The Amber Sword

“I’m sorry sir. I was the one who summoned the Devil…” Brendel looked back to see the origin of the weak and mellow voice to be a handsome lad. He was wearing a silky white sleeping gown, and he was holding onto the black walls. He had a delicate face, black hair the length of her shoulders, and pupils with a hint of purple. He had a pale white complexion, and thin lips the color of roses. He curled his lips and raised his eyebrows, as if questioning the presence of Brendel here.

He reminded Brendel of the Silver Elf Nemenis from the Emerald Forest. Haiz. I do have to admit that there are some people who are more beautiful than Elves in this world. Why can’t I be one of them? Wait… Are those pointy ears?

So he’s a Half-Elf. Phew… At least it didn’t ruin my pride as a self-proclaimed ‘handsome’ human’.

“Count Yanbao, are you fine?” Lonin bowed towards the boy. The boy looked at the captain and nodded, confirming his identity as Count Yanbao.

How can this young kid be a Count? Brendel raised his eyebrows, and stared at the ridiculously delicate face of the boy.

The boy was also assessing Brendel. His eyes shone with curiosity. In this world, most of the illusion spells will be dispelled once the user attacks or use any skill, so in Brendel’s case, his facade was exposed, revealing a man in a long hood and shrouded in black mist that resembled the people from the Evil Cult.

But the Evil Cultists were friends with the Devils, so they would not have cut down the Abyss Lord just now.

The young boy did not reveal any form of fear. Suddenly, there were some clanging noises coming down from above the stairs, and a golden armored female knight rushed down at lightning speed. He saw Brendel and the others next to Lonin and revealed a face full of shock. She pulled out her sword and bellowed, “Lonin! Who are these people?”

A Gold ranker. Brendel’s mouth twitched. Seems like this is the other Gold ranker under Count Yanbao… Her chest seems to be rather alluring to the men though. If she were a model, there was no doubt that she would be one of the most beautiful people on the top of the list.

The girl was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, so reaching Gold rank would mean that she was one of the geniuses of this generation. Her hair was bundled up in a bun, and with the unkempt look she had, she must have just woke up.

She noticed Brendel’s gaze, and her face began to blush. She covered her the part of her chest that was not buttoned up, and roared, “What are you looking at!”

“Niya,” Count Yanbao stopped the knight’s action and looked at Brendel.

“Count Yanbao?” Brendel asked for confirmation

“My name is Dilferi Odinar, the last successor of the Yanbao family, and also the current Count Yanbao,” he used his mellow voice to make an introduction. Brendel did not see any sort of panic in his eyes, but tiredness. Then, the count placed his hand on his collarbone, and thanked Brendel courteously, “Thank you for eliminating the Devil for us.”

“No need to thank me, but don’t you think it’s inappropriate for a noble to form a pact with a Devil?” Brendel questioned.

The young boy stiffened, and the knight by his side scolded and leaped at him with her sword raised high. Brendel was unarmed at the moment, but he immediately opened the Dimension Space and pulled out Halran Gaia.

As he pulled it out, he parried Niya’s attack. However, his strength far surpassed her strength, and she was flung back into the coal-black stairs behind her, and with a thunderous boom, her fall caused a mess of dust and ashes.

But Brendel was surprised as well. Upon activating Berserk, his Strength was about 500 points, and yet when their swords clashed, his arms trembled in the recoil. If the girl were to play the game, she would have been the player who purely focused on her strength. What a weirdo.

The knight climbed out of the pile of ash, and from her gritting teeth, it seems like she wanted another bout. But Count Yanbao stopped her. He seems to think Brendel as an ally instead of an enemy.

He looked back, at the manor that was now a mess and said, “Mister, I may not know where you came from, but I wish you can help me out with something.”

He was looking at something in the distance. A moment later, Brendel could hear some disturbances beyond the manor. It was the sound of horseshoes and mud splashing. The Patrol Guards.

Brendel looked at the direction of the noise, and in just a while, the silhouette of a knight appeared.

“It’s the Patrol Guards from the neighboring town,” Lonin squeezed his eyebrows.

Brendel looked back, and understood what he had to do. He just squeezed his eyes, “I need a promise, Count Yanbao.”

The count bit his lip, “What is it that you need? I’ll promise you anything as long as you don’t interrupt the goals of my family.”

