Swordmaster of the Great Wall

Erich followed Victor. Naturally, the place Victor led him to was not the manor.

At the quiet edge of the village along the mountain path's entrance—it was a gloomy place, as if something might leap out at any moment.

'The grand duchess surely knows that trying to kill me like this would be a waste of time.'

Although he did not let his guard down, Erich could be somewhat relieved. Any thugs who might ambush him in a place like this would merely be riffraff at best. The grand duchess, already knowing Erich's skills, would hardly waste effort pointlessly.

"You need not worry. This is a safe house that Steward Finn prepared in advance."

"I was not worried. So, what happened to Finn?"

"I don't know the details myself. But he said that if anything happens to him, I should bring Young Master here for safekeeping."

Victor was sweating profusely as he climbed the mountain path. When Erich glanced at the young attendant's face, for a moment, it overlapped with someone else's in his memory.

'... Victor, huh. Come to think of it, his face is familiar. Was he Krupp's attendant at this time?'

A faint smile formed on Erich's lips. He wondered whether this young attendant could know that someday he would leave this manor. For Erich, who already knew the Victor of the future, it was simply ironic.

"We're here, Young Master."

With those words, Victor opened the door to a shabby hut. Inside, Finn was there, his entire body wrapped in bandages. The old man's body, stained with blood in several places, made Erich instinctively close his eyes.

"Finn..."

"He hasn't regained consciousness yet. But according to the doctor, today is the critical point."

"... Where had Finn gone?"

"Steward Finn was... as I mentioned, although I don't know the details, it seems he was investigating something."

"He was investigating something?"

At Erich's words, Victor pointed at his own backpack. The old, ragged pack had visible marks from being slashed in several places.

"I thought it might be disrespectful to open it myself, and judged it too dangerous to take it back to the manor."

"Well done. Finn trusted you enough to entrust it."

"... He's like a father to me."

Victor's face was clouded with worry. Erich responded with a smile, then opened Finn's pack.

Inside were an old notebook and a small vial containing a suspicious liquid.

"I'll turn away while you look."

"It's fine. If Finn trusted you with this, there's a good reason. If anything comes to mind, you can tell me."

With that, Erich opened the notebook. It contained numerous notes written by Finn.

- July 14. Tracking the movements of Grand Duchess Katrin's subordinates. 'Knut Trading Company.' Supposedly arriving here in two days. Why did they, who haven't come to the south in decades, show up now?

- July 15. Ordered a longsword to be forged. Will pick it up from Blacksmith Tom on the 18th.

- July 16, morning. Acquired a small vial from one of Knut Trading Company's smaller warehouses.

- July.... The Knut Trading Company isn't just a merchant company. They...

But Finn had been unable to write further. On the last page, Finn's fresh blood had heavily soaked the paper.

"Did you find anything?"

"... Have you ever heard of the Knut Trading Company?"

"Yes, I have. They're a trading company from the north. They make seasonal trade runs and supply the manor with northern goods."

Holding the notebook, Erich fell into thought. The 'small vial' written here was probably this one.

Finn had been investigating something in his own way and seemed to have run afoul of the Knut Trading Company.

"I have to check out the Knut Trading Company. Do you know where they are?"

"They should be where they always set up. I can mark it on the map for you. But..."

"But isn't it too dangerous? After what happened to Finn?"

"... I'm not strong, but I could at least ask for help from the private soldiers at Steward Finn's estate, erstal. If you go with them..."

"Do you think the grand duchess wouldn't know if the estate's troops moved? That would actually be more dangerous. I accept your concern in spirit, Victor."

Erich slipped the bottle of suspicious liquid into his pocket. Then he spoke to Victor.

"Victor, stay here and help Finn. If you don't mobilize the soldiers as a group but quietly call one or two to guard this place, that should be fine."

"But... Steward Finn said that if anything happened to him, I must look after you, Young Master."

"Right now, this is what helps me."

With that, Erich finished speaking and left the hut. Behind him, Victor watched with anxious eyes. He looked back and forth worriedly between Erich, who was leaving, and Finn, who lay there.

***

Erich took out the map and made one last check for the Knut Trading Company's location. From the vast lands of Krupp, it would take half a day to reach where the Knut Trading Company was located.

'The tournament must be over by now; the grand duchess's men can move as they please. I need to move as fast as possible.'

Before long, distant lights came into Erich's view. The Knut Trading Company's encampment was quite heavily guarded. Understandably so—being a company traveling all the way from the north to the south, their guards were well equipped.

However, Erich's steps were unwavering as he approached. He closed his eyes for a moment.

― Wooong.

Erich's vision expanded, and the scene before him seemed to blur in an instant. Like an oil painting with some parts carelessly brushed over—within that vision, the positions of the guards and the brightly burning torches shimmered slowly.

Erich's eyes flickered in a vivid crimson hue. That gaze rapidly scanned the Knut Trading Company's camp.

"Hmm."

Erich quickly shut his eyes in discomfort, and when he opened them, there was no trace of the earlier crimson light.

'I still can't use it for long.'

The 'Eyes', symbol of a swordmaster and medium for handling aura, was a sort of sense. Fortunately, returning to the past, Erich hadn't lost that sense. But the proficiency remembered by the body and actual perception were two separate matters.

