God is helping me.
That’s the only way I can explain it. Otherwise, there’s no way I would have witnessed this scene today.
I only came here to meet an ogre, but an opportunity like this presented itself.
The next head of the Glazer family.
Edward von Glazer.
The greatest adversary of the Strange family, and a rival who, like me, is after the legendary spiritual guardian, Brunhilde.
“Nobody move a finger. If anyone does, I’ll sever this man’s neck on the spot.”
A cold, gleaming blade pressed against his throat, cutting shallowly into his skin. A drop of blood trickled down.
This wasn’t an idle threat. The mages, recognizing that, didn’t dare to make a reckless move.
“Who are you?”
Without answering, I pulled him backward to create distance from the other mages.
Thump.
Edward’s gaze shifted, moving just his eyes to look at me.
“…Mana on a sword? Are you a mage?”
“I’m a knight.”
“A knight? A knight using mana?”
“Why not? There’s no rule against it.”
High-ranking mages like Edward always surround themselves with a mana barrier—a defense thick enough to withstand even the claws of a beast, prepared for attacks from any direction.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Edward von Glazer. The prodigy of the Glazer family, known as their rising star.”
“And you still dared to pick a fight with me? You must have a death wish.”
Even with my hand gripping his back, he remained unflinchingly confident.
His reaction was natural. After all, opposing the Glazer family was a fool’s errand. A mere provocation could lead to the destruction of an entire kingdom overnight.
“If anyone’s showing arrogance here, it’s you.”
“What?”
“This is Strange family territory. That means I can kill you here without consequence.”
Edward’s brow twitched at my words.
“You? Kill me?”
“Depending on the situation.”
“If you do, you’ll die too. Do you know how many mages are standing here right now?”
I scanned each of them carefully before answering.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?”
“That’s right. Let’s stop the pointless talk and get straight to the point. Release the ogre you’ve captured.”
“The ogre?”
“And leave this land. This is Strange family territory. You have no right to be here.”
“……”
“If you comply, I’ll spare your life.”
A mage with a thick beard raised his voice in protest.
“Y-you insolent fool! You must be a mercenary from the Strange family! How dare you give orders to Lord Edward—”
“Shut it, old man.”
“What?!”
“If you don’t want to see your master’s head roll, stay quiet.”
Releasing an even stronger surge of mana, I continued.
Shhhh.
“If you think I’m bluffing, say one more word. I’ll cut his throat right here.”
Silence filled the air.
Edward, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up.
“I’ll agree to your terms. But first, lower your sword.”
“Release the ogre first.”
“You think I won’t keep my word?”
I didn’t reply, simply giving him a cold, unwavering stare.
Edward let out a long sigh before addressing the oldest-looking mage.
“Release it.”
Following his command, the mage issued orders to the others.
“Release the ogre!”
The mages ceased their spells binding the ogre and stepped back.
ROAR!
The now-freed ogre scanned the humans’ faces before quickly fleeing the scene.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
‘It worked.’
Now, the chance to secure Brunhild was within my grasp.
Once the ogre was out of sight, I turned to the mages and shouted.
“I’ll honor my promise!”
Then I kicked Edward’s back.
Thud!
“You can keep your life.”
As he stumbled forward, off balance, I swung my blade.
Slash!
With a sickening crunch, Edward’s right arm was severed.
“You can keep your life.”
Edward let out a bloodcurdling scream as he collapsed to the ground.
“Arghhhh!”
Blood gushed from his severed arm, staining the ground.
The startled mages tried to retaliate, but compared to my preparations, their reactions were far too slow.
“Burn.”
A burst of violet light radiated from my hand, spreading in all directions.
Boom!
The blinding light obscured their vision.
This operation was a massive success.
Not only did I discover the ogre’s hideout, but I also injured the future head of the Glazer family, Edward.
“Why’d you let that mage live? Isn’t he supposed to be the next head of the Glazer family?”
Siegfried asked while picking his nose.
“Not now, but he might be useful later.”
“Useful? Him?”
Years from now, I’ll have the chance to become the head of the Strange family through a war.
And the one who starts that war will be Edward von Glazer.
“There’s a saying: today’s enemy might be tomorrow’s ally.”
“Really? Why not just kill him today and tomorrow?”
“That’s your style, not mine.”
‘Still.’
Meeting the Glazer mages today was a stroke of luck.
While they were busy with the ogre, I hid and memorized their spell incantations and mechanisms.
