Chapter 2: The Deadly Swordsman of Azrair
Episode 1 Serial Killer/No Money!
「Sarah.」
In a dimly lit attic.
She stood up at the voice calling her name.
Her shiny black hair peeked out from her hood.
Her brown skin glimpsed through the veil that covered her face.
Sarah Nakkasz bends slightly at the waist to greet an elderly man who has come up the ladder.
「Father.」
「How many?」
「The third. If everything goes according to plan, this will be the end of the murders in this city ― Azrair.」
Sarah said and turned her eyes back to the back of the attic.
On the floor of the room with old furniture and farm tools, Sarah's men were investigating the case.
The smell of blood is thick.
The back wall was stained with blood, and the body of a man with no arms or legs hung from a beam in the ceiling.
「This is ......」
「Dismembered by a sword, Father. Judging by the amount of blood left on the attic floor, he didn't kill him and then cut him up.」
「It's definitely his doing. It's not a copycat.」
「Yes. ―― "The Deadly Swordsman of Azrair."」
Sarah's eyes twitched under her veil as she said this.
The title "Deadly Swordsman of Azrair" itself has existed since time immemorial, but the "Deadly Swordsman" here refers to the infidel who pretends as the Deadly Swordsman of Azrair.
「An "example," huh?」
The old man muttered, reading the Azrairian words left on the wall.
He continues.
「The impostor is provoking us. This will tarnish the name of the real Deadly Swordsman of Azrail.」
「The activities of the "Deadly Swordsman" began five years ago. And ......, if you look at the victims of the last three murders, they were all killed in the same way, with their limbs cut off at once」
「It's a secret sword. It's the deepest secret that lies beyond the mastery of the basic "Blink" lineage of techniques. The secret sword must be concealed. How could anyone outside know about it, when it can only be passed on to a select few?」
Sarah's lips tightened at her father's words.
「I think it's because ...... the "Deadly Swordsman" was learning Azrair's Dance Swordsmanship in this city」
「You think the culprit is one of our own people?」
「No. The "Deadly Swordsman of Azrail" is an international criminal. It is not likely that he is a permanent resident of this city. Perhaps ― he was among those who studied swordsmanship at the monastery and were then expelled」
「....... The eldest son of the Vaid family. I believe Jibril had an older brother. He was once your fiancée.......」
「Kian.」
Sarah was a little uneasy that her voice was shaking.
She thought she had forgotten about him.
She had tried to forget him.
However, as the crimes of the "Deadly Swordsman" came to light, Sarah was reminded again of that boy who had never given up(?).
(Kian holds a strong grudge against Azrair.......For the time being, he was also gifted at the monastery, and he might have stolen the secret sword from his father, Umar Vaid.)
It was useless because he had no magic power at all.
I am sure it would be the same now as it was then.
But, as a woman's intuition, or rather, since the incident of the "Deadly Swordsman" started happening in Azrair, Sarah began to think that maybe the "Deadly Swordman" was Kian.
Even though it is impossible.
But it's never impossible.
「Kian Vaid ....... I don't know where he is now, but if he is alive, he must be close to thirty, right?」
「He's two years older than I am, so he's twenty-nine.」
「Five years ago, he was twenty-four, huh」
「But Kian is 'good-for-nothing'. He has very few cells in his body that produce magic power. It would be difficult for him to become even a human swordsman, let alone a swordsman good enough to reproduce the secret sword.」
「That doesn't make him any less of a suspect. Just in case.」
He said that much and turned his back on Sarah.
「This is also a problem for our Nakkasz family....... Identify all the outcasts and track their whereabouts. Then dispatch apostles in every direction. You know this, but when you find the "Deadly Swordsman," it will be you who will be dealing with him. Keep that in mind.」
「...... yes」
「If you can't narrow down the candidates, it doesn't matter, kill them all. They are outcasts anyway. It would be better for them if you send them to God Azrair.」
「――――」
Sarah made a difficult face as she heard her father descending the ladder.
