Act 58

Prev I TOC I Next

Lupina Orland, known as the granddaughter of Ruger Orland, the owner of the renowned forge ‘Dusk Flame’, was his heir apparent. Despite her gender, she was mentioned as the next owner of the forge due to her reputation and skills. Not one to shy away from the grueling tasks, she always wore a smile, and there was no employee who disliked her.

“Lupina, as I mentioned earlier, I’m leaving today’s closing duties to you.”

“Yes, Grandfather, you said you were going out to buy what’s needed for the repair of the Moonlight Sword, right?”

“That’s right.”

As she placed her hat on and smiled at Ruger, who was watching her, she reassured him.

“Don’t worry. I can handle the closing by myself now.”

“I hope so.”

Ruger replied curtly, turning away and exiting the building. Watching him leave, Lupina began the closing duties of ‘Dusk Flame’, which was now empty of other workers.

“Hmm, everyone did a good job tidying up.”

The closing was not a grand task—merely ensuring that the other blacksmiths had put away their tools properly, checking that no fires were left burning, and confirming other miscellaneous tasks. In other forges, this might be a job for the least experienced, but at ‘Dusk Flame’, it was a tradition that the manager must finish the day.

“All the magic lamps are off, and everything that needs to be ordered by tomorrow is accounted for! Good!”

After surveying the workshop, Lupina smiled in satisfaction.

“Huh?”

Her eye caught a room that still had a light on. It was Ruger’s office.

‘I remember turning off the light in Grandfather’s office first…’

Wondering if he had returned and finished his business, she felt a bit curious but decided not to dwell on it and headed to Ruger’s office.

Thud!

Lupina opened the door and stepped inside.

“Grandfather, have you already finished your…”

She stopped mid-sentence, her expression turning to one of confusion as she shifted her gaze deeper into the office.

“Who are you?”

In the room were four figures with hoods obscuring their faces.

Though not trained in martial arts, Lupina could sense an extraordinary presence emanating from them—an ominous and somber aura.

“Strange… typically, only Ruger would be here at this hour.”

The man with the most intense aura spoke in a puzzling tone.

Lupina, feeling a chilling touch crawl over her skin, swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry, I should have checked properly…”

“Never mind that. Is this woman Ruger’s granddaughter?”

“It seems so.”

What are they doing here, breaking into someone’s workplace?

Lupina wanted to shout at them, but it didn’t seem the right time for bold declarations.

“What will you do now?”

“Given the situation, we’ll have to alter our plan.”

Their eyes met, and the man with the dominant presence commanded,

“Seize her.”

At that command, Lupina instantly turned and ran for the door.

***

Sneaking into the ‘Dusk Flame’ forge amid the darkness had not been difficult. In fact, it had become almost second nature after just one experience.

‘…To think I would be doing this again.’

There was a part of me that felt it was inevitable. Although I was somewhat annoyed at having to clean up after the ‘Black Knight’ who no longer existed, it also felt like recreating a scene from a game.

There was a certain thrill to it, similar to the role of the ‘Black Knight’ in the game ‘Let’s Kill the Demon King’ where he covertly sabotages the Dawn Society.

‘Calm down.’

I tucked away the creeping exhilaration and closed my eyes to focus. ‘Mana Detection’ was something I had frequently used while living here.

‘Are there five people?’

Using ‘Mana Detection’, I could roughly tell how many people were inside the ‘Dusk Flame’. 

‘One must be Pintel, another Ruger.’

Given the late hour, it seemed all other employees had left Ruger behind and gone home.

‘But why are they separated?’

Feeling something was off, I thinned and stretched my aura further, scattering it around the building to get a better sense of the situation.

Using ‘Mana Detection’ more carefully, I could now clearly tell where everyone was inside the building.

‘One is upstairs, four are on the same floor as me.’

What was strange was the group of four on my floor. It seemed like the three were chasing after one.

‘Is Ruger being chased?’

The auras of the four were moving in real-time and quite swiftly.

Considering Ruger’s advanced age, it seemed impossible for him to be moving at such a speed.

‘Where should I head first?’

After a moment’s thought, I decided to go where the four auras were most concentrated. Before moving, my reflection in a window caught my eye.

‘Right, it looks horrific every time.’

With a sigh at the grotesque appearance of the ‘Sombra’ mask I had created, I moved deeper into the building.

***

She ran towards the back door as fast as she had never run before in her life.

“Pant, pant…!”

Her breath was ragged, and her heart thudded loudly in her ears.

‘What is this… what’s going on?’

Could it be robbers? No, that seemed unlikely. Though she hadn’t seen them clearly, their intent didn’t seem to be theft.

“Ahhhh!”

Suddenly tripping, Lupina’s body swayed, and she fell down with a sharp pain. She tried to get up quickly, but her left leg wouldn’t support her.

In the pitch-black corridor, now void of any magical lighting, she sensed the presence getting closer.

‘I have to run.’

Before she could fully discern them with her eyes, the shapes of the assailants became clear enough to identify. Ignoring the pain, Lupina struggled to her feet and attempted to run.

But something blocked her path, and slowly, she lifted her head to look up.

