Dark Fantasy: Magical Eye Knight – Chapter 62

Chapter 62: In the Season of New Beginnings (4)

TL: Potato-tan

Proofreader: Asianpotato

 

Russell detected an anomaly from the moment he first met the three men. Kindness is one of the most suspicious traits in this world. It was characterized by harmless laughter, naive faces, and casual greetings.

 

And about an hour after he had drunk the stew and honey wine, Russell realized the chemical reaction taking place in his stomach. It was a sleeping agent.

 

His body’s muscles grew weary, and his consciousness started to blur. A wave of drowsiness washed over him like the depths of darkness. An ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to resist. They would have fallen asleep without even realizing it.

 

But Russell wasn’t an ordinary person.

 

He activated his magic as soon as he realized the anomaly in his body. The magic circulating through his body gathered the ingredients that induced sleep, following their master’s will. Yellow droplets welled up on Russell’s palm.

 

It was the alcohol he had consumed from the honey wine. In addition to the alcohol, the ingredients responsible for inducing sleep also left his body.

 

Russell recalled the scraps the excavators had left on the plate. Presumably, that was what caused this reaction when mixed with alcohol.

 

Rustle.

 

He heard a faint rustling sound in the bushes. Russell turned his gaze and saw three men approaching from a short distance away.

 

Unlike before, they were lightly dressed. They had no bags in sight and held unsheathed blades in their hands.

 

It appeared they had switched to leather shoes. That was why their footsteps were so quiet, but Russell’s sensitive ears didn’t miss even that tiny sound.

 

Russell let out a small sigh and infused his eyes with magic. About ten paces away, Temoshi started to take out a slingshot. At that moment, Russell’s eyes met Temoshi’s, but Temoshi didn’t notice.

 

Temoshi continued to look at Russell, who was leaning against the tree. In the meantime, Russell slowly stood up.

 

He adjusted Aellasis’s posture and pulled up her slightly lowered robe over her shoulders. Aellasis wriggled around, and he gently stroked her white hair with his large hand. The girl let out a soft giggle in her sleep. She seemed to be comfortable.

 

Even amidst all this, Temoshi remained oblivious and aimed his slingshot.

 

It was because Russell had cast an illusion spell the moment he made eye contact with Temoshi. It was a simple trick that usually didn’t work on knights or wizards with magic power. This was because their magic power resisted it.

 

Of course, it could be cast if more magic power was poured into it, but that would be inefficient. Instead, it would be better to strengthen one’s body or weapon.

 

However, Temoshi and the other men didn’t have any noticeable magic power. They were just ordinary people. These individuals lived with a somewhat absurd dream of excavating ruins.

 

But now, they were armed robbers planning to kill the man they met in the forest and kidnap the girl.

 

Temoshi, who had been holding his breath, pulled the trigger. An arrow shot out and pierced Russell’s head. Of course, it was the fake Russell that Temoshi was looking at.

 

Russell had already moved next to Temoshi. Temoshi suddenly jumped up, gasping for air. Russell had released the illusion.

 

“W, What? Where did he go?”

 

Russell said,

 

“Right here.”

 

Startled out of his wits, Temoshi picked up the sword he had placed on the ground and swung it. His movements were swift.

 

Clang! Russell caught the blade between his two fingers as he swung it. A weapon without magic power couldn’t wound him.

 

Temoshi tried to force the sword in, even though he was still surprised. However, the blade remained immobile, as if it had become lodged in a crevice in the rock.

 

And then Russell’s fist struck Temoshi’s face. Crack! The sound of bones breaking rang out clearly.

 

“Temoshi!”

 

Doeden, who belatedly discovered Russell, stood up, stretching his legs. Leham also shakily stood up. Both men had expressions of surprise and shock.

 

Thud! Temoshi fell backward. His face was completely caved in, and his eyeballs were hanging out of their sockets. Temoshi didn’t show any reaction. He was dead.

 

“Aaaaah!”

 

Doeden screamed and charged with a sword in both hands. His face was filled with anger at losing his friend and comrade. A startled bird flew up at his scream.

 

Doeden swung his sword. Doeden swung his sword in a simple, top-to-bottom motion. With a simple move of stepping his left foot behind his right and slightly tilting his body to the side, Russell dodged the sword.

