Inside the tavern, an uncomfortable silence lingered.
I had tried to avoid a fight at all costs.
There was a certain sense of familiarity in the fact that I could lead the situation like a ‘game.’
Moreover, recklessly using force to secure my safety was very much ‘Julian-like.’
That’s why I thought I had resolved it well by using my brain.
But it doesn’t feel like it ended properly.
It feels like I left without finishing my business.
More precisely, it’s my fault for not considering that ‘Felkor’ could be such an idiot.
I feel increasingly sorry for future Felkor.
How will he bear all this karma?
With these thoughts, I decided to observe the surrounding atmosphere.
With a sliver of hope.
If I could resolve this with words, wouldn’t that be the best?
Even though I am part of the ‘Crypart’ family, it’s not such a big connection…
The air was brimming with a reddish haze above most people’s heads, except for Felkor, who still didn’t know what he had done wrong.
Intense hostility.
From one extreme to another, the perception began to shift.
It took only three seconds for the dormant doubts to sprout and blossom again.
‘This is bad.’
Finally realizing the situation, Felkor’s pupils started to shake as if in an earthquake.
I’ll deal with you later.
Clang─!
The bustling tavern grew quiet, and amidst it, the sound of metal slowly reached my ears.
The sound of hands reaching for their weapons.
The tense atmosphere felt like a bomb about to explode at any moment.
“Haah!”
The first to light the fuse appeared.
One of those drinking with Felkor drew his sword, kicked the table, and charged.
Where should I hit?
There are too many places to strike.
Though he was a soldier deployed to the north, he looked like a child displaying crude swordsmanship to my eyes.
Thunk!
I decided to swing my fist lightly at first.
I’m not a villain who brutally dismembers people with a sword.
Anyway, the man flew back faster than he had charged.
The force was so strong that he broke through the tavern door.
Crash!
The deserters looked at me with astonished eyes as they saw the broken door.
Seeing such overwhelming strength with their own eyes, their reaction was understandable.
“Huff, huff…”
Gulp.
Degrid and the bandits, who were watching, swallowed nervously.
“I didn’t intend for it to come to this.”
Adding these words towards them, I drew my ‘Moonblade’ and prepared for battle.
[Moonlight imbues the sword.]
[Using the trait, <Moonlight Sword>.]
As I channeled mana into the sword in my hand, the Moonblade naturally began to emit a gentle moonlight.
“Ah, ahhh…!”
Seeing the Moonblade, Degrid’s mouth opened wide enough to fit a fist and might never close.
A cry close to a lament.
He seems to recognize the ‘Moonlight Sword.’
Well, it is Julian’s signature swordsmanship, so I would have been disappointed if he didn’t recognize it.
“The aura that handles moonlight, slit eyes・・・・・・, and that disturbingly unpleasant polite speech!”
Disturbingly unpleasant? I don’t think it’s that bad.
If you hear it often enough, it can become rather endearing, right?
“Moreover, the Crypart family…”
Degrid, recalling what Felkor had said, muttered those words and glared at me, clenching his fist.
“Julian, Julian Crypart Frason… the mad dog of the royal family… the smiling executioner!”
“Hahaha…”
As I laughed, Degrid’s face stiffened.
I wasn’t laughing for any particular reason.
It’s just that hearing my old nickname after a long time made me feel a bit nostalgic.
“The insane psychopath killer!?”
“A lunatic like that came to capture us!?”
“No way!”
The bandits added their own comments.
Hearing such vertical drop in their evaluation of me made me chuckle.
I feel as though I am becoming increasingly pathetic.
‘But thanks to that nickname, it seems like we can negotiate.’
Degrid and his men recognizing the name ‘smiling executioner’ has made the situation somewhat hopeful.
This means they understand the immense power Julian possesses.
Subjugating them without a fight shouldn’t be too difficult.
By stimulating the primal human emotion of ‘fear,’ I can subdue them.
That’s not even a challenge anymore.
“If you know who I am, it would be wise to surrender. If you don’t want to see bloodshed…”
When I gave them my creepiest smile, they gulped.
Though they hadn’t experienced it themselves, they knew that no one who had defied the smiling executioner had ever survived.
It was said that I even killed infants with a smile.
The reddish haze had now turned purple.
Yes, let’s resolve this quietly.
“What are you all doing!”
Well, not everything goes my way.
There’s always someone like this.
Degrid, though shaking uncontrollably, raised his voice.
He acted like a triumphant general, but he wasn’t unafraid.
The ‘fear’ was evident above his head.
“If Julian is here, we’re dead anyway!”
“But Degrid…”
“If we surrender, he might spare us!”