“Gasp!”

What she saw was a man wearing a mask so monstrous it seemed like something from a nightmare.

The dark corridor, the ghastly appearance, the feeling of being chased—all these factors combined overwhelmed Lupina with an intense fear.

“Please… save me…” she managed to force out, her lips barely moving.

However, before she could finish, the man in the mask indifferently walked past her, ignoring her plea.

“Who is that?” a voice echoed from deeper in the corridor. It came from the assailants who had been chasing Lupina from Ruger’s office. Seeing their hostile stance towards the masked man, it was clear they weren’t allies.

“That mask is foul,” commented one of the attackers, and for once, Lupina agreed. The masked man’s appearance was far from conventional.

“He’s no ordinary person.”

“No normal person would wear such a monstrous mask.”

The man in the mask twitched at that comment. A flash of unexplained anger seemed to pass through him, but he quickly regained his composure, calm like a still lake—yet as if hiding depths that could engulf.

“Who exactly is this?”

Suddenly, the three assailants who had been following Lupina charged at the masked man with a speed that startled her. Despite being pursued, she was taken aback by their faster pace.

As they approached, the masked man calmly stepped back, pulling Lupina with him. As she took a step back, shadows flowed from the masked man’s body.

“Magic?”

Riding the night air, the ‘shadows’ darted towards the attackers like arrows. The masked man whipped them like a lash, swiftly subduing one assailant before charging forward.

Despite being outnumbered, his confidence was not unfounded.

“Uh…!”

Lupina barely saw the masked man draw his sword so quickly that she didn’t notice until the attacker’s blade was already swinging towards him. He dodged and counterattacked, cutting another down.

“Aaaaagh!”

“You bastard!”

His swordplay was restrained yet carried an air of graceful dignity.

The terrifying mask and the beautiful swordsmanship presented a stark contrast, pulling Lupina’s gaze like a piece of art.

The last assailant charged again, overwhelmed by fear. But before his blade could reach, more ‘shadows’ leaked from the masked man, swiftly grabbing the attacker by the throat.

“Choke…!”

Though his face was hidden under the hood, the continuous groans made the situation painfully clear.

Soon, the assailant’s hand slackened, and the shadows receded back to the masked man.

“Finished,” the masked man stood still, examining his hands, though the reason was unclear to Lupina.

‘Ah.’

A thought suddenly dawned on Lupina.

‘It feels like I’m hearing an old tale that Grandfather Ruger used to tell.’

A long time ago, in the capital where public safety was poor, there were demons that exploited and plundered the commoners, sucking their blood.

The frenzy of these demons reached its peak, and the atrocities faced by the commoners were indescribable, while the incompetent dynasty merely overlooked the current situation.

At that time, a nobleman wearing a mask appeared.

Suddenly, this nobleman killed the demons, and the commoners’ trust started to shift towards him, who had taken over the duties of the dynasty.

Fearing the nobleman, the dynasty placed a bounty on his head.

Nevertheless, it is said that he continued to kill the demons for the sake of the commoners.

Without anyone’s help, all alone, ‘It can’t be.’

Lupina preferred such absurd stories over the more ambivalent tales like that of a prince on a white horse.

Of course, she knew in her head that the masked man before her was not the protagonist of the stories passed down from old.

Yet, as if he was the only one left in this world, his figure, lonely under the pouring moonlight, had become the final stop of the ‘tale’ that began long ago at the tip of a tongue.

The name of that ‘tale’ was, “Uh, the Black Knight…………?”

Lupina said with a trembling voice.

Then, the motionless man in the mask slowly lifted his head and shifted his gaze towards her.

***

Amazed by the power of Sombra, I was immersed in the aftermath when I turned my head at Lupina’s ridiculous remark.

‘What are you saying.’

I threw a look at Lupina, whose pupils seemed to dilate in disbelief.

Black Knight? Because of whom am I suffering now……………

‘Huh?’

Wait a minute! Did you just say Black Knight?

Does that mean, unbeknownst to me, the ‘Black Knight’ is already active?

“I heard it from my grandfather. In the past, there was a nobleman called the Black Knight in the capital……”

Past? Nobleman? It must be a misunderstanding.

After all, if the Black Knight really existed, the Dawn Society wouldn’t have just watched and let them secure the hegemony.

‘That being said,’ I looked at Lupina’s face.

A moment ago, she was definitely attacked by members of the Dawn Society.

‘Shouldn’t it have been Ruger, not Lupina?’

The owner of the ‘Dusk Flame’, Ruger is a tough character.

Thanks to that, he would be the one to stay late in the forge handling the aftermath.

Why is it his granddaughter Lupina who remains at this hour?

“Right? So, you are the protagonist of that ‘Black Knight’ story.”

Lost in thought, I shifted my gaze back to Lupina at her question.

I had to deny her words, but due to the character trait of ‘formal speech,’ I found myself unable to speak.

[A new character trait, ‘Black Knight,’ was acquired.]

Then! Suddenly, a UI popped up.

Reading the words written on it, I felt my pupils dilate in surprise.

‘What is this.’

Character Trait, ‘Black Knight’

Why is it here?

Prev I TOC I Next