ch21-ch40 · 029-ch29

Chapter 29: The Mirror

Last night.

When Melkid awoke, he was in the derelict building that had served as his base since coming to "the world beyond the mirror." The sun had already set, and the only light illuminating the room came from unreliable candle flames.

"You finally woke up. Quite the pathetic display, ain't it, Mr. Knight?"

As Melkid, who had been lying on the floor, got up, he found Banto, the former underboss of the Unbar gang whom Melkid had brought with him, sitting arrogantly before him. His two henchmen were standing behind him.

"You lot... What happened?"

"Don't you remember? We dragged your sorry ass here after you got done in by that Black Knight bastard."

At Banto's words, he remembered.

That time when he had tried to create distance from the Black Knight, to buy time until his 'Merge' wore off.

　　―　◆　―

Having painfully realized the power gap between himself and the Black Knight, Melkid determined that it was impossible to win through direct confrontation, so he fled, aiming for the Black Knight's eiyōso to run out.

"His Merge lasts 696 seconds, with only about half that remaining! If I can escape until then, I'll finish him off!"

Turning his back on an enemy was unbearable humiliation for a knight, but Melkid told himself this was a strategic retreat and left the shrine grounds.

Descending the stairs at speeds several times that of a normal human, skipping multiple steps with each bound. With this much distance, he was confident he could escape completely.

"Mph!?"

Sensing a presence from behind, Melkid turned around even as he continued descending.

But there was no sign of the Black Knight. Instead, a black shadow was chasing him at an extraordinary speed, crawling down the stairs like a snake.

And in the next moment he thought that, the shadow reached Melkid's feet, and suddenly black blades extended vertically from the tip of the shadow, slicing across Melkid's back.

"Gyahh!!"

An electric shock ran through his entire body.

At the same time, all the armor he wore shattered and dissipated into mist.

"N-no, this can't be..."

In his fading consciousness, the last thing Melkid saw was the figure of the Black Knight leaping down from above the stairs all at once.

　　―　◆　―

"U-uuh..."

Melkid tried to stop the trembling from his remembered fear by hugging his own shoulders.

Roan and Baff, who were watching this from behind the underboss, weren't looking down on him with disdain. Rather, their gazes held something close to pity.

'Well, that's only natural. Anyone would end up like that after experiencing the Black Knight's unreasonable strength.'

Once, the total number of the bandit group Unbar, which had committed wicked deeds in the Ceylo Kingdom, was over 150 members.

To annihilate them, the Black Knight didn't even need an hour, working completely alone. Moreover, he captured everyone except the boss alive, rendering them unconscious.

That was far more difficult than simply killing them, and the bandits felt an even clearer difference in power and were terrified.

Though Underboss Banto felt the same way internally as his two henchmen, he deliberately suppressed that sympathy to gain the upper hand in negotiations.

"Hah, for all your high-and-mighty attitude, what a pathetic state. If the Kingdom Knights heard about this, they'd be disgusted."

"N-no, what did you say!? Do you understand your position!?"

Melkid suppressed his trembling and showed his anger.

But Banto just snorted through his nose.

"If you resist, you'll lose your pardon and go right back to prison, right? Don't matter to us. That's exactly what we want."

"What..."

"Anyway, we only got on board because you said that Black Knight bastard had lost his 'eiyōso' and gotten weaker. If he can still equip his armor, that's a different story. Even prison's better than getting killed by the Black Knight!"

"Ugh..."

Banto's argument was perfectly understandable to Melkid too.

With skills at the level of mere bandits, there was no way they could possibly match a merged member of the Seven Knights.

"Hey, Mr. Knight, bring out the mirror. We're going back to Ceylo. Oh, and don't bother trying to stop us by force, alright? We know you've lost your eiyō-armor. It'll take quite a while before you can use it again, won't it?"

The eiyō-armor, completely destroyed by the Black Knight's Black Claws, needed a large amount of eiyōso and time to regenerate. In this world with its thin eiyōso to begin with, he had no idea how much time it would take, but he was certain it wouldn't be just a few days.

No matter how much of a knight he was, Melkid without his eiyō-armor and already wounded couldn't possibly defeat three tough bandits.

"You can return on the night of the seventh day, right? That's what I heard from the Black Knight."

"...Understood. I'll prepare for the return."

Having resigned himself, Melkid complied with Banto's request and took out the mirror he had hidden in the derelict building.

It was a tall, full-length mirror. Melkid didn't stand it up but laid it flat on the floor.

Though there was still half an hour until the day changed, the mirror had already begun to emit an strange light.

Then, when the moonlight shining through the derelict building's windows illuminated the mirror, it stopped reflecting images, and instead, a world filled with purple mist became visible.

"Ooh..."

The bandits also held their breath. Even though they had passed through it when coming here, the mirror was still mystical and eerie.

Ignoring the bandits, Melkid knelt beside the mirror and peered into it.

"...This is Melkid. I request a response."

〈—You're contacting me a little earlier than the promised time. What seems to be the matter?〉

A woman's voice answered Melkid's call from beyond the mirror.

"I deeply apologize, but I have failed in my mission to assassinate the Black Knight."

Even though he couldn't see his conversation partner, Melkid bowed deeply. And cold sweat was visibly streaming down his cheeks.

〈Oh, really. Your failure means that Rokuro can still perform his 'Merge,' I see.〉

"Y-yes. I was insufficiently skilled. I am very sorry."

〈Well, that's alright. It's difficult to win against the Armored Seven Knights. It just means it was impossible for you, isn't it?〉

Melkid bit his lip at the woman's tone, which held a hint of mockery.

But he couldn't talk back. That was simply the truth.

〈...So then, what is the meaning of contacting me without having completed your mission?〉

"Y-yes... This is difficult to say, but my eiyō-armor has also been destroyed, and I have determined that I cannot continue my mission... I would like to request a temporary return."

Melkid's trembling grew stronger.

Seeing this, the bandits also began to tremble as if it were contagious.

This wasn't simply because they saw how frightened Melkid looked, but also because they felt considerable intimidation from the woman's voice beyond the mirror.

It was a different kind of intimidation than the Black Knight's. But there was no mistake that she was an existence far stronger than themselves.

This meant that besides the Seven Knights, there were also monster-level strong individuals in the Kingdom Knights. Realizing this, Banto trembled to his core. He even found himself wanting to return to his familiar prison as soon as possible.

〈A return, you say... The secret art of crossing the mirror takes both effort and money, you know. Did you really think you could come back without achieving anything?〉

"If-if it's results you want, I have information about the Black Knight! About his 'Merge,' and also... about his daughter!"

〈...Daughter?〉

Muttering just that one word, the woman beyond the mirror fell silent for a moment, as if thinking about something.

And then.

〈Very well. Depending on the content of your story, I might permit your return. So let's hear it. About the Black Knight's daughter, if you would.〉