36. Someone (1)
Amunson’s sword was faster. Simon was hit on the shoulder and screamed.
“Ugh!”
Simon quickly retreated, trying to regain his stance. However, with an injury to his right shoulder, he struggled to raise his sword, his arm hanging limply.
Amunson instinctively sensed the opportunity.
He couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
In a duel, injuries weren’t seen as cowardice. This was the moment to claim victory.
“Die!”
Amunson shouted aggressively, raising the wooden sword with both hands and bringing it down with force.
“Ha!”
Simon, who had seemed about to collapse at any moment, suddenly became fine and stabbed Amunson in the stomach.
His right arm, which Amunson thought was injured, was perfectly fine.
Amunson groaned in pain, clutching his stomach as he bent forward.
“Coward…”
And then he collapsed.
“Haa…”
Simon had won.
He swung his wooden sword stylishly in the air, then sheathed it behind his waist as if returning it to its scabbard.
“It was a good match, Amunson.”
Simon closed his eyes, savoring the moment of triumph.
He remembered the secret technique Yuri had taught him: the art of feigning injury.
It was a dark technique that deceived the enemy and created a perfect opportunity for a counterattack.
It was not as easy as it seemed.
One needed comparable skills, the ability to turn the enemy’s attacks into part of the technique through improvisation, and excellent acting.
Above all, luck had to be on one’s side.
When everything fell into place, Amunson was completely deceived, and the price for his rash actions was death.
Although, he hadn’t actually died.
“Uh…”
“That is…”
Since Simon had performed the art of feigning injury so confidently, the audience was at a loss for how to react.
“He must have been really hurt, right?”
Someone said.
It wasn’t just any duel. How could a knight representing Briol, with the entire continent watching, resort to trickery?
Based on such naive thinking, the audience began to form a positive opinion.
“Yeah. It probably really hurt, but he gritted his teeth and got up, didn’t he?”
“He’s got guts.”
“Who would have thought he wasn’t hurt? Hahaha…”
Simon silently stared at Yuri. Yuri smiled at him.
Simon bowed deeply to Yuri, feeling even more awe.
Graham, who had been standing quietly, declared Simon’s victory.
“Briol wins.”
Graham, who had watched the duel closely, had vaguely noticed the deception, but he believed that even a duel should be like a real battle, so he didn’t bother to overturn the result.
Simon won, and Amunson lost.
That was all.
Before anyone could object, Gonte stood up and clapped.
“It’s a pity you lost. But you fought well despite losing, Amunson. Like a true knight, I will acknowledge defeat. It was a splendid match.”
Yuri quickly accepted his praise.
“What does winning or losing matter? What’s important is that two outstanding knights met and learned from each other. It was just luck. If Sir Amunson had taken one less drink, it would have been Simon lying on the ground.”
“Thank you for your kind words!”
“Likewise!”
Yuri and Gonte clapped toward each other and smiled.
Thus, the duel between the two nations came to an end.
Joachim would send a knight to Briol to receive a new training method.
Jared, who had noticed there might have been a hidden plot, muttered under his breath.
“That kind of trick actually worked…”
Yuri punched him in the side and shouted while pushing people forward.
“Alright, let’s continue the feast! The winner deserves to enjoy it. Even the orc bastards who went to the afterlife are probably blessing our feast with boiling water in hell!”
Yuri was pleased to be able to personally train new allies to confront the Empire, and Gonte was pleased to be able to strengthen the resolve of the younger generation.
The rest enjoyed watching the fight.
It was a win-win for everyone except one.
Only Amunson, lying on the ground with no one attending to him, was left to cool in the cold night air.
* * *
The feast was over.
Everyone returned to their quarters, and one by one, the lights of Balshad went out.
The night became quiet.
Marirose sat in her bedroom, humming a tune as she combed her hair.
Suddenly, a tangle caught in her hair.
“Ouch.”
She frowned deeply.
“Ugh, so annoying.”
Marirose pulled out the comb and threw it on the bedding.
“What’s so annoying?”
“You.”
Before long, Hernando was leaning against the window.
Marirose muttered.
“What kind of shameless behavior is this, entering a lady’s bedroom without permission?”
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t invite you.”
“Still, I warned you.”
“I should have used dispel.”
Before Hernando entered, the mana in the bedroom had flowed unnaturally. It was his way of announcing his visit.
“The person I actually wanted to come didn’t.”
“Dream on.”
“Who do you think I’m talking about?”
Hernando gave Marirose a light glare.
“At first, I thought it was just a joke, but now I’m starting to worry.”
“It was never a joke to begin with.”
“You’re still young.”
“Oh…”
Marirose narrowed her eyes at Hernando.
“Are you serious?”
“About what?”
“I thought you were just staying here out of interest, but it seems like you’ve really grown attached. Is that okay?”
“If it were a third party, they’d react the same way.”
“No, it wouldn’t be. Shall I call the person involved and ask?”
“Really…”
Hernando ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
“Forget it.”
“Oh, so you’re allowing it?”
“Stop with the nonsense; the reason I came is for this.”
“What’s that?”
Hernando looked around the bedroom, then spread his mana to create a barrier.
Marirose tilted her head.
It wasn’t just a sound barrier; it was a wall to prevent magical energy from leaking out.
Hernando took a piece of parchment from his chest and placed it on the table by the window.
“Come and see.”
