Part 9: Guardian (1)

“Is Carl not here?” the man spoke as he sat down at the bar table. His voice carried a familiar tone when calling for Carl.

“I’m on the night shift today. Do you know him, sir?”

“Know him? Of course. You could say I’m his walking encyclopedia,” his response was cheerful.

As he laughed, his sleeves fluttered again. The cuffs of his shirt were buttoned, though they didn’t need to be.

The buttons gleamed as brightly as his smiling teeth.

A type of customer Aiden had never seen before.

Aiden’s eyes gleamed as well.

“You must be someone who has known Carl for a long time. My name is Aiden, and I’m currently working as a bartender.”

“Aiden, huh? Good name. But how did you figure out that Carl and I are old friends?”

“Because you just said so yourself.”

“I could have been lying. Maybe just trying to score a free drink.”

“The clothes you’re wearing… They’re from Laffine’s clothing shop. And outsiders don’t usually go there.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s tucked away in a hidden alley.”

“……”

“And your arm—you injured it during the recent orc subjugation, didn’t you?”

Aiden’s assessment was spot-on.

Victor chuckled and nodded in agreement.

From start to finish.

Every answer was correct.

Aiden had a sharp eye and an exceptional sense of deduction.

It seemed impossible to pull one over on him.

“Carl picked a sharp one. Ah, where are my manners? I haven’t introduced myself yet. Name’s Victor,” Victor gave a slight shrug.

His sleeves twitched.

And last, his facial muscles reacted with a delayed twitch.

Though these were minute, almost unnoticeable movements, Aiden understood their meaning immediately.

So, he extended his left hand for a handshake first.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Have I done something noteworthy enough for people to talk about me?”

“Well… You’re good-looking, aren’t you? Everyone says you’re the most handsome man in Centum,” Victor laughed heartily.

Despite this being their first meeting and them being little more than strangers, Victor had already laughed three times.

His lips naturally curled into a grin.

Dimples formed deep on his cheeks.

His eyes curved into crescent moons.

The man who looked the least likely to laugh among the customers was actually the one laughing the most.

“So the rumors were true. If you were just sitting here as a customer, I’d have thought you were a noble.”

“I hear that a lot.”

“They say business at the tavern has skyrocketed since you started working here.”

“That’s true.”

“I used to be quite the looker myself in my younger days, but… Can’t outrun age.”

“I’d have to disagree.”

“Hm? Why’s that?”

“I tried reconstructing what you might have looked like in your youth, but… I don’t think your looks were ever particularly popular with the ladies.”

“……”

Victor stared at Aiden blankly before bursting into laughter.

“You got me. I give up. You’re impossible to deal with. Just get me a beer.”

Aiden poured beer into a glass.

Tilting the glass slightly, he filled it with beer, then straightened it to add a frothy head on top.

He placed the beer to Victor’s left.

This way, Victor could grab it without needing to move his right shoulder.

Gulp. Gulp.

The glass was emptied in one go.

“Doesn’t my presence make you uncomfortable?”

“Is there a reason it should?”

“Are you pretending not to notice? Or do you just not want to see it?” Victor glanced at his right arm.

He had sleeves, but no right arm beneath them.

From the moment he walked in, other customers had been sneaking glances at him—or, more precisely, at his missing limb.

Sometimes, what was absent drew more attention than what was present.

“Ever since I lost my arm, people have looked at me like an animal in a zoo. But you don’t seem to be like them. Why is that?”

“If you fight, you can die. You can also get seriously injured. It’s just something that happens.”

“Just something that happens, huh… You sound like someone who’s seen their fair share of battle.”

“I fought my own war. Once,” Aiden spoke of his past as an assassin in the past tense.

“Did you find my words offensive?”

“Not at all. The moment I picked up a sword, I knew I could die or get hurt at any time. Hearing you say it just confirms my own thoughts.”

Victor downed the remaining beer.

With a bright grin, he raised his glass for another round.

The lighthearted atmosphere returned.

Aiden refilled Victor’s beer and handed it to him once more.

A brief silence followed their conversation.

Victor took this moment to observe Aiden closely.

As Aiden cleaned wine glasses, there was something enigmatic about him.

His appearance was refined, like a noble’s.

But he carried the air of someone who had tasted both the bitter and sweet of life.

He did not look at Victor with pity.

Nor did he see him as some sort of monster.

Though he didn’t speak much, every word that left his mouth was sharp and struck right at the core.

Victor had never met a young man with such an unusual presence before.

“What brought you to Centum?”

“I used to be an assassin. After retiring, I chose Centum as my place to settle down.”

“A… an assassin? You’re joking, right?”

“Believe what you want.”

“Are you sure you should be saying something like that so openly?”

“I figured I could be honest with Mister Carl’s friend,” Aiden said this as he returned to the bar counter.

There had been a time when revealing his past as an assassin felt awkward.

But not anymore.

If he considered someone decent, he no longer hesitated to share his history.

Aiden had spent nearly twenty years as an assassin.

Hiding that fact would be the same as hiding himself.

And if he hid himself, he could never truly be friends with anyone.

In fact…

Everyone he had ever told about his past had become his friend.

Carl. Lucy. Lyra.

Maybe Victor would be a new friend too.

“You’re a tough one to figure out. How did you and Carl become acquainted?”

Aiden began to explain.

Victor kept his words brief, leaving out anything unnecessary.

“You never got married, Mister? I heard you were quite the looker when you were younger.”

“For some reason, I never managed to keep a relationship going for long. Guess I wasn’t meant for marriage.”

“……”

“If I had your looks, I’d probably be married with kids by now.”

