Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 23

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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 23

Episode 23. Bertas, the Free City (5)

* * *

Gaon.

The owner of the Celestial Dragon’s corpse.

Information that he was staying at Mrs. Durdamel’s Inn had already been obtained.

The butler who left the mansion immediately headed to the inn.

The inn located in Eastern Bertas was not far from the Brickwood Family estate.

“Hmm?”

Shortly after arriving at his destination, the butler slightly frowned at an unexpected sight.

‘What’s that…?’

Whoosh, whoong-!

In the inn’s backyard. Some man was swinging a sword.

Following the trajectory drawn by his arms, the blade slowly cut through the air.

‘…Something seems clumsy.’

His movements were unnaturally choppy and disconnected.

His grip on the sword was awkward, and his stance was unstable too.

Even someone without deep knowledge of swordsmanship could tell at a glance. That this was far from the movements of a skilled swordsman.

Rather, it was more like watching the youngest son of a sickly noble family playfully mimicking swordsmanship.

‘Could that man possibly be Gaon?’

Dark blue hair and a cold impression.

His appearance matched perfectly with what his subordinate had reported.

The butler approached the man and politely offered a greeting.

“Excuse me, by any chance…”

Whoosh-.

However, the man completely ignored him and silently continued swinging his sword.

The butler slightly gritted his teeth at this, but still maintained a courteous smile as he spoke again.

“Are you Mr. Gaon? I am Butler Taylor from the Brickwood Family, overseeing the eastern branch auctions.”

“…”

“The reason I’ve come is to discuss the item scheduled for registration in this auction…”

Stop-.

Only then did the man briefly pause his sword swinging.

Letting out a sigh as if annoyed, he glanced sideways at him and answered.

“All authority for this transaction should have been entrusted to the intermediary.”

“…We need a simple confirmation procedure. I know it’s troublesome, but I hope you’ll cooperate with us.”

Slowly-.

Gaon slowly lowered the sword in his hand.

Then he showed an arrogant expression as if to say ‘go ahead and try.’

Though his attitude was somehow irritating, Butler Taylor quickly brought up the matter he came here for.

“First, may I ask how Master came to acquire the monster’s corpse?”

There were three main ways to obtain ownership of a monster corpse.

Being the first to discover an ownerless corpse.

Paying compensation to purchase ownership rights from the owner.

Or personally slaying the monster oneself.

Butler Taylor waited for an answer while observing subtle changes in expression, but the man showed no signs of agitation, just like when he first saw him.

Butler Taylor continued speaking.

“Given its massive size and unusual appearance, it seems unreasonable to believe you handled it personally. I suspect you might have discovered it by chance in the Uncharted Wilderness…”

“I killed it myself.”

“…Pardon?”

The butler’s expression slightly contorted.

It was a completely unexpected answer.

Regardless, Gaon simply repeated the same answer once more.

“I killed that monster myself.”

Butler Taylor pressed his lips together and looked the man up and down.

It was such an obvious lie.

That was because this man clearly didn’t look like someone capable of killing a Celestial Dragon.

First of all, the aura this man gave off was no different from an ordinary person.

A true expert would make your knees weak just by looking at them, but this man had no such eerie aura at all.

‘And, well…’

…Even without going that far, just from the crude swordsmanship he’d displayed earlier, it was easy to see through the lie.

‘He’s telling such an obvious lie without even changing his expression?’

It was proof that the man before him didn’t properly grasp the situation.

The puzzle pieces roughly fit together.

The suspicion that Hakun Durdarmel was manipulating this man from behind became even more certain.

“Of course, I don’t think Master has any reason to lie…”

Butler Taylor continued his interrogation.

“I’m just worried there might have been some special ‘instructions’ from the Durdarmel Guild. If so, our Brickwood Family could protect Master.”

Though spoken politely, the meaning contained within was clear.

We know the guild is manipulating things from behind using a puppet like you.

So confess obediently. Then we’ll at least let you live safely.

It was a statement that contained both pressure and persuasion simultaneously.

