Episode 16. The Inquisitor (2)
Isaac had inadvertently entertained an irreverent thought and flinched, turning to look at Gebel. Though Gebel muttered to himself, he showed no sign of lunging at him with the intent of cracking his skull open to check if there were tentacles inside.
"Well, the Canon of Light has granted you exceptional talent, so perhaps He thought bestowing a miracle on top of that would be excessive."
Isaac's talent with the sword was clearly beyond normal limits. To the extent that he could compete on relatively even terms with Gebel, provided the man did not employ advanced swordsmanship.
Gebel gazed at the snow-covered courtyard for a moment before he spoke.
"I think this is enough now."
"Sir?"
"It means I have nothing more to teach you."
Isaac nodded with a bittersweet expression. In truth, it had been a long time since he'd exhausted what he could learn from Gebel. Unless Gebel taught him advanced techniques, all Isaac could do was continue to hone what he'd already been taught.
"I suppose so. Since you said Avalanche swordsmanship cannot be recklessly leaked."
At Isaac's disappointed tone, Gebel stared at him intently. Then he said something unexpected.
"What I taught you is the foundation of the Avalanche Holy Knight Order's swordsmanship, which I once belonged to."
"Sir?"
"Avalanche swordsmanship is fundamentally a group-coordination sword art designed for the battlefield. It is a sword art that grows stronger when formed into a unit. That is why they first solidify the basics in order to match their coordination."
Gebel paused there for a moment before spitting out each word as if dragging them from deep within.
"But the Avalanche advanced swordsmanship is no longer worth inheriting."
"What?"
"The essence of Avalanche advanced swordsmanship achieves extreme efficiency when formed into a unit. But now that the Holy Knight Order has fallen... there are no comrades left to coordinate with."
Isaac opened his mouth but couldn't say a word. Even if he learned advanced swordsmanship from Gebel, there was no way to wield it with its proper efficiency. A sword art based on group combat was indeed fitting for a Holy Knight Order, but Isaac had no comrades for such a thing.
*There was no such restriction in the game.*
"That is why I want you to create a new, unique swordsmanship based on the foundation you have learned. The character of your swordsmanship will vary depending on what you experience and feel each time you swing your blade."
He spoke as if it were no great matter, but Gebel was telling a child who hadn't even come of age to establish a school of swordsmanship. Isaac didn't know exactly how difficult advanced swordsmanship was, but he couldn't help feeling that the man was talking nonsense.
"That's absurd—"
"It is possible."
Gebel spoke as calmly as if stating a simple fact.
"I have already seen potential in you on numerous occasions. But you restrained yourself. You must have unconsciously held yourself back, believing you shouldn't recklessly use what you hadn't been taught."
In reality, his body had stopped on its own due to the Nephilim's low HP limit, but Gebel seemed to think otherwise regardless.
But in the eyes of Gebel, who was convinced Isaac was a holy body, Isaac looked like a blank canvas on which anything could be drawn. If he had taught Isaac the essence of Avalanche swordsmanship, the boy would have absorbed it in an instant and made it his own.
But he had not done so.
"I do not wish to stain the blank paper on which a masterpiece will be drawn with my own obscurities."
Isaac looked at the traces in the courtyard he had stirred with his sword, as if realizing something. Watching that figure from behind, Gebel recalled the desire he had long kept hidden.
If he sent Isaac off like this, the boy would surely become a master of the sword who surpassed himself.
But then he would fail to achieve the reason he had brought Isaac here.
"Of course... I can't simply send you away after putting you through all that hardship."
Gebel muttered, picking up a small twig.
"I shall show you just one of the Avalanche swordsmanship's advanced techniques."
"Didn't you say I mustn't leak them?"
"I am merely showing you. And since you seem more than capable of restraining yourself..."
The hidden implication being that it was Isaac's own affair if he watched and learned on his own. At those words, Isaac closed his mouth. His five senses focused entirely on Gebel. He strained every nerve so as not to miss even a single movement.
Ssk.
Gebel slowly waved the twig before slashing horizontally in an instant. The twig had only brushed over the snow as if sweeping it, yet in that instant, a blizzard erupted as if a wave had crashed.
Gebel's silhouette moved amidst the fluttering snowflakes.
"Swordsmanship is, after all, merely the application of the three movements you have learned."
The twig began to gradually pick up speed.
Slash, thrust, strike down—a continuous chain of the simplest movements. Gebel demonstrated the swordsmanship repeatedly, as if performing the first and last demonstration he would ever give Isaac.
Isaac realized that Gebel's movements were not those of a man fighting a single enemy, but of a warrior on a battlefield where countless foes swarmed. Not one but many—at least a dozen enemies surging toward him. The enemies narrowly dodged blades, fell bleeding, and shouted as they tried to surround him.
Yet at the moment when it seemed Gebel would finally be overwhelmed by more soldiers than he could handle, a snowstorm surged in all directions with a thunderous crack, as if the air itself were being torn apart.
Isaac, who had been standing still, was abruptly covered in snow.
Around Gebel, from whom steam rose in wisps, the snow had been cleanly swept away in a perfect circle.
An explosion like a cannon had been fired.
Isaac realized it was a shockwave caused by breaking the sound barrier in an instant. But was it possible for a human body to reach such speeds? Could a body even withstand it to begin with?
*...Advanced swordsmanship, that is, a skill, must be what makes that possible.*
Isaac discovered three explosive-looking traces radiating from where Gebel stood. Had anyone been standing there, they would have been torn to pieces.
"This is the 'Harbinger' technique, one of the Avalanche Holy Knight Order's advanced swordsmanship moves. Look closely, and you will know it is composed of what you have learned until now."
