothless vagrant, grinning for some reason, followed her at a distance.

The woman stopped in front of a crumbling plank building and checked a note.

[The scholar has taken refuge with Huik of the Skull Nail.]

And on the building's planks was crudely written “Huik” in what might have been human or animal blood. Around it, human corpses were nailed to poles and displayed as if to welcome visitors. It seemed like a way to widely announce his occupation of the area.

"..."

The woman entered the collapsing plank house, hardly paying attention to the outlaws targeting her from behind.

Inside, a stench of mixed alcohol, sweat, and rotting food assaulted her.

A group of outlaws maintaining magic chains all turned at once at the uninvited intrusion.

Confirming the strange visitor was a woman, they began to snicker.

"Kuhehe."

"Well, well."

She walked to the center of the group and said, "I need to see the person in charge here."

One of the group said, "Hey, hey, this bitch says she needs to see our boss!"

"Kuhehe, boss? Who's responsible for us?"

Ignoring them, she unilaterally announced, "I need to see Robert Face, so call the person in charge immediately."

Her refined and calm voice was enough to stimulate the starved outlaws.

The outlaws slowly stood up from their seats, surrounding her and giggling.

Click.

The sound of a lock being fastened on the exit came from outside the building. And these men stood by the exit, blocking the escape route. As expected. The woman inwardly laughed. The reason she could enter their hideout so easily was because they had cleared the way to easily surround her themselves. No one would refuse prey that walked in on its own feet.

"Women who walk on two legs can't see the boss, you know."

Another from the group shouted, "You gotta walk on all fours!"

The woman approached a nearby thug as if she didn't want to waste time. Then she grabbed his face with her palm.

The man whose face was grabbed suddenly started screaming.

Soon after, smoke rose from his face along with the smell of burning flesh.

"Ugh, uwaagh. Aaaaargh!"

When the woman released her hand, he collapsed to the floor, his face burned to a corpse.

Then she spoke again in a calm and benevolent voice, "Call the person in charge."

Seeing the corpse, one of the outlaws immediately shouted, "Restrain that bitch!"

At that, hidden groups sprang out and threw glowing chains at her. Without giving her time to resist, five strands of chains flew at once, instantly restraining the woman.

The woman looked at the chains binding her body with a calm face.

It was clearly a synthetic ore with mana suppression effects. They seemed to believe they could subdue unpredictable beings like mages with this.

If mages could be neutralized by such toys, they wouldn't receive the precious treatment they do now.

She shook her head to remove her hood. This revealed lively dark red hair. She spoke with a slightly tired expression, "Until you call the person in charge... I'll burn you to death one by one."

***

Silveryn fanned her face in the room full of a burning smell. No one who witnessed Silveryn there survived. She felt conflicted about such garbage cleaning work, but she had no choice as she couldn't leave witnesses.

There was someone who seemed to be the group's leader in the inner space of the hut, but his upper body was already burned black, rendering the discovery meaningless.

She searched the corpse to extract a key and then entered the underground stairs.

In the underground prison below, naked women were imprisoned. Due to the light they encountered after a long time, they covered their eyes and curled up. Silveryn, showing no interest in them, walked to the iron bars where a middle-aged man with glasses was.

It was the escaped prisoner she was looking for, Robert Face.

He looked very tense, probably having heard all the commotion from upstairs.

"We meet... again."

He and Silveryn were already acquainted.

"If you had stayed quietly in the Principality, you would have lived more comfortably."

His appearance didn't look too good for someone who supposedly sought refuge voluntarily.

"I needed something more certain."

"So this is what you found after abandoning the Principality?"

"The Principality is a toothless wolf. Thanks to enjoying an era of peace, their treasury is about to burst, but all their weapons are rusted, and the heroes of the past are now all dead or old."

Robert Face was a scholar known for possessing particularly dangerous knowledge. The amount of knowledge accumulated through his scholarly passion and the long lifespan characteristic of high-level vampires was considerable. Officially, he was known as a prisoner, but in reality, he had entrusted himself to the Principality for his personal safety.

One day, he realized that the Principality could not guarantee his safety and left.

"So you judged this place to be safe?"

"If I roll around here, my whereabouts will be harder to track. I needed to disappear from the world."

"Seeing how I've tracked you this far, you don't seem to have a talent for hiding your tracks."

"...I haven't carried out everything as planned yet."

Silveryn snorted.

"What were you planning to do here?"

"...I was going to guide the leader here to where the magic sword, 'Egilion's Tongue,' is hidden."

The reason Robert Face was a dangerous entity was that he was not only a unique mineralogist but also the highest authority on magic swords. Beyond knowing about the Sword Master's magic swords, he also possessed information about dangerous, yet unknown magic swords.

