Chapter 20

Gale Hawk.

The leader of the 2nd Knight Order of Anderson, he held absolute loyalty to Anderson.

The sword he wielded was forged by Anderson, and its meaning was bestowed by Anderson.

For him, the orders passed down from the family were absolute, and he believed they must be followed without question.

Even if it meant sacrificing his own life, or harming others without reason…

“Are you saying I should harm Lady Jeremiah?”

But what if that blade had to be turned against another Anderson?

Facing Gale, who was in turmoil, Gerard Anderson responded with an unnervingly calm voice.

“I’m not saying to kill her. That wretch has overstepped her bounds, so I’m simply giving her the treatment she deserves.”

“But Lady Jeremiah is your sister, Lord Gerard. How could I dare…?”

“Haha, Gale. You’re showing respect to that incompetent wretch? Are you worried that you’ll be punished if something happens to her?”

It wasn’t the fear of harm that troubled him.

What terrified him was that she, too, was an Anderson.

No matter how much of an outcast she was, she was still someone he had sworn loyalty to. Harming her would be a betrayal of that loyalty.

“Listen well, Gale.”

Yet, Gerard spoke as if correcting a misunderstanding.

“That wretch is a stain on the Anderson name. A failure who couldn’t even carry out the orders given by our father. Her very existence tarnishes our family. It would be better if she didn’t exist in this world.”

Wasn’t that too harsh, even for his own sister?

Unable to voice such thoughts, Gale could only silently endure his master’s harsh words.

“That trash of a woman broke one of my swords without a shred of conscience. A worthless leech who contributes nothing to the family, daring to harm a knight loyal to the family!”

The more he heard, the more Gale felt a piercing pain in his chest.

Even if it’s rotten flesh, cutting it out still hurts.

Yet, Gerard was ready to cut out his own sister without hesitation.

“Father said to give her a chance, but I disagree. If we leave her alone, she might crawl back and cause more trouble.”

“…So you plan to exclude her from the family?”

“Killing her isn’t enough. She must suffer every moment she breathes, regretting what she’s done. That’s the treatment she deserves.”

Why is their malice so sharp?

Is being born into the wrong family reason enough to be despised and tormented?

“You’re not thinking of defying me, are you?”

Despite his guilt, Gale couldn’t raise a hand against him.

The one who gave the order was the first heir of Anderson, the very person he had sworn loyalty to.

If Gerard wished to wield the sword, then as a sword of Anderson, Gale had no choice but to obey.

“…I will follow your command.”

That is what loyalty means.

Even if it means staining his hands, if it is for the family, then as the family’s sword, he must bear it.

“Do you not think this is wrong?”

In the land of criminals, Gale faced someone who sought to protect a member of the family he was ordered to harm.

“As a knight serving the family, do you not think harming a family member is wrong?”

The bitter question struck deep into his heart.

The one who gave the order was Anderson, but the one he was to harm was also Anderson.

“Right or wrong… that’s not for me to judge.”

But isn’t that what loyalty is?

Even if it’s wrong, if the master commands it, it must be carried out.

If the family’s will chooses to abandon a member, then as the family’s sword, he must be the one to execute it.

“…Yes, without considering right or wrong, an honorable knight ends up joining hands with dishonorable criminals.”

Sebastian continued his sharp rebuke, filled with thorns.

Gale, silently watching him, finally voiced his doubts.

“Why do you seek to protect the lady?”

“…Is it strange for a servant to protect the one they serve?”

“With your skills, you could serve anyone.”

Yet, why serve the lady?

Abandoned by the family, abandoned by the world.

Why would a man with nothing to lose choose to serve her, left alone in such a state?

“…Anyone would have sufficed.”

He answered in a quiet voice.

“The one I serve could have been anyone. A sinner, a villain, even a pitiful lady cast out by the family. If anyone had pulled me out of that place, I would have gladly served them.”

“That’s…”

“Does loyalty mean abandoning your master if they have flaws? Is loyalty such a narrow and convenient concept?”

His sharp gaze and firm questions struck Gale, who instinctively averted his eyes.

