Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When he heard that proposal, Cesare’s jaw stopped moving as he chewed his bread. The thug the brothel owner was talking about was probably the man who had called himself Dane.

A request from the brothel owner who had taken over the Domus. He did not like it. Perhaps reading that hesitation, the mercenary added one more thing.

“They are paying two hundred thousand batz per person. We are only dealing with one man, so it should be over quickly, right?”

Two hundred thousand batz.

The man who called himself Dane had said he would give him five hundred thousand batz if Cesare came to find him, but goodwill without a price felt uncomfortable.

He felt more at ease with a clear give-and-take relationship like this. Cesare fiddled with the bread, then tossed the remaining piece into his mouth.

“Fine. Let us go. What time do we need to gather?”

He had nothing to do with Valanus anymore anyway. The brothel owner was the client? What did he care?

The man who claimed to be his master did not matter either. In the first place, there was no way a dead man could return. He was probably just a swindler with a similar face.

Thinking that, Cesare prepared to go out for the request. He considered having a drink before leaving, then stopped himself.

Instead of the spear he usually used, he took a wooden staff. The brothel owner had told them to leave the man half-crippled, not to kill him.

And so he headed toward the Valanus Domus—no, the brothel—with about thirty mercenaries. The moon lit the road, and a strange sense of unease clung to him like a hangover.

As he struggled to shake off that unease, their destination gradually came into view.

Once, he had tried to save up enough money to reclaim that place. But that had been an empty dream.

Valanus no longer existed. It had collapsed. That place was a graveyard. A ruin.

So it did not matter what anyone did with it. Thinking that, he headed toward the Valanus Domus.

―CREEEAK…….

With a creak of the hinges, the door of the Domus opened.

The one who stepped out from inside was Dane. Between his pale blond hair, golden eyes gleamed with an even sharper light.

Holding a single wooden sword, he looked over the mercenaries. A moment later, Dane’s voice spread through the silence.

“This is the Valanus Domus.”

His voice was loud and clear. He was not shouting, yet there was a sense of pressure in it. His expression was dry, without the slightest hint of a smile, but his eyes blazed.

“Anyone who tries to violate the Valanus Domus.”

For an instant, Cesare felt as though their eyes had met.

“No matter who they are, they will pay the price.”

A chilling sensation crawled up his back. He seemed like a completely different person from the man Cesare had seen during the day. Just then, one of the mercenaries let out a hollow laugh.

“The Valanus Domus? What is that supposed to be? That place is just a brothel.”

Even at the mockery, Dane’s gaze remained calm. Moonlight shone faintly until a cloud overlapped with the moon. The moment a shadow fell, one of the mercenaries shouted,

“Get him!”

At those words, the mercenaries charged at Dane with their respective weapons. Well-honed blades flashed in the dark.

The man at the very front swung his sword. The swords clashed, but the bind lasted only a moment. As soon as the opponent’s sword touched his, Dane wound around it and snapped it aside.

As the man who had lost his weapon to that force floundered, Dane grabbed him by the collar and yanked him forward. The axe blade flying toward Dane struck the dragged man’s shoulder.

“Argh!”

Even amid the scream and burst of blood, Dane was calm. His eyes shone like a beast’s.

Cesare, who had been standing at the rear, froze for a moment at that gaze. It was a strangely familiar look. The master who had once stood in the way of those who invaded the Domus had always had eyes like that.

He was like a single beast. What he held was clearly a wooden sword, yet it looked sharper than a real blade. Like the teeth or claws of a wild animal.

There were those who tried to ambush him from behind as well, but it was the same. Dane moved as though he had eyes on the back of his head.

-CRACK!

Without even looking back, he merely twisted his sword to block the attack, then turned his body and thrust into the opponent’s chest. If it had been a real sword, the man would have died instantly.

“T-this bastard is a complete monster!”

Of the roughly thirty men present, nearly half had already fallen before anyone knew it.

Groans rang out from every direction. The remaining men had lost their morale and were hesitating.

Then a low voice rang out.

“Cesare.”

At Dane’s call, Cesare swallowed dryly without realizing it.

“I told you.”

Holding his wooden sword, Dane approached one step at a time.

“Anyone who tries to violate the Valanus Domus will pay the price, no matter who they are.”

The moment those words ended, Dane vanished from sight. No, it looked that way.

Feeling the flow of air ripple, Cesare immediately turned sideways and raised his wooden staff.

―GRIND!

The weapons collided with a dull sound. The moment their swords met, Cesare’s eyes widened.

‘I can handle this.’

Just now, watching Dane run wild, he had assumed the man must be an incredible monster. But when their weapons actually clashed, his strength itself was ordinary.

In terms of raw physical power alone, Cesare had the upper hand. Thinking he had been tense for nothing, Cesare smirked and swung his wooden staff at Dane.

―THWACK, CRACK!

A sharp sound rang out each time their weapons clashed. To anyone else watching, it was an evenly matched exchange.

However, the more blows they exchanged, the more impatient Cesare began to feel.

‘Ha, I should have had a drink before coming.’

Perhaps because he had not drunk any alcohol, his hands were starting to tremble. His tremors only stopped when he drank. This was why he always had to be drunk.

As his body swayed because he was sober, Cesare’s brow twisted when he saw Dane. He spoke with a growl.