The rest looked at me with desperate eyes, so I nodded.
“I would prefer if we resolved this quietly.”
Though I spoke with the brightest smile possible, Degrid didn’t accept it calmly.
Rather, the ‘bright smile’ seemed to appear chilling to him.
“Have you ever heard of that mad dog sparing those who broke the rules!”
Hmm… honestly, neither have I.
If I had shown such mercy, such a dreadful nickname wouldn’t have spread.
“And that idiotic noble! If he’s really from the Crypart family, we’re all dead even if we surrender!”
Degrid’s words filled the deserters’ eyes with determination.
If we’re going to die anyway, they might as well bet on the option with the highest odds.
So, this is how it ends.
Sometimes, the infamy of a name can backfire.
‘Damn.’
Good or bad.
It’s a reputation that does no good.
***
Of course, the deserters, including Degrid, were no match for me.
Attacks using aura rendered their defenses useless, and their attempts at surprise attacks were easily countered.
“Ugh, ugh…”
I thought as I looked at the sprawled deserters.
Should I have gone all out from the beginning?
‘There was no need to use Angelica after all.’
Wriggle.
As the situation settled, the large figure lying on the ground began to move slowly.
It was Felkor, the one who caused this mess.
“Sir Julian… what is happening here?”
Oh, now he’s pretending to be drunk?
His next line will be…
“I don’t remember anything.”
Right. That had to come out.
The guy who collapsed as soon as the fight began was holding his temples, complaining of a headache.
“Sir Felkor, you become a dog when you drink.”
“A dog…? What do you mean by that… Ugh!”
When I kicked Felkor, he looked at me with confused eyes.
Leaving him behind, I approached the fallen Degrid, grabbed his head, and lifted it.
His disheveled face irritated me a bit, but my question took precedence.
“Sir Degrid, where is the idiotic noble you mentioned earlier?”
“Ugh, ugh…”
I’m not particularly interested in the Crypart family, but since it’s come to this, I should check.
“B-below… the cellar…”
The cellar?
Ah, it seems the cellar is under the wooden floor.
After tossing Degrid to the ground, I looked for a way down.
It wasn’t difficult to find.
Just like in a cliché, lifting the carpet revealed the stairs going down.
‘Well then.’
Let’s see who this idiotic member of the Crypart family is.
As Degrid said, there was a person bound in the cellar.
“Mmpph, mmph!!!”
With a gag in his mouth, all the person could do was groan, with a sack over their head.
“Who… is this?”
Felkor, who had come down with me, looked at me with a puzzled expression.
How should I know?
Thinking about how this guy made me draw my sword unnecessarily, I felt a surge of annoyance.
‘Those deserters are not getting any leniency.’
The very act of kidnapping someone is a crime, implying they are involved in human trafficking.
Perhaps this outcome was for the best.
It was a bit unpleasant to get my hands dirty.
“Release him.”
Reeking of alcohol, Felkor approached the bound man.
As his rough hands removed the sack, a familiar face was revealed.
“Mmmph… mmph!!!”
Joshua?
“Put the sack back on.”
“Mmmph!!!!!”
When Felkor tried to cover him again at my command, Joshua began to thrash around wildly.
His eyes, burning with anger, seemed to say:
‘Release me now, you damned fool.’
I was almost certain of it.
“Sir Julian, are you really going to put the sack back on him?”
Sensing that he knew me, Felkor hesitated and asked again.
“No, let’s just remove the gag for now.”
I was curious.
Let’s hear why Joshua is here.
“Cough, cough! Ah!”
Once the gag was removed, Joshua started coughing repeatedly.
As he began to calm down, the coughing subsided, and eventually, he looked up and met my gaze.
“Did you come to rescue me, Brother Julian?”
“Of course not.”
“Then how did you end up here…?”
“That’s what I should be asking. Joshua, why are you here?”
“Well…”
For some reason, Joshua hesitated.
“As expected… put the sack back on him, Sir Felkor.”
“No, I’ll tell you everything, Brother Julian!”
“You seem to be misunderstanding something. Whether you talk or not, I was going to put the sack back on.”
The reason Joshua is here?
Honestly, I wasn’t particularly curious.
I only came down because I was intrigued by the claim that the captive was a member of the Crypart family.
“Please, don’t do this. Help me just this once! We are both members of the Crypart family, brothers, aren’t we?”
Joshua, who had become utterly servile, had completely lost the arrogance he had when I first saw him.
But does that mean I owe him any loyalty to save him?
‘Probably not, right? Do I really need to?’
Cliche Novel 
Thanks for the translation!
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