Though he had fought countless enemies, the courage to shield even the flaws of the one he served was sharper than any blade.

“Don’t treat me the same. I find it disgusting to be equated with a hypocrite like you.”

Gale couldn’t respond to such resolute will.

He couldn’t.

In the face of someone who denied the very loyalty he used to justify his wrongdoings.

“…I won’t ask for your understanding.”

So Gale gave up.

He abandoned the hope that the man who swore loyalty to a small, fragile being would understand his loyalty to a greater entity.

“It’s just that those who have no choice have clashed. Can you accept the situation as it is?”

The order had already been given, and he couldn’t defy it.

With no room to retreat, what needed to be done here wasn’t to convince each other, but to cross swords.

Using force to determine right and wrong is the most common method in human history.

“That’s right. If words could have resolved this, we wouldn’t have come this far.”

Sebastian, seemingly accepting this as well, closed his mouth and raised his dining knife.

Facing him, Gale faintly realized that further conversation was impossible.

All that remained was to fight, to defeat, and for the victor to seize the chance to fulfill their loyalty.

Anticipating only that, Gale raised his sword and prepared to charge.

-Clang!!

Just before the clash.

A crack formed in the side wall of the room they were in, and something aimed through the gap began to spew fire.

“Now, fire!!”

-Bang!!

Following the shout, an explosion echoed, and blood gushed uncontrollably from the targeted man’s body.

Countless beams of light. And explosions.

His body torn apart by the barrage from the cracked wall, the target collapsed to the ground without even a scream.

“What…?”

Gale stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the scene.

After a short while, Gale belatedly realized that this was the territory of criminals.

Yes, this was the headquarters of the Black Bundle.

They would naturally know the mansion’s secret passages, and using that knowledge, they had launched a surprise attack, effortlessly taking the life of the man preparing for a duel.

“Keh, hahaha!! Finally got him!”

The mastermind behind the ambush, Yozak, the leader of the Black Bundle, emerged from the crack, clapping his hands.

Extremely cheerfully.

As if he had broken through a blockage, he smiled refreshingly and spoke leisurely to Gale, who was still staring blankly at the scene.

“Well, that was quite a hassle~ Who would have thought that someone would not only stir up the mansion alone but also reach where our goods are… If it weren’t for you drawing their attention, it could have been quite dangerous~”

It was a sincere thanks.

If he had broken through all the defenses and taken the goods, the deal with the Bloody Artist would have been ruined, risking their hostility.

Gale, who had personally prevented this, was the best trading partner. From Yozak’s perspective, there was no reason not to show favor.

“Boss! The monster outside has retreated!”

“Kehehe, no matter how monstrous, overwhelming firepower is the answer.”

As Yozak and his men breathed a sigh of relief and regained their composure, Gale, standing alone, looked down at the mangled corpse and began to tremble.

“…Is this it?”

He thought it was inevitable.

Both had their loyalties, and they had no choice but to oppose each other. At the very least, he believed the fight should end with his own hands.

“Is this… it?”

But what was this result?

Even a fight born of loyalty, which should have been honorable, was tainted by the hands of criminals.

“Is it? What are you talking about, customer?”

But the criminals couldn’t understand, nor did they care.

In response to Yozak’s puzzled question, Gale shook his head.

“…No, it’s nothing.”

“Well, if you say so. We’ll clean up and prepare for the deal~”

As Yozak’s men turned their attention away from Gale and began to clean up the corpse, some of them headed towards the box where Jeremiah was sleeping.

Seeing this, Gale felt his heart sink and hesitated.

But that hesitation didn’t lead to any action to stop them.

Having already joined hands with them and killed even those who had sworn loyalty to her, he had no right to stop the criminals from defiling her.

‘Is this really… loyalty?’

So he just stood there, guarding the spot.

His conscience, now in tatters, was engulfed in doubt about whether his loyalty was truly righteous.

‘Is Anderson really on the right path?’

Perhaps Anderson was walking the wrong path.

As that doubt began to sprout in his heart, a ripple began to spread among the surrounding gang members.

