episode_0043

000

I hated the sky of screams covering my head.

Dragon Valley, with its harsh environment, rarely had clear skies.

And even if the weather cleared up, if you looked up at the sky and made eye contact with a wyvern.

The conclusion was that they would become their daily food on that day.

I hated the village.

I hated my own tribe being forced to live that kind of life.

And I hated my own powerlessness in being able to do nothing but conform to it.

I hated my family.

My mother, who gave birth to me without knowing who my father was.

She loved me in her own way, but.

The family itself, which made me even more miserable in this harsh environment.

I couldn’t stand the fact that even the foundation of my life as a human being was not clear.

I hated myself.

The moment when a child I was playing with was bleeding from a wyvern’s claws and flying into the sky.

I hated myself for thinking it was a relief that it wasn’t me.

I hated myself so much for not crying and just going home.

I hate it.

I hate it.

I hate it.

If there was one thing I liked.

It was climbing the spire and looking at the stars.

My own precious secret place.

On days when the sky is clear and the moon is bright.

Even if I come up here and look up.

The predators of the sky cannot see this way.

But. The secret place was no longer a secret.

When was it that I saw a boy a little older than me opening the door to the spire and entering?

A child’s greed sometimes doesn’t care about reasons.

Just the thought of having my place taken away brought tears to my eyes.

So. That day too.

Even on a clear night perfect for stargazing.

I just waited for the day when I could get out of this hellish place.

And went to bed.

I don’t remember what my mother said before I went to bed.

Because I didn’t think it would be her last words.

The house was on fire.

People were on fire.

The village was on fire.

Killing, raping, breaking, and hitting.

Screams and shouts from all directions.

I watched my mother cast a spell on herself and have her head cut off before my eyes.

The hand of the one who murdered my mother touches me.

At that moment.

A star fell from the sky.

With a golden flash.

I didn’t know what it was.

However, the man next to me tears open a dimension door.

Taking some of the village women who had been gathered.

Including myself, a dozen people escape from there.

I turned my head towards the spire where I had been looking at the stars.

A faint light was visible.

If that boy was there.

If there was a boy who gave up looking at the stars together because of my trivial feelings.

Ah.

I wish we were together.

I wish we could have shared the sparkling scenery of the sky.

The stars are not visible well from here.

001

Cleon opened his eyes the next morning.

As the events of last night slowly flashed back, he raised himself up at the presence next to him.

There, sitting on the bed, quietly shedding tears from one eye.

Was a blank-faced Rubera.

The exile mark drawn on the back of her hand.

Was overwritten by the imprint of domination that Cleon had carved.

Showing a geometric pattern.

“Rube…”

The moment he tried to call her name, Rubera turned to look at Cleon.

Looking at her head-on, she had a somewhat resentful face.

“You saw it. Pervert.”

What she was referring to as what Cleon `saw`.

Probably Rubera’s own past that flowed in through the imprint.

Cleon quietly nodded.

“It’s the worst. Peeking into my past without permission.”

“… …”

Cleon didn’t say anything.

Clearly, it is possible to peek into the past of others by using the imprint of domination.

But sometimes.

There are times when the past that the imprinted person wants to show flows into you in the form of a dream.

Perhaps Rubera wanted to confirm.

That entering the place she had given up on without permission.

Was it Cleon?

Of course, nothing would change even if she knew that fact.

Cleon and Rubera. The future may have been that the two of them were protected by Ruti.

And came to this village together.

However, the deaths of the villagers who were sacrificed in the process.

Rubera’s mother’s death would not have been reversed.

If that were the case, Rubera would have ended up the same.

Realizing the preciousness through the loss of all the precious things she hated.

And sharpening the blade of revenge.

That’s why Cleon didn’t say anything.

Rubera didn’t ask any more questions either.

Only Cleon’s hand wiped away the tears flowing down her cheek.

002

While quietly waiting for her tears to stop, Lyla knocked and came inside.

Holding various magical tools for testing in her hands.

She approached cautiously after seeing the strange atmosphere between the two.

“How’s your condition?”

When Lyla asked Rubera, Rubera slowly moved her body.

“There are no problems. I think it’s gotten better.”

“That’s a relief. Cleon did a good job.”

“Yeah… well. He did it thoroughly.”

Lyla blushed at Rubera’s sarcastic words.

And Cleon turned his head as if he was embarrassed.

