Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Chapter 36

The place Rickart and Boribori reached while following the Nameless Man was a small city called Magdestadt. Though modest in size, it possessed a long and distinguished history.

Many of its buildings had been constructed in ages past. Despite being historic structures, they were still put to practical use by the residents. The entire city possessed a naturally antiquated charm.

Unlike the city, which proudly displayed its timeless beauty, however, the faces of its citizens were clouded with worry. Evidently, life was just as difficult here as it was everywhere else.

A scrawny dog wandered with its nose pressed to the ground. Perhaps catching the scent of the food in Rickart’s bag, it raised its head and looked at him.

It feebly wagged its tail, presenting a heartbreaking sight. Yet when even humans were starving, Rickart could not afford to give food to a dog.

Rickart and Boribori had another serious problem.

This city lay within the territory of the Brabant Adventurers’ Guild.

Fundamentally, all adventurers’ guilds competed with one another. Competition was especially bloody between guilds whose operating territories overlapped.

Considering the vicious clashes the Beringen Guild had fought with the Rubens Guild, this was not a safe place for Rickart and Boribori.

Yet the Nameless Man was heading directly toward a branch of the Brabant Adventurers’ Guild. Naturally, numerous armed adventurers surrounded the building.

Rickart was not particularly frightened, but the thought that he needed to conceal his identity made him uneasy.

Then again, it was not as though he had Student of the Beringen Adventurers’ Guild Academy written across his forehead. As long as he kept quiet, he assumed there would be no problem.

The Nameless Man entered the building. When Rickart and Boribori tried to follow, however, someone blocked their path.

"Who are you two?"

The man examined their appearances. Their young age combined with the weapons they carried apparently struck him as suspicious.

"Uh... The man who just went inside is our father. Right, brother?"

Boribori lied so naturally that Rickart turned toward him with wide eyes.

Boribori was two years older than Rickart, yet he had called him his older brother. Still, they looked close enough in age that it hardly mattered.

The man blocking their way tilted his head with a puzzled expression. However, he apparently concluded that the boys carried weapons to assist their father.

Without another word, he stepped aside.

Thus, Rickart and Boribori fearlessly entered what could be considered the very heart of enemy territory.

The Nameless Man had placed two heads on a table and was collecting the bounties. It seemed that, separate from his pursuit of vengeance, he earned his living as a bounty hunter.

An adventurer removed the heads from their wrappings and checked their faces and identifying features. He then hurriedly put the gruesome things away and handed over what appeared to be a receipt confirming payment.

Watching from beside him, Rickart and Boribori saw that the Nameless Man’s signature was indeed a simple X.

Even after seeing it, the adventurer failed to recognize him. Perhaps he could not imagine that Nameless X, one of the Nine Swords of the Empire, would suddenly appear amid his peaceful daily routine.

Most people in the world were illiterate. When asked to sign something, they simply made a dot, drew a circle, or marked an X. It was hardly a signature unique to the Nameless Man.

Moreover, this was an age without news media. A person could hear someone’s name until his ears ached and still fail to recognize him when he appeared in front of them.

"Do you want some of it in gold? Or should I mix silver and copper coins?"

Gold coins were worth too much for everyday use and were rarely exchanged outside major mercantile transactions. Converting the bounty entirely into silver and copper, however, would make it exceptionally heavy. That was why the adventurer asked.

The Nameless Man did not respond. Wearing his distinctive helmet that concealed his entire head, he merely stared silently at the adventurer.

"We’d like some medicine, travel provisions, whetstones, flint, and firewood instead of money," Rickart said from beside him.

The adventurer gave Rickart a look that asked, Who is this brat? Then he glanced between the boy and the Nameless Man.

When the Nameless Man offered no objection, the adventurer nodded.

"You know food is worth its weight in gold during winter, don’t you?"

"I’m sure you’ll give us a fair amount—if you want to continue doing good business with him in the future."

The adventurer chuckled at Rickart’s bold response. He wrapped up high-quality ham, cheese, dried meat, hardtack, liquor, and other provisions in paper and handed them over.

As an adventurers’ guild, the branch always maintained a good stock of travel supplies.

