Vol 1 Chapter 13 – Saving the Former Knight Uncle【Vol 1: The Beastkin Hero Arc】

A young man wearing a brown cloak and a mask over his face let out a sigh of relief, carrying an oddly dressed little girl on his shoulders.

Having passed through the forest overgrown with bizarre plants—the Forbidden Zone—they spent a month crossing a treacherous mountain range without a moment’s rest.

An open expanse of lush green plains filled their vision. In the distance, they could even spot a simple road, nothing more than beaten earth.

Beneath his mask, Allen licked his dry lips — it seemed they had finally entered some country’s territory.

“…Asmodeus. Come on, cheer up. We can see a road now. We’ll reach a village or a town soon.”

“…Fi-nal-ly. Fi-nal-ly, I can rest in a bed.”

“Why are you talking like a robot?”

Because she had been complaining endlessly about being tired of walking, Allen was giving Asmodeus a piggyback ride on his shoulders. After a month of sleeping rough outdoors, he could no longer sense any shred of intelligence from her.

Incidentally, one might think she should just return to her sword form if it was so tough, but the Lightning Annihilation Sword was synonymous with Allen Norsh’s identity as a World Knight. The gorgeously decorated purplish-blue longsword stood out far too much, so even Allen couldn’t tell her to revert.

Stepping onto the road, the two of them simply followed along its path.

Though it was called a road, perhaps due to a lack of resources to maintain it during the war with the Demon Lord’s Army, weeds were growing completely unchecked. Because it wasn’t paved with stone like the roads in major cities to begin with, it was likely a harsh path for those unaccustomed to traveling.

At that moment, he suddenly sensed a presence — looking back over his shoulder, he spotted a middle-aged man running toward him from quite a distance away.

“Sorry! You there, good sir!”

It was the first time they had encountered another person in about a month, but Allen felt not a single shred of joy. A swarming horde of insect-type magical beasts was closing in right behind the man — a highly diverse group, including Death Scorpions, Killer Bees, and Ogre Mantises. He was approaching Allen while dragging all of them straight toward him.

For a brief second, he wondered if the guy was just taking his pets for a walk, but seeing the desperate, ghastly expression on the middle-aged man’s face, Allen sighed, realizing this was no time for escapism.

“Seeing as you bear quite the fine weapon, I assume you’re a mercenary of some renown! My apologies, but please lend me a hand!!”

“No thank you!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear that! What did you just—”

“…Understood. That’s what I said.”

He nodded reluctantly, and as Allen drew his sword from its scabbard, Asmodeus whispered into his ear.

“…Just when I thought we’d finished cleaning up those mechanical dolls, now it’s a bunch of magical beasts left over from the Demon Lord’s Army, huh.”

“Looks like it.”

The Demon Lord’s Army had collapsed when the Demon Lord was slain, but it seemed remnants still lingered on the Human Continent, perhaps having retreated from the urban areas where humanity’s military forces were concentrated and ended up out here in the frontier.

“…Make absolutely sure you don’t go all out, Allen. Unlike back at the ancient ruins, if you show off your true strength in front of others, they’ll start doubting your identity.”

“I know. More importantly, Asmodeus. Make sure you don’t call me Allen in front of other people.”

“…Got it, got it. Or rather, what are you going to call me? My name is pretty famous too, you know, even if not quite as much as yours.”

“What should I call you, then?”

Falling silent for a moment, Asmodeus muttered softly.

“…Ardie.”

Squeeze. Doubts arose in his mind at the way she muttered it with a hint of nostalgia while squeezing his shoulder tightly, but this was no time to press the issue.

Accepting that it was probably just a nickname, Allen lowered Asmodeus from his shoulders to the ground.

“Leave the big ones to me! I’ll ask you to handle the smaller ones!!”

The older guy seemed quite confident in his own strength — a former knight, perhaps? If so, Allen would have preferred he just handle all of them by himself.

After getting close to Allen, the man veered off the road and began engaging the Death Scorpions and Ogre Mantises in battle.

It seemed Allen’s opponents were the giant bees producing that obnoxious buzzing sound.

Sporting yellow and black bodies, they had massive stingers on their abdomens capable of piercing a human body, two pairs of wings sprouting from their backs, and tough-looking exoskeletons covering them throughout.

There were five of these magical beasts known as Killer Bees in total, and flying at high speeds, they each thrust their stingers toward Allen, who stood before them.

“…Tch.”

Allen intentionally dodged the dripping venomous stingers by a hair’s breadth.

“Can you hold out until I finish defeating mine?!”

The older guy glanced over to check on Allen while clashing his greatsword against the giant scythes of an Ogre Mantis.

“…I’ll manage. Don’t worry about me.”

Having constantly faked his true strength in front of his former comrades, Allen was a master at holding back — feigning a tough struggle was child’s play for him.

That being said, if he appeared too weak, he might be looked down upon, and that would just cause different kinds of trouble, so Allen fully intended to defeat the magical beasts under his own power.

With Killer Bees, the stingers weren’t the only thing you had to watch out for. They would fly at high speeds and ram into you, relying on their hard exoskeletons.

Wind brushed against his cheeks, and the overlapping, unpleasant buzzing echoed in his ears. Allen dodged their attacks by rolling on the ground, but naturally, just evading would eventually wear him down.

“Combat Skill: 《Steel Muscle》.”

For the time being, Allen enhanced his physical abilities — he could easily handle them with his base physical strength alone, but defeating them without using any skills would look unnatural.

Then, as a charging Killer Bee passed him by, Allen sliced off its wings.

“Gigiiii!”

He drove his longsword through the abdomen of the one that plummeted to the ground with a shriek. However, the one he thought he had finished off, despite breathing its last, gripped his longsword tightly with its sharp legs.