From behind the attic wall, she could hear the sound of a gong, the signal for a ship to leave for the Kingdom of Franz in the west.
(If you don't know who the "Deadly Swordsman" is, kill them all. ...... That is the decision of the Nakkasz family)
「Kian. It's not you, right?...... It was fifteen years ago, and even my memory of your voice is vague, but ......」
He must have been a kind and serious boy in his nature.
I can't imagine him as a boy who would do such a radical thing――
「............」
Sarah silently touched the hilt of the curved sword she wore at her waist.
The sword, which had repeatedly been condemned in the name of the God Azrair, was painfully cold, as if filled with the bitterness of those who had been killed.
(I'm sure the pupils would be all fired up if they knew they had the opportunity to show off their skills. They don't even think about whether or not Kian is really a Deadly Swordsman. If ......, if Kian is not a Deadly Swordsman, he will just be living peacefully and suddenly be attacked and killed. Is this God's will? It's not just the Father's arbitrary decision. ......but)
「―――」
Sarah looked up at the gruesome corpse hanging from the ceiling.
(I have no right or reason to stop. He's banished, and he's no longer a part of my life.)
The man who had been investigating there was called Sarah.
Sarah shook her head and chased the miscellaneous thoughts to the back of her brain and walked over to her subordinate.
In the distance, once again, she could hear the gongs of the ship ringing in the distance, announcing its departure for the Kingdom of Franz.
× × ×
「――Kian.」
Suddenly, Kian felt someone call his name, and he stopped sewing and looked up.
The training hall of the Adventurers' Guild, bathed in the morning light, was deserted again today.
Kian was the only one in the training hall.
To be exact, it was just Kian and his glasses on the bench next to him.
『Is something wrong, Kian?』
「No, I guess it was just my imagination. That said, it's finished. How about like this?」
The young man took up a stylish everyday dress with rose patterns all over it. It was a garment with a wide opening at the chest, and it had nothing but flamboyance and sex appeal, but it was something he could have worn if he had gone to the beach on vacation or something like that.
『After wearing down all that ancient equipment so much...』(?)
「I'm sorry about that. But, forgive me. It was originally a woman's dress.」
Kian said with a lowered eyebrow.
The equipment that Glasses had told him in the Rose Labyrinth was still as useful as ever, but with subtle flaws.
In addition to the effect of absorbing magic power from killed creatures that Glasses had mentioned before (Though, the amount that could be absorbed was minuscule).
It turned out that it also had the property of being able to absorb and stored magic.
But it looked like a long dress that a noblewoman would wear.
If Kian walked down the main street wearing such a dress, he would be in trouble with the guards at once.
Even if he wore it in the labyrinth, adventurers passing by might gossip that he had a taste for cross-dressing. It would be too disgraceful and extremely inconvenient for Serena, who is in his party.
So he cut and sewed his own fabric and adjusted his clothes to be just barely men's clothes.
Kian personally thinks it was a wise decision.
「The coat from "Twilight" was comfortable, but it was clothes I always wear(?). I'm glad to have a larger repertoire. The trousers and boots are from "Twilight," and overall, it looks like it will be a fashionable piece of equipment for a fashionable playboy.」
『There is still some fabric left over, but are you going to throw it away?』
「There is no way I would do such a wasteful thing. I'll use the extra fabric to make a stole and ...... even my underwear. If I use this fabric for underwear, I might scratch my crotch a lot less often.」
『―――』
The glasses fell silent.
Perhaps if she had a human face, she would have stared at Kian with a straight face (and eyes like a dead fish).
Unaware of the glasses' dismay, Kian decided to try on the finished equipment as soon as possible.
「All right, ...... whoa」
A loose shirt with red roses.
It's open at the chest, revealing his pecs and chest hair, but ......, there are plenty of guys on the East End with chests open like this.
Robert's pectoral muscles are so big that his shirt is always ripped open.
