Editor 115

Against the Darkness (2)

It couldn’t be.

But it was.

Even when he rubbed his eyes and stared, the message from “Promise” didn’t change. The string of characters floating above that filthy ragman’s head conveyed unbelievable information.

“There are only four Swordmasters in all of Albion! And Arthur’s fencing teacher is one of them?”

Cleo spun the scroll of “Memory” at a blistering speed, almost setting his forehead on fire.

The Swordmasters mentioned at this point in the last manuscript were Rosa, Pierce, and Duke Theo Tristain.

“Taeserton was still level 7, and at this point, Aslan would be the same. So one of the four Swordmasters is really Teacher Mietz?!”

“Cleo, what are you doing standing there?”

“Did your leg cramp up?”

“No… I just thought Mietz’s ether was a bit unusual.”

“Ah, Master has a constitution where ether can’t be seen. You must be surprised.”

“And besides, his level seems quite high…?”

Only then did Cleo look at the children, and he was puzzled. Could it be that these kids couldn’t sense Mietz’s level 8?

“They should all have [Ether Sense], so why aren’t they surprised by that level? A Swordmaster isn’t just some pebble lying around on the street?”

“Master’s swordsmanship can be said to have reached divine levels, but the level itself isn’t that special. Great teaching doesn’t come from level, after all.”

“That may be true, but…”

To Cleo, Isiel didn’t seem to be lying. She had no talent for hiding anything.

While he studied Mietz to grasp the situation, again, colorless, formless ether flared powerfully from the man’s right hand.

The boy’s cheeks turned white. It wasn’t just because of the cold.

“This is… a stigma.”

At the same time, “Promise” spat out a message with its edges blurred, as if interfered with by something. Cleo’s eyes quickly skimmed the air.

[Unique Skill: “Veil of Concealment”

—The ability to conceal your true achievements.

—The user can display their ether level as lower than their actual level.

Current displayed level: 5

User: Michislav Dabrowski]

Upon reaching the master’s level, each person’s ether, which was originally golden, acquires their own unique color.

Rosa’s was scarlet, Pierce’s was gray-brown.

“That man’s ether’s unique color is colorless, transparent. It seems related to his title, Hermit of Cleanliness… What on earth is this guy?”

With this unexpected, massive variable appearing, Cleo just wanted to crawl into some corner, cover his ears tightly, and lie down.

.

.

.

Having washed up before the monster subjugation team arrived, Mietz slumped into the seat of honor in the drawing room and downed the hot toddy Old Baku had brought. After a hearty shot, Mietz set the glass down and wiped the liquor from his beard with the back of his hand.

“Ha-, this flavor is truly exquisite.”

“Right, Master. I told you it’s the best.”

“You brat, while I was tearing jerky and sleeping rough, you were eating this delicious stuff in this nice castle!”

“That’s unfair slander. My friends and I wanted to join the subjugation team too, but we weren’t allowed to, what could we do?”

“There wasn’t much to it. They called it a once-in-a-thousand-years monster, but the knights here could catch them with their feet, with their feet! Really! They channeled ether into boots with spurs and just kicked them! They said the wild animals that usually come out are much fiercer!”

Chel, who had been listening quietly, turned around and her eyes sparkled.

“Ether-conducting boots? Wow, what did they do to the boots?”

“There are iron-studded snow boots you wear to keep from slipping on the ice. Only used in the north, but they’re made with magestone iron to conduct ether! I saw a lot of ingenious techniques.”

“Oh, that’s nice. I’ll make a pair for myself and share with my friends. That’s a good tip.”

“Was that the only ingenious thing? Even the regular soldiers who can’t use ether were so disciplined from blocking the wild animals that come down every winter, I hardly had time to draw my sword.”

Arthur pouted like a little kid. Apparently, being in front of his master brought out his childhood habits.

“Aw, you’re glossing over it again. Only ether users can catch monsters.”

“Did I go to catch those monsters alone? We all formed a defensive line, and the infantry carried the supplies!”

Sipping the hot toddy he’d gotten by chance, Cleo thought.

“Judging from what he says, Mietz is no mere mercenary. That’s the mindset of a regular army officer, even a commander.”

But neither in the Capital Guard Knights register, nor in the last manuscript, could Cleo find the name Michislav Dabrowski. Even the surname was unfamiliar.

While Cleo reviewed various possibilities with a serious face, the two master and disciple chatted with no tension at all.

“The monsters, at best, just spat out a handful of cheap magic stones and died. Maybe level 2 at most? The stones from their bodies were so small, we couldn’t even pick them all up in the snow.”

“Still, thanks to perfectly blocking the monsters at the defense line, the civilians of the main town are safe, aren’t they? You did a great job.”

Feeling embarrassed by Isiel’s straightforward praise, Mietz scratched his still-damp hair. That look was so similar to Arthur’s, it was a bit funny.

“Great job, my foot. The other mercenaries went straight to the wild animal hunting camp. Since they’d set foot in Tristain territory, they said they’d skin as many furs as they could. The mountains here are impossible to navigate without a local guide, so they must have been waiting a long time.”

“Master, you should’ve gone to collect some furs for your retirement, too.”

Arthur, perhaps a little miffed that his master had left him after so long together, grumbled affectionately.

