I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World - Chapter 30

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈

Chapter 30: The Society of Dead Mages (1)

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The atmosphere was indescribable.

The Advisory Mage wept as he held up his younger brother's head. Perhaps Tuon wanted to avert its eyes from the sight, because the sword kept its mouth shut and pretended to be an ordinary blade.

Only Orisin barely managed to whisper.

[Uh... They do look a little alike.]

Yeah, damn it. I knew. The Advisory Mage and the head he held were right in front of me. If this were a theater, I would have been treated to a front-row seat.

The head had acquired Wyvern skin, its flesh covered in bluish-gray scales that could hardly pass for normal human skin. Aside from that, however, its overall features were remarkably similar to the Advisory Mage's.

The ears were the only obvious difference. The severed head's ears were pointed enough to resemble an elf's, while the Advisory Mage's were rounded.

A half-elf? It sounded like there was a complicated family history there.

After weeping for some time, the Advisory Mage slowly placed the head on the table.

I tried to signal the Border Guard commander, asking what in the world I was supposed to do in this situation.

But the commander had already retreated from the uncomfortable scene without a sound, using impeccable footwork. They said an Imperial commander's true worth showed during a retreat. The commander was certainly excellent at hiding.

Leaving the head behind, the Advisory Mage slowly approached me and bowed.

"...My younger brother caused you trouble."

I chose my words carefully. Even if he had been a creature of the Abyss, speaking carelessly before the bereaved would be terrible knightly conduct. My Nobility might plummet.

"I'm sorry it came to this."

"No. The greater fault is mine. If I had found my brother sooner and set him back on the right path, he would not have hurt the people of this city like this..."

The Advisory Mage tried to speak calmly, but he could not hide the deep sorrow in his voice.

"Thank you again for stopping him before he could commit further sins. My name is Lewein Lir."

[Lir? That's the name of an elven noble house from the Empire.]

Orisin whispered so only I could hear. Come to think of it, the current Imperial Chancellor also used the name Lir.

"Does Lir refer to the family descended from ancient elves?"

"Ah, yes. Though I belong to a distant branch barely permitted to use the Lir surname."

Perhaps he took this exchange as a signal. With his head lowered, Lewein began rambling about his family history. A poor collateral branch of an Imperial noble house descended from ancient elves. Twins born from the union of a human and an elf.

Unlike Lewein, who had not inherited the blessing of his bloodline, his younger brother had taken strongly after the elves. That was likely why their ears differed. Lewein's talent had been ordinary, while his younger brother had grown up hailed as a prodigy.

"But my brother... Collin, neglected his studies. At some point, his magic reached a plateau."

[Well. I can see the beginning and end, so I can guess the middle too. This will leave a bad taste.]

An inferiority complex born of their reversed levels of skill. At some point, Collin had run away from the family, while Lewein had become the Gate City's Advisory Mage through the skills he gained while searching for his brother.

I remembered Collin saying he had a secret plan to infiltrate the heart of the Gate City.

He had forged a letter bearing the family seal to send his brother home, then planned to have his companions stab Lewein in the back. On top of that, they were twins. Collin's plan was obvious.

He intended to kill Lewein and take his place. He would have presented Lewein's corpse as proof that the corrupted younger brother had caused the Wyvern disturbance.

If everything had gone according to plan, he could have taken the position of Gate City's Advisory Mage for himself.

It was such a flawed plan.

[Huh? Why? It sounds fairly feasible to me.]

Orisin voiced the question, apparently having read my thoughts. It might have been an unfamiliar perspective for a Spirit.

An Advisory Mage needed social skills.

'Even if he disguised the Wyvern skin and ear shape with magic, the position of Advisory Mage isn't one someone with no experience living in society can handle. It's a post that lets him advise the lord directly, so he's practically one of the city's key officials.'

[Oh. You mean...]

'Could he properly maintain the connections the original Advisory Mage had built? Could he even format a report correctly? He'd have to deal with all kinds of people in the city under the lord's command. Someone who wasted his time associating with the Abyss could never perform an Advisory Mage's duties.'

[Sometimes, you're really harsh on the Abyss.]

It couldn't be helped. How could I like the damned Abyss when it had given me nothing but useless skills?

Lewein had been rambling about how his younger brother used to be kind. Then, with an "Ah," he raised his head again.

