I’ll Use a Reverse-Edged Sword

“Is it you? You fucking bastard?”
As I got out of the carriage and slowly approached them, curses flew at me from the start.
“Well, you could say that.”
Perhaps feeling something off about my calm response and composed appearance…
The leader of the group, called Alistair Harmon, asks something in a voice only audible to them to the long-haired man among the seven who had been beaten and captured by me.
They had already untied all 7 of the previously captured men.
Only Heden, unable to contain his anger, wouldn’t stop shouting even in this tense situation.

“You’re dead now, you son of a bitch!! Do you know who you dared to mess with! So what if you’re a noble? Do you think we could have reached this position if we discriminated between nobles and commoners? Brother! Kill this bastard quickly. What are you doing, you idiots? Why are you just standing there! This bastard right now-“

My face involuntarily frowns at the primitive insults too embarrassing to just listen to.

“Why did you do it?”
Having heard about various things from the long-haired man, Alistair Harmon asks me again with a much deeper expression.
Heden, shouting loudly from behind, was so noisy and vulgar that even his own team members were frowning,
but perhaps because the hierarchy was more firmly established than in other knight orders,
when the leader-like older brother Harmon quietly started speaking, he could be seen stopping his curses, just panting.

“Well… if I had to find a reason, your younger brother… that noisy guy over there was causing trouble in the tavern.”
Harmon’s eyebrows furrow deeply at my answer.

“It was just a simple altercation? Is that all?”
“That’s not all. When I punched your brother once, suddenly the subordinate over there started swearing revenge? If they had quietly picked up the guy who got pathetically beaten and left, things wouldn’t have come to this.”

“Huh…”
Harmon holds his head, watching me speak nonchalantly as if talking about someone else’s story.
After a moment

“Do you know about the Alistair… Brotherhood, young noble?”
Harmon asks me

“No, do I need to know? And… it’s been bothering me, but you’re also a man of few words.”

“Eek!?”
As if suffering from PTSD at my words
The long-haired man and five guys standing behind Harmon flinch and shrink back.
Harmon’s expression, looking at them, was becoming as serious as it could be.

“I am Alistair Harmon, who was the commander of the Gwynns Knight Order. Now I’m running the Alistair Brotherhood. Our organization members, everyone you see there, are all former knights. We’re different from ordinary dark organizations, honor… no, I should say authority and dignity now. We’re a group with authority and dignity. Therefore, we can’t just turn a blind eye to such an insulting incident.”

“You’re speaking unnecessarily grandly and plausibly for a group of fallen knights with nowhere to go.”

Crack
At my light remark, I could tell that several of them were scratched.
The combat formation surrounding our group momentarily crumbled and almost showed a gap.
But they tried their best to maintain their reason.
Even Harmon in front, despite looking quite heated, wasn’t rushing in or ordering an attack.

“They say you’re deeply versed in swordsmanship? That you wield a sword so fast it can’t be seen, and with surprisingly efficient swordsmanship?”
Perhaps because of what he heard from the long-haired man, his face was full of interest, not complacency or carelessness, as he looked at me.

“Want to fight? You say you were once a successful knight, even though you’re playing in back alleys now? Don’t you want to face a strong opponent?”

“Haha, calling yourself strong and engaging in low-level provocation, you seem quite anxious despite trying to act calm.”

Oh no
This time I took a hit on my side.
That’s right.
As he said, I was feeling anxious about this uncontrolled situation right now.
This wasn’t a simple fight of hitting and getting hit.
Me and our knights.
We had to fight while protecting the Wydro family people.
This was no different from a situation of fighting with shackles on both feet.

‘If even one person is taken hostage, the fight might end much more miserably than expected… Damn it-‘
I turned my head at the same time as the thought, but
their vileness was faster and more accurate than my worry.

“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
“Let her go, you bastards! Luna! Luna!”

Already some of them had found and penetrated gaps in our knight order’s combat formation and were holding a knife to Wydro Luna’s throat.

“You cowards!”
Raymond shouted and tried to jump out swinging his sword.
“Stop.”
But he stops in his tracks, swallowing his anger at my short command.

“Now, are you in the mood to talk a bit more seriously, young noble?”
Harmon’s sarcasm
I didn’t want to admit it, but he seemed quite capable in tactics and strategy.
As if to prove they weren’t just an ordinary group of thugs, as he said
The fallen knights who were his subordinates instantly identified the one person who would be the biggest weakness for me and our knights,
and without a moment’s hesitation, quickly and accurately took Luna hostage.