“Give it to me.”
“Come and see.”
“Do I have to?”
“Marirose.”
Seeing Hernando’s serious expression, Marirose got up from her seat.
“Alright, alright.”
“Activate mental defense.”
“What?”
“Just look.”
The atmosphere had become tense.
Marirose finally glanced at the parchment on the table.
…
She then stepped back.
Marirose’s pupils wavered.
“What the hell is that…”
When she looked at Hernando, he just shook his head.
Marirose wrapped herself in a mental defense spell, then carefully took a step forward.
The closer she got, the more out of breath she became.
The edges of her vision were being consumed by darkness.
In the black energy swirling toward her, only the old parchment on the table stood out faintly.
Marirose chanted the spell once more.
White light enveloped her, and only then did the mysterious dark energy retreat.
She stood before the table, staring at the parchment.
Unfamiliar characters were densely written on it.
Suddenly, she began to hear whispers behind her. At first, she thought it was Hernando. But it was getting closer and closer.
Now, the voice was right at her neck.
Her body stiffened and she couldn’t move.
It crawled up along her neck and whispered directly into her ear.
…
Marirose’s rationality began to blur.
The characters on the parchment wriggled. They twisted together like worms, eventually tangling into the shape of a living tower.
It was a black tower rising to the sky.
Against the backdrop of a world dyed red, it was growing little by little.
An eye opened in the center.
The whispering grew louder.
The sound increased, shaking her head.
She didn’t want to hear it anymore, but she was stuck in place, unable to move.
Marirose exhaled the breath she had been holding and shouted.
“Aegis!”
A brilliant light radiated from her body.
The strange whispers and the hallucinations blurring her vision faded together. Only the eye in the tower remained until the end, glaring at her until it finally disappeared.
Marirose unfolded layers of mana to seal the parchment. Even then, the evil energy tried to stretch out.
“Seal, seal, seal, seal!”
She shouted irritably, wrapping layers of mana around the parchment.
Panting heavily, Marirose turned to Hernando.
“What is this?”
Her face flushed, and sweat trickled down her neck.
“Lady, you’ve just bathed.”
She wiped her forehead and neck with a handkerchief as she continued.
“Luckily, it’s me. If it were any other person, their mind would have been corrupted. What on earth is this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Where did you get it from?”
“From Okuah’s corpse.”
Hernando walked towards the table with his arms crossed.
“It was left there.”
The parchment, wrapped in layers of Marirose’s magic, looked like an ancient relic with incomprehensible writing.
“You said he became a lump of flesh.”
“Yes.”
“After piercing it with Longinus…”
“You used Longinus? Without releasing the restrictions?”
“We linked all the mages in the Allied Forces and used it. They were all skilled mages.”
“And then?”
“I was curious how he managed to do such a thing, so I went to check. There was a faint evil energy rising. Because of Longinus, it had lost its power momentarily at that time.”
“Even after being pierced by Longinus… it’s still like this?”
“As soon as I saw it, I sealed it immediately.”
“If someone else had found it, many would have gone mad.”
Marirose lifted the parchment and flipped it up and down.
“Is this a fragment of a dark magic book?”
“Probably.”
Hernando looked at Marirose intently and said,
“So, what do you think?”
“What?”
“Can you interpret it?”
She immediately threw the parchment on the table.
“I don’t want to.”
“Marirose. This is important.”
Hernando picked it up again and showed it to Marirose.
“Look here.”
He pointed to the edge of the parchment, where there were signs of it being torn.
“As you said, this is just a part. It might not end with just one page.”
“Are you saying someone gave this to Okuah?”
“I hope not, but it’s highly likely.”
“Couldn’t he have just found it by chance somewhere in the grasslands?”
“He used dark magic. He knew how to handle this. It’s too dangerous to dismiss as a coincidence.”
“Sigh…”
Marirose let out a deep sigh.
“Fine. I don’t know if I can do anything since it’s a completely unfamiliar script…”
“When will the transcendent deciphering technique be ready?”
“Do you think it’s something you can just do whenever you want?”
“At least you could do part of it, right?”
“That’s true, but this is different. It’s a dangerous object even without doing anything. Do you think it’ll work out if I just apply it directly?”
“I see.”
“Anyway, give it to me. I’ll give it a try.”
Marirose placed her hand on the parchment.
“By the way…”
“Hmm?”
“If someone gave it to him, the timing is rather suspicious, isn’t it?”
Hernando didn’t answer.
Marirose leaned against the table and smiled faintly.
“If our Prince hadn’t made those unbelievable moves, and if The Stranger hadn’t joined by chance, the Allied Forces might have been sacrificed, right?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“It just so happens that all those troops crawled like prey to the Orc King who obtained that thing?”
She opened the window.
The cold night air came in.
Staring at the dark landscape of Balshad, Marirose continued.
“Can you guess who might have given it to him?”
“Enough.”
Hernando closed the window again with a serious expression.
“Don’t say any more. It’s a dangerous thought.”
“Why?”
“That’s enough.”
Hernando stepped away from Marirose.
“All I’ve asked is for you to interpret this if possible. Don’t do anything more. Just do that and let me know.”
“Alright.”
“Then I’ll be going now.”
Just as Hernando began to gather his mana again, a knock sounded.
Knock, knock, knock.
Both of them turned their heads at the same time.
Someone was knocking on the door.