Chapter 113 : Chapter 113

Translator: AkazaTL

Pr/Ed: Sol IX

***

Chapter 113 – Fragment (2)

Toma Rhapsody. The youngest son of the House Rhapsody. Unlike his father who had reached the summit of the world and his brothers who had already attained greatness, he was still nothing more than a childish young lord.

Even in the domain he had constantly caused trouble, and one day Toma Rhapsody committed an act of deviation.

He left the Six Free Cities where he could enjoy absolute power and took part in that game called the 「Infinite Duel」 where the lowly of the Iron Kingdom of the western continent frolicked.

On his way back from fighting in the 「Infinite Duel」, the precious young lord suffered a most disgraceful ambush. In that ambush, the young lord’s mind was irreparably shattered, and Joseph, the loyal retainer who had cared for him since childhood, met a gruesome death.

Toma Rhapsody had not forgotten that day for even a moment.

He remembered the bone-deep helplessness, and he remembered the violence that had broken him and Joseph. He even remembered the smell of blood from that time. He remembered the very temperature of the blood that flowed from Joseph’s dying body. Which was why, in Toma Rhapsody’s eyes that remembered everything, that Fighter’s sword was somehow wrong.

“Uh……”

That was not the sword that had sullied his honor.

It was not the blade that had severed Joseph’s head from his torso and made his end so miserable.

Watching the execution his brother was conducting, Toma Rhapsody felt an unbearable headache. At the same time, watching the sword unfold from the Fighter’s fingertips, Toma Rhapsody thought: it wasn’t unfamiliar. If anything, it was even familiar. As if he had experienced it himself, had suffered it himself.

‘Stop running away.’

But the Fighter’s sword that Toma Rhapsody’s body remembered was not something he resented. On the contrary, it was welcome, ecstatic—even thrilling.

Why were such feelings stirring? Why?

‘You’ve no idea how boring it is dealing with these things, do you?’

Every time he saw that blade, some unknown memory rose up.

‘This time you truly shocked me. Running away without a word, and even taking part in the 「Infinite Duel」 where the lowly gather.’

What were these memories?

Which was the truth—the nightmare-like moments that tormented him? Or this unbearable memory?

‘So, did you enjoy yourself?’

His head felt as if it would split.

‘Was there no point in coming here?’

‘No.’

He saw Joseph. He saw the old man who had always guarded his side like a shadow. He saw himself lying on an uncomfortable bed, and he saw the warm milk Joseph handed him. As always, that milk had been warmed to a pleasantly proper temperature. It felt too real to be a lie, too vivid to be a hallucination. Toma Rhapsody’s eyes began to widen as if they would pop out.

He recalled the moment he had chatted like a child. Toma Rhapsody’s shattered memories, his soul that had been torn to tatters, was being reassembled. The dull eyes regained their light.

They became the eyes of a boy, not a corpse.

‘It was a meaningful deviation, then.’

‘Yeah, Father was right.’

A precious moment surfaced. A moment he should never have forgotten. And yet a moment he had forgotten……

‘You became an adult.’

The childish young lord opened his eyes.

“Brother.”

Not Sword Demon Liam.

It was not some petty Fighter who had broken him. The mastermind behind all of this was not that man. The sword that had hewn his soul, that had insulted Joseph and hacked him to pieces—that wasn’t it. Only now did it come back to him.

“Brother, don’t. Wait……”

Toma Rhapsody realized the truth.

A soul destroyed by a sword. Was restored to its original form by a sword.

Having finally come to his senses, Toma Rhapsody saw the wrong things unfolding before his eyes. But no matter how he cried out, his brother could not hear his younger sibling’s voice.

The Knights around them? They too were not looking at Toma Rhapsody. The duel was in full swing. At this rate an innocent man would lose his life to his brother’s blade. Not the one who deserved punishment, but the blameless would be judged. Toma Rhapsody could not stand by and watch.

Childish as he might be, the blood of greatness flowed in Toma Rhapsody’s body. And any descendant who inherited that great blood had to fulfill his duty. The duty of a great scion.

“……”

Sword struck sword.

Steel tangled with waves.

Toma Rhapsody soon realized what he had to do. And the moment he realized, he did not hesitate.

“……I have something to confess.”

Toma Rhapsody looked up at the sky—the clear blue with not a cloud in sight.

“O gods, are you listening?”

***

The First Steel.

