I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

29 – The Society of Dead Wizards (1)

It was an atmosphere that was hard to describe.

The torturer mage, tears streaming down his face, lifted his brother’s head. Tuon, seemingly wanting to avoid the situation, kept his mouth shut and held an ordinary sword.

Orisin could only whisper softly.

[That… face does look a bit similar.]

Yeah, damn it. I know. The torturer mage and the head he held were right in front of me. If this were a stage, I would have been treated to a first-class seat.

The head, with its blue-gray scales that made it hard to see as human skin, was remarkably similar to the torturer mage in overall appearance, except for the skin.

If there was a difference, it would be the ears. The ears on the head were pointed, reminiscent of an elf, while the torturer mage’s ears were rounded.

A half-elf? There seems to be a complicated family situation.

After shedding a torrent of tears, the torturer mage slowly placed the head on the table.

I wanted to signal to the commander of the border guard. What on earth should we do about this situation?

However, he had already retreated from this uncomfortable spot through excellent stealth. They say the true worth of the empire’s commanders is revealed in their retreat, and it was clear he was a master at hiding himself.

The torturer mage, leaving the head behind, slowly approached me and bowed his head.

“…My brother has caused trouble.”

I carefully chose my words. No matter how deep the abyss, speaking carelessly in front of the bereaved could be seen as highly improper and could cause my honor to plummet.

“I regret that things have come to this.”

“No, it is largely my fault. If I had found my brother earlier and set him on the right path, he wouldn’t have hurt the people of this city like this…”

The torturer mage tried to speak calmly, but he couldn’t hide the deep sorrow in his voice.

“Thank you for stopping my brother before he could commit more sins. My name is Lwein Lir.”

[Lir? That’s a name from the noble elven family of the empire.]

Orisin whispered in a voice only I could hear. Indeed, I remembered that the current chancellor of the empire also bore the name Lir.

“Are you saying you are from the family that carries the blood of the ancient elves?”

“Ah, yes. I am merely a distant branch who can barely use the surname Lir.”

Taking this conversation as some sort of signal, Lwein, still bowing his head, began to spill his family history. A humble branch of the noble family of the empire that carried the blood of the ancient elves. Twins born from the union of a human and an elf.

Unlike Lwein, who did not receive the blessing of their lineage, his brother inherited strong elven traits. That must have been the reason for the difference in ear shapes. Lwein’s talents were ordinary, but his brother was hailed as a prodigy.

“But my brother… Colin neglected his efforts. At some point, his magic hit a plateau.”

[Oh dear. Seeing the beginning and the end, I can guess the process. It’s a story with a bitter aftertaste.]

Inferiority complex over reversed abilities. At some point, Colin ran away from the family, and Lwein, having honed his skills while searching for his brother, became the torturer mage of the gateway city.

I recalled Colin’s words about having a plan to infiltrate the heart of the gateway city.

He forged a letter with the family seal to summon his brother back home and planned to stab his brother in the back with his comrades. Moreover, the physical trait of being twins. Colin’s plan was obvious.

He intended to kill Lwein and impersonate him. The recent wyvern commotion was caused by the fallen brother, and he would have presented Lwein’s corpse as evidence.

If the plan had succeeded, he could have taken the position of the torturer mage of the gateway city.

It was truly a half-baked plan.

[Huh? Why? Isn’t it a somewhat feasible plan?]

Ori-shin raised a question, as if reading my mind. From the perspective of a spirit, it might be somewhat unfamiliar.

The job of a court wizard required social skills.

‘Even if you disguise the skin or ears of a wyvern with magic, a court wizard is not a position for someone who has never properly engaged in social life. It’s a position where you can directly advise the lord, so it’s practically the core bureaucrat of the city.’

[Hmm. That story is….]

‘Can you properly manage the network that originally interacted with the court wizard? Or can you at least match the report format properly? You have to mingle with all sorts of people in the city right under the lord, but how can someone who wasted time mingling with the abyss perform the duties of a court wizard?’

[Sometimes you are really harsh on the abyss.]

I can’t help it. How can I like the damned abyss that only gave me useless skills?

Luwein, who used to lament that his younger brother was kind in the past, raised his head again with an “Ah” sound.

