The Saint’s Weekend (4)


    1.

    It had been a long time, but his friend’s face hadn’t changed.

    The shaggy beard.

    The wrinkles etched as if he were perpetually angry.

    It was all Madin as he was in my memories.

    I was genuinely happy to see him.

    I felt a longing to sit in front of the Furnace like we used to, drinking cool ale and chatting about ridiculous stories.

    That was until he called my name.

    “…Adrean?”

    Flounder.

    My body stiffened.

    I could feel cold sweat beading on the back of my neck.

    Did he recognize me…?

    No, no.

    That’s impossible.

    Unless there was something that screamed I was Adrean.

    In my current state, there’s nothing that could possibly make him recognize my past life.

    Even aside from external factors.

    If he could recognize me, my disciple would have recognized me first.

    More than anything, I’m already dead.

    No, Adrean Van Reiker exists, but he doesn’t.

    “Oh, what am I saying…”

    Madin chuckled as if he had made a slip of the tongue.

    That’s more like it.

    I breathed a sigh of relief.

    I don’t know why my name suddenly popped out…

    Maybe he’s finally going senile.

    He’s been getting forgetful lately.

    Though he’s still middle-aged by dwarf standards.

    Anyway, I’m glad I wasn’t caught.

    I think it’s okay if this guy finds out my identity, but that doesn’t mean I want him to find out.

    What would he think if his old friend was reborn in this form?

    I especially don’t want to show my current self to someone who knew me in my past life.

    “Miss, where did you hear that from?”

    “Pardon? What are you talking about?”

    “What you said just now. The Soul of the sword this, the Voice of the sword that.”

    It’s not like I heard it from anywhere.

    “I just felt that way.”

    It’s just a simple hunch.

    Every time I hold a sword, I feel like the sword is talking to me.

    I was just honestly expressing that feeling.

    “Hoo… is that so?”

    Madin stared at me with interest.

    “So, what kind of weapon are you planning to choose, Miss? A sword? A spear?”

    “No.”

    I waved my hands.

    “I just came to look around…”

    I do want to buy a sword.

    I can’t keep borrowing other people’s swords forever.

    Of course, I don’t know how many opportunities I’ll have to use a sword in the future.

    It’s not like the academy gets attacked often.

    Still, I wish I had one.

    “To think you’d only look around when my weapons are right here.”

    Madin clicked his tongue with a chuckle.

    “So, is there nothing you like?”

    “Something I like?”

    I glanced around the store.

    Dozens of swords.

    Swords of various shapes hung on the wall.

    The sight could truly be called the Library of swords.

    But among all these swords, there wasn’t one that captured my heart.

    It’s not a matter of perfection.

    How could I question the perfection of something Madin made?

    It’s just that.

    There’s no jolt that resonates in my heart when I grip the hilt of a sword.

    “Pick one. I’ll give you one as a gift.”

    “Pardon? Really?”

    “I just like you, Miss.”

    Ew.

    Don’t tell me this guy.

    Is he trying to hit on me right now?

    Heh.

    He said he was going to marry his anvil.

    I guess he’s lonely after living for over 100 years.

    “Can I look around a bit more before deciding?”

    Still, is there any reason to refuse a free sword?

    “Of course.”

    I decided to look around the store a bit more.

    “…Saintess, are you really going to choose a sword?”

    As I looked around the store, examining each one, Rael asked in a small voice.

    “Why? Can’t I?”

    “It’s not my place to tell you what to do, Saintess, but you might get hurt carrying a sword around.”

    At those words, I laughed.

    “It’s not like I’m a child.”

    Rael is too overprotective of me.

    It’s natural for me to receive such protection because I’m the Saintess.

    But recently, it’s gotten worse.

    He makes a big fuss over anything that seems even slightly dangerous.

    It seems he still feels guilty for not properly fulfilling his role as a Holy Knight during the entrance ceremony.

    “I’m going to decorate my room with it.”

    Just walking around the academy draws attention as if it’s something amazing. If I even carry a sword around my waist, how much more would people stare?

    A Saintess carrying a sword.

    Has there ever been such an eccentric Saintess in hundreds of years of history?

    No.

    The image of a Saintess has long been solidified as someone who is fragile and delicate, but whose heart is stronger than anyone else. All the Saintesses so far have been like that.

    So, if I carry a sword around my waist, people will stare as if I’m a circus monkey.

    I hate it.

    Unless I was someone who liked receiving attention.

    “And, I think it’s rude to refuse the owner’s kindness.”

    I really will decorate my room with the sword.

    Then, I’ll take it out and use it when I need it.

    “Rael Hyung, I’m thirsty, could you go buy me something to drink?”

    “Understood.”

    “Please get me strawberry milk.”

    “Yes, understood.”

    Rael smiled and went on his errand.

    Now I can look around properly.

    I didn’t think I could comfortably handle the swords with Rael next to me.

    That’s why I sent him to buy something to drink.

    The strawberry milk was from a store I saw at the entrance of Mason Street 2 on the way here, so it would take him quite a while to go there and back.

    “Can I swing this around?”

    I grabbed a sword and asked Madin.

    “Why not?”

    Madin gestured for me to swing it around.

    You can’t know a sword just by looking at it.

    No matter how well-made a sword is, it ultimately has to suit the swordsman.

    I slowly began to move the sword.

    2.

    The weapon shop fell into silence.

