The Knight Who Protects the Weak

Chapter 011 Reunion (2)

Jewel abruptly turned her head at the metallic sound nearby.

Amidst fireballs raining down from all directions, Bihen stood motionless, having recklessly drawn his sword.

“Young Master!”

Bihen surged forward instantly.

His loose clothing and long hair fluttered fiercely, like a lion’s mane.

“There’s another swordsman!”

One of the mages shouted.

The other four, maintaining their distance, were preoccupied with unleashing flames.

The mage who had initially fired flaming arrows as a declaration of war belatedly noticed Bihen charging toward them.

A sharp yellow glint flashed from his sunken eyes.

“Look at that ominous aura! He’s surely a villain! No more chaos must be allowed on this land! Stop him!”

The other four shouted in unison:

“Stop the chaos!”

Kwaaaa!

The flames erupting from the five mages’ hands intertwined.

In an instant, a massive fireball blazed above Bihen’s head.

‘Cut.’

Bihen, coming to a halt, crossed both arms.

Purple smoke rose from the blade positioned above his left ear.

Kugugugugu―

A deafening roar echoed through the air.

The fireball was slowly descending.

“Young Master Bihen…!”

Jewel cried out.

Maserin and the other members of the trading company could only watch the scene in stunned horror.

Bihen was standing, quite literally, at the epicenter of the impact zone.

‘….’

The distorted air swirled violently, and whitish dust clouded Bihen’s vision.

Yet, the bluish ghost flame in his left eye grew ever brighter.

‘Somehow, I feel like I can do this. That’s the sensation.’

Cutting the fireball wasn’t the issue.

He was looking beyond that.

‘…Benkou Swordsmanship, Second Stage.’

Like any family’s unique swordsmanship, Benkou Swordsmanship consisted of fixed forms, combined with the somewhat abstract principle of forging the spirits of vengeful souls into the blade.

Bihen had discovered, by chance during a war, that it possessed a property that repelled the mana of Kingdom mages.

In other words, there was no concept of stages to begin with.

However, the pinnacle of mastery he had reached just before his death in his previous life whispered to him, advising transcendence.

Thus, he needed to distinctly separate it from before and confirm it with his own body.

Kuuuuung―

Soon, the massive fireball crashed into the ground.

“Ahh…!”

Jewel let out an involuntary gasp.

The fireball seemed to swallow Bihen whole.

As her legs gave way beneath her…

Hwarrrrk!

Amid the scattering sparks and charred dust, several streaks of light traced various trajectories before vanishing.

It looked as though a sharp wind was slicing through the flames.

‘Impossible.’

Everyone from the Gunbel Trading Company watching muttered the same words in their minds.

It was absurd to think that cracks had formed in the amorphous flames.

Yet, there was no other way to explain it.

Kwaa―ang!

With a thunderous roar, the flames that had engulfed Bihen shattered into pieces in an instant.

Bihen stood in the same spot.

His posture was slightly different.

Unlike before, when his arms were crossed, he now held his sword upright with both hands, pressed close to his body, his head twisted toward the mages.

The gusting aftermath swept past him.

“No, no way!”

“How… even after being engulfed in flames…!”

The mages, gasping in shock, were stunned only for a moment.

The form of the man who had cut through the flames was literally ‘splitting.’

“What… what is that…!”

The old mage doubted his own eyes.

Having devoted his life to studying mana and magic, experiencing all sorts of transcendent phenomena, even he found the bizarre sight before him hard to believe.

A clone, perhaps, was the right term.

The man acting as the original stood motionless in that same posture.

A colorless clone of the man charged straight toward them.

Purgk―!

The old mage shuddered in terror.

The clone, closing the distance in an instant, swung its sword, and the head of the disciple standing beside him flew off.

As the disciple’s sticky blood splattered on his face…

Purgk―!

He was next.

Tsstsstsstsst.

The projected clone returned to the original as if being sucked back in.

Thud, thud.

Two heads that had soared into the air fell to the ground, followed by two bodies collapsing like puppets with cut strings.

‘So brief, it could be called a moment.’

It was his first attempt, relying purely on instinct.

He felt certain that with repeated success, he could apply it in various ways.

In summary, he had succeeded in leaping from first-rate to the pinnacle, broadening the foundation of Benkou Swordsmanship.

“Hoo…”

He savored a thrill he had never felt in his previous life.

Three more remained.

Purgk!

The sound of flesh being torn rang out in succession.

The remaining mages fell helplessly under his ferocious sword strikes.

Clank.

The sword spun once in Bihen’s grip before sliding back into its sheath.

The sound of the sheath closing marked the descent of silence.

Hwioooo.

A desolate wind blew, ruffling the hair of Jewel, Maserin, and the trading company members.

The scene from moments ago felt so surreal, it was as if it had been a dream.

“…Deputy Leader.”

At Maserin’s voice, Jewel blinked as if her eyelids were trembling.

Coming to her senses, she took Maserin’s offered hand and stood up.

“Are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah. By the way… what… what just happened?”

Jewel, knowledgeable in many areas, was weakest in swordsmanship.

Her father had advised her not to bother with superficial knowledge if she wasn’t going to study it deeply.

“I’m not sure.”

Maserin, who said this, was supposedly a mid-tier Sword Expert by Kingdom standards.