Erich's body was still too weak for him to fully wield the Eyes. Drawing upon its power, even briefly, was nothing short of a workaround.

'Still, this should be good enough.'

In that brief instant, Erich had memorized the layout of the Knut Trading Company's encampment.

With his goal fixed, Erich quickly descended the slope. He approached an area where there were no guards posted.

But.

"Hm?"

Erich made eye contact with someone already there. A mysterious figure dressed head-to-toe in black, wearing a mask, concealed himself behind the tent where a guard had collapsed.

"??"

The masked figure froze for a moment, staring blankly at Erich. Apparently, Erich hadn't noticed him earlier because the man had been hidden behind the tent.

But the tense moment didn't last long. Erich was the first to move, charging swiftly at the stranger. Erich's outstretched hand shaped like a knife aimed at the man's throat.

But then—

― Thud.

'... Blocked?'

Erich's attack was stopped by the assailant. To react at this speed—Erich realized this was no ordinary thug.

"Wa-wait!"

At that moment, the stranger yelled quickly, albeit in a low voice. The voice was strangely familiar, prompting Erich to halt his next attack. He had heard that voice frequently of late.

"... Milon??"

"Damn it!"

The stranger tore off his mask with irritation, revealing a stern knight's face underneath—it was Milon.

"You're not... one of them. What brings you here?"

"I'm certain you're also not one of them... So, what brings you here?"

The two men probed each other's intentions, until Erich chuckled.

"What? I'm not exactly doing this because I want to, you know."

"Incredible. To see a man who always talks about honor and chivalry struggle to cover that hulking figure with scraps of cloth—it just makes me laugh."

"Damn it. That's why I covered up."

"So, your famed honor can be covered whenever it's convenient, eh?"

"Care to have a round here, never mind the tournament?"

"Let's save that pleasure for later. For now, how about we honestly confess why we're here?"

Milon sighed, stuffed the mask away, and gestured for Erich to follow. The two slipped into a tent piled high with goods, hiding themselves. Erich was the first to speak.

"Finn was grievously wounded. Someone attacked him. And his investigations pointed to this place."

"Are you here for revenge?"

"Well... it would be nice to have some along the way, but first, I need to know what happened here."

"Looks like our reasons are similar. I have no idea why Steward Finn came here. I'm here on family business."

"Family business? By the order of the grand duchess?"

"No way. The Knut Trading Company is one of her underlings."

Milon paused thoughtfully, then continued.

"Do you know anything about my late father?"

"To some extent. Didn't he, by chance, die on the grand duke's orders?"

"That's right. But at the very least, as a knight, he died in a duel."

"In a duel...?"

"That's right. He was defeated, quite clearly."

Hearing Milon's words, Erich recalled what he had heard from the grand duke before. As far as he knew, Efron Roland's death had been a plot by the grand duchess. But now he heard the man had died in a duel? That contradicted what he had been told.

"So... are you here for revenge against the one who won the duel?"

"... Do I look like some common thug to you?"

Milon frowned at Erich's comment.

"Efron Roland, my father, was a remarkable knight among Krupp's best. He led the charge in many of Krupp's conquest wars—he beheaded so many knights you could fill a whole wagon with them."

"So, the idea that he lost that duel—you can't believe it?"

"At first, I thought nothing of it. But there were too many oddities, so I kept investigating his last movements. According to what I've discovered, father was in a very strange state just before the duel."

"What do you mean by a strange state?"

"Servants testified that he seemed powerless, almost unable to swing his sword. Another knight, who was a witness to the duel, said he lost as helplessly as a child. Doesn't that sound odd to you?"

"Hm..."

Though his objective was different, Milon had, through his own investigations, also ended up here. Given that the grand duchess was involved in his father's death, he was following the right trail. But what clue had led him here? Erich asked, hoping to unravel that mystery.

"It does sound strange now that I hear it. So, what exactly did you hope to do here? And why show up at this exact moment? It's too much of a coincidence."

"It's because the opponent my father fought is here. He's a renowned northern warrior attached to the Knut Trading Company. They hadn't appeared in the south all these years, but now, under the grand duchess's orders, they've come down. And for the record, I'm not here for revenge."

"Then why wear a mask?"

"This... well, you know. I'm a man of the grand duchess. But the Knut Trading Company is closely linked with her. I'd rather not stir up trouble with them."

Internally, Erich pondered Milon's words. There had been something odd about his father's death. Milon had tried to get to the bottom of it, but the clue—Knut Trading Company—had not come south until now.

It seemed Milon had wanted to visit the company but, unable to leave the estate, had been waiting for this moment. As Erich realized this, another thought occurred to him.

"... Do you have any suspicions? About what led to your father's death?"

"I have a theory. Maybe poison was used right before the duel. If that's the case, I'll stake my honor on revenge."

"Poison, huh... by the way—"

Erich said this while taking out the vial from his pocket. It was the suspicious liquid found in Finn's pack.

"Do you know what this is?"

"This...?"

Milon's eyes widened. Anyone could see it was a suspicious substance. If it wasn't poison, it certainly looked dangerous enough.

The two peered at each other. Erich smiled softly and said,

"Let's go find out."

"... Understood."

Erich and Milon left the tent, keeping undercover. Slowly, they headed for the center of the Knut Trading Company's encampment—to unravel their respective mysteries.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】