The Sword Master’s Son-in-Law

– The Worst First Impression

‘…More composed than I expected.’

I killed Haines.

Didn’t sever his neck completely, but he wouldn’t survive.

My first kill.

Contrary to my worries, my mind was calm.

Or rather, I became calmer after the kill.

“This is for Haines’ revenge!!!”

Before I could collect my thoughts, they rushed me one by one.

And I made them just like Haines.

Drawing a perfect line with each oncoming fool, I severed their necks.

I killed nine men, including Haines, that way.

“You dimwitted b*stards, rush him all at once!!”

A proper command from Bedi, given the situation.

He was right.

If they kept charging at me one by one like this, it would only benefit me.

Now, they surrounded me and charged at the same time.

Eleven souls.

“Die!!!”

“You son of a b*tch!!!”

“This is for the Forum!!!”

Each screamed their resentment, launching themselves at me.

Their assault left no opening.

I roused the mana sleeping within my dantian, channeling it into my blade.

A humming resonated from the steel.

“Huuuh! A Sword Expert!!!”

“Crazed…!”

They desperately tried to pull back, halting their attacks.

But it was too late.

A single sweep reaped the eleven charging men.

“Now… seven remain.”

A massacre unfolding in an instant.

No lingering stain of distaste tainted the killings.

But my heart grew heavy.

‘This doesn’t feel good.’

I’m clearly no demon of slaughter.

With that sinking feeling, I fixed my gaze on Bedy.

His face was etched with terror.

He was steadily backing away from me.

“Bedy!”

My shout seemed to snap him to attention.

He forced a strained smile.

Eyes brimming with fear.

“M-my apologies. I seem to have miscalculated.”

Gone was his swagger from moments before, replaced by a lamb meek and mild.

A truly pathetic man.

A man, in truth, should be like Ras…

“…I will kill you, no matter what.”

Burning with animosity even while knowing the gulf in power.

“Yes, yes! You said you needed money, didn’t you? I’ll give you money!”

Money… I had needed it.

No, needed.

Only to fund my journey south.

Having already arrived, money no longer held the same sway.

‘I can always sell mana stones if I require it.’

And perhaps, the thought of taking money stained by Bedy’s filth further repulsed me.

“I have no need.”

“Seems you don’t quite grasp the situation. I possess wealth. Wealth beyond your wildest imaginings. Yes, several times more than the worth of that magic stone.”

“I said, I don’t need it, do I?”

I shifted my stride towards Bedi.

Not simply walking, of course.

Cutting down any remaining foe along the path, one by one, as I approached.

Arriving before Bedi, only three souls remained in this place.

Bedi, me, and Ras.

“Bedi… this doesn’t seem to be the first time you’ve done something like this.”

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation when they lured me to this desolate mine.

In other words, they had perpetrated such a thing countless times.

A glance confirmed twenty-five corpses.

A scene that could only be described as a tragedy.

“Surely, one who commits such acts isn’t what you’d call a good guy.”

Objectively, subjectively, I wasn’t a good guy.

I picked pockets as a boy, and now, I’ve slaughtered over twenty people.

A good guy wouldn’t pick pockets just because he was young, nor would he have killed every single enemy like this.

Therefore, I wasn’t a good guy.

“Still, I don’t believe myself to be a bad guy either.”

Even when I stole, I only relieved thugs of their wallets.

These killings now were all self-defense.

‘Excessive self-defense, perhaps… but it’s better not to leave loose ends.’

“But you, you are a bad guy.”

Bedi could be definitively labeled as a bad guy.

How else would a man who seeks to kill others have earned his wealth?

He must have committed every vile act imaginable.

That was enough.

Enough to justify my killing Bedi and his crew.

“Please… spare me…”

“Stop that. I have no intention of sparing you.”

I raised my sword and sliced across Bedi’s neck.

Thus, Bedi died.

Leaving only one.

Ras.

Terrified, yet Ras did not cease sending hostile glares my way.

“…So, it was you who killed my brother.”

My overwhelming power misled Ras, leading him to a wrong conclusion.

I resolved to correct his misconception before killing him.

A final act of kindness before the end.

“I didn’t kill him. I, too, was saved at that time.”

“Saved?”

“Aye, the old coot saved my life.”

“Old coot, you say?”

“The Sword Saint… he’s your enemy.”

With his last breath, he revealed the identity of my nemesis.

Just as I thought the karmic threads of the past were finally severed.

A damned pebble came hurtling from the side.

Barely managed to knock it aside.

“Die, you!!!”

Ras, having drawn a dagger in that instant, charged.

My stance was too precarious to properly block.

Instead, I used the momentum of his attack against him, cleaving him as he lunged.

“Ugh… damn it…!”

“…so, you had a hidden card up your sleeve.”

Seems I let my guard down without realizing.

Though I never took my eyes off Ras.

I didn’t see him throw the pebble.

Nor did I sense any mana signature.

Which meant some other type of force propelled the stone.

The culprit was, of course, Ras.

“So this is… an Ability.”

Perhaps Ras’s Ability was something akin to telekinesis.

A power only capable of moving small pebbles, perhaps.

But it was enough to create a small opening for him.

I was still contemplating this new feeling—this “Ability”—when…

Clatter-clatter, clatter-clatter, clatter-clatter!

The ground trembled with the sound of many horses approaching.

The sound came from the direction where I’d parted ways with Bedi’s group.

“Who is it?”

The sound grew closer and closer.

I hurried to prepare for…guests, but then realized the state I was in.

“Bloody hell!”