"What were you going to do after guiding them there?"

"Those outlaws would have lost their lives in the dungeon, let alone getting the magic sword. My plan was to disappear from the world after that."

Silveryn was puzzled. With his knowledge of magic swords, many people would be after him, but he was a high-level vampire. He was a being far superior to humans in combat ability.

"You're meticulous, who exactly are you trying to run from? I thought you were used to dealing with magic sword collectors by now."

What could be cornering him to the extent that he would refuse even the Principality's protection?

"If I don't disappear, I'll face a fate more miserable than death."

Silveryn spoke with a slightly more serious expression, "Explain in detail."

"...It's because of the Screaming Sword. The Screaming Sword."

Silveryn held her breath for a moment. Hearing the name of a sword she had only read about in history books felt strange.

"Is it the magic sword I know? The one said to be forged with souls. I thought it disappeared decades ago."

"Everyone thinks so. That sword eventually ended up in the hands of the dwarf race, who have completely cut off interaction with humans."

All filthy things flow underground. Corpses, maggots, excrement, rainwater—they all wash away various filth and drag it underground. And human souls that have lost their bodies and become useless also sank underground.

And in the deep underground that no human had ever reached, known only to dwarves, there was said to be a black lake formed by the vengeful spirits of dead humans.

The Sword of Death, born from countless temperings in the black lake with soul steel by dwarves facing a time of war. It was called the Screaming Sword because the screams of souls were said to be heard every time it was swung. It was said that hundreds of dwarf blacksmiths were sacrificed until that sword was born.

"Are they trying to capture you to track down the whereabouts of the Screaming Sword?"

He bowed his head deeply and continued with difficulty, "No. That's wrong. I've long since revealed the whereabouts of the Screaming Sword."

"...What?"

His explanation was as follows.

One day, a mysterious woman inquired about the whereabouts of a magic sword called the “Screaming Sword”.

"...It seemed like I was enchanted. She suddenly appeared in my research lab one day and asked me about the location of that magic sword. When she appeared, all the light in the world disappeared. Oil lamps, chandeliers, all those lights were plunged into darkness. She didn't even threaten me. The moment I saw her, cold sweat flowed all over my body, and I trembled uncontrollably. It felt like my soul was sinking deep into the ground. My instincts remember. It clearly wasn't human. So I obediently told her the location."

"If not human, then what?"

"I don't know either. In over a hundred years of life, I had never experienced such a being. Perhaps, perhaps, I think it might be close to a dark mage. Still, I had something to believe in. After all, the Screaming Sword is hidden in the deepest and most strongly guarded place in the world. Even if someone managed to break through there, if they grasped that sword, they would transform into a cursed being, neither dead nor alive, like its previous owners. Even a vicious dark mage..."

"Then why are you running? They shouldn't have any business with you."

"Because I know the weakness of the Screaming Sword, and the existence of another magic sword that can oppose it. Those who covet magic swords have always been like this. Once they achieve their goal, they always come to kill me because I know more than necessary."

"That means..."

"...I heard intelligence from your Principality. The Screaming Sword was sealed in a place deeper than hell by the dwarves of the Cancello Mountains. It's the third most powerful among the dwarf kingdoms. But, but..."

He couldn't lift his head.

***

A foggy path.

I was walking on a foggy plain, as if heading towards the Thorn Garden dormitory.

A dreamy sensation, as if drugged. I was dreaming.

Where was I walking? I walked for a long time and stopped at a certain point.

Before my eyes stretched a black lake. The lake was calm without a single ripple, as if contained in a cup.

It was like that foul-smelling lake I encountered in Barbisia.

I crouched in front of that lake. Then I lowered my head to look into the water.

There was no way to see inside the blackened lake. Instead, I saw a figure reflected in the ripples.

The surface reflected someone other than myself. One arm was missing, and part of the face's flesh was rotten, showing a dark gray color.

It was closer to a corpse than a person.

Is this reflection my appearance? 

I moved my arm to pinch my face. The flesh felt normal, and both arms were intact. I looked down at the lake again. The man reflected there had different facial features from me. So it wasn't my appearance.

That figure reflected in the ripples moved its mouth as if saying something to me.

Who are you?

And everything visible before my eyes began to blur.

And the dream ended. As consciousness returned from shallow sleep, I slowly raised my eyelids.

How long had I been asleep in the infirmary? My eyes were dry, making my vision blurry, but I could tell it was late, with the sun already set.

After blinking a few more times, I vaguely saw a person's face in the darkness. Close enough that I could feel their breath.

Am I still dreaming...?

When I came to my senses, I realized the face right in front of my nose was... Luna's.

Meeting my gaze, she just blinked her cat-like eyes with a greatly flustered expression.

"Lu… na?"

"...!"