Episode 7: The Night of the Villain

On an early autumn night, after the wheat harvest had concluded, in a certain highway within the Kreving Earldom’s territory.

“Heh… for a shabby group of merchants, you’ve got some pretty nice goods, huh?”

There stood about ten armed men surrounding three trembling merchants kneeling on the ground. The merchants were peddlers who traveled from town to town for trade, while the men encircling them were bandits.

In short, the situation was this: the merchants, while traveling, were ambushed by bandits and, unable to resist, were captured. Normally, they would avoid traveling at night, but their misfortune lay in having to move under the cover of darkness due to an urgent business deal.

“So, boss, what do we do with these guys?”

One of the bandits pointed at the merchants with the tip of his sword as he asked.

“No point in keeping them alive. Kill them.”

The bandit leader—a man with a beard covering his mouth and chin—declared coldly. At his words, the merchants, though trembling in fear, attempted to plead.

“R-robbing and killing is a serious crime…! E-especially since the new lord, Siegfried, took over, I’ve heard the law’s enforcement has become much stricter…”

“Y-yeah! Robbery alone might just get you imprisonment… B-but if you kill us, it’s the gallows for sure. S-so… p-please, let us go…!”

The merchants begged desperately, clinging to the hope of survival, but the bandit leader responded with a mocking sneer.

“Hah… you idiots. That’s only if we get caught. We don’t make mistakes like that.”

“B-but… Lord Siegfried is said to be a capable lord who purged all the corrupt officials in a short time. I-isn’t it likely you’ll get caught…!?”

“Don’t lump us in with those corrupt officials, you trash. We don’t flinch no matter who we’re up against. Siegfried or whoever, some noble like that…”

“Did you call for me?”

A sudden, unfamiliar voice came from behind, and the leader turned around. There, illuminated by the moonlight, stood a young man emerging from the darkness. His silver hair gleamed more eerily than the moon’s light. A refined face befitting a noble, a well-proportioned physique, and blue eyes that seemed to harbor a darkness deep enough to draw one into an abyss.

“What a fine moon—it’s only fitting that the stage for a villain’s performance be under moonlight. Don’t you agree?”

“Wha… who the hell are you!?”

“Siegfried von Kreving. The ruler of this land… and the man destined to one day rule the world.”

“The lord Siegfried!? Don’t screw with me!”

One of the bandits reflexively drew his sword and swung it down toward the young man. But in an instant, a pale blue light flashed in the darkness, and the bandit’s sword was severed halfway, flying through the air. Almost simultaneously, blood sprayed from the bandit’s chest, and he collapsed, lifeless.

“What just happened!?”

The bandits couldn’t comprehend it. They had no way of knowing that Siegfried, enhanced by magical power, had sliced through the sword with a hand chop and torn open the bandit’s chest in one fluid motion.

“Damn it! Kill him! Kill him!”

The leader shouted. Whether this mysterious figure was the real Siegfried or not didn’t matter. What was clear was that he was a dangerous opponent who needed to be eliminated.

The bandits rushed toward Siegfried, but his glowing limbs tore through their flesh with ruthless precision. Watching the scene unfold, the merchants couldn’t help but feel an oddly out-of-place sentiment.

(It’s… beautiful—)

That was how they perceived Siegfried’s fighting form under the moonlit night. And a few minutes later… nine corpses littered the ground. The only bandit left was the leader.

“D-damn it! What the hell are you!?”

Trembling with fear but still managing to raise his sword toward Siegfried, the leader’s mind raced, calculating the strength of the young man before him.

“Haa… haa… damn it!”

The leader threw down his sword.

“I-I surrender! Arrest me or whatever!”

“Oh?”

“In this territory’s laws, robbery and murder mean the gallows… but robbery alone is just imprisonment, right? I’d rather face that than die here.”

“I see. So, even as the head of a small bandit group, you’re capable of making such calculations.”

Muttering this, Siegfried approached the leader… and drew the sword from his waist.

“H-hey, hold on! Y-you wouldn’t kill me, right!? I surrendered! I said I’d quietly accept imprisonment!”

“Indeed, robbery carries a sentence of imprisonment under my territory’s laws. But… that’s not fitting for you.”

“N-not fitting…?”

“Exactly. As the leader of this bandit group, you’ve committed countless crimes, haven’t you? You’ve killed people, too.”

“…I won’t deny that. B-but! I never left any evidence! Even in a trial, there’s no proof of my other crimes!”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. You were the leader of a small but evil organization. For a man like you to end with mere imprisonment… that’s far too lackluster.”

“W-what…?”

“Evil deserves an end befitting evil. To rot away in a cell… that’s too soft a fate for you. I’ll make sure your life ends with a flourish.”

“What are you saying…?”

The leader couldn’t comprehend Siegfried’s reasoning. Then, it finally hit him. The man standing before him was—insane. Thinking about it, no sane person would confront a group of ten bandits alone.

And because he was insane, this man would carry out his words without hesitation. Yes, this young man… he was a true villain, on an entirely different level from a petty thug like himself.

“W-wait! I don’t want to die! I-I…!”

The leader’s legs shook as he took a half-step back.

“F-forgive me! I don’t want to die! Hii… hiaaa!”

The leader turned and ran from Siegfried. But a merciless blade swung down toward his back.

“Fall brilliantly, nameless villain.”

“Guh… gahhh!”

Blood sprayed, and under the moonlight, the leader’s life flickered out, fleeting and frail.