Covered in blood.

I’d tried my best to avoid getting splattered…but Ras’s unexpected attack at the very end had showered me in gore.

“What to do?”

And, come to think of it, the situation was far from ideal.

From their perspective, I was a mass murderer, responsible for twenty-seven deaths.

The sound grew ever louder.

I considered fleeing, but quickly dismissed the thought.

“If I run, it’ll only invite unnecessary misunderstandings.”

And the possibility of *unnecessary* misunderstandings was very real.

It would have been simplest to just speak plainly, to tell the truth of how this all came to pass.

And so, I waited for the guest.

In the distance, a plume of dust heralded the approach of a group.

Knights.

I hastened to identify the family crest.

“Eh…?”

Unless my eyes deceived me, it was undeniably the crest of the Count Messiah.

*Why would the Count Messiah’s knights be here of all places?*

“Who are you!!!”

The lead knight leveled his blade at me.

“There… There’s been a misunderstanding.”

I lowered my sword to show I held no desire for battle.

“Please, hear me out.”

I was just about to explain the situation when…

A woman emerged from the rear.

An auburn-haired woman riding gracefully upon a white horse with a fine coat.

Her skin was pale and fair, contrasting with her red lips, and she had blue eyes.

Though her face was still youthful, she was beautiful.

The kind of beauty that would make anyone turn back for another look.

“Th-that… I…”

My mind went blank for a moment.

I’d never seen a woman this beautiful in all my life.

“How dare you direct such a common gaze toward the young lady’s face!”

Unconsciously, I’d become lost in admiration.

*Could that girl be the old man’s granddaughter?*

They didn’t look alike, but they shared the same blue eyes.

“Are you unable to lower your gaze, you fool!”

Startled by the knight’s bellow, I hurriedly turned my eyes to the ground.

But…

I saw it.

The old man’s granddaughter was staring at the unsheathed, pure white blade I had lowered.

And even the wavering in her eyes.

“That sword… Where did you get it?”

Her voice seemed to carry a faint hint of anger.

*

The Wartz Barony.

Inside the Baron’s office.

There, Asia was face to face with the Baron.

“So, you’re saying monsters have emerged from a nearby abandoned mine.”

“Yes, that is the case. It seems that the Baron’s forces are insufficient to eliminate them, so we requested assistance from the Count Messiah.”

“Understood. I’ll depart immediately.”

As Asia moved to rise, Baron Waltz halted her.

“You’re leaving already?”

“Yes. That is my intention.”

“…Perhaps rest a while before you go. Ah, yes! Is that rumour circulating amongst the people, is it… true?”

What Baron Waltz spoke of was the rumour of her engagement to the First Prince.

At the word “rumour,” Asia’s face immediately tightened.

And Baron Waltz saw it.

With a well-meaning smile, Baron Waltz attempted to smooth over the situation.

“Haha, such preposterous rumours! I wonder who spread them, it’s truly strange.”

“…Indeed. A truly absurd rumour it is.”

Again, Asia moved to leave her seat.

But Baron Waltz’s words had not yet ended.

“Then that means there is no marriage proposal, wouldn’t it… How about my son? Though he is my son, he is a remarkably clever fellow.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

With that, Asia abruptly left her place.

And headed towards the Silver Knights, who would be awaiting her.

“You’ve arrived, Miss.”

“I’m irritated.”

“What troubles you?”

“Baron Waltz, not knowing his place… he attempted to propose a marriage alliance to me.”

“…Is that so.”

The Captain of the Silver Knights offered a wry smile.

News of the Sword Saint’s disappearance had apparently spread throughout the Southern territories.

That even a mere baron would send a matchmaker to the Sword Saint’s granddaughter.

“It’s regrettable.”

“Indeed! Grandfather must return quickly.”

“He is, after all, a person of considerable wanderlust. He will return soon.”

“Haa…”

Asia could not easily calm her mood.

Baron Waltz’s words continued to resurface in her mind.

Noticing this, the Captain cautiously inquired.

“In that case, what sort of person does the Miss desire to be engaged to?”

“Strong, kind, and… if possible, handsome would be nice.”

“Hahaha, someone like the Miss certainly deserves to meet such a person.”

“Anyway, I must quickly finish this commission and be on my way. If I stay any longer, Baron Waltz will be bringing his son himself.”

“Understood!”

The Silver Knights arrived at the abandoned mine to a bizarre sight.

A multitude of corpses.

Amidst the bodies, a black-haired man stood tall.

His face was a bloody mess, obscuring his features.

‘He’s strong…!’

Asia judged the black-haired man to be powerful.

Each corpse bore a single wound.

Each had died with a single strike.

The man standing before them was surely the one who’d created this scene.

It was enough to deem him formidable.

‘Just what is he?’

He didn’t seem battle-ready, so Asia approached him cautiously.

But then…

“That sword… where did you get it?”

The sword the black-haired man had laid on the ground.

Asia knew that sword.

A blade with a pure white sheen.

It was the Sword Saint’s sword.

More precisely, the sword left behind by the Sword Saint’s wife.

She couldn’t be mistaken, Asia repeated to herself.

‘Could it be… did this man…!’

An ominous thought flickered through her mind, but she swiftly banished it.

Strong as he might be, the black-haired man was certainly no match for the Sword Saint.

Seeking answers amidst the incomprehensible situation, Asia questioned him.

“Who… what are you?”

The black-haired man, startled, replied.

“Um… I’m your fiancé….”

Speechless at the unforeseen answer, Asia froze, unable to utter a word.