Vol 1 Chapter 3.2 (1/2)

39—Legend of Sun Knight Volume 1

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

Chapter 3 Secret… Part 2: What Kind of Fragrance – translated by lucathia (proofread by Lala Su & Arcedemius; C/E edited by Doza)

After carefully stas.h.i.+ng away the three little bottles in his coat pocket, Elaro left the essential oil shop. His mood was the complete opposite of his pocket—heavy, while his pocket was light. He didn’t know how he was going to complete the king’s mission, especially since it was a mission that was very far from Leaf Bud City. The traveling, food, and lodging expenses alone would be endless…

Do I still have no choice but to borrow from Ludia? Ah! I just borrowed from her last week. The money she has left is probably only enough for meals on non-work days. Maybe Shuis instead… No, last month, Shuis already took his next month’s pay in advance to lend to me. So, there’s only Valica left?

Elaro abruptly stopped walking. He recalled that before the teachers had left on their mission, the Leaf Knight had smilingly signed for a box full of seasonings. Is his own salary really enough for him to buy that box of seasonings…?

Elaro wanted to be more optimistic, but he found that he absolutely couldn’t deceive himself. The Leaf Knight surely must have taken Valica’s salary to pay for the seasonings.

He took in a deep breath. In the end, if he really had no other choice, at most he’d just have to go and borrow money from Teacher Grisia. After all, this was originally a mission he had to complete. So, Elaro should be able to… be able to successfully borrow money from him… Probably…

Suddenly, screams and sounds of a disturbance came from afar. Elaro’s hand immediately closed around the hilt of his sword, but then he wondered, Could the teachers have returned?

Today was indeed the scheduled date for the teachers’ return. If the Twelve Holy Knights appeared together on the streets, it would not be strange for such an uproar to result. Elaro relaxed a bit, until he heard a familiar voice within the commotion.

“Captain—”

No! Elaro’s face abruptly paled. Even if the teachers had returned, they would return straight to the Church of the G.o.d of Light. There was absolutely no way they would appear on the streets; they had used a teleportation circle to leave Leaf Bud City!

He heard a faint cry of “Captain” again. There’s no doubt about it. It’s definitely Dili’s voice! Elaro immediately broke into a run, and he didn’t even keep to the streets properly. Instead, with a single step, he jumped onto the rooftops and rushed straight toward the place where Dili had been waiting for him.

The distance wasn’t far, just a few streets, and running along the rooftops was even faster. After only a dozen or so leaps, Elaro could see Dili right below the roof he stood on. Dili had his sword raised, fighting off two enemies while he shouted for the surrounding citizens to quickly leave.

Elaro’s eyes widened, and he shouted, “Dili! Watch out on the left!”

Hearing his captain’s voice, Dili turned his head reflexively to look at him with a joyful expression. However, he hadn’t heard Elaro’s warning clearly, and had even s.h.i.+fted his gaze away in the middle of battle, so both the engaged enemy right in front of him and the enemy sneaking up on him from the left succeeded in their attacks.

The enemy in front of him used a knife and was originally targeting Dili’s chest. However, because Dili had turned to look toward Elaro, only his left arm got slashed. Following that, the sneak attack from the left knocked Dili completely flat on the ground.

Elaro snarled and jumped off the roof. When he landed, he had already drawn his sword. He held his sword with his right hand and pulled the sneak attacker off of Dili with his left hand. He lifted the person high up, about to give an angry warning, when he realized the person’s complexion was very odd.

Ashen skin, deep purple lips and clouded eyes that obviously didn’t have any spirit… An undead creature?

The undead creature struggled violently, both hands wildly scratching at Elaro’s arms. Even though it didn’t have a weapon, its hands and fingertips had both rotted all the way down to the bones, and they could be considered a type of weapon. Just now, it had directly used its hands to attack Dili.

Elaro frowned and didn’t hesitate any longer. With a powerful toss, he threw the undead creature away. While it was still in the air, he swung his sword once. When it landed heavily on the ground, something round rolled away from the body. The undead creature was already thoroughly dead.

He stared fixedly at the remaining enemy. Although it looked more like a person, just one with an extremely terrible complexion, Elaro had already figured out from its dark element that this was also an undead creature. Furthermore, it wasn’t a low-level creature. No wonder Dili had had such a hard time dealing with it.

“Dili, how are your injuries?” He didn’t turn his head to look, fixing his eyes on the enemy.

Dili’s voice came from behind. “Merely a scratch. It’s nothing.”

When he heard this, Elaro put Dili out of his mind, focusing completely on the enemy before him. The opponent was using a sword and wearing simple armor. Upon first glance, it would be hard to tell that it was an undead creature. Of course, no undead creature could pa.s.s careful inspection. Those lifeless eyes could never trick anyone.

However, Elaro suddenly thought of a certain someone, who was an undead creature and had kept his disguise for over ten years. Out of the entire world, “he” was the only undead creature of that level.

