After confirming that Wilkerson, who had arrested Vertek, had left with the knights under his command, Damon
slowly approached the carriage. The mercenaries were trapped inside it.
A faint blue shield covered the surface of the carriage, which was barred with iron rods as thick as duck eggs.
It was that very barrier which had protected the mercenaries’ lives from the Black Dragon’s acid breath.
But the shield had covered only the carriage. The unfortunate
horses that had been pulling it were already sprawled about, reduced to bones… Damon withdrew
the shield from the carriage and looked back at Saramis.
“I don’t have the strength to cast magic. You’ll have to lend a hand……”
Without another word, Saramis approached the carriage.
“Everyone, press yourselves tight against the other side. If you’re unlucky, your torsos may be cut in two.”
At the Death Knight’s threat, which seemed to seep out from the netherworld, the mercenaries turned pale and hurriedly
huddled against the opposite side. After confirming it, Saramis drew his sword.
Shiiing.
A dark luster surged up from the saber. The black Aura Blade of darkness
instantly rose to a length of three feet. When Saramis lightly swung the saber, the iron bars
were sliced apart as easily as boiled radishes.
Clang, clang, clang.
Watching the severed pieces of iron bars fall, Saramis went back behind Damon
and stood at attention. A moment later, the mercenaries began to come out of the carriage one by one.
In their eyes as they looked at Damon, without exception, there was a look of astonishment. It was as if
they were looking not at a man, but at an absolute being. Last of all, Mitchell and
Juliana stepped out of the carriage. They, too, were looking at Damon
with eyes full of wariness.
The first to speak was Kassim.
“Just who are you?”
“……”
Looking back and forth between Damon and Saramis, who stood at attention behind him, Kassim seemed to
make up his mind, his expression hardening.
“Please reveal your true identity. If you still consider us
your companions, that is.”
A smile appeared on Damon’s face.
“Of course I consider you companions. From the moment you did not deny me while under interrogation,
you became my companions forever.”
A faint smile also appeared on Kassim’s face, but it vanished
even faster than it had appeared.
“Only when there is nothing hidden between us can we truly be called companions. In my opinion,
you are by no means an ordinary person. Yet for what reason did you intend to travel
with us……? I also want to know why you joined my mercenary band.
And why you concealed your identity as well.”
Damon replied flatly.
“I have never concealed my identity. Have any of you, by chance, ever asked me
about my past until now?”
At Damon’s counterquestion, Kassim was left speechless. That was, in fact, the truth. But
Kassim did not back down so easily.
“Then why did you take us in as companions? We possess abilities utterly insignificant
compared to yours, mage—no better than insects.”
Having finished speaking, Kassim glanced at Saramis standing behind Damon.
“The knights of death you command. Even they alone are beings
who leave nothing to be desired. If they wished, they possess enough power
to destroy an entire kingdom. Did you truly need powerless companions like us?”
Kassim’s words were almost a cry of anguish. After seeing the other party’s power,
he had discovered just how endlessly shabby he himself was. Damon, who had been listening silently, looked straight at Kassim.
“Then are only those with power qualified to become companions?”
“N-no, that is not so, but……”
“I already possess sufficient power. These Death Knights alone are more than enough.
But does that mean there is no reason for me to need companions?”
“……”
A desolate look drifted across Damon’s face. Damon had spent a long time
cultivating his strength alone in order to walk the harsh path of revenge. Thus, there was no way
he would not feel loneliness.
“I sincerely wanted companions. Even if they lacked a little strength, companions who would always encourage one another,
care for one another, and look after one another. In searching for such companions, must I truly take ability into account?”
Kassim listened silently to Damon’s words.
“When I first saw you, I was truly surprised. Your camaraderie exceeded ordinary levels……
While interrogating you, I was able to make up my mind without difficulty. If you were this much,
you were more than worthy of being taken as companions……”
“I’m grateful for your words, but I heard that your purpose, mage, is dragon hunting.
But we do not currently have the ability to hunt even a single wyvern, let alone a dragon.”
At Kassim’s words, an ambiguous smile appeared on Damon’s face.
“My friend. A person’s ability is never fixed. Depending on effort and training,
it can develop as much as one wishes. Are Sword Masters born with their skill
from birth? Absolutely not. They, too, gained their strength through training and effort.
Where in the world is there any law saying you cannot do the same?”
“……”
“I have already acknowledged you as companions. Even in a situation where you might have rotted in prison for life,
you did not deny me, so that will probably remain an unchanging fact. If your ability is lacking,
then I need only raise it, no? Do you understand now? How I feel?”
As soon as Damon finished speaking, the mercenaries’ faces brightened. Kassim opened his mouth
stammering as if he could not believe it.
“T-then the mana cultivation technique you taught us……”
“From now on, I will explain the origin of that cultivation technique. Everyone, come here and sit around me.”
Damon and the mercenaries soon sat down on the ground and began a long conversation. Only Mitchell and
Juliana stood awkwardly, listening to the conversation. Damon looked at each of the mercenaries’ faces
one by one and continued speaking.
“Do any of you know that Emperor Crossen was not a person of this world?”
“We know.”
