Chapter 9

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 9

Rumble-!

Lightning struck from a clear sky.

Creed looked down at Rohan, who lay alone in the infirmary.

‘Just what the hell is this guy?’

He was utterly impossible to understand.

Starting with Hans, who had been a member of the squad on the day Rohan arrived, and continuing through Rainer, seven people had died by Rohan’s hand.

If the disappearance of Goto was also Rohan’s doing, that made eight.

Considering he had not even been here for a full week, he was practically a murderous fiend.

‘He didn’t even try to hide that he killed Rainer.’

When Creed saw the poison left behind as though deliberately placed there for someone to find, he had been dumbfounded.

Did Rohan trust the squad members? Creed himself?

Supern? Or everyone?

There was no way to know what was going on inside the boy’s head... but one thing was certain.

Everyone was being dragged along by Rohan.

Even Creed himself could no longer shake the feeling that, at some point, he too had begun being led around by Rohan.

‘Even that cold-hearted Supern...’

The culprit who killed Rainer was obviously right in front of them.

Yet he was simply leaving him alive, and even telling Creed to help him?

Creed had no idea what had been discussed on the first day Rohan appeared.

From his perspective, there were far too many things that made no sense.

‘I only need to carry out my orders.’

Creed decided to stop thinking about it.

Soldiers were not the sort who should think too deeply in the first place.

There was an order, and all they had to do was follow it.

- Rohan said the Noxis spies would gather sometime this week. Help him if there’s anything you can do.

- If the spies don’t gather within two days... kill him quietly.

Creed had been given two orders.

Help uncover the spies.

Or kill Rohan.

Creed looked down at his hands.

In his left hand was the potion Supern had given him, while a dagger was strapped to his right thigh.

He did not know what future awaited Rohan, but everything would be decided in two days.

All Creed had to do was follow orders.

‘Lucky bastard.’

He was even being treated with such an expensive potion.

Pop, Creed removed the stopper from the potion.

Using a potion that ordinary people could not even hope to see to treat a mere soldier was extremely unusual.

That must mean Supern considered Rohan that important.

Ssssss- As Creed poured the potion over Rohan’s wound, acrid steam rose and the injury rapidly began to close.

Even without the potion, the wound was mild enough that Rohan would have gotten up soon, but there was a considerable difference between merely recovering and being completely healed.

When Creed had poured about half the potion, color returned to Rohan’s face and his breathing became steady.

Creed closed the stopper on the half-empty bottle.

“Mm.”

Soon, Rohan opened his eyes.

His eyes glittered in the faint light reflected from the burning torch.

Anyone would normally be startled to see Creed the moment they opened their eyes, but Rohan merely blinked as though he had expected him to be there.

He really was a strange child.

“How long was I asleep?”

Especially considering that was the first thing he asked upon waking.

Shwaaa-.

For the first time in a while, rain began pouring down over the barracks.

____________

There was not much to do in the unit on rainy days.

They did not run ten laps around the training ground, nor did they perform basic training.

The Fourth Squad was spending the time in their own ways.

Creed was polishing his sword, while Kaisen lay on his bed whistling.

Johanna flipped through a worn-out swordsmanship book.

Having returned from the infirmary, Rohan sat on his bed, lost in thought.

Suddenly, the voices of soldiers talking outside the Fourth Squad tent reached them.

“Rainer’s dead and Goto’s missing. Since that bastard Rohan came here, how many people have died?”

“Obviously Rohan killed Rainer too.”

“How? Rainer was way stronger.”

“They said he was poisoned. He probably poisoned his food or used a poisoned needle. Cowardly bastard.”

They were speaking loudly as though they wanted to be heard, their voices passing clearly through the closed tent and reaching the Fourth Squad.

Everyone raised their heads and looked at Rohan, but Rohan himself showed no particular reaction.

“Why? Rainer could’ve been a spy too.”

At that moment, Rohan looked toward the entrance at the words of a third person from farther away.

It was the first reaction Rohan had shown.

‘There are rumors like that going around?’

Rohan stared toward the entrance and focused on the voices outside.

They were still arguing about Rohan.

