Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 22

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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 22

Episode 22. Bertas, the Free City (4)

* * *

A few days ago from now.

There was a reason why I saved 【Soul of the Sword Master】 until the very end in my battle against the Celestial Dragon.

It was to utilize the system of Lost Elder.

The mechanism that rewards you with appropriate skills when you perform specific actions.

Clang──!

If I defended against the Celestial Dragon’s attack with perfect timing?

The system would recognize this as a special action. And corresponding rewards would follow.

And this prediction of mine was exactly right.

‘Of course, I never imagined I’d receive such a powerful skill as a reward…’

Auto-parrying.

A defensive skill for swordsman characters that existed even in the original game.

It was a technique that automatically blocked enemy attacks with a certain probability.

However, the reward I obtained, 【Ultimate Auto-parrying】, boasted effects on a completely different dimension from the original skill.

‘First of all, the fact that the skill has the modifier “ultimate” attached to it is different.’

A 9-star legendary skill.

Befitting its majesty, this ability automatically blocked all fatal attacks.

Even regardless of the user’s perception stats.

‘It’s truly a skill close to invincibility.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration.

Just moments ago, didn’t it easily block an attack launched by level 80 Adelia?

This meant that most attacks wouldn’t work on me.

In the game, 【Advanced Auto-parrying】 was the maximum. Even that was an ability only high-level characters with tremendous specs could use.

…Thinking about this, I could understand how absurd it was for me to obtain such a skill at level 1.

‘Well, thanks to that, I feel a bit more at ease.’

Grin-.

I smiled faintly while looking at the skill window.

Having obtained this ability, the risk of dying ridiculously was completely eliminated.

“The Protagonist.”

It was right then.

Adelia called me with a cautious voice.

She silently picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground and asked me a question.

“May I try once more?”

“…?”

Try once more?

What exactly?

Just as I was harboring such curiosity by myself.

Swish-!

Adelia pointed her sword again. As if she would charge at me immediately.

Confirming that sight, I silently glanced at the skill window.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

【Ultimate Auto-parrying】

(Cooldown: 23 hours 58 minutes 11 seconds)

━━━━━━━━━━━━

…She’s saying something that could cause big trouble.

“Today’s training ends here.”

“Ah.”

Swoosh-.

Adelia slowly lowered her sword tip.

She made a disappointed expression and drooped her shoulders.

‘Adelia…’

…I’ve said it many times, but I still don’t want to die.

* * *

Bertas, the Free City.

On the top floor of the manor located in the west of this vibrant city.

A fat man who received a report from his butler muttered to himself.

“Celestial Dragon…”

The man’s name was Edmon Brickwood.

The head of the East Berta Merchant Guild and the person responsible for managing all items registered in auctions.

With an extremely greedy expression, he tapped the desk and opened his mouth again.

“You said the corpse was cut in half too cleanly?”

“Yes.”

The butler wearing a monocle nodded and continued speaking.

“According to the guild’s investigation, the cut surface doesn’t make sense unless it was cut with a single stroke.”

“Hmm.”

Edmon Brickwood swallowed his saliva and shut his mouth tight.

A strong person capable of killing a Celestial Dragon?

With a single stroke at that?

No matter how much he thought about it, only one possibility came to mind.

“It must be the work of a Sword Master. Or an advanced knight equivalent to one.”

“…Yes. I think so too.”

Tap, tap, tap-.

Silence flowed again.

Edmon, who had been silently tapping the desk, asked the butler another question.

“So, who registered this corpse in the auction?”

“It’s said to be Hakun Durdarmel. He’s a premium merchant who operates a fairly large trading company in our branch.”

Hearing those words, Edmon nodded his head.

“Hakun, Hakun Durdarmel…”

Right.

It was a name he had heard before.

A guy who obtained premium merchant qualifications at quite a young age based on excellent skills.

Despite being in his early thirties, he was already a veteran who had traveled the Silk Road over a hundred times.

