Runesmith: Chapter 442 – Loose Ends. (Patreon)

Roland paused mid-step, his hammer still ready to strike while Elythaes's words hung in the air. The Baskerville Knight's eyes widened as he came to some sort of realization and his face was a mix of disbelief and anger.

"...are you actually...?"

A question was thrown and it indicated that his opponent knew something. His face had been revealed and there was an implication that came with it. He had never met this person without wearing his suit of armor nor did anyone know how the missing Arden sibling.
However, there was one particular thing about his family that set it apart from the others. It seemed that their father’s genes took over when it came to male offspring but when it came to females, they took the mother's side of the family. This was also the reason why his brother Robert, instantly recognised him a few years back.

“Y-you’re one of them, right? Y-you must be Robert? Now this all makes sense…”

It seemed that this man had come in contact with his family members and this was not anything out of the ordinary. The Baskerville Knight family in a way took over the responsibilities of the Arden estate that was previously also one of Castellane's guard dogs. Even after Wentworth Arden rose to his position of proper nobility, the Baskerville Knights continued to maintain a close relationship with them due to their shared history of loyalty and service.

When he was between the ages of five and ten, he had witnessed them as well and through those exchanges, he came to know of the three Cerberus Knights. It wasn’t strange to assume that this person had seen either his eldest brother Reyner or the second Edwin. He didn’t seem to know Robert at all but the resemblance was there and it seemed that his identity as one of the Arden’s had been exposed.

“No, how could you be Robert… this strength… Not even the firstborn was this capable… could you be…”

“What does it matter who I am?”

Roland stopped for a moment but then resumed his approach. He knew why Elythaes was confused as Roland’s power was just too high. At most, he could assume that he was some bastard who had been born before Reyner. It wouldn’t make sense for Robert to be strong enough to take out the Cerberus trio on his own.

“No wait! If you’re from the Arden family please reconsider! Do you want a war to break out between the families? Do you think you can win against the Castellane house?”

Roland paused once more but his hammer was still clenched tightly. The mention of potential conflict between the Arden and Castellane families made him contemplate the issue. It was true that any action he took here could have negative repercussions, not just for himself but for his family as well. He had raised his hand in opposition to Viola Castellane and already killed some of the Baskerville knights with Andreas being the most prominent one. While the other side started the conflict, some might say that he had overreacted.

“You tried to murder me and Lucienne Arden as well, now that you are defeated, you seek a truce?

Elythaes struggled to rise from the swampy ground, but he seemed to be trying to make amends.

“Please my friend, think about it. I had no choice in this matter… I’m sure that you understand, people like us have no choice in these matters, I was just following orders.”

Roland's expression remained unreadable as he listened to Elythaes's plea but his mind was racing. There were potential consequences of continuing with his actions now. He understood the balance between the noble houses and how they would probably not let this issue rest so easily. It would be clear to the Castellane household that he was the man responsible for all of this.

‘But what are the other options here? If I let this bastard go, he will report all of it and they might just come back with more forces or even hire an assassin…’

If one strategy didn’t work it was useful to use another. While it was true that the Baskerville and Castellane families would probably back off for a moment, they would hold a grudge. The issue could potentially be dropped as it would put the other families in a bad light, the only thing that nobles feared than the higher nobility was bad rumors. There was a possibility that they would halt their advances and even issue a public apology. However, after the overreaction he witnessed today, Roland wasn’t sure if they would honor anything.

“I understand your predicament but it doesn’t sound very genuine when you’re just trying to distract me, did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

For a moment he did give it a thought, revealing himself could potentially have this whole thing end without any future bloodshed. While he didn’t see the Castellane family apologizing for this issue, it was possible to make amends and form some type of binding contract that would safeguard his sister. Both sides would come to some kind of agreement and let things rest but it wouldn’t be so as the surviving Roman had been lingering in the background.

“Shit…”

Roland had managed to rip off this man’s arm but he was still a tier 3 class holder. With enhanced bones and internal organs, even without an arm it was still possible to move around. People at this tier had advanced from being regular humans and were closer to monsters.

“It seems that you wish to negotiate with your swords raised?”

“...”

