The Sword Master’s Son-in-Law

– The Worst First Encounter (2)

The old man’s granddaughter, Asia, questioned me thus:

“Fiancé… you say?”

Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

I understood Asia’s skepticism.

Even I wouldn’t believe it if a suspicious man, one who’d just appeared and committed a mass slaughter, suddenly claimed to be my fiancé.

However–.

“The Sword Saint himself told me to become engaged to you. He added that with this sword and ring, he could sufficiently prove it!”

I had proof to validate my words.

Hurriedly, I retrieved the Messiah County ring from my bosom.

Asia’s pupils trembled as if an earthquake had just struck.

“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Arthus. As for my lineage… there is none, and as for my status, well, I’m the Sword Saint’s disciple? Servant? Something… along those lines.”

“Grandfather’s disciple…? What does that even mean…? More than that, fiancé…?”

Asia fell into a state of confusion so complete it was almost visible.

The man standing beside her, taking her place, shouted, “What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?!”

I don’t know either.

To be honest, I was a bit flustered myself, so I just blurted it out as it came.

I never even imagined meeting my fiancé in a situation like this to begin with.

“Such a lie won’t hold…”

The man, who had been trying to corner me, paused and fell into thought.

“No. It can’t be a lie.”

His gaze landed on the ring on my finger.

Thankfully, he believed I wasn’t lying.

Perhaps it was only natural.

It was, after all, the Sword Saint’s sword and the Messiah Count’s ring.

He had to believe it.

“But even if you are Lady Asia’s fiancé, do you think that will excuse what you’ve done!!!”

Ah… right.

Now that I think about it, this wasn’t the time to be bringing up the fiancé thing.

“I can explain everything.”

*

“…That’s what happened.”

“Hard to believe.”

“But it’s the truth.”

I spoke honestly.

I’m the good guy; those corpses over there were the bad guys.

They tried to kill me, so I had no choice but to kill them.

Investigate them.

You’ll find a litany of bad things.

“…Until the investigation is complete, you’ll have to be taken into custody.”

“Yes.”

Well, I didn’t think they were going to do anything bad to me, so I willingly submitted to the arrest.

Vedi’s true nature would be revealed soon enough anyway.

Honestly, something else was more important.

Asia Messiah kept glancing at me, over and over.

“Um… Fiancé? Is there something you’d like to say…?”

“I haven’t acknowledged you as my fiancé yet!!!”

“Yes.”

It seemed like I made the worst first impression possible, so she was very wary of me.

‘Frankly, it’s the first time I’ve ever made a bad first impression on a woman.’

Having been born with a handsome face, I naturally garnered goodwill from women.

It was precisely because of this that the situation felt so utterly foreign.

“Even so, if what you say is true, why didn’t your grandfather come with you?”

“There are circumstances.”

“Circumstances? What circumstances…”

“That I cannot divulge.”

“…Why not?”

“Because the Sword Saint instructed me so.”

Saying that, I flashed Asia a pleasant, harmless smile.

But-.

“Hmph!”

It seemed Asia wasn’t particularly impressed.

*

Having finished binding Arthus, the leader of the expedition spoke to Asia.

“The binding is complete. But what shall we do about the request?”

Monsters resided within the mine.

The extermination of those monsters was the request Asia had accepted.

Though unforeseen events had transpired, she had to fulfill the request she had received.

Asia glanced sideways at Arthus.

“Hmm…”

“I understand. It would be difficult to proceed with the request while burdened with a suspicious, unidentified individual.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just do it.”

“Are you sure that would be alright?”

“Staying another night at the Waltz family estate would be more trying.”

Having spoken those words, Asia turned her back to the expedition leader and approached Arthus.

“First, your sword…”

“Sword?”

“The White Blossom Sword.”

“Ah, so that’s its name?”

“You didn’t even know that?”

“There was no way I could. Frankly, I didn’t have many private conversations with the Sword Saint.”

Asia found it difficult to dispel her doubts about the man before her.

A man who appeared suddenly, claiming to be her fiancé.

The height of suspicion.

Moreover, he claimed not to have had private conversations with her grandfather.

‘An attitude that seems to deliberately avoid the question… clearly a fabrication.’

She considered it a device to conceal his true identity.

But on the other hand, she could see her grandfather acting in such a way.

“Hmph! In any case, I’ll be holding onto the White Blossom Sword.”

“Oh? Yes, that’s fine. After all, it was given to me as proof.”

Arthus readily agreed.

“Is that so? And, for starters, we’ll need you to accompany us on this commission.”

“Accompany… in this state?”

Arthur gestured with his eyes to his back, or rather, to his two arms tied behind it.