 

The sword hit the stone on the ground, sending sparks flying. Doeden’s hands throbbed from the shock the sword transmitted, forcing him to drop the sword.

 

It was a pathetic move that showed he didn’t even know the basics of swordsmanship, but that didn’t make Russell’s grip any weaker. His hand was now holding a white axe, Final Frost.

 

Screech! Doeden’s upper and lower bodies separated. There was no blood. It was frozen. Doeden fell twice with a thud, his upper and lower bodies covered in thick frost. Doeden’s face was frozen in agony.

 

“Ah, aaaaaah. . . . . . .”

 

Leham couldn’t even bring himself to charge. His legs were trembling. As his legs trembled, his waist, upper body, and hands also trembled uncontrollably, and so did the sword he was pointing at Russell.

 

Russell slowly approached, his gaze fixed on the sword’s tip, which was shaking incessantly.

 

The forest was both bright and dark at the same time. The newly sprouted leaves reflected the moonlight and starlight, shining silver, and the branches that blocked the light were so thick that it was impossible to tell which tree they belonged to.

 

A man walked beneath them, holding a long-handled axe. His eyes had a faint blue glow.

 

Leham felt like he would rather faint, but his heart was beating so painfully that he couldn’t even do that.

 

Thump, thump, thump!

 

Leham felt like grabbing his heart and squeezing it. He wanted to slow down its beating, even just a little.

 

But humans can’t see or touch their own hearts. There are very few cases where that’s possible.

 

Leham dropped his sword and raised both hands.

 

“Spare me!”

 

“Why?”

 

Russell’s reply came almost instantly, so Leham missed the chance to answer. Leham thought about Russell’s question.

 

“Mo-more dungeons! I’m a ruin ex-excavator! Yes! An excavator! I failed the last two times, but still, my skills are excellent! I have the ability to anticipate traps, assess the archaeological significance of ruins, and identify the types of monsters that inhabit them. . .”

 

Leham’s words grew increasingly incoherent. ‘What am I doing here right now?’

 

He had spent years wandering through dungeons, labyrinths, and ruins, drawn by the hope of making a fortune, following Temoshi’s words. There were times when they made a decent profit, but there were many more times when they didn’t.

 

The last two times, they had returned empty-handed, and their funds were running low. In the midst of all this, they were dragging their tired and disillusioned feet to another dungeon, another ruin, when they met a man and a beautiful girl wearing what seemed to be a valuable magic tool. They had fed them attickso grass and honey wine.

 

They had done the same thing a few times before when they were short on money. It wasn’t difficult. At first, they would just steal money and clothes, but the second time, they killed them. He hadn’t seen it himself, but when Leham returned to collect the loot, he saw Temoshi and Doeden cleaning their blades. They had probably killed them.

 

Leham fell to his knees with a thud. Russell said,

 

“Anything else you want to say?”

 

“. . . . . . .”

 

Leham shook his head. Russell nodded.

 

Swish! The axe swung sideways. Russell put the axe back in his coat and extracted a cigarette from it. It was a cigarette he hadn’t smoked in a long time, because Aellasis didn’t like the smell of cigarettes very much.

 

Soon, Russell threw away the finished cigarette butt and turned to leave.

 

In the spot where Russell had left, Leham was still kneeling. However, a silver thread wrapped itself around his neck. A round frost mark traced the thread.

 

The corpse remained motionless as its neck snapped. The only sign of mourning was a few leaves falling from the trees, blown by the wind.

 

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

 

“Haaaah~.”

 

Aellasis yawned and got up. The sunlight was dazzling through the leaves.

 

“Did you sleep well?”

 

Russell said this as he put a saddle on Kry’s back and tied the straps. Aellasis nodded.

 

“Yeah. They say drinking alcohol gives you a headache, but I don’t have one. Did you lie to me?”

 

“I didn’t lie.”

 

The reason she didn’t have a hangover was because of the special effects of the attickso grass and honey wine, but Aellasis didn’t realize that. Russell, who had guessed it, didn’t bother to tell her.

 

“Wow, then the wine those men gave us yesterday must have been really good. Oh? But why aren’t they here?”