「I tried to make the sleeves loose in an Eastern style. It's a somewhat elegant design that reminds me of a villain man. ......I think it looks pretty good, even though it's my own work.」
『You're kind of creepy, you know that?』
「Haah!?」
Kian's eyes widened as his masterpiece, which he had worked so hard to create, was cut down in a single word.
Just as he was about to argue with her, a high-pitched voice of "Kiaaan!" echoed from the entrance of the training hall.
This time it was not an auditory hallucination, but the voice of his partner in the party ― Serena.
「......!」
*ba-dump* His heart beats.
The moment Kian hears Serena's voice, he reflexively gets an erection.
Objectively speaking, he was just a pervert, but there was a reason why Kian got an erection.
Because, at night, she was――.
「Kuh......!」
Kian shoved his hands in his pockets and quickly adjusted the position of his penis.
Then he plastered a smile on his face and got up from the bench he was sitting on.
A silver wolf tribe girl comes running from the entrance.
She has short, quirky silver hair.
She is a woman with sharp beauty.
She is wearing a tight-fitting white sleeveless shirt, dark green shorts underneath, and long boots that cover her thighs.
This is her usual attire.
During quests, she wears light leather armor as a jacket.
「Good morning, Kian.」
Serena, with her hands folded behind her back, turns her light blue eyes on Kian.
Even though she does not have super tits or magic tits beyond big tits like Arueno and Esther, she does have breasts of a decent size.
If she folds her hands behind her back, her beautiful breasts will naturally be thrust forward.
(Since becoming a party member, we have become strangely close ......)
She is cold to outsiders but friendly to her own people.
Perhaps this is a trait common to the entire race of silver wolves, but for an uncle who is now in his thirties, Kian almost misunderstood her.
It was an overreaction to even get an erection, even though she was only treating him like a friend.
But, last night, too, she――
――Aahnn♡ Aahnn♡ Aaahnn♡
――Ohh, oohh.....♡ Oohhh♡ Ooooohhhhh♡
――Aahihh ♡ Hhihh, hhihhhhh ......♡
While she was sleeping, Kian's fingers were groping her crotch, and she came many times in an inchworm (シャクトリムシ) position.
She was covered in her own love juice and sweat, filling the room with a terrible pheromone smell, and finally she had accepted a very thick penis and completely surrendered to the male symbol.
Remembering this, Kian could not treat her calmly, though not very much.
「...... Good morning, Serena」
「New clothes? Did you make them yourself?」
「Yeah, sort of. What do you think, how did it turn out?」
However, his showing off(?) has not lived at the bottom for thirty years.
He responds to her with a smile, hiding his inferiority complex.
Serena takes a step closer to him and starts to put her hand on Kian's upper body.
「Ohfu ......」
「Like, are you more muscular than before? ......Wait, that's not what I meant, that was my impression of your clothes. It's a little flashy, but I think it's normal. You look like a bandit or a nobleman who makes his living by looting would wear a lot.」
「That's a subtle assessment.」
「I just said what I saw. Or should I give you fake praise?」
Her light intelligent blue eyes stared up at him.
Kian turned away, feeling as if they could see through his dirty mind.
「No, thank you for your honest feedback. I'll connect it to the next one. ...... Oh right, I can make your underwear if you want.」
「―――......?」
Serena kept a straight face and then said
「Wha ......!?」
She blushed.
She raised her silver eyebrows.
「I-I don't think that's a good idea. I know you're actually a flirt, but don't do that.」
「I'm sorry. I didn't have any evil intent.」
『Are you in a position to say that?』
「...... Correction. I did have a little evil intent. Sorry.」
When Kian said this with a serious face, Serena still blushed and groaned, but she eventually returned to her original expressionless face.
The hair on her silver tail, which had been standing on end, was now back to normal and was hanging down toward the ground as if the tension had fallen.
