WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
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◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈
Chapter 52: The Gabi Trading Company (6)
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“Father!”
Mazhar sprang to his feet in shock, but Kriel paid no heed to the anguish in his voice.
‘...’
To be honest, Kriel felt a twinge of guilt as well. Mazhar Gabi had done everything he could to protect his father and restore harmony to his family once more, and Kriel had come after promising to help him.
But what could he do?
The surest way to restore harmony to this family was to beat up the old man.
* * *
‘This crazy bastard?!’
No one in the room was more stunned than Tushkin when a fist suddenly slammed into his face. Even Mazhar Gabi’s shock could not compare to Tushkin’s confusion.
Crack!
The wooden frame of Tushkin’s bed broke apart with a thunderous sound.
Even so, Tushkin’s face did not cave in and send him to the next world. It was thanks to the defensive artifact he always wore, a barrier that absorbed impacts. Even while pretending to be ill, he had not compromised on wearing jewelry enchanted with defensive magic, and that decision had paid off.
The time he bought was brief, but his mind was filled with chaos.
‘Why all of a sudden?’
What grudge did this man have against him that he would punch an old man in the face? Was someone from a trading company he had ruined in his younger days seeking revenge?
That could not be it. Remembering people was essential for a merchant. There was no way he would forget someone who looked like that...
Before he could finish the thought, the second blow landed. The barrier, already at its limit after the first strike, shattered with a clear, ringing sound.
“Guh!”
At about this point, he ought to let out a groan to seem “human.” Tushkin gave a scream that was half calculated and half sincere.
“Stand up straight, Tushkin. Why did you turn to the Abyss?”
“What the hell are you doing?!”
Mazhar rushed at Kriel in alarm. Tushkin cheered his son on.
Well done, Mazhar Gabi. Throw that bastard out at once!
But Tushkin’s wish was not granted.
Because of Morgina.
An ordinary cleric would have tried to stop a companion from suddenly beating a sick old man lying in bed.
But the cleric beside Kriel was Morgina. She knew how seriously Kriel took chivalry, sometimes to the point of being an idiot, and she also knew that his constitution gave him exceptionally keen senses for detecting the Abyss.
In other words, Morgina trusted Kriel enough to join him in beating up the old man.
Blood flowed from Morgina’s palm and took the form of a weapon. She had focused on speed rather than detail, so it looked more like a club than a mace.
While Tushkin grabbed Kriel by the collar, Morgina gripped the club in both hands and took a full-force swing without hesitation.
“Craaaaaagh!”
This time, Tushkin screamed with complete sincerity.
What is this? What did I do to deserve this unprovoked beating?
Mazhar was wise. If Kriel and Morgina were making a show of force, there was no way he could stop them. Realizing he could not restrain them physically, he immediately tried to open the door and call the guard mages outside.
Armede, who had been stunned by the chain of events that followed Kriel’s first punch, finally came to her senses.
Judging by appearances alone, she should have stopped Kriel. But Armede understood better than anyone that what lay within mattered more than appearances. Ignoring the faint sting of her conscience, she sealed the door in Mazhar’s path.
A series of rattling sounds followed. The mages who heard the screams tried to force their way inside, but the door wrapped in chains of Mana would not open easily.
Mazhar Gabi looked at Armede with betrayal in his eyes.
“Armede Kett! How could you? I may not have been good to you, but my father was different! Do you know how much money he invested in your society?”
“If the investor dies, we won’t have to return the investment!”
It was Morgina who spat out that atrocious line. Mazhar, and even Armede, stared at her in horror.
“Huh? Wait. Th-that wasn’t what you meant?”
“Even I think that was a bit much.”
When Kriel added that, Morgina lowered her head and raised her club again. Unable to bear the embarrassment, she decided to escape by beating Tushkin some more.
“You crazy bastards──!!”
Tushkin finally shrieked and sprang energetically to his feet. If this continued, plans or no plans, he was about to be beaten to death.
“F-Father?!”
Mazhar’s confusion only deepened. An old man who had just been thoroughly beaten was moving far too energetically.