“I’m sorry. I have troubled an esteemed guest. I heard you are a great warrior of the Eve Kaha Order.”

“Yes. I was on my way from the Holy Kingdom to the Empire.”

“To the Empire? The great warrior?”

A question arose in Luwein’s eyes, who was mourning the fall and death of his family. At this point, there was no reason for the Holy Kingdom to dispatch a great warrior to the Empire. There was no need to maintain unnecessary vigilance by adhering to mysticism.

I revealed part of the truth.

“I was on my way to seek advice from the Magic Tower. It was related to a kind of curse, and they said it needed to be analyzed from a broad perspective, not just by a priest.”

“If it’s not rude, may I know what it is?”

Ah.

This person was also a ‘court wizard.’

*

Luwein received a sword from a man with pale white hair. It was a horned sword said to be inhabited by a spirit.

“Hmm? Is there a problem with the spirit?”

“There is a very big problem….”

The man muttered something with a gloomy face. Luwein somehow felt that the appearance was very abyss-like, but he shook his head as soon as the thought came to mind. To think of a holy knight as abyss-like, there was no greater blasphemy.

Moreover, if Sir Kriel was truly from the abyss, how could he have been awarded the title of great warrior by the Order? And what about Colin? The fact that he did not assist in his brother’s evil plan but rather dealt with it proved Kriel’s innocence.

Luwein tried to erase the image of Colin’s face that seemed to linger in his eyes. It was the inevitable end for the fallen. At some moment when he was agonizing, Kriel’s voice stopped.

As Kriel finished his whisper, which seemed to be some kind of spell, a unicorn spirit sprang from the horned sword. It was not an artificial spirit made to fit the weapon from the beginning, but a spirit that inhabited the sword.

It was a strange thing, as he had heard from the border guard commander. Most spirits, the incarnations of nature, lived keeping their distance from both gods and civilization.

[May the dead wash away their sins under the wings of the raven.]

Luwein was inwardly surprised by the spirit’s polite greeting, which mentioned the grace of the gods, as spirits usually had little interest in the human world. No wonder the great warrior carried it around. Was it a weapon equivalent to the holy sword of the Order?

A sinisterly curved blade or a chilling sharpness. Compared to ordinary holy relics, it had a rather unique appearance, but to Lewain, it was a perfect fit for the holy sword of the Eve Kaha Order.

The Eve Kaha Order had always been like this. Lewain knew their history well. They were the ones who wielded red maces on the battlefield, harvesting skulls. Given their inherently grim reputation, it wasn’t surprising that their sword looked somewhat eerie.

In fact, considering that the sword was forged by the saint herself, the term “holy sword” wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

“Thank you for the blessing. Has something happened to the spirit?”

“It has been tainted by the Abyss.”

“What?”

“The spirit, it is tainted by the Abyss. Though I have temporarily purified it, the root of corruption remains. I am searching for a way to completely cleanse it.”

It was shocking news. The holy sword, which was under strict management by the Order, had been touched by the Abyss. Lewain’s expression grew serious.

In the Holy Kingdom, the holy sword had been tainted, and this gateway city, which had been quiet for decades, was attacked. He recalled the disturbances he had witnessed across the Empire under the lord’s command.

‘Perhaps all of this is part of a grand scheme by the Abyss…’

Lewain looked at the horned sword with eyes full of concern. If the demons of the Abyss were behind these events, then this sword was at the forefront of their conspiracy.

However, despite his instinctive unease, there was nothing he could do about the horned sword at the moment.

Lewain’s expertise lay in repairing city barriers and controlling the flow of water with magic, not in dangerous research on the Abyss.

Perhaps his brother had been tainted by the Abyss because of this. To prove that he could control what his elder brother feared.

Shaking off unnecessary thoughts, Lewain returned the horned sword to Kriel.

“I apologize for bringing this up, but I don’t think I can be of much help with this matter.”

“Ah, it’s alright. Research on the Abyss can easily be deemed heretical.”

“But I can introduce you to someone who might be able to help. Would you follow me?”

Lewain moved towards his study. Among the many invitations he had received while working under the lord, there was surely one from the Abyss Prevention Society.