Chapter 205 – This time.
Lenin Abiran paced anxiously around the room.
The room had been cleared of people, and rows of mounted monster heads glared down at Lenin as he paced restlessly.
Heads were not the only things preserved there.
Gargoyle wings, hydra skins, troll ears, and other specimens had been collected and arranged according to size.
The collection could easily have appeared grotesque, but its placement against the luxurious wallpaper created a strangely fascinating atmosphere.
Upon reaching the end of the room, Lenin compulsively began fiddling with a monster’s claw hanging on the wall.
“Damn it, damn it...!”
He could not forget the cold eyes of that vermin.
Watching the procession of wagons arriving from the temple was his secret habit.
It satisfied the inferiority complex that he kept hidden from everyone.
It allowed him to forget the miserable reality that he had failed to become emperor and had been driven out to the borderlands.
Whenever he wanted to forget his suffocating reality, he would gaze at the enormous quantity of offerings presented by humans he regarded as vermin.
Reality was harsh and suffocating for everyone, but Lenin found his own circumstances particularly difficult to endure.
He could not leave Haire.
The emperor’s command was absolute.
He resented the fact that he would have to spend the rest of his life fighting monsters and enemies in this place.
His life here needed to be even more extravagant and abundant than the glorious life he had enjoyed in the capital.
Lenin himself knew that such feelings of inferiority were far removed from the image of the god everyone believed him to be.
But he could not stop.
It was difficult to abandon the sweetness that allowed him to forget reality.
Today, however, Lenin was devastated that someone had discovered his secret pastime.
And it had been discovered by some worthless knight from the temple!
Nothing had been confirmed yet, but whether it was true no longer mattered.
What mattered now was the fact that he had felt humiliated.
He needed to continue living as though nothing had happened—as though the incident had never existed in the first place.
To accomplish that, he had to kill the man.
He needed to personally confirm that the man had stopped breathing. Then he might finally be able to cast off this filthy feeling.
His sharpened hearing caught the faint sound of footsteps.
One set was light, while the other was heavier.
The thought that the man with those insolent eyes was approaching made him impatient.
Should he pierce his throat and kill him instantly?
Or should he open a hole in his stomach and watch him die slowly?
It might be enjoyable to leave only those irritating eyes intact.
Knock, knock.
At last, the sound of knocking echoed through the room.
Standing before the door, Lenin Abiran calmly suppressed his excitement.
If he immediately blasted a hole through the man’s stomach and appeared too delighted about it, that would make him look undignified in its own way.
He drew upon the power within him, and a small current of wind gathered above his hand.
He collected the wind in his palm and compressed it.
Smaller and smaller.
Feeling the trapped wind writhing inside his fist, he spoke.
“Enter.”
The well-oiled door opened soundlessly.
The attendant appeared first.
“Lord Lenin, I have brought the knight.”
He delivered his report in a gentle voice, but Lenin was not listening.
Lenin’s attention was entirely focused on the black-haired man standing behind him.
Excited, he raised his hand and aimed for the man’s stomach.
Lenin knew that his attack would first pass through his attendant’s chest, but he did not care.
It would mean nothing more than having to replace a single servant.
Inflicting pain upon the insolent knight who had humiliated him as soon as possible was far more important.
Keeping his gaze fixed on the yellow eyes staring back at him, Lenin opened his clenched fist.
The sensation of the compressed air escaping his hand was exhilarating.
He could finally put his mind at ease.
The floor would naturally be stained with blood, but Lenin did not care about that either.
If he went for a short walk, someone would have cleaned it by the time he returned.
Boom!
The sound of exploding air echoed through the room, but the scene Lenin had anticipated did not unfold.
Someone did collapse, but the only person who lost consciousness was his attendant.
Lenin thought he had seen a flash of light, but it had passed too quickly for him to be certain what he had witnessed.
It was extremely rare for someone carrying the blood of Abiran to experience a situation that his five senses could not follow.
His entire body tensed at the unfamiliar sensation resembling fear.
The black-haired man stared at him expressionlessly before finally speaking.
“Is greeting people like this a specialty of your family?”
The instant he heard the man’s voice, Lenin realized that his opponent was no ordinary knight from the temple.
Lenin possessed instincts as sharp as a finely honed blade.
He was a natural-born hunter who never lost prey once he had taken aim at it.
Lenin immediately charged at Ratel.
It was a precise and rational judgment.
Drawing the sword at his waist, Lenin tried to stab the man through the chest, but Ratel’s blade smoothly deflected his attack.
Refusing to give him time to prepare a counterattack, Lenin swung his sword toward Ratel’s neck. Ratel twisted aside, evaded it, and kicked the unconscious attendant far away.
Enraged that his opponent had enough composure to protect someone else, Lenin drew upon his power.
A powerful wind was an effective means of obstructing an enemy’s vision.
Riding the current of the gale he had created, Lenin rapidly closed in on his enemy.
His target was Ratel’s eyes.
He intended to ensure that those insolent eyes never opened again.
