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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Pot]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
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Chapter 92: Are You Really From Special Operations Division?
"Hahahahaha!"
When Mordecai suddenly started laughing like a madman, I gave him my frank opinion.
"You crazy bastard."
"Ah, this is surprising. You even have a talent for appraisal."
"That's quite a brazen response."
Mordecai shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I can't sell to someone who can't recognize genuine articles."
"The way you say that makes it sound like a conscientious and fastidious merchant's final test. I'm a man who hates being tested more than anything."
I gestured languidly with my index finger at the tiara, the books on the bookshelf, and the ornate and antique decorations.
"Are any of these things even genuine? From what I see, you probably made your reputation as a collector and then made money by selling fakes."
They were the type of swindlers often seen in the Flanders underworld.
"……Keuk keuk keuk."
Mordecai laughed with a face that showed he had no intention of refuting me.
"What crazy slander are you spouting?"
"You moron. Somehow, the rumors were too widespread."
I confirmed the reality of the fishy smell I felt from his rumors.
"Yes, you probably sold genuine items sometimes. But if the other party didn't have the ability to recognize them, you would have sold them fakes as if you were waiting for it. Because mixing lies with truth is the most powerful method."
Then, Mordecai shrugged his shoulders and quietly laughed.
"Hehehehehe."
"What the hell are you laughing at? Is it funny?"
"You bastard."
Mordecai bared his fangs fiercely.
"Who sent you?"
"Who sent me?"
I shrugged.
"My employer sent me."
"If they sent someone who can appraise like this and knows all the tricks of the trade, this is clearly an operation, isn't it?"
Mordecai drew a sword that was decorated on the wall.
"To dare come and disrupt someone else's business. Were you so envious of the rumors of me making money? You dogs."
"This is absurd. You commit fraud and then act so confidently? You counterfeiters."
Mordecai's answer was concise.
"The one who gets fooled is the idiot."
"Wow, what garbage you are."
With this one answer, I confirmed that he was an irredeemable villain.
'Did Venion know?'
I can't be sure.
Perhaps, in an uncertain situation, even discerning whether it was genuine or fake was the test.
'If so, buying it at a well-discounted price without knowing it was a fake is an 80-point score.'
……And this is a 100-point answer.
Kwaaaang!
I retreated as if unarmed while channeling mana into a table and pushing it.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Swish.
Mordecai sliced the table in half with one strike and snapped his fingers. As if on cue, about fifteen armed men burst into the study.
"Kill him."
A distinct smell of blood wafted from the men rushing in, swinging their swords.
"Were they all torturing someone together?"
"Shut up. I'll be sending you to join them soon."
I weaved between them using the Scarlet Cloud Ghost Path technique.
"Swish, shushush, shush shush."
With relaxed shoulders, I struck their vital points with precise and rapid strikes, making them collapse.
Pababababak!
Just my fists infused with a bit of mana was enough to knock them unconscious.
"An expert!"
The guards who witnessed three of their comrades fall drew their swords. Among them was the guard captain who had confronted me earlier.
"That guy is a master of unarmed combat! Don't rush too close!"
At Mordecai's shout, the guards spread out around me.
"Not bad. That was an appropriate strategy just now."
I praised Mordecai's strategy.
Against an unarmed combat master, it would make sense to maintain distance and surround them to take advantage of longer weapons.
'That's only if I really had no weapons.'
I secretly fiddled with the bracelet I received from Ulbhild and smiled.
'They call me a master of unarmed combat?'
Crazy bastards.
My specialty is, after all, the sword.
Tsu tsu tsu-
The enemies surrounding me slowly narrowed the distance, forming a crescent-shaped encirclement. It was a textbook response.
"If we fight here, those precious books and collectibles of yours will be ruined, are you okay with that?"
I said, as if trying to talk my way out of a disadvantageous situation.
"You don't need to worry about that when you're about to die."
"Oh, you're calm. Are they all counterfeits so you can just make them again?"
Mordecai sighed.
"It seems I'll have to tear that mouth of yours first."
"Are you getting angry? Upset? Does it hit a nerve? Don't get excited. If you get excited, you'll lose."
"Shut your mouth!"
The moment Mordecai shouted in agitation, I made the first move and charged at them.
"!!"
I threw whatever I could grab, forcing them to evade or defend, and—
Pubebebebebeok!
In that gap, I once again unleashed a flurry of punches, knocking down three opponents of the 2nd-tier.
'The feel is good.'
The power of the Karzan-style martial arts was truly fierce.
"Be careful! He's a great martial artist!"
"Is that so?"
It's true that I had stolen several techniques from famous martial artists, but that wasn't my specialty.
I tried to snatch a sword by twisting the wrist of a man who was collapsing like a puppet with cut strings.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Then, a slashing strike aimed for my wrist.
"Whoa, shit."
If my judgment had been a little slower, my wrist would have been cut off. That was close.
"What, were you intimidated since you had no weapon? It seems you're also good with a sword. That's unfortunate."
Mordecai mocked me after launching that well-timed slash.
'He handles slashing strikes skillfully.'
That means he's a skilled swordsman at the level of a 4th-tier.
