Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 130

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One-Strike Kill Swordmaster Episode 130

 

Episode 130. Auction Preparations (4)

 

* * *

 

Rattle, clatter—.

 

The worn-out carriage made a tremendous racket as it passed over the bumpy road.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Biyolf let out a small groan and shifted his hips. The Old Man with the Donkey’s cart was unbearably uncomfortable.

 

Hard wooden planks with only a thin piece of cloth laid over them for seats. It was a miserable environment with none of the cushioned comfort they had expected from a carriage.

 

‘…I’m starting to miss the leather seats of the university carriage.’

 

The discomfort wasn’t limited to that alone.

 

“Grr…”

 

Isaac Beriloff, who had been looking around with anxious eyes, opened his mouth.

 

“C-Coachman, sir?”

 

“What.”

 

“Where exactly are we going?”

 

“Hm? We’re going to Dungarrd, the Dark City?”

 

“No, that’s not what I mean…!”

 

When the old man holding the donkey’s reins turned around to answer, Isaac Beriloff shouted as if frustrated.

 

“…Why on earth are we leaving the Silk Road!”

 

Rattle, clatter—!

 

In the distance, they could see the Silk Road where merchant caravan processions were passing by.

 

However, the old man’s cart had begun to veer away from that safe path, heading increasingly toward the uncharted wilderness beyond the barrier.

 

“Quickly return to the Silk Road! At this rate, we’ll be attacked by monsters!”

 

“What?”

 

The old man snorted with an irritated voice.

 

“What nonsense are you suddenly spouting! The Silk Road? Don’t you know that’s just a path where stupid merchants crawl around?”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

Suddenly, every merchant on the continent had become an idiot.

 

“Just trust me. This way is much faster and much safer.”

 

“No, what do you mean…!”

 

“Assistant Berillov.”

 

Stop—.

 

At that moment, Taragon interjected with a calm voice.

 

“Please calm down. That gentleman was sent directly by The Protagonist.”

 

“…”

 

“There must be a reason why he chose this method.”

 

Silence briefly lingered in the carriage.

 

Selena quietly nodded her head, and Biyolf also swallowed briefly as if agreeing with those words.

 

They too found the Old Man with the Donkey’s cart just as uncomfortable, but like Taragon said, they couldn’t rashly voice complaints about a choice that carried Gaon’s intentions.

 

“…”

 

Clench—.

 

In that situation, Isaac Beriloff shut his mouth tight.

 

No, to be precise… he had no choice but to lower his eyes, unable to continue speaking.

 

Being restrained by a freshman assistant much younger than himself was certainly an unpleasant situation.

 

However, when even the two professors weren’t raising any particular objections, it wouldn’t be proper for him alone to keep babbling on.

 

Moreover…

 

‘…Thanks to Taragon, my workload has been reduced by more than half.’

 

Various document organization, administrative work, even research report writing. Taragon had taken on all the troublesome tasks he used to do.

 

Thanks to that, Isaac was able to spend relatively leisurely days.

 

What could be more grateful than this?

 

‘Right. Just considering what he’s done for me, I should endure this…’

 

Taragon.

 

To Isaac Beriloff, he was nothing short of an angel who had saved him from the hell of work piles.

 

Therefore, he could endure that newcomer’s rude behavior a hundred times over.

 

And…

 

‘Anyway, that cowardly bastard.’

 

…Strawberry Latte, who had been watching that scene from the opposite seat, inwardly burst into a snicker.

 

Isaac Beriloff.

 

A character famous for being a coward even inside the game.

 

He was the protagonist of a twisted life who, due to his indecisive personality, ended up playing the role of a double agent between the Ruin Guild and the Shadow Conclave.

 

The guy even suffered from tremendous workload as a public assistant at Wintershield Magic Academy during all that.

 

From Strawberry Latte’s perspective, knowing all these circumstances, Isaac’s current desperate efforts just seemed ridiculous.

 

Just looking at right now, for instance.

