Reincarnated as a Sword Vol. 6

by Yuu Tanaka

  “The First?”

  The First what? I didn’t know what he was talking about, but Glackmar shoved the box closer.

  Teacher?

  Don’t even touch it.

  No signs of magic so far, but the hostility coming from Glackmar and his associates was too apparent for this to be a friendly gesture.

  “Take it. This medallion is only worthy of an Archmage such as you.”

  “Hm. Don’t need it.”

  “Wh-why?!”

  “Looks fishy.”

  “Please, take it! We mean you only the greatest respect!”

  “You can keep that, too,” said Fran.

  “But Lady Fran—”

  “All right, enough of that.”

  “Wh-what?!”

  A figure interrupted Glackmar and his cronies as we mulled over whether to cut them down.

  “Still up to your dirty tricks over at Eiworth, I see.”

  “Phelms?” said Fran.

  “Hello. How long has it been? A day?”

  Phelms, the former A-Rank wire warrior we’d faced in fierce combat, now stood in front of Fran as if protecting her. He put himself between her and Glackmar, his gentle smile emitting a subtle pressure.

  “Begone, fool adventurer!” said Glackmar. “You have nothing to do with this. We are in the middle of a very important ceremony!”

  “What’s he on about?” Fran asked.

  “Just one of their old tricks.”

  Phelms explained that we were about to be enlisted in the Eiworth Mage Guild. The medal was enchanted with a spell to compel its user into a contract, consummated through the execution of a simple ritual.

  “The magical contract is quite dangerous. Not as binding as a slave’s contract, but there’s not much difference in how they’ll treat you afterwards.”

  “People fall for it?”

  We knew right away that nothing good could come of the suspicious bunch. The other mages should be able to discern their ill intentions, too. The Eiworth mages weren’t so strong that they couldn’t be handled pretty easily.

  “And here’s their nasty trick. They only use this method of recruitment on talented children. You fall right in their age range, Fran. They must’ve thought they could rope you in with a few pretty words.”

  An ordinary child could be easily coerced into joining an association out of fear of offending them. If the ritual wasn’t enough, fear of the organization should do it. They tricked little children into joining them with a silken tongue and intimidation. Talk about poor taste.

  “The Eiworth Mage Guild is the only mage guild that employs this desperate measure. They’re low on the food chain, you see. They must want your power.”

  Fran stared at Glackmar, who launched into a cavalcade of excuses.

  “L-Lady Fran! Who will you trust: an ignorant boor, or a mage recognizing a kindred spirit, about to induct you into the mysteries of magic?”

  “Phelms, of course. You people gross me out.”

  “What…?! You little…! If we didn’t need you, you’d be…!”

  Wow, this guy was thin-skinned! His robes could take more damage than his ego!

  Anyway, let’s hand them to the authorities.

  “Hm.”

  Just as we decided what to do…

  “Get her!”

  A woman’s voice cut through the argument. The four mages moved in concert.

  “Hrm.”

  They took out their daggers and came at Fran.

  “Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!” Judging from his surprise, Glackmar didn’t order the attack. The one pulling the strings had probably stayed in place to cast a spell while the other three came at us with knives. It was a poorly-thought-out strategy, with even worse execution. The mages were only good for their magic, and their skill with the dagger would make an amateur feel embarrassed.

  “Hmph! Tsch! Ha!”

  “Urk!”

  “Agh!”

  “Gah!”

  Even Fran felt annoyed that she had to fight such weak opponents. She settled for disarming them by knocking the knives out of their hands. Granted, they probably felt like their hands were just routed by a steel rod, but the men should be thankful they got to keep their limbs.

  “Haa!”

  “Kyaaa!”

  She sent the final spellcaster flying with a straightforward boot to the gut.

  “Urgh…damn it!”

  The mage’s hood came back, revealing her face.

  “Hm? She looks familiar.”

  She’s one of Seldio’s friends.

  The female mage from Seldio’s party. I thought she would’ve fled Ulmutt by now, but she still doggedly pursued Fran.

  “You little brat…!”

  I didn’t know whether she was on drugs, too, but her eyes looked crazy. Like she was being chased by someone. She lurched up, holding her stomach, and shuffled towards Fran.

  “Your sword…give me your sword…!” she said, clearly losing her reason.

  “You’re after my sword?” Fran asked.

  “Yes! How could a little Black Cat girl be so strong? By wielding that sword, that’s how! Once I have it, I can get out of here… My master will forgive me…if only I have that sword!”

  Fran didn’t respond. As angry as she was, she couldn’t help but feel pity.

  “Now…give that sword to me!”

  Poor thing didn’t realize that yelling wasn’t going to help.

  Wait, hang on. Fran?

  Hm? What’s up?

  Hand me over to her.

  What?

  I wanted to test something. Having heard my explanation, Fran agreed.

  “This sword is cursed. Anyone unworthy will be killed upon equipping it. Are you sure you still want it?”

  “Aha ha ha! What foolish lies! You should’ve come up with a better story if you were going to lie. If you don’t want to give me your sword, just say so!”

