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“P-please just let me live…!”

“Fuck off, you’re not even worth killing! But if rumors like this spread one more time, then I will rip out your tongue.”

Von let out a relieved sigh when he saw Gerunak, also known as the Explosive Spear, running away.

“Tsk tsk, how could you think a guy like was a master for living a secluded life…’”

After Hagler Awakened, Von no longer had any reason to take Hagler with him. After all, Henry had only asked Von to clear up Hagler’s past and not to recruit new members with him. Von had sent Hagler to a nearby village for treatment and started recruiting new members as planned.

Von had just defeated a random spearman named Gerunak the Explosive Spear, one of the men on the list he had received from Ten.

‘What a lousy guy…’

The Explosive Spear.

When Von first heard the name, he thought the man would be really skilled to have such a moniker; however, when he actually fought the man, it turned out that his skills weren\'t great enough to have a terrifying title like that. It was all exaggerated nonsense.

‘Is there only one guy left now?’

Von stared at the last name on the list with a cold expression.

He decided not to have any more expectations. He’d been disappointed by Ten’s informants too many times.

‘Still, I should check since I was asked to do this.’

His disappointment didn’t mean he was going to abandon his duties. If he missed a real hidden gem, he would be in a lot of trouble.

‘Let’s see, next is… Yanos the Storm?’

Von was just stunned. This time, his opponent was nicknamed "The Storm"?

He couldn\'t imagine what in the world he had been doing to be given such a ridiculous name.

‘Ha, I hope it’s real this time…’

Von decided not to give up hope just yet. Besides, Yanos was not too far from where he was now, and he was also the last one on Von\'s list.

‘I’ll get rid of him quickly and then go for a drink.’

He was in a hurry because Henry’s one-month leave meant that he also got a month\'s leave himself.

Besides, after becoming a handsome, young man through Cosmesis, Von was enjoying every day of his new life. Naturally, he wanted to finish his duties quickly and enjoy his precious vacation as much as he could.

* * *

“Ha, this time it’s Yanos the Storm?”

Mordred frowned and roughly ran his fingers through his hair.

He had already lost track of how many men he had searched.

It had already been several weeks since he had started tracking down Benedict on Duke Arthus’ order, but the damned traitor had hidden so well that there were no signs of him.

Mordred decided to change his tactics. He realized that looking for Benedict’s whereabouts according to a plan devised beforehand was not the solution. Instead, he decided to look for suspicious people and interrogate them.

Mordred was holding a handful of documents about wanted criminals who had recently become notorious, mercenaries who had suddenly become famous, and even masters in seclusion.

Mordred wanted to check them just in case Benedict was using one of the names.

After Mordred had killed a number of wanted criminals, he chose a man known as "Yanos the Storm" as his next target.

“Storm, huh…?”

Why was he called "The Storm"?

Morded thought that there was some possible logic to this.

‘Benedict used the power of La called the Desert Sandstorm, so could this nickname be related to that?’

Furthermore, he believed that despite using aliases like “Yanos,” it would be impossible to keep one’s true power a secret for very long.

This is why Mordred had chosen Yanos as his next target.

‘First, I must check what he looks like.’

Despite his arduous task, Mordred was loyal to Arthus and never complained.

* * *

“You.”

“Y-yes?”

“Ha… You\'re really Yanos the Storm?”

“T-that right!”

“And the reason why you’re called \'The Storm\' is because of that?”

“Y-yes…!”

Von looked in bewilderment at the traps installed on the cliff and sighed.

"Yanos the Storm" was a mere criminal who had run away after assaulting a noble. On top of that, he didn’t even know how to wield a sword properly. He had hidden in a gorge and set up numerous traps around the area so that he could escape from those who chased after him.

He was called “The Storm” because he would release the traps he had prepared all at the same time, and they lashed out at his pursuers like a storm.

It was disappointing. Von had made yet another trip with no results. He had hoped for at least one hidden gem, but the fact that everyone on the list had exaggerated names and spread false rumors made him angry.

‘I can\'t believe I wasted my precious time checking on people like this!’

Von drew his sword.

He wasn’t just taking his anger out on this man.

In any case, Yanos was a criminal who had assaulted a noble and if Von left him alive, other people would suffer. Von wanted to make sure that didn\'t happen.