A movement resembling a vertical cut. Rather than a vertical cut, it was closer to a blacksmith hammering. Unusually, it could be swung imbued with Mystery, and no matter how one defended, it crushed with overwhelming force and transmitted impact. An attack that could not be blocked.

The name of the First Steel was Forging. A word that referred to the process of endlessly hammering steel in order to make a fine sword. No one knew why it had been given such a name. Was it because Liam was half Dwarf? Perhaps. Before he had taken up the sword, Liam might have been a blacksmith.

Befitting the name Forging, the Second Steel was called Polishing: the process of smoothing the surface of endlessly hammered steel, turning a lump of metal into a true weapon.

That was as far as the Karavan techniques contained in the shard went. But I did not feel they were lacking. No, not at all.

“Hoo—”

I drew in a breath. It smelled of blood and earth. Savoring the scent of struggle, I lowered my stance. From the finishing posture of a vertical cut, keeping the tip of the sword pointed toward the ground, I changed how I gripped the sword. I twisted my wrist, pushed the blunt pommel so the tip bit into the ground. As if deeply planting a headstone. It was alien to call this a movement of swordsmanship, but it was the correct movement.

As the breath built within me, my flame gathered to me. It was preparation to wield the Second Steel. With this, even Edan Rhapsody would find it hard to parry casually. Having lost his Wings to my Mystery, it would be nearly impossible for him to receive my sword with what remained.

He might have to draw out more Wings or invoke the authority of Sword Expert. If he did, then I would not merely endure ten seconds—I might claim an outright victory. Since it would violate the conditions of the duel.

“……”

But the moment I met Edan Rhapsody’s eyes, I was certain that would never happen. That man was the sort who, even if it meant dying while keeping the terms of the duel, would gladly choose death over disgrace. He resembled not my own brother, but the neighbor of mine who had already passed on. A Knight of honor—Sir Fetel the Loyal.

‘What will you show me?’

The world slowed. In that slow world, Edan Rhapsody’s hand moved. It was a movement familiar to me as well: a thrust. But not a basic thrust. A technique of the Spiral Sword handed down in Rhapsody. An unseen, un-blockable, violent thrust. A technique symbolic of Rhapsody, one that pulverized all without leaving a trace. A trump card I had once faced in the 「Infinite Duel」.

“Consider it an honor.”

In the slow world, Edan Rhapsody’s voice sounded distinct. It even felt like it entered directly into my head rather than through his mouth. After his voice, I heard even the ‘splash—’ of waves. The free surge of the sea that none could resist. After the sound of the waves unfurled, a ray of light flashed at Edan Rhapsody’s fingertips.

As the streak of light flashed, my sword moved in answer. It was the finest movement I could display at my level. Every muscle in my body screamed, and my heart pounded as if it would burst at any moment. In the colorless black-and-white world, even the two men were now gone.

All that remained in the world were two swords.

Thud.

The blade buried in the earth scooped up soil as it rose in an arc. Clods of dirt flew, and then the flame that had gathered to me poured out like a whirlwind. The waves that had veiled my eyes vanished before the flame.

「To make a perfect sword, the process of Polishing is crucial. Strip the surface perfectly so there’s no roughness or bumpiness. Make it very smooth.」

I drew a single line from below to above. Beyond the line I carved stood Edan Rhapsody. As my sword path completed, the things that had wrapped Edan Rhapsody began to come off.

The sea’s Paths that ruled the arena peeled away, the Wings were stripped, and even the second heart that made his sword special was shed. As if stripping the rough surface from a blade. As a blacksmith polishes steel.

Thus what was revealed whole was a single man. Not a sword, but a man holding a paltry stick of wood. And yet, even as he was at last revealed, to me as I was now he was an overwhelmingly large existence. I knew it instinctively.

My fangs would not reach Edan Rhapsody. But Edan Rhapsody’s fangs would reach me.

With a spurt, blood splashed up. Where had I been wounded? I didn’t know. Perhaps an arm or a leg had been severed. Perhaps my heart had already been pierced beyond recovery. Yet I felt no pain.

All my senses were already focused on this moment. My heartbeat rang with a shiver. My heart still beats. The sword was still in my hand. In that case, I could not stop.

I stepped forward. I swung the Second Steel once more. Beginning with a line drawn from below to above, once this movement began it did not halt.

From above to below, from left to right, I could swing freely in every direction.