「Well, it doesn't matter, though. I'll have to make some concessions when I deal with you as a human being.」
「So, are your wounds gone?」
「Yup.」
「What are you doing here today? I received an "S" grade in the previous "Rose Labyrinth" quest, and both you and I have fulfilled the points required for promotion. All that's left is to take the exam in three days.」
「Well, to be precise, it's an oral statement exam in three days and a real-life exam where those who passed that exam gets together. ...... I know that now is the time to keep my energy up for the exam. But ...... actually, I'm pathetically broke.」
「Ah ......」
She had borrowed a dagger and a staff from Arueno on her quest in the Rose Labyrinth, both of which she had broken in her fight with the vampire.
The knife was broken about halfway through, and the staff was burned out from putting too much magic power into it in too short a time. Repair was impossible, and Serena was to pay Arueno for the cost of the damage.
In addition, because of her serious injury, she was sent to the Guild's Healing Center.
Most of the equipment she was wearing had to be all-new, too.
And with the end of the month approaching, it was inevitable that she would be in a pinch financially, considering the payment for the inn where she was currently sleeping.
「......If I hadn't been seriously injured then, I would have cut out about three meters of obsidian wall and sold it to a street vendor: ......」
「No, that stuff should be under Guild control. By offering up something like that intact, the Guild is in some ways acknowledging that we are paying our dues and taxes. In fact, you've waived this month's payment, haven't you」
「Kian, you're so serious.」
「I'm just stating the obvious, though......」
「Actually, I came here today to talk to you about something, since you're such a serious guy.」
「Hm, about what?」
Serena smiled as Kian urged her onward.
She took up two wooden swords that Kian had left by her side and tossed one of them to him.
「Would you like to play swordfight with me?」
「I don't mind, but ......」
「However, If I win, I'd like to stay in your room for a while. I will, of course, split the cost of the room with you.」
「Eh .....」
(Does that mean Serena is going to live with me? No, no, no!)
Kian lowered his eyebrows.
「I'm an old man in his thirties, you know. I'm not someone a girl in her mid-teens should be living in a room with.」
Seeing Kian's panic, Serena shrugged her shoulders.
「I know you are a playboy, but from the looks of you, I don't think you have the guts to touch me......I mean, I am a warrior before I am a female. I can protect myself. If you have the guts to put out your hand and get your head cut off, go ahead and rape me.」
「No, look here, ......」
「The winner of the match takes it all. How many silver coins does Kian have in your wallet right now?」
「289 coins......」
The fact that he was secretly retrieving the wallets of Funnelwing and the others――
And the fact that the glasses Kian had been secretly cutting up obsidian roses and selling them in the stalls had actually made his wallet richer than ever before
Serena rolled her eyes.
「Haah!? Th-That much!?」
「Yep, well...」
「If I win, will you buy me a new longsword? As expected, you won't?」
Serena's dog ears drooped as she said this, perhaps feeling sorry for herself.
The silver wolves, who are supposed to be so proud of themselves, are asking for money.
She must have been in dire need.
「I didn't mean to be extravagant, but I really don't have much money on hand.」
(I kind of feel sorry for her. I'll choose my words so as not to hurt her)
「...... That's of course. You did a lot of behind-the-scenes work, like dealing with ghosts and escorting Pigfoot and his daughter,......, but your reward was the usual 7th-class quest. Rather, I'm glad you demanded something more from me as party leader.」
「Then, if I win the game, will you lend me some money?」
「I'll lend it to you for free as an investment in the future, since improving your environmental surroundings will also strengthen our party as a whole.」
「Kian ......!」
Serena grabbed both of Kian's hands, as if moved.
(Ah, I stirred Serena's pussy yesterday with these hands ......)
「Thank you! For everything, really. ...... The world is made of kindness. No doubt. If I win the match and owe you money, I'll definitely pay you back.」
「Looks like you really want to win...... Well, my arm was about to get dulled, and it was just the right timing」
So, Serena and Kian decided to have a match with wooden swords.
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Tftc
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