Black swordsman

A man cloaked in dark clothes was standing on top of the burning carriage. He'd appeared as soundlessly as a shadow and sliced the archer as fast as light. The blade of his sword, drenched in blood, was shimmering threateningly under the light of the fire.

'Who...'

The newcomer's pressure was at a whole other level compared to the attackers who were aiming at their lives. Even if Ian wasn't injured and had some of his power back, he would still find it hard to defeat this person. Ian could tell that for sure even without seeing his fighting abilities.

'Another enemy? Their leader?' Ian pressed the wound on his side with a hand as he warily stared at the black-haired man, who was also looking back at him. 'We don't stand a chance...'

If that man intended to murder them, if all the soldiers of the county combined forces, and even if the attackers also joined in fighting against him, they'd be no match to that swordsman.

Just where did this person come from? Ian had no recollection of him. He'd never seen such a person in any of his regressions.

"Who?"

Just then, one of the attackers shouted at the top of his lungs upon seeing the cold corpse of the archer. He swung his huge axe and ran towards the carriage where the swordsman was.

Swosh

The axe-holding man's head went flying into the air. The black-haired swordsman's sword had moved like a breeze and slashed its opponent without hesitation. The swordsman, now on the ground, shifted his sword in his hand and ran towards the other attackers with no fear.

"I-I-Ian-"

A voice cut down with several gasps, echoed in Ian's ears. From behind, Alaric was clinging to his clothes, calling his name with a tone that looked near to breaking apart.

"Ian I-Ian t-this blood w-w-wound a-and blood this y-you got Ian Ian losing b-b-blo-blood-"

"I'm fine," Ian didn't take his eyes off the swordsman who was wreaking havoc on the battlefield.

"Ah, Aaah, huff hufff ah..." Muffled gasps and suppressed screams entered Ian's ears from behind. Frowning, he looked back, only to find Alaric curled up and panting with a terrified face and teary eyes, still clinging to Ian's coat as if it was his life force.

"Hey!" Grabbing the man's shoulders, he shook the boy a little bit. "I'm fine, really!"

'I've lost some blood, my wound hurts, am a little bit dizzy, and I guess I'll vomit blood in a while, but my overall situation isn't that bad!'

Alaric's trembling hands moved toward the wound on Ian's body and pressed down on it. Blood drenched the young man's slender fingers and stained his sleeves. Teardrops rolled down his eyes, wetting his face.

"Alaric, calm down! Alaric! Pull yourself together."

Ian's voice didn't seem to enter the young master's ears. Clicking his tongue, Ian shifted his gaze back to the battlefield. Soldiers of the county were moving back little by little, distancing themselves from the fight, while the black swordsman was surrounded by the attackers, yet, he didn't seem troubled at all.

With a sweep of his sword, the necks of the attackers got cut one after another. Taking a step back and circling on his feet, the swordsman swung his arm once again, cutting another opponent in half. He changed his grip on the sword the next instant and swung it in the other direction, deflecting an attack, and kicked the enemy in the stomach.

His movements were swift and smooth as if he wasn't fighting but dancing in the middle of the battlefield. 

'Uh... this,' Ian's brows furrowed upon seeing the scene. 'It feels kinda familiar...' yet he couldn't remember where he'd seen those movements. In his wavering vision, he could see a person, a young boy in black, clumsily spinning on his food but ending up losing his balance and falling down. The child's face, as well as the background, were all blurry. No other memories came to his mind as if everything else besides that short scene was removed from his head.

'Who...'

After living such a long and repetitive life, Ian had naturally forgotten a lot of memories. However, he never forgot any important figures or events, even if he'd seen them once, there was no way Ian wouldn't remember such a strong person. That only meant that he'd never seen this swordsman in his previous rounds.

'...How is that even possible?'

There was no way such a skilled swordsman could escape Ian's sight! Where was he until now? What was he doing in Ian's various regressions? Did he die before everything started?

"Sir, are the two of you alright?"

Ian's racing thoughts were cut off by a woman's voice. A young girl with long brown hair was running to them from behind the supply cart while holding a bag in her hand. Seeing Ian's wound, the woman's eyes widened before she hurriedly sat down and pulled Ian's shirt up.

"What the-"

"I'm a doctor. You aren't in a good situation I need to treat you so please don't move."

"Wha-"

Where did a doctor suddenly come from?

