Episode 040.
As soon as Prisia rose from her seat, I quietly called to her.
The morning air was rather chilly, but her eyes burned hot.
"I heard. They say you played a major role this time."
At that single word of praise, Prisia’s shoulders twitched.
Gone was the graceful bearing she showed in front of others; like a child, she flushed red all the way to the tips of her ears and fidgeted restlessly.
"I-I merely… did as I was taught by you, Master."
"There’s no need to be modest even with me. If you did well, then you did well."
"……Yes."
"Well done."
"……!"
"Then show me the Twenty-Four Forms Plum Blossom Sword Art. Let me see how you’ve grown."
She gave a small nod and slowly took her stance.
A sharp sword, as though carrying the scent of plum blossoms, sliced through the air.
The precision of her forms and her proficiency had certainly risen by leaps and bounds compared to before.
The awkwardness between one form and the next had vanished, and the transitions flowed as naturally as water.
It was a shame, however, that I could no longer see the mental image she had shown while cutting down Inbium’s monsters.
Honestly, there was no way she could already handle intent that well.
‘At this level, there shouldn’t be any problem earning the title of Sword King.’
I nodded in satisfaction.
For now, it was enough for her to be at the stage of refining her swordsmanship further.
The time I invested in Prisia hadn’t gone to waste.
"How was it, Master?"
Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at me, full of expectation.
At that expression, as if she might start wagging a tail like a puppy, I deliberately answered indifferently.
"Well done."
"Heheh……!"
Prisia’s eyes grew round.
It was only a single sentence, yet she smiled brightly, looking as though she had gained the whole world.
Good grief, she gets that happy over one compliment.
I wondered if I should give her some kind of reward and looked around, but there wasn’t really anything suitable.
Then my eyes fell on the sword in her hand, melted down from being unable to withstand the heat.
‘I can’t let her keep using that.’
I had ordered a custom-made magic sword for Prisia from the guildmaster, one that could endure flames for a long time, but honestly, who knew when it would arrive….
I undid the sword at my waist and held it out to her.
"Take it."
"…Th-this is Barsha’s sword…?"
Prisia drew in a shocked breath. She looked back and forth between the sword in my hand and my face, her hands trembling.
"M-Master… isn’t this your most precious possession?"
Precious possession?
I fell into thought for a moment.
Precious… was it?
As a sword, I was satisfied with it.
It had good durability and a sharp edge.
But in the end, Barsha’s sword was just a passing item, far from an endgame weapon.
Once I obtained a better sword later, it would be discarded all the same.
That timing had merely been moved up a little.
"Master…."
But I couldn’t very well say to the disciple standing before me, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment, “Yeah, it’s useful enough, but it’s just a temporary sword I’m carrying around.”
At times like this, one had to act more like a master and give a suitably impressive reason.
What had my own teacher said back then again….
I took one step closer to her, personally took Prisia’s hand, placed the hilt in her grasp, and murmured in a low voice.
"…Because it is precious."
"Ah…."
The moment she heard my voice, Prisia’s eyes reddened in an instant.
It seemed she interpreted it to mean that because it was my most cherished possession, I was entrusting it now to a disciple who had become more precious to me than myself.
Well, it wasn’t wrong.
From my perspective, it was better for the sword to break than for Prisia to get hurt.
"Hngh… Master…."
"Prisia."
In the end, her shoulders shook as she burst into tears. I quietly patted her back.
"…I only ever receive things from you, Master… I haven’t done anything for you…."
The noble young lady of House Springfield was burying her face in my chest and crying like a child.
If people around us saw this, they’d think I’d hit her or something.
Perhaps her emotions were more delicate than expected, because Prisia didn’t stop crying even after quite some time.
Thinking this would never end at this rate, I hurriedly added,
"If you want to repay the favor, then return to me someday with this sword in hand."
"……."
"As a proud and dignified knight. Understood?"
"Yes… yes! I will, I absolutely will, Master!"
Prisia smiled bashfully through her tear-streaked face and hugged the sword tightly to her chest.
To be honest, I wondered if this was really something to be so moved by.
But if it helped my disciple strengthen her resolve, then there was nothing bad about it.
********
Tanas called me.
At that single sentence, my heart reacted first with a thump.
The moment I turned my head, our eyes met.
"I heard. They say you played a major role this time."
At the casual words he offered, my shoulders twitched without me realizing.
"I-I merely… did as I was taught by you, Master."
My mouth said that on its own.
No. The truth was, I wanted to be praised.
I wanted him to acknowledge that I had worked hard.
"There’s no need to be modest even with me."
At those words, my heart trembled faintly.
"Well done."
Ah…
My mind went blank.
The words that followed,
and the command to show him my sword—
I simply nodded in a daze.
"Let me see your skill."
"……."
I slowly swung my sword.
Familiar forms, movements I had repeated countless times.
But today… I didn’t want to make even a single mistake.
Because Master was watching.
The tip of my sword cut through the air.
Without breaking, without wavering.
After finishing the final form, I slowly lowered my sword.
"How was it, Master?"
I didn’t know what expression I should make.
The moment I raised my head and met Tanas’s eyes,
"Well done."
At that single sentence, all the colors of the world suddenly became vivid.
