The during one of his missions, Karl had lost his mind again and that was when he had massacred a village that gave him the infamous title of "Bloody Ghost".
After this incident, Karl's willpower had became weaker and he had lost all his hope to not become a mindless puppet who only knew killing.
At the same time, he also started to think about somehow leaving the Night Crow as staying here was more dangerous for his mind.
But Karl had no idea where he should go if he left the Night Crow now. He wanted to stay close to someone who was strong enough to stop him if he lost his mind again.
But Karl knew no one capable of doing that other than Richard. He knew about a few other mid level knights but all of them were nobles and they would never accept a ticking time bomb like him.
...
When Karl had accepted the mission of scouting the Souran territory, his mind was greatly influenced by the Bloody Slaughter secret art at that time. So what was in his mind during this time period was without a doubt the killing of the villagers.
But after he was paralysed by the poison used by Weiss, his body had finally stopped using the Bloody Slaughter secret art passively because he had lost his ability to control his life force.
That was why, the mind corrupting effect of the art started to lessen and Karl's murderous thoughts went away. That was when he saw Weiss and realised and how insanely talented she was.
And that was also the reason why he had immediately made the decision to pledge his loyalty to her. For a man like him, this felt like the only available way.
...
With various thoughts about the last three years of his life filling Karl's mind, the night passed in a blink of an eyes. Even though he had been tied to the chair during this whole time, Karl did not really feel any discomfort about this.
The training of a knight was more painful and troublesome than this. Moving ones lifeforce was not a very pleasant experience.
For that reason, this level of hardship was definitely not a big deal for anyone who had managed to reach the realm of an official knight.
As Karl was still busy thinking about various things, suddenly he heard the rock covering the entrance of this cave moving. This could only mean that baroness Souran was back.
The large rock that had been used to close this cave was not something that a regular person could move. Even among the beasts, only a powerful monster beast would be capable of doing something like that.
So as the mysterious swordmaster had turned out to be the baroness herself and as this land did not have any other knights, she could be the only one who could enter this cave by moving the rock away.
Just as Karl had expected, it was Weiss who came in. Today she was not covering her face as he had already seen it before, so her beautiful face was visible from the very beginning.
While looking at this beautiful young lady, Karl suddenly noticed something. With his strong perception, he felt that the lady looked slightly tired.
After thinking this, he almost unconscious asked -
"Lady Souran, are you alright ?"
Hearing the question, the young baroness looked a bit surprised for just a moment but then her cold expression returned. Then she replied -
"Thanks for your concern but unfortunately for you, I am feeling perfectly fine. For the time being, it's not me whom you should be worried about. You should first think about your own future."
Saying this much, Weiss stopped for a moment and gave Karl the time to focus him mind and ear on what she was going to say next.
Having Karl as a helper would be extremely beneficial for Weiss at this moment. She knew almost nothing about the outside of this small and remote Souran territory.
So having someone like Karl who had been to many places and was also knowledgeable about various dark organisations would save her from a lot of hassle. With this in mind, Weiss continued.
"You've pledge your loyalty to me but with how sudden and unexpected it was, I am unable to trust you completely in this regard. But still, as you're a powerful knight, just killing you off will be very disappointing and feels like a loss."
"With that in mind, I am willing of give you a chance. A chance to prove your worth and loyalty to me so that I can truly begin to trust you. At the same time, I also need you to trust me completely. So -"
Staying this Weiss freed Karl's hands and put a small vile filled with a light blue liquid before him on the table. Then she ordered him.
"If you're truly willing to become my obedient blade, drink this concoction before you in one gulp. Show me that you're not lying and really want to come under me."
Almost as soon as Weiss was done giving her order, Karl immediately bowed to her and picked up the vile. Then he drank all the liquid in it with just a single gulp without showing even a bit of hesitation.
Weiss was a little bit surprised by this but it was not anything that she had not expected. So even with her slight surprise, her cold expression did not show any changes and she just lightly nodded her head.
What Karl drank was not any kind of poison but actually a medicine that would cure his slight poison induced paralysis. So it was perfectly safe.
"Good. Now to show my own appreciation for your shown trust, I will give you a reward."
Saying this, Weiss took out a notebook and gave it to Karl. Karl was not sure what this notebook was so he casually took it and started to read what was written here.
After reading just a little, his eyes widened in surprise. After seeing this reaction, Weiss finally started telling him what was written in this notebook with a slightly prideful voice.
"As you're aware, your Bloody Slaughter secret art is extremely risky because it will corrupt the mind of its users and will turn them into puppets who can only think about killing and nothing else.
So even though it is an excellent secret art boosting the rare perception attribute and giving a very high increase to the attributes, I will not recommend anyone practicing it in its base form."
After this Weiss stopped for a moment and allowed Karl to think about what she had said. Then she continued again.
"But I have managed to find a way to lessen the corruption of this secret art while only sacrificing some of the minor and unnecessary parts.
The newly modified secret art that you are holding in your hand will not make you weaker than your current self but still will be able to stop your mind from getting corrupted so quickly.
And I can also assure you that if you keep working hard without betraying my trust, then in future, I will give you an even better version of this secret art that wil not corrupt your mind at all."