Flinch-.

‘Oh ho…?’

Smirk-.

As expected.

Though it was just a fleeting moment, Butler Taylor was able to witness it.

A subtle crack appearing over the man’s indifferent expression.

‘…Indeed, our speculation was correct.’

The interrogation disguised as a confirmation procedure continued after that, but the man never revealed the truth until the end.

Well, it didn’t matter much anyway. Butler Taylor’s suspicion had long since turned into certainty.

* * *

“With this, all confirmation procedures are complete. There should be no problems with registering the auction item.”

Scratch, scratch-.

The Brickwood Family’s butler, Taylor, wrote something in the notebook he brought while nodding repeatedly.

I almost let out a disgusted laugh without realizing it.

His appearance of reassuring me that there would be no problems was truly nauseating beyond measure.

…Perhaps that’s why I keep failing to manage my expression since earlier.

“Then I’ll see you next time, Master. I hope you stay safe until then.”

Shortly after, Butler Taylor departed on his way again.

Snicker-.

Watching his retreating figure grow distant, I sneered.

‘Do you think I don’t know what you’re scheming?’

The Brickwood bastards’ machinations were obvious.

Even though I had experienced this dozens of times while playing the game, there was no way I would fall into their trap.

Still, there was one reason why I played along with Butler Taylor’s scheme.

‘I’ll expand the board and then uproot them completely.’

I planned to turn this current incident not into a small ripple, but into a massive wave.

So that the Brickwood Family would self-destruct, unable to handle the aftermath.

‘Speaking of which….’

─Master, do you perhaps have any companions?

‘…It seems they’ve done quite thorough background research.’

I could tell just from the butler asking a question that seemed conscious of Adelia.

But mentioning her carelessly could disrupt my plan, so I feigned ignorance.

I said I didn’t know such a person. That she was probably just one of the mercenaries who crossed the Uncharted Wilderness with the merchant guild.

‘Adelia must appear at the final moment.’

Only then would my plan to cut out the rotten parts of Bertas be perfect.

‘That aside….’

Swoosh-.

I gripped the Feather Sword again and corrected my stance.

Then I continued the movements I had been practicing before my conversation with Butler Taylor.

‘…This might actually work?’

The strange, choppy movements gradually began connecting into one.

Raising my sword diagonally to block an attack coming straight at me.

Using the opponent’s force against them while giving a counterforce at the right timing.

Whoosh-!

In sync with the imagined attack, my body took the optimal defensive stance.

A sword path flowing naturally like a river.

It was the moment when 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】 was reproduced in accordance with my will.

“Phew.”

Of course, I still had a long way to go.

The technique’s completion was a mess, and in actual combat, I wouldn’t have time to leisurely take such defensive stances.

But just confirming the ‘possibility’ was sufficient harvest.

Because I learned that I could reproduce with my will that moment when my body found the optimal defense on its own.

“Ah.”

Right at that moment, a sigh came from beside me.

When I turned my head, I saw Adelia with a dazed expression.

With her large backpack tightly packed with luggage, she was staring at the Feather Sword with sparkling eyes.

I asked a question toward her, who had an innocent expression like a child.

“Do you recognize this swordsmanship?”

“…Yes.”

Adelia muttered in a spaced-out voice in response to my question.

“It’s similar to the movement that deflected my sword.”

“Right.”

I nodded.

As expected of Adelia. To grasp my sword’s intention at once with just a glance.

Since an opportunity to show off to her seemed to have arrived, I decided to make full use of it.

“I deliberately showed it slowly so you could see.”

“…!”

“Now do you see the essence of this swordsmanship?”

Adelia chose her words for a moment, then soon answered with a voice mixed with awe.

“It seems to be alive and breathing.”

“In what sense?”

“The sword changes every moment. On the surface it looks like similar movements, but if you look closely, you can see it subtly differs each time. Like a living being finding the optimal path according to the situation….”

Her eyes sparkled.

“It’s as if the sword has become another body part of The Protagonist.”

