Chapter 181 : The Crime of Impersonating Sherwood is Heavy

A moment of silence dominated the space... and then, whispers erupted from all sides simultaneously.

"Aura...!"

"An aura user has come!"

"It must be the real Sherwood Mercenary Corps!"

"Sherwood is back?"

I could feel the hopeful gazes of the people. It was a passage where I could guess how much they had been tormented by those fake guys.

Hearing that, more onlookers gathered. The front of the hideout had somehow become the stage for a decisive battle.

But unlike the villagers who had found a ray of hope, the guys who had come down majestically to beat me up were in a state of chaos.

"A-aura?"

"It's real?"

"Damn it, you said there was no one named Ashuban in Sherwood! He's an aura user!"

"N-no. It's true. I've never even heard the name Ashuban."

"Then what is it? Did that guy attack for no reason?"

"No, why are you yelling at me? Do I know?"

"What? Are you talking to me like that?"

Seeing them fighting amongst themselves in front of the enemy was quite amusing.

So these pathetic guys were impersonating Sherwood.

I watched the internal division happen so easily and then opened my mouth.

"Our fake friends. Aren't you coming in? Shall I go?"

As soon as they saw my splendid sword ki, the guys started to back away.

"Not coming?"

When they didn't attack even after I waited, I decided to approach them.

"Then I'll go."

As I took a step forward, the guys hurriedly backed away, bumped into each other, and fell down in a heap.

"Whoa! Don't push!"

"Ugh!"

"Aaaah!"

"Get the hell out of the way!"

I sighed deeply and watched the scene.

The guys called Starscratcher were originally this pathetic. I was curious as to how these guys had come to reign as kings in Milestone.

Some of them even ran back into the building in a hurry.

The more I saw, the more ridiculous they were.

And what they said was.

"I'll go get the leader!"

They're not even kids. It sounded like they were calling their parents because they were losing a fight.

It seemed that the one called the leader was the main culprit of this situation.

Well, it's not like these pathetic guys would have the guts to impersonate Sherwood.

It seemed that the rolling stone was using these pathetic guys to take the place of the embedded stone.

And then he probably recruited some other pathetic guys who were loitering in the gloomy back alleys with nothing to do.

And so, he gradually built up his power.

Since it seemed that he would fight bravely only when the one called the leader came out, I scattered my aura and then tapped my shoulder with the flat of my sword and waited.

In the meantime, the guys slowly retreated to the hideout and barked like scared dogs.

"You bastard. You're dead when the leader comes out."

"The leader is a gold-rank mercenary. Have you ever seen a gold-rank mercenary?"

"Do you think we retreated because we were scared? This is all a strategic retreat."

"You bastard. You're not Sherwood, are you? Huh? The leader said Sherwood had all scattered."

Miho put down the sword she was holding and yawned.

"Ashuban. Can't we just kill them all?"

"No. Then our hideout will get dirty."

Miho was convinced.

"Ah, I see. That makes sense."

A little later, a man appeared with a tattletale shout of "Leader. It's that guy!"

He seemed to have been sleeping soundly, as fatigue and annoyance were clearly written on his face.

The guy seemed a little surprised by the larger-than-expected crowd, and then he cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

"Who dares to oppose the Sherwood Mercenary Corps?"

It was a very high-handed tone, as if he were conscious of the people's gazes.

The guy pretended to be solemn and looked around the crowd arrogantly.

The guy who had been following him like a sycophant pointed at me with his finger and tattled.

I see now, it was the guy who had been barking from the window.

"It's that guy, that guy! The red-eyed one!"

At the sycophant's tattling, the guy glared at me with fierce eyes.

"You must really want to die."

And then he slammed a large greatsword on the ground, which was quite an intimidating sight. If it weren't for his flushed face, as if he were drunk, and his bloated body, which looked like it had never trained.

But on closer inspection... he resembled someone.

"Huh?"

The greatsword the guy was holding resembled the greatsword the leader used to use. The black color, and the lack of any particular pattern.

Of course, it was much smaller and looked infinitely lighter than the leader's greatsword.

Now I see that the messy beard on his chin also seemed to be imitating the leader.

"How dare you challenge me, Gustan of the Greatsword. You have a lot of nerve."

"No..."

I was dumbfounded.

Is he imitating the leader because there's no one else to imitate?

"Wait."

Looking at his face, he wasn't handsome, so it seemed there was no one else to imitate but the leader.

Convinced.

When the long-awaited leader appeared, the guys' morale rose.

"You're dead now."

"You crazy bastard. It's too late to regret it!"

"There are levels to aura users. The leader is a gold-rank mercenary!"

"A real aura!"

Then is there a fake aura? And the leader is not a gold-rank. They should at least get their stories straight before they start talking.

The guys who had been whimpering like scared dogs were now brave and were running their mouths again.

I tapped my shoulder with the flat of my broken silver sword and looked at the one called the leader at an angle.

"Aha. So you were the main body?"

It seemed that if I just destroyed the main body, the rest would scatter back to the dark back alleys they came from.

The fake leader glared at me.

"How dare you oppose me, Gustan of the Greatsword? You're a guy with a lot of nerve."

He was a guy who was imitating the fake more seriously than I thought.

I grinned.

"Leader. You've gained a lot of weight since I last saw you. Have you been slacking off on your training?"