  Fran had no reason to lie to someone she could finish off with her bare hands. Unfortunately, the woman’s madness meant she didn’t realize that. Fran handed me over, almost with a look of pity.

  “All right. It’s yours.”

  “You should’ve done that from the start! Come on! Give it here!”

  Fran tossed me to the woman, sheath and all. She greedily picked me up.

  “Heh heh heh heh. Now I can be strong too…”

  I felt her try to take me, and something stirred inside of me. Something I hadn’t felt in a while.

  “Aah…whaaaah…”

  Immediately, the woman started groaning. Her eyes widened with fear, but I could only guess at what she saw.

  “Hyaaaaaa…”

  Her entire body convulsed as her groans turned to screaming. Her screams of agony bore notes of shock and pain, dreadful enough to traumatize anyone who heard them.

  “Aaaaaaah—!”

  With me still in hand, she let out a terrifying wail that sent shivers down the spines of passersby. They were granted a scene of terrible horror. They must’ve heard Fran’s warning, and assumed the curse was expressing its true nature. Civilian and adventurer alike looked upon the woman with pale faces. How many seconds had gone by?

  “I-I’m sorry! Forgive—eeyyaah!”

  Those were the woman’s last words before blood exploded out of her eyes, ears, and mouth. She keeled over on the street.

  Thud.

  “…”

  The ensuing silence was deafening.

  “Hm. Not worthy.”

  Fran walked over to the woman’s corpse, cleaned my hilt, and picked me up. The consequent murmuring was so loud the crowd might as well have been shouting. I couldn’t blame them. A woman had just died a horrifying death in front of them. The gods were ruthless in dealing out their punishment. A thunderbolt for the ignorant and death for those who knew the nature of my curse. What did the gods show her in the last moments of her life? What did they do? I was plagued with a nasty aftertaste, although I hadn’t directly cau
sed her death.

  Which reminds me… Where are the other mages?

  I’d totally forgotten about them. I looked around and saw that Phelms had apprehended them. The men looked shameful as he tied them up with his threads.

  “Well, what shall we do with them?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I suggest handing them over to the Adventurers’ Guild.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes. They are still an organization. The guild will not hold anything back to support a strong adventurer like yourself.”

  I guess we should, if Phelms said so. I was going to drag the mages to their own guild and show them what would happen to them if they crossed us, but that would take too much time.

  “Shall I take them to the guild for you?”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  “Very well. If you’ll excuse me.”

  Phelms took the hired mages away, with Glackmar complaining all the while.

  “Oh, wait a second.” Fran stopped Phelms before he could get very far.

  “Was there anything else?” he asked.

  “Hm. They just need one more lesson.”

  The pathetic mages were finally taken away after Fran administered a punch to the solar plexus to each of them. We felt a little bad for asking for Dias’ and Elza’s help again, but upon hearing the story, they were ecstatic.

  “Now we can finally get rid of those scummy mages for good! I’ll show them what happens when you pick a fight with the Adventurers’ Guild!”

  Dias jumped with joy as one of his subordinates took the rogue mages away. Fran bowed her head to Phelms.

  “Thanks, Phelms.”

  “Not a problem. I had a similar experience in the past.”

  “A mage guild tried to trick you into joining them?”

  “No, just the unpleasant things that fame can bring.”

  Phelms had won the fighting tournament when he was younger, and he was just as popular as Fran was now. Mage and mercenary guilds came to recruit him, not to mention the nobility and mafia. He had more than his fair share of coercions, and some organizations even compelled him to join through physical force.

  “I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.”

  “How’d you deal with it?”

  “I ran, for the most part. I wandered through the country so I wouldn’t be roped into any commitments.”

  That might be the best way of handling it. Tracking Phelms down would’ve been difficult.

  “But Dias was the one who saved me in the end.”

  “Dias?”

  “Yes. We were about the same age, and we got along well. He was already a Guildmaster, so he took me on as one of his advisors. It prevented other organizations from recruiting me.”

  Even a clueless noble wouldn’t dare poach a Guildmaster’s confidante. At the very least, Phelms no longer had to dodge invitations by himself.

  “You are definitely going to attract more unwanted attention, and some of these people might prove dangerous. You can demolish any criminal organization that messes with you, but doing so to a noble will only cause unrest.” Phelms pursed his lips.

  “Speaking from experience?” Fran asked.

  “Ha ha ha. You guessed it. An aristocrat from another kingdom pursued me once, and they were quite persistent about it.”

  “Just because you refused to pledge allegiance to them?”

  That sounded like an overreaction.

  “Well, they were very arrogant and ill-mannered. Really, there were only fifty of them, including the lord of the house…”

  “Did you kill them?” Fran asked, her eyes alert with expectation.

  “Oh, no. I just sent them to the hospital.”

  “Aww.”

  “The only problem was that they still had blood ties to the royal family.”

  “Only”?! I was amazed at how casual he was. The related kingdom had to be angry, if only to save face.

  “So how’d you take care of it?”

  “I just captured everyone they sent after me until I got an audience with their king. Granted, it was done under cover of night.”

  Phelms threatened him, basically. Which sounded reckless, no matter how strong he was.