“Did that guy know that the corpse he registered was a Celestial Dragon?”

“It hasn’t been confirmed yet. However, the ownership of the corpse is registered to someone named Gaon.”

“…Hakun Durdarmel merely took on the role of an intermediary?”

“Yes.”

Edmon, who had been pondering by himself, smiled.

“By any chance, have you confirmed the identity of that ‘Gaon’ person?”

“He’s a male who just entered the city a few days ago. Records from before that are uncertain. There’s a record of Hakun Durdamel using his premium merchant authority to issue him an identification pass.”

“Any other peculiarities?”

“Apart from his sharp features, frail-looking physique, and being accompanied by a woman presumed to be his guard, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy reported.”

“Ah, I see…”

The smile on Edmon’s lips became thoroughly vile.

“…Well, I can roughly picture what happened.”

He began laying out his deductions.

“A Swordmaster who received the Elder’s revelation must have slain the Celestial Dragon for some reason. Durdamel, passing through the Uncharted Wilderness, probably discovered that corpse by chance.”

That ‘some reason’ wasn’t Edmon’s immediate concern.

What mattered was simply that the corpse had ended up in Durdamel’s hands.

“The moment Durdamel realized this monster’s corpse was extraordinary, he would have decided to put it up for auction. That bastard has an absolutely incredible nose for money.”

“…”

“But when it came time to actually put it on the market, he must have felt uneasy. No matter how high-grade a monster, it’s rare for a corpse to emit this level of aura.”

The butler, having heard this far, also nodded.

He too was beginning to grasp the context of this incident.

“I understand. So he put forward a vagrant from the Uncharted Wilderness as the nominal owner and stepped back himself.”

“Exactly.”

Edmon grinned wickedly. As expected of someone he’d worked with for many years, the man was quick to catch on.

“While claiming to be merely an intermediary, he dumped all the risk onto that ‘Gaon’ fellow.”

Having dominated Bertas, the Free City’s commercial district for so long, he could see through such merchant schemes like fire.

But all of this was merely his own speculation. There were still additional matters that needed verification.

“Something feels off though.”

Edmon narrowed his eyes.

“Durdamel is absolutely not stupid enough to use such a simple trick. Above all…”

He habitually tapped the desk.

“…This entire situation only holds if that bastard didn’t recognize the Celestial Dragon.”

Of course, Edmon’s premise was perfectly reasonable.

Divine beasts were the Elder’s representatives, and only a select few knew of their existence.

At most, it would be members of the Noble Families or high-ranking officials like Edmon who had connections with them.

‘I don’t think someone who just became a premium merchant would have that level of information network, but…’

You never knew.

Perhaps Durdamel, having perfectly grasped the Celestial Dragon’s value, was pulling this stunt with solid backing.

Snort-.

But soon a sneer escaped. Even he thought it was an absurd assumption.

How could someone who had just barely reached the ranks of premium merchants have backing equivalent to the Noble Families?

‘…Well, I should still make sure of everything.’

Tap tap tap-.

His finger’s tapping on the desk quickened.

No matter how slim the possibility, matters of this magnitude needed thorough confirmation. Handling things more meticulously when they were tricky was his way.

Having finished his thoughts, Edmon gave orders to the butler.

“Go and subtly probe him.”

“Durdamel?”

“No, the person registered as the corpse’s owner. That Gaon fellow or whatever his name is.”

It would be easier to deal with some ignorant vagrant than to gauge the inner thoughts of a premium merchant skilled in worldly affairs.

Conversing with Durdamel was something to do after the situation was somewhat understood.

The butler, immediately grasping the underlying meaning of Edmon’s order, bowed deeply and replied.

“Yes. I’ll investigate immediately.”

Creak, thud-.

The butler immediately left the room to carry out his orders.

Watching the firmly closed door, Edmon burst into chuckling laughter and began letting his imagination run wild.

