Chapter 120 : Disguise (2)
Chapter 120: Disguise (2)
-You’re making some big misunderstanding. I don’t hate swordsmen. On the contrary, I respect them. And…… I’m sorry.
“……Sorry?”
It wasn’t an answer that could come from a mage’s mouth.
Since ancient times, swordsmen and mages had been at each other’s throats, unable to coexist.
In such an environment, could words like respecting swordsmen easily come from the mouth of an Archmage, the leader of mages?
Moreover, the apology made me 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 swordsmen who participated in the battle.
“I heard your master also died in that battle.”
-That’s right. But it’s different from the swordsmen’s deaths. The swordsmen 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 Aimer was genuinely mourning the deaths of the swordsmen.
But would such grief naturally arise just from having fought together?
It seemed there was another, more fundamental reason.
-Come to think of it, your surname 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 time 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 moments, he tried to protect me. 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 Aimer.”
-Why?
“What’s the real reason you want to learn swordsmanship? Is it simply because you feel sorry toward swordsmen?”
-No. Do you really think that’s the reason? There’s something 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 something I have, and something you don’t.
“I don’t know why the conversation suddenly turned like thi—.”
-Just like that, you also have something that I don’t.
Aimer cut off Garent’s words and said everything he wanted to say.
“Don’t tell me, 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 swordsmen 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 swordsmen and mages would join hands to face a common enemy?
“…….”
-It’s the same thing. The world is full of anomalies.
At that moment, Garent realized something as well.
Though he didn’t want to admit it, mages were a little wiser than swordsmen.
He thought it was because they were a people who fought with their minds.
-That’s why we must harmonize. If something 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 swordsmen regarded the current situation as simply a concluded incident.
That was true for Garent himself as well.
But Arkis Aimer 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 emerge.
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 swordsmen.
It was truly something straight out of a fairy tale.
And it was clearly the complete opposite of how swordsmen thought about the order of things.
Their dispositions were opposite, and I never imagined even the order would be opposite.
In the case of swordsmen, suppose they held a meeting about harmonizing with Magical Society.
There had to be a certain number of swordsmen willing to harmonize before pushing the matter forward.
But Arkis Aimer 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 means 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 some time passed, Quilte’s parents crossed over into swordsman society.
At the same time, Garent taught Aimer swordsmanship through words via the Sealing Stone.
“Lord Garent?”
At that moment, 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 seemed that the inexplicable recollection ended the moment Milton called out.
It felt as if the Sealing Stone were a living organism, deliberately showing me a fragment of that past.
“What were you thinking so deeply about? You were even muttering something.”
“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 meaning.
I ate the food Former 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 time last year, it was about six-tenths.”
“……How do you know the figures so precisely?”
“Ah, didn’t you hear that from Lord Etar?”
Former 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 name 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 me struck me 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 extremely 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 time 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 moment, it was time to focus on Tyrant.
And it was also necessary to strengthen this body.
“Former, there’s something I need you to prepare within two weeks.”
“Yes, please tell me.”
“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.
Former 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 me, 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 became 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 swordsmen 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 remembered.
Since swordsmen who relied on manpower couldn’t guard the place 24 hours a day, it seemed 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 swordsmen, acting timid and hesitant.
It was to find a swordsman who would pay attention to me.
But strangely, the swordsmen guarding the entrance today treated me as if I were a ghost, showing no interest whatsoever.
Even after investing a long time wandering in front of every entrance, not a single swordsman spoke to me.
‘That’s strange. It feels like the atmosphere has grown darker.’
That was the impression I got from the swordsmen guarding the entrance today.
If that was the case, then it was time to revise the plan again.
A frontal breakthrough.
That was the only answer.
I cautiously asked one of the swordsmen guarding the entrance.
To look like a timid child, I deliberately made my voice shrink and quiver.
“Um…… excuse me……. You’re a swordsman, right?”
Only then did the swordsman glance at me.
But his gaze was far too fierce.
A look filled with wariness and suspicion.
‘That’s strange. Don’t tell me he knows I’m a mage?’
Like a thief feeling guilty, I shrank back for no reason.