 

Wasn’t it obvious that he was anxious about heading to the dark city with Selena Servich… that is, the Crimson Empress, toward the Ruin Guild’s stronghold?

 

The reason Isaac Beriloff was showing such an unusually emotional side was probably because of that.

 

‘Speaking of which…’

 

Now that I mention cowards, something came to mind.

 

Suddenly, another coward from Roel came to mind.

 

‘…Puppet Master Batu.’

 

A madman rivaling Camillo von Taribas.

 

Among the Five Nightmares, he was the most cruel and terrible being, a monster with the bizarre hobby of turning people into puppets while they were still alive.

 

What made it even more troublesome was that the bastard was a coward.

 

He absolutely avoided direct confrontation and always employed cowardly tactics, hiding behind others. Because of such despicable behavior, he was actually an even more difficult opponent to deal with.

 

“…”

 

Horrible memories of encountering that bastard in the game flashed by.

 

The tragic sight of companions being turned into his playthings one by one. The voices begging to be killed instead.

 

Strawberry Latte frowned as if the mere imagination was horrible, but…

 

‘But well.’

 

…soon shook her head and brushed away the thoughts.

 

‘Anyway, meeting that bastard happens in the latter half of the game.’

 

For now, there was no need to think about it.

 

* * *

 

“S-standing is a bit uncomfortable… may I sit beside you? There’s something I’d like to discuss briefly…”

 

Creep, creep—.

 

Puppet Master Batu cautiously approached and spoke.

 

Grip—.

 

At this, Adelia began to grasp the handle of her meteor sword.

 

She seemed to be on guard because the suspicious figure had instantly recognized my identity.

 

However, I briefly shook my head and stopped Adelia.

 

‘…For now, I need to have a conversation with that bastard.’

 

Puppet Master Batu.

 

As I mentioned before, he was the most troublesome existence among the Five Nightmares.

 

The reason was his nature.

 

If Dorico Shiro was naturally bright and innocent, then Puppet Master Batu stood at the complete opposite extreme.

 

Gloomy and pathetic. Sadistic and cruel, finding pleasure in others’ pain—should I call him pure evil itself?

 

Looking at him like this, he might seem similar to Camillo von Taribas, but…

 

‘There’s a crucial difference between the two.’

 

Camillo at least had enough social skills to maintain formalities and courtesy. In contrast, Batu had none of that.

 

He was only faithful to his own desires and impulses. In short, he was an uncontrollable madman.

 

‘…But what’s his reason for coming all the way here?’

 

In the original scenario, the Five Nightmares did intervene in the Celestial Dragon auction.

 

But the one who appeared in the dark city at that time wasn’t Puppet Master Batu.

 

The auction was held much later than now, and at that point, Batu was preoccupied with other matters.

 

Moreover, Batu was someone who extremely disliked wandering outside his hideout. He wasn’t the type to obediently follow orders even if his fellow members commanded him to do something.

 

‘There must be an important reason for Puppet Master Batu to move personally.’

 

I silently stared at Puppet Master Batu.

 

‘I need to understand his intentions through conversation with Batu. Furthermore, the thoughts of the entire Five Nightmares.’

 

Of course, I was already half-certain of the reason… but well, it’s better to be sure about everything.

 

I had been moving with full knowledge of everything until now. But this time was different.

 

A situation where many variables were bound to occur. That’s why I needed to gather as much information as possible.

 

It wasn’t impossible. I had extracted information from formidable beings like Camillo von Taribas and Dorico Shiro, and even used them to my advantage.

 

Puppet Master Batu wouldn’t be any different.

 

Rather, if I could reverse-utilize his characteristic vile and twisted nature, I could handle him much more easily.

 

Having finished that thought, I nodded.

 

“Fine. Sit next to me.”

 

“Oh…! Th-thank you…!”

 

Thud—.

 

Batu hurriedly sat down next to me. I could hear a sigh of relief escaping from under his hood.

 

Swoosh—.

 

Just then, the innkeeper began placing dishes one by one on the table.

 

He glanced at Puppet Master Batu and shrugged his shoulders.

