19

Igor faltered at the light gleaming off of Id’s sword. The spectators held their breath at the blade’s livid ardour. Boris, with a stiff complexion, pulled at Igor’s hem.

“To have a sword like that… I’m sure he’s a real apprentice. This should be enough. Let’s just drink some more.”

Igor did not back down. He observed a slight tremble in Id’s sword. Being as experienced as he was, Igor immediately deduced his opponent's situation.

“It’s your first time using a real sword! Do you think I’d be scared just because you have a slightly sharper blade?”

Igor hit the table with his mace and the table split in two, splashing wooden splinters everywhere.

“Give me your MACE!”

Shouting, Igor swung his mace horizontally. The mace that flew towards Id’s right shoulder, fully intent on crushing his scapula, ended up bouncing off harmlessly as Id slanted the angle of his blade and let the mace slide by, causing Igor to lose balance and stumble. Gripping his sword firmly, Id spoke calmly.

“Stand down. If you continue, I’ll attack you without mercy.”

“Try it, you son of a bitch.”

Igor swung his mace from top to bottom with bloodshot eyes. Id’s pommel blocked the mace as Id nibbled at his lower lip. At that moment, all Id had in mind was to protect Andrew’s weapon. Despite the bulging muscles in his forearm wriggling due to his efforts, Igor could not overpower Id. Indignant, he raged.

“You little bastard! You’re not bad, huh? But this isn’t nearly enough!”

With all his might, Igor pushed Id’s sword, and Id reacted instinctively.

Having been honed through many sparring sessions with Andrew, Id’s body was capable of reacting properly without further thought as the necessary skills had been imprinted into it. As Id turned his blade and shook off Igor’s attack, the mace, having lost its target, crashed to the floor. As the mace came crashing down, Id continued his movement, raising his blade and extending it outwards in a simple but effective stabbing motion, penetrating Igor’s exposed throat. Feeling Igor’s convulsions pass through the blade, Id shuddered. Id blanked out due to the shock of his first murder. A guttural sound resounded from Igor as Id pulled out his sword, causing Igor's blood to soak both his hands and the hilt of his sword. The leather strap wrapped by Andrew turned dark red. Igor’s intermittently blood-spewing body crumpled to the floor helplessly. Boris’ broke down in sorrow.

“No, Igor.”

Although Igor’s behavior was not righteous and the situation was clearly in favor of Id as his actions had been in self-defense according to the laws of Nordburg, Boris grieved over the death of his old colleague. A colleague to whom he had, on numerous occasions, entrusted his life.

As it happened in the middle of the city, the city guards who received the report were soon dispatched. Nordburg’s Chief of Security, Pavel, who was about to retire for the evening, arrived at the scene after receiving reports of a murder at a tavern in the vicinity of the Security Headquarters. There were so many outsiders in Nordburg that bar scuffles were an everyday occurrence for Nordburg. Even murder was not an uncommon sight on the outskirts of the city. However, a case in which someone was murdered in a pub on the city’s main streets hadn’t appeared in recent years.

Sitting in his original seat, clearly unaware of his surroundings, Id gazed at the bloody leather strap wrapped around the hilt of his sword. In front of him were the broken remains of the table. Having arrived on the scene, Pavel exchanged several words with Boris and then proceeded to approach Id.

“You are under arrest for murder.”

The young clerk, who had previously taken Andrew’s order, stepped forward in astonishment at the words of the Chief of Security. The clerk, Sasha, had a good impression of Id, so he did not want to turn a blind eye to Id being falsely arrested by the guards. Once Id was detained by the guards, he was likely to be punished, regardless of if he was guilty or not. Sasha intended to defend Id as he had overheard the obviously biased report Boris had given the Chief of Security. Sasha glanced at Boris, then spoke clearly to Pavel.

“It was self-defense. The dead mercenary tried to take away the apprentice’s mace. The security guard with him tried to stop the dead mercenary, but the latter ignored the former. The mercenary broke the table and attacked the apprentice. He ignored the apprentice’s warning as well and tried to hit the apprentice on the head with his mace. The apprentice had no choice but to attack the mercenary to defend himself.”

