Chapter 5

Chapter 5

At Dane’s words, the mercenaries flinched, but not one of them backed down. Seeing that, Dane let out a short sigh and gripped his wooden sword properly.

“Fine. Then you need to be beaten.”

At those words, Dane kicked off the ground and charged. The mercenaries roared and swung their weapons, but not one of their attacks was effective.

Cesare stared blankly at the one-sided violence unfolding before his eyes. Amid the countless blades flying at him, Dane was simply calm.

“Ghk……!”

A mercenary struck in the throat collapsed. Before anyone knew it, not a single mercenary was still standing on his own feet. Dane stood alone beneath the moonlight and quietly lowered his sword.

Then he turned to look at Cesare. Cesare flinched and scooted backward on his rear.

“W-what?”

“Do not be frightened. I was merely looking at you.”

Was that something the person who had beaten him half to death just now should say?

Even as he thought that, Cesare kept his mouth shut. Dane sat down beside Cesare and gazed silently at the door of the Domus.

“Cesare, I asked you earlier. What are you going to do from now on?”

Dane’s expression as he looked back at Cesare was utterly serene. His soft voice spread through the moonlight.

“I am going to get my disciples back.”

“…….”

“You need to help me a great deal, Cesare. There is a limit to how much I can do alone while searching for my disciples.”

“……Me too? Even though I am an alcoholic and a scoundrel?”

Cesare asked without being able to meet his gaze. Now that he had accepted the fact that he had reunited with his master, his own wretched appearance came into view.

Dane looked at him, then said calmly, “And you are still my disciple, Cesare.”

Cesare’s eyes trembled slightly.

“……Of course I am Cesare, your disciple.”

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then grinned.

“Then are we going to operate as a Domus again now? And look for the others too?”

“Yes. But there is something we must settle before that.”

Dane lightly kicked one of the fallen mercenaries with his foot. There was no response.

―CRACK!

“Urgh!”

When he kicked him with all his strength, the mercenary sprang up with a cry. Dane crouched down and met the mercenary’s eyes.

“You. I have an errand for you.”

“Pardon?”

“Go.”

Moonlight gathered in Dane’s eyes like killing intent.

“Bring the brothel owner here.”

***

Dawn. Beneath the moonlight, someone was walking at a leisurely pace.

It was the brothel owner. He was walking with his bodyguards as though they were taking a stroll. He looked at the mercenary with dissatisfaction.

“So you killed him?”

“……Yes. I apologize.”

“Tsk. I told you to bring him alive.”

After sending the mercenaries, the brothel owner had been waiting for them to drag Dane back. But after quite some time, the mercenary who arrived brought news that Dane had been killed by accident.

“His skill was not easy to deal with, so we made a mistake.”

“The body?”

“……We buried it nearby.”

It would be troublesome if the city guard found out, but he was not greatly worried. People dying in the back alleys was hardly a rare occurrence. For now, he was glad he had recovered his establishment.

What mattered was whether they could resume business tomorrow. As he headed over to inspect the place, his shop began to come into view in the distance.

He calmly opened the door and stepped inside. But something was strange.

“……Why is that bastard there?”

Dane was standing in the middle of the first floor. He was supposed to be dead.

―CLICK.

At that moment, the sound of the door closing came from behind him. Cesare and the mercenary were standing there. The mercenary spoke in a stammering voice.

“I-I brought him.”

“Yes. Well done.”

As Dane said that, he took a step forward. The bodyguards stepped between the brothel owner and Dane.

And in that instant, they felt as though their blood had frozen cold. The human being named Dane himself felt like a cold wave, like bitter frost. A disaster that mere humans could not oppose.

“I heard you took the Valanus Domus from the children fifteen years ago.”

Dane’s voice was simply eerie. Cold sweat ran down the brothel owner’s back as well. Even while feeling afraid, he shouted.

“Who said that? I bought this place legitimately!”

“Then what is this?”

What Dane held out was a single sheet of paper. Written on it was the deed to the Domus’s land and building.

This deed had been found in the basement of the Domus building. When he was alive, Dane had kept important items in the basement, including the land and building deeds.

Flustered shock flashed across the brothel owner’s face. Since he had not been able to find the real deed, he had forged one. Until now, that had not caused any major problems, but now that the real deed had appeared, the situation was different.

“The evidence that you are a swindler is right here, and when I drove out a trespasser who had occupied this place without permission, you retaliated instead…….”

The moment Dane approached, a bodyguard drew his sword and charged at him. But at the same time, Dane’s wooden sword struck the bodyguards precisely in their vital spots.

―CRACK!

They collapsed without even managing to groan. The brothel owner turned pale and tried to flee, but Cesare was already blocking the way behind him.

“Where do you think you are going, you bastard?”

―THUD!

Cesare drove his fist into the brothel owner’s solar plexus. His body swayed and his waist buckled, and at the same time, the wooden sword flew in from behind.

Dane began beating him mercilessly. The brothel owner screamed and begged, but Dane did not stop.

“Argh, s-stop……!”