“You’re speaking as the successor of your family?”

The knights passed the front yard, and is closing in on the building. But they were blocked by the guards of the manor. Count Yanbao looked and nodded at Brendel. He can only hope that Brendel was not coming for the blood of his family. But he could not help but feel unease around Brendel.

“Lord Yanbao,” Lonin warned.

But the young boy just shook his head.

Brendel knew just what the young Count is worried about. The Holy Cathedral forbids the interaction between nobles and Devils. If they were found to break this code, they would be punished, and the family would be erased of their prestige. No noble would want this sort of treatment. Although Brendel did not know why the Count would summon a Devil, but from the trembling feet of the boy, he knew that he was terrified and panicking.

Brendel looked at the moon hanging just above the peaks of the Arreck Mountains.

“I hope you will not participate in the meeting in Ampere Seale,” Brendel stated his demands.

“I cannot do that!” this time, the young boy sounded really adamant. He arched his eyebrows and glared at Brendel, “You all want to replace me for the meeting, don’t you? How can I ensure that you will not damage the benefits of our family then? Just an example, if you were to offend a noble there, it would spell trouble for our family!”

“I can swear in Marsha’s name as well as in my own dignity,” Brendel promised.

“But there’re still loopholes that can be exploited,” Count Yanbao gritted his teeth, “Sir, I am already in a predicament. Please don’t force me to my demise.”

Brendel locked gazes with the boy. The young boy’s determination exceeded his expectations. His gleaming eyes did not show any sense of defeat and weakness. Although he was the only successor of the family, there must be something that was going on that pushed him to this point. Brendel tried to think just what could have happened back in the game, but he could not come up with anything.

The two just looked at each other, and silence permeated the air between them.

The knights outside had already bypassed the defenses of Count Yanbao. It was clearly because of that explosion that they came. Thank Marsha that there was no fighting outside in the forest just now. Romaine and the others must be fine then.

It was just that the trouble with the Patrol Guards appeared. If Brendel and Count Yanbao could not come to an agreement and make up a story by then, today’s operation would have been a failure for Brendel.

“You guys want to participate in the meeting?” the boy finally gave in when the knights came too close.

Brendel nodded.

“And can you guys assure me that you will not offend anyone?” the boy asked.

“I cannot guarantee that,” Brendel said honestly. He was not confident that he will not drag some other people into this mess. “But I guarantee you that I will not bring you guys into my mess.”

The boy stared at him.

The knights were finally at the front gate of the building. They saw that there was a big hole there, but the corridor was unlit so Brendel and Count Yanbao was hidden from their sight. Finally, the boy said, “I guess I can bring you all into the meeting as my servant.”

Dilferi said with a worried tone, after all, Brendel did not seem like the kind who would want to be anyone’s follower. However, he breathed out a sigh of relief when Brendel nodded.

“Alright. It’s a deal,” Brendel took out a crystal ball from under the hood,  and gestured to the boy. “Everything is recorded here.”

“Bastard,” the boy scowled.

Brendel just smiled.

…

By the time the knights got into the building, Brendel and his subordinates had already worn their disguise of being Dilferi’s guards. The boy was relieved, and he looked at the corridor to see that the mess was about fully cleared away by Ferlarn. Then he stepped down to meet the other guards.

But Brendel noticed that there were not only Patrol Guards that came. Amongst the people wearing blue, there were some with silver armor and donning a red battle cape. Those people had long swords, and were apparently elite knights.

Eh? Brendel was stunned. That’s the Royal Cavalry… But why would they be here? He realized something and telepathically asked, “Medissa, ask Sue to confirm just how far is Haze Manor from here?

“Count Yanbao, may I know is there anything that happened here that requires our assistance?” this time, a slightly fit female knight stepped out. The tone she used to address Count Yanbao was soft yet composed. It was clear and crisp like a bell. But Brendel could not help but shiver upon hearing the voice.

He looked up and saw a face he could not be more familiar with. [T/N: Of course, it was still less than Romaine.]

Donning the Royal Family crest, and tying her silver hair into a ponytail, she seemed like an innocent young girl. And strapped to her waist were several pairs of swords, which made people misunderstand that she trained in a unique yet weird sword style.

But Freya was definitely a user of the Military Swordsmanship.