 

Aellasis tilted her head, unaware that the excavators had left while she was fast asleep. Russell said,

 

“They packed up and left before you woke up. They must have had something urgent to do.”

 

“Really? That’s too bad. That honey wine was really delicious.”

 

Aellasis smacked her lips in regret, but she didn’t dwell on it for long. She stretched her arms up high with a groan and yawned.

 

After stretching her arms, she lowered them and touched the ground, then pulled her legs together and lifted her buttocks up. It was like the way a cat stretches.

 

Russell politely averted his gaze from her skirt, which had ridden up. He thought he would have to buy her some pants when they reached the next city.

 

However, Aellasis had already noticed his gaze. The girl let out a soft laugh. It was a bewitching laugh that didn’t suit a girl her age.

 

“Did you see?”

 

“You have to have heads and tails to know what meat is.”

 

“what? head and tail? meat?”

 

Aellasis made a blank expression. His wordplay had successfully sent her question flying into the back of her mind.

 

Russell patted the saddle. Kry let out a whinny of protest.

 

“If you’re done, get on. We’ll reach the city in a little while. We’ll rest there for a bit and then go.”

 

“Okay! The city was where the dungeon appeared, right? Let’s go quickly!”

 

Aellasis jumped up and walked over to Russell. Aellasis spread her arms.

 

“Carry me.”

 

“Can’t you get on by yourself now?”

 

Aellasis didn’t lower her arms, and Russell chuckled and picked her up. Aellasis’s arms and legs wrapped around his body like an octopus.

 

“You told me to carry you.”

 

“Hehehe. Huh? Sniff, sniff.”

 

Aellasis buried her nose in Russell’s neck.

 

“Did you smoke?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It smells.”

 

“I’ll be careful.”

 

Aellasis soon got on Kry’s saddle. Russell also put his foot in the stirrup and swung himself up.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“Let’s goooo!”

 

Kry started walking slowly while Russell tugged on the reins. Russell went around the spot where the fight had taken place last night.

 

However, despite the detour, Russell and Aellasis discovered three bags lying in the middle of the forest.

 

“Oh? Those bags?”

 

Aellasis, who had good eyesight, immediately remembered who those bags belonged to. They were large, and tools such as ropes and hammers were hanging from the rings on the sides, so it was hard not to recognize them.

 

“. . . . . . Let’s go.”

 

Russell urged Kry on. Kry continued walking without protest. Aellasis, who was sitting in front of Russell, looked at the bags passing by below, then turned her head forward again.

 

There was no conversation for a while. Then, when the trees started to thin out, Aellasis opened her mouth.

 

“Did you kill them all?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Why?”

 

“They tried to kill me.”

 

Aellasis seemed to be at a loss for words, so she closed her mouth. Russell said,

 

“Aella.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“If someone tries to kill you, don’t hesitate as long as possible. If you don’t kill them, they’ll kill you.”

 

Russell wondered if that was the right thing to say as he spoke. In his previous life, he had lived a quiet life without ever getting involved in a single violent incident, but now he was telling a young girl to kill people.

 

However, this world wasn’t gentle enough to allow for moral preaching. Aellasis wasn’t just a naive girl. In her true nature, there was the soul of a dragon that had occasionally been able to look out into the outside world even from within an egg.

 

“Is that how it is?”

 

“. . . . . .That’s how it is.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Fortunately, Aellasis didn’t ask any more questions or make any more comments. Russell exhaled a breath of relief and proceeded to ride Kry.

 

Soon, the forest ended, and they stood on a hill. The early March sky was now a vast expanse of blue, filled with the freshness of spring.

 

The Awnhilnar Mountains, capped with white snow, occupied one side of the distant horizon. Beneath them, a castle encircled a city. The city gates were crawling with a long line of carriages, wagons, and people.

 

Aellasis said,

 

“Why do cities have such high walls?”

 

“To safeguard what is theirs.”

 

“From whom?”

 

Russell rode down the hill. Only when he had almost reached the bottom of the gentle slope did Russell answer.

 

“From themselves, or from someone outside.”

 

“To take it? Other people?”

 

“There are many people who want to. Usually, when someone weaker than them has something they don’t have,

 

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