Chapter 121: Bounty Hunting (4)

The battle axe was one used by a guard of the Pleasure Den.

Of course, its owner was dead, and the weapons thus taken were dangling from the man in armor’s hands, back, and waist.

Whoosh──

Clang!

It was Yuria who blocked the flying battle axe.

Yuria’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment at the force contained in the axe, but she immediately had to lean forward to counter the attack of the man in armor who rushed in, swinging his sword.

Sparks flew between the swords with a crackle, and Yuria, without hesitation, activated her mana circuit and drew up her aura.

‘This person is strong.’

Exchanging just one blow was enough to realize the man in armor’s strength.

The man in armor wielded a greatsword that required two hands with just one and instead of the sound of the air being parted, it was the sound of the air being torn, and the speed was so fast that it was hard to even see properly without concentrating.

A result that could only be achieved by the harmony of strong grip and arm strength and a sturdy lower body and waist.

It didn’t seem like he had learned any special swordsmanship, nor was he using an Aura Sword, yet it was Yuria who was being pushed back.

Whoooosh…….

Yuria, who was continuously being pushed back, prepared an ice slash.

A pure white, cold energy gathered in her longsword.

As she unleashed High-Speed Swordsmanship in that state, an unseasonable blizzard began to rage in the middle of the corridor.

Pababa-bak!

But even in the center of that cold wave, the man in armor moved his body steadfastly.

Frost formed in the gaps of his armor, his sword and gauntlet froze, and ice crystals obscured his vision, but the man in armor seemed completely unaffected by such things and did not stop his attack on Yuria.

Eventually, his greatsword couldn’t withstand Yuria’s ice slash and shattered.

He should have thrown away the sword, but the gauntlet gripping it was frozen solid, and he couldn’t open his hand.

That is, if he were an ordinary person.

Kkwaang!

The man in armor swung his fist at the wall, shattering the thick ice crystals surrounding the gauntlet and sword.

Then he took out the sword he was carrying on his back and rushed at Yuria again.

That sword was not a two-handed sword like before, but a longsword of standard length handled with one hand.

Accordingly, his fighting style also changed.

What was surprising was that the speed at which he swung it was faster than Yuria’s High-Speed Swordsmanship.

Pababa-bak!

This was a shock not only to Yuria but also to Gerard, who was watching.

No matter how much High-Speed Swordsmanship was a normal vision and not an advanced one, Yuria had completely mastered it.

Yet, Yuria’s sword couldn’t keep up with the man in armor’s randomly swung sword and was even being pushed back, so Gerard showed surprised eyes at the monster’s illogical movements.

Just then, Egor, who was anxiously watching the battle, whispered to Gerard.

“Hey. Hey! What are you doing? Not running away in this gap! That bastard is a complete monster! You have to run away quickly while your comrade is buying time!”

“Shut up.”

Paak!

Gerard knocked Egor unconscious with a punch and immediately drew his sword to join the battle.

However, the man in armor did not back down even with Gerard’s participation.

On the contrary, he swung his sword even more fiercely and like a mad berserker who disregarded death, he charged in frantically, bewildering the two of them.

But it wasn’t like he was fighting completely mindlessly either.

He dodged attacks that seemed dangerous with minimal movement and blocked everything he could with his sword.

Anything else, he just took with his body.

Yes.

The plate armor covering his body was an artifact.

So, the man in armor was a typical berserker style who fought with only his instincts.

That animalistic sense was clearly forged through countless real battles.

Was it because of that?

From Gerard’s perspective, it was a series of bewilderments.

‘Amazing.’

His mastery of swordsmanship was one thing, but there was an overwhelming difference in practical experience, such as how to measure distance and use his body.

Gerard also had a lot of practical experience.

But at best, it was only impressive at the level of an Academy cadet and it was a drop in the ocean compared to the man in armor in front of him.

The continent was vast and there were many strong people.

Even the protagonist, Ivan, would encounter enemies he struggled against when the main stage of ‘Heroes of Frey’ expanded from the Academy to the Empire in the middle part of the story, and the man in armor was that kind of person.

A warrior who had lived his entire life in war and at the edge of a sword.

The problem was that Gerard knew the names of most of those strong people.

‘But who is this person?’

He couldn’t even make a guess.

Of course, Gerard didn’t know all the strong people and their settings.

It was entirely possible that there were hidden masters who did not appear in the original work.

Even so, what he still didn’t understand was the man in armor’s attitude.

‘Why is he holding back against us?’

The man in armor was still not using his Aura Sword.

Even though he had the skill to subdue Yuria, he didn’t and that was the reason Gerard didn’t rush in from the beginning.

The familiar gaze and the sense of déjá vu that still lingered.

And the man in armor’s subtle and strange attitude of holding back, despite being superior in everything, including strength, speed, physique, practical experience, and understanding of swordsmanship.

So Gerard observed him and now that he was directly crossing swords with him, he was convinced that the man in armor’s skill was not all he had.

‘Is there a reason he can’t reveal his strength? For example, a hidden identity that might be revealed.’

At this point, Gerard became even more curious about his identity.

‘Alright. Let’s see how long you can hide it.’

Gerard used the [Starlight] of the ‘Star’s Blessing’.

With a demerit of not being able to use it again until the next day after one use, [Starlight] was, in a way, Gerard’s final trump card, as he couldn’t use his thief powers.

