Crossover
Chapter 6: General Halfer
WARNING: Strong language ahead!
“Rosanna Xenophil! Bryer Xenophil, we have come to collect your rent, taxes, and debts! Come out!”
A man spoke in a rough, harsh tone outside the house while banging the front door until it fell on the ground. Rosanna stiffened; a sense of fear and nervousness enveloped her. She abruptly stood up and walked towards the door.
She was extremely pale like a ghost. “K-Kuro, would you mind watching my daughter for a bit? I… I have something to do first.”
Kuro nodded and distracted Rosalie while Rosanna walked towards the commotion. Rosalie was petting Crescent and admiring his pure black fur and golden eyes. Crescent meowed as a response for Rosalie's incessant praises.
Kuro, on the other hand, was worried for Rosanna’s sake. From the tone of the voice of the man outside, he should not be the easy type. Fortunately, all of his senses became a little sharper for some unknown reason; anyway, it was an advantage.
“Woman! It is the due date! Where are the promised six platinum coins plus eight silver coins of rent and five platinum coins of five monthly taxes?” the man, who wore an extravagant black military outfit, sneered at Rosanna.
“S-sir, w-we only have five platinum coins and three silver coins. P-please g-give us a few more months to cope up with the rest. T-the beasts that my husband hunted were fewer than e-expected because of the havoc of some dragons. P-please f-forgive us and l-let us pass off.” Even inside the room, Kuro could discern the commotion outside. Moreover, he also heard the word ‘dragons,’ now he was sure that these dragons do exist.
‘A normal debt collector should not sound as arrogant as he is, well, some of which that I know. Still, there must be something wrong outside. Plus, I’m worried for the sake of the person who tended me while I was unconscious. So…’
“Rosalie, no matter what happens, do not leave the room, 'kay? You should stay with Crescent and play with him.” He walked towards Rosalie, who was sitting on the bed, and crouched to talk with her eye to eye.
“But, mister, you are recovering, so you should rest!”
“I am now fine. Rosalie, could you promise me to stay inside the room and play with Crescent? I am sure that Crescent would love to play with you, too!” he patted and warmly smiled at Rosalie. He gave a discerning look at Crescent, and the cat meowed as a response. He immediately managed to persuade the cute little girl to stay in the room. Quickly, Kuro dashed towards the front door and saw Rosanna lying in a broken chair, nearby the door, trying to stand up while groaning in pain.
‘Damn it, things are going out of hand. She is a woman, for goodness’ sake!’
“Hahahaha! You dare not to pay back the debts you have in full from the empire?! You bitch!” the man kicked a part of the broken chair at his feet to Rosanna, who shouted in pain.
The scene at the front door caused a commotion outside. Other residents whose dress didn’t differ from what Rosanna wore sympathized with her. They had a look in their eyes expressing their desire to help, but they weren't able to due to fear. The other guards laughed at Rosanna as she tried to stand up. She was badly hurt; she might be violently pushed by the arrogant man on the ground!
This made Kuro boil in anger.
“Bitch, if you really want to pay the debt you have, maybe you can do some service for us men. Hahahaha! If you service us well, maybe we will consider you to have a few more months of consideration!” The guards perversely glanced at Rosanna, like a hungry tiger ready to devour its prey. However, Rosanna sneered and spewed saliva at the man’s leather shoes.
“I’d rather die than give my dignity to you, scumbags!” she managed to stand up and look disgustingly at the man who suggested the idea. This angered the man and scorned at Rosanna.
The man unsheathed his sword, “Then die, bitch.”
Rosanna was swallowed in terror; she could barely stand up. Even if she dodged, the man might still pursue her neck. Kuro, who was watching on the sideline, dashed forward but was stopped by some guards blocking his path, pointing their swords toward Kuro.
He became baffled. ‘How the hell did they even get here?’
“We don’t know who you are, but this is not your business to interfere with. So stay still or else, we will also kill you!”
‘What a farce.’ Kuro ran forward and dodged the attack of the guard.