After watching Rickart accept goods instead of money, the Nameless Man strode over to one of the building’s walls. He scanned the wanted posters haphazardly attached to it, then arbitrarily tore one down.

"Huh? You can’t just take that—"

"Keep the change."

Speaking as though the poster had been properly paid for, Rickart hurried after the Nameless Man as he left the building.

One might have expected the Nameless Man to visit an inn after reaching the city, bathe in warm water, and rest comfortably. Instead, he left the city immediately, as though the very thought had never occurred to him.

He behaved as though every moment was precious—or as though he had little time left to live.

With his damaged and suffering body, the tiger walked onward for the sake of revenge alone, never revealing his pain to anyone.

Rickart and Boribori followed.

The distance between them and the Nameless Man was now shorter than it had been before.

"Come to think of it, he hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday, has he?" Boribori asked Rickart.

Rickart nodded.

Boribori took some of the provisions they had just received from his bag and carried them to the Nameless Man.

"Um... It looks like you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday...."

The Nameless Man extended one hand, seized the chunk of meat, and pushed it beneath the cloth concealing the lower half of his face. He began chewing ravenously.

It must have been incredibly salty.

But he neutralized the saltiness by guzzling strong liquor. After emptying the entire bottle in one go, he tossed it aside.

"...You can eat more slowly...."

The Nameless Man ate so much and so quickly that Boribori worried he might make himself ill.

Seeing that the man had accepted the food, Rickart also approached him.

"So, who is your next target? Is it the person on that wanted poster?"

The Nameless Man glanced at Rickart, then turned his head away and ignored him.

Was it because he did not trust them?

Or did he simply find it easier to work alone?

Since he could not speak, there was no way to know.

Not long after they left the city, however, several people began following Rickart’s group.

They kept barely within sight. It was impossible to tell whether they merely happened to be traveling in the same direction or had some ulterior motive.

Rickart noticed the truth immediately.

They had been following the group ever since they left the guild branch after collecting the bounty. Rickart recognized them from the brief glimpses he had caught inside.

This was why it was always better to spend at least one night in a city before leaving.

Visiting an adventurers’ guild branch and immediately departing the city was practically the same as publicly announcing that one had just received a large sum of money.

The pursuers watched for an opportunity like starving wolves. The farther they traveled, the more obvious their intentions became.

They wanted either the money or the food.

Then the Nameless Man suddenly nudged Rickart aside. He pointed in another direction and waved his hand, ordering the boys to leave.

Only then did Rickart understand.

Ah. He was worried about us.

Rickart smiled faintly and tapped the sword resting on his shoulder.

"We aren’t that ignorant of how the world works. We didn’t set out fearlessly with nothing but blind faith in our weapons. I already told you—we’re going to kill Reto the Experimenter and Erze the Skin Collector."

"..."

The Nameless Man merely stared down at Rickart.

At that moment, the people who had been following them appeared on the road ahead. They must have circled around by another route.

There were more than ten of them. None was as heavily armored as the Nameless Man, but they carried ordinary spears, hooked spears, swords, clubs, and similar weapons.

They were not adventurers. Their equipment was too crude for that.

Yet they were also more dangerous than common neighborhood thugs.

Rather than a group of professional fighters, they appeared to be people who occasionally robbed travelers but did not make their entire living through banditry.

They were not professional robbers or bandits, but they had plainly done this sort of thing before.

Maintaining some distance, one of them shouted,

"Hey! Put down your weapons and we’ll let you live! You can count, can’t you? There are three of you, and fifteen of us!"

Few statements were more absurd than a robber’s promise to spare someone who surrendered his weapon.

The Nameless Man looked silently at Rickart and Boribori, then turned toward the robbers. He pulled a throwing axe from the strap crossing his chest.

Without issuing a single warning, he hurled it.

Whirrrrr!

"Eek!"

The heavy axe flew through the air with a terrifying sound. It was both fast and accurate.

The Nameless Man appeared to be a fighter who relied upon raw strength and precision rather than elaborate technique.

However, the distance was considerable. The robber at the front recoiled and fell backward onto his rear, fortuitously avoiding the weapon.

