67: Chapter 53 Returning Property to Its Rightful Owner_4 67: Chapter 53 Returning Property to Its Rightful Owner_4 “You sure have some nerve, Boris, eyeing the treasure sword I accidentally acquired during my escape journey the moment my companion and I arrived in Selva, repeatedly causing trouble, robbing us on the road, and even daring to use a sedative to rob my room.
Now, you falsely accuse me in front of these esteemed individuals, spewing slander.
I can’t help but ask, is it us, the foreigners who risk our lives fighting the Kantadar people, who are suspicious, or is it you, who disappeared when disaster struck and fled alone, who is suspect?”
Leon’s heart stirred as he said this.
Right, how did this guy manage to escape and report to the authorities?
That night he had been beaten unconscious by the three of them and thrown down on the dirt road at the base of the hill, which was the very route the Kantadar Cavalry took when they arrived!
So Leon had thought that this ruffian must have already been killed by the enemy.
It was clear those Cavalry wouldn’t just let a local lying unconscious go.
Unless he had woken up before the arrival of the Kantadar people and had not returned to the village.
But he clearly knew of the Kantadar attack, otherwise, why would he run to the town to report to the Lord?
The old blacksmith had said it was only a day’s travel to town…
Leon calculated in his mind the time it took to travel to and from and the speed of the Lord’s army’s arrival…
It only took a bit of backward reasoning, combined with remembering the time the Kantadar people approached the Windmill Tower that night…he understood.
Damn it to hell, this Sword Tomb.
He had witnessed the arrival of the Kantadar people just outside the village with his own eyes.
Yet, instead of taking the opportunity to warn the villagers he had lived with for years before the enemy attacked, he fled, abandoning his completely oblivious neighbors!?
Leon clarified this point and his heart brimmed with indescribable contempt and revulsion.
As the one who was trapped on top of the Windmill Tower the whole night, forced to watch everything unfold, Leon knew all too well.
Before the Kantadar’s attack.
If someone had noticed the enemy outside the village, and was free to move, they could have quietly returned to warn everyone.
Even in the cover of night, alerting the enemy would lead to casualties, but with the cover of darkness, surely a large number of villagers could escape the massacre that awaited them.
This isn’t modern times, without effective lighting and relying only on torches, a few dozen Cavalry could never catch over two hundred villagers escaping into the pitch-black night.
And once it was daylight, the group of Kantadar people also lacked the manpower to chase after so many fleeing villagers.
…Leon’s gaze upon the bastard chilled, as if he were looking at a dead man.
No need for him to take action.
Just making this fact known to the villagers.
Whether it were the surviving women and children or the able-bodied men who lost their families and had not yet returned to the village.
Each one of them will want to personally rip apart this bastard who had the chance to save the village but turned a blind eye.
Blissfully unaware of his grim future, Boris, upon hearing Leon’s questioning, was still engulfed in current panic.
He didn’t know what was wrong with the gentlemen before him, so suspicious in origin, yet they blamed not those three rascals, but instead kept pardoning them, and he must hurry to clear away the criminal accusations in their words, or else he would not come out of this unscathed.
“Esteemed sirs, this is entirely a frame-up, I did not rob anyone on the road, I only approached them for questioning because they looked suspicious.”
The incident by the river had too many witnesses, Boris dared not deny it, barely managing a rebuttal, but remembering that there were no witnesses in the village the night of the sword theft, he flatly denied it: “As for the sedative theft, I have never done such!”
Since the treasure sword was mentioned, Boris thought, since there’s no chance of getting it now anyway, might as well hurry and defend himself: “That treasure sword…
I only found it suspicious!
Sir, he claims over and over that he picked it up, just look at that magnificent noble’s sword, could that be something picked up by the roadside?
At the riverside, I merely suspected they had murdered their master and stolen the sword to flee, like runaway slaves, Heaven and Earth can bear witness, I never thought of harming them for wealth.”
Upon hearing the treasure sword mentioned in the conversation between Leon and Boris, Count Trosa and Baron Eriv’s eyes instinctively followed the sword Leon was carrying at his waist.
That was indeed a beautiful Hand Half Sword with exquisite appearance, and even with Count Trosa’s discerning eye, he could give it an extraordinary assessment, only…
why does it look so familiar?
Leon, noticing the nobles’ gaze, patted the weapon he had taken from the Undead Knight and clarified, “This is something I acquired during my travels, indeed picked up while crossing that dangerous forest, no falsehoods.”
“Young man, may I have a look at your sword?” Baron Eriv suddenly asked from the side, out of the blue.
“Of course, my lord.”
Leon nodded, unhesitating, pushed back the Sword Grid, and slowly drew the treasure sword from his waist, then presented it with both hands respectfully.
Baron Eriv took the sword hilt from the young man’s hand with his left hand, lifting the blade with its tip towards the sky.
He examined the smooth, mirror-like sheen of the Dwarf Steel Sword, his gaze sweeping over the inscriptions, then suddenly smiled, a smile of contentment and relief.
Leon watched the Baron’s inexplicable smile, somewhat puzzled.
Count Trosa suddenly realized something and incredulously stroked his beard.
Baron Eriv didn’t speak, instead, he drew his own sword from his waist as well.
Under the sun, the silver blades of the two long swords sparkled dazzlingly.
And aside from slight differences in blade length and handle, their accessories and fittings were almost identical.
The maxims inscribed on their blades were as if replicated.
Leon blinked in surprise, slightly lifting his gaze, only then noticing beyond the Lord’s shoulder the flag held high by the attendant behind him.
The flag with the wrapped Thorny Rose Emblem…
The memories of that day flooded back and Leon understood.
Wasn’t that the same pattern on the Corpse Demon Knight’s Shoulder Shield!?
“…I believe you now, Leon.”
Baron Eriv put away his emotional smile, sighed, and for the first time, addressed the young man by his surname.
“You are the first heroes in Orland’s history to have successfully crossed the Nightmare Forest.”