Roman didn’t reply as he used his legs to toss himself in Roland’s direction. His body was fast but his movements lacked finesse due to the missing arm. Despite this, he managed to close the distance between them surprisingly quickly. With his remaining hand, he wielded his sword with murderous intent and attempted to aim it at his exposed throat. However, Roland had already seen this movement thanks to the mana phantom and before the strike could connect, it was sidestepped.

His opponent tried to quickly gather himself but it was too late. His Overlord’s Might skill was still in effect and it gave him a clear advantage over this injured knight. He bashed the man with his shield to knock him off balance, then followed up with a swift strike from the spiky side of his hammer.

While the man was wearing some armor, he was still able to puncture through it. Then through this opening, he directly injected a large quantity of magical energy into the man’s body. Even though he was a tier 3 class holder, his insides started to rapture. Roman convulsed in agony as his insides were liquified in an instant. His body flew into the distance and landed in a shallow puddle filled with swamp water. There it started spasming before his life finally came to an end.

Elythaes had managed to gather himself off the ground but his legs were shaking. He found himself surrounded by a large group of golems that had managed to restore themselves. All of them were pointing their eyes and cannons in his direction.

“Wait… WAIT! Do you really want to start a war that you can’t hope to win between the families? Think rationally!”

“Oh, I am quite rational. What war? What families? You assume that I’m part of the Arden estate, but am I really? What proof do you have?”

“What?”

“... and if I was, I would be quite justified in defending my sister’s honor, wouldn’t I?”

Roland pointed at the man with his hammer which was already glowing. The large group of golems did the same as they aimed at the injured Knight. Soon a salvo of beams exploded from all directions, all aiming at the lone knight in the middle. While he tried to evade them he found himself unable to due to the sheer volume. Yet, they were nothing more than distractions with the glowing hammer being the true ray of death.

“No please, spare me, I swear to keep silent about everything that happ…”

The man cried out in pain as multiple energy bolts bounced off his body. Due to his tier 3 prowess, they just created shallow wounds and pain. However, eventually, a bright flash ended him as Roland’s swirling attack connected with the man’s chest cavity and drilled right through it.

The dungeon fell silent once more, the only sounds echoing through the cavern were the crackling of fading magic and the distant drips of water. Roland stood amidst the aftermath of the battle, his expression quite solemn. The Cerberus Knights that were famous within this region lay defeated and their bodies were without any signs of life.

After taking a deep breath, Roland let the tension drain from his muscles. Despite this victory, he couldn’t shake the feeling of unease. The consequences of his actions could be dire as the men here were important figures within the kingdom. Their disappearance would be noticed and many new foes could appear on the horizon.

‘They didn’t really leave me a choice here…’

There were other knights within the dungeon and he knew that it would probably be impossible for him to get to all of them. It was also probable that another unit was waiting above ground, waiting for the report from their leaders. There was no reason to chase any more people down, nor did he want to shed more blood on this day. Killing didn’t bring him much joy and he knew that everyone was just following orders.

He also knew he had to tread carefully from here on out. The Baskerville Knights were a powerful and influential family and their demise would not go unnoticed. The Castellane household, too, would likely seek retribution for the loss of their knights. Luckily, they all would think twice about attacking him again after this fiasco and would likely forgo any immediate future attempts at his life.

‘I’m sure I’ll be public enemy number one for them at least. They probably won’t care much about Lucienne past this point nor do they really know who I am…’

While his face was similar, there was no real proof that he was part of the Arden estate. Nor was the conversation here revealed to anyone yet. As long as he kept silent about everything, no one would be the wiser. The Baskerville knights would probably also not disclose any information as it made them look bad. They were unable to defeat a lone rune magician after ambushing him in a dungeon, not something they would want to be spread around.

However, at the moment his mind was deliberating something else. While the three knights had been vanquished there was a fourth person involved, Professor Ulfine. She had been knocked out by him before he dismantled the trio but was still alive. His instincts were telling him that perhaps killing this woman would be a wise choice as she might have caught the conversation that could expose his true identity.

She was nothing more than a hired goon in his eyes who tried to murder him and his sister, not someone he would lose much sleep over. While eliminating her might seem like the logical choice to tie up loose ends, he also considered the potential consequences of such an action. Killing her might attract unwanted attention from the Institute or other powerful entities she might be affiliated with.

