Chapter 139 : Return (5)
Return (5)
Mana users were rare, and even the 1st-rank was precious in this world.
A 2nd-rank swordsman was essentially the ultimate weapon in a small farming village like Diota.
And yet, Liam Ralph had died.
'To protect his own son.'
The adults told me—no, told Nagel Ralph—that I was lucky to be unharmed,
But those were just words.
Nagel could tell from their mood and gaze.
The adults blamed Nagel—me.
They thought that because I snuck out at dawn, I got my own father killed.
'That foolish brat, all excited from being called a genius, had brought danger upon the village!'
Of course, it could have been my own misunderstanding,
But no matter what, I felt that the attitude of the adults toward me had changed.
Even so, they didn't openly disrespect me or drive me out of the village.
My father had greatly contributed to Diota, after all,
And they seemed intent on raising me as the next head of the vigilante squad.
From my perspective, having lost my father, that was a relief,
But, to be honest,
'The adults disgusted me.'
While my father fought against demonic beasts, they had done nothing.
While my father lay dying,
Those adults had sat in their houses with candles lit, simply watching in silence.
I could never forgive them for that.
Therefore,
Whoosh!
I swung my sword.
Blisters burst over and over until my calluses split a thousand times, ten thousand times.
If only I could get stronger, even a day or a moment sooner.
So that the adults would not look down on me, even unconsciously,
So that I would not feel my father's absence!
Five years went by like that.
Before I knew it, my height had caught up with the adults'.
Of course, the other kids my age were the same.
From this age on, each of us had to start taking on roles for the survival and continuity of the village.
Whether it was farming, selecting rice saplings, or sewing,
It was time to do the work assigned by the village chief.
For this day, I spared no time except to sleep and eat, swinging my sword all the while.
To succeed my father as the vigilante squad leader and swordsmanship instructor.
However,
"Nagel..."
The village chief, after assigning tasks to the other kids, trailed off at my name.
He was uncertain how to use me.
Because—
'Ever since I awakened mana, my swordsmanship had barely improved.'
If there was any silver lining, it was that none of my peers, aside from me, had become mana users.
Anyway, the chief looked at me, furrowing his brow and groaning.
"Nagel... Let's decide again in a week."
For the old man as well, it was an awkward situation.
Hiring a 2nd-rank warrior from outside would cost a considerable sum.
But entrusting the role to me, who had just come of age, given that my progress so far was lackluster...
Of course, the person most frustrated by the situation was me.
'Damn it.'
Five long years since I lost my father,
I had clung to hope and despair, doing my best.
'But in the end, every plan went awry.'
Originally, after earning the recognition of the village elders,
Just as they had abandoned my father, I too intended to leave them behind.
My destination, of course, was the duchy's capital: Kaisrad.
I wanted to become a squire of the White Fang.
I wanted to fulfill the dream my father never could.
But,
'Not even in a backwater like this could I earn recognition.'
An empty house,
Returning to the place the villagers called the swordsmanship school, I clenched my fist.
Quivering.
The sword I gripped trembled with me.
It was my father's keepsake and the finest steel sword in the village.
'By Granfen's standards, it's hardly different from an ordinary arming sword.'
That just proved how small the village of Diota was,
And if I couldn't even earn recognition here, I couldn't move forward.
In the end, I fell back on habit and swung my sword once more.
There was nothing else I could do.
Then, on the morning after—
"Nagel! Nagel!!"
The village chief's son Ente came running excitedly.
Two years younger than me, he hadn't let go of the sword since I surpassed him at swordsmanship.
But now,
"I think I just awakened to mana!"
Just as my father had once checked me,
I checked the mana flowing through his body.
But I couldn't manage the joyful expression my father had worn.
I barely kept my expression in check as I replied.
"Congratulations."
How awkward must my current smile look?
However, the next village chief was even more excited as he shouted.
"Let's spar!"
In the end, I failed at controlling my expression.
There must have been a deep shadow across my face.
'Does this kid take me for a joke?'
Even if Ente had reached the 1st-rank now,
It had already been five years since I started using mana.
The difference between us was bound to be starkly clear.
Rather than asking me to spar, he should have—
'He should have asked me for instruction!'
While my insides boiled over,
Ente was the exact opposite.
He just seemed to genuinely enjoy the situation as it was.
At that moment, a really good idea came to me.
'Maybe I should show him the difference under the pretense of sparring.'
If I broke one of his bones here, they wouldn't be able to belittle me anymore.
The same goes for the chief who's been hesitating on what to do with me.
'Sounds good.'
I replied with a smile, thinking of breaking Ente's bones.
"This will be different from the spars we had as kids. Sparring between mana users is dangerous—something could get broken. Is that really okay?"
Of course, ente agreed without hesitation,
And grabbing a wooden sword for the first time in a while, I faced him.
I gritted my teeth and charged at the boy's eager face.
Thwack!
The sound of wood clashing echoed repeatedly.
Thwak! Whoosh, smack!
Brown afterimages from the swords swept across our vision.
Soon, the wooden sword in Ente's hand spun through the air.
"Argh!"
Ente clutched his wrist in pain, doubling over.
Just as expected, I was the victor.
But I couldn't bring myself to be satisfied with this outcome.
"Huff, huff, huff."
I was busy just trying to catch my breath, which was up to my chin.
