Chapter 7
Bang!
I drove my fist into Cesare’s crown. He let out a pained groan.
“Watch your tongue when you speak to your master. And besides, I don’t know my own bloodline either.”
“Even you don’t know what your mom and dad looked li— Agh!”
“You should say Mother and Father.”
Only after I smacked him once more did he finally quiet down. With tears welling in the corners of his eyes, Cesare looked at me.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. So what exactly is weak? I can barely sense any blood aura coming from you.”
Blood aura was synonymous with strength. As one trained the body and mana, the energy flowing through the blood naturally changed.
When that energy became dense enough, it seeped through the veins into the very bones, leaving permanent traces behind.
When the flow of one’s blood changed and one’s achievements were engraved into the skeleton—
Those engravings were called Marks.
Just as the saying “etched into one’s bones, never to be forgotten” implied, those Marks never disappeared.
“How many Marks had you reached before you died?”
“Seven.”
But now I had been reduced to a single Mark.
Cesare looked at me with unmistakable pity, as though he were staring at an elderly mother who had grown frail with age.
He himself was probably around the Third Mark, so naturally I appeared weak to him.
I waved a hand dismissively.
“That isn’t truly my weakness. Training will solve that.”
“Then what is your weakness?”
“I can’t kill more than three people in a single day.”
That was the vow I had made long ago.
Cesare frowned.
“Isn’t that a fatal weakness? Why can’t you kill more than three?”
“I made a bargain with a god.”
At the mention of a god, his shoulders slumped. Though disappointed, he looked like he accepted that there was nothing to be done.
“So that’s why. The other masters always finished things for you.”
Only my comrades from Valanus knew about my weakness. Thanks to their help, I had been able to continue wielding my sword.
I had kept it secret from my disciples.
I cherished them, but they had never been people to whom I could entrust my back.
Now…
Perhaps I finally could.
As I looked at the grown-up Cesare before me, he began peppering me with questions.
“What did you get in return? Which god did you make the deal with?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“What is this, some mysterious secret? What happens if you break the vow?”
“You’ll never be able to hold a sword again.”
I didn’t want to lie to my disciple.
But I simply couldn’t bring myself to tell him that breaking it meant death.
His expression had already darkened just hearing that I would lose the ability to wield a sword.
Cesare fell silent for a moment, thinking deeply. Then he looked at me with deadly seriousness.
“Master. I’ve got another question.”
“Go ahead.”
“…Then can you not even kill mosquitoes?”
What kind of question was that?
It caught me completely off guard, but he looked genuinely concerned about my condition, so I answered.
“That depends. More precisely, what is forbidden is intentional killing.”
Accidentally stepping on an insect without realizing it was another matter.
My explanation made Cesare grin.
“Got it! Then if you ever see a cockroach, call me! I’ll kill every last one for you!”
I appreciated the sentiment…
But a master who couldn’t even kill a cockroach?
At that point, I might as well sleep alongside the cockroaches instead.
After our brief rest, we mounted our horses once again.
Not long afterward, a small village came into view.
Cesare rubbed the back of his neck.
“Sigh… I probably should’ve just left Xenia in Aspenhel. The orphanage there is still around.”
“Why couldn’t you leave her at the Aspenhel orphanage?”
“They were full. After the city was invaded, there were orphans everywhere.”
The destruction of Aspenhel fifteen years ago remained vivid in my memory.
The flames consuming the city.
The scorching air.
The smell of blood drifting through it.
The screams that tore through the ears.
The streets littered with corpses…
Even now, I couldn’t understand.
Who had committed such atrocities?
“Master, that’s where the orphanage used to be.”
Had we already arrived?
Following where he pointed, I saw a large signboard.
Pawnshop & Moneylending Office
The respectable-looking sign hid what it truly was—a den of loan sharks.
I looked at Cesare.
“How did the orphanage end up like this?”
“I heard the orphanage director gambled away all the money. Even after handing over the building, he still couldn’t repay his debts, so he fled in the middle of the night.”
What a pathetic reason.
Had he abandoned the children as well?
Cesare sighed.
“The problem is, both the staff and the orphans are gone. I don’t even know who to ask.”
“Let’s go into the moneylending office. The owner probably knows something.”
“The owner? I asked before. He said he didn’t know anything about the director.”
Even after hearing that, I walked toward the building.
As Cesare followed beside me, I explained,
“A loan shark doesn’t simply give up on someone who runs away owing money. At the very least, they would’ve hunted him down.”
When money was involved, men like that would chase you to the ends of the earth.
After taking the orphanage itself as collateral, there was no way they’d simply let the debtor disappear.
Cesare looked at me with admiration.
“Damn… Master, were you a loan shark or something? You know way too much.”
“I’ve dragged in a few of those fellows myself back in the day. Come.”
The moment we entered, an oppressive atmosphere greeted us.
The interior was old and poorly maintained.
