The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 112

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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 112

‘How did it come to this…’

Storyteller Cobin considered himself to be close to a petty citizen.

When he saw others doing well, he felt inexplicably irritated. When others were in trouble, he outwardly expressed sympathy while inwardly feeling a petty sense of superiority. He was prone to boasting, but when faced with real swordsmen or big shots, he would grovel and scrape together small change. A lowlife who made a living by gossiping about others’ misfortunes as drinking snacks in taverns.

That was the essence of the man called Corbin Armand.

Such Cobin was currently on a ship.

Before his eyes, the cityscape of Harfen, where he had been living until recently, was gradually growing distant.

“…Ah.”

That’s right.

Storyteller Cobin was forcibly aboard a cargo ship heading to the Southern Forest!

“Why…”

Cobin clutched his head and let out a deep sigh.

He couldn’t refuse. The atmosphere didn’t allow for it either. When a man wearing two real swords at his waist forced him to act as a guide, what could a mere storyteller do to resist?

Moreover, it was Cobin himself who had provided the excuse by saying he had been to the Southern Forest.

The problem was…

‘Even though I said I’d been there… I’ve only been to the entrance trading post…’

At most, he had only seen cargo being unloaded at the trade post harbor by ship. He had never, ever ventured into the inner forest where shamans were said to swarm.

Yet he had boasted as if he knew the Southern Forest very well, simply due to the storyteller’s characteristic bragging to attract interest and make money.

It was about time he started resenting this cursed mouth of his.

“…Re, Reagan! I, I… feel queasy…”

“Renia, why are you getting seasick? You didn’t get sick on the train.”

“That’s… different from how this feels when it rocks! Ugh. I think I’m going to throw up…”

“Then just throw up.”

The voices of two people could be heard right next to him.

Cobin turned his head.

The blonde woman was swaying while gripping the railing, unable to endure her seasickness, and the gray-haired man was watching her with apparent amusement.

“Hmm…”

Watching that scene, Cobin tilted his head.

A question had occurred to him.

Was the man before his eyes really the rumored son-in-law of Benheim?

Of course, impersonating a great magic family was a serious crime. What bold fool would attempt such a thing?

But… it was also true that he felt somewhat suspicious.

Cobin’s suspicion was reasonable. For nobles of the great house called Benheim, their behavior was far too casual.

“Renia, you can throw up in here.”

When the man brought over a wooden bucket, the woman turned pale.

“Are, are you crazy? How can I throw up in here! I have dignity.”

“Then you can lean over the side of the ship and throw up outside. The fish will have a feast for once.”

“…Don’t… say… such things…”

If he were a son-in-law, especially a commoner-born son-in-law who had entered the great house of Benheim, he should naturally be unable to stand up to his wife.

However, that man was the complete opposite.

“Ugh.”

Eventually the woman leaned over the railing and vomited. The man chuckled while firmly holding her lower body and roughly patting her back.

A quite informal appearance.

There was no aristocratic formality.

‘…Could it be… they’re actually not from Benheim?’

It was a reasonable suspicion.

Just as he had been boastful, weren’t they also committing fraud?

It was just as Cobin was mulling over such doubts.

“River pirates!”

Someone shouted urgently.

Looking up, a sailor who had climbed the mast was pointing toward the stern of the ship and shouting at the top of his lungs.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the stern.

“Ah.”

Cobin turned pale.

Beyond the misty river, several small sailing boats were rapidly surrounding the cargo ship.

The moment he saw the red snake flag hanging from the mast, Cobin gulped.

‘…Aksa!’

Cobin, being a storyteller, was well-informed about local rumors.

Aksa was a band of river pirates notorious for their ruthlessness in the Harfen area.

The sailors began frantically gathering defensive gear and weapons in panic. The captain, who had been in the cabin, rushed up to the deck and shouted.

“…Passengers! You must go to the hold immediately! Hide quickly!”

Following the captain’s instructions, Cobin forced his trembling legs to move toward the hold. To survive, he had to crouch in the hold and hold out.

However…

“Ugh.”

“Renia, you really must have eaten a lot yesterday. Who knew you’d throw up this much. The fish will be happy.”

“Reagan, you… say one more word… I’ll kill you with my bare hands…”

Cobin, who was fleeing, doubted his own eyes.

The man and woman were still standing on deck, peacefully exchanging jokes.

Could they really be acting like this even now when pirates had surrounded the ship?

There was a limit to being oblivious to danger.

“You two there! What are you doing! You need to come inside right now!”

When Cobin couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted, only then did the gray-haired man glance at Cobin.

“Come inside? Suddenly?”

“River pirates! They’re about to board the ship!”

“…River pirates?”

“Yes! Bandits who live on the river!”

“Hmm…”

The man simply nodded once, then patted the woman’s back a few more times.

“River pirates. It’s been a while. I didn’t know such guys still existed.”

Just as Cobin was stamping his feet at that leisurely, even nonchalant attitude.

“Hey, captain. Could we talk for a moment?”

The man suddenly addressed the captain who was giving orders systematically on deck.

“What nonsense! Just evacuate to the hold!”

“That’s not it, if I drive off those guys, how much could you give me?”

“Wh, what are you saying, suddenly.”

The captain looked bewildered.

The man sighed deeply and explained.

“I’m asking how much you can give me if I chase all those guys away.”

“You’re saying you’ll fight the river pirates? That’s impossible! Those Aksa bastards are the most vicious and brutal guys in this area! Just give them money or cargo and they’ll spare your life, so don’t throw your life away by interfering!”

