The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 12
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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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Chapter 12 6. Military Funds in Abundance
“Hey you.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s start with you getting beaten up.”
“Pff, pffhaha!”
When the guy in the black robe called out to him, the gangster just snorted.
Because it was ridiculous.
A guy who wasn’t even that big was picking a fight with four sturdy men.
After exchanging glances with his companions, he checked the surroundings.
It happened to be an alley where people’s eyes couldn’t reach.
It was the perfect place to beat up this guy and check his face.
But after a brief moment, the gangster had no choice but to regret his decision.
Thwack!
“Grrk…”
Thud!
“Hggh!”
Thwaaack!
“Gaahhh…”
“…”
One punch, one man down.
Watching his opponent who had knocked down his companions with a total of three punches, the gangster felt a threat to his life.
Sweat poured down his entire body.
The Man in Robe approached him and spoke.
“Your organization has a hideout, right?”
“Huh? Yes!”
“Guide me there.”
“Uh…”
“If you don’t talk, I’ll kill you and wake those guys up to ask them.”
The gangster nodded his head vigorously.
And he obediently began guiding the way as the Man in Robe wanted.
‘Idiot, you’re dead!’
How fortunate this was.
While he alone couldn’t handle this guy, it would be different at the hideout.
At least twenty companions would be guarding the place, and the boss would be there too.
‘Our boss is a veteran mercenary!’
He was on a different level from someone like himself who had rolled around in back alleys.
From what he heard, the boss could even use an incomplete Aura Sword.
Although he’d get scolded for bringing a strange guy, at least there was no chance this guy could win.
Having finished his calculations, the gangster headed to his hideout with quick steps, and the Man in Robe silently followed behind him.
And so, when they finally arrived at the building’s entrance.
“Here it is.”
Thwack!
“Ghhh…”
The Man in Robe, Lumian, knocked out the gangster who had been guiding him.
The giant at the entrance was startled by this sight.
“Faren! Damn it, you go inside and get the people…”
“No need for that.”
“What!”
Thwack, thud!
Lumian, who had instantly knocked down the two entrance guards, looked at the thugs.
Actually, just robbing the pockets of the guys he’d knocked down so far would have gathered quite a decent amount of money, but Lumian couldn’t be satisfied with just that.
Thinking about it, he would probably need a lot of money in the future too.
‘I suppose taking care of myself will cost a lot of money.’
Why hadn’t he thought about dressing up until now when he wanted to be popular?
It was probably because of his past life habit of only swinging swords.
‘Let’s get money first.’
Lumian, who stopped thinking, passed between the fallen thugs.
He kicked the door hard.
Crash!
“What the hell? Shit!”
“What’s going on! Huh?”
“Who the hell is that bastard!”
“Where did the doorkeeper go and why did some weirdo come in?”
Despite dozens of intimidating-looking men gathered there that would make anyone’s shoulders shrink, Lumian didn’t even blink.
Instead, he demanded from them in a confident voice.
“I’m short on money, so I’ll be collecting some funds.”
It was a rough way of speaking.
It was a side of him that the people of the royal capital, who only knew him as gentle and quiet, would never dream of, but this was also part of Lumian’s personality. Lumian wasn’t gentleman enough to show courtesy even to thugs.
Of course, the same went for the thugs.
Several who snorted pulled out daggers and clubs and rushed at Lumian.
He dodged their attacks with leisurely movements.
Swoosh!
Swish!
Anyone would be flustered if more than ten men rushed at them, but Lumian was an exception. He quickly changed positions and adjusted the distance so he could face them one at a time.
And he threw punches aimed only at his opponents’ chins.
Thud!
Thud! Thwack!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was the same as when he encountered the four thugs. One punch, one guy down. The building’s floor was instantly filled with unconscious thugs.
The Gang Leader, who had been watching his subordinates’ fight with a smiling face, could no longer smile.
He threw the bottle he was drinking behind his back.
Crash!
The bottle shattered and red liquid stained the wall.
The Gang Leader who stood up from his seat spoke.
“Stop! Everyone fall back!”
“B-Boss!”
“He’s not an opponent for you guys! I’ll handle this.”
The Gang Leader approached Lumian in a straight line.
He didn’t seem to be drunk. Unlike his subordinates, he held a long sword in his hand.
That wasn’t all.
Whooooom!
As he concentrated his mind, the long sword sparkled and gleamed.
He had drawn out the aura from his body to strengthen the sword.
Seeing this, the thugs shouted in surprised voices.
“It’s an Aura Sword!”
“You’re dead!”
“This is how good our boss is! We’ll cut off your limbs and feed them to the dogs!”
“Hooh.”
Lumian made an indifferent expression.
That wasn’t an Aura Sword. It was merely barely managing to infuse energy into the sword.
Seeing the thugs get extremely excited, it seemed he usually bragged about being able to use an aura sword, but he couldn’t fool Lumian’s eyes.
“I’ll smash your head like that wine bottle I just threw!”
While making that assessment of the gang leader, the guy charged forward with a confident expression. The murderous dialogue was a bonus.
Of course, the one who got smashed was the gang leader.
Lumian spun his body gracefully, moved behind the leader, and struck the back of his head with his clasped hands.
Thwack!
“Gaaahhh…!”
Thud!
“…”
Silence fell.
Both the thugs writhing on the floor and those still unharmed were left speechless.
Lumian was also silent.
