Chapter 34
Emily doubted whether what she had just seen was real.
No, she couldn't believe it even after seeing it.
'The scoundrel...'
What kind of swordsmanship did the unprecedented scoundrel of Zerban just display? The sword of Saint Stella, passed down only in legend.
Silver Flower Breaking Sword.
Beside him flower petals flowed, and his sword path painted flowers of myriad colors.
The petals circled around him, and when he wished, they drew the sword path together.
Gathering power gradually like waves, then crashing down as a tidal wave.
The power at that moment was like a storm.
Like the north wind of the north.
The ground was marked with traces of flower petals left by his passing sword. How could this be a phenomenon created by a sword?
Emily couldn't believe it even after seeing it.
The person who created it was Zerban's scoundrel.
Because it was Callius von Zerban!
"Haa, haa... haa..."
But even that had now come to an end.
Callius's breathing grew rough.
His divine power, which had radiated brilliant sacredness, also waned. It was because he had poured most of his energy into a single strike.
"The Grand Warlord..."
The Grand Warlord was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing Bernard also sheathing his sword, it seemed he had unfortunately fled.
But even that alone was a remarkable achievement. To fight and repel the Orc Grand Warlord who commands a legion!!
Thud.
Callius, having dropped his sword, collapsed right there. From his chest as he fell powerlessly, blood gushed out once more.
Emily's eyes grew wide as lanterns.
"Nia! Brans!"
Emily rushed out immediately.
If left like that, Callius would surely die. Even if he had swallowed a holy stone, he had lost too much blood.
Splish, splash.
The blood he shed pooled on the floor.
Emily's face contorted.
"Oh my, my lord!!"
"Wh-what should we do?"
I don't know.
We need to treat the wound but can't.
He's lost too much blood.
Even if the wound heals, I don't know if he'll live or not, and I don't have any medicine to heal the wound.
"Grandfather!"
"Let me see."
He answered, but Bernard also had no proper method.
If they could go to Jibarshu, he would try something, but the distance was far.
Given Callius's condition, he was expected to die suddenly on the way.
The experience of Bernard, who had seen many casualties, told him so.
His wrinkles deepened.
"We can only pray to God."
Great God Valterus.
Your son is in trouble. The swordsmanship he showed had the potential to achieve the wind of God, so please do not cast away your son.
While everyone was praying.
"I-I have a way!"
It was Brans.
He rummaged through his bag like someone who had hidden away pocket money, then took out a medicine bottle with trembling hands.
"What is this?"
"It's medicine you made, my lord. You gave me this one and told me to use it if you ever lost consciousness or seemed like you would die..."
Before his words even finished, Emily snatched it away.
"How... do I apply it!?"
"Apply it and have him ingest it."
Emily immediately opened the cap of the medicine bottle, practically pouring it over the wound area, and then pried open Callius's mouth and poured the rest in. And embracing his face, she sobbed loudly.
"Don't die! You can't die! We just met, why are you trying to die already!"
Bernard stroked Emily with pitying eyes and ordered the knights gathered around.
"Depart for Jibarshu. Since this fellow is at the crossroads of life and death, we'll need to hide in the nearby forest and monitor his condition."
Since he was in critical condition, they couldn't move him rashly, and there was no need for many people to stay here.
"We will accompany you."
But the knights shook their heads.
They were those who had merely not run away, but had accepted death.
They had lived because of Callius, and they had no shamelessness to turn away to save their own lives.
"I see. Haha."
Even in this situation, seeing them follow Callius made Bernard feel inexplicably pleased.
But soon, seeing Callius's pale face, his heart became heavy.
"Then let's move locations."
Soon, Callius's party moved to avoid the orcs.
* * *
Crackle, crackle.
I woke up to the pleasant sound of a campfire. The ceiling appeared to be a cabin made of dark raw wood.
Creak. As I shifted my body, the bed screamed.
"Mmm..."
Emily is sleeping face-down by the bedside. From one side, a reddish campfire illuminates the cabin.
I tried to get up, but after looking at Emily once, I lay back down.
I pondered what had happened.
There was no memory loss.
Fortunately, I remember everything.
I reached out my hand while lying down.
'I cut him.'
With this hand. It was swordsmanship performed almost unconsciously, but it had the taste of cutting.
But I don't know where I cut.
I had consciousness and my memory was clear, but I wasn't in my right mind.
But I definitely cut the bastard.
That's why he ran away, probably.
'What a shame.'
If I had caught the Grand Warlord, not only the quest reward, but the grade of the corpse made from him would have been extraordinary.
I clicked my tongue in regret, but soon let out a laugh and forgot about it.
This body barely survived death.
Desiring more than that would be greed.
Just surviving the Grand Warlord was something the other knights could use as drinking tales for a lifetime.
'Hmm... Did he use the holy water Brans had?'
The wound that ran from my shoulder down to my side has healed.
It was quite a deep wound, so it hasn't healed perfectly yet, but the rest could be considered just a matter of time.
It was a wound that would be impossible to heal this cleanly without using holy water, so it seemed he had used the one I had arranged.
'Then do I have four holy waters left now?'
I survived because I had put holy water in the [Eldora's Double Bag] I gave to Brans just in case. Indeed, people must calculate possibilities and prepare to live.
Otherwise, I would have lost consciousness and died without even being able to take out the holy water I had hidden in the holy mark.