“What are you smiling about?”

Dane was smiling. As though looking at a very admirable child. Leisurely receiving his attacks, he said,

“Because what I taught you remains in your sword.”

“What?”

“I began teaching you how to fight when you were ten. I did not get to teach you many things. But I taught you one thing with certainty: how not to lose your center.”

Center.

Yes, what he had learned in Valanus was his center.

“Cesare, I can feel your center in your attacks. It is rather crude, but…….”

Dane smiled gently.

“Even when a great tree dies, it does not lose its majesty.”

“Fuck. What the hell are you talking about?”

Center, or whatever else. He had already forgotten Valanus. There was no way anything of it remained in him. When Valanus fell, everything disappeared.

He had meant to take it easy, but he changed his mind. He had to beat down this man who was like a ghost of Valanus.

Cesare leaped back and threw his staff like a javelin. The moment Dane lightly avoided the wooden staff flying toward him as fiercely as an arrow.

Cesare vanished from before his eyes, and a presence was felt behind him. A heavy fist flew in.

―CRUNCH!

Cesare appeared behind him before anyone knew it. Even against the unexpected attack, Dane swiftly raised his sword and blocked it. He glanced at the wooden staff, now shattered to pieces, and said,

“You move to where your thrown weapon is. It seems the weapon could not withstand your mana and broke.”

He had grasped that much about him in that instant?

Cesare felt bewildered, but he did not retreat. All he had to do was beat him down.

With movements agile for his size, he pressed Dane hard. If even one of his punches or kicks landed, it was obvious the man’s bones would be crushed.

However, not a single attack landed. At that moment, Cesare felt it.

The center.

The center was in Dane’s feet, in the tip of his sword, and in his gaze. Even when an attack came right before his nose, Dane did not waver.

Watching him evade attacks with only the smallest possible movements, Cesare could not help but be astonished.

“You have grown so much.”

Warmth lingered in that voice. When Cesare met Dane’s eyes, he flinched.

The person before him truly seemed like his master. Kind and gentle……. Yet in the next instant, the smile vanished from Dane’s lips.

“Still, I have to scold what needs to be scolded.”

Dane’s attack came flying. It was a rush. The sword flew in with the minimum force and the optimal path, elegant yet sharp.

As Cesare barely dodged the attack, moments his body remembered came back to him.

An assault that swept in like a cutting wind. The sight he had seen since childhood. Cesare realized the identity of this familiar chill.

“……Master?”

Yes, he had received a sword like this even when he was young. Because he had been a child, Dane had not faced him seriously, but Cesare had still been able to understand well enough what his sword was like.

It really was his master? But he had definitely died. The moment Cesare stopped in confused joy, Dane smiled.

“So you finally recognize me.”

He did not know how a dead man had returned alive, but one thing was certain. The man before him was indeed Dane.

Longing felt as though it would overflow. He had reunited with the family he had searched for over fifteen years, with the master he had believed dead.

“Master……. Ghk!”

Cesare felt a powerful impact. Dane’s wooden sword had driven into his solar plexus as if stabbing him. Dane’s gaze shone fiercely.

“Then let us get you beaten properly now.”

Cesare remembered that his master had not always been gentle. He said urgently,

“I-I am sorry. I failed to recognize you, Master……!”

“It is all right. That can happen. How could you easily believe that a dead man had returned to life?”

At those seemingly gentle words, Cesare forced a smile.

“Then you forgive me, right?”

“No. Not yet. A disciple’s wrongs must be corrected by his master.”

―CRACK!

Once again, the rod of love came flying. Struck in a vital spot, Cesare screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Aaagh! Why are you hitting me?”

“You brat, you outrageous brat! Even if you left Valanus, how could you join those who came to violate the Domus?”

“Argh, argh!”

Without giving him any room to stagger, Dane began beating him like a madman. Even when Cesare tried to escape, Dane was already in his path.

“Where do you think you are running when your master is speaking?”

“No, fuck! At least stop hitting me first……!”

“I told you not to swear!”

―THWACK!

The wooden sword struck Cesare squarely on the crown of his head. His head rang, and the dizziness made it feel as though he would collapse right then.

No, he really did collapse. And toward that fallen Cesare, merciless blows poured down.

“You bastard! You are my bastard!”

Thwack, thwack! Amid the noisy sounds of a thorough beating, Cesare clutched his head and screamed.

“Ah, damn! Aaagh! Stop!”

“What do you mean, stop? Do you even know what you did wrong?”

“I tried to violate Valanus, the Valanus Domus! I was wrong!”

“Is that all?”

While he was trying to think of what else there was, the wooden sword came flying. Only after being struck on the head once more did Cesare shout with tears in his eyes.

“Cursing! I cursed!”

“And?”

No, what else was there? As Cesare hesitated, Dane briefly stopped attacking.

“Are you going to quit drinking or not?”

“I will quit. I said I will quit!”

“Are you going to return to Valanus?”

“I will go, all right?”

Only then did Dane let out a deep sigh and stop attacking. The way he looked at Cesare was exactly like someone dealing with a troublesome child.

The mercenaries were standing there dumbfounded after seeing half their companions knocked down and Cesare being beaten.

Dane spoke to them. His eyes blazed as though he might kill someone.

“So. Is there anyone else who wants to get beaten by me?”