The Man with a Mask and Tuxedo

A week before meeting with the marquis and training.

Have you ever encountered someone in your life and the moment you meet them for the first time, you feel a sense of bond or closeness between you and that person?

For me and Lady Sarah, that's what I thought about. We met for the first time but I feel like I've known her even though it was only for a short while since I met her. Rather, we were actually getting along quite well even though she's a noble and I'm a commoner. She was the one that volunteered to take care of me when I was unconscious. I don't know why but for a noble lady of her age.... no, for a noble in general to personally take care of me, it's quite unbelievable that you might think that are they really a noble? On top of that, they're a marquis household.

She's quite clumsy. There have been many times where she trips a lot. There was one time where she tripped and fell into my arms. We both got flustered but we didn't move away from each other. Instead, I just embraced her tightly and she would bury her face on my chest as I embraced her tightly. After we snapped back to reality, she just walked away in silence. And ever since that incident, she would still trip herself and fall into my arms and I would embrace her for a short while before letting go. We did that quite a number of times until one day, she just came up to me and hugged me. She didn't trip or fall, she just waltzed into my room, ran towards me and hugged me. Ever since that day, we've been intimate but I still couldn't call her by her name.

Currently, I am still recovering from the injuries I had from a few days earlier. Mary had used [High Heal] to prevent a life-threatening situation on me, but I still have to rest because I lost so much blood because of that damn wolf that bit a chunk out of me.

"Hey, Arthur! Are you here?"

"Whoa..! Easy there, milady. Where do you think I'll be if I'm not here?"

Opening the door with force, a person hurriedly entered the room I'm staying and jumped at me. It was Lady Sarah Frest von Luvi. And for some reason, she has been way too close with me --- too close to be exact.

"Madam, you are troubling Sir Arthur."

"Hello, Miss Christine. You and Lady Sarah came to visit me again."

I smiled at the maid who entered after Lady Sarah. It was Sarah's personal maid and escort. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She is taller than Sarah and also extremely strong. I tried [Appraisal] on her but her power level is too wide. There are lots of strong people in the marquis household. Just thinking about how they'll come after me if I make a single misstep sends chills through my spine.

"Mmm...."

"What's wrong, milady?"

For some reason, Sarah is pouting.

"Call me Sarah."

"I'm afraid that's difficult, milady. Considering my social standing and to be overfamiliar with a beautiful noble lady such as yourself even though I am a mere commoner would probably result to me getting my head cut off."

It's true that I'll probably get my head cut off for being overfamiliar with a marquis. For a commoner to say a noble's name without any honorifics would be akin to disrespect, and since human lives are cheap in this world, to disrespect a noble means death penalty or even worse, torture. I have to be careful on how to address Lady Sarah. There are a lot of strong people here. One wrong move and I'll be killed.

"That's not going to happen.... probably."

"That's more reason to not say your name without honorifics, milady!"

"Call me Sarah! Just Sarah!"

"H-hey! You're hurting me! I'm still recovering from my injuries, Lady Sarah!"

Upset because I don't want to call her by her first name, she shakes me back and forth vigorously, causing pain around my injuries.

"M-miss Christine! Please do something about milady!"

"I'm afraid that madam won't stop when she's like that. The only thing you can do to stop madam is to do what she wants you to do."

"B-but if I do... ow! Please stop, milady! If I do it, you'll cut me in half for being overfamiliar with Lady Sarah!"

"Which is precisely why you just have to endure it, Sir Arthur. Madam will stop sooner or later. Unless you can stop her yourself, you're options are rather limited, Sir Arthur."

Miss Christine then showed an eerie smile. That's not funny, you know? I'm really going to die here!

I tried stopping Lady Sarah but...

"....!"

"Call me Sarah! Call me Sarah!"

She's strong! I tried to pry myself out from her reach but her hands on my shoulder wouldn't budge! I tried using [Appraisal].

[Unable to use Appraisal on target]

"N-no way!"

Isn't this too much?! No wonder her hands didn't budge from my force. What the hell is wrong with this household?! There are way too many strong people surrounding me.

"....!"

I felt a sharp glare. I turn my gaze towards the source and it was the maid standing besides the door. It's Miss Christine. When I turned my gaze towards her, she quickly closed her eyes as if nothing happened.

(Was is just me?... No, that was definitely...)

It seems like Lady Sarah's maid has a different reason for coming here.

~~~~~~

"Hey.... Arthur...."

"Hmm? What is, milady?"

We were headed to the mansion until we stopped halfway. There is something she wants to say to me but she looks hesitant.

"Milady?"

"Yes?"

"You look like you wanted to say something to me. If it's something you can't say right now, you can tell some other time, milady."

She shakes her head. Then she looks at the starry night sky. She inhales deeply and exhales. She takes out something in her pocket.

(That's.... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before)

The object in her hand looks like a pendant. It's red in color and it looks like it's been made from a long time ago since it looks quite rusty.

"Do you.... know this pendant and who it belongs to?"

"I... I.... Argh!"

Suddenly, there is a sharp pain in my head. The pain is so intense that it made me lose consciousness for a moment. I tried breathing slowly and deeply.

Sarah, who stood there surprised, started to panic when she regained her rationale.

"A-Arthur?! Are you okay?!"

"M-Milady, I... I'm fine... Ugh..."

"No! You're not fine at all! You look really pale!"

She's right. I feel like I'm about to lose my consciousness any time. I can't stand up because my legs are weak and my vision is blacking out. The pain suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Weird, I don't have a history of suddenly getting headaches.

(Unless.... I have I bad feeling about this. I need to get milady back to the barracks since it's closer)

I slowly stand back up. I still feel a bit wobbly and my head is still in pain.

"Let's get you to the infirmary!"

"I....! Milady, watch out!"

"Huh?! Kyaaa!"

"Aargh!"

"Hoho... Despite being affected by my [Mental Shock Pulse], you were still able to protect the marquis' daughter. I'm quite impressed."

The man who appeared before us wore a black tuxedo and a plain white mask. He threw a knife at Sarah, but I managed to save her by pushing her away and I got hit on the shoulders instead. The wound is really deep.

"Haaah... Haaah..."

Yeah, I can't pull it out. I open [Inventory] and pulled out a dagger made of red iron.