In other words, a man with skill comparable to a Royal Guard or a knight was commanding his subordinates and aiming for me.
"It's like a hunter cornering their prey."
At my words, Mordecai became elated.
"Hehe. I don't know which dog sent you, but I'll cut off your head nicely and hang it up. That would be a good answer to send to your employer."
Look at him acting like a murderous demon the moment he reveals his true colors. Truly a dangerous and vulgar man of the underworld.
"By the way, how dangerously do you run your business to have so many guards stationed here?"
Even at this moment, new enemies were joining the fray through the study door.
"Think of it as a cost investment for risk management."
"Bullshit. No wonder the study is located so deep inside. Was this an arrangement to surround and kill anyone if the conversation went south?"
Mordecai smirked.
"You have a very good sense of things. That's why you're going to die."
"Oh, is that so? How unfair."
"From what I see, you don't seem to be a martial artist either, but it's impressive that you've held out this much with your bare hands. But you were lacking in preparedness. That's your cause of death."
I listened to Mordecai's lengthy words like a man who had nothing left to say. Biting my lip in resentment would be a perfect touch. Though he wouldn't be able to see it because of the mask anyway.
"Then farewell."
"Damn it."
I ground my teeth with a look of dismay, thinking to myself.
'That idiot.'
Just let your guard down a little more, you bastards.
"Surround him and kill him!"
Finally, Mordecai issued the all-out attack order.
I was surrounded by guards rushing in, wielding blue blades and emitting crude aura...
'Now!'
I infused mana into the bracelet, instantly drawing a sharp and thin sword.
"!!!"
I drew out the pure and powerful aura of the Eternal Ocean Chain Technique without holding back.
Whoo-oong!
Mana began to flow. I imbued the swinging sword with the sword forms of the Azure Sea Moon Shadow Swordsmanship, unleashing a dozen or so slashes in all directions.
Puhwak!
Enemies who were unexpectedly caught off guard had their necks cut, hearts pierced, and limbs severed, falling to the ground.
"……!"
Blood poured like rain, and chunks of flesh fell to the floor with a gruesome and unpleasant sound. It all happened in an instant.
I looked down at the corpse of the guard captain who had been in a staring contest with me earlier.
"Ah, so you died too."
Only then did Mordecai, realizing that he had been completely deceived, glare at me with bloodshot eyes.
"You, you. What the hell is that sword? Where were you hiding it?"
I swung the bracelet sword in the air, showing it off.
"Cool, isn't it?"
"……You're not from the underworld."
"How did you know?"
"Just by looking at the color of your aura, it's obvious, you damn bastard."
Now that the distinctive blue aura of Grunewald had been exposed, it was impossible to hide my identity.
But it doesn't matter. Because no one who saw this will survive here anyway.
"You, could you be from Grunewald's Special Operations Division?"
It seems Special Operations Division members have been quite active behind the scenes for him to immediately think of that name.
'My sister must be having a hard time too.'
"Damn it. Have they already caught wind of it? Damn it, of all times……."
Mordecai muttered like a madman and glared at me.
"Are you really from Special Operations Division? Why is Special Operations Division targeting us?"
"I can't tell you that."
I replied, shaking the blood off my sword.
"……."
In the meantime, the guards who had joined the fight silently surrounded me.
"Kill him, kill him no matter what!"
THWACK!
I launched a heavy slash at the men who had unhesitatingly cut through their comrade's corpse.
CRASH!
Several more were pushed back, and I dove into the gap between the stunned men, killing the weaker ones first.
"Kuhek!"
But that moment was exactly the opportunity Mordecai had been waiting for.
An incredibly fast and deadly attack flew toward my side.
"Hup!"
It was an ambush with such perfect timing that even I had to catch my breath.
CLANG!
I barely managed to parry the sword using a Royal Guards technique I'd stolen from Keseg.
"You, you're definitely military."
Mordecai spoke as if he'd confirmed my identity.
'Well, anyone could see this was a Royal Guard's swordsmanship.'
"Whether you're Royal Guard or Special Operations Division, thanks to you all my men are dead."
"If you're upset, why didn't you step up from the start? Weren't you just insidiously observing my capabilities while your men died? You might as well have killed them yourself."
"Shut up."
Mordecai swung his sword with a vicious expression. I stepped back, letting his momentum pass.
'This bastard.'
He's no ordinary 4th-tier. He must be quite skilled even among the underworld. An average Royal Guard would struggle to handle this man's deadly offensive.
"You, why are you so strong?"
"You crazy bastard. That's what I want to ask."
Mordecai twisted his lips. He had been hiding his skills. He seemed to find it hard to believe that I wasn't being overwhelmed.
"Mordecai. You weren't just a simple fraudster."
This was clearly someone who had received proper orders from higher up.
I couldn't tell exactly how high up that organization went. But it was clear he was someone who had put down roots in Grunewald's underworld with a much larger conspiracy in mind.
"What were you trying to accomplish by going this far?"
"Haha."
His answer came with a laugh.
"Shut up and die."
In that instant, an incredibly swift and agile blade came flying toward my brow, neck, and ankles.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Pot]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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