Vol 1 Chapter 33 – The Masked Swordsman’s True Identity【Vol 1: The Beastkin Hero Arc】

The battle that had begun nearby between Null and Eins against Leonhardt was so fierce it rivaled a natural disaster. Because Leonhardt was fighting while protecting the villagers, she was at a slight disadvantage.

In contrast, the battle between Vier and the masked swordsman was a quiet one.

The fourth successful subject, Vier, succeeded in trapping the masked swordsman before her in an illusion.

Surprisingly, he had fallen asleep while standing.

—Brave Skill 《Dream World》.

It invited anyone who met her eyes into a dream, showing them a nightmare.

Furthermore, it was a Brave Skill that allowed her to enter the constructed dream and manipulate it freely.

It was an ability that absolutely could not be defeated on the first encounter.

The nightmare it showed was the target’s most detestable memory. A memory they continuously regretted.

—Where am I?

Surprisingly, this dream was one Vier herself recognized. Even though it was the masked man’s dream, it was also the young girl’s dream.

“—I’m late. I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry.”

The tragedy of Dornbelt that occurred eight years ago.

The mansion of the city’s lord, which had become an experimental facility, was in a state of semi-destruction to the point where sunlight poured even into the filthy underground prison where bugs and rats crawled over one’s skin.

The hired mercenaries who managed the test subjects to keep them from escaping lay collapsed everywhere, bleeding.

And in front of the crucial cell, a voice echoed, endlessly apologizing to the five weakened children. A black-haired boy stared at them while cradling a blonde lion-kin girl in his arms.

All those who survived the experiments had mutated to have pure white hair, and the limbs peeking out from their simple tunics were covered in scars.

The black-haired boy bit his lip as if in pain.

“—Wh-Who are you?”

Null asked, opening his eyes slightly. The black-haired boy stroked the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist and said,

“I’m Allen Norsh, currently serving as a squire to a World Knight. You’re safe now. Let’s just get out of here.”

“World Knight?”

The hero who would later save the world, Allen Norsh. This fearless boy stood with the sunlight shining into the underground at his back.

This past. This dream.

The masked swordsman’s true identity is!

As Vier watched in astonishment, the dream—the continuation of the past—flowed on.

“You came now? All my brothers died. They believed to the bitter end that you guys would come someday, and died despairing that you didn’t!”

Weakly gripping the iron bars, Null glared at him between ragged breaths.

Allen looked down with a pained expression. There were heavy dark circles under his eyes.

“We are the only ones who survived. But even surviving doesn’t make me happy at all! Eins here, maybe because of all the terrifying things he was put through, can’t speak anymore.”

Eins just stared vacantly.

“This is Zwei. He lost his memory from the shock. Right now, he doesn’t even know who he is or where he’s from.”

Zwei offered no response.

“Drei seems to have lost his sense of pain, probably a side effect of the medication. It’s become a habit for him to scratch his whole body with his nails.”

Drei continued to scratch himself in silence.

“Vier can’t sleep anymore. She hasn’t slept a wink since the day she was captured.”

The young Vier and Allen’s gazes met. Yes, even now that she had grown up, Vier couldn’t sleep. The night terrified her.

It reminded her of the dark dungeon. Remembering that sensation of rats and bugs crawling by her ears kept her from sleeping. Remembering the days chained to a metal padlock kept her from sleeping.

Even without sleep, her resilient body as an Artificial Hero kept her alive.

“You can hate me. You can curse me. But no matter what you say, I’m just here to save those of you who survived.”

Slashing through the iron bars, Allen took the hands of the five children. Bringing them out into the sunlight, he hugged them one by one, telling them that they were finally safe.

—Obsidian Knight, you’ve been regretting this day all along, haven’t you?

Vier understood. She understood Allen’s pain.

A hard voice called out to the back of that future hero.

“—Good work, Allen Norsh. It is impressive that you managed to track down this location. You can leave the rest to us, the Imperial Emperor’s Special Task Force Knights—the Secret Guard.”

Knights dressed in pure white uniforms flooded into the underground space. At the head of the group was a red-haired boy with a nasty glare.