"I'm sorry. I have troubled an honored guest. I heard that you are a Champion of the Church of Eve Kaha."

"That's right. I was traveling from the Sacred Kingdom to the Empire."

"To the Empire? A Champion?"

A questioning look entered Lewein's eyes, which had been mourning his brother's corruption and death. At this time, there was no other reason for the Sacred Kingdom to dispatch a Champion to the Empire. There was no need to stubbornly keep up an air of mystery and invite needless suspicion.

I revealed part of the truth.

"I'm on my way to seek advice from the Mage Tower. It concerns a kind of curse, and I was told it should be analyzed from a broad perspective, not only by priests."

"If it is not too impudent, may I ask what it is?"

Ah.

This person was an Advisory Mage.

* * *

Lewein received a sword from the pale, white-haired man. It was the Horn Dagger, said to house a Spirit.

"Hm? Is something wrong with the Spirit?"

"Something is very wrong..."

The man muttered with a gloomy expression. For some reason, Lewein found the sight very Abyss-like, but immediately shook his head, trying to cast the thought away. To call a holy knight Abyss-like was blasphemy beyond measure.

Besides, if that man, Sir Kriel, truly belonged to the Abyss, how could he have been granted the status of Champion by the Church? And there was Collin. The fact that Kriel had not aided Collin's evil plan and had instead executed him proved Kriel's innocence.

Lewein tried to erase Collin's expression, which seemed to linger before his eyes. It was the natural end granted to the corrupt. At some point amid his troubled thoughts, Kriel's voice fell silent.

Perhaps what Kriel had been reciting until then was some kind of incantation. When he finished whispering, a unicorn Spirit sprang from the Horn Dagger. It was not an artificial spirit made from the beginning to fit a weapon, but a Spirit dwelling within a sword.

Lewein had heard as much from the Border Guard commander, but it was still strange. Most Spirits, embodiments of nature, lived apart from both gods and civilization, did they not?

[May the dead wash away their sins beneath the crow's wings.]

Lewein was inwardly surprised by the Spirit's polite greeting, especially because it invoked divine grace. It made sense that a Champion carried it around. Was this weapon something like the Church's holy sword?

Its wickedly curved blade and chilling sharpness gave it a rather unusual appearance compared to ordinary holy relics. Still, Lewein thought that if it was a holy sword of the Church of Eve Kaha, it could not be more fitting.

The Church of Eve Kaha had no reason to feel wronged. The deeds Lewein knew of the Church had always been like that. Those who harvested skulls from battlefields with red iron maces. It had always been a Church with a somewhat menacing image, so there was nothing strange about its sword looking a little frightening.

In truth, considering that the Saintess had forged the sword herself, calling it a holy sword was not entirely inaccurate.

"Thank you for the blessing. Has something happened to the Spirit?"

"It has been corrupted by the Abyss."

"What?"

"The Spirit. It is corrupted by the Abyss. It has been purified temporarily, but the source of its corruption remains. I am searching for a way to cleanse it completely."

It was shocking news. The Abyss had reached a holy sword that the Church must have guarded strictly. Lewein's expression grew serious.

A holy sword had been corrupted in the Sacred Kingdom, and this Gate City, which had been quiet for decades, had come under attack. He remembered the disturbances across the Empire that he had heard and seen while working under the lord.

'Perhaps all of it is part of a vast scheme by the Abyss...'

Lewein looked at the Horn Dagger with worried eyes. If a Demon of the Abyss stood behind this series of events, then that sword was at the very tip of its conspiracy.

Yet regardless of the unease he sensed, there was nothing he could do about the Horn Dagger right away.

Lewein specialized in repairing city barriers and water-aspected magic used to regulate waterway traffic, not dangerous research into the Abyss.

Perhaps that was why his younger brother had fallen to the Abyss. To prove that he could control the Abyss Lewein feared.

Casting aside the useless thoughts, Lewein returned the Horn Dagger to Kriel.

"I'm sorry to say this after bringing it up myself, but I do not think I can be of help with this matter."

"Ah. That's all right. Magic that studies the Abyss can easily lead to accusations of heresy."

"But I believe I can introduce you to people who may be able to help. Would you follow me?"

Lewein headed for his study. Among the many society invitations he had received while working under the lord, there had certainly been one from something called the Abyss Eradication Society.

Footnotes:

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