The Indomitable Martial King

[ Chapter 53 ]
In the corridors of the castle, where only the faint moonlight seeped through the windows into the darkness, two soldiers carrying lanterns were on patrol. Both were natives of Viscount Kelberen’s domain, ordinarily making their living through hunting and blacksmithing.

A middle-aged soldier, originally a hunter, stopped mid-stride and clicked his tongue, remarking,

“Our lord does worry quite a bit. With the Golden Knight of Graim around, who would dare to invade us that he felt the need to summon us too?”

Viscount Kelberen, tasked with guarding valuable relics, had drafted those within his domain known for their strength to patrol inside the castle. Of course, the relics were strictly guarded by the Tenes Knights, but the Viscount, being the host, could not show any less courtesy. Naturally, the common folk were unaware of such circumstances, likely viewing it as unnecessary worry.

The other soldier shrugged.

“So what? It’s good for us, gets us some extra drink money.”

Drafted they may be, neither soldier held any complaints. Viscount Kelberen was a generous lord. Staying up all night meant a tidy extra income, so they had no reason to object.

Moreover, it wasn’t as if there was an ongoing siege, nor was there any intelligence suggesting an imminent invasion. In their view, this heightened state of alert was merely overcaution on the part of Viscount Kelberen. There was no life-threatening danger, so they felt no tension.

Thus, both soldiers were essentially touring the lord’s castle with a sense of excitement, their patrol more a leisurely stroll than anything serious.

“Indeed, the knights of the capital are on a different level altogether.”

“Right? Even their armor shines differently.”

“Our lord is a knight too, but the grandeur is just different, hmm.”

“Hey, watch what you’re saying.”

Amidst their casual chatter as they walked down the corridor, one of the soldiers suddenly looked back, puzzled.

“Hm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing. Was it just my imagination?”

Scratching his head, the soldier continued walking forward. For a moment, it felt as though someone was behind them, but upon looking back, there was no one.

‘Well, I’m hardly a legendary warrior to sense such presences.’

Dismissing the thought, the two soldiers resumed their conversation, walking towards the other end of the corridor. And as they turned a corner and disappeared, someone silently dropped from the dark ceiling. It was Repenhardt, wearing a mask.

‘Heh, this is turning out to be much easier than I thought.’

Feeling the presence fade away, Repenhardt clicked his tongue. Having infiltrated the castle, he was walking down a hallway when he sensed someone approaching and immediately leapt up to cling to the ceiling. It would have been utterly foolish to do this during the day, but at night, the story was different. Those walking with lanterns unconsciously directed their gaze towards the ground. It was unusual for anyone to shine their light towards the ceiling.

‘It’s not for no reason that the thieves in stories often cling to ceilings like lizards.’

There was a basis for such behavior. Of course, sticking to ceilings wasn’t something just anyone could do with their physical abilities—it was likely only possible for exceptionally skilled thieves.

‘With this foolishly strong body, I could hang here all day if needed.’

Indeed, being called a superhuman wasn’t for naught as an Aura user. His extraordinary physical abilities and sensational perception made it not so difficult for Repenhardt, even as a novice in thievery, to infiltrate this far. Having the ability to detect everyone’s position solved the biggest problem of sneaking in.

‘Thievery is nothing special.’

However, Repenhardt’s biggest enemy at the moment wasn’t the lax guards but time itself. He hurriedly moved on.

His destination was the tower on the southern side of the castle. Places where relics were gathered inevitably leaked magic due to their nature. It wasn’t too difficult for a mage of high caliber to locate them. Although Repenhardt’s magic and computational abilities were lacking, his understanding, enlightenment, and detection skills in magic were still of a grand mage level. As soon as he infiltrated the castle, he was able to locate where the relics were stored.

Crossing the hallway and occasionally going out through the windows to climb the outer walls like a lizard, Repenhardt quickly reached the base of the tower. It took him less than 10 minutes to get here, a feat that would be impossible for even the most skilled thieves.

‘Maybe, I actually had a knack for being a phantom thief.’

In reality, it was just that an Aura user possessed overwhelmingly powerful abilities.

Anyway, Repenhardt carefully examined the tower. There was no sign of life inside, but two knights were standing guard at the entrance. They were fully equipped with chain mail armor, swords, and shields, looking significantly more formidable than any soldiers he had encountered so far.

‘Those must be the knights of Tenes.’

Seizing the cover of darkness, Repenhardt launched himself forward. Suddenly, a massive black shadow soared in front of the knights, who cried out in alarm.

“Ugh!”

“What is that!”

True to their training, the knights reacted differently. Unlike the outer city guards who had been dazed, they immediately heightened their alertness and assumed defensive positions.

However, the outcome wasn’t much different. Repenhardt swiftly moved between two knights and flicked the left knight’s throat with his finger to prevent him from screaming. Fearing a strike could sever the neck, he chose to flick it with his finger, which seemed to be the right decision as the knight grasped his throat, gasping and emitting a dying groan.

“Gah, Gah!”

At that moment, Repenhardt moved behind the opposite knight and choked him. It happened almost simultaneously, leaving the victim no chance to cry out. Just lightly pressing on the carotid artery with his thick forearm for about ten seconds was enough to make the knight’s body slump. Soon after, the other knight, barely having regained his breath, was also put into a chokehold and passed out. Both were well-trained knights but, being human, they couldn’t avoid passing out if blood flow to the brain was cut off.