Whirrrrr! Thunk!

He did not avoid the second axe.

It buried itself in his skull, snapping his head backward.

The Nameless Man took the rope from his waist and swung it in circles as he advanced toward the enemies. A hook was attached to its end.

Only then did the robbers lower their weapons toward him.

"Tony!"

"You fucking bastard! You want a fight? Fine!"

The Nameless Man hurled the rope at the man who had challenged him.

The robber held a spear and managed to block it, albeit in an awkward posture. But this was not a weapon that could be blocked.

It had to be dodged.

The rope caught around the spear shaft, using it as an axis to coil around the man’s neck. The hook then sank into his collarbone.

"Aaaaargh!"

The Nameless Man possessed monstrous strength. He dragged the fully grown man across the ground toward him.

Only then did the other armed men charge.

"Fuck! Get him!"

"You bastards!"

Why the travelers had become the bastards when they had merely been walking down the road was unclear. But this was a fight for survival, so there was little point in criticizing their language.

The Nameless Man drew his battle-axe and split open the skull of the man he had dragged over.

As he turned to confront the others charging behind him, someone shouted,

"Go after the kids!"

Only then did Rickart lower the sword from his shoulder and draw it from its sheath.

A faint, watery pattern rippled across the blade, gleaming beneath the cold winter sun.

Rickart walked forward calmly.

One enemy, unable even to judge the distance properly, attacked him. Rickart slipped sharply to the right and carved deeply across the man’s waist.

He immediately darted left and swung his sword in the opposite direction, cutting down the next opponent.

He did not retreat a single step.

Instead, he continued advancing.

When warm blood sprayed across the frigid snow, it melted a hole of precisely the same size.

The next opponent thrust a spear at him. Rickart simply twisted aside and used his sword to push the shaft away.

At the same time, he slammed his shoulder into the man’s chest. As the enemy toppled backward, Rickart brought his sword down and split his head open.

Crunch!

During that brief opening, another opponent stabbed at Rickart from the left.

Rickart twisted away from the point, but their bodies collided.

At some point, Rickart had drawn his dagger. Holding it in his left hand, he sliced diagonally upward across his opponent’s abdomen.

The man’s entrails spilled out.

Rickart quickly stepped away, as though afraid they might stain his clothing.

While Rickart disposed of four opponents in the blink of an eye, another enemy charged toward Boribori.

Boribori drew his sidesword and held it in one hand. Standing in a natural posture, he lowered his head and muttered quietly to himself.

When the enemy’s hand axe was directly before him, Boribori raised his head and swung his sword.

Swish, swish! Whoosh!

Thump. Thud.

Two objects fell into the snow.

The enemy had been certain that he had struck Boribori properly.

He had not.

Both of his hands were gone.

Droplets of blood sprayed from the severed wrists and pattered across Boribori.

The two severed hands already lay in the snow, while dark afterimages still danced before the man’s eyes.

"Uh...?"

Before the mortal outcome had registered—before even the pain could reach him—the man seemed incapable of understanding what had happened.

That was only natural.

Both his hands had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

But Boribori’s swift sword did not stop. It traced several more strokes through the air.

Finally, he drew a perfectly horizontal line.

Swish!

The man’s head dropped from his shoulders.

Including his limbs, there appeared to be at least five separate pieces of the man scattered across the snow.

It was a truly gruesome sight.

Having already dealt with the remaining enemies, Rickart walked over. He silently examined the severed body parts lying before Boribori.

"That seems a little excessive."

Rickart pursued short, efficient movements that ended a fight with a single stroke. From his perspective, Boribori had unquestionably overdone it.

"But I have to write the characters...."

"That’s true. Anyway, you did well for your first time."

"Hehehe."

Boribori smiled bashfully.

The Nameless Man approached them. As he walked, he glanced over the corpses Rickart had left behind.

When he reached the boys, he looked down at the enemy Boribori had rather excessively carved apart.

Rickart addressed him.

"Well? We’re more useful than you expected, aren’t we?"

The Nameless Man appeared to consider the question for a moment.

Then, at long last, he expressed something with his voice.