This sword continued until it stripped away everything of the enemy. All Paths were connected. As long as the Wings of Steel guided me, the Path of Steel led me, and the Heart of Steel kept beating, Polishing would not stop—until the goal was achieved.

Clang, a sound rang.

My blade was bending in a direction I had not intended. An infinite thrust engulfed my body. My sight was now stained wholly red. Even so, I kept walking. Something caught my shoulder.

Looking ahead, Edan Rhapsody’s eyes were closed. His shoulder and mine had collided. Without hesitation I swung my blade. Edan Rhapsody did not even dodge. Why?

“Ah.”

There was no longer a blade in the sword I gripped.

I had been swinging on with only a handle that had lost its edge. I didn’t know when the blade had snapped. If it was gone, I would just grab another. Ever since I had eaten several swords, I always carried other blades on my body. I’d at least grab a dagger shaped like a fang. Thinking that, I moved my hand toward my thigh. That was when my leg buckled. With a thud, I dropped to my knees. It wasn’t surrender.

My legs had no strength. It wasn’t a matter of will but of body. With soft taps, the daggers mounted on my thigh tumbled to the ground one after another. I couldn’t crouch to grab them. Then I’d use my nails. I’d use my teeth. I would keep fighting, even if I had to claw, even if I had to bite. I would fight until my heart stopped.

I reached out. I seized Edan Rhapsody’s collar. The moment I tried to yank him, it was me who was dragged instead. Heaven and earth flipped. With a crash my body was slammed to the ground. A terrible pain racked my whole body as if I had fallen off a cliff. In the upside-down world I saw Edan Rhapsody’s face. His mouth moved.

“You’re a relentless one. Madly so.”

“……U-ugh.”

“Petty Fighter, that’s enough.”

Plip. A hot liquid fell and touched my cheek.

“You have already accomplished a great feat.”

The liquid that touched my cheek was blood.

The place the blood fell from was Edan Rhapsody’s face.

“You may be proud.”

Edan Rhapsody’s face was ruined. A noble face, covered in blood. More precisely, the left side of his face.

“For nearly ten years, you’re the first to wound me.”

Edan Rhapsody had no left eye. There, a long red line had been engraved.

“Father was right. The world is vast.”

“……”

“From now on I’ll only see half the world.”

The sunlight was hot again today.

Spattered by falling drops of blood, I panted for breath. Without taking his eyes off me, Edan Rhapsody spoke in that characteristic impassive face, in a dry voice.

“It seems you were right after all.”

“……”

“It seems you truly never defamed the honor of Rhapsody. You don’t seem to have ever killed our loyal retainer, nor to have committed any crime worth holding you to account. Was this why you told us to bring Toma? Was this why you accepted such an unreasonable duel? For this picture?”

Edan Rhapsody jerked his chin.

Panting, I looked in the direction he indicated. There were Knights there, my residents were there, and there was the childish young lord, Toma Rhapsody.

Toma Rhapsody was floating in the air. Around the airborne Toma Rhapsody, letters formed of light were inscribed. I had never seen that script before, yet strangely I could understand what those letters meant.

As the light descended, the many Knights, the uneducated country bumpkin residents, the legions of a Great House—without exception, all bowed their heads. It was only natural.

Because the letters of light were written thus:

「The descendants of a Great House must pay a price.」

「In the names of the Nine Goddesses and the Seven Lords, Toma Rhapsody made a false oath.」

. . .

「Remember.」

「With great power comes great responsibility.」

. . .

「Responsibility will be demanded.」

「Responsibility befitting the sin.」

The Nine Goddesses and the Seven Lords.

The gods had arrived.

According to law and duty.

And— that proved my innocence.

“Young swordsman.”

“……”

“As Edan Rhapsody, second son of Rhapsody, I wish to hear your name.”

“……Why?”

The plan had succeeded. Everything had been reversed.

And yet— Edan Rhapsody did not look the least bit vexed. If anything, he was smiling.

“For some reason, I think you will leave your name in history.”

With everything in chaos, Edan Rhapsody said something I had once heard. I could not tell whether the cold face he had shown earlier was his true face, or whether the smiling face now was his real one. In the haziness, only the familiar question felt welcome. So I, in a voice all worn out, said:

“……Arhan.”

“……”

My name.

“Arhan…… Karavan.”

My house as well—the one the world had forgotten.