“Most of the magical nerve channels in your body have returned to normal. There won’t be any problems with the awakening of the magic sword with this.”

“Awakening of the magic sword… Barisada.”

As Rubera quietly called out the name of her magic sword, her beautiful sword hanging on the wall.

Emitted a subtle magical light.

“How is it?”

“I don’t know. Awakening is not something I can do with my own will.”

Rubera shook her head like that.

Lyla also spat out as if she was disappointed, and then turned her head to Cleon.

“Cleon too. What’s Galatea’s condition?”

“No problem.”

That answer was not from Cleon.

A green-haired woman appears next to Cleon, changing from a magic sword into a human form.

Rubera seemed a little surprised by the sight.

“You are Cleon’s magic sword?”

“Yes. I’m Galatea.”

Galatea introducing herself to Rubera’s words.

Rubera narrowed her eyes slightly and said to Cleon.

“Amazing. It’s not a loli-type incarnation.”

“I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but I’m not a pedophile.”

Why is that? It was Lyla who was damaged by those words.

“A trigger is needed for your sword to awaken.”

Galatea indifferently tells Rubera.

Rubera only tilted her head.

“A trigger…?”

“Yes. In other words, a powerful shock. Awakening is literally `waking up`. You can think of it as waking up from a sleep.”

At Galatea’s words, Rubera puts her hand on her chin and thinks deeply.

At that time. In the rainy back alley.

The voice she heard when she was in the swamp of despair was definitely Barisada’s.

What Galatea is talking about is a trigger.

Probably, the violent emotional fluctuations of the owner.

Despair. Anger. Sadness. Hatred.

When the stage of negative emotions reaches the highest level.

The magic sword awakens from its long sleep and grants its owner new power.

She looks at Galatea, who is clinging to Cleon and trying to kiss him on the cheek.

If Barisada is this kind of magic sword…

She has the same thought, but just hopes it’s not.

“Then, you two change your clothes and come to the drawing room. There’s something important to talk about.”

Lyla changes from the relaxed expression she had just now to a serious face.

She stands up from her seat and leaves the room.

Both Rubera and Cleon try to get dressed.

“Ah.”

When she turns around at Rubera’s words.

She saw clothes with holes in the important parts and near the armpits.

“… …”

003

“I told you to change your clothes and come…”

Lyla frowned with a vein popping out on her forehead.

She looked at Rubera in front of her.

Her attire when she appeared in the drawing room with Cleon.

Was a slightly larger Cleon’s shirt worn over her underwear.

“If you don’t have any clothes, you can borrow Sasha’s clothes!”

“My clothes!?”

Sasha opened her mouth in surprise when Lyla got angry like fire.

Kuon blushed slightly and turned her gaze away from Rubera.

Only Ruti was quickly looking through the documents on the desk with a serious expression.

It was Ruti in work mode for the first time in a while.

“The guild has issued a request for the `unexplored area` of the Living Forest.”

Cleon’s eyes widened at those words.

Until now, even creating or accepting requests there.

It was forbidden by the guild rules that Ruti had created.

To think that the rules would change as soon as Ruti left.

But considering the purpose of the returnees or the fact that Marquis Hughes is related to them.

In a way, it was a natural procedure.

“What’s the content of the request?”

“It’s about recruiting an exploration team to solve the mysteries of the unexplored area.”

“It’s vague.”

Lyla nods.

Adventurers like requests with clear goals.

Because it is easier to claim rewards when they are completed.

Perhaps, ordinary adventurers would reject this request even if they thought of Ruti.

“The reward is definitely good, though.”

Kuon said, pointing to the reward section of the parchment.

The amount written there was the amount that an average adventurer could earn by working non-stop for nearly 10 years.

Of course, considering the risk, even that is not enough.

“Probably. The adventurers who take on this request will be those influenced by the returnees.”

Ruti puts down the parchment and opens her mouth.

“No matter what, entering and exiting the unexplored area without permission will raise suspicion around you. As a means to avoid that, they issued it as a request as if giving everyone a chance.”

“So, the returnees and their subordinates are just thought of as money-crazed people…”

Silence fell in the drawing room.

Probably, this is all according to their intentions.

The only major surprise would be that Rubera disappeared from Marquis Hughes’s hand in the middle.

It was obvious what they were trying to do in the unexplored area.

The revival of the Calamity Tree, Shuradcel.

An existence capable of transforming the world with its own magic.

If it reappears in this world with its form and nature changed by human hatred.