'I should praise Brans when he comes.'
For this time, he deserved praise.
"But I don't know why this one is like this."
Emily.
Looking at her sleeping peacefully, an inexplicable sense of pity washed over me.
'She's not Elburton's child.'
In any route, Elburton couldn't have a daughter this young.
Then she must be an adopted daughter... but was there any reason for Elburton to take in a child whose holy bloodline was blocked?
I don't think so.
Then how did Emily become Elburton's adopted daughter?
I have no way of knowing whose Zerban blood she carries.
"My daughter?"
No way.
Emily is twelve years old, and Callius is twenty-six, so he would have had to have a child at fourteen...
"Mmm..."
Given Callius's character, it was entirely possible.
'I never set up something like that.'
No matter how much I think about it, I don't know.
Why does Bernard care for this child?
It was then.
Creak.
"Are you awake?"
The door opened and a man with short but aged white hair entered.
A paladin with a physique unlike an old man.
It was Bernard.
"Yes."
Since I already knew it was him from his presence, I wasn't that surprised.
Even slightly expanding my senses, I could feel the presence of many knights stationed near the cabin.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"About four days."
Has that much time already passed?
I've delayed too much time.
In four days, the orcs would have already arrived near Jibarshu.
There's no time to stay like this.
I carefully got out of bed and gathered the neatly arranged leather armor and equipment.
"You just woke up. There's no rush, so rest now."
"I don't have time for that. The wound is healing, and more importantly, this isn't the time to be resting leisurely, is it?"
Bernard was about to say more but closed his mouth.
His deep sigh implied his anguish.
"What happened?"
"I don't know the details. But I know the orcs have reached the castle."
"Has it begun?"
"No, not yet."
It seemed they hadn't properly clashed yet.
That's fortunate.
If the war hasn't started yet, it's not too late.
I need to depart quickly.
"Callius."
"What is it?"
After lightly answering Bernard's call, I secured Roas and Lusen at my waist. Every time I moved, the wound from that guy throbbed, but it was bearable.
The energy of the holy water was still remaining inside, and it would slowly heal even as I moved.
Click.
Callius, now wearing even the Cloak of Twilight, looked at the sleeping Emily and Bernard.
Bernard's expression was unusual.
"What's the matter? You're hesitating like a puppy that needs to poop."
"Look at the way you speak..."
Grumbling about what a rotten fellow, Bernard glanced at Emily and asked cautiously.
"This war will be fiercer than expected and a battlefield where no one can trust anyone. Not only myself, but you too will have many moments where your life is in danger."
What is this old man trying to say that he's being so roundabout?
I listened quietly to Bernard's words with a tilted posture and crossed arms.
"So stay here."
"Why would that be?"
"I saw you fight the Grand Warlord. I thought you had trained in some strange art, but I didn't know it was the swordsmanship of Saint Stella."
"...Then all the more reason I should participate in the war."
"No, that's exactly why you must not set foot on this battlefield."
"Why is that?"
"I don't know how you obtained the Silver Flower Breaking Sword, but having learned that sword, you are no longer a simple pilgrim, nor can you be Zerban's scoundrel."
Bernard's words, in short:
"Callius. Go to the Order. Go and show your sword."
He was telling me to spread the Silver Flower Breaking Sword.
"Haven't you suffered unnecessarily after being driven from the family? There were many times you almost died. Even now you barely survived. You don't have to endure such hardship."
"Hmm..."
I understand what Bernard's words mean.
There's no need to suffer hardships I don't have to.
There's no need to risk death.
Just by spreading the sword, Carpe and Valterus would become stronger.
That's what he was saying.
By doing that, the Order would acknowledge Callius, and not only Carpe but Zerban would also acknowledge him.
'Is he saying this sincerely?'
Bernard's eyes were serious.
He was speaking sincerely.
Words spoken out of concern for me.
I know what it is.
But he doesn't know.
'What my purpose is.'
What dangers lie ahead.
"I refuse."
There's no value in hearing more.
"What is your reason?"
There are many reasons.
Magic beasts, dark practitioners, the Empire, heretics, Crasion, demons—such things will create countless dangers.
To survive those things, I must raise my own martial prowess.
Hiding behind the Order and the nation, I can accomplish nothing.
Even if I could, it would only be temporary.
On the path of a pilgrim, the only way for Callius to survive is to take up the sword.
There is nothing else.
"I am..."
Bernard calmly waited for the answer.
I pondered what to say, then uttered the obvious.
"A pilgrim."
A pilgrim who seeks the sword for a lifetime.
That's right.
Before Callius was a noble.
Before being Bernard's own disciple.
He was a complete pilgrim.
"I see. That's... right."
Bernard smiled bitterly and apologized as if he had made a slip of the tongue.
"Forget it. I momentarily forgot you were a pilgrim. Right, the duty of a pilgrim is to find one's own sword..."
He stroked the hilt of his beloved sword, the Lightning Sword-Rakan, and raised the corner of his mouth with a grin.
"Then where is your sword?"
[Wheel of Fatalité]
- Orcs killed: 172
- Magic beasts killed: 86
- People saved: 41
- ???
To his question.
I raised the corner of my mouth just like him and answered.
"The wheel."
The rolling wheel of pilgrimage.
My sword will be there.