Volume 1, Chapter 38: Earl Aubock⑦
Lambert steadily advanced through the passages of Earl Aubock’s mansion.
Earl Aubock’s private army had been cut down like flies as soon as they sprung at him.
There was simply nothing they could do against Lambert’s god-like skill, only tragic death awaiting for anyone who approached him.
A commander-like, imposing man stood behind the frightened soldiers, giving out orders.
「KILL HIM! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! I SAID KILL HIM! I’LL TORTURE ANYONE WHO TRIES TO RUN!!」
The big man had a grim look on his face, his square-shaped jaw riddled with scars.
His name was Rogue Botom.
He was the man in charge of training the soldiers and was their leader in case someone tried to attack Earl Aubock or on monster extermination expeditions.
He was a sadistic weirdo, who found pleasure in imagining what kind of tortures he could inflict on his subordinates later.
However, he was also a master of controlling his temper, using the carrot and stick to whip his subordinates.
As a result, the subordinates who feared him would do anything to accomplish his order, including killing their own comrades.
However, without charisma and his usual composure, his current orders were nothing more than childish rambling in the ears of his subordinates.
「It’s impossible… Captain Rogue Botom! That guy isn’t a human!」
A newbie soldier abandoned his sword and fell to his knees.
「WHAT DID YOU SAY? WHO’S MORE SCARY, ME OR THAT ARMOR WEIRDO?」
That new soldier shuddered.
Seeing that expression, Rogue Botom was filled with rage, but there was also a twinge of fear, causing him to stiffen a little bit.
He… He’s still moving forward… At this rate, he’ll be at Aubock-sama’s office. H3ll, if that happens, Aubock-sama will torture me to death before I torture these pu55y cats. There’s no way he is not exhausted wearing such heavy full-plate armor. How in the world can he still move?
A deep sense of loyalty to Rogue Botom had been ingrained in these soldiers as a result of long, arduous training.
The exhaustion due to the seemingly never-ending violence in front of him and the sweet praise that awaited him upon his success clouded his judgement.
The newbie soldier had been completely brainwashed by Rogue Botom.
At least, become a meat shield to create an opening… To create an opening…
Another five charged toward Lambert, but they were quickly cleaved in half.
No one could see the slash.
Rogue Botom even mistook Lambert for using magic due to the unbelievable speed of his slash.
Opening…
Despite moving around wearing such heavy armor, Lambert didn’t leave a single opening.
It was as clear as day that his subordinates alone were far from enough to stop Lambert.
「THAT ARMOR DUDE IS TOO SCARYYYY!!!」
The newbie soldier retreated while crawling on the floor.
Seeing that scene, one soldier after another began to lose their fighting spirit and scrambled around to save themselves.
It was as if their fear of Rogue Botom suddenly vanished in that moment.
「THERE’S ONLY TWO INTRUDERS! I’LL RECOMMEND ANYONE WHO CAN KILL THEM TO AUBOCK-SAMA!!」
Rogue Botom frantically called for his subordinates.
The two intruders were none other than Lambert and a woman, who was sitting on the floor, shutting her eyes, holding her ears, and trembling in fear—the former member of the secret force 『Dark Night’s Short Sword』, Almel.
「STOP HIIIIM! I’M GONNA KILL YOU ALL IF YOU ESCAPE! I SAID STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!」
Rogue Botom screamed at the top of his lungs, to the point of spitting blood.
However, no one was stupid enough to follow his order.
In the blink of an eye, there was only Lambert, Almel, Rogue Botom, and a mountain of mutilated corpses in the passage.
Worst of all, Rogue Botom, the captain who stood at the rear of the formation, was at the deepest part of the passageway, Lambert’s goal. There was no escape.
「U… Urgh…」
Rogue Botom readied his sword, pointing its tip at Lambert.
The hand that was holding onto his sword trembled uncontrollably.
There was not a single particle of dignity left in the man dubbed the Demon Instructor.
Lambert raised his sword slowly.
His extremely powerful undead miasma emanated, flooding like a tsunami over Rogue Botom, who trembled before that killing intent.
Rogue Botom shuddered and dropped his sword.
「O-Oooh…」
His body refused to move, despite his brain commanding himself to pick up the dropped sword.
His breath became rough as he curled up into a ball. Rogue Botom felt like his heart was about to explode from the overwhelming killing intent.
「What a miserable man.」
Lambert spoke with a bored voice.
If one of his subordinates had said those words, Rogue Botom would have surely tortured that person to death, but the current him couldn’t feel anything but absolute fear.
He felt the greatsword’s edge touch the nape of his neck.
「MERCY!! MERCY!!!」
Rogue Botom’s grim face crumpled as he boldly begged for his life, while wailing like a child.
He knew that the devil-like swordsman before him wouldn’t spare his life, but there was no way he would abandon all hope.
「Fine, I’m not a Devil. Just a soldier.」
Lambert’s greatsword left Rogue Botom’s neck.
「… Eh?」
Rogue Botom raised his snot and drool-covered face, looking timidly at Lambert.
The sword that he dropped a while ago was thrown on the ground next to his feet.
「Now choose, fight me or kill yourself. I’ll at least let you die as a proud soldier. You don’t want to die without pride, right?」
This was the least amount of mercy that Lambert could give after seeing Rogue Botom’s pitiful state from before.
In the era of the Eight Countries Unification War, Lambert followed a prideful yet strict knighthood. However, even though knighthood was not completely forgotten, it had softened in the two hundred years since he was alive.
Naturally, Lambert, with his old-fashioned knighthood, considered this as a righteous ending for a subordinate of a corrupt lord like Earl Aubock.
That was why Lambert, and his Eight Countries Unification War knighthood, gave one last mercy to the crying soldier. However, unaware of their vastly different values, he didn’t realize that he just gave hope to Rogue Botom, only to drop him again into the bottom of hell.
「Uuuuh… Uuuuuuh… Euuuuh…」
Rogue Botom stretched his trembling hand, grabbing the sword’s handle.
He then pointed the edge of the sword toward his abdomen. (f)reewe(b)novel
「UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!」
He stood up and rushed toward Lambert while raising a loud cry.
It was a poor excuse for a surprise attack.
Lambert’s greatsword bisected Rogue Botom’s abdomen with a speed that was too fast to see with ordinary eyes.
The residual force of Lambert’s slash sent Rogue Botom’s upper half flying to the side, breaking the manor’s window.
「Though the method you used was cowardly, I praise thee splendid resolution to get rid of your Lord’s enemy*. Rogue Botom, I’ll engrave your name as proud knight in my memory.」 [TL*: This is just Lambert’s misunderstanding, a generation gap]
After granting such misdirected praise, Lambert returned his greatsword to its sheath and turned around to Almel.
「I’ve taken care of all of them. Now do your job as my guide again.」
Almel glanced at the corpses of her former comrade and then nodded at Lambert with a hollow look in her eyes.
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