Chapter 254: Reunion (3)

It was strange.

The clumsy sword movements of that swordsman were like those of someone with nothing left to lose.

His footwork seemed awkward, as if he were already injured, yet he held nothing back and continued attacking aggressively.

The Imperial knights couldn’t cope with his technique and fell back, being cut down one after another without even being able to counterattack.

When the corpses began to pile up, the Imperial knights grew wary.

Yuri whistled.

“He doesn’t seem to be in his right mind, but the skill is real.”

Having someone this capable here at this moment could be considered a stroke of luck.

While Yuri assessed the situation, the Imperial knights surrounded him. Altered by black magic, they were unbound by pride or honor and didn’t bother with the pretense of single combat.

Seeing the swordsman’s style—completely ignoring defense—it was clear this was a dangerous situation.

Yuri sensed it was time to step in.

“Hey!”

Shouting sharply, Yuri lunged in and struck one of the knights surrounding the swordsman from behind. The enemy, caught off guard by the ambush, rolled across the ground in a cloud of dust.

With one opponent down, the Imperial formation loosened.

Spinning Guilty in a circle, Yuri approached the swordsman.

“Hey, bandage guy.”

“……”

“Given the situation, how about we fight together?”

The bandaged swordsman only stared at him without a word.

Yuri didn’t press for an answer. Just from seeing the way he wielded his sword, it was clear he wasn’t ordinary.

Shrugging, Yuri swung his blade.

Even the slightest graze from Guilty tore armor and sent blood spraying.

“It’s Yuri Briol! Kill him!”

“Take them both down!”

Yuri shifted smoothly between attack and defense, guarding himself effectively. The bandaged swordsman, in contrast, seemed unconcerned about taking hits, relentlessly going for his enemies’ vital points.

Their styles were different, but equally hard to deal with.

Wielding Guilty, Yuri rolled across the ground to slip past the enemy’s reach, then sprang to his feet and unleashed a wide slash. The body of a knight—who hadn’t even seen him coming—was split in two from the groin upward.

Dodging the spray of blood, Yuri saw two Imperial knights rush him, raising their swords like twins before swinging them down with force.

That gave them great power, but left far too many openings.

And they were slow.

Yuri gathered Chaos energy and sped up his body. He advanced before their swords could fall, piercing both of them through the chest and stepping aside. Their blades slammed into empty ground, and the two collapsed, bleeding from their chests.

“Slow.”

With that mocking word, Yuri spun. Attacks came from front and back. Yuri ducked, and the two knights, unable to stop, struck each other.

Armor shattered and blood sprayed.

As soon as they fell, Yuri slipped between them and, with a single stroke, took the heads of two more enemies at his level.

“Stop rushing in blindly! Corner them!”

The enemy formation shifted.

Unable to keep up with Yuri’s pace, the Imperial knights began to focus on encirclement over direct assault.

Retreating, Yuri ended up back-to-back with the bandaged swordsman, who was in a similar situation.

“Hey, bandage guy.”

Yuri spoke with a wry smile.

“Since we’re here, why don’t we get out of this together? Sound good?”

The bandaged knight didn’t answer. Yuri thought he heard the faint grinding of teeth.

“You’ll hurt yourself like that.”

“Shut up and fight.”

It was the first time he had heard his voice. It was rough, harsh but strangely familiar.

As Yuri tried to recall, the Imperial knights charged again.

“I’ve got your back, bandage guy!”

Yuri and the swordsman fought back-to-back, guarding each other’s rear. Not having to worry about what was behind them made the fight far easier.

Yuri could swing his sword freely.

And curiously, he found that he worked extremely well with this stranger.

Even standing back-to-back, their movements never tangled—a rarity in such chaotic close combat. It was as if they could read each other’s minds, perfectly complementing one another.

The Imperial knights, thrown off by this coordination, couldn’t make use of their numbers and suffered even heavier losses.

With an odd sense of familiarity, Yuri kept fighting. His sword aura, as strong as that of a master among the Ten Greats, tore through enemy armor.

“Hey, bandage guy.”

Yuri lifted his sword and asked,

“Have we met before?”

His appearance and style were completely unfamiliar, yet it felt like he knew him well.

The bandaged swordsman didn’t reply, only swinging his weapon harder, showing even greater skill as the battle went on.

Together, they soon completely overwhelmed the Imperial knights.

Yuri thought he’d like to have someone like this on his side.

“Phew…”

Before long, almost all the enemies had fallen. The remaining Imperial knights in the village had gathered here to trap them, so they didn’t need to run through the streets.

“Retreat!”

The Imperial knights fled.

Yuri lowered his sword tip and caught his breath.

He wanted to chase them down and finish them, but the villagers’ safety came first.

He turned to look at the bandaged swordsman.

The man, equally exhausted, was catching his breath. During the battle, some of his bandages had been cut away, revealing grotesquely deformed skin.

Yuri smiled at him.

“We work well together, don’t you think?”

“……”

“How about joining me? I’ll pay you well.”

The bandaged swordsman stared at him, and something seemed to glint in his eyes.

Sensing the hostility radiating from him, Yuri tilted his head.

“Do we have some unfinished business, you and I?”

The man spoke.

“Figure that out for yourself.”

His voice was still rough and hoarse, but it felt familiar.

From the skin visible between the bandages, Yuri guessed that due to some past incident, his body and vocal cords had been severely damaged.

