Kays Translations

Chapter 39: A Dazzling Display Before the Prince

Ren knew the geography around Elendil in detail.

He had explored the region extensively, so the few available clues were enough to suggest a possible hideout.

The locations of the attacks, the use of earth magic, and the need for a place where a large group could remain concealed all pointed toward the same mountain.

Long ago, Forest Worms had nested there. Their abandoned tunnels formed a vast, ant-nest-like labyrinth known as the Great Hole of the Forest Worms.

(A hidden area that can only be opened with earth magic… It has to be there.)

Ren urged Io forward, and the mare raced like the wind toward the conclusion he had reached.

She had grown even stronger and faster since Ren took her from Yelquq. With monster blood in her veins, Io carried him to the small mountain in remarkably little time.

Patches of snow still remained when Ren dismounted near a nearly vertical cliff.

In Legend of the Seven Heroes, using earth magic at this spot altered the terrain and revealed an entrance to the Forest Worm tunnels running throughout the mountain.

Forest Worms resembled the Earthworms of Clausel’s Eastern Forest, though they were slightly stronger. The local population had been exterminated long ago, leaving only the empty nest.

The question was how Ren, who could not use earth magic, would open the way.

“Oh.”

Fortunately, the bandits had already done most of the work.

The cliff face had been carefully disguised to resemble untouched stone, but the surface felt softer than the surrounding rock. When Ren pressed it, small pieces of gravel trickled down.

He would not need to carve through solid stone with the Iron Magic Sword or the Great Tree Magic Sword.

Ren summoned the Iron Magic Sword and slashed vertically through the weakened surface. A circular section collapsed inward, exposing a dark passage.

“What do you think, Io?”

“Neigh.”

Leaving her alone outside would be dangerous.

Io sounded willing to accompany him, so Ren took her reins and entered the abandoned nest.

The tunnel was enormous—wide enough for ten adults to walk abreast. Torches burned along the walls at regular intervals.

“I knew it.”

The treasure chest he remembered from the game was gone, but there were clear signs that people had been living there.

Io yawned.

“Are you sleepy?”

“Brrr…”

She might have been sleepy or simply bored.

(I’ll give you a thorough brushing and let you rest when we return to Elendil.)

The Forest Worms had left broad, smooth passages as though the walls had been polished. Rough stairways made from secured logs connected tunnels running vertically, horizontally, and diagonally through the strange circular spaces.

As Ren descended one of them, a cold draft touched the back of his neck.

At the same instant, he heard a sword being drawn behind him.

Before the people following him could intervene, a man in dirty robes sprang from Ren’s blind spot.

“You—!”

Ren reacted without hesitation.

He swung the Great Tree Magic Sword and drove the pommel into the man’s body.

“Gah…!”

The ambusher collapsed unconscious before he could finish his attack.

“As expected. This really is the bandits’ hideout.”

Ren glanced behind him.

The men closing in were the supposed Arnevelde swordsmen he had met on the plain.

They stared at the unconscious bandit and blinked in disbelief at Ren’s speed.

“You followed me all the way from the plain. Were you worried after all?”

“You noticed us?”

“Yes. Your presence wasn’t hostile, so I ignored it.”

Ren turned and continued deeper into the tunnels.

“If you’re coming, I’ll leave the prisoners to you.”

“Ah… understood. But…”

The men—Royal Guard knights disguised as Arnevelde swordsmen—exchanged awkward looks.

Four had followed Ren. One fitted magical restraints around the captured bandit’s wrists and ensured he could not move.

Two knights continued after Ren, while the remaining two stayed behind to guard their route and the prisoner.

“May I ask you something?” one of the pursuing knights said.

“What is it?”

“How did you find this place?”

“I’m an adventurer. I studied the terrain around Elendil, remembered that there was something unusual about this mountain, and compared it with the information I heard on the plain.”

The knights appeared to be testing whether Ren might have a connection to the criminals.

Ren understood their caution. He would have considered the same possibility in their position.

“The guild can verify my identity and history if you need reassurance.”

That answer silenced them.

Within a dozen minutes, Ren reached a broad chamber.

Torches flickered along the walls, their light wavering in a draft from another passage.

More than a dozen shadows rushed him from every direction.

“Io, move back.”

Ren released her reins, and the mare retreated from the center of the chamber.

The Royal Guard knights drew their swords, but their feet stopped.

They had never experienced anything quite like the pressure radiating from Ren. More importantly, instinct told them that he did not need their help.

