Chapter 16

After sending Byron back, I was in my room, touching Leviathan.

Leviathan, both a magic sword and my loyal dog. While I’m not worried about betrayal due to its intense "personality," I still wanted to understand what it could do. So, I touched Leviathan and asked what it could do, then tried some of its abilities on a small scale.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

When I gave permission, the maid Zoe entered.

I wondered what she needed as I continued to touch Leviathan, but she didn’t say anything for a long time. Puzzled, I looked at her again.

"What’s wrong? You look pale."

Zoe’s face was ashen, like that of a corpse.

When I asked, she flinched and then collapsed, kowtowing to me.

"What’s going on?"

Clearly, this wasn’t a trivial matter, so I stood up and went to stand in front of Zoe.

"Here…."

Zoe extended a small leather pouch with trembling hands. I took it and opened the bag. Inside was gold.

"What’s this? It’s quite a sum… about 500 Reen, I’d say."

As soon as I said the amount, I realized something.

Zoe is a maid at the Thirteenth Prince’s residence, and she earns more than those who work elsewhere. However, she doesn’t earn enough to save 500 Reen.

Moreover, she had recently been in a situation where she was about to be sold to a brothel due to lack of money. There’s no way she could have this much money.

"I don’t know who brought this. They said if I gave this to you, it would be my reward."

Her voice was trembling, and her explanation was incoherent. I took the small bottle she offered and opened it, sniffing the contents.

"What’s this?"

"They said it’s a sleeping potion."

"…Really?"

"I’m sorry!"

Her voice dropped, and Zoe pressed her forehead to the floor, apologizing profusely.

"Are you supposed to mix this into my drink and hand me over when I’m unconscious?"

"Yes!"

"I see."

I looked at the terrified Zoe and thought. It’s probably the people from Almeria again. They failed in their attack, so now they’re trying to kidnap me by bribing a maid.

They must really want me.

But that aside, I said to Zoe:

"Look up."

"Yes…."

"I understand the situation. But why did you bring this to me?"

"Master, you can’t be betrayed! You saved me and the village."

"Hmm…."

"But they threatened to kill me if I didn’t do it, and they forced this money and the drug on me. But I couldn’t betray you. Um, um…."

She was still in a panic, and her words were filled with "buts," making it hard for her to express herself clearly.

Still, I got the gist of it.

"You were threatened and given a large sum of money, but you couldn’t betray me, so you came to report it. Is that right?"

"Yes!"

"I understand."

I turned around, went back to the chair I had been sitting in, and quickly wrote something on a piece of paper on the table.

I returned to Zoe and handed it to her.

"What’s this…?"

"It’s a reward. They tried to buy your betrayal for 500 Reen. Since you didn’t betray me, I’ll add a zero."

"One zero… 5000 Reen!?"

"Yes, I’ve signed it. You can get it from the treasurer tomorrow."

"No, I can’t accept it!"

"It’s a reward for not betraying me. Take it."

With the offer of a large reward following the attempt to bribe her, Zoe was overwhelmed and in a daze.

"Thank you… Master is really generous…."

"But I have one favor to ask."

"–Yes! I’ll do anything!"

"Okay, I’m going to take this drug now. When I’m unconscious, hand me over to them as they say."

"…What?"

"Once you hand me over, run and hide immediately. They’ll definitely try to silence you."

"……"

Zoe was still in shock, unable to process what was happening.

I watched her and mentally rehearsed what I needed to do.

☆

When I woke up, I was in complete darkness. My hands and feet were tied, and I was lying on something like hay. It seemed to be a shed, probably a stable, judging by the smell.

"Hey, the fire’s going out. Go get some more wood."

"Got it. You keep an eye on the kid."

"Hey, let’s just use the dagger we were given and finish him off. That’s the end of it, right?"

"They said that’s a last resort, you idiot. Do you want to admit you couldn’t even catch one of the kids?"

Voices from outside the shed were rough and crude.

They must be the ones who captured me.

I shook my head on the hay. Something dry and small fell out of my ear. It was a tiny something, about the size of a bean, which returned to its original size once it was out.

The magic sword, Leviathan.

I touched it and transformed the linked ring to cut the ropes binding my hands and feet. I asked Leviathan about the situation.

Instantly, images flooded my mind.

I had instructed Zoe in the mansion. I couldn’t take Leviathan with me when I was captured, so I made it shrink to the size of a bean and hid it in my ear. Unlike a weapon, a ring can’t be removed, so I left it on. Then I took the drug Zoe brought, and my consciousness faded.

From there, it was Leviathan’s memory. Zoe left the room, and after a while, several men in black entered.

The men tied my hands and feet, and Zoe disappeared at this point.