  “I could only do that because his nation was very small and weak. Even his strongest subject was weaker than me. If I had offended a kingdom the size and strength of Granzell, I would have had no other option but to run.”

  How small that kingdom must’ve been.

  “Fran, do not hesitate to ask for help if you’re ever in trouble. You can ask the guild or Amanda herself. You’re friends with her, right?”

  “Hm. But why Amanda?”

  “You don’t know? Most of the orphans she took in and raised have come into their own as adventurers. I believe a genuine plea for help from Amanda could rouse a powerful enough fighting force to crush a small country.”

  Amanda was a lot more connected than we thought!

  “Amanda’s great.”

  “Indeed she is, even without her personal abilities. They say the reason Raydoss leaves Granzell alone is because they do not wish to incur Amanda’s wrath.”

  Amanda had been running the orphanage for decades. I didn’t know how she raised her orphans, but I could easily imagine most of them wanting to be adventurers. With her training, their mastery of the basics should be perfect. Most of them probably grew up to be established adventurers in their own right.

  “Although I think you’ll be fine with the Beastman Nation watching your back.”

  “The Beastman Nation?”

  “Are you not under their employment?”

  “No.”

  “Forgive me. I thought you worked for them, since you watched the tournament together the other day… I see. The Beast King has taken an interest in you, then.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yes. The other nations will think twice about making a move on you after that. Judging by the response of my beastman acquaintances, you are quite popular among them. He must want to appeal to his people by getting along with you. At the very least, he is trying to align you with his kingdom.”

  Asking a favor of Fran would inevitably lead her to reciprocating, which might end with her joining the Beastman Nation. Rigdith certainly put a lot of thought into gaining Fran’s favor. Not that I thought he himself was behind this. The idea was more likely to have come from Royce and Rosch. Our relationship with the beastman royals had been strictly transactional ever since the tournament, and we would take advantage of them where it seemed appropriate.

  “Ah, sorry for keeping you so long. That’s enough chat from this old man. I must be going now.”

  “Thanks again.”

  “Come to my shop whenever you’re in Bulbola. I’m researching a new recipe that incorporates curry into my dishes.”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  “I hope you’ll like it,” Phelms said, bowing graciously before making his exit.

  He was so cool and manly; so reliable. What a gentleman! Dias could learn a thing or two from him!

  “You really have a knack for getting in trouble, Fran,” Dias said, as if reading my mind. “The way you stand out really makes you a magnet for it, so hang in there. However, the guild thanks you on this occasion.”

  It’s not like we’re going out of our way to look for it.

  “Ha ha ha, you’re right. But I must warn you. This is not the last time something like this will happen.”

  “What should I do, then?”

  “Well, like I said, you need to go to the Beastman Nation. May I suggest you make your journey sooner rather than later? You’ll at least be out of reach of the fools of this kingdom.”

  We’d love to, but how are we supposed to get to another continent?

  A ship sounded like our best option, but we probably needed entry permits.

  “The guild has already authorized your immigration details. Your guild card will act as identification, since you have
taken on a personal quest.”

  Didn’t know the guild cards had such a convenient feature.

  “There will be a manatech-assisted inspection at the borders, just show them your card and they’ll let you through.”

  “Thanks.”

  Now we just need to find a ship.

  “Hmm, that will be difficult. Bulbola’s your best bet, but there aren’t any ferries that will get you there.”

  How do folks get to the Beastman Nation, then?

  “Normally, adventurers hire themselves out as bodyguards for merchant ships.”

  Yeah, I figured.

  Fran wasn’t well-suited for that job. In fact, she was at a disadvantage. Anyone might be excused for underestimating her based on her looks. Given the decision between a kid adventurer and a burly-looking old man, even I’d pick the latter. We only got to Bulbola because we knew Fult and Satya, and we only got there as part of Salut’s plot. How were we supposed to get on a merchant ship without any connections? …Wait, we did have connections.

  We’ll ask the Lucille Trade Association.

  “Aah, I see.”

  We got acquainted with them after the Seedrun insurrection. They were bound to have some merchant ships chartered for the continent of Chrome.

  “Getting hired as a bodyguard shouldn’t be a problem,” said Dias. “Merchants have the fastest information network in the world. I’m willing to bet that your name has already been circulated throughout Bulbola.”

  “So I should be a bodyguard?”

  “That’s the one job that’s always hiring. But really, you shouldn’t have to bother. You have a more direct connection, don’t you?”

  “Hm?”

  Ahh, yeah, I guess.

  Fran was slow to realize, but I’d already put some thought into Dias’ idea: the Beast King himself. The approach was valid, but problematic.

  First, I didn’t think we should keep asking the king for favors—we didn’t want to owe him too much. We also didn’t know when he would return to his kingdom. He was the king, after all, and therefore had international kingly duties to attend to. Even if his royal laziness compelled him to skip out on that, Royce was there to keep him in line. Finding our own boat might be faster than waiting on Rigdith, but Dias disagreed.

  “Your first point is a foregone conclusion, isn’t it? You already owe the Beast King by asking to meet Kiara.”

  You’re not wrong.