Asia nodded. “The matter of your transgressions is still unresolved. You can’t avoid being restrained.”

“Hmm… well, I suppose it can’t be helped. More to the point, what is this commission?”

“Over there.”

Asia pointed toward the abandoned mine. “There are reports of monsters appearing inside.”

Asia glanced over Arthur’s arms once and struck a confident pose. “But don’t worry. We’ll protect you.”

“If you just untied me, I could protect myself perfectly well…”

“Absolutely not! You’re a suspect right now.”

“Yes…”

Even as Asia said those words, she honestly doubted that restraints meant much to the man before her.

The man before her was powerful.

He could break free of bindings like these anytime he pleased.

The only reason Arthur wasn’t breaking free was…

‘He’s just playing along for now, isn’t he?’

Asia understood Arthur’s intentions.

*

He wanted to wash the blood off his face.

It felt terribly unpleasant.

But he couldn’t.

Because his arms were tied.

‘Haa… and inside an abandoned mine of all places. It feels awfully ominous.’

To be frank, he was a little scared.

Not because of ghosts or anything spiritual.

It was because of his cause of death in his past life.

‘The stairs leading underground, the light on that day had broken or something and was out…’

Underground was dark.

Just like this abandoned mine now.

If there was any difference from back then, it was that the knights were holding torches, which provided a bit of light.

However, the light from the torches was not enough to fully illuminate the abandoned mine.

Feeling a faint resistance, he walked for a long time.

“…How much farther do we have to go?”

It was a question directed to Asia, who was glaring at him beside him as if guarding him.

Asia, still glaring, replied, “We plan to go as far as the path allows, for now.”

“Hmph… I see.”

Honestly, every fiber of me yearned to bolt outside, right then and there.

I’d rather wait out there, anywhere.

This dark, cramped space set my teeth on edge.

But Asia was determined to keep me by her side, no exceptions.

She’d already laid out her reasoning for me, of course.

“Your skill… I’ve already taken it into account. Perhaps… the entire Knight Order might have to face you. To capture you alive, naturally. I wouldn’t go so far as to overvalue you!”

Well, that was the justification she gave for dragging me along, bound and helpless.

Hearing it, I couldn’t exactly refuse to go along with them, but frankly, I was regretting it.

This space grated on me.

And having my hands tied behind my back made walking a real chore.

“Hm? I sense someone nearby!”

Retid, the captain who’d held a sword to my throat earlier, shouted from the front of the group.

Asia was the first to react to his shout.

“Someone nearby, you say?”

“Indeed. Come forward quickly.”

Asia glanced back at me, hesitated a moment, then turned her back to me and headed for the front.

“It’s true…”

Asia’s voice drifted back from the lead.

Sounded like there were monsters up ahead.

I stretched out my senses, probed the area.

Three of them.

I couldn’t pinpoint the species, but they were definitely sizable.

‘Judging by their bulk and general shape… orcs, maybe?’

As I was busy trying to identify them, Captain Retid’s voice rang out again.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Well-trained Knight Order, indeed.

At Retid’s command, every single knight drew their sword and formed a battle formation in an instant.

‘Their individual skill isn’t all that impressive, but they’re certainly well-drilled in formation fighting.’

As one might expect, considering the old man’s lineage.

A family with a Sword Saint in it was bound to amount to something.

It showed in this Knight Order.

“Wait! Hold, everyone! They’re humans!”

‘Humans?’

Something felt off.

What I sensed… it wasn’t human.

‘Too big to be human. Barbarians, maybe, if they actually *were* human.’

The presences I felt were far larger than the average adult male.

Sensing something amiss, I began to move towards the front myself.

And then…

‘What the hell? Are they insane?’

Asia bore witness to the Captain approaching three Orcs wielding weapons, his stance revealing an opening.

*

‘Why are there injured people here?’

Asia was adrift in confusion.

The three figures before her.

Fallen, wounded.

Drawn in as if by a spell, Asia moved forward with Captain Letid to offer aid.

“Stop!!!”

The shout from behind startled Asia and the Captain, whipping their heads around.

‘Why is that man…?’

His face was etched with what seemed like urgency.

Asia tilted her head, puzzled.

She couldn’t grasp what had provoked such a reaction.

But then…

‘Killing intent!’

Sensing the killing intent prickling her back, Asia spun around, desperately.

At once, she beheld a bewildering transformation.

The three wounded figures had morphed into green-skinned swine.

“Why are Orcs suddenly standing before me?”

Caught off guard, Asia still managed to swing her White Blossom Blade at the Orc lunging toward her.