“…I’ll admit you’re not ordinary. But, authority and dignity? Honor? Are these words you can use while engaging in cowardly acts like taking hostages?”
I changed my strategy to touch on his last pride.
Fortunately, my strategy seemed to be working.

“Our Alistair Brotherhood is not so weak that we need to take hostages and threaten to judge you.”
“Then will you let her go?”
“No, not right away, wait a moment, I have something quite interesting.”

The men who took Luna hostage bring her to me and Harmon’s side according to Harmon’s gesture.
Of course, the knife pointed at her neck wasn’t withdrawn, so I couldn’t move rashly either.
While the hostage was approaching us, Harmon takes out a small pouch from his bosom.

Then he opens it and takes out something inside to show me.
“Do you know what this is, young noble?”
“I wonder.”
“This is a bracelet containing the curse of the black magician Würgen Schneider.”

Whoosh
Harmon throws the bracelet at me, and I catch it without hesitation.
“A gift?”

“What? A gift? Kukuk… Yes, you could call it a kind of gift.”
Harmon’s face was full of smiles as if something was very funny, and even the other guys surrounding us were soon giggling and joining in the mockery.

“Commander, you’re finally using that useless precious item.”
“I didn’t know you were still keeping that, Commander, you’re really a thorough person.”

What could that bracelet be that they’re so excited about?
Harmon tried to hold back his laughter and put on a quite solemn expression as he spoke to me.

“If you wear that bracelet and make an oath, you’ll be cursed to keep the oath forever. If you break the oath, black magic will activate on the spot and instantly take the life of the person wearing the bracelet.”

“A romantic curse. But why are you giving this to me?”
“I heard you toyed with our brothers with a toy-like sword. Our honor and the achievements we’ve built up with difficulty have become infinitely ridiculous because of your tricks.”

“……”
I listened to what he was saying without a word.
Because Luna’s terrified expression, trembling with a knife at her throat, was visible to me.

“Wear the bracelet and swear. That you’ll become a swordsman who uses only that toy sword at your waist for the rest of your life. Kukuk, if you do that, I swear on my honor that I’ll release this woman.”

“Nooooo!!!!!!!”
The desperate and pitiful scream burst from Luna’s mouth.
For a moment, as if she had forgotten there was a knife in front of her throat
She shouted violently, struggling and thrashing about like mad.

“Young Master!! Don’t do it! Please don’t do it!!! For my sake, please don’t accept such a ridiculous curse!! Sob… sob…”

Luna seemed so distressed by the fact that I would have to become a ridiculous swordsman wielding a toy-like sword for life to save her life.
But,
I’m sorry to Luna, and to Harmon who’s threatening me…
‘That’s not… a curse to me?’
I answered without hesitation.

“If I finish the oath, will you really release her?”
“I swear on my Alistair name. Kukuk, arrogant young noble… Live forever regretting, wielding that ridiculous toy for the rest of your life. The fact that you insulted us, that is.”

I calmly put the bracelet on my left wrist with an indifferent expression.

“No… no… please…”
Waterfall-like tears were still flowing from Luna’s eyes.

“I, Castillo Eden, swear on this bracelet containing the curse of Würgen Schneider.”

“No!!!! Young Master… no, Eden!!! Please stop!!! Please!!!”
Luna’s screams were now so desperate, with her voice breaking, that it was too painful to even listen to.
But I didn’t stop.

“As long as I have breath, I swear that for my entire life… I will be a swordsman who uses only this ‘reverse-edged sword’ that I’m holding now.”

“No!!! Sob… hic… no please… no!!!”
Despite Luna’s screams, I finally finished the oath, and as soon as I finished my sentence, black smoke rose from the bracelet.

Swooooooosh
The black smoke spread as if enveloping my whole body and then
was naturally sucked in through my eyes, nose, and ears.

“Hahahahahahaha!!! Stupid fool. You’ll become a fool of a swordsman wielding only a toy sword for life, becoming the laughingstock of the whole world. Haha”

Harmon and his subordinates all laughed together, mocking me,
and as promised, they withdrew the knife they had been holding to Luna’s throat.

“E… Eden… Eden… Why, why for me…”
Luna, now free, walks towards me on weakened legs and collapses.
Supporting her and guiding her to Raymond, I drew the reverse-edged sword at my waist.