He was not an opponent on whom such pleading would work. Just as Dane was striking him as though to shatter the most painful bones to be hit.

―CRUNCH!

“Guuuuh……!”

Dane stomped hard between the brothel owner’s legs. In an instant, the brothel owner’s vision went white, and he began foaming at the mouth.

“You must have earned quite a living for fifteen years, doing business in the building you stole from our children.”

“I-I am sorry…….”

“Sorry?”

At those words, Dane put even more force into his foot. As the brothel owner twitched and sobbed like a beaten frog, Dane continued speaking.

“Do you think this can end with a mere apology?”

“I will return the building! I will give it back immediately, so…….”

“With just that?”

Dane’s gaze as he looked down at the brothel owner was simply chilling.

“You will have to pay interest as well. After all, you have profited from it for fifteen years.”

Then the wooden sword was aimed before the brothel owner’s eyes. It looked as sharp as a real blade. Dane opened his mouth while trampling the brothel owner beneath his foot.

“Name the amount of interest yourself. If the amount satisfies me, I will let you leave this place.”

His voice was filled only with sincerity and killing intent. It was a sharp killing intent that made it seem as though if the man misspoke, his tongue would be cut out at once.

The brothel owner turned deathly pale, as though he were staring at the Grim Reaper.

***

The Horned Whale Inn.

The late afternoon sunlight was shining through the window. I was sipping water as I waited for Cesare.

It was still before dinnertime, so there were not many people inside. However, the customers’ gazes were heated.

The mercenaries who had arrived early kept glancing at me. The innkeeper also quietly approached me and struck up a conversation.

“Did you really beat all those mercenaries down, sir? My, you do not look like someone who could…….”

A day had passed since I dealt with the brothel owner. It had only been a short time, but apparently it was enough for rumors to spread.

I gave a suitable excuse.

“Cesare helped me as well.”

“By the way, you look much younger than Cesare, yet you call him Cesare?”

“I am stronger than him, so we decided I could speak casually.”

Calling Cesare my elder brother felt strange, and revealing that I had died and returned to life was not exactly ideal.

The innkeeper looked at me with a strange gaze.

“You look so mild-mannered, but you have quite a tough side……. Ah, welcome.”

Just then, the door opened and a customer came in. The innkeeper addressed him politely.

“Is this your first time here? What would you like?”

“Why are you speaking politely? You are giving me chills. Just give me food.”

At those words, the innkeeper’s eyes widened. He stammered as he looked the other person up and down.

“What? Are you Cesare? Where did all your beard go?”

Cesare looked completely different from how he had appeared only a few days ago. Once his shaggy hair and beard were neatly trimmed, his impression changed entirely. The innkeeper still seemed dazed as he said.

“This is the first time in five years I have realized you were this handsome…….”

“I have always been handsome. I am hungry, so hurry up and bring me food.”

Leaving the dumbfounded innkeeper behind, Cesare sat across from me.

“The haircut suits you.”

“Then that is good. I quit mercenary work too, so I cleaned myself up a bit. It feels strange.”

Cesare spoke while rubbing his now-smooth chin.

“By the way, I met those mercenary bastards earlier, and they were making quite a fuss. They said they did not even get paid by the brothel owner.”

“He went to prison, so they will not be paid in the future either.”

The brothel owner had repaid fifteen years’ worth of debt with money. He had emptied out his entire fortune, but I had no intention of ending the collection of debt with that.

The crime of forging documents and seizing the building, and attempted murder. On those charges, the brothel owner ended up going to prison.

He would rot there for a few years, and even after he got out, it would be difficult for him to recover. Because I would still be here.

As Cesare and I talked, the innkeeper came over with a plate of food. When he also set down a glass of alcohol, Cesare glanced at it and said, “I did not order this.”

“You always drink with your meals. You used to make a fuss and say I had no sense if I did not bring alcohol.”

“I quit drinking now. I am not drinking.”

The innkeeper looked shocked. He grabbed Cesare’s cheeks and stretched them wide.

“Are you really Cesare? Are you not someone in disguise?”

“Argh! Let go! Can I not turn over a new leaf?”

“You mean ‘turn over a new leaf.’ Seeing how stupid you are, I suppose you are the real one.”

He looked at Cesare with lingering suspicion, then let go. And when he tried to take away the glass, Cesare abruptly grabbed his wrist.

“Oh, come on. You already brought it, so why take it back? Just leave it.”

The innkeeper looked at him as if to say, “I knew it,” then left. Cesare did not drink the alcohol, but he was inhaling its scent deeply.

“Why are you doing that instead of drinking?”

“You told me to quit drinking, Master. Ha, the smell is incredible…….”

He looked at the alcohol with longing, then turned his gaze to me. Seeing that he did not drink it even while his hands trembled made me feel proud.

“Master, so what are we going to do from now on? We are going to find the others, right?”

“Yes. We have to find them.”

I thought of my five disciples. Those tiny children.

“How did you live after all the masters of Valanus died? Where did the other children go?”