The stale air made the whole place feel gloomy.
Somewhere deeper inside, someone was desperately begging for more time to repay a debt.
More importantly, the employees on the first floor looked anything but ordinary.
Their swaggering attitudes and threatening appearances made it impossible to tell whether they were clerks or gangsters.
As soon as we entered, one of them approached us.
He was built like a mountain with fierce, glaring eyes.
“Customers? You’re the youngest customers we’ve had.”
His tone dripped with mockery.
He called us customers, but it was obvious who held the power here.
“Let’s head inside. First, tell me how much mon—”
He stopped midsentence.
Just moments ago he had been full of confidence.
Now his face had gone completely pale.
His jaw hung open, revealing a missing front tooth.
Wondering what had happened, I realized he wasn’t looking at me.
He was staring at Cesare.
The man stumbled backward.
“Y-You’re… Cesare, the Life Ender?!“
Did they know each other?
Cesare frowned.
“People still use that nickname? Who are you?”
“W-We fought at the fighting pits… four years ago…”
The fighting pits.
That was the common name for illegal underground arenas.
Had Cesare done that too?
At that moment, another employee spotted him and began trembling violently.
He was missing two front teeth.
“You’re that Cesare? The guy who beat opponents into bloody pulp? The one who broke people’s arms and legs and pulled out all their teeth as trophies?!”
“I didn’t pull their teeth out, asshole! I punched them, and they came out! What was I supposed to do?”
“Y-You picked up my teeth afterward…”
“That’s because they were gold teeth!”
So that explained why the employees were all missing their front teeth.
The looks they’d been giving us changed instantly.
Apparently Cesare had thoroughly traumatized them.
“S-So… how may we help you?”
Cesare looked at me.
“Master. What are we doing?”
I addressed the employee, who was now standing there nervously.
“I’d like to meet your employer.”
“I-I’m terribly, sincerely sorry… The boss doesn’t meet people unless they’re personally acquainted.”
Judging by how desperately he apologized, he wasn’t lying.
After a moment’s thought, I spoke.
“Very well. Then today, I’ll simply borrow some money.”
“Y-Yes, sir! Right this way! I’ll bring the person in charge immediately. Please wait just a moment.”
Bowing repeatedly, the employee led us to a shabby consultation room.
We sat on the stiff sofa.
I turned to Cesare.
“So you even fought in underground arenas? Those places were dangerous.”
“They paid damn— I mean, very well. Rich folks loved throwing money around.”
He grinned proudly.
No matter how many times I looked at him, I still couldn’t reconcile this man with the timid boy he used to be.
There had always been something I’d wanted to ask.
So I asked now.
“Why didn’t you stay at the orphanage? Why become a mercenary?”
“There was only one empty bed.”
He absentmindedly played with the necklace around his neck before tucking it back beneath his shirt.
“I had to give it to baby Xenia. What choice did I have?”
“You could’ve found another job. Someone with your personality would’ve suited something else.”
“If you’re a mercenary, you get to travel everywhere.”
His smile faded.
“I was looking for my missing little brother. Never even caught a glimpse of him.”
I remembered that Cesare had been the second-oldest of my disciples.
So he’d spent fifteen years searching for his family alone.
I felt proud of him.
And guilty.
I lightly tapped him on the head.
“What was that for?”
“To tell you that you did well. You were such a timid child. You’ve changed a great deal.”
“I had to. Crybabies are easy prey. I had to force myself to become tough.”
So that was why he cursed so much.
Why he fought more brutally than necessary.
Cesare smiled brightly.
“Well, I don’t regret it. So stop making that face. You finally got young again—you’ll get wrinkles.”
He playfully poked between my eyebrows.
He really had grown up.
He even knew how to comfort his own master.
“You’re right. Since I’ve become young again, perhaps I should start taking care of myself.”
“Must be nice. Still… I really wonder why you came back to life.”
At that moment, two employees entered.
One was the man who had nearly fainted at the sight of Cesare.
The other was a neatly dressed man who appeared to be in his late twenties.
“I hear you’re here to borrow money. How much do you require?”
The owner hadn’t appeared when we’d asked to see him directly.
Fine.
Then I’d bring him out another way.
I calmly answered,
“I’d like to borrow one billion baht.”
The employees—and even Cesare—froze with their mouths hanging open.
One billion baht.
Enough to buy an entire mansion.
With a loan that large, the owner would have no choice but to get involved.
The employee stood there dumbfounded before clearing his throat.
“One billion baht… Whoever you are, for a loan of that size you’ll need either a guarantor or collateral.”
So this was the stage where they verified everything.
I could have lied about my identity.
But there was a much more reliable method.
Placing a hand on Cesare’s shoulder, I declared,
“I’ll use Cesare the Life Ender as my guarantor.”
“…What?”
Cesare blinked at me in disbelief.
Sorry, Cesare.
Just be my guarantor this once.