"You insolent fool!"

The fake leader's roar echoed.

"You must have really lost your fear."

At that moment, the guy who had been having a friendly chat with me from the window whispered in his ear like a sycophant.

It was roughly about me being an aura user and introducing myself as Ashuban of Sherwood.

"What?"

The fake leader glared at me with wide eyes, and then he tilted his head.

"That can't be. I don't feel a single bit of mana."

"It's true. I saw with my own eyes that he created a red aura just like that guy's eyes."

The fake leader threw his head back and laughed, "Hahaha!"

What a refreshing laugh.

"You guys must have been scared and seen things. You pathetic fools."

"Pardon?"

"You guys who don't even know the 'ma' in mana wouldn't know, but I, as an aura user, can see mana."

"Ooh...!"

The fake leader pointed at me majestically.

"But I don't feel any mana from that guy. It's impossible to create an aura. You foolish fools."

"Pardon? But I definitely saw it with my own eyes..."

"Tsk. If not, he must have used some kind of trick. Come out!"

The suddenly brave fake leader strode through the guys and came forward, and then stopped a little distance away.

And then he held out his hand to the back, and a guy came out and placed a dagger in his hand.

It was a dagger with the end split into several branches, as if it were broken. It seemed that he had deliberately made it that way by hitting it on a rock or a wall, or by grinding it hard.

"Look carefully."

The fake leader held the dagger up high so that it could be seen clearly, and then...

"Haap!"

A turbid-colored aura was coated on the guy's dagger. It was a little faint, but it was an aura nonetheless.

The onlookers' gasps and the fake guys' triumphant cheers were mixed.

This is why I said it was unfair. Even trash like that can create an aura.

I've been swinging my sword like a madman for over a decade, but I've never felt a single bit of mana. How can this be considered fair?

The fake leader held up the aura-coated dagger like a torch and enjoyed the reaction of the surroundings with a triumphant face.

Only I clicked my tongue and looked at the guy's pathetic state.

Why would he show off by coating his dagger with aura? If he coated his much larger greatsword with aura, it would be much more visible.

The answer is simple. Because he can't coat his greatsword with aura.

The larger the object to be coated with aura, the more mana is required, and the more delicate the operation is required. In short, the larger the sword, the more difficult it is.

Miho got annoyed.

"Ashuban. It's hard to hold back. Can't we just kill them all?"

"Just wait a little."

Looking at the guy's physique... it seemed that he had gotten his gold tag a very long time ago, or had gotten it through some kind of backroom deal. Or maybe he had a peculiar constitution where he got stronger the more his body was broken.

In short, it was a body with no practical combat ability at all.

The fake leader looked at me with a triumphant expression.

"Did you see?"

"...."

"I don't know what kind of trick you used, but I, as an aura user, can see right through your pathetic little tricks."

"...."

"This Gustan of the Greatsword has easily seen through your trick! Hahaha!"

"...."

"Did you say you were an aura user? Then try to create an aura in front of me again."

The fake leader slammed his greatsword on the ground and urged majestically.

"What are you doing? I said, Try it."

I thought for a moment... and then, after giving a slight signal with my eyes to Miho, who was staring at me, I held the sword I was carrying on my shoulder with both hands and lifted it in front of my eyes.

And then I let out a ki just as he had.

"Haap!"

***

The red-eyed man was letting out a kiai, holding a broken sword with both hands.

"Haap!"

"...."

"Haaap!"

"...."

"Hwaaap! Why, why isn't it working?"

When Ashuban was flustered, the guys became truly triumphant.

The onlookers' pitiful sighs continued.

The fake Gustan threw his head back and laughed.

"Hahaha! Didn't I tell you! It was a trick! No trick works in front of this Gustan of the Greatsword!"

The fake Gustan strode over with a triumphant face, and then said to Ashuban, who was making a dumbfounded expression.

"I knew it from the moment you started acting up with a broken sword. You bastard! To impersonate Sherwood. The crime of impersonating the name of Sherwood without knowing your place is heavy. You will pay for it with your death."

Ashuban's sword tip slowly went down. His sword was heading for the optimal position for an upward slash, but no one noticed. They just thought that Ashuban's momentum was broken and was heading down, just like the tip of his sword.

The fake Gustan looked at Ashuban and then smiled slyly.

"Or, you can pass between my legs here. Then I'll spare you."

For a moment, Ashuban's eyes flashed, but no one noticed. They were all busy laughing at Ashuban.

"Hahaha! I knew it! You fraud!"

"Did you think a trick like that would work in front of the leader!"

"You're lucky! Our leader is a generous man."

"What are you doing? Hurry up and crawl between his legs!"

Ashuban approached him with a humiliating expression and lowered his stance.

"Keuk...!"

"Hahahaha!"

The laughter grew louder, and the fake Gustan's smile deepened.

And so, just as Ashuban was about to crawl between his legs.

A bright red aura split the fake Gustan in half.

"...Huh?"

That was his last word.

The fake Gustan seemed to stiffen, and then he was split in half.

Swish!

Blood splattered.

"...!"

At that moment when everyone was frozen by the shocking situation that no one had expected, before they could even grasp the situation, the fakes began to be sliced apart by a white fox that was rushing at them with a sword in its mouth.

(End of Chapter)

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