On the other hand, letting her live would also pose risks. Would the other teachers from the Institute even believe him? It was possible that once she awoke, Professor Ernas would swoop in to aid her. He did not know who he could really trust and if she was allowed to talk to anyone, then perhaps the whole academy would go after him, even before he could show them any recordings that would absolve him of any crimes.

Roland weighed his options carefully while one of the golems returned his helmet to his side. With the help of the mage hand spell, the helmet seemingly floated up and descended onto his head. It had been broken in a few places but with the help of his skill it was reformed once more and quickly magnetized itself to the rest of his armor. With his arsenal now fully restored, he deliberated this issue further but was unable to come to a decision as some other trouble made itself known.

“Young man, how about you leave that one to me?”

A new voice sounded from the side, something that he didn’t expect. Even though he had lost his helmet with the main monitoring system within, his senses were sharp. Unless it was some type of assassin of tier 3 or up, he would have probably noticed something. His golems had some detection capabilities but this person was right there, just a few meters from the position he now stood.

“Who are you?”

He quickly turned in the direction of this voice to see a peculiar phenomenon. At first, it looked like a person but something wasn’t right, they weren’t really there, it was some kind of illusion or magical body. The figure before Roland seemed to be a manifestation of mana but it was somewhat different. His Eyes of Mana skill was still active and it was giving him some conflicting information.

‘Wait, is this spiritual energy, not mana? It looks like a mana phantom … could this person be?’

It finally hit him, this person was not an illusion nor was it a hologram, it was a specter. Roland recalled the description that Arion had given him of the Institute’s Spiritualist and this old lady fit the bill. She wasn’t very tall and hunched forward while holding a cane in her right hand. Her nose was somewhat large and elongated. Her face had several large warts and she was also wearing a large hat which made her look like an evil witch from old fables.

‘It’s just how Arion described, I thought he was exaggerating with the description…’

“How rude, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first, young man?”

“My apologies. I am Assistant Professor Wayland from the Institute…”

He mentioned his current hidden name but he wasn’t sure how much this person had heard of his conversations with the now-passed Elythaes. Considering that he was talking with a Spiritualist who could talk with the dead, this was troublesome. Was his secret exposed already, or would it be soon after?

“Oh, you’re that new fellow from the Institute? What brings you here?”

“The advancement classes?”

“Oh right, there was that!”

It seemed the Spiritualist, despite her eerie appearance, was not immediately hostile towards him. However, letting his guard down was not an option. She clearly came out from hiding to keep him from sending Ulfine into the afterlife. It seemed that she wanted to protect this woman who had wronged him.

“I must say, you made quite a mess inside the dungeon.”

The old woman commented while looking around, the bodies of his three enemies were still there and the blood was quite fresh.

“I was just defending myself, they initiated the attack, and I had no other choice.”

“Oh, don’t worry young man, I’m not judging you but next time try to keep it down, it’s hard to concentrate while the spirits are in such disarray!”

“Sure…”

He wasn’t sure what to make of this old lady, she seemed unperturbed by the circumstances that led to the deaths of these men.

“What are your intentions… Professor Fortuna, I assume?”

“I guess I don’t need to introduce myself then! My intentions? Well, isn't it obvious? I'm here to ensure that justice is served, young man. But it didn’t look like you needed any help, so I just waited.”

“You waited and justice? If I may ask… what are your intentions with Professor Ulfine…”

Professor Fortuna let out a cackling laugh, which echoed eerily in the cavernous dungeon.

"Oh, my intentions with dear Ulfine? Don’t worry young man, she won’t be bothering anyone anytime soon…”

Roland couldn't help but feel suspicious of the old Spiritualist. The lady was giving him goosebumps for some reason and it felt like she was quite dangerous. While they were talking a large quantity of will-o'-the-wisp spectral monsters appeared around the area. Their numbers were quite large but this wasn’t all. This woman’s spectral avatar was quite something too, the magical fluctuations it was giving off were tremendous.

It wasn’t hard for a mage to measure their opponent's strength through the spells the other party was using. This person he was now up against wasn’t simple and potentially had more mana than even he had. Considering that the Institute let her live in the dungeon and even allowed her to ignore meetings, made her probably into a special existence. She was perhaps someone quite powerful, maybe even someone that he wouldn’t be able to go against…