“W-what!? What’s going on…!?”

Panic seeped from their mouths.

As if something that shouldn’t have happened had occurred.

Following their gaze, Gale saw a tattered body rising to its feet.

“H-how…?”

His body had been torn apart by lethal weapons.

Even for a skilled individual, with vital points destroyed, life should have ceased.

“Ah, this is quite…”

Yet, he stood up, and even more, he looked around with his remaining eye, letting out a sigh.

“Thanks to you, my body is in ruins. This body was quite delicately made, so it will take a lot of effort to repair it after being so badly damaged.”

“M-madman! What the hell is going on!!”

Yozak and his men, panicking, aimed their weapons, but Sebastian, facing them, only smiled leisurely.

As if the weapons pointed at him didn’t matter.

“I didn’t expect such an attack. The weapons here are different from what I’m used to, so it’s natural I couldn’t react in time.”

“Sh-shoot him! Kill him!!”

-Bang!!

As the weapons spewed fire, his body was torn apart again.

Yet, his body didn’t fall.

Instead, the smile on his face disappeared, and a distortion spread like fog around him.

Dark and red.

“…But you know, after taking that hit, I suddenly thought.”

In the midst of the ominous fog, a grotesquely distorted voice echoed, and the criminals, who had been firing their weapons, stopped as they felt something eerie closing in on them.

“Should I really be considerate of you all?”

The fog, filled with poison, solidified into something—blades, needles, perhaps even beastly fangs—that pierced their bodies, gnawing at them like jaws, causing blood to spurt.

Yet, the blood didn’t flow; it seeped into the fog.

Merging with the demon who was the source of the fog, making the red light within the fog even more vivid.

“Should I, who am not even human, really have to deal with you all on a human level?”

The scene repeated itself.

A scene where life withered away.

A scene reminiscent of hell.

Gale could only watch, holding his breath.

“That, that’s…”

He couldn’t even draw his sword to respond.

Something without a physical form couldn’t be defeated by a sword that merely surpassed human limits.

“A demon…”

A demon. A cruel and evil being summoned from hell.

Among them, one exuding an overwhelming presence that even a swordmaster couldn’t match whispered in his ear.

“…It’s the seed you planted.”

To explain why a being that should be in hell was here.

“Because you drove her to despair, a being like me has emerged in this world.”

The seed of hatred they had sown.

To show that it had finally sprouted here.

“Why do you look so surprised?”

Facing the knight of Anderson, who had heard this, the demon sneered at the despair on his face.

“Did you think she was some saint who would quietly endure no matter how much she was trampled? Even a worm squirms when stepped on, so did you think a human like her wouldn’t retaliate?”

“I, I…”

-Choke!!

The fog around his neck tightened, cutting into his throat.

“Now you realize what you’ve done.”

The precariousness of his life, feeling the roots of a great evil from the depths of hell piercing his body.

It was something that shouldn’t have happened. A being that should never have existed.

The one who brought such a being into this world was none other than the family he had sworn loyalty to.

“Even so, it’s too late now.”

“Guh, ugh…”

As even his belated regret was consumed by pain, Gale knelt on the ground, barely managing to breathe.

Knowing resistance was futile, knowing this demon could kill him at any moment.

Yet, the reason it didn’t kill him wasn’t out of mercy.

It was to make a statement to those present.

To prove that it possessed such immense power and could drive its targets into agony.

“Sebastian…”

The one who needed to be convinced through such a display finally awoke and appeared before him.

Her mind still half-asleep, her eyes half-closed, the woman weakly looked at him.

“Sebastian, is it?”

Jeremiah Anderson.

The tragic woman who summoned a demon out of vengeance against the world.

“…My lady.”

The demon, recognizing her presence, quietly approached her and posed a question.

With a voice devoid of the sadism aimed at the fools scattered around, but instead filled with care and consideration.

“Dare I ask you, my lady.”

Those who sought to cast her into the abyss simply because her birth was deemed wrong.

“Do you still desire vengeance?”

The desire for vengeance against this wretched world, which he could fulfill with his own hands.

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