As if to not let their comrade’s struggle go to waste, the other Killer Bees all swooped in to attack at once.

Allen let go of his sword, leaping to the side while unleashing a kick. It successfully struck the second bee, and a third got caught up in the impact, breaking its flight formation. Breaking into a dash, Allen forcibly yanked his sword from the abdomen of the dead specimen and slashed down the two still airborne.

Seeing their comrades killed, the remaining Killer Bees realized Allen was surprisingly tough and switched their target to Asmodeus behind him.

“Big brother! I’m gonna die, Big Brother?!”

Tears welling in her eyes, Asmodeus fell flat on her rear and cried out for help. Officially his little sister for this cover story, she called out to Allen with a performance that was far too convincing.

“I’m coming, Ardie!”

Calling out her designated fake name in return, Allen broke into a run.

“Combat Skill: 《Moon Slash》.”

From a high stance, Allen swung his longsword down.

It was an inferior version of the Combat Skill 《Dark Light Moon Slash》 he had used at the ancient ruins, and the mana-clad blade tore through the air, turning into a flying crescent of a slash that cleaved one of the bees right in two. The slash didn’t stop there — it only finally halted after gouging into the carapace of the second bee.

“Gigii?!”

“It’s over.”

The final remaining bee soared high into the sky, apparently trying to flee. Using his enhanced physical abilities, Allen hurled his sword.

Soaring through the air at the speed of a bullet, the longsword pierced flawlessly through the Killer Bee’s head.

“Phew.”

Thud. Next to the corpse that plummeted from the sky, Allen placed his hands on his hips and let out a tired sigh.

“I was so scared, Big Brother!”

“Y-Yeah. (She’s a really good actress…)”

Once the battle was over, Asmodeus clung to Allen affectionately, pressing her face against his stomach and sniffing his scent.

Hugging her back, Allen directed his gaze toward the older man, who seemed to have finished up a moment later.

“Combat Skill: 《Eight-Blade Consecutive Severing》!”

Accompanied by an ear-splitting battle cry, eight consecutive slashes shredded the bodies of the two large magical beasts to pieces.

Allen narrowed his eyes beneath his mask — the man used Combat Skills rather than magic, and moreover fought by imbuing his weapon with mana, which meant his Mana Core type was likely a Knight Core.

“Oho, it seems you were faster! Just as I thought, my eye for talent was not wrong! I appreciate your assistance!”

The man flicked the blood off his greatsword and flashed a smile, giving him a thumbs-up. Or rather, his voice was incredibly loud.

“No, you really saved me there! And I apologize! Even for me, those odds were just too much — I couldn’t handle them alone! Please forgive me!”

Bowing deeply, flashing a cheerful smile, and then forcefully shaking his hand, the man overwhelmed Allen entirely — a middle-aged man with streaks of white in his hair, yet awfully energetic.

Allen loved innocent and energetic girls, but watching an innocent and energetic middle-aged man was a bit tough on the eyes.

“Let me give you some sort of reward! A token of my gratitude!!”

“…No, we should help each other in times of need. Don’t worry about it.”

Out of habit from his World Knight days, Allen unintentionally suppressed his true self and made sure to speak in a cool tone.

“What a noble gentleman! A rare young man in this day and age!”

“Not at all. (It’s honestly amazing he can keep talking with this much energy…)”

The man began looking over Allen’s entire body with a deeply impressed expression.

Allen, in turn, observed the man in front of him — underneath a gray cloak, he wore light armor, and on his back rested a well-worn buster sword.

His face had a slightly unrefined, country-raised look to it, but he seemed gentle and somehow reminiscent of a bear.

There was a scar near his eyebrow, and old scars marked his arms and fists — he appeared to have plenty of combat experience.

On top of that, fixed forms could be recognized in his swordsmanship — he was probably a former knight or something similar, not a mercenary.

Once the conversation settled down, Allen moved on to introductions.

“…I’m Noir, a wandering mercenary. Nice to meet you.”

He introduced Asmodeus at the same time.

“This is my little sister, Ardie.”

“You may worship me, mob-face.”

Smack. Allen reflexively chopped the little girl on the top of her head. What a way to say hello.

He’d have to teach her later that just because she was cute didn’t mean she could get away with saying whatever she wanted.

Fortunately, the older guy was just smiling, commenting on what a spunky little miss she was — thank goodness he was a kind person.

Then, Allen pointed to the mask on his face.

“I was left with a gruesome scar on my face from a battle with a certain magical beast. I apologize for the rudeness of not taking off my mask.”

“You are my savior! Don’t you worry about a thing like that! My name is Branford! I am a former knight from the village just up ahead!”

Having finished their introductions, they casually shared their respective backgrounds, and naturally, Allen recounted the life story of the fictional mercenary, “Noir.”

When he mentioned taking an arrow to the knee and looking for a place to recuperate, Branford became deeply sympathetic and worried — and Allen felt a little guilty.

He gained a lot of information from the man—Branford.

First came their current location: they were apparently within the borders of the Kingdom of Riguacqua, located in the eastern part of the Human Continent.

Riguacqua was a country blessed with abundant water sources.

Branford had belonged to the Azure Sword Knight Order, the national army of the Kingdom of Riguacqua, but with the war against the Demon Lord’s Army over, and considering his age, he decided to retire from the knighthood and was on his way back to his home village.

“I was feeling my age catching up to me, and more importantly, I heard that remnants of the Demon Lord’s Army were fleeing to the frontiers! I thought the timing was perfect!”

Branford pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his breast pocket.

Written across it in huge letters were the words: Log Village, Guards Wanted!