He hit the guard’s elbow, which made the sword fall to the ground. He quickly threw away the guard and grabbed the fallen sword. He brilliantly parried all the incoming attacks and dismantled all their weapons. The arrogant man noticed the commotion; he raised his eyebrows and maliciously smirked.
“Rosanna!!”
‘Shit! I can't make it in time!’ he tightened his fist and ran as fast as he could. Rosanna tried to move away, only to fall once again on her spot.
Time appeared to move slowly as the man swung his sword to Rosanna’s neck. Suddenly, an arrow hit the man’s wrist, causing him to let go of the sword. He shouted in pain; the arrow sunk deep into his wrist and bled. He fell backward and crouched in agony.
“Fucking bastard! Who the hell was that?!!”
“Bryer...” Rosanna glanced where the arrow came from.
A man ran from the crowd and huddled Rosanna, who was crying in joy and pain. “Rosanna! Are you fine? Where does it hurt?!” She hugged the man despite the pain in her legs and continued to cry.
“Mn, I am now fine,” she whispered.
“Tsk, you are not! You’re still in pain; just stay still!” regardless of what the man said, who appeared to be her husband named Bryer, he still tightly hugged Rosanna; he thought he would lose his wife at that moment and the idea scared him a lot.
“Where is Rosalie?!” Bryer asked. He cautiously lifted his wife and placed her on the wooden couch.
“Don’t worry; she is safe. She’s inside the room playing with Kuro.”
Bryer became amused, “Kuro? The unconscious man is now awake?”
“Bastard… You… You will pay for this!” Bryer turned around and saw the man launching himself at Bryer with a sword in his left hand. Bryer didn’t have enough time to dodge and covered Rosanna with his back, but the sword’s slash unexpectedly didn’t come.
He turned around and saw a fluttering long cyan-haired man who blocked the man’s attack. Kuro’s sword threw away the man’s sword; he kicked him sideways and he was flung far away!
‘Huh? Am I always that strong?’ He was sure that the strength he exerted should not be enough to achieve the exaggerated outcome. But he didn’t think about this anymore, for more guards were rushing to him.
“Mr. Xenophil, please tend to Mrs. Rosanna; I’ll handle this.”
He calmly approached the guards and swiftly dismantled their weapons while rendering them unconscious. Kuro orderly fought all the guards who rushed at him. No sign of fear could be seen on his face; in fact, Bryer felt as if Kuro were an experienced swordsman.
The clash of swords was the only sound that could be heard. All the people were awestruck by how Kuro performed. With only a few slashes, Kuro was able to dismantle the guards’ weapons; with just a kick or punch, he could throw the guards away and make them unconscious. Every impact he dealt with the guards contained heavy strength, which made the remaining ones cower in fear. Moreover, the scene of how Kuro moved was stupefying; all the people thought, especially the women, that Kuro was a handsome swordsman, for his attacks contained elegance!
The guards thought that Kuro had a hidden power, just like their general, from how Kuro defeated their companions with just a few punches and slashes of his sword. But they were the guards of the first division army; they should not fall back because of one teenager.
“Hah! He’s just a mere teenager, and we are many! We, the guards of the first division army, should not cower in fear! Quickly stop him!” a guard roared and encouraged his remaining companions. Without wasting any moment, all the remaining guards released their outcry and rushed to Kuro.
“Tsk, there are too many of them!” he blocked the guard’s attack and punched him in the face. He bent his body forward to dodge the attack behind; Kuro placed a hand on the ground and swept his body on the floor to kick the attacker from behind.
More guards started to push through; the people watched in fear and ran inside their houses, afraid of becoming a part of the fight. As for the man who started all the current commotion, he exerted his strength to grab a sword nearby and stood up despite the pain all around his body, ready to fight.
However, a shout, more like a command, stopped the swarm of incoming reinforcements. “Halt!”
The guards halted, straightened themselves, and gave way to the person who commanded them. A handsome man who wore glasses, had short dark blue hair, who also wore the same stylish military uniform and had medals all around it, calmly walked on the path that the guards carved.
“Salute to General Halfer!”
General Halfer stopped in front of Kuro, analyzing the boy in front of him, and suddenly smiled.
-End of Chapter 6-
