Chapter 30:

Chapter 30:

Vilto, Delmiel.

As the names were entirely unfamiliar to Ruon, he cocked his head in confusion.

Even though he had discarded any thoughts of a peaceful resolution when the fight began, Ruon couldn’t help but feel curious. He asked the man, who was clutching his chest and moaning, “Who are you?”

“Who am I?”

The man let out a sneering laugh.

“Would you remember if I mentioned a dwarf wizard and an elf swordsman?”

The friendly explanation brought to mind an incident that had long since sunk into the depths of Ruon’s memory.

” —The monument?”

Those were the appearances of the two who had attempted to break the monument that held the shield when Kyle had first sought him out.

“How do you know I killed them?”

In response to Ruon’s question, the man slowly opened his mouth.

“Before they died, they made a pact with you so that their comrades could recognize who killed them.”

“I don’t make pacts with the people I kill.”

As if to remind Ruon of her last words, the man spoke bluntly.

“The waning moon never forgets its vengeance.”

Without warning, the man crossed his arms before throwing them forward.

From his cloak, a black object flew towards Ruon. Reacting quickly, Ruon swung his Holy Sword to block it, seeing that it was a thin column of iron.

Judging from the rapidly burning tips of the weeds that touched the metal on the ground, it was obvious that it had been heavily poisoned.

Unsheathing the two swords at his waist, the man rushed forward.

A rapier with an impressively thin blade arced down, aiming for Ruon’s heart.

Ruon quickly swung down his Holy Sword, intending to cut through his opponent’s blade, but he quickly stepped back as a dagger slashed at him from out of nowhere, aiming for his knee.

“For someone of his size, he’s surprisingly fast,” the man said in a peculiar stance, his upper body bent slightly.

Ruon snorted at the man, whose right hand was clutching the rapier to his chest and left hand held the broad-bladed dagger behind his back.

This time, Ruon moved first. As he kicked the ground, the force was more than it could handle, causing a burst of muddy water to spray.

Realizing he couldn’t block the descending Holy Sword, the man pivoted on his left foot, twirling his body to avoid it narrowly. He then swung the dagger from behind his back.

Ruon tilted his head to dodge the dagger, which narrowly missed him.

Quickly recovering after avoiding the dagger, Ruon swung his Holy Sword horizontally.

The man leaned forward to an extreme degree, evading the Holy Sword, and at the same time extended his rapier forward.

The timing of the man’s rapier thrust was almost perfect.

Ruon’s arm was still extended due to the Holy Sword’s inertia, making it impossible for him to retract it and defend.

The man wore a triumphant smile.

He was convinced that he would pierce Ruon’s head in exchange for his overconfidence. Even if Ruon held onto the sword with the intention of losing his hand, the deadly poison on the tip of the rapier would claim his life in an instant. The outcome would be the same.

With such confidence, the man didn’t lose his smile even as a cold blade penetrated his skull.

Chack!

The man, whose head was split in half, collapsed on the spot.

He had underestimated Ruon’s overwhelming physical ability, changing the direction of his sword mid-swing.

Ruon shook his throbbing arm in the air. The pain came from forcibly changing the sword’s trajectory due to the unexpected rhythm of the man’s attacks.

‘Still, the experience points aren’t too bad.’

Unfortunately, he hadn’t leveled up, but he felt fulfilled.

Looking at the severed head of the corpse, Ruon muttered softly.

“The waning moon doesn’t forget...”

He faintly remembered the elven swordsman having uttered similar words before her death, but in truth, it didn’t matter much.

He had unknowingly become the target of assassins. That was the conclusion.

“Kyle, that bastard brought me into all sorts of trouble.”

Thinking of the woodsman who used to curse and spout nonsense, Ruon turned his head. Beyond the open door, he saw Becky running towards him.

“Ruon!”

“What?”

“I don’t want to just dismiss the fact that I met you, the Champion of Tibella, as a mere coincidence. Of course, you said it was a coincidence, but still...”

“It’s fine. If that’s what you think, then maybe it wasn’t,” Ruon replied.

Ruon’s reaction, nonchalantly nodding his head, was very different from what Becky had expected, and she blinked her large eyes in surprise.

Meanwhile, Ruon turned to Igor and asked, “Is the prayer finished?”

He tore apart a roasted chicken leg and placed them on Igor and Becky’s plates, then started eating himself.

“Oh, my Mother’s sword... such kindness.”

“Th-thank you.”

Moved by his almost habitual behavior, both Igor and Becky expressed their gratitude with trembling voices.

Ignoring them, Ruon chewed on the juicy meat and sipped his beer.

The meal ended quickly.

Despite trying not to show her fatigue, Becky began to doze off as her stomach filled with the first real food she had eaten in a while, and Igor, who hadn’t drunk, helped her upstairs.

Alone at the table, Ruon drank an additional beer he’d ordered and spoke to the middle-aged man sitting across from him.

“It seems like you may have taken the wrong seat.”

“N-no, I sat correctly.”

The middle-aged man with a hooked nose seemed anxious. After wiping his sweaty palm on his thigh, he cautiously asked, “I’m only asking because your physique and equipment look different—are you a mercenary?”

In response to the shaky voice, Ruon nodded slightly.

“At times.”

“Oh, then could you take on a request for me?”

“I’d have to hear what it’s about first.”

“Well, alright.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, the middle-aged man began looking around nervously.

“If you have something to say, just say it like you usually would. Right now, you seem more suspicious.”

“Uh, y-yes, I suppose so.”

With a brief cough, he straightened his back and began his story in earnest.

“I am Markus. I used to own a small merchant ship.”

“Used to? Not anymore, I suppose.”

“That’s right. I ran into trouble last night.”

Taking a deep breath, Markus began his story in earnest.

“I am a merchant. My job is to import silk from Daran, add a markup, and deliver it to the upper class.

“Yesterday, I was returning to Nook Harbor. I had met the deadline and the quality of the silk was excellent, so I was in a great mood. But that’s when the storm hit. Luckily, I was near the coast, so I managed to avoid becoming fish food, but the ship suffered serious damage.”

Ruon raised an eyebrow.

“Are you asking me to fix your ship?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Since I docked hastily, I didn’t land at the proper pier. But that’s not the main problem... it was near the harpies’ nesting grounds.”

‘Harpies?’

Ruon felt his interest piqued and leaned forward. Meanwhile, Markus continued his explanation.

“I was in the middle of moving a chest filled with silk when a terrifying birdlike monster swooped down on me. What could I do? The silk was important, but my life was even more precious. Of course, I fled for my life.”

Scratching his head, Markus continued.

“Thanks to that, I survived, but... my precious ship and silk were left behind in the cursed lair of those damn monsters. If you help me kill those creatures and move the goods, I’ll pay you handsomely.”

Ruon asked, “But why me? Why not the Lord?”

“If I asked the Lord for help, by the time his soldiers moved, it would be past the agreed deadline. Besides, using this incident as an excuse, the Lord would take a hefty sum in taxes. I can’t afford to lose out twice.”

“I see.”

‘Sounds reasonable.’

Ruon nodded his head.

Since they were already stuck in the harbor, it didn’t seem like too bad of an idea to take care of this simple task before heading to the cathedral.

Besides, thanks to the experience gained from killing the assassin, he was on the verge of leveling up, so why not?

There was no need to think any further, so Ruon smirked and answered.

“Alright. I’ll take the job.”