‘If this matter flows as I think it will…’

Not only would he legally seize the divine beast’s corpse owned by the novice premium merchant.

Edmon would be able to achieve the ambition he had so desperately wanted.

‘…This time, I’ll finally be able to solidify my position in relations with the Noble Families.’

He absolutely didn’t want to miss this windfall that had rolled right to him.

* * *

“Phew.”

A sigh escaped naturally.

I had certainly taken sufficient rest and confirmed the performance of my newly acquired abilities.

So now it was time to start moving toward the next stage. The road ahead would be hectic too.

‘How many more days until the Celestial Dragon’s corpse goes to auction?’

Since it was the first divine beast corpse to appear on the market, it seemed various complex procedures had to be followed.

It would take some time, but the Guild would have cast preservation magic on the corpse, so there was no need to worry about its value decreasing.

In that sense, I was planning to leave for nearby regions with Adelia until the Guild’s approval was finished.

To obtain the ‘ability’ I had planned in advance.

“Adelia.”

I called Adelia. Then she, who had been wearing a sullen expression, quickly raised her head to look at me.

“Prepare to leave for about a week.”

“…?”

“The destination is Bertas’s ‘Labyrinth Village.'”

Labyrinth Village.

A slum located in the underground tunnels of Bertas, the Free City.

It was also a dangerous place where all sorts of city trash gathered since law enforcement didn’t reach there.

But Adelia, hearing my words, didn’t show any signs of dislike. Rather, she began to smirk.

‘What?’

Why is she so happy again…

‘Ah.’

Then, I belatedly realized Adelia’s inner thoughts.

Just like when I gave her trials at Dungard’s Abandoned Factory, she seemed to expect that I would help her grow in this dangerous place too.

‘…That’s not it, really.’

My heading to Labyrinth Village was purely to achieve my own purpose.

But with Adelia’s talent, she would probably grow rapidly on her own in the process anyway.

Well, either way the result would be the same, so it worked out well.

“Then I’ll go gather the necessary supplies from the lodging.”

“Right.”

I decided to practice swordsmanship briefly until Adelia returned.

A certain possibility had suddenly flashed through my mind.

‘Speaking of which…’

Whoosh-!

While swinging the Feather Sword with its sheath, I recalled the sparring with Adelia.

Though it was an exchange that ended in an instant, that sensation still remained vividly in my body.

‘…Couldn’t I embody 【Ultimate Auto-Parrying】 by making good use of the swordsmanship talent I possess?’

With the swordsmanship talent I possessed, it seemed entirely possible.

If I could implement this ability with my own power without using skills, nothing could be better.

Just as I was swinging the Feather Sword around to test that possibility.

‘Huh?’

I stopped-.

That was precisely when it happened.

I stopped my movements after spotting ‘someone’ approaching from the distance.

For some reason, his appearance and attire looked extremely familiar.

“….”

A middle-aged man sending cold glances through his monocle.

Neatly combed hair. And even his pressed tailcoat outfit.

I could tell at a glance that he was from the upper class.

‘That bastard is….’

I furrowed my brow.

And for good reason, since he was one of Roel’s representative villainous NPCs.

No.

More precisely, I should say he was the subordinate of such an NPC.

‘…Taylor, the butler of the Brickwood Family.’

Tsk-.

I clicked my tongue.

Of all times, the Brickwood Family’s butler approaches at this moment?

That alone was enough for me to roughly guess how the auction registration for the Celestial Dragon’s corpse was going.

‘The situation is turning troublesome.’

There was a reason why the item registration was being delayed.

It seems that bastard calling himself the eastern merchant guild leader of Bertas is pulling dirty tricks.

I could clearly see what was about to unfold.

Even inside the game, those Brickwood bastards had strangled countless merchants in this manner.

‘No, perhaps this is actually better?’

At that moment, a sinister smile crossed my lips.

‘Since I’ll be able to cut out Bertas’s rotten parts early.’

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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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