Yet his sword cut through empty air once more.
Lenin turned his head, searching for the man who had abruptly disappeared from sight.
At that moment, an overwhelming force struck him from behind and slammed him face-first into the floor.
He tried to rise immediately, but the impact crushing his neck caused him to miss his opportunity.
Lenin was an exceptional hunter.
Not one of the judgments he had made after the man entered the room had been incorrect.
Therefore, his inability to land a proper blow before being seized by the collar and smashed into the floor was not the result of faulty judgment.
He was simply weaker than his opponent.
* * *
Jing had waited outside for Ratel to defeat Lenin. When no further sounds came from inside, he immediately entered the room.
“He seems considerably weaker than Dito. I don’t understand how something like this could be responsible for guarding Abiran’s borders.”
Ratel spoke calmly while pinning the struggling Lenin beneath him.
“You’re simply too strong. If it were me, I would have lost my life in less than ten minutes.”
Jing answered while closing the door.
“How dare you do this! Who are you bastards?!”
Lenin repeatedly summoned sharp winds in an attempt to attack Jing and Ratel, but each one was blocked by Ratel’s power and dissipated helplessly.
“Shut up.”
Sounding annoyed, Ratel tightened the hand gripping his neck.
“Urgh!”
Once Lenin finally fell silent, Jing bent down and looked at him.
Seeing Lenin defeated by Ratel far more quickly than expected and looking utterly pathetic left Jing with a strange feeling.
Lenin glared fiercely at him.
Although his eyes gleamed with the determination to kill, he did not appear to recognize Jing.
“I remained by your side for quite a long time, yet you don’t even recognize me.”
Jing muttered bitterly.
Frowning at those words, Lenin scrutinized Jing’s face. His eyes gradually widened.
“Y-you...!”
Having finally recognized the face of Duke Feedus, Lenin’s body lurched upward, but Ratel did not allow him to thrash about as he pleased.
“Stay still. Try moving one more time, and I’ll open a hole in your throat.”
Despite Ratel’s warning, Lenin’s eyes burned with rage.
He panted harshly as though unable to believe that he was being treated this way.
Ratel looked away from Lenin and toward the attendant lying unconscious beside them.
If Ratel had not blocked Lenin’s attack, there would have been a hole through the attendant’s chest.
Ratel knew that Lenin had launched the attack despite being fully aware of whom it would strike.
Lenin’s face had been filled with excitement at the mere prospect of killing Ratel.
With clouded eyes, Ratel looked down at Lenin’s smooth golden hair.
In contrast to his calm expression, a vicious emotion was swelling inside his chest.
It was not as though he was particularly angry because Lenin had tried to kill one of his own servants.
The sight of such a stereotypical member of the imperial family had merely awakened the anger within him that had briefly hidden itself.
It would be easy to tear Lenin’s throat open right now.
Knowing that only a tiny amount of strength would suffice made the impulse even more difficult to resist.
Ratel was naturally aware that he needed to control his emotions.
He also understood that sparing this man would be more beneficial than killing him now.
Yet despite knowing all of that, relaxing his grip was not easy.
Seeing Ratel’s hand gradually tightening around Lenin’s throat, Jing placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Calm down. Killing him now would complicate matters.”
They needed the holy relic, but it was still too early to kill Lenin.
Thanks to Ran, everything had proceeded smoothly until now. They could kill Lenin and flee, but one problem remained.
If Lenin suddenly disappeared, no one would remain to protect the people gathered in Haire from the monsters.
They could not know how long it would take for the capital to hear the news and send another member of the imperial family.
Those possessing more wealth than they could ever need would be fine.
They could simply leave for somewhere else.
However, the people barely managing to survive in Haire could not leave.
If monsters attacked while everyone was in chaos, those at the very bottom of the hierarchy would ultimately suffer the damage.
But Jing knew that Ratel did not care about such considerations.
He also knew that it would be wrong to demand that Ratel share his own affection for his homeland.
Jing silently kept his hand on Ratel’s shoulder.
He merely hoped that Ratel would not make a hasty decision.
While receiving Jing’s silent concern, Ratel brought his sword down upon Lenin.
Thud!
It was not that he wanted to protect them.
He had merely remembered the face of a certain little boy who had quietly thanked him.
“Aaargh!!!”
Ratel’s sword sank into Lenin’s arm.
Blood sprayed from the wound.
Jing released a relieved breath and produced a bottle in which to collect Lenin’s blood.
Breathing heavily, Lenin glared at Ratel as though he wanted to kill him.
“Have you only now become afraid of dealing with the consequences? It’s already too late. Someday, you’ll regret sparing me—”
Lenin could not finish his venomous threat.
Thud!
Ratel struck him as though intending to smash his skull.
After collecting enough of Lenin’s blood, Jing glanced at Ratel, who was looking down at him impassively.
“What? Did you think I would lose control and kill him?”
“Partly. You have no reason to protect the people of Abiran, do you?”
“I didn’t want to protect them.”
Ratel muttered.
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