“….”

“Rather than just swinging it, it’s a sword that breathes together with you.”

I couldn’t help but be amazed by Adelia’s words.

She had accurately penetrated the essence of 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】 with just one observation. And so precisely at that.

She truly deserved to be called the swordsmanship genius with the highest growth potential in Roel.

‘But….’

Even such a genius was instantly neutralized before this 9-star skill.

Seeing this made me realize once again how tremendous the power of 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】 was.

‘Then what if I could perfectly master this skill and use it without any restrictions…?’

Embodiment.

Using sword talent to artificially implement skills.

If I applied this well, I could freely use not only 【Ultimate Auto-Parry】 but all the techniques I would acquire in the future.

…Of course, it would be difficult right now. Setting aside sword proficiency, my basic stats were scraping the bottom.

But that was fine. I knew the ‘optimal method’ to realize this in a short time.

“If you’re ready, let’s move right away.”

What more was there to say?

That method was sleeping deep in the underworld of Bertas… that is, in the depths of the 「Labyrinth Village」 I had just mentioned.

After quickly finishing up, I immediately left the inn with Adelia.

* * *

Before going to Labyrinth Village.

The place Adelia and I headed to first was the Adventurer’s Guild.

Creak-.

As we opened the building’s door and entered, noisy chatter mixed with the sound of clinking glasses.

Even though it was an interior with little sunlight, torches burned brightly, illuminating every corner.

“Hahaha!”

“Listen to me! This time it’s really a jackpot!”

“Stop talking nonsense and order more drinks, you bastard!”

Laughter from intoxicated adventurers could be heard from various places.

I walked past them toward one wall of the guild building.

Dozens of request forms were stuck closely together on the wall.

The difficulty varied according to height, with those hung closer to the ceiling offering better rewards.

Especially the crumpled and faded request forms were high-difficulty quests that no one dared touch unless they were quite skilled.

“….”

Rip-.

I tore off one request form hanging at the very top.

At the same time, the surrounding adventurers began clicking their tongues and murmuring.

“Tsk tsk, here we go again.”

“Crazy bastard. That request has been hanging there for over 3 years already.”

“Why are there so many guys desperate to die these days….”

Of course, their interest in me quickly faded.

In a world where death had become routine, one more corpse wasn’t even noteworthy.

‘…But I wonder if they’ll show the same reaction when I successfully complete this request and return?’

The thought brought an unconscious smile to my lips.

“This is…”

Just then, Adelia approached me and trailed off.

She squinted her eyes and stared intently at the commission request in my hand.

Then she asked in a half-believing voice.

“Are you really planning to take on this commission, Lord Gaon?”

“Yes.”

I nodded and answered.

“We’re going to subjugate the Earth Dragon of Labyrinth Village.”

* * *

“The great ancient ■■■s have… finally spoken.”

Middletemple, the Holy City.

In the center of an underground temple where thousands of candles burned.

Sacred turquoise light poured down onto a massive circular altar.

That brilliant energy was like a blessing descending from heaven.

Rumble-.

Along with the vibrations that shook the underground temple, a woman gazed into the void.

The Saintess.

A unique existence that could be called the symbol of this city.

As golden energy emanated from her pupils-less eyes, her lips trembled.

“The seeker of the sword has slain a dragon.”

Exactly two days later.

News that the Celestial Dragon’s corpse had been discovered was reported to Middletemple, the Holy City.

…It was the moment when members of the Noble Families began to slowly move.

* * *

Ding-!

〔Hidden Message : Causality is being twisted.〕

〔Hidden Message : Your encounter with #̛̔͌@͑̐͛̈́̕!̇͑̀̅̾͠$͂̊͛͛́̕’s ̈̓́̉͐͝ ̶͛͊͜*̶͖͔̒͛@̴̻̕͜ster̅̆͌͞ is҇͋̈́͑̈́ being accelerated.〕

…

〔Hidden Message : The forgotten Harmonizers are taking notice of your actions.〕

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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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