Chapter 63.
"Don"t move! If you do, you won’t be forgiven!"
The act of slaughtering innocent people went against Taurus’ principles. Even if he wasn’t the one doing it, ignoring the bloodbath involving innocents was contrary to his principles.
Looking at him standing and adjusting his posture, Scorpio sat there and crossed her legs seductively. "Oh my, what are you getting so excited about? Don"t worry, Baby, I"m just here to spectate.”
"What are you talking about?" Taurus didn"t understand her.
Seeing him like that, she answered like he didn’t need to know. "You can just take a look around. Of course, I don"t know if the principles you believe in so much will allow it."
"What—"
"Should I lament that your information gathering abilities are low, or admire that you have a good intuition? Is it purely a coincidence that you are here?”
He was confused by her words that resembled a complaint. "I"m just....”
"Well, I have no need to know your situation. But don"t worry. I"ll just be spectating today.” Like her red mask, she spoke with tempting red lips. "We"ve always done what we wanted, have we not. No matter what others said or not."
At the same time as the words, Scorpio disappeared as if she had never been there.
Taurus looked down at the magic school, frowning under the mask.
-o-
It"s the worst.
I thought, “no way, no way”, but I really did end up meeting the Third Princess.
Right now I managed to make all kinds of excuses and run away. However, the fact that Arelia was wearing a magic school uniform and was close to Yuria and Alice was no different from the saying that I could run into her anytime.
I only looked briefly, but it didn’t seem like she had recognized me. But, life didn’t always go the way you wanted it to. Also, it p.r.i.c.ked my conscience a little that I ditched Lisbon leaving him alone with just women.
Well, Lisbon will be able to handle it. I decided to not worry about it and put some duck meat from the plate into my mouth.
"Tasty."
Wearing a mask that interfered with perception, hiding my presence, and sneaking food into the pocket s.p.a.ce, I escaped to a remote part of the terrace.
I"m going to eat and drink as planned and then go home. No one can interfere!
Even the terrace didn’t feel safe. But I was wearing a mask, so no one should be able to recognize me. However, if by chance, someone who came out to the terrace was trained in magic, there was a high chance of being noticed. Above all, the fact that this was the magic school where they taught people how to use magic made me even more nervous.
Let"s go eat on the roof that"s completely deserted instead.
Oot cha![1]
I stepped on the railing of the terrace, jumped up, grabbed the floor of the terrace just upstairs, and flung myself into the air. I went up to the roof, alternately grabbing the windowsill and drainpipe. I looked up at the sky where the sun had almost fully set, and the stars were starting to s.h.i.+ne little by little.
"Delicious."
What sauce did they put on to make it so delicious? I"ll have to stop by the kitchen on the way out to sneak some.
I couldn’t cook with my awful dexterity, but I was sure if I gave it to someone who cooked at the boarding house, they would take care of it. When I thought that my skills must have been better in my previous life, I realized that there was no food I had made other than instant ramen. After convincing myself quickly, my mouth was greeted with more duck meat.
Delicious!
As I welcomed the duck meat into my mouth, I moistened my throat here and there with the bottle of champagne that I brought along. The carbonated champagne p.r.i.c.kled my throat.
Keuuh-! There"s no alcohol in this.
It was regrettable, but for some reason, there were no alcoholic beverages at all. Still, it was lucky they had some carbonated drinks. I’ll have to study magic to dissolve carbon dioxide into water later.
Sreung-!
Hearing the sound of a blade whistling through the air, I quickly threw my body forward from my seat and dodged. In an instant, I could see a glistening blade pa.s.s through the spot I was at.
While on guard, I looked at the thoughtless guy who suddenly wielded a sword at me.
"Oho, you"re quick, huh?"
A man holding a sword with his right hand and tearing the flesh off a bone with his left hand stared at me while smiling.
... Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y?
Why is Uncle coming out of there?
I put my civil servant ID card with my picture hanging around my neck into the pocket s.p.a.ce. Let"s move past why Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y suddenly attacked from behind and get out of here.
"Aigoo, where do you think you’re going?"
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y threw sword aura in the direction that I was trying to sneak away. I rolled and dodged.
"Excuse me? What did I do wrong to Mister?”
Me trying to escape aside, the killing intent that I was feeling from him was too strong. It’d be a waste for the duck on the plate to be spilled, so I shoved it in my mouth.
Delicious!
Biting some meat, Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y, answered, "No, more so than wrongdoing, you seem suspicious, so I’m going to kill you for now."
Oh, I see.
It was reasonable logic, but I wasn’t going to pa.s.sively let myself be killed. Well, I knew Uncle didn"t intend to kill me when he made a sound as he pulled out the sword. But him saying that he was going to kill me was probably not an idle threat either. His real intention was likely that he couldn"t help it if I ended up dying.
"By the way, it’s my first time seeing your face?”
Of course not!
Then who was the one who kept bothering me every time he came home for vacation by invading my room, spreading erotic books all over, then calling my sisters over?
Of course, the books are kept in my pocket s.p.a.ce and are being used well.
And besides, I’m wearing a mask. What do you mean it’s your first time seeing my face?
Since I couldn’t tell him my actual thoughts, I swallowed the duck meat and tried to calm Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y down.
