Volume 2, Chapter 8: Unicorn’s Horn⑤
「T-Thanks for saving us from that danger. This is the first time I’ve meet someone with such swordcraft like yours.」
「Don’t mind it. I just happened to pass this area.」
After Robin Hood fled from the battle, Fando bowed to Lambert. He represented all of 『Dancing Sword』 to express their gratitude.
The rest of the members were scattered around to help the injured members.
They brought back two of their members who were killed by 『Slaughterer Circus Troupe』.
「Though we had the upper hand in the first half of the battle, I never expected for the Battle God to suddenly appear in this place and help our enemies…」
「Battle… God?」
Lambert’s shoulder quivered upon hearing that nickname.
In that moment, a small amount of miasma leaked out from his armor.
Fando gulped his saliva as he felt the miasma that leaked out from Lambert’s armor.
Although he felt as if he was facing death itself, Fando wouldn’t show hostility to his and his comrades’ benefactor.
After he adjusted his breathing to calm his shaken spirit, he spoke to Lambert.
「I don’t know the details about how he gained such a nickname, but it’s a well known name in our city. That man with ginger hair—well, I guess it’s better to call him by his name, Robin Hood—is a former adventurer of Barreira. His eccentric behavior was often overlooked since his ability was the real deal. But it was apparently a mistake to do so. He became more and more arrogant… and when Robin Hood killed the former city lord’s relative on a whim, he received an unquestionable death sentence from all guilds in the city. Though Robin Hood managed to break free from his prison by himself and fled from the city, I hear that his already whimsical personality took a nosedive. Last time I heard, he’s been acting like a madman, a “sane” madman.」
After he finished his long explanation, Fando glared at the direction in which Robin Hood escaped.
「And looking at his speech and conduct a while ago… it seems the rumor about him is true. The reason he came here was probably because of his unjust resentment toward the city lord.」
「…」
Although Lambert didn’t say anything back, Fando heaved a sigh as soon as he felt that the pressure from Lambert had lessened.
He seemed to be surprised when he heard that name—Robin Hood. From his reaction, I can assume that he doesn’t know about Robin Hood, but… He might have some sort of connection with that name.
Unfortunately for Fando, Robin Hood was a total stranger to Lambert.
The reason was because he had just been revived some time ago after sleeping for more than two hundred years.
That was why there was no way he knew about the situation on the outside.
In the first place, there was no need for Lambert—one of the generals who led Regios Kingdom during the warring era, all the way until it was just one step away from unifying eight countries—to fear someone like Robin Hood.
Although the swordsman named Hector, who fought at the end of Earl Aubock’s case, was quite a formidable opponent for someone who came from this peaceful era, Lambert’s experience and power far surpassed almost everyone who lived in this peaceful era.
As a matter of fact, as soon as he heard “Battle God,” Lambert recalled the figure of a certain person who lived a long time ago when he was alive.
Haah… so it’s not the marshal of Belfis Kingdom, Battle God Adelheid, huh.
Battle God Adelheid was Lambert’s greatest obstacle in Belfis Kingdom during the era of the Eight Countries Unification War.
He was a big man—bigger than Lambert—who was equipped with a giant axe made of Organ.
Lambert had crossed swords with Adelheid once before, but the latter was forced to retreat since he judged that prolonged battle would bring a disadvantage to his troops. Thus, that battle never met its conclusion.
Later on, they faced each other again in another battle, but Regios had made a counterplan that would kill Adelheid for sure.
Although they made up to three backup plans, Adelheid broke through all of them alive since Regios’ side made a mistake in calculating his true power. In the end, Lambert was dispatched to kill Adelheid.
But since Adelheid had already been wounded before their final confrontation, Lambert couldn’t say that he killed Adelheid with his own power.
As a swordsman, Lambert didn’t wish to kill a formidable yet injured foe like Adelheid, but Adelheid’s wounds were the result of the numerous sacrifices of Lambert’s comrades.
