[519] The Nameless Swordsman (3)
When Liz returned home, Rian and Silvia were talking.
From what Rian had heard, most of the Red Spear bandit group's officers were remnants of Vaiden Kingdom troops.
In particular, the leader was a man in his mid-forties named Faiken, who had served at the border garrison and, before the border was pushed back, had held the post of infantry battalion commander.
"A battalion commander of the infantry."
Rian, who had been to countless battlefields, could size up Faiken from the title alone.
Rank tends to equal ability in contested borderlands where war rages—unless you're in the royal capital, a rank usually reflects real skill.
Especially for a battalion commander stationed at a border that both nations took pride in, nothing but competence mattered.
"Then why would someone like that join a bandit gang?"
"I don't know. Maybe he's tired. Maybe he has personal reasons…"
Silvia hesitated, then spoke honestly.
"But in the end, isn't that just human nature?"
Rian found himself agreeing with her last line.
There might be circumstances.
But perhaps, precisely because he was human, he chose what seemed like the easier, darker path.
"Red Spear Faiken is known even on the enemy side. That's why Vaiden's constabulary won't touch him. They're based on Arch Mountain about three kilometers from here and are growing by pillaging nearby villages."
The Fox Rian had cut down was part of that expansion Silvia mentioned.
"Arch Mountain…"
"Brother."
When Liz came up, Rian realized belatedly and apologized.
"Sorry. I showed you something awful."
"It's fine. I wasn't that scared."
Seeing a corpse isn't pleasant, but after seeing them every day the revulsion felt no deeper than at a cockroach.
"Be honest with me. Brother, you're really famous, right? You lied about your name because you were afraid people would swarm if you told them?"
"No. My name is Rian. I'm not famous. The bandits were weak. It wasn't that I was strong."
Liz lowered her head sullenly.
"But we… we even get beaten by those weak bandits."
Rian had no answer.
Being weak isn't a sin, but on the battlefield such words are only hollow ideals.
"I'd like to rest a bit. My wounds haven't fully healed yet."
Rian excused himself and went into his room.
Silvia watched the firmly closed door with a worried face. Liz curled into her arms and asked,
"Mom, what will we do if Brother leaves us?"
"Liz, it's wrong to expect too much from others. Brother already saved us."
"But I don't want this anymore. I don't want to live like this."
Who would choose to stay wrapped in pain?
Silvia couldn't bring herself to tell her young daughter the harsh truth.
One thing she'd learned from life was that you can't truly know what you haven't experienced. In her youth she had preached about how life should be—but when it actually happened, her feelings were often nothing like the words she'd once spoken.
"Liz, you'll understand when you grow up. No one can fully understand you. But you have me. I'll protect you."
"I don't like being protected by Mom. I wish someone would protect Mom."
Silvia offered a sad smile.
It was a fear only a child could have.
"I'll say this. Even if no one else helps, Mom will always be on your side."
Silvia hugged Liz tightly.
Rian didn't come out of his room until late into the night.
He'd skipped meals after breakfast, but a weight heavier than hunger had settled on his shoulders.
"Red Spear Faiken. A battalion commander?"
When Rian had faced the Ozent family, Ozent Rai had been an eighth-grade noncommissioned officer.
Of course Rian knew Rai was a genius and had never imagined Rai would only be a battalion commander by Faiken's age.
Still, judging by current ability alone, Rai very well might surpass him.
"Could I… cut him down?"
According to Silvia, the Red Spear gang had seven officers. Including Fox, there were three deputy commanders, so their number of foot soldiers must be well into the triple digits.
He'd have to fight them all.
He would have to face alone a bandit group that even the kingdom constabulary had abandoned.
"I'll die."
If he was going to die anyway, was there a reason to fight?
Justice that can't be carried out isn't justice.
"I don't know, Shirone. What should I do…?"
Knock knock.
While Rian spent a sleepless, troubled night, a knock sounded on the door.
"Silvia."
"Come in."
Silvia opened the door and, seeing Rian sitting on the bed without having lain down, sank into a chair with a relieved look.
"At this hour—what's the matter?"
"I wanted to thank you for helping us. You and your daughter saved me."
Rian reflected on his time as a knight's attendant.
More than half the people who'd once called him benefactor later named him an enemy.
That's what responsibility did.
"I only fought to save myself. The bandits would have killed me otherwise."
Silvia nodded as if she understood.
Silence stretched until Rian, unable to bear it, spoke plainly.
"I'm sorry. I can't take on the bandit gang by myself. The border constabulary has given up, and the villagers won't step forward."
"I'm ashamed. It wasn't always so barren here."
Those who could fight were already dead or had joined the bandits.