It’ll take time, but I now have valuable knowledge of advanced magic.
And on top of that, I severed the arm of Edward, the only mage on the continent capable of dual-wielding magic.
The Glazer family has suffered a tremendous loss.
“Perfect.”
Siegfried tilted his head curiously.
“What’s so perfect?”
“Nothing,” I replied.
“You’re no fun. Anyway, what about that ogre? If we leave it like that, it’s as good as dead.”
I looked at the ogre we had tracked. It had collapsed not far away, clearly exhausted from its fight against the mages.
“Can you move?”
The three heads of the giant ogre eyed me warily. Typically, its left head smiled, its middle head remained expressionless, and its right head cried. But now, all three faces were grimacing in pain.
Well, considering what it had endured, the agony must have been immense.
“Grrr… Human. Kill! Kill!”
“I’m human too, you know. Do you intend to kill the one who saved your life?”
“Grrr…”
“The ones you should seek revenge on are the mages, not me. Even a fool should understand that much.”
“Grrr!”
“And my question was, ‘Can you move?’ Stop wasting words and answer me.”
“Grrr… Y-yes, I can move.”
“Then get up. We don’t have all day.”
Dawn was approaching. I needed to finish this and leave before the sun rose. Whether or not the ogre was in pain didn’t matter; it had to move.
“Ugh…”
The ogre groaned as it staggered to its feet. One glance at its wobbling stance revealed a broken right shin.
The injury was likely from the magical chains. For something to fracture the bones of an ogre, which were as tough as steel… those mages must have all been high-ranking.
I handed the ogre a thick branch to use as a crutch.
“Head back to your village. I’ll protect you until you get there.”
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“That’s right.”
“…Lies.”
“Lies?”
“Yes, lies. The knights of Strange don’t protect us. They hunt us.”
It was true that slaying monsters was a knight’s duty. And as a monster, the ogre would naturally be a target.
If not for my objective of finding Brunhild, I might have slain it on the spot.
“If I intended to hunt you, I’d have done it already. Killing you while you’re barely standing would be trivial.”
The ogre sized me up with its three heads.
“You, just a child…”
“This ‘child’ saved your life.”
“…”
“Stop the pointless chatter and head to your village. Unless you want to die here and now.”
“…Fine.”
The ogre’s eyes narrowed briefly, but it said no more and started moving. It didn’t have much choice, after all.
The Glazer family was in an uproar.
An entire squad of mages had spent a month hunting in the field, only to lose their quarry at the crucial moment.
Not only that, but Edward von Glazer—renowned as the only mage on the continent capable of double casting—had lost an arm.
To a nameless knight.
“Damn it all!!”
Edward slammed his fist against the wall.
Boom!
His mana-enhanced strike left an imprint of his fist on the granite, with spiderweb-like cracks radiating outward.
“Why? Why was a Strange mercenary there? And one who could wield mana at that!”
No matter how much he blamed himself, the situation was humiliating—a disgrace so severe it couldn’t be made public.
A middle-aged mage standing nearby spoke cautiously.
“Master Edward, please calm yourself.”
“Calm? You expect me to calm down?”
“Mages must remain composed, no matter the circumstances. You are the future of the Glazer family. If you lose your judgment to anger, it could spell disaster for all of us.”
“…”
“Take a moment to recollect yourself and think back on what happened. Do you remember the Strange mercenary?”
“The mercenary?”
“Yes, the blonde one.”
Edward took a deep breath and sank onto the sofa.
Thud.
“That damn face… I’ll never forget it.”
“Do you also recall the purple pillar of light that struck us?”
“The purple pillar?”
“Yes, the one that subdued us all in an instant. What did you feel when it struck?”
Edward tried to recall the moment. It had happened so quickly that his memories were hazy, but he clearly remembered sensing mana.
“Mana.”
“And?”
“And… I think I felt a faint aura as well.”
“That’s why I’m asking. There was definitely mana and aura at the same time. But there was only one enemy before us.”
“Are you suggesting there was more than one?”
“That’s what I think. Otherwise, it means the enemy could wield both mana and aura simultaneously—a ridiculous notion.”
“True. It’s impossible for one body to channel both mana and aura.”
“Exactly. And no matter how strong that mercenary was, they wouldn’t have come alone. They’d know they couldn’t win against us all.”
The middle-aged mage fell into thought before continuing.
“Could it be that Gunter betrayed us?”