“A spy?”

“Yeah. I heard rumors in some of the other squads that Rohan is rooting out spies. Same with Hans, the guy who died.”

“Rainer was a spy? Hmph, ridiculous.”

“But they really did find poison on Hans, didn’t they? If that’s true, then Rohan is a hero who saved us.”

“Hero, my ass. He’s just a murderer. Since that guy joined, the number of people who’ve died in the unit is already...”

When they seemed ready to settle down and continue their conversation, Kaisen abruptly sat up from his bed.

He shouted toward the entrance of the tent.

“Fuck, you’re loud as hell. Shut the hell up, bastards. Let me sleep.”

“...”

Recognizing Kaisen’s voice, the people outside instantly fell silent.

The members of the unit generally wanted nothing to do with Kaisen.

Once it became quiet outside, Kaisen looked at Rohan with a triumphant expression.

“...”

“...Hmph.”

When Rohan showed no particular reaction, Kaisen lay back down and pulled the blanket over himself.

Once the surroundings became quiet, Rohan slowly rose from his seat.

Holding the half-full potion bottle from the cabinet, he looked at Creed.

“I can use this, right?”

Creed shrugged.

Rohan put the potion and a stray potato into his clothes, then threw open the tent flap.

Everyone nearby turned their attention toward Rohan, and the emotions in their eyes varied.

Most were hostile.

Occasionally, there were also gazes filled with curiosity.

It seemed the rumor that Rohan was executing spies was not entirely baseless.

‘Troublesome.’

He did not care whether people showed hostility toward him.

What bothered him was that rumors concerning the spies were spreading.

Ignoring their gazes, Rohan continued walking.

Because of the rain, hardly anyone was active outside the tents.

Rohan headed toward the supply warehouse.

When he lifted the tent flap, acrid dust rose, suggesting no one had entered recently.

In the corner, he saw Goto groaning while covered in cold sweat.

Rohan had coated the roe deer leg with enough poison to keep him bedridden for about two more days.

Rohan opened Goto’s mouth and poured in the potion.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

The moment the potion entered his mouth, Goto’s tightly contorted expression instantly relaxed.

His groaning subsided, and after about five minutes, Goto slowly opened his eyes.

When he saw Rohan in front of him, Goto nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Mm. Huh?! F-fuck! Rohan!”

“Shh.”

Rohan placed his index finger against Goto’s lips.

At the same time, he held a gleaming dagger in front of him.

Goto gulped and fell silent.

Rohan quietly spoke.

“Sleep well?”

Goto stared at him incredulously.

“Crazy bastard. You used aconite...”

He could not finish speaking.

Because Rohan rummaged inside his clothes and tossed him a potato.

“What’s this... a potato?”

“When I dug beneath the willow tree behind Third Squad, I found a whole bunch of them.”

“What?”

Goto’s eyes widened.

The corner of Rohan’s mouth twisted coldly.

“You’ve been stealing food from the supply warehouse every night, haven’t you?”

“W-what?”

“And not only were you filling your own stomach, you were smuggling it outside the unit.”

“H-how do you know that...?”

Gasp. Goto suddenly covered his mouth.

The moment he asked how Rohan knew, it was practically the same as confessing.

Having only just awakened, his mind was not working properly.

Watching Goto, Rohan thought.

‘He’s soft.’

The reason Goto had been stealing food was for his younger siblings in a nearby village.

Rainer had known about it and turned a blind eye.

Having absorbed Rainer’s memories, Rohan had simply recited what he knew.

“I’m sure the other soldiers going hungry would love to hear about this.”

“W-wait. That was for my siblings...”

“That’s none of my concern. And I doubt the starving soldiers would care either.”

Rohan studied Goto’s expression and continued.

“Wouldn’t you need to live a long time if you want to keep feeding your siblings?”

“W-what do you want?”

After his eyes darted around for a moment, Goto finally spoke.

Hearing the answer he wanted, Rohan smiled inwardly.

“Return to the unit immediately and tell them this. On the night of your guard duty, you saw an assassin wearing a Noxis uniform.”

“A-an assassin?”

Rohan nodded.