Was this a final burst of vitality?
Tushkin’s body was boiling. Acrid smoke rose from his entire body. It was nothing like sweat from exertion. Kriel nodded in satisfaction.
“You’ve shown your true colors.”
Tushkin’s pale skin began to turn red. It was not the color of returning vitality. Not a healthy pink, but the red of fresh blood. Mazhar, too, gradually began to sense that something was wrong.
“What the hell are you...”
Before he could finish the question, Morgina tossed her club to Kriel. Following her example, Kriel swung it with all his strength.
“Argh! You bastard, you hit the same place again...!”
“Mazhar. Do you remember what I said before we entered the mansion?”
The pointed question of what he would do if the one behind the curse was connected to his family.
Mazhar now understood the only possible explanation for his father, who had been near death, giving off Blood Energy and growing larger.
Tushkin Gabi had cursed himself and feigned illness.
That also explained why Mazhar’s condition had worsened again by the next morning, even after he had received healing from a Hero every day as a child. His father had placed a new curse on him each time he was healed.
Why had the curse completely disappeared after a certain point?
Mazhar remembered that the Gabi Trading Company had been a military supplier for the Abyss Front during his childhood. He counted back to the date his curse had stopped. It had ended after the Gabi Trading Company’s appointment as a military supplier expired.
In other words, it was when the Gabi Trading Company could no longer cause significant harm to the Abyss Front even if it collapsed.
The truth surged into Mazhar Gabi’s mind like a raging tide. Anger and hatred filled the heart that had struggled desperately to restore harmony to his family once more.
His concern for his father and his sense of betrayal mingled, about to take shape as resentful words.
“This is for failing to manage your son!”
Something like a spark flew toward Tushkin Gabi’s face, leaving a dark red trail. The instant the ash-like particles touched his face, violent flames erupted and seared it.
Mazhar, who had been about to speak, was left speechless as he watched what little hair his father had left burn away.
“Gah...! You bitch, Armede Kett!”
Having fully grasped the situation, Armede showed no hesitation in attacking Tushkin Gabi. When the fire spell she used first failed to work, she swung her staff and drew out a catalyst condensed with Mana of various attributes.
“This is for sending research mages out into the field!”
Wind-attributed Mana condensed within an emerald exploded outward. Green pellets split into dozens of streams and shot forward.
Whew!
Morgina whistled.
She did not dislike that kind of temper.
Morgina drew two proper blunt weapons in place of the club she had given Kriel and charged at Tushkin, who was still trying to mutate. The Blood Energy swelling within him was transforming his body, but Morgina had no intention of waiting for him to reveal his true strength.
If this had been an honorable duel, she might have waited five seconds since Kriel was there too, but this was the Abyss.
“Wait! You hit me in the bone!”
It was a ridiculous scream, but the situation was far from amusing.
Bones were growing through Tushkin’s skin. They looked less like a living creature’s skeleton and more like armor. His body swelled to more than twice its original size. The Gabi mansion’s ceiling was not low, yet the room now seemed cramped.
His body was being remade to match his spirituality as he revealed his true nature, corrupted by the Abyss. Kriel had no intention of simply watching it happen. He struck Tushkin’s mutating knee, forcing him down. His movement stopped for a moment.
“Armede! Focus on physical force, not a specific attribute!”
Physical attacks were relatively effective. Armede pulled out an obsidian spearhead. Its tip bore a spell that enhanced sharpness. She added a speed enhancement, then doubled the Curse of Bleeding. The Mana-infused spearhead settled at the end of her staff.
She pictured an archer.
The staff was a bow, and the obsidian spearhead was an arrow.
Loaded.
The obsidian glowed with condensed Mana, concentrated until its surface was on the verge of breaking.
Fired.
The black trail cut through the air faster than sound. Only after it left the staff’s tip came the sound of it tearing through the air. The aftershock alone cracked the walls.
“This is for giving the bastards at the society such generous debt repayment deadlines that they became lazy!”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, graaagh!”
Footnotes:
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