Holding the Great Tree Magic Sword, Ren moved with unhurried composure as the bandits closed in.

“I’m glad.”

The knights did not immediately understand what emotion lay behind those words.

Soon they did.

One bandit after another fell.

Ren’s strikes were swift, precise, and controlled. He targeted the solar plexus, the base of the neck, and other places that would render an opponent unconscious without killing him.

The earth magician remained behind the others, raising his staff to cast.

Ren stepped forward and crossed the distance in an instant.

“Wh—?”

The man forced his earth magic into motion.

Nature Magic vines erupted around his legs and pinned him in place.

Panicking, he swung his staff and made the earth rise in a desperate attempt to stop Ren.

The spell never reached its target.

Ren was faster. The impact from the Great Tree Magic Sword passed through the man’s body, and the half-formed magic lost its power, leaving only an uneven mound of earth.

The entire battle ended with astonishing speed.

“Could you help carry them outside?” Ren asked.

Only then did the Royal Guard knights understand why he had said he was glad.

He had been relieved to discover that the bandits were opponents he could subdue without difficulty.

As they secured the prisoners, the knights whispered among themselves.

“These men were supposed to be highly capable. What was that?”

“The answer is obvious. The boy is simply far stronger.”

“He aimed at lethal points, yet controlled every strike well enough to leave them alive…”

Their voices did not reach Ren.

Together, they carried the unconscious bandits from the Forest Worm nest.

Several ordinary knights had arrived at the foot of the mountain with wagons for transporting prisoners. One of the Royal Guard knights who had split from the group must have summoned them.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The sight of an entire band of unconscious criminals being loaded into wagons was extraordinary.

They were taken first toward the plain where Radius’s tent stood, then would be transported onward to Elendil.

After hearing the report, Radius hurried out of the tent.

There he saw Ren completely unharmed and every member of the bandit group bound in the wagons.

He had barely begun questioning a Royal Guard knight when an ear-splitting scream erupted.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

One prisoner, though restrained so tightly he should not have been able to move, tore himself free and leaped from a wagon.

His eyes were bloodshot, his skin had turned a dark reddish black, and black mana wrapped around both arms.

He snatched a sword from a nearby knight and charged toward Ren—and toward Radius beyond him.

“What—?”

Radius was startled, but immediately opened his mouth to issue orders.

Ren was already moving.

Still mounted on Io, he summoned the Iron Magic Sword and raised it overhead.

(So the Demon King cult really is involved.)

The power granted to the cultist had gone out of control.

The people directing the bandits had apparently arranged for one of their pawns to rampage when captured.

Royal Guard knights rushed into a formation protecting both Ren and Radius.

Even in his transformed state, the bandit was inferior to them, but the speed of his charge left no room for hesitation.

Ren looked at the man with a cold, sorrowful expression.

“I don’t pity you.”

He was nevertheless relieved that his instincts had been correct and that he had acted before the danger spread.

Ren tightened his grip and swung the Iron Magic Sword downward.

The knight directly in front of him turned at the pressure gathering behind his back.

A wave of sword force swept past the knight.

When he looked toward its path, the transformed bandit had already collapsed. The man was still breathing, but there was no chance of him rising again soon.

It had been nothing more than sword pressure—yet the mana at its core unmistakably belonged to a particular school.

Radius stared.

“…Extraordinary.”

Ren never looked back, so Radius could not see his face. Even so, his build, voice, and presence made it clear that their ages were not far apart.

Ren calmly turned Io toward Elendil.

“I’ll return to the city first. There is someone I must report this to. If you need anything from me, contact me through the guild.”

The boy who had just displayed such overwhelming ability rode away, leaving everyone speechless.

Radius recovered first and ordered the Royal Guard to restrain the fallen man again. The knights had already begun to move before the command, though even they could not hide their agitation.

“Your Highness,” one of them said.

“What is it?”

“There can be no doubt. That boy practices the Mighty Sword Style.”

“…Yes. I believe so as well.”

Radius’s voice drifted into the wind crossing the plain.

No other prisoner displayed any abnormal behavior. All remained unconscious from Ren’s attacks.

The transformed man had apparently been the group’s leader and the earth magician Ren defeated inside the hideout.

Like the two cultists from the Baldor Mountains, he lacked the strength to withstand the power bestowed upon him.

He had been nothing more than a disposable pawn—prepared to lose control when the people behind the operation no longer needed him.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter