Chapter 110

Pneuve Freira called me Viscount Rampo.

It was a strange name, but I couldn't complain.

It was the alias I had given myself when I took on Serena's request and entered the duel.

“…Who is that?”

“What, you’re Viscount Rampo, aren’t you!?”

“…I don’t know such a strange name.”

The mysterious Viscount Rampo, it's not like we're children playing around.

I deliberately grumbled as much as I could.

Pneuve Freira stared at my face as if he couldn't believe it.

There was no mistake.

The blue eyes, the blonde hair, even the youthful voice!

More than anything, how could he forget the opponent who had defeated him in a single stroke even when he had used the ‘Woodpecker's Step’?

Pneuve stood with his mouth agape, unsure how to interpret this situation.

“Alright.”

I let out a deep sigh.

“It’s not like I intended to hide it anyway.”

I wasn't seriously trying to hide my identity.

If I had been, would I have given such a strange name as Viscount Rampo?

I hadn't even covered my face in the first place.

It was just a little embarrassing to admit it with my own mouth.

“Yes. It’s me. What are you going to do about it?”

“……?”

“We meet again as colleagues this time, Mr. Pneuve.”

“…It really is you, Viscount Rampo?”

“Well, who else would it be?”

Looking this identical and even operating under the Verchello name, it would be stranger if he didn't recognize me.

The regressed prince full of secrets wore a mask of shamelessness.

“Let's forget about what happened last time and focus on the job at hand.”

“…Let’s do that. I will introduce myself properly. I am Pneuve Freira, a guest of Del Conti.”

“As you know, Viscount Rampo.”

I glanced at Pneuve Freira.

“I knew the family cooperating with the canal company would be Del Conti, but I didn't expect you to come, Pneuve. It must be inconvenient to swing such a large sword in a dark, narrow sewer.”

Pneuve carried a greatsword on his back.

Unlike the wooden sword from the duel, it looked to be a real, sharpened blade.

It wasn't as long as the longsword of Dussell Duke's that Amethus had chopped up, but it was wide.

“I naturally thought Brass Arm would come. Then there would have been no chance of him recognizing me.”

“Ah.”

Pneuve let out a gasp.

“Mr. Onseu has come as well.”

“Are you talking about me?”

The man called Onseu abruptly cut in.

The smell was awful due to the thick cigarette clamped in his mouth.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Onseu Om.”

***

‘Onseu Om…….’

A man more famous by his nickname, Brass Arm.

His long hair was unkempt and dirty, and he held a bottle of hard liquor in one hand and a thick cigarette in the other.

He had the appearance of a vagrant, yet his face had a noble air, which was strange.

Onseu Om was dressed in a navy frock coat and a navy tricorne hat.

The way the brim was folded and even the color of the coat was the attire of a Maesh officer.

Both the coat and hat were very old and smelled terrible. Specifically, the smell of alcohol, tobacco, and blood.

‘Seeing him like this reminds me of the old days…….’

I, Shion Pollinglight, lived in Merion.

This was before I became a hero and it feels like about 20 years ago.

Yet it's happening now, which is very strange.

In my memory, Brass Arm Onseu Om is a person from the distant past, but here he is before my eyes, looking exactly the same as back then.

‘Back then, he was a guy I was even afraid of.’

‘Brass Arm’ Onseu Om.

Among the three retainer-knights that Del Conti boasted of, he was by far the most skilled.

His swordsmanship had earned him the title of Master, and his brass arm was a modification of a military weapon from the Silver Dragon Magic Kingdom.

‘He would rank among the top swordsmen not just in Merion, but in the entire Bururade Peninsula.’

No one in Merion dared to get on Onseu Om's bad side.

Not even his fellow retainer-knight Pneuve Freira, nor his employer Kukulo Del Conti.

I raised the corners of my mouth.

‘But now, he’s just about not laughable.’

Watching me lost in thought, Onseu Om took a deep drag of his cigarette.

He casually blew out the smoke.

Pneuve Freira frowned but couldn't bring himself to complain.

It was because his opponent was Onseu Om.

“I heard a collaborator was coming, but it turns out to be a kid.”

“Don’t say that, Mr. Onseu. This person is the one from back then……”

“Ah. So you're that punk?”

Onseu Om chuckled.

“I heard you thoroughly humiliated Kukulo?”

“…What do you mean, Kukulo, to the family head, Mr. Onseu.”

“If I don’t call Kukulo Kukulo, what should I call him? The punk is my employer, not my master.”

Brass Arm’s eyes flashed.

Despite his vagrant-like appearance, his gaze was alive and sharp.

“You’re the one who’s too servile, Pneuve.”

“…You could call it being polite.”

“No. That’s being servile.”

He brought a small tin flask to his mouth.

Amber liquid poured out. It was, of course, hard liquor.

The smell of alcohol added to the smell of tobacco, making it even more potent.

Onseu Om, who swallowed the liquor as if rinsing his mouth, looked down at me.

“Heard you know how to use Ars. You look like a complete brat, it’s surprising. Sixteen? Seventeen?”

It was an exceptionally arrogant attitude.

“And you lost to a guy like this, Pneuve? And here I was, acknowledging you even in the countryside of Merion.”

Onseu Om cackled and scratched his head.

He definitely hadn't washed for at least a few days.

Otherwise, there was no way that white stuff would fall like that just from a simple scratch.

“But hey, kid. I told you my name is Onseu Om. You should say your name too.”

I did not open my mouth.

“Hey. I said, "Let's hear your name?”