Having quickly subdued both knights, Repenhardt smirked.

‘Submission holds are indeed the best for silencing without noise.’

Moreover, there’s nothing like joint locks for efficiently subduing an opponent without harm. No matter how good one is at controlling strength, striking techniques inherently carry the risk of killing due to individual resilience. However, joint locks significantly reduce that burden.

Carefully seating the knights nearby, Repenhardt tied their arms and gagged them as a precaution, considering that their trained nature meant they could awaken shortly.

He then inspected the tower. Faint magical power was detectable from the door.

‘Motion detection wards and heat sensing magic, perhaps.’

All magic has its unique formulas and patterns of magical power. Of course, to accurately identify them, one usually needs to use detection magic, but with Repenhardt’s expertise, he could get a rough idea of low-level wards just from the faint magical power sensed.

‘It’s annoying not being able to disarm it.’

However, that didn’t mean he was without options. Repenhardt carefully examined the area around the door.

‘Given the nature of magical wards, the core must be somewhere around here.’

Unless a wizard who had set up a barrier was not residing within the tower, it was unlikely for the core of the barrier to be located inside the door. Since setting the barrier from outside would allow the caster to comfortably retire to their own bed, Repenhardt concentrated his mind, keenly sensing the flow of magical energy.

After a moment, he smiled triumphantly.

“Found it.”

The core of the barrier appeared to be an ordinary-looking stone placed near the door. However, invisible to the eye, it surely had runes engraved on its inside. Repenhardt focused his strength for a moment and struck the stone. Simply moving the core would alter the barrier, triggering an alarm spell, but shattering the core in one go would naturally release it.

With a soft noise, the stone broke, and the barrier on the door dissolved. Repenhardt cautiously entered.

The security seemed to rely solely on the door’s barrier, as no further patterns of magical energy were felt. What remained were relics alone. Inside the vast tower, relics from the Silver Age were neatly organized, each placed according to its category.

Repenhardt wore a nostalgic expression for a moment.

“The Anti-Magic Tome, the Sealing Jar, the Infinite Bag, and the Harp of the Sky. I miss them.”

All were relics he had personally unearthed in his previous life. Seeing the tags left by the magicians on each relic brought back even more memories. Moreover, he noticed some were incorrectly categorized.

“Who assessed these? This isn’t the Helteon Blade but the Tallad Sword. They might look similar, but the formulas are completely different. To categorize them like this.”

He considered correcting them but decided against it. There was no time for that now. He quickly surveyed the relics, weaving through the shelves. Suddenly, Repenhardt’s eyes sparkled. His gaze settled on a square black box placed at the bottom of a shelf designated for uncategorized relics.

“There it is! The Voice of Elucion!”

Elated, Repenhardt picked up the box. He had been quite worried, but it turned out to be easier than expected. A smile naturally came to his face.

After all, even if he was a novice as a thief, possessing the physical abilities of an aura user along with the knowledge of a great mage made it natural for him to bypass even the most stringent security systems!

Triumphantly, Repenhardt placed the box in his pocket. Just as he was about to leave,

Suddenly, a loud bell started ringing!

Ding-dong-ding-dong!

“Eh?”

Repenhardt looked around in confusion.

“What’s going on? There was definitely no sound, and I’m sure I avoided the magical barriers.”

His eyes, bewildered, inadvertently caught sight of his feet. His expensive deer leather boots were stepping on a thread so thin it was barely visible.

He shifted his gaze along the thread to the side. ‘What do we have here?’ At the end of the thread, a crude brass bell was conspicuously hanging.

At that moment, Repenhardt let out a groan.

“Ugh? Just a simple thread trap?”

* * *

At the second floor of Kelberen Castle, in the lord’s bedroom.

Viscount Kelberen was deeply asleep, feeling quite pleasant. Despite a slightly unpleasant incident during dinner, Sir Eusus was indeed a knight among knights. He had covered for his rudeness and had treated his daughters with all due respect.

Moreover, the battle with that demon was spectacular. As a knight, witnessing such an incredible fight made the burning of the garden seem insignificant. In fact, he was planning to leave the ruins as they were. The remnants of a hero’s battle would serve as an exemplary knightly legacy for future generations.

For such reasons, Viscount Kelberen and his wife were enjoying a rare deep sleep. What shattered this small piece of happiness was a sudden noise from outside the window.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

The sudden loud sound of metal woke him up. It was a familiar sound—the sound of an alarm spell being triggered. Currently, the alarm spell was set up in only one location. Realizing this, the old man’s sleepiness vanished instantly.

He hastily got out of bed and looked out the window. However, the window in his room faced the forest, making it impossible to understand the situation.

His wife, sleeping beside him, asked with a panicked expression.

“Dear, what’s happening?”

“We’ll find out soon!”

Reassuring his wife, Viscount Kelberen shouted towards the outside.

“Hey! What on earth is going on?”

The sound of hurried footsteps approached, and soon an answer came. His faithful butler was shouting from outside the door.

“There’s an intruder in the south tower!”

The old man’s wrinkled face twisted in frustration.

“What a disgraceful event!”

He lamented. This was his castle. Sir Eusus had trusted him and was staying in this castle. To allow the presence of an intruder here! It was an indelible disgrace as a knight and as the lord of a castle.

Viscount Kelberen bellowed.

“Bring me my sword!”