Chapter 9
A shiver ran down her spine like ice, and only one thought filled Rin’s mind.
‘I have to run!’
She bolted without hesitation.
In this child’s body, if she got caught by someone that suspicious, there was no telling what horrible fate awaited her. As she flew down the stairs and out of the pub, the scene she had glimpsed inside that room flashed vividly through her mind.
There hadn’t been just two men in that room.
She was certain—deeper inside, seated on a battered old chair, was a young boy. A thin child wrapped in a black hood, too terrified to make a sound. He sat frozen, silent as a mouse.
‘There’s no reason a kid should be in a place like that. Was he… kidnapped?’
Should she help him?
‘Help him? I can barely take care of myself right now!’
But… she had made a promise to her master.
“Listen, kid. I don’t usually take on disciples. The only reason I’m teaching you is because you want to protect the orphans at the shelter. Power only means something when it’s used to protect the weak. If you swear to use the sword I teach you only for that purpose, I’ll make you the finest swordsman of this age.”
Yes—Rin had sworn to wield her sword for the sake of the weak. She couldn’t just abandon that child and run like a coward, no matter how much she regretted the past.
‘Damn it… Why did I make such a useless promise?’
Think calmly.
Running back in there would be suicide. First, she needed to get to a crowded area and call for help—that was the smarter choice.
Determined, she kept running without pause…
Shhhh—
‘What is this? This creeping chill down my spine…’
A sense of dread prickled at her, and she turned her head.
There was no sign of the man pursuing her. But instead, stretching along the walls like writhing insects, was a long, shadowy gray form, slithering toward her.
Shadow Magic.
Powerful and devastating, it was one of the branches of Black Magic banned for centuries.
‘Perfect. Of all the villains I could’ve run into, it had to be a black mage.’
Black mages—those who lurked in the shadows, performing twisted magical experiments.
Things had gone from bad to worse. Falling into their hands wouldn’t just end in suffering—it could mean horrors beyond imagination.
“Hah… hah…”
But cruelly, Yana’s frail legs were already giving out.
At this rate, she’d be caught. She had to do something.
‘If only I could use Aura…’
Aura.
The state achieved when body and mind reach perfect harmony.
By enveloping the body in aura, a person could surpass human limitations. But as with all great power, only a select few ever reached that level. It was what separated Sword Masters—capable of toppling fortresses with a single blade—from mere Sword Experts.
And Rin had once wielded Aura.
Before she was trapped in Yana’s body.
‘…The body is different, but the soul is the same. Maybe I can summon an incomplete aura…’
Could she?
‘Even if I can, an incomplete aura is dangerous. It could shatter my bones.’
But without aura, there was no escape…
‘Screw it. If I get caught, I’m dead anyway!’
Rin gathered the last of her strength and forced her aura to awaken.
Vwoooom—
To her shock, heat surged through her legs—and her body suddenly surged forward at a speed unlike anything before.
‘W-Wait, it worked?!’
She could really use it!
But unlike the vibrant colors of ordinary aura, Rin’s current aura had no color—transparent, like air. Anyone could tell it was incomplete.
At that moment—
A voice called from behind her, panting for breath.
“Huff… Huff… My lady! Lady Yana!”
A knight of House Tusslena.
‘When did he catch up? Of all places to be seen…’
Rin ducked her head, letting her hair cover her face.
“You’ve got the wrong person!”
“Lady Yana! I… I was sent by Lord Roman to escort you. Huff… Huff… I’m your bodyguard! Why are you running off in such a hurry?”
What? Yana has a bodyguard? Since when?
Rin slowed her pace, casting a wary glance at the knight as she exited the back alley. Then, turning toward the crowded street, she shouted for all to hear—
“Help! Someone’s trying to kidnap my friend!”
The response was immediate. Merchants near the alley’s entrance came rushing out in alarm.
“What? Kidnapping?”
“What kind of bastard preys on children? I’ll make that scum regret the day he was born…!”
‘Thank goodness. I can count on these people to help.’
Rin glanced back toward the alley. The slithering mass of the shadow mage had vanished without a trace.
‘Did he go back to the pub?’
…Wait. That’s even worse. What if he disappeared with that kid?
Rin ran up to the man claiming to be her escort knight and, without warning, leapt onto his back. He froze like a statue, glancing over his shoulder at her in shock.
“L-Lady Yana? What are you—”
“Run.”
“Pardon?”
“I said run! We have to save that kid before the kidnapper escapes! The second floor of that old pub!”
The knight faltered for only a moment, like a broken clock—but then, realizing the urgency, he snapped to action.
“Hold on tight!”
He spun around and charged back into the alley without hesitation.
“This way!”
Guided by Rin’s directions, the knight swiftly arrived in front of <Pub Golden Bell>.
“I’ll retrieve the child. It’s dangerous, my lady—you should wait outside.”
He gently set Rin down, then entered the pub.
CRASH.
Moments after the sound of splintering wood echoed out, the knight reemerged.
“My lady… Are you certain about what you saw?”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no one here. It’s completely empty.”
“…Empty?”
That’s impossible.
Rin rushed inside and climbed the stairs to the second-floor room. The place where three men had been was now nearly spotless, with only the faintest traces left behind.
‘The boy… he’s gone too?’
They had all vanished in that short time?
Given that their pursuer was a shadow mage, it wasn’t impossible. Many of them altered their bodies into chimeras for enhanced abilities—vanishing without a sound, like beasts in the night.
Creeaak.
Suddenly, a door opened on the third floor. A young man emerged, his face groggy with sleep.
“Yaaawn… Huh? What’s this? We haven’t even opened yet. Why’s someone barging in without permission?”
He looked completely unaware of what had just transpired, every inch the man who had slept through it all.
‘Is he… the real owner of this pub?’
But as soon as Rin saw his face, hers went cold.
She hesitated for a moment, her eyes narrowing in thought, then called to the knight beside her.
“Mister.”
Startled, the knight pointed to himself.
“Y-You mean me, my lady?”
Rin nodded and asked flatly, “You said you’re my escort, right? I don’t really remember you—what should I call you?”
Clearly not expecting her to ask his name, the knight seemed flustered.
He had claimed to be a bodyguard sent by the Second Lord of House Tusslena. But from Rin’s perspective, that introduction was laughable.
‘I haven’t seen so much as a shadow of you these past few days, and you call yourself a bodyguard?’