    In that silence, a girl danced with a sword.

    A robe fluttering like gentle waves.

    The fluffy blonde hair flowing down to her chest swayed with the girl’s movements.

    -Swish

    The soft sound of the sword cutting through the air was as pleasant as the sound of the wind making the forest dance.

    Madin admired the girl’s movements.

    Beautiful movements.

    Perfect.

    The concise movements were even efficient.

    And that figure.

    It reminded him of his old friend again.

    So similar.

    That guy used to do sword dances like that whenever he was given a new sword.

    Madin kept rubbing his eyes.

    The girl’s figure overlapped with the figure of an old man with white hair.

    That’s impossible.

    It’s impossible.

    That guy passed away 20 years ago.

    He even attended the funeral and saw him being placed in the coffin with his own two eyes.

    But.

    This girl was so similar that she could be him.

    Madin had made swords for many swordsmen over the decades.

    And he watched how they used them.

    Even swordsmen who use the same swordsmanship have differences in their movements.

    It’s impossible to be completely identical.

    But this girl’s movements were completely identical to Adrean’s.

    Even the small habits.

    This can’t be explained unless it’s him.

    No way, no way.

    But his intuition was strongly asserting it.

    “Hey, you bastard who’s going to die in the Furnace.”

    “Pardon?”

    The girl who was dancing with the sword turned to look at Madin.

    He wasn’t referring to the girl.

    She reacted to the nickname he used to call his old friend.

    “Ah…”

    The girl flinched.

    He knows it’s impossible.

    But Madin continued to press the girl.

    “Th, there’s no way I could be the Sword Saint.”

    The girl waved her hands frantically.

    “I never mentioned the word Sword Saint.”

    The girl put the sword she was holding back on the wall.

    “I’ll pass on the sword.”

    The girl politely bowed, beads of cold sweat trickling down her face.

    “I suddenly remembered I have something urgent to do, so I’ll be going now…”

    She turned to leave the weapon shop.

    “Adrean.”

    The girl’s body, which was about to leave the weapon shop, flinched greatly.

    Am I crazy?

    It’s insane to think that this frail girl is that guy.

    But each of those reactions gave Madin certainty.

    That girl is that guy.

    Madin grabbed the girl’s wrist.

    The girl turned around and looked at Madin.

    Red eyes visible under the hood.

    The color of her eyes had changed, but that annoying look was still the same.

    “Heh… heh heh…”

    3.

    Madin took Elia to his workshop.

    It was practically dragging her there against her will.

    Elia denied that she was Adrean, asking what he was talking about.

    “The very fact that you’re talking to me here means you’ve admitted that you’re Adrean, doesn’t it?”

    “Wh, what nonsense are you spouting?”

    “Tell me honestly. I’ll keep it a secret, I swear on my Furnace.”

    Swearing on his Furnace was the same as a dwarf blacksmith swearing on his life.

    “…Sigh, how did you recognize me?”

    With a deep sigh, Elia glared at Madin with sharp eyes.

    “Heh… I knew it…”

    Madin was shocked.

    This girl really was Adrean.

    “You were practically advertising it, saying you’re the Sword Saint.”

    “I was?”

    “How many swords do you think I’ve made for you? How could I not recognize your movements?”

    Madin especially knew Adrean’s movements better than anyone else.

    Perhaps even better than his disciple.

    In order to make the right sword for him.

    “Anyway, what the hell happened?”

    Madin examined his reborn friend’s body.

    Golden hair that shone like silk woven with gold.

    Lips with a bewitching color.

    And there was one person, but three heads.

    One on her neck and two on her chest.

    “I don’t know either.”

    Really.

    I have no idea how I was reborn.

    It’s not like I met a god.

    It’s not like I obtained a treasure that allows me to reincarnate.

    “And what’s with that getup? Did you become a priest? I saw that guy you had with you earlier, he looked like a Holy Knight.”

    Madin chuckled.

    Adrean of all people.

    The idiot who only knew swordsmanship abandoned the path of the swordsman and walked the path of the priest?

    That’s the funniest joke he’s ever heard.

    “Saintess.”

    “What? What-tess?”

    “Saintess, you bastard.”

    The way of speaking that had solidified in the convent over the years returned to the way it used to be when she met her old friend.

    Madin blinked his eyes.

    “Saintess? The Celestial God’s daughter?”

    Elia nodded.

    “Hey, what kind of joke is that? I’m not a follower of the Celestial God Church, but you’ll be struck by Divine Punishment by the Celestial God if you keep that up.”

    There are consequences for impersonating a Saintess.

    Not from the Celestial God.

    Holy Knights will come from the Sanctuary.

    Elia raised her right hand and manifested Divinity.

    Pure golden flames flickered.

    “Huh? Divinity?”

    Come to think of it, that Holy Knight who left earlier.

    The man he thought might be one of the Pope’s five Holy Knights.

    Who in the Holy Nation would be a woman he would stick by and protect?

    A bishop?

    An archbishop?

    Those are all men who reek of being bachelors.

    Then who could it be?

    There was only one answer.

    The Saintess.

    “…Really?”

    Elia sighed deeply and nodded.

    “Goodness… what…”

    It was surprising that a dead person was reborn.

    It was surprising that his friend had become a woman with voluptuous breasts.

    But what was most surprising was that the Sword Saint had become a Saintess.

    “Am I dreaming…?”


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