Episode 23
After the bandit attack, the knights became even more silent.
From time to time, he glanced at me with complicated eyes.
I didn’t pay much attention to it because it wasn’t as disdainful as before.
“Walk quickly!”
Rather than talking to me, the knights shouted at the bandits who were tied to the carriage and dragged away.
It seemed like he was blaming himself for not being able to do anything when the bandits appeared.
He became a knight and was protected by his master, so in a way, there is nothing more humiliating than that.
But it won’t be anger about that.
‘To begin with, they don’t even think of me as their owner.’
They may simply be blaming themselves for being helpless.
Well, it’s not something I care about.
‘It felt good.’
Rather, I recalled the feeling I felt while dealing with bandits.
A sword that moves freely and a confrontation with the enemy.
The feeling that everything around you becomes clear and the enemy’s movements are clearly visible.
The more I thought about it, the more amazing it was.
Clearly, the bandit leader’s ax was fast.
It was a fast and powerful blow that even a knight could not avoid or block.
‘I saw it.’
The attack was visible.
The flow of mana contained in the sword was visible.
My body moved on its own, knowing where to avoid and how to swing, and I was able to understand the movements.
I wiped the blood off my sword.
No matter how fast I swung it, there was blood on it.
I checked to see if the blade was damaged.
I didn’t feel like this even when dealing with the Orc Warriors.
At that time, I struggled to survive, but now I move by my own will.
The feeling of swinging the sword still remains in my hand.
In the past, I only thought that Raymond had a talent for swordsmanship and was amazed that I could use it.
Now I like simply swinging the sword.
It was also fun to see the knights’ surprised expressions.
Above all, because we know well what the protagonist was like before and after he acquired Raymond’s swordsmanship talent.
I need to think about whether I should practice swordsmanship properly.
Rattling.
A day passed and we were able to arrive at a rather magnificent village.
A village almost the size of a small city.
Normally, ordinary villages build things like wooden fences, but the village in front had a stone wall built like you would see in a city.
A wall so high that it is reminiscent of a castle wall.
The size of the village was comparable to that of a city, but the reason it could not be promoted from a village to a city was that the village had very few residents.
A city basically needs more than a million residents.
But that village had only 100,000 residents.
Although there were many tourists, the lord who managed the place was stricter than expected when it came to accepting residents.
Well, putting everything else aside, there is only one reason why I know this place.
‘The first village attacked by the protagonist.’
In the original work, this is a village that the main character stopped by on his way to Count Warrug’s house.
At that time, they watched carefully and eventually committed massacre.
Among the tourists, there are many people who are not geniuses, but are quite talented, so it is a place that gave the main character great power.
Well, that also happened after killing Raymond.
This was something he did after acquiring the talent for swordsmanship from Raymond and gaining sufficient strength.
A lot of time still had to pass before that happened.
“There will be an inspection. “Could you please show me your ID?”
Unlike other villages where people are allowed in without verification of identity, this place is managed by guards.
The knights came forward and revealed that I was the son of Count Millennium.
Then the startled guards hurriedly stepped aside.
“I’m hungry. Do you know a good restaurant?”
“yes. There is a restaurant famous for roasting a whole pig. “It is said that people come from far away to eat that food.”
“okay? “Then let’s go there.”
“yes.”
I got off the carriage and headed to the restaurant with Ellis and a driver.
The other knight left the bandits to the guard and decided to stop by the stables to rest the horses and repair the carriage.
“There are quite a lot of people.”
“Please wait a moment and I will make room for you.”
“uh.”
Ellis headed to the restaurant and soon after, a restaurant employee came out and bitten the customer.
The guests complained and left.
When Ellis came back and went in, she spoke and we were able to go in comfortably.
“They say they will clean up the place immediately.”
“….”
I saw employees quickly organizing the interior.
Before that, the customers left the restaurant one by one.
When I saw one of them, I froze in place.
‘How…’
My heart was beating like crazy and my whole body was shaking as if I had been in ice water.
I was in a cold sweat and couldn’t think straight.
“young master…?”
I couldn’t answer Alice’s worried questions.
In front of me.
‘Why are you coming out here!’
Because there was a main character in the original work whose face was very distorted.
***
I felt like I had lost my mind.
Everything I had planned went wrong in an instant.
I shouldn’t have met the main character now.
At least we should have met when I had enough strength.
Can you win?
I examined the main character’s body thoroughly.
Fierce eyes and long scars on the cheeks.
He has a muscular body like a beast and an appearance that befits the call of a handsome man.
What was so irritating was that he was spewing out a deep, murderous spirit.
The sight was so brutal that it felt like I was standing in front of a predator.
‘The main character shouldn’t be here.’