Mietz, bonking Arthur on the back of the head, grumbled.

“You catch the python and I’m supposed to chase the game?! I heard all about it, brat! You guys caught the biggest beast in this area, so now I have nothing to do! No wonder, after the python was caught, the monsters all weakened and were rounded up like cattle.”

“Haha, Master. This time your unworthy disciple beat you to it! What now!”

“You annoying brat, you just keep getting more glib!”

As Cleo listened closely to Arthur and Mietz’s conversation, he stopped and put down his glass.

“…There’s no way the monster rampage incident would just end this anticlimactically, is there?”

Since arriving at the duke’s estate, the weather had been so bad that the road to the lower village was cut off. Newspapers couldn’t get in, and Rotan hadn’t shared information with the kids, so the only current news Cleo had about the monsters was what he’d just heard from Mietz.

“In the last manuscript, the damage to Tristain’s territory was considerable… If it’s been resolved so easily here, did the other places get taken care of too? Since Aslan and Melchior are much stronger than in the previous version, maybe even if level 3 or lower monsters came in droves, there wouldn’t be much damage?”

Cleo’s head hurt, unable to figure out how the difficulty had been adjusted.

“Yeah. If a disaster-level event happened out there, we’d have gotten an emergency message. I guess Aslan and Melchior, for once, actually helped the safety and welfare of the citizens.”

“Even a bunch of common little magic stones would add up to a fair amount of money if you had hundreds of monsters.”

“Can’t compare to the onyx the python spat out, though?”

“Ah, seriously! Master, just mind your own business. You’re being too clingy. That onyx, we left it with the castle. It came out during practical training.”

“You… can’t you at least pretend to be a noble prince instead of being so dumb about money? This teacher is disappointed.”

“What’ll you do if you’re disappointed?”

While Mietz chased Arthur’s teasing, the soldiers and knights who had soaked in hot water soon gathered in the drawing room.

Old Baku and the servants kept bringing drinks, jerky, and dried nuts, and the northern winter night, with its early sunset, grew lively.

In the middle of it all were Arthur and Mietz.

Despite the banter, the two moved so similarly that, despite their appearance differences, they looked like father and son—based on years of deep affection.

Even Isiel, who usually never touched alcohol, sipped a few mouthfuls of hot toddy and her cheeks turned rosy.

On this peaceful evening, Cleo was thinking.

“No matter how much Arthur is the protagonist, wherever he finds a teacher, even that old guy is a Swordmaster.”

A Swordmaster hiding his level.

A knight pretending to be a retired mercenary, secretly investigating the curse of the Covenant and ancient monsters.

He was suspicious, but Cleo didn’t sense any malice from Mietz.

Especially since the knights and soldiers of Tristain, who were almost animalistically sensitive, accepted him instantly.

“And one thing is clear. That man is Arthur’s person.”

Those who could level mountains and turn lakes to land—those were Swordmasters.

They had combat power rivaling tactical nukes, and physical abilities beyond human limits. One of them cared for Arthur with an affection deeper than that of a real father.

“Sure, he talks about money, but Master just came here to catch the python. He’s broad-minded, righteous, and doesn’t care about money or fame. Where did such a talent come from?”

The latter half of depicted an era of war.

“If Mietz takes Arthur’s side then…”

Maybe, he could be Arthur’s greatest hidden card. As Cleo imagined giving Aslan and Melchior a taste of their own medicine, an involuntary smile crept onto his lips.

“All right, knights! Soldiers! Time for dinner. This old Baku has cooked the best blood sausage stew!”

The men gathered in the drawing room cheered.

“Wow! I can’t tell you how much I’ve been craving that!”

“I missed the old man’s stew more than my own mother’s face!”

By the time they moved to the dining hall with three long tables made of raw wood, the whole subjugation team had gathered.

The young knight who’d actually led the team in Rotan’s absence raised his ale glass for a toast.

He was broad-shouldered and dark-skinned.

“Cheers to monster extermination! We are strong!”

“We are strong!”

“For the Duke of Armorique!”

“For the Duke!”

“Yeahhhhh!”

“Thank you, Mecht. Thanks to you, we defeated the monsters safely.”

“No, Vice-captain. It was only possible because you prepared supplies and support, and blocked the clueless orders from the central nobles. Without you, how could we have done it! Everyone heard that? A toast to the vice-captain!”

“Cheers!”

Four huge wooden barrels of ale were soon emptied. Braziers were lit throughout the wide dining hall illuminated by flickering gas lamps. The air was warm but stuffy.

“And attention! Here’s our Mietz the mercenary, braver than anyone!”

“Ooooooh!”

“He cut down five monsters at once with a single stroke!”

“How does he do it when you can’t even see the sword aura!”

“He even always took a turn on night watch!”

“Are you all crazy? What’s with you?”

“Whistle! Don’t be so shy!”

“So, as acting deputy captain, I tried to recruit Mietz for our order, but hell no, he absolutely refused?”

“Ah, damn, loose lips!”

“So, though it’s only until the end of winter, he agreed to serve as a special guest knight!”

“Ooooooh!”

Whether Mietz was fed up or not, everyone surrounded him, slapped his back, and clinked glasses.

Arthur and Chel, having naturally blended among the knights, were also pouring ale into Mietz’s glass.