My, Shion Pollinglight's, blue eyes weren't even looking at Onseu Om.

I was looking at Meh, waiting for when we would finally enter the sewers.

At my vacant eyes, Pneuve gasped and Onseu Om muttered under his breath.

“You, could it be……”

Only then did Onseu Om realize that I was completely ignoring him.

For the past few years, no one in this city of Merion has been able to ignore Onseu Om.

Therefore, it was inevitable that his reaction was a bit slow. Brass Arm Onseu Om’s face soon flushed red.

“Hey! Answer me!”

I didn't even pretend to hear.

Onseu Om became even angrier and flew into a rage.

He was so hot-tempered that he looked ready to draw his sword at any moment.

“…Th-this insolent……!”

“Is there a problem?”

Meh blocked Onseu Om's path.

In front of the dark-skinned man who was their client and the Head of the Technical Department of the Bururade Canal Company, even Onseu Om had to calm down somewhat.

Pneuve took that opportunity to hold back his fellow retainer.

“Mr. Onseu, calm down! It’s a job, a job!”

“Right, it's a job, a job……”

Pneuve also bowed his head towards me.

“Viscount Rampo, please. We are colleagues this time, are we not?”

“Viscount Rampo?”

Meh tilted his head at the unfamiliar name.

“Who is Viscount Rampo? Is it perhaps Shion? Did you have a title?”

“Yes. I do.”

“…Where did you receive this title?”

“I bestowed it upon myself.”

“…….”

Meh was at a loss for words.

‘So he wasn't an ordinary lunatic.’ Onseu Om also raised his brass arm and scratched his cheek.

“So I am Shion, but also Viscount Rampo. And neither, and both… damn, this is getting complicated.”

I, who had been trying to explain, felt a sudden wave of fatigue.

It wasn't even an important matter!

“Let’s just go with Shion. It's not like I intended to hide it.”

Forget about Viscount Rampo.

Since I was the one who brought it up and then acted picky about it, there was nothing more to be said.

Even Onseu Om found himself nodding his head.

“Is that a protective suit?”

“…Yes. It is a protective suit.”

Meh held out a robe.

There were enough prepared for everyone.

Though it looked like a simple cotton robe, it was an artifact made with magic-infused material.

It was enchanted with several types of protection and purification magic, so it would be very useful in the sewers.

“Shion. So that was your name.”

“You could just forget it and remember me as Viscount Rampo, you know.”

“I can't do that.”

Onseu Om also added a word.

“You, Shion.”

He didn't hide his angry expression.

The way he held the cigarette in his mouth made him look very ill-tempered.

“I will remember it.”

“…….”

“Hey! I said I'll remember it! This Onseu Om will not forget your name! I'm telling you to be a little scared!”

“…….”

“This damn punk……!!!”

At the continued disregard, Onseu Om's anger exploded.

For someone with such a short fuse, holding back his anger was no easy task.

If Meh hadn't calmed him down, a sword fight might have really broken out.

“Please stop.”

Meh massaged his brow, not hiding his fatigue.

“I did not know you were not on good terms. Had I known, I would have looked for other people.”

“No. It’s just a joke. There will be no problem with the work.”

I smiled sweetly.

“I’m counting on you, Onseu Om.”

“You damn punk……”

“It’s a job, isn’t it?”

“Right, I’m counting on you, Shion……”

Onseu Om’s gaze was sharp.

But I was nonchalant.

He was far from enough to frighten the regressed prince who hadn't trembled even before the Great Emperor Continua.

“Let’s go down, everyone.”

***

The Bururade Peninsula Canal Company has branches in each city adjacent to the canal.

They simultaneously hold the duty and the right to inspect the canal facilities, manage passage, and maintain water quality.

The entrance to the Merion sewers was not far from the Merion branch of the Canal Company.

Meh mentioned a few precautions, but I let them drift by.

The only important fact was that we had to descend into the gloomy, deep, and damp sewers.

‘I did have to go to the sewers once anyway…….’

There was something I had to find.

I had settled in Merion to bring down Cordis, and to accomplish what I needed to do in Merion, it was necessary to rummage through the sewers.

‘…Still, I don’t like it.’

How could I?

The smell was absolutely spectacular. Excrement, leftover food, and dead rats all mixed together and rotted.

The purification magic on the protective suits they wore must have filtered out the stench, but it was still awful.

All four men shook their heads at the stench.

An ordinary person might have fainted, and it wouldn't have been strange.

But as it happened, none of the four were ordinary.

I, in particular, only frowned for a brief moment before a gentle smile formed on my lips.

It was because before my regression, I had experienced far worse things very often.

It was the same for Pneuve Freira and Onseu Om.

To live by the sword meant that one often had to watch things die and rot.

The surprising one was Meh.

For someone who introduced himself as a humble engineer, he seemed strangely accustomed to such a foul scene.

“We will go straight down.”

Meh handed out small pieces of paper.

They were internal maps of the sewer.

He said that the Merion sewer was largely divided into 3 levels.

“The lower level is said to have been sealed off long ago. The sewage treatment facility is in front of the floodgate leading to the lower level, so at the very end of the middle level.”

Everyone nodded.

Onseu Om still seemed to be angry, but he appeared to have enough sense to separate public and private matters.

“There will probably be monsters, right?”

“Yes, it would be nice if there weren’t.”

Meh stroked his mustache.

“We will head straight down to the front of the floodgate. It might be dangerous… no, it will be dangerous. So everyone, please don’t get hurt.”

He asked for God’s grace.

“Mushat.”

“Mushat.”

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