Age of Chaos (3)
The capital of the Jaive Kingdom, Rodenin.
True to a free city, the gates stood wide open, and even as dusk fell, countless people streamed into the capital.
"Wait! Halt right there!"
But Rian was the exception.
"You mean that one?"
"Is there another filthy person like him around here? Fine if you come in and become a beggar, but we don't allow beggars to enter."
The rain had washed away the smell of blood, but the problem was he wasn't carrying an umbrella.
"I'm not a beggar. I'm a wandering swordsman."
The guard laughed heartily.
"A wandering swordsman? Can you tell the difference between a beggar with a sword and a swordsman who wears one?"
It was oddly persuasive.
"I'm a noble. I'm from Tormia, and I serve as the Ozent family's swordsman."
In the end, Rian produced his identification, and the guard's expression changed immediately.
"Ah—my apologies. Your appearance—no, your attire—made you look nothing like a noble."
Rian gave a bitter smile.
"I understand."
"If you're entering Rodenin, make sure you wash up. Even with ID, you'll have problems otherwise."
Rian thought it was the sort of advice anyone would give.
"Thank you. Take care." As befits a rain-prone kingdom, Jaive offered a lot to do at night, and many people still wandered the streets.
'Not everything is as lively as it seems.' Rian's keen eyes pierced the darkness of a narrow alley branching off the main road.
Shadows hid a gathering of people—and they weren't all beggars.
"Mom! A monster!"
Two women walking under umbrellas practically stumbled back when they saw Rian.
"...I really ought to wash."
A hulking frame, hair hanging to the shoulders, carrying a greatsword—utterly villainous in every way.
As he searched for a bathhouse and walked the rain-dampened street, the sound of hooves approached from behind.
"There he is! That's the one!"
One of the women who had run off earlier pointed and shouted from a carriage.
"Giddy-up! Giddy-up!"
A carriage that had been racing as if to collide came to an abrupt stop right in front of Rian.
Receiving the horse's rough breath on his face, he waited as a contingent of guards climbed down from the carriage.
"We'll conduct an inspection."
Having already shown his ID at the gate, the interruption felt tedious.
"What's the matter?"
"We received a report. Some unknown fiend has been prowling at night, looking for women."
Rian had only been walking.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding. I'm a wandering swordsman. Here's my identification."
Following the procedure he'd been shown at the gate, he displayed his credentials, and the guards' faces relaxed.
"Tormia. That's quite a way off."
The lead soldier continued.
"There've been grisly murders in the capital lately. A serial killer, and the methods are perverse. So…"
"You're saying I'm the culprit? I only just arrived in Rodenin. The gate guards can confirm that."
"That's not what I meant. But as you know, Security Headquarters has issued a Level One manhunt. If a report comes in, we're required to detain the person and record their movements."
Now he understood why the gate guard had insisted he shave before entering.
'Still a hassle, though.'
The security force couldn't even tail the serial killer; they needed results to show they were working.
"All right."
Rian didn't argue.
He knew city security was built on result-driven labor.
'Actually, this might work out.'
Better to go to Security Headquarters and wash and shave than to wander the night looking for a bathhouse.
"I'll cooperate with the investigation."
"Thank you."
The guard ordered the woman who'd reported him off the carriage.
"We'll take it from here. Don't worry—we'll get you home safe."
The woman glared at Rian.
"You tried to kill me! You murderer! You tried to kidnap me and—what were you going to do to me?"
If he shaved his beard, a neat face would emerge, but the scars from fighting demons weren't so easily erased.
'No helping it.'
If even other swordsmen would wince at his presence, it made sense the woman's instincts flared with fear.
"Do you provide room and board?"
Catching Rian's intent, the guard smiled.
"Of course. It won't be a fancy inn, though. We'll have to shave you anyway to make a composite sketch."
The carriage carrying Rian sped over the cobbles.
Rodenin Second Security Headquarters.
A three-story building on the western side of the capital. The warmth inside made him sleepy as soon as he stepped in.
"I'd like to wash first."
"All right. We'll take you to the bathing area."
In the public bath, burly guards who'd just finished their night patrols were cleaning themselves.
Accustomed to wearing heavy armor, their muscles were well developed and their chests taut as if not even a needle could pierce them.
"Phew—what a bath." As Rian began to undress, recalling memories he could barely remember, the men in the tub gaped.
"Whoa."
These men might match anyone in physicality, but Rian's physique stood apart from the first line onward.
'How can a person be like that?'
A body that had cut down over ten thousand demons with a greatsword was beyond merely biological—almost engineered.
'This body wasn't made by exercise. The sword carved it.'
When his perfect inverted-triangle torso twisted, it felt like you could see the kinetic energy it released.
The men's staring felt strange, but Rian averted his eyes and washed.
With a scrape, his long beard fell at his feet. With a coarse stone soap heaved like sandpaper, he scrubbed away the old grime.
"Ah—refreshing."
He shook water from his hair and stepped out to find a crowd of guards who had already heard the rumor gathered.
