abcnovels
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]
Chapter 3: Came Back for Revenge (2)
Landwalk City.
It was a city not far from the Haksen Manor.
Situated at the nexus connecting the northern and eastern parts of the kingdom, it served as a commercial mecca where numerous goods were transported daily.
With such commerce thriving, entertainment venues also flourished. In his past life, Damien had visited Landwalk City merely for the sake of enjoyment.
“To see myself in such a fine state again.”
Upon entering Landwalk City, Damien was briefly immersed in nostalgia.
During the time when he was a death knight Death under Dorugo’s command, Landwalk City met the same fate as his family at his hands.
The screams of slaughter done by the undead that day still echoed in his ears.
“Young master? You seem troubled.”
Victor glanced at Damien’s Face and asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s nothing, you say. Aren’t you afraid to return to that tavern again?”
To Damien, Victor’s words seemed absurd.
It was a face that questioned what this was all about.
“I understand. It’s because of the Black Serpent, isn’t it? You’re scared of going back there?”
“Black Serpent? What’s that?”
“Oh my, young master. Why do you always… That’s the name of the most influential organisation thriving in Landwalk City.”
“Ah, I see…”
Only after hearing did my memory about it return.
At that time, there was indeed a highly renowned organisation in the Landwalk city.
It rapidly absorbed all the other organisations in Landwalk City and rose to become the ruler of the underworld within a short period.
However, by the time Damien worked as a mercenary, it had already collapsed.
The knights who had arrived in Landwalk City at that time had systematically wiped them out.
“So, being affiliated with the Black Serpent allowed them to act so recklessly.”
Landwalk City thrived as a merchant hub.
It established its independent power, escaping the grip of nobility with vast capital and influence.
Therefore, the aristocratic power was inevitably weak here.
Given that context and the tavern’s association with the Black Serpent, it seemed that they belittled minor nobles like Haksen House.
“Guide me.”
“Excuse me? Um, where exactly?”
“If not that tavern, where else would I be going?”
He had completely forgotten about the Black Serpent, let alone the way to that tavern.
Victor’s expression turned pale at Damien’s words.
“Sir… Y-You really intend to go there?”
“Indeed.”
“I was absolutely sure you’d just pretend to go there…”
“I am good at telling jokes.”
Damien laughed lightly, patting Victor’s shoulder.
“From now on, remember this. I won’t tell lies anymore.”
“Yes? Yes?”
“Understood? Then hurry up and lead the way.”
At Damien’s command, tears welled up in Victor’s eyes
“Sir, we’ve arrived.”
Victor said in a feeble voice.
The tavern appeared as soon as they entered a narrow alley.
“Sir, are you really going in? Please, for both our sakes, let’s reconsider this…”
Damien glanced at Victor with an amused look.
If he disliked it so much, he could have refused. Yet he went through with the guidance, grumbling along the way. Truly a stubborn fellow.
“Don’t worry, just follow me.”
Damien stepped forward without hesitation.
Though hesitant, Victor followed behind him.
Two guards were stationed at the tavern’s entrance.
One was smoking a cigarette, the other was peeling an apple core.
“Hmm?”
The guard smoking a cigarette noticed Damien’s arrival. Unfortunately, he was bald.
The bald guard nodded and gestured to another guard beside him.
“Hey, isn’t that guy…?”
The other guard, unlike the bald one, had a full head of hair and was busy peeling an apple.
“You mean the nobleman who got his butt kicked and ran away?”
“Seems like it. How dare he show his face here again? We warned him not to, but he’s back.”
As the two guards exchanged words, Damien arrived at the door.
“Hey there, noble sir. What brings you here again? We told you not to show your face here again.”
The guard with hair sliced an apple corner excessively and shoved it into his mouth.
Chewing on the apple, he asked
“Or perhaps, are you here for revenge?”
“You catch on quickly. Indeed, I’m here for revenge.”
The guard blinked repeatedly in surprise.
Then he turned to the bald guard and asked,
“Hey, what did this guy just say?”
“He said he’s here for revenge.”
“I didn’t mishear it, did I?”
The bald guard chuckled bitterly.
“Is your pride hurt, coming here like a noble to us commoners, after getting beaten?”
Throwing the partially eaten apple to the ground, he smacked Damien’s cheek with his hand, stained with apple juice.
“Need a few more hits to wake you up? Maybe break a few teeth to sober you up?”
As if that weren’t enough, he pinched Damien’s cheek with his fingers.
“Just so you don’t misunderstand. A no-name family like the Haksens has no power in this city. Even if we killed your family here…”
Damien gazed silently at the guard.
More accurately, his attention was fixed on the guard’s apple knife.
“Enough.”
“What?”