“Why are you here?”

Helmis answered Allen’s confusion.

“To capture Shedim Astor, the mastermind behind these mad experiments, and to secure the orphans who survived them, of course. First off, where is Shedim?”

“Passed out in the back room.”

Allen pointed down the hall.

“I see.”

Helmis nodded arrogantly, and his subordinate knights hurried in that direction. Bringing his gaze back, Helmis and Allen locked eyes once more.

“And the Empire will be taking custody of those children.”

Allen grit his teeth.

“Step aside. You were planning to deliver those children to us anyway, were you not?”

“This incident, where large numbers of orphans within the Empire vanished, had no request from the Kings for some reason. A World Knight cannot act without the Kings’ approval. Master said the Emperor manipulated the votes so they would fall short of a majority on this matter.”

“To begin with, His Majesty deemed this a matter unworthy of the World Council’s agenda. The ones gathered were orphans. Trash living in the slums. It doesn’t matter how many of them die, there is no problem whatsoever. If anything, it improves public order.”

Allen clenched his fists.

“What is with that look? Ah, I see, now that I think about it, you are a former orphan yourself. Is that why you’re angry?”

Allen glared silently.

“If you had not been picked up by that person, you might have been down here as well.”

Helmis walked past Allen with a mocking sneer, having his subordinates restrain the five children. The knights pierced the backs of Vier and the others’ hands with knife-shaped magic-sealing crystals.

“What are you doing?!”

“These things have already been turned into weapons. They are dangerous if they go out of control. Just how many people do you think live in this city? We must secure the safety of our citizens first.”

Helmis looked down at the children with eyes as cold as ice. Those eyes were reminiscent of the professor.

Even Null was overwhelmed, his lips merely trembling.

“You said you came to secure them. Treat them according to your words.”

“Let me make this clear: the priority is the citizens first.”

Allen could only watch in frustration.

“Do not interfere any further, Allen. This is outside the jurisdiction of a World Knight. And that applies to you, as that person’s squire, as well. You haven’t received a mission request from the Kings, have you? Originally, this is a matter that the domestic military—meaning us—should resolve. Do whatever you please with that lion-kin girl, deliver her to the Beast Kingdom or whatever. We won’t involve ourselves in that country’s messy affairs.”

He forced his way through by using the system as a shield. Flanking the children on both sides, the knights headed upstairs as if taking them into custody.

Thus, Vier and the others were handed over to the Empire.

With this, the dream ended. This was Allen Norsh’s most painful and regretted past.

—I see. You’ve regretted it this whole time, haven’t you? That you shouldn’t have handed us over to Helmis. You’ve been thinking about us all along, haven’t you?

Did you hide your identity and come here to stop us?

Knowing the inner workings of the hero’s heart, Vier was overcome by complex emotions.

*　　　*　　　*　　　*

Allen was inside a dream, having no idea when he’d wake up.

His dream-self was younger, simply tracing a scene from the past. It was the events right after he had rescued Leonhardt.

You know what the absolute worst part was? The fact that I had to pull all-nighters for days on end.

His Master had dumped the case of the missing orphans on him, telling him to solve it without her help, so he had run himself ragged gathering evidence and questioning people without rest or sleep.

When Allen finally discovered that the orphans were gathered in a city called Dornbelt and went there, what awaited him was a crazed magical scholar and a torrent of abuse from the orphans asking why he hadn’t come sooner.

It was an event that really stung his sleep-deprived body.

He was bummed out that hundreds of people had ended up as sacrifices, but no matter how you looked at it, the blame for that lay with Shedim.

It was obvious that you wouldn’t get a pleasant ‘thank you’ every time you saved someone, but it still made his mood heavy.

Even so, how was he supposed to end this dream?

While he had absolutely no clue, he suddenly noticed the dream world was gradually beginning to collapse. Holes were opening up in the virtual space like paper burned by fire.

Because the absolute worst part was just how painful the lack of sleep was, Allen had total confidence that his spirit wasn’t going to break in this dream.

She had probably just given up and deactivated her ability for him.