“You were grazed by a poisoned needle the assassin threw, and you miraculously survived.”

“Ah...”

Sending assassins to kill specific targets was a tactic that both Noxis and Karnia occasionally used.

‘Rumors that Rainer was a spy cannot spread.’

The other Noxis spies did not know that Rainer had been one of them.

They operated like a compartmentalized network while concealing their identities.

If word spread that another spy had been caught, they would become wary and might not appear at the gathering.

He could not afford to ruin everything now.

Goto spoke in a trembling voice.

“Did you kill the vice platoon leader?”

At Goto’s question, the smile disappeared from Rohan’s face.

“What are you talking about?”

Rohan spoke with an expression of genuine disbelief.

“Rainer was killed by a Noxis assassin. With a poisoned needle coated in aconite extract.”

“...”

“Right?”

Goto’s pupils trembled violently.

He stared wide-eyed at Rohan, who was forcing him to lie without the slightest concern.

His vision kept blurring.

Apparently, tears had begun gathering in his eyes.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Given the difference in their size, Goto felt he might have a chance if he attacked, but Rohan’s uniquely oppressive presence weighed him down.

Besides, even if he told people Rohan had killed Rainer, who would believe him?

The gap between Rohan and Rainer was enormous.

In the end, Goto nodded.

_______________

By afternoon, the atmosphere in the unit had changed.

Goto’s testimony had thrown the previously peaceful camp into turmoil.

No official unit-wide instructions had been issued, but companies could be seen holding training exercises to prepare against assassinations and strengthening guard duty.

- Rohan. Sorry for doubting you.

- I thought you killed Rainer... Haha. I guess that never made sense in the first place.

The attitude of the soldiers toward Rohan also changed.

Rohan himself did not particularly care, but what encouraged him most was that the soldiers’ attention had shifted from spies to assassins.

Shwaaaaa.

Rain was still pouring outside.

Wearing his robe over his head, Rohan headed toward the training ground.

The rain had turned the dirt muddy, and there was no one else training nearby.

Rohan stood in front of a large tree.

Sword marks had been carved all over it, perhaps from being used for training from time to time.

Closing his eyes, Rohan focused inside his body.

Thump, thump.

His heart beat powerfully in the left side of his chest.

And to its right...

Thump!

He felt another heart.

It was something he had begun sensing at some point after killing people and absorbing their memories.

He had certainly felt that something was strange, but until now, he had not known what it was.

‘So this was a mana heart.’

Absorbing Rainer’s memories had been enormously helpful.

Thanks to that, he had learned that this was a mana heart, as well as how to manipulate mana.

It was said an ordinary person might spend their entire life without ever awakening to mana.

Perhaps it was thanks to absorbing memories.

Despite making no particular effort, Rohan had formed a mana heart.

Now, all he needed to do was accumulate and release mana.

‘Mana is the prerequisite for swift swordsmanship.’

Without the ability to control mana, the technique was useless.

Rohan had absolutely no intention of abandoning a technique he had worked so hard to obtain.

Thump, thump.

With his eyes closed, Rohan focused on the place where his heart was.

He could feel its rough beating.

Beside the place where his heart was, he sensed another heart.

A heart that was still immature and lacked strength.

Keeping his focus inward, Rohan sensed the power around him.

Mana floating through the air.

The source that became the energy of all things.

To gather that power into his heart...

Saaaa-.

Around his other heart, power floated like air drifting through empty space.

Rohan slowly began rotating that power.

Slowly around the heart... then gradually faster.

Then something astonishing happened.

Power began gathering around his second heart.

As the rotation accelerated, the surrounding power gathered toward the heart as though being sucked in.

Thump!

The second heart beat, and Rohan opened his eyes.

He felt a power throughout his body that was different from before.

The heart was still rotating, drawing in all the surrounding energy.

Step, step.

Rohan moved a few steps and stood in front of the tree.

‘It was about exploding mana instantaneously.’

Rohan traced through Rainer’s memories.

Then he slowly raised his sword.

No.

It only looked as though he raised it.

Crack!

He had only thrust the sword once,

yet two sword marks appeared on the tree.