Chapter 120: Disguise (2)
-You’re making so big misunderstanding. I don’t hate swordsn. On the contrary, I respect them. And…… I’m sorry.
“……Sorry?”
It wasn’t an answer that could co from a mage’s mouth.
Since ancient tis, swordsn and mages had been at each other’s throats, unable to coexist.
In such an environnt, could words like respecting swordsn easily co from the mouth of an Archmage, the leader of mages?
Moreover, the apology made inwardly curious.
“What are you sorry for?”
-The Battle of the Full Moon. I’m the only survivor who lived through that. Since I was the only one who survived, it feels as if I alone killed all eight swordsn who participated in the battle.
“I heard your master also died in that battle.”
-That’s right. But it’s different from the swordsn’s deaths. The swordsn were killed by the one trapped in there, Sylarid, but my master passed away after creating this summit. To be precise, he wasn’t killed by Sylarid.
“…….”
I could feel it.
That Air was genuinely mourning the deaths of the swordsn.
But would such grief naturally arise just from having fought together?
It seed there was another, more fundantal reason.
-Co to think of it, your surna is Oriant, right?
“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”
-Oriant Aran. What’s your relationship with him? Is he your father?
“He’s my grandfather.”
Oriant Aran was a Grand Swordsman at the ti of the Battle of the Full Moon.
And my father had participated in the battle as the disciple of a Grand Swordsman and lost his life.
Thus, Garent, left alone, inherited the title of Grand Swordsman.
-Did I break apart a happy family……. Your grandfather was an incredible swordsman. Even in his final monts, he tried to protect . I’m sorry I couldn’t protect him.
I knew it wasn’t an act.
Yet, I still couldn’t grasp his exact thoughts.
“Arkis Air.”
-Why?
“What’s the real reason you want to learn swordsmanship? Is it simply because you feel sorry toward swordsn?”
-No. Do you really think that’s the reason? There’s sothing else.
“Then what is it?”
-You’ve only heard about the Battle of the Full Moon, right? You’ve never experienced it.
“That’s true.”
-I experienced it. That very experience. It’s sothing I have, and sothing you don’t.
“I don’t know why the conversation suddenly turned like thi—.”
-Just like that, you also have sothing that I don’t.
Air cut off Garent’s words and said everything he wanted to say.
“Don’t tell , that’s my swordsmanship?”
-That’s right. After experiencing the Battle of the Full Moon and ending up alone, I realized one thing.
“What is it?”
-That swordsn and mages must harmonize with each other.
“I don’t know how you suddenly arrived at that conclusion.”
-The Sylarid trapped in here. It would be fortunate if the Sealing Stone we’re guarding fully absorbed its power, but have you ever thought about what happens if it doesn’t?
I couldn’t answer that question.
Because even in swordsman society, no one had ever made such a prediction.
Since mages created this in the first place, it was right to say it was an unforeseeable situation.
“Isn’t that denying your master, who made this?”
-Why are you being so contrarian? Do things in the world ever go exactly as planned? As proof, who could have even predicted that swordsn and mages would join hands to face a common enemy?
“…….”
-It’s the sa thing. The world is full of anomalies.
At that mont, Garent realized sothing as well.
Though he didn’t want to admit it, mages were a little wiser than swordsn.
He thought it was because they were a people who fought with their minds.
-That’s why we must harmonize. If sothing like the Battle of the Full Moon were to happen again to one side’s society, would you still live so completely cut off? Then one of the two would be utterly destroyed.
It was a problem I’d never deeply considered.
Because swordsn regarded the current situation as simply a concluded incident.
That was true for Garent himself as well.
But Arkis Air alone thought of it as ongoing.
-We have long lifespans and sharp minds, and you have strong bodies. If both sides combine, we’d gain the power to resolve disasters like Sylarid on our own. Why doesn’t that thought occur to you?
“Is that the opinion of the entire Magical Society, including you?”
-No. It’s my opinion alone. I’m the only mage who experienced the Battle of the Full Moon. The others don’t understand its importance.
“If even mages aren’t willing to accept it, do you really think it’ll work just because you step forward?”
-That’s why I’m trying to learn swordsmanship. As an Archmage, if I understand swordsmanship, then I can talk with you. First, I need to be able to talk with you, then signs of harmony will appear, and once those signs appear, followers who agree with my opinion will erge.
That answer was the one that changed Garent’s heart.
A mage who had never even used his body learning swordsmanship simply to communicate with swordsn.
It was truly sothing straight out of a fairy tale.
And it was clearly the complete opposite of how swordsn thought about the order of things.
Their dispositions were opposite, and I never imagined even the order would be opposite.
In the case of swordsn, suppose they held a eting about harmonizing with Magical Society.
There had to be a certain number of swordsn willing to harmonize before pushing the matter forward.
But Arkis Air interpreted it in a completely opposite way.
Whether it worked or not, he would push forward first, and even if it didn’t work, I could clearly feel his will to achieve it by any ans necessary.
‘This guy is truly serious…….’
That day, because of that conversation, Garent’s way of thinking also began to change little by little, and based on the conversations exchanged through the Sealing Stone, they began to seriously discuss harmony.
After quite so ti passed, Quilte’s parents crossed over into swordsman society.
At the sa ti, Garent taught Air swordsmanship through words via the Sealing Stone.
“Lord Garent?”
At that mont, Milton’s voice was heard.
Focus returned to Garent’s eyes, which had grown unfocused.
“……Huh?”