“I’d be more dangerous than those guys.”

“…Pardon?”

“If you’re going to give money to river pirates, give it to me instead. The ship might rock, so hold on tight.”

The man turned around after speaking to the captain as if giving notice.

“…”

Cobin, who had been standing blankly on deck listening to the conversation, thought that somehow the man’s way of speaking and behavior… was similar to the mercenaries swarming in Harfen’s back alleys.

Afterward, the man tapped the head of the woman who was leaning against the railing.

“…Renia, are you feeling better?”

“Yeah… somewhat.”

“You heard the conversation?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

Where exactly were they going?

The next moment, Cobin doubted his eyes.

Because the man and woman ran toward the bandits who had boarded the stern without hesitation.

* * *

Water bandits.

Such a familiar sound.

Though not a welcome one.

‘…It has been a while.’

Before my regression, during my wandering mercenary days, I often received escort requests from merchant ships precisely because of those bastards.

From the time when the Empire fell into chaos and public order collapsed in earnest, mountain bandits, water bandits, and even pirates ran rampant.

However, I didn’t expect to see water bandits in peaceful times like these.

‘Is it because this is the south?’

The regions south of Harfen are frontier areas where the Empire’s administrative power doesn’t reach, without even proper roads laid down.

Moreover, with forests and rivers intricately intertwined, it would be the optimal environment for water bandits to hide and operate.

Well, it doesn’t matter either way.

“Renia, you get severe motion sickness, so stay behind. I’ll take the front.”

“Okay.”

Renia answered briefly and stepped back behind me. Though she said that, rune characters were faintly rising at her fingertips.

I moved toward the bow.

There, about a dozen water bandits who had already boarded the merchant ship using hooks were positioned. They sneered at me as I walked toward them calmly.

“Well, well, there’s one young fool whose liver has jumped out of his belly.”

The large bandit at the front said, placing a broad machete on his shoulder.

“Are you the leader of these bastards?”

“That’s right.”

“An Aura Expert.”

“That’s… huh?”

The bandit leader looked surprised that I had instantly recognized his level.

However, I was equally surprised.

‘A mere water bandit who just robs merchant ships… is an Aura Expert?’

Aura Expert is the 5th tier in terms of hierarchy.

Barg, whom I had encountered in Mist Valley, was an Aura Expert. In other words, it’s a level that only decent knights or seasoned first-class mercenaries can reach.

For a mere bandit leader to be an Aura Expert was like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken.

Most suspicious of all was…

‘His qi and blood are twisted.’

The bandit leader’s physical condition, as seen through my naked eye, was far from normal.

The energy concentrated in his dantian was chaotic as if forcibly stuffed in, and the blood channels throughout his body were rigidly tense as if about to snap.

I know one person with such a physical condition.

‘Petra Rucen.’

The bandit leader’s physical condition was exactly like Petra Rucen’s, whom I had encountered during last year’s council.

‘This isn’t an ordinary bandit group.’

I couldn’t help but suspect some connection.

In the worst case, the Archmage King’s machinations might have reached even this southern forest and Rucen.

I wanted to ask the leader about the circumstances, but seeing the surrounding bandits drawing their clubs, I sighed.

“…Well, you probably wouldn’t answer even if I asked…”

Shing.

I drew Benheim’s treasured sword from my chest.

“I’ll beat you up first and make you talk.”

“Ha! A newborn pup doesn’t know to fear a tiger! Teach him a lesson!”

The leader sneered and summoned red aura to his machete.

Following that, the bandits began rushing at me, each wielding clubs.

They scattered left and right to block escape routes and closed the distance. It was movement that seemed quite accustomed to one-against-many combat, but…

‘This works out perfectly.’

I calmly took out a black cloak from Andvari’s Cube and draped it over my body.

The Archmage King’s cloak.

If it was a chaotic battle against many, it was perfect for practical training.

Whoooosh——

I channeled mana through the cloak and ‘opened my eyes.’

My vision expanded, the scenery was reconstructed as black and white dots and lines, and all space within several meters around my body was directly embedded in my mind.

“Die!”

Behind me, a bandit leaping from my blind spot struck down with a harpoon.

However, the harpoon’s trajectory was already completely within my sight.

Clang!

Without even turning around, I extended Benheim’s treasured sword in my right hand backward and deflected the harpoon.

While the bandit whose attack missed was shocked, I didn’t stop my sword strike and rotated my body greatly. Then the clubs and blades rushing from left and right were all blocked with a single sword strike.

“What, what is this!”

The bandits doubted their own eyes.

However, even more shocked than his subordinates was the bandit leader who had been glaring at me from the front.

“You, you bastard… how do you have aura…!”

The leader’s gaze was fixed on Benheim’s treasured sword.

The blue mana condensation rising along the blade.

It was an incomparably more brilliant color than the bandit leader’s murky aura.

“A moment ago, you said a newborn pup doesn’t know to fear a tiger, right?”

I smirked and stepped forward.

The bandit leader flinched and raised his machete in a defensive stance.

I raised Benheim’s treasured sword and lightly brought it down on the bastard’s machete.

Sizzle.

Crack.

That was all it took.

Given the stark difference in weapon quality and aura density, the leader’s machete broke in half helplessly.

“Ah, ahhh…”

The leader stumbled backward holding the broken sword hilt and fell on his rear.

I approached the bastard and lifted one corner of my mouth.

“I have various things I’d like to ask you. Very ‘peacefully.’ How about it? It seems like it would be quite good for you too?”

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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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