Beads of sweat gathering at the tip of my nose plopped to the ground.
'I barely won.'
It was hard to believe.
Ente had only just awakened mana at the age of thirteen,
His second puberty was just beginning.
I should have had the advantage in both mana experience and physicality,
Yet I had only barely defeated Ente.
'Why?'
Confusion began to set in.
My father had called me a genius,
And I had clung to those dying words until now.
At this point, it had to be one of two things.
Either Ente was a genius among geniuses who surpassed me,
'Or my father's judgment was wrong.'
As my mind became more and more tangled,
Ente's voice snapped me out of it.
"You really are strong, Nagel."
I flinched, involuntarily stepping back.
He forcefully smiled while swallowing the pain.
'Am I...strong?'
No.
I was not strong at all.
In the next spar, I would surely lose to Ente.
"Let's spar again next time."
I answered reluctantly to Ente's innocent smile.
"Sure."
After Ente left and I was alone in the house,
I cradled my head, lost in thought.
"What should I do?"
Even if Ente became stronger than me, he wouldn't become the vigilante squad leader.
He was destined to be the village chief.
He'd probably make a better chief than the current one, Eshiser.
And,
'A village chief stronger than the squad leader and swordsmanship instructor.'
Would there be any need for me to remain in such a village?
'No. None at all.'
My deliberations ended.
I decided I would leave.
I opened the door at dawn, just like the day I had lost my father.
Of course, living alone now, I didn't need to be as cautious as back then.
Kkiik.
"......"
I looked up at the night sky.
It looked just as it did when I was ten years old.
Two full moons—such a beautiful sight.
'I won't have reason to visit Diota village anymore.'
I smirked bitterly and took my first step.
Direction: Kaisrad.
If my luck was bad, I'd die; if it was good, I'd reach my destination alive.
Chak, chak, chak.
Just as I left the village for the first time in my life,
Puuuu...!
A crude horn sounded.
I turned my head.
"Huh?"
Lights blinked on all over the village.
The adults of the vigilante squad could be heard shouting in the distance.
"It's a demonic beast!!"
My legs went weak and the hair on my arms stood up.
It was just like the moment I'd lost my father and faced that wolf demonic beast.
'I should run away, quickly.'
Just as the learned terror was about to move my body,
― Let's spar again next time.
The promise—or half-promise—I had made to Ente suddenly popped up in my mind.
Even though I couldn't care less about the village adults, ente was not a bad guy.
No—in truth,
'He's blindingly good.'
If not for my dull jealousy,
If I hadn't been so obsessed with the sword,
Ente and I could have become good friends.
Because of that, I couldn't move at all.
Neither did I go to save Ente, nor did I run from the village.
It was then that the village chief's voice snapped me to my senses.
"All adult men, come out! Hurry!!"
My burning heart froze cold.
Because, when my father fought alone in the past, all they did was watch.
But now, with no one like him left to help, they had to step up themselves.
'... You bastards.'
I ground my teeth so hard it sounded like they might crack.
Even so, I had no reason to get involved or care.
Thinking that, I turned my gaze from the village and turned my back to leave—
"......"
Under the bright moonlight, a grown man blocked my way.
With a big chin and a stern face—
"Father."
My father stared at me intently.
Of course, I knew that figure wasn't really my father.
It was a delusion—a hallucination born of my lingering regret.
Yet my eyes filled with tears on their own.
"Why only now...?"
I didn't know what to say.
My father, too, said nothing.
For a long while, he simply looked at me,
Then—
Srrrk.
He vanished like smoke.
At the same time, the screams of the village people rang out behind me.
Unable to bear seeing my vanishing village with my own eyes,
I simply walked right past where my father had stood.
'You reap what you sow, father.'
Muttering this to myself, I kept on walking,
And it almost seemed as if I could hear my father's phantom voice.
― What did I say? Do you remember what the Ralph surname means?
Father.
They weren't people worth saving.
I will choose with my own hands who is worth protecting.
― You'll regret it.
"?!!"
I stopped in my tracks.
It felt like I heard words my father had never said to me before.
Soon I also heard the cries of my childhood friends.
Perl, Yuli, and—
'Ente.'
Clenching my fist tightly, I barely held back the tears.
Once again, I walked forward.
To prove my father's dream and last words.
To use my talents in the right place.
But in the end,
'I lived my whole life in regret.'
A life spent running away from saving the villagers was nothing but darkness.
To escape that darkness, I had to struggle to the brink of death.
And after all those years and ceaseless effort, I came to understand one thing.
'That my father's judgment was wrong.'
My talent in swordsmanship wasn't just miserable—it was abysmal.
Still, I couldn't put down my sword.
On days I didn't swing it, I heard my father's phantom voice and Ente's crying.
To escape the pain, I swung my sword.
In the end, having failed to become a squire,
I became a soldier,
Wandering from place to place with the flow of time, ending up at the outermost frontline of the North Duchy: Granfen.
Here, my colleagues mistook me for a warm and generous person.
But in truth,
'My kindness was just to keep my own torment at bay.'
As I kept swinging my sword and deceiving everyone,
By the time I had reached my father's age, I'd become a 2nd-rank warrior and was now the security squad leader.
'Is this the power of heredity?'
Just when I had come to consider my life a failure,
A black-haired outsider named Ian appeared.
At that time, I had no idea.
That a mere outsider would change my life completely.