If things had gone as planned, the protagonist should have almost arrived at the Millennium Count’s house by now.
This is the time when Selina, who has been confined to the countess, comes out.
Aiming for that moment, the protagonist made his move. To take away Selina’s talent at a time when the knights’ protection was less than usual.
The main character must have left as soon as the banquet started.
It should be normal by now to be in a village near Count Millennium.
Why are you here?
Where did it get twisted? The protagonist must know that Selina is in the Millennium Territory.
And you probably know that the banquet won’t last long.
That’s why they must have moved as quickly as possible.
‘It is different from the original content.’
I believed in the original work and tried to avoid him by going to the Academy.
What is it for?
What was keeping him here?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out what the reason was.
Because this didn’t appear in the original work.
Wait a minute, but I think I’m in danger.
“young master. “Why are you doing this?”
Ellis’ voice seemed to come from far away.
There was only one reason why the protagonist went to see Selina.
To have the talent of swordsmanship that she has.
Then, by chance, she gets into an argument with Raymond, and when she sees that his talent is superior to Selina’s, she kills him.
‘What the protagonist wants is the talent for swordsmanship. And I have that talent…’
My whole body stiffened.
I saw the main character’s eyes sparkle as he looked at me.
Seeing him approaching slowly, I took a step back without realizing it.
Even though I knew I had to be more confident at times like this, I couldn’t.
My life depends on it.
Will I really be able to defeat the main character?
impossible. He was like a yaksha who had already fought across the line of fire, and compared to him, I was no different from a baby.
Even the Orc Warrior I killed was like a meal to him.
From the moment he first gained his abilities, he was stronger than most knights.
In addition, the monsters’ talents, such as the troll’s regenerative ability, have now been taken away.
The probability that I could beat him was 0%.
Then the only conclusion is to run away.
Even that is difficult.
There was a huge difference in physical abilities.
It was the difference between an adult and a child in every way.
Even running away was impossible.
Puzzle.
I grabbed the handle of the sword. It’s been a long time since my hand, which I held so tightly that the blood stopped flowing, turned completely white.
The main character approaches.
He looked at me.
With an interesting look. I feel short of breath.
The interest in his eyes faded for a moment.
And he looked at me like he was looking at a toy that had lost its fun.
“What can you use something like that for?”
He muttered something softly as if he were complaining and walked past me and left the place.
The place where he disappeared.
Ellis helped me as I stumbled from my nervousness.
‘I lived.’
***
How many people can live with a tiger or shark right in front of them?
I could have survived with even slimmer odds than that.
The main character lost interest in me.
But it was a little strange.
Why did you leave me behind? According to the original work, it would have been normal to kill Raymond after seeing his talent.
what?
Has he already acquired a talent for swordsmanship?
“That can’t be possible.”
There was no one with as great a talent for swordsmanship as Selina or me.
If there was such a person, it would have been recorded in the original work and I would have remembered it in order to recruit him.
However, it could not be said that it was obtained from a monster.
I’ve never heard of a monster having a talent for swordsmanship before.
‘Why did they keep me alive?’
The talent I have is the talent of swordsmanship and…
Ah!
One thing came to mind. The message that appeared whenever I acted.
The message is clear. [
I said,
‘The nameless god’ is looking forward to your acting.]
He said he was looking forward to my acting. And he talked about talent and acting countless times.
If so, that means.
‘I have two talents. ‘It’s swordsmanship and acting, and of the two, acting is higher.’
Because his talent for acting is better than that of swordsmanship.
The protagonist did not see the swordsmanship talent hidden behind the acting.
Other than that, there was no way to explain why the main character ignored me.
Moreover, what he said.
‘Where can I use something like that?’
If I had seen his talent in swordsmanship, I would never have done that.
Because he saw acting, he only saw acting, so he treated me as a useless talent and ignored me.
“Huh…”
I was dazed.
What will become of all the hardships I have gone through so far?
The reason I ran so hard was to survive the main character.
But if the main character doesn’t kill me, is there any need to go through the trouble?
‘You must become stronger.’
there is.
The biggest reason.
At the end of the original story I saw, the main character tried to destroy the world.
Kingdoms collapsed at his hands and hundreds, if not tens of millions, of people died.
Among them was the Millennium family.
In the end, the main character will kill me.
I don’t know if the main character gives up trying to destroy the world, but the main character I know never gives up.
In the end, he will mess up the world.
‘I have to survive.’
I had to develop strength enough to stop the protagonist’s actions so that even the protagonist could not be touched.
“young master. “Try some of this.”
I looked down at the pork that Ellis handed me.
Delicious, juicy pork skewers.
Yes.
I chewed it and thought.
That I would survive.
Furthermore, I will stop the main character who poses a threat to my safety.
I must protect my own safety.