Ian shot a glance at Alaric who was blankly watching the woman with tears streaming down his face, and then looked back at the battlefield. By the time he located the black swordsman, all of his opponents were slaughtered. From the attackers, only one person was still alive, and that one person was being held by the black swordsman by the neck.

"Tie him up," ordered the swordsman, looking at the soldiers of the county. The soldiers shivered for a second before bowing their backs and taking out ropes to bind the sole survivor of the attackers. They instantly recognized the stronger man as a helper and superior whom they had to obey.

'Is he here to help us? Why?'

It seemed that the swordsman helped them take care of the unexpected ambush. That was reliving for now. Thinking that, Ian asked a question in a low voice.

"Are you with that man?"

The woman who was busy bandaging his wound nodded without raising her head.

"Yes, I'm his companion. don't worry we don't mean any harm."

Ian hissed, biting down his lips to silence a moan. It took him a few seconds to utter a single word. "Then?" 

"We were after those bandits but found them attacking your group, so we naturally thought of helping you."

"They were bandits? They looked like assassins aiming for our lives."

"I don't know what is happening either. We're just mercenaries doing our mission," the woman said, giving Ian an embarrassed smile before pointing at Alaric with her eyes. "But is that person alright?"

"I think he's only panicked." Ian shifted his gaze to the side, to Alaric who was hucuping without stop, and gave him a few pats in the back. The young man shuddered before moving closer to his servant, sniffling restessly.

"Ah!" she nodded her head while cutting the end of the bandage. "Don't you have pain?"

"A little bit."

"A little bit? This kind of cut is enough to make people cry..." She tilted her head while mumbling. 

This woman didn't seem to lie about her being a doctor. She gave off a calm and gentle aura, her eyes were honest and her actions were skilled. Even Alaric had calmed down significantly since she arrived.

"How are you feeling?"

"Dizzy."

"Oh!" The woman cleaned her bloody hands before rummaging through her bag in search of something.

"Young master!" Liam ran towards them after taking care of the situation. Behind him were Ranger and other servants.

"Young master are you alrigh-" Ranger paused in his words as he stopped in his tracks. All colors escaped the old man's face. His deep, dark-blue pupils were fixed on the bandaged and bloody wound on Ian's body. 

"...Ian?"

The blue-haired servant flinched at the call.

"Y-yeah? I'm fine, look, I'm pretty fine!"

The servant's pale expression and exhausted eyes betrayed his words. He was taking short and pained breaths while leaning a little bit on Alaric, not having the power to sit straight. Before Ranger could terrify Ian even more, the brown-haired woman raised her hand and beamed with a gentle smile.

"Is anyone else injured? Please do tell me if there are, I'm a doctor."

As she said, she handed Ian a bunch of pills, saying that they would calm his pain. Liam was quick to react and guide the woman to the few lightly injured soldiers. All of the soldiers were gathered in one spot far away from the black swordsman that they were wary of, and were discussing among themselves. On the other side, the swordsman was pressing the tip of his blade against the captured bandit, interrogating him.

"Tell me where you've hidden the goods."

"I-I don't know-"

"You don't?"

The man's boot pressed down on an injury on the bandit's leg. The captured bandit screamed before stuttering through clenched teeth, "T-the city beside the j-jungle nearby. I-its location is in m-my pocket."

"Hmm..."

The swordsman bent down and after searching through the bandit's pocket, pulled out a piece of paper.

"I'll check the location first before confirming what I'll do with your life."

The bandit shivered at the cold voice.

'I can't see his face from here...' Ian had narrowed his eyes like a visually impaired person while staring at the swordsman, but he couldn't see his face from that distance and through his foggy sight. He wanted to get close and see for himself, but he was being guarded by Ranger so that he wouldn't move.

"Heeeeyy!" shouted Ian towards the swordsman, making everyone else flinch. "Ask him why they wanted to kill us!"

"...."

The swordsman didn't have much reaction. After staring at Ian for a brief second, he looked back at the captured bandit. Even without being directly asked, the bandit confessed by only being under the man's gaze.

"W-we were ordered. They gave us money to kill a nobleman."

"Who gave you money?" Shouted Ian from the other side.

"I d-don't know who he was. He was a bald man wearing a white coat. We sold some drugs to him in the black market, but after leaving the city, we received a letter from him with half the promised money."

"...."

Not just Ian but everyone else who heard those words frowned at once. There was no need for any further explanations as they could link the descriptions to one specific person they knew.

"But why..."

Ranger mumbled the question to everyone's head, but there was no one who gave him an answer.