From what she’d heard, her pure swordsmanship was at the lower-tier Sword Expert level, but her mana manipulation abilities elevated her rank by one stage.

Of course, such details didn’t matter to Jewel.

What mattered was that Maserin was currently the second-strongest swordsman in the Gunbel Trading Company.

Even she couldn’t fully comprehend the scene before them.

“Young Master Bihen nullified the magic… right? With just that sword.”

“Yes.”

“So, Young Master Bihen saved us?”

“Probably… yes.”

Jewel’s head turned stiffly toward Maserin.

Her lips twitched as if she was barely suppressing a smile.

“Maserin. I think I judged him correctly. Don’t you agree?”

“Deputy Leader. Are you really bringing that man to Zephyros…”

Maserin stopped mid-sentence.

Bihen had approached unnoticed.

It was now clear he could thoroughly conceal his presence.

“What urgent matters are you discussing so intently?”

Bihen circled Jewel and Maserin leisurely, hands clasped behind his back.

“Just to be clear, I didn’t help you because I particularly wanted to. I assume you’re sharp enough to understand that.”

Jewel’s eyes gleamed with greed as she looked at Bihen.

Her expression was like that of a child swallowing hard in front of a long-desired toy.

Bihen, muttering while alternating his gaze between the ground and sky, didn’t notice her look.

Only Maserin, understanding her master’s state, shook her head.

“Jewel, stop blowing hot air about traces of chivalry. I need to check what you thought you knew so well to act so smug.”

“They’re coming.”

“What?”

“Behind you, Young Master.”

Clop, clop, clop, clop.

From a distance, four riders appeared.

The sight of them riding side by side at a similar pace was quite striking.

“Whoa, whoa.”

When they were close enough, the young man in the center led the group to dismount.

The four approached but then stared blankly at the mages’ corpses scattered around.

“Lady Jewelina, what in the world happened here?”

The young man spoke.

His neatly combed blond hair and flawless white face were harmonious.

“We were ambushed. This time, it was quite dangerous. Even Maserin couldn’t handle it.”

The young man and the man and woman flanking him widened their eyes simultaneously.

“It’s our failure. We knew unidentified mages have been rampant lately, but we didn’t expect such boldness near Easton.”

“Were they mages hired by the Langster Faction?”

“Possibly. Regardless, we’ll focus more on strengthening security.”

“I really thought I was going to die.”

Jewel sank to the ground, letting out a deep sigh.

Neither a noble nor a Kingdom citizen, she had no need to maintain appearances.

At the young man’s signal, the man and woman beside him lifted the tarp covering Jewel’s cart and inspected the wooden crates loaded on it.

Meanwhile, the Gunbel Trading Company members began assessing injuries and damaged goods…

Among the four late arrivals, the middle-aged man in light armor quietly stared at the mages’ corpses.

Bihen was the only one watching him.

“By the way, if even Maserin couldn’t handle it, it must have been a dire situation. How did you escape?”

The young man asked.

Jewel pointed at Bihen as if she’d been waiting for the question.

“We survived thanks to him. He’s a noble from the Empire.”

She mentioned his status to ensure no mistakes were made, as they were meeting for the first time.

Whether in the Empire or the Kingdom, basic courtesy toward foreign nobles was standard.

The three turned their gazes toward Bihen. Unaware, Bihen was still observing the middle-aged man.

“I am Ness Servai, First Commander of Zephyros.”

Bihen, finally noticing, took Ness’s offered hand with an indifferent expression.

The surname ‘Servai’ struck him, and without realizing, he blurted it out.

“Cervantes?”

“Hm? No, Servai. It’s odd to say this myself, but it’s a historic family from the central Kingdom.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, on behalf of Zephyros, I offer both an apology and gratitude. May I have your name?”

“The eldest son of the Benkou family, Bihen Benkou.”

“…I see. Thanks to Sir Bihen…”

“What does Zephyros do?”

One of Ness’s eyebrows twitched.

It was rare to feel so irritated in such a short encounter.

Misnaming his family was one thing, but barely sparing a glance and speaking informally—what was this about?

‘Hoo.’

They were the ones who nearly caused trouble by being late to the agreed meeting.

If Bihen’s reaction stemmed from that, it was somewhat understandable.

Moreover, he was a peer and an Empire noble.

Showing the magnanimity of a Kingdom noble seemed the better approach in many ways.

A courteous response might make him realize and feel ashamed of his own rudeness.

“Zephyros is a band formed by like-minded young knights, myself included. Based in Easton, we disguise ourselves as the city’s guard and engage in various activities.”

“A band?”

“Yes. You could call it the last bastion of the Sharon Faction. Our goal is to eradicate the corrupt knights of the Langster Faction and save the Kingdom’s people.”

Ness wore a confident smile…

But the problem was that Bihen seemed utterly unimpressed.

Bihen pointed at the middle-aged man still examining the battle’s aftermath.

“What’s that man’s name?”

Ness glanced at the man and answered dismissively.

“He’s not with Zephyros. He’s originally the captain of Easton’s guard…”

“His name.”

This time, it was hard to hold back.

Ness had never been cut off mid-sentence in his life.

Gritting his teeth, he replied.

“…Jayden Stein. It would’ve been better to ask him directly.”

Only then did Bihen give a faint smile.

In his previous life, the old knight who taught him chivalry was named Jayden Stein.