Victor finished speaking and took another sip of his drink.

He drank less than before.

The scabbard hanging at his waist clanked, making a metallic sound.

It was strapped to his left hip.

The sword still longed for his right arm.

The conversation continued.

Eventually, it shifted to Carl.

Victor had been Carl’s lifelong friend.

Thanks to that, Aiden got to hear about Carl’s younger days—stories he had never known before.

Carl was a native of Centum.

Aiden had always thought of him as a gentle man, but in his youth, Carl had apparently been quite the hothead—quick-tempered and rough.

He often got into brawls.

And in the city, he had been known as a notorious troublemaker.

Victor was also the one who had brought Carl and Lyra together.

“Sounds like you’re talking about someone else. I can’t imagine him like that, thinking of how he is now.”

“I feel the same way. That guy completely changed after he got married. They say people don’t change easily, but looking at Carl, I’m not so sure about that.”

Victor toyed with his beer mug, lost in nostalgia.

“But isn’t it true that personalities don’t change that easily?”

“Is that what you think?”

“Yes,” Aiden’s answer was firm, without hesitation.

A person’s character was like a snowball.

Once it started rolling, it only grew larger, unable to change its course.

“Maybe you’re right. I tend to think the same way. But…”

“But?”

“If you really think about it, doesn’t that mean change is possible?”

Victor continued, “Liquid can turn into gas or solid. Gas can become liquid or solid. And solid can turn into liquid or gas.”

“……”

“Perhaps humans, too, can change depending on their environment.”

Aiden remained silent.

Victor’s philosophical words filled his heart like liquid.

Drifted through his mind like gas.

And settled deep within him like a solid.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Drops of beer fell from the tap handle.

They soaked the rag beneath it.

A faint scent of beer rose from the damp fabric.

If it had been dirty water instead, the rag would have reeked of filth.

“How was your time in the orc subjugation force?”

“It was brutal. As you can see… I have some skill with a sword. I led a unit of twenty men, and half of them died.”

“……”

“They were all people I knew. I ran into some of their families earlier… I couldn’t even look them in the eye.”

Victor’s usual cheerfulness had evaporated.

New wrinkles appeared on his face.

Aiden had seen that expression before.

But on whom?

“Are orcs really that strong? Strong enough that the local forces couldn’t handle them?”

“I underestimated them at first, too. That was a huge mistake. There were way more of them than we had expected.”

“……”

“And that wasn’t all. I don’t know why, but they fought like they had nothing to lose.”

“That’s strange. Orcs aren’t the type to fight to the death against humans.”

“Exactly!” Victor leaned forward, nodding in agreement.

Orcs were intelligent monsters.

They rarely invaded human territories. Usually, it was humans who attacked them first.

Even when they fought, they only defended themselves within reasonable limits.

Because if they waged full-scale war…

They knew humans would retaliate in overwhelming numbers, razing their lands to the ground.

“Either way, the subjugation was a total disaster. There’ll be a second expedition soon.”

Victor rolled his right shoulder, as if trying to shake off the weight of the conversation.

*  *  *

The estate of Centum’s lord, Maxey.

Maxey was listening to the report of Frank, the knight who had led the subjugation force.

With his head lowered, Frank spoke for a long time.

It sounded almost like he was talking to himself.

The thick summer heat poured in through the open windows, and a strong wind swept through the room.

The chandelier hanging from the ceiling swayed back and forth.

Light flickered in rhythm with the clinking sound of glass.

“So, in conclusion, you’re saying we lost half our forces?”

“I regret to say so, my lord.”

Frank bit his lip.

His head remained bowed, unable to rise.

“No matter how small our domain may be, we can’t even handle some orcs?!”

“Their numbers and ferocity far exceeded our expectations… I have no excuse. I take full responsibility.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Maxey clicked his tongue and crossed his arms.

His mood was as twisted as his posture.

Three months ago—

An unusual disturbance had been detected in one of the lord’s territories, Palette Mountain.

The orcs living there…

Their movements were unusual.

They kept coming down the mountain.

They started clearing land in the surrounding areas.

At first, Maxey ignored it.

The land was worthless anyway, and he had been confident that he could wipe them out whenever he pleased.

But the orcs…

Those damn orcs had the audacity to expand their territory.

It almost felt like…

They were marching toward the lord’s estate.

So, in the end, Maxey drew his sword.

He assembled his knights and soldiers and ordered them to eradicate the orcs.

And the result? A disaster.

If they had managed to wipe the orcs out, even at the cost of many lives, it would have been somewhat acceptable.

But instead—

They lost their men…

While the orcs remained unscathed.

It was the worst possible outcome.

“What if we gather every last soldier and attack them all at once?”

“It would still be impossible. There are too many, and they charge at us with bloodshot eyes. We can’t hold them off.”

“And that’s what you dare to say in front of me?”

Bam!

Maxey slammed his fist on the table.

The table trembled violently.

Ripples spread across the surface of the teacup.

“You’re the strongest warrior in this domain. A Sword Expert, no less! And yet, you cower before mere orcs?!”

“It pains me to admit it, but this is the reality we faced on the battlefield. And… the orcs weren’t alone. Among them were a shaman and a king.”

“A shaman and a king?”

“Yes. If it had been just the orcs, we wouldn’t have suffered such a defeat.”

“Hah…”

Maxey pressed his fingers against his temples.

A dull pain throbbed in his head.

It felt like someone was tightening a rope around his skull.

After a long silence, Maxey finally parted his dry lips and said, “There’s no choice… We’ll have to seek help from Count Kai.”
 

To be continued

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