Part 10: Orc Subjugation (1)
“Wh… who are you?”

“Town resident.”

“Hmph. Turns out you’re just a nobody. Stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong and get lost.”

Rune’s attitude turned cold in an instant.

When the young man had first interrupted, his heart had sunk.

The moment he saw the man’s elegant and mysterious appearance, he thought he must be a noble.

But the young man had called himself a town resident. That meant there was no need to tread carefully.

“I have business with those two. I can’t just walk past.”

“You idiot. You don’t even know who we are?”

“You’re soldiers of Count Kai’s House, aren’t you?”

“So you know and still want to interfere?”

“Even if I didn’t, I probably would have.”

The young man’s answer was calm.

Other town residents were too afraid to even make eye contact with them.

This one was different.

Not in a good way but in a bad one.

He seemed to have lost all sense of fear.

“Aiden, please just go. We’re really fine. These soldiers are just being playful. It’s nothing serious.”

Dana spoke quickly, jerking her chin toward the distance as if telling him to leave right away.

But the young man called Aiden didn’t budge.

“Kevin’s cheek is bright red. So soldiers these days hit people for fun?”

“Oh come on. Don’t make things worse. Just go already!”

Dana shouted.

She didn’t want Aiden getting tangled up with the soldiers. It was enough if she suffered alone.

She turned her head.

Kevin was there with one swollen cheek, hanging his head in dejection.

Something surged from deep inside her gut but she bit her lip and held it back.

“Your aunt is looking for you.”

“Please tell her we’ll be there soon.”

“No. I’m taking you right now.”

“Hey, are you stupid or something? Can’t you read the room?”

One of the soldiers beside Rune approached Aiden.

“Tsk tsk tsk. You’ve got a decent face but no sense. Get lost before I beat you till dust flies on a rainy day…”

He didn’t get to finish.

Aiden swept his leg out like lightning.

Thud.

The soldier fell backward with a groan. “Ughhh…”

“Has he lost his mind?”

“You’re dead today.”

Rune and the other soldiers swarmed at Aiden like a pack of bees.

The first soldier had only been caught off guard.

They didn’t actually think Aiden was strong.

They were wrong.

Even with his hands full of grocery bags, Aiden moved like a phantom.

He dodged every punch and kick the soldiers threw.

His evasive movements were so quick they were barely visible.

It was like watching a ghost.

Something that existed and didn’t exist at the same time.

He kicked one in the stomach.

Another got hit in the face by a spinning kick.

A third took a blow to the ribs.

In the blink of an eye, the soldiers were incapacitated, rolling on the ground groaning.

No one could have imagined a fighter like this existed in a small town like Centum.

“What’s going on here?”

Right then, a man approached the alley.

A middle-aged man in simple leather armor.

The moment Rune and the soldiers saw him, they flinched.

Osward.

The greatest knight of Count Kai’s House.

A Sword Master had joined the scene, the key figure in this orc subjugation.

His presence alone made the air grow frigid.

“They were harassing and insulting these residents, so I taught them a lesson.”

Aiden spoke with a bored expression.

“You did that?”

“Am I not allowed to?”

“No. That’s a lie. He’s the one who picked a fight with us out of nowhere.”

Rune staggered to his feet and desperately denied everything.

If their vile acts were exposed, punishment was inevitable.

“Hmm… that’s not what my soldiers are saying.”

“Look at that child’s cheek. Do you really think he slapped himself that hard?”

“……”

“He was hit while protecting his sister.”

Osward stayed silent for a long moment, looking between Aiden, Dana, and Kevin.

“Rune. Did you just lie to me?”

“Well… actually…”

“You foolishly made this a big deal. In any case, we owe you an apology. I apologize on behalf of my soldiers.”

Osward bowed his head politely, promised to discipline the soldiers according to military law, then took them away.

Only after he left did the frozen air melt.

“Are you hurt anywhere, Aiden?”

Dana approached him.

“As you can see. The ones who got hurt are over there.”

“It was still dangerous. What if they had drawn their weapons?”

“They’d be dead. All of them.”

“…Anyway, thank you, Aiden. You saved us. And I’m sorry for yelling earlier. I just didn’t want you getting dragged in.”

“I get it. Don’t worry about it.”

Dana saw a new side of Aiden. She had thought he was just good-looking but his fighting skills were extraordinary too.

To think he defeated four soldiers in an instant while holding grocery bags…

When she imagined what might have happened if he hadn’t shown up in time, goosebumps prickled her arms.

And then.

“Hey.”

Kevin, who had been silent, looked at Aiden with a fierce gaze.

“What is it?”

“I want to become strong like you. Please be my teacher!”

Kevin suddenly made a bold declaration.

* * *

On the way back to the tavern, Aiden was deep in thought.

Two things weighed on his mind.

One was the middle-aged man who had appeared midway.

Aiden guessed he was indeed a Sword Master.

But why would a Sword Master personally join something as trivial as an orc subjugation?

It was hard to understand.

The other was Kevin.