Boris’ face flushed as he was listening to Sasha’s retelling of the story. Since Sasha gave a clear overview of the incident and there were so many witnesses, Boris had no excuse for making a false report to the Security Chief. Pavel could tell the truth the whole story from the look on Boris’ face. However, the Security Chief could not just let someone get away with murder in the middle of town.

“I got a rough overview of the situation, but I have a few things to look into, so let’s go to the Security Headquarters first. I’ll take into account that clerk’s testimony and make sure things are dealt with fairly.”

In the meantime, Id had started to calm down from his shock and stood up. After giving Sasha a quick glance, he bowed politely to Pavel and responded.

“I understand the situation, but I require a little more time. It’s almost time for my master to return. I’ll go to the headquarters after I report the incident to him.”

Listening to Id, Pavel said with an unpleasant look on his face.

“I’m not such an idle person. I’ll leave a guard here to guide your master to the security headquarters when your master comes. Clean this place up and escort this apprentice to the Headquarters.”

In response to his orders, a few guards came up to remove Igor’s body, and Boris approached Id, who, taking a step back, lifted his sword and spoke in a stubborn manner:

“As I said before, I’m guarding my master's equipment right now. I won’t follow you until he comes back.”

Boris took a look at Pavel and pulled out his sword. Having witnessed the scene of Id killing Igor in a single strike, he took a cautious stance. Pavel looked at the two with interest. It was hard to believe that the young apprentice had beaten the notorious second-grade mercenary. Boris gripped his sword as hard as he could. He had to redeem himself as he had already lost a lot of credibility due to his false report. Id, who had already escaped the shock of his first murder, stepped quickly and struck Boris’ sword with a quick and precise movement. The third time the two men’s swords clashed, Boris’ sword broke. It was the moment when the dwarf master artisan Blackanvil’s masterpiece revealed its superiority over average swords.

Pavel’s deputy Aleksey stepped forward as Boris backed away with a stunned look. Aleksey was a skilled Knight in his late twenties who had been knighted by the Mayor of Nordburg, Viscount Levin, three years prior. Pavel, a Knight who had been training with swords for decades, recognized at a glance that Id’s swordsmanship was the product of a prominent family that has refined their swordsmanship over many generations. He wanted to take a closer look at Id’s sword skills, so he did not stop Aleksey from stepping up to fight against Id. Guests at the tavern, employees and the guards Pavel brought in; everyone watched the two with an excited look.

Aleksey immediately started pushing back Id. Inferior in both strength and experience, Id was on the defensive. Id persevered, reflecting on the swordcraft he had learned from Andrew for the past two years. After suffering from containing Aleksey’s offensive for about ten minutes, Id felt the manna in his body, as if it had sensed the crisis he was in, rushed out of the manna hall and started circulating along the manna passage rapidly. As the manna energy empowered his muscles, Id finally had enough space to launch a counterattack. As Id began to add strength to his strikes, Aleksey adjusted his position tensely. The match between the two lasted more than thirty minutes, with no clear victor in sight. The confrontation seemed like a practice match, as both sides refrained from using lethal skills. Surprisingly, Id held the advantage in terms of pure swordsmanship, but his lack of experience was apparent as his opponent managed to close the gap in swordsmanship.

Sasha, fully absorbed in the fight he was witnessing, suddenly turned around as he heard a familiar voice.

“What happened? Why is he fighting against the guard?”

Having purchased a bunch of scrolls from the Wizard Tower, Andrew returned in the middle of the confrontation between Id and Aleksey. Watching their fight, Andrew asked Sasha, who immediately recognized him and explained what happened in detail. Having heard Sasha’s story, Andrew stepped between Id and Aleksey and shouted.

“Stop the fight.”

The spectators, as well as the two who were fighting, looked at Andrew. Id, who stopped immediately, approached Andrew, bowing his head and stood beside him. Aleksey also went back to the Chief of Security.