No one could predict how much sacrifice would occur.

“What are you going to do? Should Ruti go back now and have this request canceled…”

Lyla comes up with an idea, but Ruti shakes her head.

“It’s impossible. I’ve completely given up my authority as guild master now. I’m an outsider in the guild.”

“But isn’t it possible to persuade them?”

Ruti ponders for a moment at Kuon’s words.

Then, she nods as if she understands.

“I don’t know how many people will listen to me… Okay. I’ll try.”

“It’s also an option for me to go to the Marquis and cut off his head as it is.”

Rubera says in a creepy tone.

Cleon ponders for a moment, but shakes his head.

“It’s not a bad suggestion, but I don’t think the returnees will stop even if he dies.”

“Is that so…”

The drawing room becomes quiet once again.

At that time, Cleon brought up the fact that he had been worried about.

“In the first place, why is Marquis Hughes working with the returnees?”

“…? Well, isn’t it because he’s trying to profit from ancient relics?”

Lyla shakes her head at Rubera’s words, as if asking why he’s asking something so obvious.

“No, if the Calamity Tree is revived, he himself, who is located in the city, could be in danger.”

“I want to say that he’s an idiot who can’t even think that far… but Eustace is the only one that stupid.”

Cleon nods at those words.

“His life is safely guaranteed. Is that it?”

“His life is guaranteed… The opponent is an existence called the World Tree, right?”

Cleon recalls his conversation with the returnees yesterday at Sasha’s words.

They said they would subjugate the Calamity Tree.

Maxwell is crazy, but they have meticulously planned to the point of taking into account Cleon, who was known to be dead, in their actions.

That means-.

“Those guys have a means to subjugate the Calamity Tree…”

“If that’s true, it’s fortunate in a sense. At least there is a way to stop the Calamity Tree.”

Cleon shakes his head at Rubera’s words.

“No, no one knows if that means will actually be effective. The opponent is an existence from thousands of years ago.”

“… …”

An existence from thousands of years ago.

The enemy of the world.

Lyla continues to think about something.

Eventually, she suddenly stood up in shock at the conclusion she had reached.

“Iona Chevalier… Holy Sword…!”

“… … Could it be.”

Lyla nodded at Cleon’s words.

“Yes! When the hero falls while fighting the enemy of the world, the function of the Holy Sword is activated and it goes berserk. Albein did!”

“…A berserk of divine magic power so powerful that it tears the sky. An incarnation of light that does not stop until the enemy of the world is annihilated. But Iona is half Holy Sword, half human.”

“You saw the core of the sword working, right? It’s proof that the Holy Sword’s function is properly inside her too. Considering Iona’s personality, if she thinks her sacrifice is necessary to stop the Calamity Tree…”

When Lyla said that far, Kuon said as if something was bothering her.

“But… those people. The returnees said that Shuradcel is an existence that cannot be killed.”

“That’s the story of when it was the World Tree. According to them, they are already cut off from the connection with the stars. Of course, even so, it still has tremendous power.”

“…So, they’re aiming for the berserk of the Holy Sword that can perish with it…”

Cleon stood up from his seat.

“We have to find Iona.”

Rubera stands up from her seat.

For a moment, Cleon looks at Rubera.

“…First, let’s do something about your clothes.”

“… …”

004

Rubera received one of the cute girl’s clothes collections that Ruti possessed and put it on.

Ruti said that it was one of the outfits she had prepared to play with Cleon.

The overall impression was that it was a comfortable outfit that clung to the whole body.

Instead, the arm parts only extended to the shoulders.

The upper part of the chest was exposed.

A plank and rope that replaced the belt covering both thighs on the waist.

All other parts are made of black tights.

“Wait… Isn’t there a more normal outfit…”

Rubera expresses her dissatisfaction to Ruti like that.

The rest were all fluttery dresses or clothes with lots of cute decorations.

“…Keuk…”

Rubera groaned as if she was resentful.

For Cleon, he had only taken off the maid’s uniform from the clothes he used to wear.

Only the same impressions arose.

“Okay, then go and come back. We’ll go to the city as soon as Ruti is ready.”

“Okay.”

Lyla tears open a dimension door.

Cleon uses changeling magic on his body to hide his identity first.

He passes through the dimension door and enters the city.

The place he stepped on was the back alley of the city.

“Iona said she would go to Talcheck yesterday… Anyway, I have to go to Marquis Hughes’ mansion.”

