36.A MAN BECOMING OF THE MOONThe hall quieted down. The mist cleared up and the nine dead bodies were being taken away from the place. n.o.body was paying attention to that gruesome sight. As if such thing wasn´t even entering their sights, their eyes were focused at only one place.
At the handsome face that was behind the white mask.
The white hair that even almost seemed translucent reflected the light of the candle stands, giving off a red shadow. Those eyes that had wisdom deepened his impression much more than when he was wearing a mask. The lump of rationality his body was with the elimination of any pointlessness in his training had a tender form and made people long for it.
It was a man becoming of the night. A man becoming of the moon. If one was to meet him under the moonlight, one would caught one´s breath by his [beauty]. The moon attracted people.
He was a man that was like the moon.
“…Karl-sama, due to my negligence, I have ended up letting one escape. Now, I will go track the a.s.sa.s.sin down, so please leave this matter to me.”
Word by word, the view was turning into a picture. Most of the people at the place didn´t even have recollections of what happened before. Not only that, the impression they had of Willian itself became entirely different. Having been painted into something else, the past wouldn´t surface in their minds at all. They were completely filled by Willian´s charm now that he was unleashed from his mask.
“Take care, ok!”
The only one calm was Karl, who had become used to it after seeing Willian regularly. Even Eahart and Baldias didn´t expect that a man of such charm would come out under that mask.
“I see. This acting really does its effect.”
Eahart was impressed. The strong image Willian had implanted in the people and his fascinating impression came about only because he would usually hide himself under the mask. Whether he was an ugly man, whether he was a handsome man; he would be leading people astray, would be bewildering them. The white mask would incite people´s interest.
It was because he had confidence in himself that the act of hiding his face had better effect. It was a cycle made for charming people. Both the people that saw what he was like under his mask and the people that didn´t became more interested in him the more they came to know about him. They were interested in the man named Willian Rivius. (TL note: Not sure what this was supposed to mean ->これは人を惹き付けるためのセルフプロデュースセルフプロデュース
“Willian…sama.”
It was only the people that stood in the light…. (TL note: Too vague ;-; I´m not sure what the author meant by that ->輝きの中にいるものですら――<>
By the time Willian had already gone out from Baldias´ residence to pursue the one a.s.sa.s.sin he had let escape, the princesses and the n.o.blewomen had all been temporarily evacuated to another room, and Hilda and the others were working on sorting out the aftermath.
“So a tableware knife can deal such injuries… That´s really impressive.”
Anzerm let out a voice of praise. Hilda, who was in a bad mood, also couldn´t help but nod at that. If someone was to ask her if she could do this feat with that sort of knife, she would have to say she couldn´t. She wouldn´t be able to move like Willian once her vision was denied from her to begin with. It was because she couldn´t do that that she devoted herself to the defense of the party members, but…
“But really, to think he could move like that inside that mist.”
Gregour was surprised that Willian was capable of moving around like that to that extent. Gregour´s sight was completely gone once the mist thickened, so no matter how strong he was, he wasn´t in a situation he could make use of his strength. It took his all just to keep guard. To Gregour, who was a warrior, it was obvious that he would see Willian in a good light with how he was capable of a.s.saulting the a.s.sa.s.sins by himself inside that mist.
“So this is the rumoured white mask.”
“To think he would be able to defeat seven people by himself… It is vexing, but I cannot help but commend him.”
“That Karl got a great pick-up.”
The other centurions were surprised by the number seven of the people Willian killed. It was easy to understand what that number meant. Inside that mist, Willian overturned the advantage of the a.s.sa.s.sins that were used to the darkness. If someone was to ask them whether they could do the same, they couldn´t answer in any way other than that they could not. To begin with, there was no way that they would be able protect count Vrad, who was the one being targeted, if it had been by themselves.
“…Hmph.”
Gilberto snorted. Perhaps Willian had intended to make it through his predicament, but Gilberto´s senses weren´t rusty to the point he wouldn´t know that the killing intent from before that was clearly being pointed to someone of the party. What happened was that Willian was lucky to have the a.s.sa.s.sins invade at that time. Gilberto believed that in his mind, and also believed this was a big chance.
“How scary.”
Hilda ended up leaking her real thoughts with those words. Much more than the sharpness in the injuries of the a.s.sa.s.sins, much more than the fact he was able to move despite having his vision hindered, and much more than how he dealt with seven of the a.s.sa.s.sins, it was his standing figure in those last moments that was etched in her eyes; that white handsome man that appeared from inside the mist.
“What is scary?”
It wasn´t only his appearance that was beautiful. There was his aura too. A darkness that felt like it would engulf everything, and an unknown certain something that was bottomless. At the same time humans feared the darkness, they also had the trait of being attracted by it. For what there was for Willian´s darkness, his strength also wasn´t any less bewildering. From now on, the number of people that would get attracted by him will definitely increase. That was what it was scary.
“Haven´t you started getting c.o.c.ky now that you´ve become a knight, you green horn?”
“Ouch, ouch, ouch! Don´t pull my cheeks!”
Whether this kingdom would be wrapped up by the curtains of the night; it was so scary it couldn´t be helped.