~~~~~

Red Iron Dagger

Rarity: E

Quality: A

Attack: 10

Sharpness: 15

Effects: None

~~~~~

RARITY:

The value of an item. Lower rating means items are made from more common materials.

QUALITY:

The condition of an item. Higher quality rating means the item is more effective for its purpose. Higher quality items are less likely to break and take longer to deteriorate. However, the factor of deterioration and durability depends on what materials are used.

SHARPNESS:

Armor penetration.

~~~~~

The red iron dagger is much more lighter and durable than a regular iron dagger. It's definitely a good starting weapon for a beginner like me. But right now, I don't think this dagger will be enough to take down the man in front of us right now.

Holding the knife stuck in my left shoulder, I grunt. Judging by how deep the knife went into my shoulders, his purpose isn't to capture Lady Sarah. Rather, by the trajectory of the knife, it was aimed at her neck.

(His goal isn't to capture but kill)

I glared at the man. He is wearing a mask but I could likely tell what face he's making. This man is a psychopath.

"Wh-who are you?! This is the marquis' property. State your business and reason for committing a criminal action against a noble's daughter!"

"Tut.. tut.. tut... Nobody's going to help you little cat."

"....! Kyaa!"

Clang!

"Kuh!"

The masked man threw a second dagger at Sarah. I managed to react on time and deflected it using my dagger. But the force made my right hand numb. The power on that thrown dagger was much greater than the one before.

We need to find help. But why is nobody coming? Hans or Lars should've been here the moment this man let out killing intent.

"....! Could it be?!"

"KUHAHAHAHA! Looks like you figured something out, boy."

"[Dimensional Separation]. So you're a [Null]."

"A-Arthur?"

"Oh... You know about us, boy?"

"A little...."

[Null]. They are entities that does not follow the universe's laws. Supposedly, they should not "exist" to begin with and nobody, even the gods, knew how they came to exist. I actually spent some time exploring the system and what the rest of its features are aside from basic information, map, date and time. I found another feature called Wikipedia. It's just a walking encyclopedia which is pretty convenient since it also contains the history of the world.

One thing I found in the Wikipedia that caught me interested was the [Null]. They are beings that was said to exist and not exist at the same time. Supposedly, they don't have a soul and they do not contain magic and mana. Their physical bodies are made of unknown materials. It was stated here in the Wikipedia that the materials of their body and what they truly are, shouldn't exist. At least not from this universe. However, for them to exist when they should not exist means that the universe's laws were warped only to suit their convenience. The Goddess of Space and Time stated that the universe is actively repulsing them however, the [Null] are affected but have not been expelled or erased. Usually, if the universe itself is taking action, its power cannot be stopped, not even the strongest god, Zlech, the God of Eternity.

One trait of a [Null] is that they don't fight multiple enemies unless needed. They usually kill their targets in a separate dimension. [Dimensional Separation] is the name of the ability they have. It's actually the only ability they have. If we're in a separate dimension, then we'll not be able to call for help.

(I can't beat him with my current state. I am still not strong enough)

[Null] are few in numbers but are individually strong. That's why I am confident that I won't be able to defeat a [Null], for now.

"Guards?! Guards!"

"It's useless, milady. We are in a different dimension. It's impossible to call for help."

.

"N-no way."

Lady Sarah crumbled down to her knees. She must be feeling hopeless in this situation. I wouldn't blame her. Our situation is pretty bad.

I broke out a cold sweat, thinking of what I can do to get out this predicament we're in.

"Tsk.."

"Oh... You seriously want to fight, little boy?"

"Heh.... Does it look like we have a choice?"

"Kuhahahahahaaha! No, you guys don't! Kuhahahahaha!"

The man immediately closed the distance between us.

(Fast!)

"You think that's all I did, boy?!"

"Wha.... Guhaaa!"

"Arthur!"

After closing the distance, a sword materialized out of thin air from the masked man's right hand and attacked me. I managed to dodge it but shortly after, a series of attacks came.

I parried a few of his slashes before being blown away by the force of the attacks, causing me to lose my defensive posture and immediately fell victim to the man's sword.

The masked man cut the tendons of my legs and stabbed me at my right shoulder. After stabbing me from the shoulder, he proceeded to stab me from different locations of my body, avoiding my vital organs.

"Urgh!.... AAAAAGH!"

"KUHAHAHAHHA! That's right! Scream in pain, boy!"

The masked man laughed maniacally. The speed and precision of his attacks were are unbelievably impressive. The wounds are deep but he managed to avoid hitting my vital organs.

I tried to open [Inventory] using what little strength I have and try to grab a healing potion. But the map stomped my hand, preventing me to reach for a healing potion.

"I'll deal with you later, boy. But first, I have to finish what I came here to do."