Yanos started begging for his life, holding on to Von’s pants.

“P-please, let me live! I-I beg you! Please let me live! If you do, I promise to live my life in repentance! Please!”

As he looked at Yanos desperately clinging to him, Von was reminded of Hagler, who had also spent his life running from Diallo.

‘Assaulted a noble, huh…’

“Why’d you do it?” asked Von.

‘W-what do you mean?”

“Assaulting a noble in the empire is a felony! I’m asking why you hurt the noble.”

“T-that’s… I-I couldn’t stand it. Baron Yelo killed my family because I was a little late paying my taxes, so I couldn’t help but…”

It was a pitiful story. Yanos was simply a lowly citizen who had had no choice but to surrender in the face of overwhelming power.

“Tsk.”

Von felt disgusted.

The law of the empire had turned his man into a criminal, but knowing that the original crime was committed by some Baron Yelo whom Von didn’t even know made him angry.

Von sheathed his sword.

Clank!

Von shook off Yanos and said, “Leave.”

“...What?”

“I said leave before I change my mind.”

“A-are you letting me go…?”

“I\'m not a bounty hunter or Baron Yelo\'s employee. I was just looking for talented people, so just run away and live.”

“T-thank you! T-thank you so much! I will never forget this favor! T-thank you!”

Even though his life wasn’t in Von’s hands, Yanos prostrated in gratitude on the ground.

Von shook his head and left.

‘I got nothing good out of this after all. Now that things have turned out like this, I guess I’ll just spend my time drinking for a while.’

Now that he had finished his duties, Von was free and his real vacation was starting. He turned his back to Yanos and was going to head down the mountain, when–

Slice!

Rumble!

Just as Von turned his back, there was a tremendous explosion accompanied by a cutting sound. With a surprised expression, Von turned around.

The area behind him was full of dust, but soon, the wind from the top of the mountain cleared it away to reveal a huge sword mark in place of Yanos’ dwelling. Von saw Yanos lying at the bottom of a long trench. He twitched once, then stiffened for eternity as he breathed his last.

Von immediately raised his head and looked at the person who had launched the attack.

“It’s not him either?”

Thud.

The voice of the man who had swung his sword was full of disappointment as he jumped off the cliff and landed lightly on the ground.

“...!”

Von looked at him in shock.

‘Mordred? Why is he here?’

The Imperial 6th Sword, Mordred Highlander. It was an unexpected encounter. Besides, Mordred was one of the people he had to get rid of someday. Just then, Mordred made eye contact with Von, who was looking at him in shock.

“Hm? Who are you?”

Mordred sounded as if he hadn’t noticed Von until then even though he’d clearly seen Von with Yanos. His unbelievable disregard irked Von immensely. He didn’t know that the typical arrogant tone of the aristocrats would make him so angry.

He had just saved Yanos’ life a moment ago, but now his mercy had been in vain

“Hmm.”

Mordred quickly lost interest in Von. He kicked Yanos’ corpse lightly with his foot and looked at his face.

“Why is he called ‘The Storm’? I just wasted my time again.”

Mordred looked annoyed, and from his complaints, Von assumed that Mordreded was performing a similar task. In any case, what really mattered was that Mordred had offended him.

“Mordred.”

“Huh?”

When he heard a stranger call his name, Mordred stopped poking the corpse. With a stiff expression, he made eye contact with Von.

The thick dust settled and a heavy silence took over.

Although the sun was quite warm, the air between the two instantly became cold.

“Name,” said Mordred.

Like a typical swordsman serving a noble, he asked for Von’s name with a cold attitude.

However, Von remained distant. His only answer was to raise his middle finger.

“Ha?”

Mordred was bewildered to the point of speechlessness.

There was no way that a citizen of the empire didn\'t know him, so Mordred couldn\'t understand how Von had the guts to do such a thing. Thoughts raced through Mordred\'s head but he couldn’t think of a single swordsman in the empire that would show such disrespect to a member of a grand duke family.

Clank!

Mordred took out his sword.

There was no such a thing as second chances after showing disrespect.

The corner of Von’s lips rose, and he also drew his sword.

Tzzzzz.

A fierce storm started to blow over the gorge and the two peak-level Sword Masters.