Suddenly, Damien snatched the apple knife from the guard’s hand.
“As I didn’t bring a weapon, I’ll borrow this for a moment.”
“Is this guy crazy!”
The bald guard tried to grab the apple knife back, but Damien swung it first.
The horizontally swung apple knife barely missed the bald guard’s neck.
Flesh tore, blood sprayed, and the bald guard collapsed, spurting blood like a broken faucet.
“Argh!”
A person’s neck was sliced off as if it were a piece of paper cut by a dull knife.
Shocked by the gruesome sight, the bald guard couldn’t utter a word.
“What the… What’s this guy doing!”
Among Damien’s previous opponents that he had fought, there was a master nicknamed as the “Killer Ghost”, known not for martial arts but murderous techniques, attaining mastery in the art of killing.
The Killer Ghost’s most powerful sword art was the “Life-Taking Sword”, a sword art which allowed him to effortlessly sever a person’s body like cutting water with a blade.
Due to his infamy, Dorugo had attempted to recruit him, but the situation turned sour, leading to his fight with Damien.
After a 30-minute struggle, Damien absorbed all of the Killer Ghost’s skills and achieved victory.
“Dare to mess with the Black Serpent? You’re really out of your mind, wanting to die!”
“Didn’t you hear earlier? I said I came for revenge.”
“This son of a…!”
The bald guard clenched his fists and lunged forward.
With emotionless eyes, Damien anticipated the bald guard’s movements.
He dodged the flying fist aimed at his face by twisting his upper body.
At that moment, he raised the apple knife upwards.
The apple knife brushed against the bald man’s wrist as it passed by.
Despite the casual swing, the wrist was severed abruptly.
“Argh!”
The bald man screamed in agony, clutching his severed wrist.
Damien pushed the apple knife into the bald man’s neck.
The bald man’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the side.
As a result, the apple knife was automatically removed.
“Phew.”
Damien took a deep breath.
Even after a brief movement, his breathing became ragged.
‘My body is indeed too weak.’
His muscles were undeveloped, and cardiovascular endurance was at its lowest.
Moreover, he hadn’t mastered any aura techniques.
‘No wonder it’s difficult to achieve the level of my past life.’
Upon deciding on a plan, Victor interrupted.
“M-Master!”
Victor rushed over in shock, staring at the collapsed body without a word.
“Wh-When did you… or, rather, did you really have to kill?”
From Victor’s perspective, it was a reasonable question.
The gap in skill between Damien and the others was stark.
Even though he could have subdued them, killing was an excessive act.
But Damien didn’t see it that way.
“Why did I kill?”
Even if his family’s influence was weak, Damien was still a nobleman.
The stigma of causing trouble in a tavern and getting beaten by commoners was hard to erase.
“Shouldn’t we restore my and my family’s honour?”
If there was a way, it would only be to repay disgrace multiple times over.
For instance, by killing everyone on the other side.
Ultimately, Damien was the victim.
He caused a ruckus in the tavern due to ridiculous insults hurled at him.
Undoubtedly, they must have looked down on him and thus deserved the consequences.
“If you’re scared, you can wait outside.”
Victor lowered his head and said.
“But I should at least protect your back, sir.”
At that response, Damien chuckled. Victor was truly naive.
“What a noble sentiment.”
With that, Damien entered the tavern.
The inside of the tavern was incredibly spacious.
In the centre, there was a stage for dancers in revealing outfits.
Customers sat around, drinking and cheering while watching the spectacle.
“Yeah, I used to love hanging out at places like this.”
Memories from the past flooded in.
Embarrassment overwhelmed him at the thought of his naive days.
“Why did I even come to such a place…?”
As Damien lamented internally,
“Ahh!”
“Ahh!”
The Female staff, noticing Damien stained with blood, screamed.
Hearing the commotion, guards emerged from various places.
“Damn, what the hell happened?”
“Hey, who’s this guy? He’s holding a knife!”
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]
One of the guards approached Damien.
He had a face full of scars, as if he had lived a rough life.
“Hey, where did you come from? Why come to someone else’s establishment and cause trouble?”
“I have no business with the underlings. Tell your boss to come out.”
He didn’t really expect the boss to appear. It was just to provoke the man in front of him.
“Have you seen such a crazy guy?”
The man, unable to contain his anger, tried to grab Damien’s collar.
But before that, Damien’s apple knife moved.
Swiftly swaying, the apple knife severed the man’s wrists.
“…Huh?”
Were human wrists really so easily severed?
As the man was stunned, Damien passed him by. Simultaneously, his throat was cut.
Arteries and veins were severed, blood gushed out, and a pungent smell of blood spread in all directions.
“Aaah!”