"Finished? Ah—"
The guard who'd detained Rian widened his eyes as he handed over the greatsword.
'Maha's Knight. To think I'm seeing his whole frame.'
A once-in-a-lifetime honor.
"Sorry I didn't recognize you. The rain made it hard to see your name clearly."
Part negligence, but since the man was Maha's Knight, admitting the mistake was easy.
"It's fine."
Now dressed in Security Headquarters' spare clothes and waiting his turn, Rian's plain, honest bearing made the guard comfortable enough to admit his error.
'That woman reported a heavyweight like this as a murderer. Well, even I felt my skin prickle...'
Fresh from the bath, Rian's expression wasn't softened, but he seemed sincere enough.
"Let's go. We'll try to finish the investigation as quickly as possible."
With this change in treatment, Rian resolved to keep himself clean from now on.
"By the way, this murder case—exactly what's going on?"
He'd heard the methods were perverse.
"Starting two months ago, a woman has been abducted every seven days. She's found dead the next day. Astonishingly, all her blood has been drained."
"Drained of blood?"
"Literally. I've seen all sorts of corpses, but this was extreme. Completely emptied of blood—just skin left, crumpled."
The mental image alone was gruesome.
"In any case, there's no chance you'll be treated as a suspect, so rest easy. Now, this way…"
They opened a door to find the night's ruffians seated in interrogation chairs, being questioned by guards.
"Well, well—who's this? Isn't this Maha's Knight, the one who set the world alight once?"
A square ring had been set up in a corner. A burly, over-two-meter middle-aged man moved into the corner.
He was Benof, captain of the Second Security.
"Captain, this man isn't a suspect—"
"Step aside, kid."
He joked, but an order was an order, and the guard hurried over.
"Yeah, I know about him. The lone demon-slayer, the hellish hero who answers to no master."
Maha's Knight was a worldwide phenomenon beyond Rian's imagining.
"Slash and slash and slash, and then you come down here to Rodenin's capital. Hm. Good, good."
"What do you want to know?"
Benof bared his teeth as he spoke.
"Why come here of all places?"
"I'm heading home." He'd gone straight; he'd go straight home.
"These days, Security's in a bad way. The higher-ups keep breathing down our necks, and criminals aren't being caught. I'm about ready to die from the stress."
Benof tapped the corner with a gloved fist as he took a light step.
"Let's finish quickly. You step up here and we have a round—then you're free. Or you can sit through an all-night interrogation."
He wanted to measure himself against Maha's Knight.
"Captain, but this—" Benof cut him off.
"Just stay put. How about it, Maha's Knight? Security says one thing, but why not settle this like a man—with fists?"
A guard whispered in his ear.
"He's a touchy one. Just refuse. Don't let it get to you. Despite appearances, this man's the Rodenin Coliseum champion."
"They can all hear you, idiot."
With the guards under interrogation and the ruffians watching with rapt attention, Rian finally spoke.
"I don't fight to beat someone."
If one could grow stronger simply by defeating others, what would become of the hollow place lodged in Rian's heart?
"Is that so? Then what do you fight for?"
"I don't know. I only think strength might not be that."
"Hahaha! As expected of a famous knight—no substance. All slick words."
"That provocation won't work." The laughter died instantly as Rian swung his shoulder and climbed into the ring.
"If this is a way to deal with a nuisance quickly, then I won't refuse to step up."
Benof's grin stretched to his ears.
"That's the spirit. Come on up."
And so an absurd fight was arranged as the guards crowded around the ring.
"Hey, for real? Let us watch too!"
The low-ranking guards who'd rounded up the ruffians dragged them off to a makeshift holding area.
Rian climbed into the ring and removed his shirt as a guard volunteered to be his second and fitted him with gloves.
They were open-finger gloves.
Fastening the wrist straps tightly, the man said, "Sorry it's come to this. The captain's a fight addict. He was aiming to enter the Central Continent Coliseum as Rodenin's champion, but bureaucracy ruined it. If it weren't for the Security, he'd have gone global."
A roundabout warning to be careful.
"It's fine. Fighting is my trade. If I win, let me sleep right away."
"Haha! Fighting is different from swordplay." Rumors about Maha's Knight had worn thin in the city, but the captain's skill was something you had to see.
Benof bounced his gloves and stepped to the center of the ring as if he'd been waiting for this.
"I'll lay out the rules. Fight however you like, but don't go crying to your mother if you die. No strikes to vital points—that's a foul. Better to die than foul, right?"
Rian gave a short nod and stepped back to the ring's side.
"We now begin the Second Security Headquarters' fighting match. Time limit: ten minutes. Fight as you please."
The referee crossed his arms in an X and immediately leapt onto the ring.
Benof slammed off the ground and charged, but Rian raised his guard and only moved his torso.
'Let's see this champion's skill.' Rian's weaving met the sharp snaps of jabs breaking the air.
Bang! Pa-pa-pang!
A follow-up combination of jabs tapped a brisk rhythm along his arms.
'This is actually fun.'
The corner of Rian's mouth lifted slightly.