The village felt strangely bustling, with the previously empty stable now filled with lively horses. Perplexed, Ruon raised his head, wondering who could have arrived.
Noticing the restless Evel nervously biting his nails, Ruon approached and asked, “Where is the village chief?”
“Oh! Mr. Ru-Ruon!”
Evel’s eyes widened.
“Something terrible has happened. Something terrible!”
“What happened?”
“The Viscount has arrived.”
Ruon questioned, “Why did the Viscount come?”
“I-I’m not sure. Suddenly, he stormed in, claiming they have evidence of our collusion with demons… Even though the village chief denied it, they forcefully took him away…”
“Are they at the inn?”
Ruon interrupted Evel’s rambling, and he nodded.
“Yes, yes, that’s right. Please, please save the chief.”
Ruon immediately headed towards the inn and grabbed the doorknob. It didn’t open, as if someone had locked it from the inside.
‘Looks like I’ll be breaking at least one more door today.’
Ripping off the doorknob, Ruon reached inside and lifted the latch on the other side, prompting a voice from within.
“What the hell? Who is it?”
Ruon kicked open the door and stepped inside. The inn was in complete disarray. Tables and chairs were scattered haphazardly, clearing a space in the middle of the floor.
Two individuals were seated facing each other in the center of the inn, but their appearances were quite contrasting. One was Village Chief Ransel, sweating profusely with a cloth stuffed in his mouth, clearly disheveled. The other was a chubby man with an enormous posterior that obscured his chair.
The chubby man asked, “Who are you?”
“Someone who has business with the village chief.”
Ruon’s response caused the chubby man to chuckle.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Should I?”
Ruon replied curtly, and a soldier standing closest to him drew his sword.
“He dares to disrespect us.”
“Stop it.”
The chubby man raised his hand to stop the soldiers.
“My name is Conrad. I hold a small fief granted by the king, and within it, I am known as Viscount Conrad. I came here to investigate a terrible incident that occurred in my territory. So, what is your name, intruder?”
Ruon smirked. Conrad was making quite the noisy introduction as a Viscount.
“Ruon.”
Even though Ruon introduced himself, he remained concise in his reply, causing Conrad’s face to crinkle slightly. Perhaps sensing the discomfort, the soldiers in the inn all drew their weapons, aiming them at Ruon.
“Viscount, if you give the order, I will have this bastard’s head.”
“What’s wrong with this bastard? Can’t he show some respect?”
The way they spoke and their demeanor resembled backstreet ruffians more than noble soldiers. With such subordinates at his command, Conrad’s momentum rose, and he spoke.
“There’s nothing I can do to stop these men if you don’t show me some respect.”
At that moment, the village chief let out a groaning sound, twisting his body. Ruon anxiously looked at the village chief, who was staring at him, and opened his mouth.
“Why did you tie up the village chief like that?”
“He is being investigated on charges of colluding with demons.”
Ruon asked, as he had heard from Evel.
“What charges? As far as I know, that nobleman doesn’t even have the guts to hire a single mercenary.”
Conrad laughed bitterly.
“Despite the rumors of a demon appearing at the monastery, the village chief didn’t report it to me, the lord. What does that mean? It means he made a deal with the demon and kept his mouth shut.”
Since there was no need to fabricate such a forced situation, Ruon sighed.
“That’s not the truth. The village chief hired me, hoping that the monastery’s problem would be resolved, and I came here after solving it. So, if you release him, everything can be resolved smoothly.”
Conrad raised his eyebrows.
“You solved it? Does that mean you killed the demon?”
“Not a complete demon, but there was a demon follower.”
Upon hearing Ruon’s words, Conrad fell silent for a moment, then made a scoffing sound. It seemed like a signal, as all the soldiers around began to mutter.
Conrad squinted his eyes.
“Hey, Ruon. No, you, the bluffer. You expect me to believe that you single-handedly killed a demon? Are you some kind of legendary hero?”
“Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”
“You little bastard… You think I’m scared of you? Do you think I’m easy to deal with?
Conrad pointed his finger at Ruon.
“Kill that bastard.”
The soldiers rushed forward in an instant. Ruon drew the newly acquired longsword from his waist and parried the attack of the man swinging his axe. After deflecting the attack, he had planned to counterattack, but the gleaming sword split the axe blade in an instant, and Ruon stepped back in surprise.
As the broken axe blade fell to the ground with a thud, the approaching men hesitated and backed away.
Unlike the shattered axe, Ruon’s blade remained intact. Ruon, who was staring at the pommel of the sword, the shining silver stag, murmured.
“What an incredible thing I’ve received.”
Conrad, who was gazing at the sword as if bewitched, shouted angrily.
“Take that away! Kill that bastard and bring it to me!”
At Conrad’s command, the soldiers approached again. Aware of the power of the sword, they didn’t rush in recklessly, but rather seemed to coordinate their attacks from all sides. Not a bad plan, but a poor choice of opponent.