Only after going to the building’s exit and locking the door did he open his mouth.
“Line up over there in rows of five and kneel. Execute.”
* * *
After a brief moment, the gang leader obediently brought money as Lumian instructed.
Originally, he had tried to resist. It was money he had gathered through all kinds of hardships. He didn’t want to hand over such blood money to some unknown masked man.
But following the guy’s next words, he had no choice but to bring out the money.
“If you don’t bring the money, from now on I’ll break one arm and one leg each of you and your subordinates here. What do you think will happen then?”
“Ugh…”
“Your organization isn’t the only one in this neighborhood, right? Maybe they’ll come looking after hearing the news? It’s a golden opportunity to expand their territory against cripples, isn’t it? Then it won’t just be a few coins, but your entire lives that will be finished.”
“Grrgh…”
“Think carefully before that happens.”
It didn’t seem like he was just talking.
That guy was definitely capable of doing it. Once that thought occurred to him, no matter how much of a miser he was, he couldn’t hold out any longer.
The leader went into his room with a tearful expression and came out carrying a pouch.
Lumian opened the pouch and looked inside. It was filled with dazzling jewels.
He hit the leader’s head.
Smack!
“Ahhh! Why, why are you doing this?”
“Bring gold coins instead of jewels.”
“Yes, what?”
“Bring convenient gold coins to use. Don’t think about playing tricks.”
The gangster made a tearful face.
He had planned to send an assassin if the guy revealed his identity during the process of converting the jewels to cash.
But the guy was thorough. He thought.
‘This isn’t his first or second time doing this.’
It seemed he had fallen into the hands of a vicious bastard.
He stopped trying to be clever and brought a safe pouch of gold coins, and Lumian nodded with a satisfied expression.
“You didn’t mark the gold coins or anything like that, did you?”
“Of, of course not.”
“I don’t see anything like that either, but I asked just in case.”
“I, I see…”
“Well, I’ll be satisfied with this much. You guys need to make a living too.”
“Th, thank you.”
‘Son of a bitch!’
“Then I’m leaving. Continue what you were doing.”
With those words, Lumian really did leave the gang hideout.
It would have been nothing to turn all those guys into cripples, but he didn’t particularly want to do that.
‘Even if I get rid of these bastards, new trash will just move in.’
And the chaos that occurs in that process would have to be entirely borne by the local residents.
If he wasn’t going to keep looking after the city people, it was right to do things in moderation.
That was the conclusion he had reached from going on external missions in his previous life.
“Phew, damn it.”
Watching Lumian leave the building, the gang leader cursed.
Putting a cigarette in his mouth, he said to his subordinate.
“What terrible luck today. Light.”
“Are, are you alright, boss?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Bring some alcohol too.”
“Here it is!”
A quick-witted subordinate brought alcohol as if he had been waiting.
The leader blew off the neck of the bottle with a hand chop and put it to his mouth.
It was an amazing technique.
But even more amazing was the mysterious man who had knocked out such a leader in one blow.
“Um, boss…”
“What.”
“Shouldn’t we follow that guy…”
Thwack!
“Grrgh!”
“You stupid bastard, is your brain not working? That bastard is on a different level from us, a different level!”
After scolding the subordinate who had made a tactless comment, he drank again.
Having emptied a bottle in an instant, he leaned back on the sofa and sighed.
It was a sigh filled much more with relief than anger.
He continued speaking.
“He’s like a natural disaster. Don’t think about confronting him, we should avoid him. Looking at his skills, it doesn’t seem like he’s done this just once or twice, so maybe he’s a knight with nasty hobbies.”
“A, a knight you say?”
“Yeah. And not some nobody, but a real veteran knight. Alcohol.”
“Here it is.”
“Damn, I hope he doesn’t come again.”
He thought while emptying another bottle of alcohol.
Who could it be? What idle knight came all the way here to cause trouble?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.
The gang leader never dreamed that the mysterious man was an academy student, and even a 15-year-old boy at that.
* * *
“Good.”
Lumian, who had secretly returned to the academy dormitory, smiled broadly. In front of him lay a pile of gold coins showing off their brilliant appearance.
In his previous life, he hadn’t particularly had material desires, but now it was different.
Thinking that this money would upgrade his appearance to the next level made him feel incredibly secure.
‘With this much, I should be able to buy several decent outfits.’
And there would be money left over.
From now on, he wouldn’t need to rely on the free student cafeteria anymore.
“Hehe.”
With a happy expression, he slipped his body under the blanket.
The day he had agreed to go to the ball with Teoro was three days from now. There was still plenty of time.
But he was already looking forward to it.
He imagined himself at the ballroom.
Dressed in elegant attire, he approaches a beautiful lady. Naturally exchanging greetings, setting the mood with light conversation, then asking for a dance.
The lady smiles shyly. Taking his hand, she entrusts her body to him with a happy expression, and the dance begins with beautiful melody…
Sproing!
“…”
He had only thought very wholesome thoughts, yet his other self had reacted.
He sighed and struggled desperately to calm his excitement. Thanks to his efforts, his other self returned to its normal state after a moment.
He thought.
‘I can’t let this happen at the ball either.’
It wasn’t entirely unpleasant since it was proof of his health, but having this happen outside would be problematic.
With the thought that he needed to take some measures before going to the ball, he drifted off to sleep.
And in the morning.
‘Damn it.’
He had to change out of his sticky underwear with a dejected expression.
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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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