Chapter 10

Standing on a thin branch near the top of a tall tree, a man gazed at the sky. He was dressed in a dark robe, his hood pulled low over his face, and his mouth covered with a cloth, concealing his features.

He clicked his tongue as he watched a black dragon soar over the mountains in the distance.

(Harkim's troops shouldn't have arrived yet. So, was it that village girl?)

Did she drive away the black dragon?

He found it hard to believe. While she possessed an unusual strength for a girl living in a peaceful border village, her power was on par with the restrained Lord Harkim. This was his conclusion after observing her from a distance.

It was hard to imagine that she could match the black dragon.

(But that village... there was a strange barrier.)

When he approached, a tingling pain ran through him. He couldn't get any closer, sensing that something worse would happen if he did.

Why could the troops pass through, but not us?

It wasn't just a simple condition of being armed.

There might have been a special condition that delved into emotions.

There was no logical reason for such a high-level barrier to be set up in a border village.

(Come to think of it, that village...)

The name of a certain criminal flashed through his mind, but he immediately shook his head.

That criminal didn't have the magical power to construct such a barrier. Even if he knew the spell, the girl and the villagers wouldn't have been able to do it.

In any case, the mission here was a failure. He needed to move on to the next plan.

He began to outline his next steps in his mind. After a while, he imitated the prearranged bird call to summon his companions.

(Huh? No response?)

He was puzzled, and in the next moment—

"Wha!?"

His head was grabbed, and he was pulled down, breaking thick branches as he fell.

"Ugh!"

He managed to activate a defensive spell, but the momentum couldn't be stopped, and he slammed his face into the ground.

"Are you not part of Lord Harkim's troops? What are you doing here secretly?"

A familiar male voice came from above. He searched his memory and recalled a man who had just flashed through his mind, but he immediately dismissed it.

(That man couldn't approach without being detected and pin me down like this.)

He was just a former commoner with a sharp mind, completely useless with swords and magic.

"Ugh!?"

His arm was crushed. With his head still held down, the man thrashed his legs.

"I'm in a bit of a bind if you don't answer my questions. Could you tell me who you are, who you're working for, and what you were doing?"

He couldn't possibly answer. At least, if he revealed who was giving the orders, he would eventually be killed by that person.

"Just spill it all out. But—"

His head was lifted.

"Ugh...!?"

He was speechless at the sight before him.

Four men, dressed similarly in robes, lay motionless. They were all his companions.

"Don't worry. They're still alive. In other words, it doesn't have to be you who talks."

How many of those four would be willing to die for their loyalty? Even he, who feared his employer, would have spilled everything if his life was guaranteed.

The cloth covering his mouth was pulled down. When he saw the face of the young man who peered at him, the man shuddered.

"Ah, I thought so. I recognized your voice. You're one of Duke Dabon's men, right?"

The man knew him too.

They had met several times on the battlefield and exchanged words.

And his master, none other than the very person who had exiled him to the border, was Duke Dabon, who had presided over the Great Court of the Hero Killer.

"Is that old man up to something again? From the situation, it seems like an assassination attempt on Lord Harkim, but it's strange. The lord has already fallen from the power struggle."

The man's body trembled with an indescribable fear as the young man calmly approached the core of the matter. He could only utter one name.

"Mathis, Lutius..."

Why was he here? He shouldn't be able to leave the village.

Why wasn't he wearing a collar? Removing it would be considered treason.

And the biggest mystery was, how did he have the power to overwhelm him and his companions?

None of these questions would ever be answered.

Because now that he knew the fact that 'he had removed his collar and appeared here,' he couldn't possibly be allowed to live...

"I'll tell you everything. So—"

The man pleaded with a twisted smile of terror.

"Kill me... quickly..."

"Yes, if you tell me everything honestly."

The young man with black hair, finally, after all this, erased the shadow of the Supreme Sage and responded.