And the corners of my mouth rose on their own. Even when I tried to hide it, I couldn’t.
Calm down.
Why are you acting like this?
Even as I tried to soothe myself, the corners of my mouth kept twitching.
Then Master’s gaze lowered.
To the sword in my hand, the iron sword that had melted from being unable to withstand the heat…. It meant I was still inexperienced in using mana.
Just as I was about to hide the sword behind my back in embarrassment,
"…Ah."
Tanas undid the sword he always wore at his waist and handed it to me.
"Take it."
"…This is Barsha’s sword?"
Thump, thump. My heart beat harder than ever before.
He was giving me the sword that was like his other self?
I was so flustered that no words came out.
Why this?
In my head, my late mother’s voice rang out like an auditory hallucination.
It was one of the old stories she had told while holding me on a rainy day.
‘Prisia, to a knight, a sword is their soul. On the day your father proposed to me, he held out his sword and said, “I entrust my soul to you, so please stay by my side for the rest of my life”… He was truly wonderful back then…’
‘Father did?’
‘Of course! Though now he’s just a fool who goes around looking for treasure.’
Mother had turned her head as though embarrassed.
It was not simply giving someone a weapon, but a lifelong promise to entrust one’s life, future, and soul completely to them.
"I-isn’t this your most precious possession, Master?"
My voice came out trembling shamefully.
The thought, Prisia, this is your delusion! and the plea, Please say it’s true, tangled together and fought within me.
He closed his mouth for a moment, as though lost in thought.
Perhaps he was recalling the memories he had shared with this sword.
Then he took a step closer and placed the sword in my hand with his warm hand.
"……."
My breath stopped. And in the next moment…
"…Because it is precious."
"Ah…."
My vision blurred in an instant.
Because it was his most precious possession, he was giving it to me and no one else.
In his awkward way, he was proposing to me.
A shameless fantasy overlapped with him.
The lips that had touched mine, his trembling breath, the vivid scent of plum blossoms that had pierced the tip of my nose.
"Hngh… Master…."
My heart was beating too loudly, too fiercely, and I felt like he might hear it, so I buried my face in his chest.
"I have… only ever received… from you, Master…."
Unable to control the emotions welling up within me, I buried my face in Tanas’s embrace.
The beat transmitted from his firm chest felt as though it were whispering that he loved me.
Then, as I nuzzled against him, I paused for a moment.
What if I was misunderstanding?
"If you want to repay the favor, then return to me someday with this sword in hand."
Just as that doubt arose, Tanas drove in the decisive wedge.
"As a proud and dignified knight. Understood?"
"……!"
A proud and dignified knight.
My mother, my idol and the hero of Artem.
The vow I had muttered alone while biting my lip at the funeral of my mother, who had fallen asleep after protecting her people until the very end.
My dream, and the very root of why I took up the sword.
Master handed me his most precious sword and held me gently.
As if he were wiping away even the tears from that day.
As if he were naturally saying he was sorry he hadn’t been by my side then.
‘Master… no, Tanas…’
A shiver ran down my spine.
He did not see me as an ordinary disciple.
He was saying he would share everything—my past, my pain, and even the dream I had to move toward.
‘Return to me someday with this sword in hand.’
A promise that he would wait until then, so I should achieve my dream and stand proudly by his side.
"Yes… yes! I will, I absolutely will, Master!"
Tanas knew my past, shared my pain, and promised me a future.
‘Please wait for me, Master.’
Prisia made a small vow and hugged the sword in her arms tightly.
As if it were Tanas himself.
***********
How much time had passed?
When we reached the eastern front of the Kingdom of Ersha after a forced march,
"Hold."
I raised one hand to stop everyone.
"What is it?"
"Have we finally arrived?"
Something moved in the darkness.
At the sight of those red eyes, several adventurers and paladins gripped their weapons tightly.
"Be careful. It must be the enemy vanguard."
"The Goddess is with me, so I shall want for nothing…."
"Phew… calm down!"
This was the destruction of the continent the Goddess had gone so far as to warn us of through an oracle.
Everyone was visibly tense.
At that moment,
"Kihihihik!"
"Kerek, kerek!"
When everyone saw the yellow something that emerged from the darkness, they let out hollow laughs.
"What? Goblins?"
"Are you kidding me?"
The destruction foretold by the Goddess was nothing more than goblins?
Then a few paladins and priests spoke as though the others were being pathetic.
"Wait, calm yourselves. They are no ordinary goblins."
"That’s right. Since their color is different, they must be the highest-tier goblins…."
I slowly drew my sword as I looked around at everyone.
"This isn’t an ordinary goblin—"
Their faces said, I knew it.
One step, two steps, three steps.
The goblin seemed to notice my approach at last and swung its dagger to kill me.
Slash!
Along with blue blood, the goblin’s head rolled across the ground.
Soon, as the monster scattered into dust, something the size of a fist dropped with a thud.
"Wh-what is that?"
"No, wh-what in the world…!"
"Impossible!!"
Everyone’s gaze focused on the magic stone in my hand.
It was a high-grade magic stone, something that could never come from a low-rank monster.
I slowly looked around at them and said,
"—It’s a treasure goblin."