Chapter 53: The examiners’ symposium, part 4
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
「Oof, owie. Man… my head… it hurts…」, groaned Lyla as she lay in bed.
She had drunk too much the previous night due to the euphoria of being in a new place.
「I think… this is the end for me…」
Tears welling up in her eyes, she clung tightly onto me. Despite being the Demon King, she was considerably wimpy by all standards. Perhaps she’d never been through real hardship?
「In my dream, something about the size of my pinky was chasing me round and round… that can’t be a good omen.」
That’s just your conscience acting up, considering what you did yesterday.
「Yup, I’m done for.」
I peeled Lyla away from me. The landlord had given me a thermos flask filled with water earlier, which I now placed in the room with a drinking glass.
「I have to return to the symposium. Suck it up, you’ll be fine.」
Leaving Lyla to shake off her hangover, I left for the lecture room.
As I entered, I was greeted by employees from other branches. I took the same seat as I did the previous day. After a while, an employee from the guild headquarters entered and called for me.
「Roland Argan! Is Roland Argan of the Lahati branch present?」
「Yes, I am.」
「Baron Zygymus Constatin wants to meet you. As soon as possible, he says.」
Sorry, who?
Getting up from my seat, I followed the messenger.
「Who is this baron that has called for me…?」
「Baron Zygymus. Have you never heard of him? The adventurers’ guild was founded by a handful of nobles, one of whom was him. He is also the current head of the Constatin family.」
「I see.」
「It may be regarding yesterday’s incident…」
It’s possible. Taking a closer look, I realised that this employee was the one who had been accompanying Samuel at the tavern.
I knew that the barons’ offices were within the guild headquarters, and postulated that that’s where we were heading.
「Try not to anger Zygymus-sama, for he is not the most even-tempered person out there. In fact, he’s also known as the ‘Beheading Baron’ due to his habit of personally decapitating those who cross him.」
「That’s scary.」
Decapitation, when not done on the battlefield, is a means of showing off more than anything else. As it erases your enemy forever, competent warriors aim to do so as much as possible. During peacetime, however, beheading a person simply becomes a display of one’s power.
And for this noble, power was what he had, if nothing else.
Once we reached our destination, the messenger bade me farewell and went on his merry way. Knowing that it was compulsory to attend the lecture, I wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible. I knocked on the door, and a voice rang out from within.
「Enter.」
「Thank you.」
The office resembled Iris’s. A man in his early thirties, presumably the baron, was seated at the back.
「I am Roland Argan of the Lahati branch. I have been attending the lectures since yesterday.」
「Looks like you took good care of Samuel yesterday.」
「I simply pointed out a more efficient method of doing things, your Lordship.」
「You’ve put me in a tight spot.」
Stroking his manicured goatee, the baron continued.
「I was the one who endorsed Samuel’s abilities, allowing him to tutor knights and highly adaptable specialised adventurers in magic.」
Aristocrats have a complex system of rules and social customs, out of which doing things in the name of ‘honour’ and ‘fame’ is the most inexplicable to a recluse like me.
「After you offered your unsolicited opinion, my cavalry and my adventurers now refuse to study the magic that they see as ‘ineffective’.」
Just as I thought.
「My wish is very simple. Apologise to Samuel for yesterday. Admit that you were wrong. Nothing else.」
「…Your Lordship, my method was indeed much more effective than –」
「It’s not about that」, interjected the baron.
He looked a little ticked off already.
「Be it good or bad, for the better or for the worse, is not of my concern now. What is of concern is the fact that the reputations of Samuel and his employer, the entire Constatin family — my family — are at stake.」
Indeed, word would get around once the other employees returned to their respective branches, and the Constatin family’s reputation would be considerably tarnished. As I weighed my options, the baron stood up and unsheathed his longsword.
「You and I… are in the same boat. I can smell it. You’re a killer too. How many have you killed? Five? Ten?」
「No…」
That was sudden.
「I have killed sixteen men in total, and I remember every one of them!」, he exclaimed triumphantly, fantasizing about those he had killed.
I have never felt even an iota of joy from ending a life.
He gently ran the edge of his blade along my cheek.
「How far gone are you?」
「Huh?」
「I can hear the voices of the dead. ‘Help me,’ they say. ‘Please have mercy on me.’ ‘Why me…?’ Et cetera.」
「Ah.」
Just as I was wondering how much delight he took in killing people.
「They pair excellently with wine.」
You’re just a butcher…
「Would you like to become the seventeenth?」
Was he trying to force me into submission? Or was he simply trying to pressure and threaten me? Anyway, I grabbed the blade of his sword before he could do anything else.
「– ! What…! I can’t move it…!?」
「I’ll explain it slowly, sweet baron and ‘amateur assassin’ Zygymus. You mentioned earlier that you can still hear the voices of the dead. That’s your conscience acting; nothing more than figments of your imagination.」
「My conscience…? I have fed it to the dogs!」
「It is only under the pretense of delighting in murder that your sanity is still intact.」
This guy was nothing more than a wrasse among the sea of killers.
「What do you mean? Anyone who crosses me! Their heads are mine!」
「Dead men tell no tales. The things you say are simply scripted — excuses that are etched deeper into your mind with each time you repeat them. The cries of the dead pair excellently with wine? How interesting. You actually drink the wine to drown out those cries, do you not?」
To begin hearing voices after a few killings, and to seek refuge at the bottom of a glass.
It’s exactly what a beginner does.
After all, I had gone through the same thing ten years ago, even though the assassinations hadn’t been of my own volition.
「Ending a life with the slightest impetus to do so — that bad habit of yours has gotten the better of you time and again, and your conscience has eaten away at you over time. That’s all there is to it.」
No longer sensing the killing intent on the edge of his sword, I let go. The baron let go of his sword as well, and it fell to the ground with a loud clang.
「For the people you have killed — never forget their faces. Remember the lives they led. Every single one of them hates your guts, and they will do so for eternity. Never run away from the sins you have committed.」
To never forget, and to never run away from my past.
That’s how I do things.
「You took too many lives on a whim. And you never steeled your heart before doing so. You allowed this bad habit to take root within yourself.」
Baron Zygymus took a few steps back on tottery limbs.
「How many people have you…」
「How many breaths have you taken in this life, your Lordship?」
「Breaths…? I can’t remember –」
Exactly, I replied. The baron fell silent.
「…」
He now looked at me in a completely different light.
「Please see that you apologise to Samuel for embarrassing him in front of everyone.」
The baron nodded slightly.
「…Yes, certainly. The Samuel matter will be dropped. Also, I would like you to take his place. How much do you want?」
「I’m sorry. I like my current job.」
Since he had agreed to drop the entire affair, I got ready to leave. As I placed a hand on the doorknob, the baron called out to me.
「Who… are you?」
「I have introduced myself before, have I not? I’m just an ordinary guild employee.」
With that, I shut the door on the baron.
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