Gebel spoke, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"As I said before, when swordsmanship reaches a certain level, one can imitate an image and manifest its properties. Like magic. The Avalanche Holy Knight Order's swordsmanship embodies the image of an avalanche rushing down wildly among them. Do you understand?"
"...Yes."
Isaac nodded, vividly recalling the movements Gebel had performed in his mind.
The movements Gebel had executed.
*I can do it.*
Isaac felt certain that he could perform the movements Gebel had just shown at any moment. The flow of the movements and the path of the blade were understood as if etched into his mind. Because the 'Harbinger' technique Gebel had just performed was nothing more than a combination of movements Isaac had practiced throughout his entire time at the monastery. Those movements of incessantly striking, slashing, and cutting were precisely what Isaac had trained in. It was only when they were connected organically that the form of swordsmanship truly manifested.
*He said the Avalanche Holy Knight Order's swordsmanship was created by accepting the image of an avalanche.*
Isaac suddenly recalled Gebel's words.
*Then what about the swordsmanship I just performed... what image was I imitating to create my swordsmanship?*
Gebel stuck the twig into the ground and spoke.
"Advanced swordsmanship isn't something you can replicate after seeing it once, and with your incomplete body, you would only be putting yourself in danger. But you have already learned as much as you can from me. I merely refrained from teaching you advanced techniques, but your breath, your footwork—they contain the essence of the Avalanche Holy Knight Order..."
Gebel debated whether to instruct him in more detail, then abandoned the notion.
From here on, it would be greed. The greed of wanting to leave his mark on a paladin destined to become a future master. And the greed of wanting to foist his own karma upon him.
"However, from now on, it would be best for you to walk your own path."
It was a command for Isaac to research and create his own advanced swordsmanship. Isaac thought what an irresponsible master he had, but he also understood the man's meaning. Avalanche swordsmanship was too heavy and powerful for him. There had to be a swordsmanship suited for Isaac. Moreover, Isaac had even found a clue to it just before Gebel arrived.
Isaac felt his fingers already itching.
"Isaac."
Facing the falling snow, Gebel opened his mouth toward Isaac.
"You were set to go to Lancel Monastery early next year, were you not?"
"Yes."
Orphans who entered the monastery naturally left when they reached adulthood. Some children became monks, some were recommended to the church and educated, but most became apprentices and learned a trade.
However, a different path was open for Isaac. He was to go to the city monastery and receive proper paladin instruction.
Lancel Monastery was located in the largest nearby city. It was a place that directly trained priests and paladins, with a resident population exceeding 1,600. Isaac was to receive a higher level of education there.
If he had indeed learned all the swordsmanship he could from Gebel, there was nothing more for him here. To reach higher, he had to leave this place. Unless he was suddenly suspected by the church of being a tentacle monster, Isaac's future success was all but guaranteed.
"If you become a paladin, there is something you must know."
"What is it?"
"The reason I left the Avalanche Holy Knight Order, and other such matters."
Gebel held back on what he was about to say. But in that moment, Isaac intuited that when Gebel spoke of it, he too would be leaving this monastery. Isaac's existence, the process of teaching him, had profoundly affected the man.
"I only taught you the basics, but there will surely be those who recognize them as the basics of Avalanche swordsmanship. They will be those who use the same swordsmanship as I."
If they used Avalanche Holy Knight Order swordsmanship, they would be members of the same order. Was he telling him to hide his swordsmanship? After all, Gebel had leaked the order's swordsmanship externally, so he might indeed be a criminal.
"Kill them on the spot the moment you encounter them."
Isaac flinched.
"No, but killing someone just because they caught you learning their swordsmanship in secret is..."
"What are you saying? The Avalanche Holy Knight Order has already fallen and disappeared. There is no one left to take issue with it."
Only upon hearing Gebel's remark did Isaac belatedly recall what had been said earlier.
*Then why is he telling me to kill them?*
It wasn't reluctance born of an aversion to killing. They were called paladins, but they were soldiers in the end. And killing was a soldier's duty. Above all, even if not directly by his own hands, Isaac had already killed people before. He had even devoured them.
"Even if you do not wish to kill him, he will certainly try to kill you. So you must kill him, if not for my sake, then for your own."
"...Is there no other distinguishing feature besides their use of Avalanche Holy Knight Order swordsmanship?"
"Their appearance will have changed as well, so telling you would be meaningless. And there is no need to worry about confusion. Because now, the only people in the world who can use Avalanche Holy Knight Order swordsmanship are you, me, and him."
Isaac tried to ask what history lay behind this, why he was being told to kill. If he was being made an instrument of murder, he had a right to know the reason. It was surely related to why Gebel had laid down his duties as a paladin and entrusted himself to a monastery. Above all, it was surely connected to why Gebel had deliberately hidden Isaac's true nature.
*I'll need to look into this.*
Caw.
Just then, a crow cried out loudly. When Isaac looked up at the sky, his eyes met a crow sitting on the window frame of the abbot's office. The crow looked at Isaac, cried once more, and flew off with a great flap of its wings. A red string was tied to its leg.
It was a crow used as a messenger.
Gebel frowned upon seeing it as well.
"A hooded crow."
"Is it a bad omen?"
"The problem isn't the hooded crow, but those who command them."
Gebel spoke, leaving a strange, lingering undertone. Just then, the monastery door opened with a heavy clunk.
Abbot Yveshar was walking out hurriedly, his complexion pale.
Isaac felt a foreboding premonition. Gebel too seemed to feel the same, his face hardening.
"What is the matter, Abbot?"
"Mr. Gebel."
Yveshar muttered, touching his face with a deathly pale expression.
"An inquisitor is scheduled to visit our monastery."