Thus, he decided to swallow his pride as a swordsman and prioritized his country.
Many times, he wondered if Adelheid at his peak might be more powerful than Lambert; that was why Lambert was startled upon hearing the familiar nickname again in this era.
If Adelheid was also resurrected like him in this era, he—who had been freed from role as a general who shouldered the fate of his motherland—wished to have a final battle to conclude their past rivalry, which ended in an unfavorable way for Adelheid.
Contrary to Fando’s expectation, Lambert actually reacted to the “Battle God” title instead of the person in the current era who had that title.
Lambert couldn’t hide his embarrassment when he realized that he just ignored Fando for a while, letting the latter stare at him. The general coughed a little to cover his mistake.
Lambert was a bit of an airhead when it came to his personality as a person.
「But then, you could easily force that Battle God, that Robin Hood, to flee. Just who in the world are you?」
「Let’s set that aside for now. Who are you people? And who’re the people who attacked you guys?」
Lambert looked around at the corpses of the masked men.
「We’re adventurers from 『Dancing Sword』 guild. We came to this forest after we received a commission to retrieve the unicorn’s horn. And just as you see, we were attacked by those people after we retrieved the item. We were almost annihilated back then, that’s why… Thank you very much for saving us.」
「I see, were those guys aiming for the horn too?」
「I… don’t know. Maybe their goal was to obstruct us from obtaining the unicorn’s horn. But one thing’s for sure, someone hired them to obstruct us. Well, I think most of them have no idea about their requester either.」
「Hmm… well, can you tell me what are you going to do with the unicorn’s horn?」
In case they had a proper reason to use the unicorn’s horn, Lambert wouldn’t be reluctant to help them.
「Eh… you don’t know about that? I mean, all adventurers in the city already know about this matter. Well, it’ll take quite a lot of time if I need to tell you the details, but are you also on the way to Barreira City? If yes, then I can tell you the details of this matter along the way. In addition, I also want to express my gratitude to you for helping us.」
「… Uhm.」
Lambert couldn’t help but heave a sigh upon hearing that.
At that moment, Fando and the other members of 『Dancing Sword』 felt a chill run through their spines.
All of them bore witness to Lambert’s fierce swordcraft, which could easily have annihilated every masked man and, in the end, forced Robin Hood to flee.
They knew that every single one of them might be killed by him if they crossed him.
「Thank you for the invitation, but… Unfortunately, I still have some business left in this forest. Since that story is so famous in the city, I’ll look into it later.」
The reason he rejected their offer was because of the existence of his headless horse, which he entrusted to Alvana for the time being.
Even so, it obediently followed Lambert’s orders after he tamed it.
However, the headless horse still needed proper training to prevent it from indiscriminately attacking others.
In addition, its bounty aside, that kind of horse wasn’t something one could normally show in front of 『Dancing Sword』’s members, who were all normal humans.
「I-I see… that’s unfortunate. In that case, make sure to visit 『Dancing Sword』’s base once you return to Barreira City.」
After he split ways with 『Dancing Sword』’s group, Lambert returned to the hiding place of the headless horse and Alvana.
As soon as Lambert found them, he saw Alvana—with a curious smile on her face—brushing the body of the headless horse, who lowered its headless neck.
「Have you returned, Swordsman-sama?」
When Alvana turned around, the headless horse stood in front of her, as if to protect her from Lambert.
「It seems the horse has taken a liking to you.」
「Originally, I loved plants and animals. Well, I also played a flute for it a while ago. Maybe that’s why it likes me. Rather than that, it seems to fear you, Swordsman-sama.」
「I doubt that. I mean, I’m also unexpectedly loved by animals. Horses aside, even when I’m asked to capture a runaway pet, they obediently follow me without resisting.」
「Isn’t that just another way of saying that they’re afraid of you?」
Alvana folded her arms, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Lambert with a conflicted look on her face.
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