"Ah, delicious!"
No, that’s not it.
The duck meat was so delicious that I carelessly let out my thoughts. Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y burst into a fit of laughter finding something funny in my words.
"Ahahaha! You"re a funny guy!"
I immediately denied Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y"s words.
"No. How could that be? I"m a serious person. I"m such a serious person that when I was born, I thought, "Dang, I ended up being born," and seriously thought about my future life."
I mostly thought seriously about how to replace the bidet. Anyway, who are you calling a funny guy?
An actually funny guy is someone like Gallahad who always gets tricked. At my level of seriousness, it’d be reasonable to be called a killjoy.
I mean it!
Keuhmm!
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y laughed at my words.
No! I’m at least more serious than Uncle!
I was about to lose my temper, but calmed down and pondered over how to run away. Despite how he seemed, Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y used to be the leader of the warrior force that dominated the Olympus Forest. Although this was not a forest, I had to be prepared for the entire capital area to be half destroyed if Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y was determined to come after me.
While I was considering taking out a magic cane from the subs.p.a.ce, Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y threw away a bone that he ate all the meat from and aimed the sword at me.
"So, I"m going to ask you seriously. Who are you? Libra? Pisces? Ram?"
"What are you talking about?”
I couldn"t understand Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y’s words. If you suddenly ask me if I"m a Pisces or a Libra, what am I supposed to say?
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y, however, must have thought I was trying to withdraw, and brought forth chaotic martial aura and wrapped his sword with it. Light poured out of his sword like an explosion, brightening the surroundings.
"I said I was asking seriously.”
I also released mana to match Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y’s martial aura. "But I also answered seriously."
My mana and Uncle"s martial aura consumed the s.p.a.ce and showed off each other"s strength while trying to secure dominance in the s.p.a.ce. The s.p.a.ce where mana met the martial aura became distorted and shot out sparks.
This was trouble. Uncle was seriously thinking of killing me. If I were not careful, the surrounding area, instead of being half-destroyed, might just disappear without a trace.
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y was surprised and laughed merrily as I got into a battle of aura without being pushed back. To think I’d hear that laugh outside of the village...
"I’ll ask once again. Who are you?" Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y said as if it was the last chance.
I asked back with a light shrug, "Who do you think I am?”
Who the heck do you think I am to be trying to kill me?
"Well, I don"t know, but I think you might be the successor of ‘him’ who died at my hands or the ‘twins’ who died at the hands of William and Orphina. What do you think?”
Him? Twins? Come to think of it, he also said things like libra, pisces, and aries. What kind of animal farm was this?
I didn’t know about the twins, but libra was an inorganic object, so it was not just an animal group. But I felt like I’d heard of this a.s.sociation before.
"Perhaps, are these zodiac signs or a person called Leo?"
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y smiled coolly and nodded. "You know very well!" He got into a stance as if he were going to fight right away.
"Wa-wait! Wait a moment, please. I think you"ve got the wrong person!”
When I stopped him, Uncle looked at me like ‘what bullsh*t is that’.
"What is that bullsh*t?”
Gosh, saying that so bluntly was making it uncomfortable for someone who was going to keep saying nonsense.
"Based on what I’ve heard so far, it seems like you are looking for a member of an organization that has the names of the 12 zodiacs?”
Since Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y was pretty simple, let"s try shaking him off by talking.
"And?"
"Unfortunately, you chose incorrectly. I"ve never heard of an organization like that.”
I spoke full of sincerity, but Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y"s reaction was cold.
"You think I"d believe that?”
I thought if it was the simple Uncle, he would believe it. Still, this nephew felt relieved to see that he had grown up somewhat after having lived in the capital for a little while.
Who"s nonsense was it that if you were sincere, the opponent would be understanding? Well, I wasn"t stupid enough to believe that nonsense. Normally, when you deceive a person, you need to mix in some truth. If it seemed like a lie, it might be better not to mix it in, but since I didn"t have any information, let"s just try going with the flow.
Now, it"s time for the bullsh*t.
"Think about it. You swung the sword as soon as you saw me. What was the reason? That"s because I looked suspicious.”
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y nodded his head to my words.
All right. To start, he showed signs of listening.
"Well, it"s obvious I was being suspicious. My mask and the work I’m doing is kind of like that.”
"Work?"
"Yes, I"m ashamed to say but I"m in poverty, so I"m surviving by stealing. I"d like to explain my long story, but neither you nor I have the time, so let"s just skip that part."
To start, I laid the groundwork that I was just a simple thief.
"Let"s look at the case where you wielded the sword again. Based on your uniform, you look like a knight, a very highly ranked knight at that. Such a knight, who values courtesy and tradition, ignored chivalry and wielded a sword for questioning and answering. Right?"
I tone down my tempo a notch. It was not necessarily good to speak rapid-fire. It was important for the other person to listen in order to get them engrossed in my words.
"As a high-ranking knight, your skills should also be good. I could tell Sir Knight’s skills are brilliant just from looking at the neatness of your sword swing."
I naturally changed the t.i.tle from ‘you’ to ‘Sir Knight’. And Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y nodded with a proud face.
Oho, so you like that!
1. Sound a person makes during physical exertion/activity