Ruon swiftly slashed through the table. The hesitant man who had been standing by the table was sliced away along with it.
Moving freely among the bewildered soldiers, Ruon swung his sword. Dodging thrusts and launching diagonal slashes. Utilizing rotational force, he delivered an upward strike. Then, a downward strike. Like flowing water, his attacks continued, and the men who lost their limbs screamed and fell to the ground.
“This insignificant bastard!”
“You son of a bi–!”
The men who had lost their comrades rushed forward, mixing in curses with their attacks. However, they too ended up futilely beside their fallen comrades in front of Ruon’s sword.
As Ruon raised his head after delivering a precise strike to the jaw of the large soldier who had charged at him last, the terrified Viscount trembled, his cheeks quivering.
“W-what… you, you, you bastard.”
Stepping forward, Ruon slapped the Viscount’s cheek.
“Ugh!”
With his head snapped to the side, the Viscount was caught off guard as Ruon swung his hand again. With a sharp thud, the Viscount’s head turned in the opposite direction.
“Now, let’s talk, let’s talk.”
In an instant, the swollen-cheeked Marquis spat out several yellowed teeth from his mouth.
Coolly, Ruon spoke.
“To be honest.”
“W-what, what?”
“If you really thought it was the work of a demon, you wouldn’t have come here in such a state. Why did you do this to the village chief?”
“W-well, I thought he colluded with the demon…”
Once again, sparks flew from the Viscount’s cheek. Ruon swiftly straightened the limp Viscount and questioned him again.
“Give me a proper answer.”
“I… I wanted to catch some smugglers and raise taxes.”
There was no longer any value in listening. After making the Viscount kneel, Ruon untied the bound village chief.
“Cough, cough.”
As the cloth was removed from his mouth, the village chief coughed out ragged breaths.
Ruon asked.
“Are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine.”
Before he knew it, the village chief was speaking with a respectful tone. Ruon was unsure what to say, thinking it was due to the fear of the perpetrator of the scene in front of them.
“Are you the champion of Tibella?”
The village chief asked. He pointed to the shining sword adorned with a silver stag and added.
“A sword ordained with a silver deer, the symbol of Tibella.”
Finally, Ruon understood why the village chief was speaking with such reverence. It seemed that the village chief regarded him as a chosen warrior, a champion of Tibella.
Though he had no interest in pompous titles, Ruon smiled inwardly. He approached the Viscount who was looking up at him.
“You said your name is Conrad?”
“Y-yes.”
Ruon lowered his body and looked into the Viscount’s eyes as he spoke.
“I killed your subordinates because you had your eyes on this sword.”
As Ruon raised the sword, the Viscount visibly flinched.
“What warrior would willingly give up their sacred relic? Isn’t that right?”
The Viscount swallowed nervously.
“I-it’s a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? Where did the person who was shouting about killing me and taking the sword go?”
Ruon said to the Viscount, who had a foolish expression on his face, his lips twitching.
“Setting aside the fact that you persecuted the villagers to collect taxes higher than royal decrees, you said they were collaborating with a demon when in fact, there really was a demon in the monastery. Isn’t that the same as spitting on Tibella’s face?”
The Viscount’s face contorted in an unpleasant manner.
“I-I… there really were demons in the monastery?”
“Yes. And I killed them.”
The Viscount nervously grabbed the handle of the shining sword and exclaimed.
“I-I had no idea. I was just using rumors to slightly increase taxes. I never intended to take advantage of the incident at the monastery.”
The Viscount’s genuine surprise was evident. If it was true that demons appeared in the monastery, then he had confessed to exploiting the church’s incident in front of Tibella’s champion. He had even ordered his death.
“I, too, don’t want to mix any personal emotions in work done in the name of the gods. Leave quietly. And live your life as if this never happened. Can you do that?”
Speaking about work done in the name of the gods, Ruon felt a pang of guilt, but he finished speaking without a trace of hesitation.
The Viscount nodded.
“I will.”
“It would be wise not to forget that.”
Ruon gestured toward the door as if to tell him to leave. The stumbling Viscount hurriedly rushed out without looking back. After a moment, the sound of hoofbeats faded into the distance.
“Chief! What, what is all this?”
Evel and the villagers who had entered the inn after seeing the fleeing Viscount gasped in horror when they saw the bodies on the floor.
Fortunately, thanks to the village chief, who had witnessed everything and explained the situation, the matter was resolved without major complications. The only issue was that, throughout the process, the villagers had firmly believed Ruon to be Tibella’s champion.
As people began to send looks of reverence toward Ruon, who had thwarted the Viscount’s wickedness, killed the demon in the monastery, and received Tibella’s blessing, he could only scratch his head, now unable to claim a reward.
‘It’s karma for using the name of the gods.’
Ruon, who had originally considered killing the Viscount, found satisfaction in the situation being resolved.
The Holy Sword hummed low in his ears, as if it was reaching out to touch his godless, warrior heart.