 

“You had more company. Well, it’s still a lot for three people to eat…”

 

“This axe! I killed the Tolong’s throat with this axe! Kahahat!”

 

Stop—.

 

The innkeeper’s words were cut off by the shout that erupted from over there.

 

The innkeeper clicked his tongue and shook his head.

 

“Please excuse that. Recently, the Ruin Guild announced they’d give additional rewards to Tolong slayers, so imposters and braggarts like that have increased significantly.”

 

“…”

 

“I just called the Ruin Guild’s security, so it’ll quiet down soon.”

 

The innkeeper said this and left.

 

Dungarrd, the Dark City, was a lawless zone, but the Ruin Guild’s influence couldn’t be taken lightly.

 

Shops including restaurants and lodging facilities operated by paying certain fees and receiving the guild’s protection.

 

Thanks to this, minimal order was maintained, and merchants could continue their business trusting in that protection.

 

It was thanks to this that the innkeeper could request help from the Ruin Guild.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

Soon after the innkeeper left, silence flowed over the table.

 

Meaningful gazes as if trying to gauge each other’s true intentions.

 

And suffocating stillness.

 

Of course, there was no reason to continue this pointless standoff, so I spoke first.

 

“Eat comfortably, Batu.”

 

“…!”

 

When I offered him food, Batu was startled and asked back.

 

“Wh-what…? You know who I am…? H-how?”

 

Tremble tremble tremble—.

 

He seemed quite anxious after having his identity discovered.

 

According to his character setting, Batu was a cowardly guy. Even now, at this moment, I could feel that he was genuinely afraid of me.

 

But his thin, trembling voice and strangely crooked tone were problematic.

 

He was definitely scared, yet strangely, from the listener’s perspective, it felt like he was mocking me.

 

“Do-Dorico Shiro, that liar…”

 

Puppet Master Batu began muttering.

 

“She said it would be fun to become friends! But from the first meeting, he was scary enough to see through my identity at a glance. Sh-shit… This is why I said I didn’t want to come…”

 

Mutter mutter—.

 

His appearance muttering to himself was that of a terrified madman.

 

And Adelia’s expression, hearing Batu’s muttering, instantly turned pale.

 

“…!”

 

The name Batu and his connection to Dorico Shiro. Through those fragmentary clues, she realized that the man before her was one of the Five Nightmares.

 

Swoosh—.

 

I looked at Adelia’s hardened expression, then shifted my gaze back to Batu.

 

If left in that state, he would obviously ramble on with soliloquies all day, so I interrupted at an appropriate moment.

 

“Didn’t you say you had something to tell me?”

 

“…Ah!”

 

Stop—.

 

Puppet Master Batu came to his senses and looked at me.

 

After fidgeting with his fingers, he soon nodded briefly with an expression as if he had made some decision.

 

“R-right. Since you already know my identity, I’ll get straight to the point.”

 

He said this while slightly leaning his body toward me.

 

“G-Gaon. You have ownership of the Celestial Dragon’s corpse, right?”

 

“…”

 

“I don’t need anything else, so can you hand over just the Thunder Core?”

 

As expected, his purpose was the Thunder Core.

 

He was definitely planning to use it to create the Second Apostle’s body.

 

My speculation became certainty. It was confirmed that ‘that guy’s’ descent had been moved up much earlier than before.

 

Naturally, there was no reason to comply with that proposal.

 

“What if I refuse?”

 

“U-uum… I didn’t expect you to refuse so firmly…”

 

Batu scratched his head with a troubled expression.

 

“Then there’s no choice, I guess. I’ll have to blow up the auction house, kill all those bastards who gathered to show off their money, and then take the Thunder Core directly.”

 

“…”

 

“Eh, huh? W-w-wait. But this way seems more fun…?”

 

Batu looked at me and smiled a twisted smile.

 

“I spoke for nothing! Just don’t hand it over!”

 

As expected.

 

The Five Nightmares are all guys with a screw loose in their heads.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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