If that was the case, perhaps before he suffered those injuries, he had been someone Yuri knew.

“Do you know me?”

Yuri asked him.

Then, instead of an answer, a sword flew at him.

Yuri dodged to the side at the sudden charge and deflected the attack with Guilty.

In terms of skill, Yuri was far superior. That’s why he thought that after crossing swords a few times, he could subdue his opponent.

However, the enemy’s peculiar swordsmanship caught him off guard—instead of defending, he countered attacks with his own offensives.

Yuri said,

“I don’t know anyone who wields a sword like that…”

Then the man pointed his sword at him and replied,

“Your father was sealed away by Cedric.”

At those unexpected words, Yuri’s eyes widened.

“What?”

“Cedric told me to tell you that. Now I owe him nothing.”

“Who are you?”

Yuri’s voice grew grave. Over Guilty, his sharp aura shimmered.

“Do you know me?”

The bandaged swordsman gave a short laugh. Then he looked up at the sky. In the dark night, the moon was barely visible behind the clouds.

“Back then, the moon was beautiful.”

The moment he heard those words, strength left Yuri’s hands.

It was different.

But at the same time, it was similar.

The aura he radiated, the way he wielded his sword—everything was different.

Even so, Yuri knew.

The one who had left him with the words: “Isn’t the moon beautiful?”

“Laurent?”

***

Cory was chopping wood for a few coins.

In the process, he had to use magic to drive off a direwolf, yet even then, the village chief and the villagers showed him no kindness.

“Here’s your pay.”

“It’s… not much…”

“When you used magic earlier, you damaged the fence. I had to deduct it, didn’t I?”

“But thanks to me, no one was hurt.”

“We could have hunted those wolves ourselves.”

The chief looked at him coldly.

Cory clearly remembered how that man had trembled in fear when the direwolf appeared, but he said nothing and simply accepted the money.

“Yes.”

At least it would be enough to cover Laurent’s treatment and expenses.

On his way back, he ran into the scar-faced mercenary again.

Every time he appeared, Cory noticed how the villagers looked at him with caution.

It was curious—both of them were mercenaries, yet the attitude toward that man and toward him was completely different.

“Hey, useless. Is it true you killed the direwolf?”

“Yes.”

“You could’ve let me take down one of them.”

The mercenary chuckled mockingly.

“If they’d seen blood and you finished it off, they’d fear you a little. But since you did it all yourself from the start, they don’t value it.”

“But someone might have gotten hurt.”

“And what of it?”

The mercenary looked down at him.

“This way, you got yourself out of trouble.”

“Are you telling me to let someone die for my own benefit?”

“You’re still useless.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“No, it suits you.”

They walked side by side.

Cory didn’t know why this man followed him, but he felt calmer than when walking alone. There were no children bothering him, no villagers whispering and looking down on him.

“Where are you going?”

“To the temple.”

“Ah, I heard you’ve got someone there.”

“Why are you following me?”

“I want to see him.”

“Huh? Don’t come.”

Still, the man followed.

Cory felt uneasy, but was pleased to see that the priest who always treated him with disdain averted his eyes and said nothing when he saw the mercenary.

Cory checked on Laurent, who was still lying down, and changed his bandages. The mercenary showed no disgust at the sight.

“Why are you taking care of this guy?”

“Because he’s my friend.”

“Friend?”

The mercenary smiled.

“So people like you call each other friends? I guess that works.”

“…”

“Idiot. He’s already healed.”

“Huh?”

“His body’s fine, he just hasn’t woken up. He doesn’t need to be hospitalized. That priest is bleeding you dry. You’re a pathetic fool.”

Cory looked at him with suspicion.

“You don’t believe me?”

“How can I be sure?”

“All right, then let’s make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“I’ll tell you a mix of herbs to wake him up. In exchange, when he wakes, you’ll do something I ask.”

Seeing Cory hesitate, the mercenary smiled, his scar twisting.

“It won’t be anything you can’t do. Why would I ask for something like that?”

In the end, Cory agreed.

Just as he said, Laurent regained consciousness and got up immediately.

The priest’s protests, insisting he still needed bed rest, were silenced with a single swing of his sword.

After that, Cory tried to find the mercenary, but he had disappeared.

He decided to hide from Laurent the fact that Yuri might come to this village, and stayed there.

Time passed.

And finally, Yuri appeared in the village.

Cory wanted to go see him right away.

But, for some reason, he couldn’t.

“Greetings! I’ve heard so much about you, it’s an honor. Hahaha…”

“Will you be staying here tonight? Rest as much as you like.”

“If you need anything, just say the word.”

The villagers who had once despised and ridiculed him now acted like good people in front of Yuri and his order of knights.

The village chief was the most excessive.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I can’t believe the prince of Briol would come here in person. I hope you’re not uncomfortable in any way…”

They had treated Cory in the worst way, yet before Yuri the chief acted as if he were a kind-hearted man.

And it wasn’t just the adults.

Even the children who used to harass and chase him acted like harmless little rascals before Yuri.

They even seemed to enjoy themselves when Jared lifted them up in his arms, as if they were innocent children.

Yuri’s and the chief’s voices reached Cory.

“The village is small but seems peaceful. Surely that’s thanks to you.”

“Oh no, not at all. I’m embarrassed.”

Cory stared at the scene, stunned.

Everyone in the village seemed like completely different people.

They were no longer the same ones who had shown him contempt and hatred.