The men carried me out of the mansion and put me in the back of a carriage waiting outside. They drove the carriage out of the city and stopped to rest in a remote area.

I thought I was in a stable, but it turned out I was just lying in the back of the carriage, covered with a cloth.

I untied the ropes, gripped Leviathan, and conveyed my gratitude. The loyal sword Leviathan was overjoyed, and its happiness flowed directly into my heart, as if a dog’s tail would wag so hard it might break.

I stood up and slashed the cloth covering me.

"What!?"

"The kid moved!"

"Who is it! Who didn’t tie him up properly!?"

I stood on the back of the carriage and looked around. It was an empty grassland, a bit off the road.

Ten men in black were sitting around a campfire.

They showed no tension when I moved, thinking I was just a kid.

I jumped off the carriage at the men. The nearest man laughed at me, but with one swing, his throat was cut, and blood spurted out.

"What!?"

"You brat!"

The men’s expressions finally changed when one of them was killed. They all drew their swords and pointed them at me.

"Still too late."

Their hostility finally showed, but their sense of danger was still fatally lacking.

I had no intention of pointing it out. I continued to swing Leviathan, using its swordsmanship to cut down all the men.

Ten in total. It took less than a minute.

"What a waste of time."

I chuckled. I had taken the sleeping drug to ensure Leviathan could hear and see everything while I was captured. I had ordered Leviathan to listen to the truth the men would speak while I was asleep.

However, they didn’t have much information. They were a faction of the Almeria rebels, and after their previous attack failed, they had bribed a servant to kidnap me and bring me back to Almeria.

I eliminated them because they had no further information.

"Well, let’s go back—huh?"

Which direction was the capital? As I looked at the road ahead and behind, I saw countless lights approaching from a distance.

After a while, a group of soldiers with torches approached. Among them was Zoe.

When they reached me:

"Master!"

Zoe called out to me with a worried look on her face.

"What’s this?"

"Yes! I was worried about you, so I asked the soldiers for help."

"You came to rescue me?"

Zoe nodded vigorously.

"I see, well done."

"But… this…."

Zoe looked at me, then at the fallen men in black, and then at Leviathan in my hand.

"Master did this alone…?"

"Yes."

"Amazing…."

Zoe murmured, and the soldiers began to murmur.

Well, I didn’t need the help, but having extra hands was useful.

"Who’s the captain here?"

"Ha!"

A young man stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head.

"It’s an honor to meet you, Thirteenth Prince."

"I’m entrusting you with transporting these men. Investigate if there are any commonalities with the previous attack a few days ago."

"Understood!"

The captain accepted my orders and had his subordinates carry the bodies of the kidnappers. At that moment, there was a metallic sound.

I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a dagger fall from one of the bodies onto a stone on the ground.

"–!"

The moment I saw it, a chill ran down my spine.

Killing intent.

An overwhelming killing intent emanated from the dagger.

"Don’t touch it."

I stopped the soldier who was about to pick it up and stood in front of the dagger, staring at it.

This must be the dagger the men were talking about when I woke up.

Through Leviathan, I felt not only killing intent but also a "curse." It wasn’t just a dagger; it was filled with magic and the intense resentment of the person who infused it.

"…Could it be?"

I drew Leviathan and took a stance.

"Can you do it?"

When I asked, Leviathan responded, "Yes."

"Then, do it!"

The moment I gave the order, Leviathan was overjoyed. Immediately, a jet of water shot up from the blade toward the sky.

It was much thinner than the one I had fired before, about the thickness of a six-year-old’s arm.

However, after ascending into the sky, it curved and flew off.

Far, far away.

Beyond the horizon, the water jet continued to fly.

Zoe and the soldiers were all bewildered, unsure of what had just happened.

☆

The next day, in the palace garden, the moment the king saw me, he broke into a delighted smile.

"Amazing, Noah! Well done!"

Before I could kneel and bow, he came over, grabbed my shoulder, and expressed his joy.

"What happened?"

"The leader of the rebels, a man named Baker, was apparently struck between the eyes by a water jet that appeared out of nowhere last night. It must have been you, Noah."

"…Yes."

I was half surprised and half relieved.

Surprised because the king’s information was always so quick.

Relieved because Leviathan’s long-distance sniping had been successful.

Using the dagger, which was filled with intense curse and resentment, as a marker, I had targeted the source of the resentment with Leviathan. Leviathan had said it could do it, but I was a bit worried if it could reach Almeria, which was almost on the border.

"Without their leader, the rebels’ command structure has collapsed. Henry says it will be over in a few days. Well done, Noah!"

The king praised my achievement with more excitement than ever before.