Looking around, the sight of myself clad in armor had disappeared before I knew it, and the black area of the Sealing Stone had returned to six-tenths.
It seed that the inexplicable recollection ended the mont Milton called out.
It felt as if the Sealing Stone were a living organism, deliberately showing a fragnt of that past.
“What were you thinking so deeply about? You were even muttering sothing.”
“Ah, no. I’ll be going now. You’ve worked hard.”
“Yes, please take care.”
Garent left the summit for now.
‘Why…… did I suddenly see such a past?’
I thought that this, too, had aning.
I ate the food Forr had brought and asked him.
“Do you happen to know any news from the summit?”
“It’s not the latest information, but I know the general details. What are you curious about?”
“The Sealing Stone—do you know how much of it is black right now?”
“I heard that as of around this ti last year, it was about six-tenths.”
“……How do you know the figures so precisely?”
“Ah, didn’t you hear that from Lord Etar?”
Forr began explaining again.
That he wasn’t the only one who had been adopted into the Draco Family.
He had a sibling as well, Ed Impel.
Until recently, he had been active as the captain of the Archmage’s Royal Guard under the na Draco Ignito.
However, when his identity was exposed, he fell into a coma after a battle with the Royal Guard Captain, Lamic Daemon, and was currently recovering at Vise’s tavern.
“……Which one of you is the older brother?”
“There’s no such thing. We think of each other as both family and friends.”
“……I see.”
It was a depressing story.
The fact that during those 300 years when I had disappeared, Etar had even used family to search for struck painfully once again.
“Still, they say his life isn’t in danger, so that’s a relief. They said he’ll be fine once he wakes up.”
“I hope he wakes up soon.”
“Thank you.”
‘The Royal Guard Captain being a mage from the Lamic Family…….’
I had already heard about it from Etar.
Draco Tyrant, Lamic Livia, Mirne Kabir.
These three were the mages who firmly held authority in the current era.
They could be considered follower families of Tyrant.
So wasn’t it natural that a mage from the Lamic Family was placed in the extrely important position of Royal Guard Captain?
Still, the fortunate thing was that even though I had disappeared for 300 years, the black area was still at six-tenths.
Before I died, it had clearly been three-tenths.
At a rate of one-and-a-half tenths every 150 years, there was plenty of ti to spare.
‘That Sylarid bastard…… he’s struggling persistently. Even though it’s the Sealing Stone my master created, one-and-a-half tenths every 150 years…….’
An average mage wouldn’t last even a few hours.
As expected, he truly lived up to being the worst Archmage who once dominated an era.
For now, I decided to set aside the issue of the Sealing Stone.
It was because there was still temporal leeway.
At this mont, it was ti to focus on Tyrant.
And it was also necessary to strengthen this body.
“Forr, there’s sothing I need you to prepare within two weeks.”
“Yes, please tell .”
“Commoner clothes, and a potion that changes appearance. As soon as I recover, I need to go to the Underworld.”
“That can be done within a day. Shall I prepare it right away?”
“Mm…… no. Just prepare it on your own by the day before the two weeks are up.”
“Understood.”
Finally, two weeks passed.
Just as Vise said, I could move my body, and I no longer needed to wrap myself in bandages.
I wasn’t fully recovered yet, so it throbbed like a bruise when I walked, but compared to the past two weeks, I was in considerably good condition.
And just yesterday.
Forr had prepared everything I asked for.
Commoner clothes.
And even the appearance-changing potion.
I didn’t hesitate and downed the potion in one go.
Just like when Vise had first revealed his appearance to , my face and body grotesquely swelled, steam rippled, and finally my form changed.
The hair that had been draped in red and black unified entirely into black, and my eyes also turned black.
My facial features didn’t change drastically.
It was more accurate to say that my build beca slightly smaller and frailer.
I took off my uniform and changed into commoner clothes.
Then I opened a portal leading to the Underworld and pushed my body into it.
As soon as I arrived in the Underworld, I headed straight for the Swordsman’s District.
Just like when I saw it during 1st Class, two swordsn were guarding the entrance at regular intervals.
First, I set out to find that swordsman I had seen back in 1st Class.
The one who, while reading a swordsmanship book, kindly explained things, saying that a young student was innocent in his own way.
But no matter how much I looked around the wide entrance, I couldn’t find the swordsman I rembered.
Since swordsn who relied on manpower couldn’t guard the place 24 hours a day, it seed he had stepped away briefly to rest.
‘Then there’s only one answer.’
I was, after all, in the form of a commoner child.
There was a solution.
I deliberately began lingering in front of the swordsn, acting timid and hesitant.
It was to find a swordsman who would pay attention to .
But strangely, the swordsn guarding the entrance today treated as if I were a ghost, showing no interest whatsoever.
Even after investing a long ti wandering in front of every entrance, not a single swordsman spoke to .
‘That’s strange. It feels like the atmosphere has grown darker.’
That was the impression I got from the swordsn guarding the entrance today.
If that was the case, then it was ti to revise the plan again.
A frontal breakthrough.
That was the only answer.
I cautiously asked one of the swordsn guarding the entrance.
To look like a timid child, I deliberately made my voice shrink and quiver.
“Um…… excuse ……. You’re a swordsman, right?”
Only then did the swordsman glance at .
But his gaze was far too fierce.
A look filled with wariness and suspicion.
‘That’s strange. Don’t tell he knows I’m a mage?’
Like a thief feeling guilty, I shrank back for no reason.
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