Though it had been a full five hundred years ago, Emperor Crossen himself had been such a great figure
that the mercenaries possessed their own knowledge about him. Including the fact
that the being who had exerted the greatest influence on the two continents of Arcadia and Truvenia had come not from here, but from another world.
“The story I am about to tell is something no one else knows. It is a fact only I know.
So listen carefully.”
Having finished speaking, Damon organized in his mind what he would say. Since he could not
confess everything exactly as it was, he had no choice but to embellish it to some degree. In particular,
he had to conceal matters concerning himself even more. After finishing his organization, Damon began to tell the story.
“People imagine that the only being who crossed over from another world was Emperor Crossen alone,
but in truth, that is not so. There was, in fact, one more expert who crossed over
from the world where Emperor Crossen lived. That is something no one here knows,
a fact known only to me. Moreover, that otherworldly expert was a figure whose skill
was by no means inferior to Emperor Crossen’s. There is no need whatsoever to doubt his ability.”
At this completely unexpected fact, the mercenaries’ mouths fell open. Emperor Crossen was a hero
who had exerted a truly tremendous influence on this world. A hero whose swordsmanship was beyond anything
the knights here could imagine. For a being from the same world as Emperor Crossen,
and one whose skill was equal to his, to have appeared here…… The most impatient of them, Patterson, could not hold back
and finally opened his mouth.
“T-then why was he never known to the world at all?”
“I will explain from here, so listen well. In truth, Emperor Crossen was on the lucky side.
He formed ties with humans and was able to display his tremendous martial prowess without restraint.
But the expert I speak of was truly unlucky. Of all places, he fell near a dragon’s lair
and ended up being captured by the dragon.”
The mercenaries widened their eyes and listened intently to the story Damon unfolded. It was content
that could not help but rouse their interest. The mercenaries’ eyes were all shining brightly.
Needless to say, Mitchell and Juliana were the same.
“Unfortunately, that expert had to end his life in the dragon’s lair. Without ever being able
to boast of the martial prowess he possessed.”
“H-how in the world did you come to know that?”
Unable to hold back, Kassim poured out the question. Damon looked steadily at his face
and continued speaking.
“You must have heard it well enough, yes? That I slew a dragon in Truvenia
and stole the dragons’ magical treasury. That is all true, from beginning to end.”
Kassim’s mouth fell open.
“Then the place where you kept the Dullahan……”
“Exactly. That is Increcia, the dragons’ magical treasury. Because of that,
the dragons of Truvenia are searching for me with bloodshot eyes.”
The mercenaries could not make the situation feel real at all. If it had not been confirmed
from a dragon’s own mouth, none of them would have believed it. Damon leisurely looked over
each of the mercenaries in turn.
“To steal that magical treasury, I went deep into the dragon’s lair. But by chance,
I found a diary there. It was a diary written personally by that otherworldly man.
That unfortunate otherworldly expert ultimately could not escape the dragon’s grasp and
met the end of his life. But he did not leave this world just like that. Perhaps it is human instinct
to want to leave one’s name behind even in death. He left a diary in the dragon’s lair
in which he wrote down his circumstances in detail. It was through that diary that I learned
of the otherworldly expert’s existence.”
Having learned the circumstances, the mercenaries looked astonished. Even Mitchell and Juliana
watched Damon’s mouth with shining eyes. But they did not dream
that the otherworldly expert was the very person standing before their eyes.
“Amazing. So that is why he was never known to the world at all.”
Damon nodded. As if recalling the past, his eyes gradually grew hazy.
“That’s right. According to the diary, that expert wished to cross swords
with Emperor Crossen even once. If he had not been imprisoned by the dragon,
the two of them might very well have faced each other and competed.”
“But was that man’s ability truly as strong as Emperor Crossen’s? I simply
cannot believe……”
The mercenaries’ reaction was entirely reasonable. After all, Emperor Crossen was almost like
a god in this place. Suppressing the stubborn indignation that slowly welled up within him, Damon
forced himself to manage his expression.
“According to what was written in the diary, that man was an absolute ruler who commanded
at least more than ten thousand warriors where he lived. They say he had no fewer than five hundred knights
of Paladin level under his command.”
“H-heavens……”
The mercenaries’ mouths fell open. Ten thousand warriors alone were unbelievable, and yet
five hundred Paladins…… At the continued shocking revelations, they simply could not
come to their senses. Having seen a dragon for the first time in their lives, and a Dragon Slayer
who could slay that dragon without difficulty, and on top of that hearing secret history from five hundred years ago,
they felt as if they themselves might have come to another world.
Watching the mercenaries unable to close their mouths, Damon smiled gently. From here on,
it was time to lift their spirits a little.
“In truth, there is one thing I deceived you about.”
“D-deceived us?”
Damon stared straight into the mercenaries’ eyes and opened his mouth.
“To be precise, the mana cultivation technique I taught you was not something I created.
That mana cultivation technique belongs to that absolute being from another world. The unfortunate absolute being
from another world, long forgotten. In the latter part of the diary, the mana cultivation technique I taught you
was written down in its entirety.”
Boom.
The mercenaries were seized by a shock as if a bolt of lightning had pierced through their minds.
They had received the mana cultivation technique of an absolute being from another world,
said to have stood shoulder to shoulder with Emperor Crossen……