The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 36.1

Chapter 36.1: Anytime, Anywhere (1)

「This world was too thin. Peel back a single layer, and there lies a destiny you could never have known by sight, sound, or touch.

━A being that exists everywhere.」

Tedley’s body crumbled and fell.

Cain frowned.

The man who had been so loud until just now scattered like a statue struck by a hammer, leaving only a few pieces of clothing on the floor.

‘There are many things in Airian that neither the hero nor I knew.’

The center of the world is the ‘continent’.

Located at the northwestern tip of such a continent, Airian Island is literally the ‘periphery(edge)’.

Yet, a hero was born here, and even the ‘something silver’ that devoured the hero existed.

Was there something on Airian Island that Cain didn’t know? Or was it something that was already prevalent but only discovered after his return?

Cain couldn’t tell.

However, one thing was certain.

‘Whoever they are, they’re not good people.’

He gripped his sword as he had when he fought at the Great Wall.

The nobles of Airian whom he thought were enemies, and the elves of the North whom he thought would become enemies.

And a new enemy whose identity was unknown.

The cool sensation transmitted from Agweska was enough to turn Cain, who had been a little complacent, back into a warrior.

He must become stronger.

Only then could he atone for Abel, whose life he had taken with his own hands.

Thump━.

Cain turned and walked towards Brediol, who was backing away in terror.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know!”

Brediol shook his head violently.

Cain looked at him and said,

“Tedley wasn’t an ordinary second son. I doubt you’re an ordinary first son either.”

Shing━.

He drew the Sword of Despair.

The black blade, which seemed to absorb all the light in the world, was not even visible in the dark prison.

However, Brediol shuddered at the cold air that swept down his spine.

Cain was fundamentally different from the knights he had met so far. It felt like facing a worn and weary monster, not a knight.

“Answer me. Arian, what kind of woman is she?”

“…….”

Brediol avoided Cain’s gaze. Then he clenched his lips tightly, forcing himself to swallow the words he wanted to say.

Cain took a step closer and held Agweska to his Adam’s apple.

“Tell me.”

“There are things in this world that are better left unknown. Especially for you, about Arian……”

His words weren’t wrong, but at least in the world Cain lived in, they were wrong.

The black blade of Agweska dug a little deeper into his skin, and a drop of warm, red blood fell to the floor.

“Your world and mine are different.”

“Different?”

Brediol looked up.

Staring intently, he chuckled, either because he found something funny or because he was trying to hide his sadness.

“If I had lived like you, maybe my world wouldn’t be like this?”

“At least it wouldn’t have ended up like this. Ross’ suspicious knights wouldn’t be running rampant either.”

“At least…….”

Brediol changed.

The fear and slight timidity that had been in him were replaced by the characteristic stubbornness of a nobleman.

Now it felt like facing the true heir to the count.

Cain lifted one corner of his mouth.

Brediol pointed to the rope that bound his chin.

“Fine. I’ll tell you what I know. Just untie me.”

Swoosh━.

He cut the rope that bound him at once.

Brediol rotated his stiff shoulders and stared at Cain. There was a look in his eyes, as if searching for someone else in Cain’s face.

“Arian was going to report Chloe to the temple.”

That someone was Cain’s mother and Brediol’s only sister, Chloe Lamaring.

Cain’s eyes widened slightly.

The Seven Great Noble Houses had the right to judicial, administrative, and taxation within their territory. Therefore, they could only report to the temple in very special cases.

Typical examples include the capture of fugitives from the Holy See, devil worship, and heresy.

And.

“She said she saw Chloe using strange magic.”

“A witch…….”

He had never once thought that his mother, who was always sick and pale, was a witch.

“Tedley, who was a playboy, changed after meeting Arian. He was the second son, so there was no need for him to be as noisy as Count Crowl, so they were planning to marry him off to Arian, who was a commoner.”

“Then Arian would have been free to roam the count’s castle.”

“I heard it through a crack in the door.”

Cain now understood why Count Lamaring, albeit briefly, had shown fear when talking about his mother.

If his mother had been confirmed as a witch at the time, the Lamaring family would have been crushed under the boots of the paladins.

“We desperately tried to stop Arian and asked Chloe. If she was a witch. Or if she had learned magic from another wizard.”

“And so……?”

“She admitted it. That she had awakened as a witch.”

Cain closed his eyes.

If his mother had the power of a witch, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to cut off Arian’s limbs and disappear.

Behind the veil of his eyelids, the truth of the snowy day that Oleciren had seen was pieced together.

Brediol ran his hand through his hair. But the bitter expression on his face did not change.

“After countless days and nights, we decided to send Chloe out of the Lamaring family for the time being.”

A cowardly choice.

Even if it was later revealed that she was a witch, they would have already driven her out, so the damage to the Lamaring family would be minimal, and they wouldn’t have to kill Chloe themselves.

“Besides, there was a man who could handle even a witch.”

“Edmund Ethelred.”

A one-man army.

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