“Undead! You dare to trespa.s.s in Leaf Bud City!” Experience told Elaro that this undead creature’s level should mean he had some intelligence. At least, conversation should not be a problem.

As expected, the other party’s face contorted, and it let out a hoa.r.s.e roar unique to undead creatures, “Under the orders of the Monarch, I have come to kill you!”

Monarch? Elaro froze, looking at the other party in puzzlement. However, it had already raised its sword and rushed forward, so Elaro had no more time to investigate further. He could only raise his own sword and engage in battle.

The opponent’s strength is quite good, but in the end, it still cannot rival mine. Elaro furrowed his brows, dodging a few attacks. After he came to this conclusion, he did not want to prolong the battle. He took a step backward first, and then reached his hand out to swipe it across his sword. The originally silver sword promptly shone with white, holy light.

“Grr—” The undead creature fell back several steps, absolutely hating the white glow.

Seizing the opportunity, Elaro rushed forward, swinging right at the other party’s sword. A heavy kick followed right after that, causing it to involuntarily stoop over. At this time, the blade s.h.i.+ning with holy light sliced from left to right, and a second head rolled about the streets.

Clean and direct consecutive attacks that don’t allow the opponent to even react before utter defeat had always been Elaro’s fighting style.

“Before you defeat the opponent, you must engage in a prolonged battle first, then… I haven’t even finished speaking. Why have you already killed it? Try it again. Slow down!”

“Before you defeat the opponent, you must engage in a prolonged battle first, then you must allow the opponent to show off its strength for a while… Why have you killed it again? Try it again. You’re not allowed to fight so quickly!”

“Before you defeat the opponent, you must engage in a prolonged battle first, then you must allow the opponent to show off its strength for a while before you break out your ultimate skill—if you kill it again, I’ll kill you!”

Even though Elaro heard him, he wasn’t able to stop himself in time at all. A single strike, and the undead creature’s head rolled.

“…”

Elaro said helplessly, “S-Sorry, but Knight-Captain Judgment and Knight-Captain h.e.l.l both taught me this way. My swings have already become a reflex. I can’t slow down…”

“Sword experts are really annoying!”

At the age of fifteen, Elaro had already earned a spot on his teacher’s list of hated sword experts. Although his teacher said he hated it, he sent Elaro out on all sorts of missions in great delight, including the ones owed to the king. By now, it had already been seven years. The battle experience he had was even more abundant and rich than what many holy knights already past forty years old had.

Elaro, who had ample experience, chose to directly kill the opponent without any hesitation, because undead creatures were difficult to render unconscious to bring back to the Holy Temple. Interrogation was also impractical. They were already dead and did not feel much pain. Besides, undead creatures sent out like this usually weren’t able to provide any information.

Such an average undead creature… Elaro lowered his head to look at the corpse. It said it was here on the Monarch’s orders?

No! Impossible. If it really was “that person,” he should know very clearly that an undead creature of this level is nothing to me. Sending this over wouldn’t even be a worthwhile test or training exercise.

Is “his” name being used? Or did he actually send it?

“Captain.”

Elaro turned his head. Dili stood behind him with a brilliant smile on his face.

Seeing how Dili could move with ease, Elaro was finally rea.s.sured that he was not hurt too badly. He immediately berated him, “Dili, you are far too lax with matters regarding battle. How can your reaction be turning your head to look at me when you hear a warning in the middle of battle? If the enemy today had been a little stronger, you might already be dead!”

Dili’s smile vanished, and his expression turned solemn. His fighting ability could never compare with Rhonelin’s, so he mostly concentrated his efforts on handling official business instead.

Elaro was really unsatisfied with Dili’s combat ability, and when he caught sight of Dili’s arm that was still dripping with blood, he felt his anger rise even higher.

“For the next few days, swap duties with Rhonelin. You’re responsible for the platoon members’ drills. Rhonelin will help me with official business. If there’s something he doesn’t understand, help him out. And likewise, when it comes to fighting, you should consult Rhonelin more.”

Elaro’s tone was reproachful. “Don’t be afraid to ask just because you’re a little older than him, or you’re afraid of losing to him in a spar. Losing to a comrade is always better than losing to an enemy, wherein you lose your very life!”

Dili froze. He had really been too foolish. “Yes, sir!”

Elaro’s expression finally relaxed a bit. He never ever wanted to receive news of his vice-captain losing his life in the middle of a mission.

Elaro walked forward to study the corpses of the two undead creatures. His brows furrowed. Something wasn’t quite right. Even now, when the undead creatures had already been defeated, he still felt a little uneasy. It was as if there was “something” permeating the air…

“Long live the Sun Knight!”

The citizens suddenly burst out with thundering cheers. Even though the course of Elaro’s battle was really too quick, so they hadn’t seen much, Leaf Bud City recently had too few undead creatures appearing. There weren’t even any thieves who dared to provoke the holy knights and royal knights, so such a battle was a rare sight. No matter what, thundering cheers had to be given.

“The Sun Knight is truly too strong—”

“As expected of the Sun Knight!”