The people screamed in horror.
“I’ll say it again.”
Damien addressed them.
“Bring out the boss.”
The guards exchanged glances, then swiftly drew their daggers.
“This bastard!”
“Kill him!”
About a dozen guards rushed from all directions.
Observing them, Damien briefly clicked his tongue.
“I won’t let you moths escape”
Damien’s hand moved.
With each swing of the apple knife, the guards’ throats were cut.
“Gah! Ack!”
Adult men fell like scarecrows.
In the blink of an eye, all the guards turned into corpses.
“Phew.”
Damien calmed his rough breath. Clearly, his stamina was lacking.
“Master! Here, take this!”
Suddenly, Victor brought the daggers the guards had carried.
Damien couldn’t help but admire Victor’s adaptability.
“Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”
“What? But wouldn’t this be better than using the apple knife?”
Compared to the apple knife, the dagger was slightly longer, wider, and much sharper.
However, Damien had no intention of changing weapons.
“When dealing with such riffraff, any weapon will do.”
He entered further into the tavern.
As he passed, the hiding staff and customers dashed outside.
As he went in further, the guards rushed at him.
“Everyone, charge together!”
“Push him back with shields!”
As intended, they blocked Damien with wooden shields.
“Kuk!”
“Argh!”
But it was futile resistance.
With each swing of the apple knife, shields were cut and throats were slit.
Thud.
He kicked the office door. With a loud sound, the door swung open.
“Noisy.”
Inside were two men.
An elderly man sat in the boss’s chair.
Next to him, a young man stood upright.
“Can’t you come in quietly? I detest disturbances.”
For someone cornered, he seemed remarkably composed.
Puzzled, Damien asked the old man, “Are you the boss?”
“Yeah, I’m Andersen Holm, the owner of this tavern. And who might you be?”
“Damien.”
“Haksen? The brat from the Viscount Haksen family?”
Andersen’s eyes widened.
With an incredulous look, he scrutinised Damien.
“The brat was this skilled? No, why did you attack my establishment?”
“I was here a few days ago, and got into a scrape.”
“You, with that much skill, got into trouble with our guys?”
Andersen looked even more puzzled. Damien shrugged.
“I was quite drunk at the time.”
He mumbled roughly, not really here to justify himself.
“Wouldn’t you have been quietly tucked away at home if I let you live? Why come back to my establishment?”
“I’ve lost too much because of that incident. I’ve come to reclaim it.”
“Lost? Ah, talking about honour, huh? But, am I getting too old, or is it just that I can’t understand? Is there any honour to lose for the Haksen family’s Damien?”
The corners of Damien’s eyes twitched at the old man’s words.
“My subordinates didn’t even report this to me. Do you know why? Because Damien isn’t worth much.”
“This won’t work.”
Damien said shortly, clicking his tongue.
“I was planning to spare you if you came to apologise, but now I might as well take an arm.”
“Hahaha, how absurd.”
Andersen Holm chuckled as he rose from his seat.
Then, he politely bowed to the young man who had been standing still.
“It seems Ted should step in.”
“The cost of using me is high.”
“I understand. I’ve already explained it to the boss.”
Andersen Holm took out a small leather pouch from a drawer and extended it.
“Here are ten gold coins.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Just cut off a limb. Then I’ll have my subordinates take care of the rest and dump it in the back shed.”
“Understood.”
Ted dryly replied as he drew the longsword from his waist.
At that moment, a heavy aura spread all around.
Damien scrutinized the young man with an intrigued expression.
“It seems you’re not someone typically employed in a place like this.”
“Don’t make unpleasant assumptions. I belong to the Black Serpents. I was waiting here on the boss’s orders.”
“The Black Serpents? They’re making quite the waves these days. Using a squire as a tavern guard.”
Damien’s words surprised the young man.
“…How did you guess I’m a squire?”
“I have a good eye.”
To become a full-fledged knight, one must go through the ranks of squire, apprentice knight, junior knight, and then knight.
The squire comes right after the trainee.
However, being a squire doesn’t mean being weak.
Just being a squire means being strong enough to kill a beast with bare hands.
“Quite a decent opponent.”
“Decent?”
Ted reacted with surprise.
“Just seeing a squire working in a place like this gives me an estimate.”
Damien added with a smirk,
“Seems like you weren’t talented enough to rise to the rank of junior knight and got kicked out. For someone like that, even saying ‘decent’ is an overestimation, don’t you think?”
Click.
Along with the sound of teeth gritting, Ted’s aura intensified.
“Seems like I’ve hit a nerve?”
“Let’s start by tearing that mouth of yours.”
Before finishing his, Ted lunged forward towards him, kicking the ground fiercely.
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]