The boy had stubbornly begged him to teach him self-defense.

Aiden had refused but Kevin showed no sign of backing down.

He insisted he’d keep pestering him until Aiden took him as a disciple.

Clang.

The doorbell chimed as Aiden returned to the tavern.

He went into the kitchen to help Lyra organize the ingredients, then stepped back out into the hall.

“Where’s Mister Victor?”

“I sent him upstairs to rest while there are no customers. You’re later than usual today.”

“There was a small commotion.”

Aiden told Carl everything that had happened.

Carl clicked his tongue.

“They sure overstep their bounds in someone else’s territory. Just because they’re the count’s soldiers, they act like they’re the count himself.”

“Do you know anything about Count Kai’s House?”

“Somewhat.”

“Do they have a Sword Master?”

“How do you know about that?”

“I ran into him by chance.”

“That’s Sir Osward. He’s famous for being fair and just. If even I know him, that should tell you something.”

Aiden kept his thoughts to himself.

Osward.

He did seem like a decent man.

He hadn’t sided with the soldiers who were in the wrong and promised to punish them after sorting out the truth.

But was that really his true nature?

After killing so many rotten people, Aiden could smell hypocrisy better than anyone.

And from Osward, he sensed a damp stench.

“Kevin asked me to teach him self-defense.”

Aiden changed the topic.

“That’s understandable.”

“Why’s that?”

“You saved him and Dana when they were in danger. Imagine how amazing you must have looked. It’s fate, so you might as well teach him.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Why not? You should have plenty of free time with Victor here.”

“Teaching someone else is a hassle.”

He had taught plenty back in the Thieves Guild under the alias Clark as an intermediate assassination instructor.

“Most people can’t keep up with the lessons and quit halfway through.”

“Kevin might be different.”

“They all swear they’ll be different when they start. I don’t need to say how that ends.”

“Kevin really might be different.”

Carl gave him a knowing look.

“Why do thieves in the Assassin Guild want to grow stronger?”

“To kill others.”

“Exactly. That’s why Kevin’s different. He wants to become strong to protect someone.”

“I don’t see the difference.”

Aiden frowned.

Becoming strong to protect someone.

Becoming strong to kill someone.

The conclusion was the same.

Get stronger or give up halfway.

Kill or be killed.

“Maybe if you teach him, you’ll see the difference for yourself.”

“You want me to teach Kevin.”

“Not really. I just think it’ll make things easier for you. You don’t know what kind of kid he is, do you?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Then you’ll find out starting tomorrow.”

Carl laughed heartily.

* * *

The next morning, Carl’s ominous prediction came true.

Kevin showed up at the tavern at dawn and clung to Aiden like a leech.

He didn’t say the words “teach me self-defense” but his whole body screamed it.

Naturally, Aiden ignored him.

He thought the brat’s stubbornness wouldn’t last long.

He was wrong.

This opponent was no pushover.

Kevin was the first person since Aiden turned twenty to exceed his expectations.

The boy followed him around for three whole days.

He ignored Aiden’s ignoring.

He even stopped sleeping at home and laid out a blanket in front of Aiden’s lodging.

Later, Aiden learned Kevin’s nickname.

Pomoa.

The boy who doesn’t know how to give up.

Knowing his stubbornness, the family probably allowed his behavior.

“How long are you planning to keep this up?”

“Until you promise to teach me self-defense.”

“You really think that day will come?”

“If it doesn’t, I’ll make it come.”

There was an unquenchable fire in Kevin’s voice and eyes.

“I’ll get strong and protect Mom and Dana. Dad’s… in heaven now, so I have to protect them.”

Aiden stayed silent.

He tried out the empathy he’d recently learned. He imagined himself as Kevin.

In the past, it would have been impossible but now he could.

After losing someone precious in the Realm of Illusions, Aiden had truly changed.

He began a deliberate exercise.

He adjusted his height to match Kevin’s.

Worked at the grocery store.

Got slapped by soldiers.

Lost his father.

Chased after someone he barely knew out of a desperate desire to become strong.

From the emptiness he’d thought permanent, something bubbled up like a spring.

Kevin wasn’t related to him in the slightest but he could feel the boy’s emotions.

It was a strange discovery.

He had never imagined a day like this would come.

“Please. Help me.”

“Fine. If you pass the test, I’ll take you as my disciple.”

“Yes. I can do it. Anything!”

“Then run around the northern lake ten times. If you finish, I’ll accept you.”

“T… ten laps around the lake?”

“What? You can’t do it?”

The usually tenacious Kevin faltered this time.

The lake was huge.

“If you can’t, give up.”

“No. I’ll run. I’ll do it. You have to keep your promise.”

Kevin held out his pinky finger.

Aiden hooked his pinky with his.

As Kevin dashed off, Aiden watched him quietly.

One lap around the northern lake was roughly one kilometer.

For a boy who hadn’t trained at all,

Could he really run ten kilometers in one go?

Would he understand the true meaning behind this test?
 

To be continued