"I'll leave in the morning. I'm sorry."
"I'm not asking you to destroy the bandits."
"Then—?"
When Rian looked up, Silvia averted her eyes and said,
"Could you be Liz's father?"
Rian showed no emotion and waited for her to continue.
It was an unreasonable request.
"I'm sorry. I'm thirty-three and can't bring myself to say the word 'marriage.' It sounds like I'm selling my daughter. But I mean it. I'm not asking you to stay forever. Could you stay for five years—no, even three—until Liz can leave and live on her own?"
Rian felt his chest tighten.
If he refused, would he once again become the one who ruined Liz's life?
"I'll be a good wife."
Silvia bowed her head as if she had steeled herself, then began to loosen her clothing.
Trusting herself to Fox, her husband's friend, was something she hated more than death.
But if it wasn't utterly vile, a woman alone would know what to give up to protect her child.
Rian held up a firm hand.
"I'm sorry."
Silvia's embarrassed movement froze.
There were many who slept together for a night and left; she hadn't expected things to go this far.
"There's someone I care for. This won't change my mind."
"I see."
Silvia smoothed her clothes and stood.
She had nothing left to give and nothing left to demand.
"But thank you. Fox was… truly a hateful man. I'll pack some food—take it in the morning."
It would only be awkward for them to meet, so Silvia, being considerate, left Rian and the room.
Silence returned; moonlight slid in through the window.
Rian spent the remaining hours lost in worry.
What he could and couldn't do blurred without any standard.
By dawn his confused gaze had steadied.
He slung his greatsword—sheathed in a leather scabbard—over his back and opened the door. There was a bundle of food Silvia had prepared.
Rian glanced once into the room where the mother and daughter slept.
"…"
Then he left slowly without touching anything.
He would never return to the village of Lifne.
One hour after Rian left, Silvia's house rang with Liz's cries as if it would tear apart.
"Mom! Brother left! He left us behind!"
"No, Liz. Brother followed his own path."
"Waaah!"
Perhaps she'd gained a little understanding of the world; Liz quit speaking and simply cried.
At that moment someone knocked at the door.
"Is anyone there? I have a few questions."
Silvia peered cautiously through a crack in the door.
Her face went blank and she craned to the threshold.
A figure beyond average human proportions filled the frame.
Over two meters tall, shoulders nearly stuck in the doorway.
From her experience, people built like that always wielded swords.
When the man bowed and suddenly shoved his face into the opening, Silvia flinched and stepped back.
He had a long, sweet-potato-shaped face, thick eyelashes, and a thin mustache sprouting under his nose.
"Ah, sorry to startle you. May I come in for a moment?"
Silvia pulled Liz close and asked, "What is it?"
The man pushed in without waiting for permission, and a follower who barely reached his chest slipped in behind him.
The follower wasn't exactly short, but next to the man in black iron armor carrying a finely made iron sword, he looked like a dwarf.
The shorter man sniffed and made meaningless motions, then—seeming to understand—nodded and said,
"I heard a rumor that a few days ago a blue-haired swordsman with a greatsword came to this village. Have you seen him?"
If they meant a blue-haired man with a greatsword, there was only one person who fit.
"No. We don't know anyone like that. Please leave."
"Hm? Is that so?"
The man dragged a table chair out and sat down like a block of wood.
Every motion radiated intimidation to the mother and daughter.
"Forgive my late introduction. I'm Lamdas, a knight's attendant. I held office in a distant land, but a late wanderlust drove me wandering without a destination."
Lamdas rattled off unsolicited remarks.
"By chance I heard a rumor about a blue-haired young swordsman bearing a greatsword."
"I told you, we don't know anyone like that!"
"No. He's not all that famous. But I don't judge people by fame. It's just that the young swordsman's deeds caught my interest."
Silvia gave up and fell silent.
"The corpses he cut down—some might have been random, but certain corpses showed a pattern. Sheer boldness!"
When Lamdas slammed the table, mother and daughter both flinched.
"They say he finished everything with a single strike. Whether it was speech, armor, shield, or weapon—he ignored it all and cut them down."
Silvia's mind flashed to Fox's last moments.
"So among knight attendants he's been rising as something of a holy figure. Thanks to that bold swordsmanship, they've nicknamed him the Knight of Maha."
"Knight of Maha?"
"Yes. A title implying vastness—sky, sea, earth. From what I heard—from the villagers—a young man reportedly dismembered a man named Fox along with his armor yesterday morning. And, again according to the villagers, that young man is staying here."
Silvia's lips trembled.
"Really… you don't know?"
Lamdas's almost girlish, pretty eyes pierced Silvia like an awl.