But he had already caught Egor, and it seemed unlikely he would have to fight again after this, so he had no hesitation in using it.

With a faint halo of light, the power of the unique-grade artifact that boosted his stats for a certain period of time settled in his body.

Then, as if he had suddenly entered water, everything around Gerard, except himself, slowed down.

Yuria, of course, and the man in armor in front of him as well.

The man in armor, who realized the change, narrowed his eyes and built up his momentum, but Gerard’s sword shot out like a beam of light, outpacing his judgment.

Pabat!

For the first time, the man in armor retreated.

The man in armor calmly looked down at his arm.

Red blood was slowly pooling in the joint between the gauntlet and the armor.

“……”

He raised his head again and stared at Gerard.

Although he was wounded, his eyes, as he stared at Gerard, were as indifferent as before.

Like a vast ocean.

There was no trace of anger or hostility.

So Gerard lowered his sword and asked.

“……Who on earth are you? We know each other, don’t we?”

A brief confrontation and silence.

Immediately after, his mouth, hidden inside the helm, opened, and a monotonous voice echoed through the corridor.

“The Butcher.”

Gerard frowned and tilted his head.

“What? The Butcher?”

“The Butcher.”

The Butcher was clearly Egor, who was unconscious behind him, not the man in armor.

But ah, Gerard soon realized what the man in armor meant.

He wasn’t saying he was the Butcher, but that what he wanted was the Butcher.

‘So that’s why he spared the nobles.’

It seemed the man in armor had his own clear standards for killing and from the looks of it, he didn’t seem to be an evil person who killed indiscriminately.

Well, he had felt that for a while.

Thinking that, Gerard asked again.

“Hey. What I asked was your identity. Are you a knight? Or an adventurer? Perhaps a bounty hunter?”

“……”

“And I’m sorry, but I can’t hand over Egor. We came to catch him too.”

“I am the one who found him.”

“But we’re the ones who caught him first. You missed him.”

The man in armor did not answer.

Instead, he moved his sword-wounded arm a few times and took out another axe, the same as the one he had thrown at first.

Just as he was about to throw it, a noisy sound came from behind, and the Paragon city guard rushed in.

“There they are!”

“Everybody, freeze!”

The man in armor, who confirmed the arrival of the city guard, immediately turned around and ran in the direction he had come from.

‘There shouldn’t be an exit over there…….’

At the man in armor’s next action, Gerard stopped his thoughts and his mouth fell open.

The man in armor made his own exit by ramming his body into the wall and breaking it.

Surprisingly, after repeating this action about three times, moonlight poured in and shone on him.

He glanced at Gerard once and then disappeared into the city’s alley.

“That actually works……”

***

We managed to explain the situation to the Paragon city guard and get through it smoothly.

In Egor’s case, to dispose of his person and receive the bounty, we had to take him to the Capital Defense Headquarters.

This was because the Capital Defense Headquarters only distributed the wanted posters and made the connection; the one who paid the bounty was the noble who issued the warrant.

So we couldn’t receive the bounty right away and had to wait for a day.

We took Egor and returned directly to the inn.

It was late dawn, with the crescent moon still hanging overhead.

We had to wait until morning for the airship to depart, so Gerard threw the unconscious Egor onto the bed and sat on a chair.

“……Are you okay, senior?”

“Huh? What about.”

“It was intense.”

“You were the one who was intense. How about you?”

“I’m fine.”

Yuria, who smiled brightly, asked.

“You’re thinking about that person, aren’t you?”

“Ah, right. Was it that obvious?”

“Very.”

Yuria continued.

“It’s the same for me. He was strange, that person. He fought as if he was going to kill, but it didn’t really feel like that, so to speak.”

So Yuria felt it too.

Well, she had been crossing swords with the man in armor from beginning to end.

Who could it be?

A master of combat in plate armor.

I’ve been going over the original work since before, and now I’m sure.

That guy was definitely a person not covered in the original work.

Just looking at the situation, my suspicion leaned toward him being a mercenary or a bounty hunter.

Since he was after Egor.

Looking at his fiery fighting style and ruthless hand, he was definitely not a trained knight.

Anyway.

“Get ready, Yuria. That man in armor will come again.”

I knew from looking at his eyes before he left.

He still hasn’t given up on Egor.

“Yes.”

We turned off the lights.

And waited.

How much time had passed like that?

Breaking the quiet darkness, a creaking sound came from outside the door.

It was the sound of stepping on rotten wood.

That presence stopped right in front of our door.

My eyes and Yuria’s met in the air and I nodded.

‘He’s here.’

It was then.

The back wall behind Yuria, who was hiding in the corner, crumbled, and a dark figure leaped out and charged at her.

Even a quick glance showed there were more than two of them, and at the same time, the door we were guarding and the window behind it shattered, and four night-crawlers entered our room.

I blinked.

‘Who the hell are these guys?’

There was no time to think.

The four who came in through the door and window immediately surrounded me with their swords.

The three who broke through the wall had already surrounded Yuria and were launching a fierce attack.

“Dieeee!”

I immediately engaged with them and it wasn’t long before I could figure out their identities.

I had to.

Because only the Dark Clerics used black swords.

The problem wasn’t them.

The problem was that man in armor, who was taking advantage of this chaotic gap to stroll into the room and lift Egor from the bed without any hindrance.

Surprisingly, the man in armor was a smart character who knew how to exploit a niche market.

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