My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 14
“Hick.”
Startled upon discovering an unexpected corpse behind a tree, the knight recoiled a step back.
“What a shock. That took ten years off my life.”
Shouldn’t someone who dealt with this have taken care of it too to prevent startling others?
Grumbling, the knight dragged the body into view. The cause of death seemed clear, with a dagger neatly lodged in the neck. There were no signs of defense. Judging by the face, they appeared to be struck from a dagger thrown at a distance.
To throw a dagger and pierce the neck from a distance where the target wouldn’t even notice was no ordinary feat. It’s just not good arms or excellent skills
Daggers are primarily close-combat weapons, not meant for aiming and throwing but held in the hand and used within range. At longer ranges, they lose their lethal efficiency, becoming more suited for display or hitting targets in a show.
But this dagger had shattered the neck bone and severed the spinal cord precisely. Such skill was rare.
“Looks like the work of our commander.”
“No.”
Just as the knight was about to dismiss it, a sudden voice made him jump.
“Your Holi, young master.”
“Look at the hilt of the dagger.”
Following the command, the knight examined the handle and was shocked.
“This is…”
The quality was too poor to be the commander’s. It looked more like a multipurpose tool a commoner might use at home, not even a weapon of war. So, who could the owner of this dagger be, possessing such extraordinary skill?
Leaving his bewildered subordinate behind, the black-haired man pulled the dagger from the corpse’s neck. Only the handle came out, as the blade crumbled and fell apart. The blade, already fractured like a spiderweb, couldn’t withstand the force and shattered.
“Old, worn-out iron. Forged by a blacksmith with mediocre skills using cheap materials.”
The commander, appearing suddenly, picked up the metal pieces from the ground and spoke bluntly.
“Even I can’t guarantee success in piercing a target’s neck even with mana-infused scrap metal like this.”
Mana is a force too powerful for ordinary swords to handle. Unless crafted from specially processed, top-quality metal, blades crack under its intensity. Yet, this subpar, scrap metal-made blade, not even held in hand but thrown, maintained its form until it pierced the target’s neck. A chillingly precise control of mana.
The perplexing part was that none in their group had such skills. Then, who was behind this, and why did they assist them?
“I have a question.”
“Yes, young master.”
The inquisitive commander raised his head sharply. Their master was gazing thoughtfully at the remaining piece of the dagger. His silver eyes seemed to search for some unseen trace, filled with an indiscernible emotion.
“Would a swordmaster retain their skills if they were reborn with memories of their past life?”
Though the question was cryptic, the commander of the knights answered earnestly.
“It’s hard to say for certain, but I believe so. Such mastery involves a level of mental enlightenment. So theoretically, if the memories remain intact, the skills of a swordmaster could be used, even if the body was changed. Of course, there’s a chance that the physical coordination might lag behind the head. But a little training should quickly resolve that. It wouldn’t be a significant obstacle.”
“I see.”
His silver eyes sparkled with delight.
“That’s what I thought too.”
“Young Master! The commoner girl has disappeared.”
Suddenly, the youngest knight of the group burst in with this news. The commander’s expression hardened.
“What do you mean? Sir Hopple.”
“Commander, we can’t find the commoner girl. She’s gone. The ropes we tied her with are left behind, like a snake’s shed skin, but how this happened… Could they have taken her?”
“That’s unlikely. We killed them all. Besides, she holds no value as a hostage and is not connected to the young master. Why would they kidnap her?”
Another knight interjected, but the commander’s expression remained grim.
“We might have missed something, like the one hidden behind this tree. If she got entangled in our affairs due to some misunderstanding…”
“There’s no need to worry.”
The commander, who was deeply concerned about the worst-case scenario, was interrupted by a cool response. Their master calmly added,
“She must have taken advantage of the chaos and fled. She must have been waiting for such an opportunity.”
Their master seemed oddly pleased. In the puzzling situation, the commander chose to remain silent.
* * *
At the same time, Regina was personally experiencing the answer to the question they were curious about.
“To suffer internal injuries at this age, what a life.”
She wasn’t poisoned, but here she was, coughing up blood in the prime of her life. It seemed that hastily drawing upon her mana had evidently strained her body.
She understood why. She had pushed her body beyond its limits. It was like asking someone prepared to lift a sack of rice to lift ten instead.
The fact that she didn’t collapse was remarkable in itself.
“I should avoid overexerting myself for a while. My body is precious, after all.”
Her comment seemed old-fashioned, given her youthful appearance. But Regina, having once experienced her seemingly-eternal energy fade over the years, was serious about taking care of her health.
Who else would care for her body if not her? She had to take the utmost care to ensure a long, healthy life this time around. Dying before thirty was enough for one lifetime.
Today was an exception. Settling the karma from her past life. Truly an exception.
‘I wonder if this has atoned for a bit.’
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