At Cleon’s words, Rubera looks down at her mark for a moment.

“Don’t worry. The mark of exile will no longer function.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Together with Rubera, he approaches Marquis Hughes’ mansion and hides the two people’s bodies with Cleon’s magic.

If he lightly jumps over the fence and enters to find Iona or Talcheck.

“Wait.”

Rubera stops Cleon and hides behind the wall.

There, Eustace was seen heading to the mansion’s training grounds with a sword, with bandages wrapped around various parts of his body.

“What is it? Is he even doing sword training?”

“As far as I know, Eustace is a human being who hates effort first. Diligence second. Faithfulness third.”

Rubera says that there’s no way such a person would train.

But Cleon thought a little differently.

Eustace’s eyes were a little different from when he was trembling with fear in the dungeon the other day.

Anger.

He knows where that anger is directed.

It was anger directed at his weak self.

“Could it be that Talcheck is training that guy?”

“That’s right.”

As Cleon muttered, an answer came back.

When Rubera and Cleon simultaneously put their hands on their swords at the voice that suddenly came from a place without a presence.

Talcheck was seen smiling there.

“Talcheck… You. Can you see us?”

“Huh? No. But I can feel the presence or killing intent.”

The beastly senses of the Sword Saint that pierces through Cleon’s barrier, which even the beasts of the Living Forest did not notice.

Cleon couldn’t help but wonder what that gorilla usually eats.

Cleon confirms that there are no other humans around and releases the barrier.

Talcheck looked at Rubera and then looked at Cleon and laughed.

“Did you add another woman, Cleon? You’re quite the player.”

“I’m not Cleon’s woman. Gorilla.”

Rubera frowned.

Talcheck only laughed.

“Talcheck. Have you found out anything while living with Marquis Hughes?”

“Well. I know that that guy has some knowledge of alcohol. The alcohol in the warehouse is all delicious.”

“Be patient.”

“Hold on. I’m holding on too.”

Cleon, who stops Rubera from putting her hand on the handle.

“You must have heard about the Calamity Tree from Iona.”

“Ah, I heard. What they’re aiming for too. Isn’t it really interesting how things are turning out, Cleon.”

Cleon only frowned even more at those carefree words.

As a human belonging to the royal information agency, seeing an incident that could be dangerous to the entire continent beyond the country.

Cleon couldn’t understand leaving the impression that it was `interesting`.

But the man in front of him is the Sword Saint Talcheck.

A man who has achieved absolute dominance with only his sword.

That is why the desire for the strong sometimes overrides conscience or common sense.

“They might try to use Iona to subjugate the Calamity Tree.”

“Hoo. Chevalier? He’s not that strong.”

“…She’s strong. More than you think.”

At Cleon’s words, Talcheck looked down at Cleon for a moment.

Eyes that seemed to be appraising something.

After staring silently for a long time, he opened his mouth wide and laughed.

“I won’t give you my daughter!”

“Okay. Let’s cut him.”

When Cleon tried to draw his sword, Rubera stopped him this time.

“Are you serious? She’s your daughter…”

“Shut up. If you’re so worried, just tell her yourself.”

His words make me angry, but it’s the best option for now.

Thinking so, Cleon asked Talcheck.

“…Where is she?”

“She heard that the guild issued a request for exploration of the unexplored area and went there. She ran off in a hurry.”

Rubera recalled when she and Iona had fallen into the unexplored area.

Iona would know how dangerous that place is.

She must have thought that she needed to stop any possible fools.

“I don’t feel even the ‘F’ of fatherly love from this gorilla.”

Talcheck made a noise at Rubera’s words.

“It seems like the guys around me call me a gorilla more often than my name.”

Cleon lightly ignores Talcheck’s complaints and moves with Rubera.

“Hey, Cleon.”

Talcheck lightly called out to him.

“What would that guy have done in this situation?”

“The returnees and Marquis Hughes. He would have cut them all down without missing a single one.”

“Maybe, even if the Calamity Tree appeared, he would have cut that down too.”

Cleon nodded at Talcheck’s words.

“We can’t be that guy. Don’t mistake the target you have to cut down.”

Talcheck’s words were somehow close to self-deprecation.

Cleon looked at his old teacher for a moment.

And quietly left the mansion.

“I’m counting on you. Cleon. The guy you have to cut down is…”

Talcheck, who spoke quietly as if entrusting something.

Moved his feet to the training ground where Eustace was waiting.