episode_0002

I looked down at the five men who were now lifeless, struggling to stand up.

“So this is a fantasy world….”

A world close to death.

The men who attacked me ended up suffering a fate that seemed like a cruel joke of destiny.

“It’s… not as thrilling as I thought.”

It was the first time I had witnessed someone die.

If I hadn’t been pickpocketed, their fate might have been different as well.

It was my fault.

But that doesn’t mean I sympathize with them.

I had to pickpocket to survive.

“And they were trying to kill me too.”

Even if the cause was me, they were trying to kill me.

That’s why I decided not to feel guilty.

There were more important things for me to focus on.

“So… what should I call you?”

From now on, I would be conversing with the old man who lifted the curse.

Master Hans?

Lord Hans?

Sir?

I thought of various titles, but none seemed fitting.

“Hmm… I’ve got it! Just call me Mentor.”

“Understood. Mentor Hans.”

He wanted to be called a mentor.

At least he didn’t seem to have a sense of authority.

“By the way, can you walk?”

Mentor Hans’ gaze fell on my thigh.

More specifically, the arrow lodged in my thigh.

Honestly, I couldn’t even stand up in my current state.

It was too difficult to even get up.

I honestly told him that.

“It seems impossible.”

Mentor Hans approached me.

Then he grabbed the arrow in my thigh.

I felt uneasy about Mentor Hans’ actions.

“Uh… Mentor Hans?”

I immediately realized what Mentor Hans was about to do.

He applied pressure to my thigh.

“Endure it.”

This son of a-!

Ouch-.

He pulled it out before I could gather my thoughts.

As the arrow was removed, pain surged through me once again.

“Ugh!”

But I refrained from screaming like when the arrow first struck, trying to suppress it as much as possible.

In Mentor Hans’ hand was a small vial.

He poured its contents into my thigh.

Sizzle-.

With a sound like meat cooking, the pain subsided.

I could see the flesh healing.

I was familiar with this item.

“Is it a potion?”

“That’s right.”

My thigh was healed in no time.

There were no issues with walking.

I was truly taken aback.

“You… gave me this valuable thing…”

The fact that my flesh healed instantly indicated that it was a high-grade potion.

To pour it out for someone without a second thought.

Mentor Hans was undoubtedly a generous person.

“Don’t give me that look. I’ll just consider it a debt.”

Unknowingly, I must have looked at Mentor Hans with admiration.

“Now that your wound is healed, follow me.”

“Yes, understood.”

I naturally thought we would head down the mountain.

But the old man was actually heading up the mountain.

“He wasn’t an old man who climbed the mountain at night, but an old man who lived on the mountain and came down.”

After climbing for a while, a small cabin appeared.

“This is my home.”

“Not a fancy home… at all.”

A cabin made of wood.

But the wood was a bit rotten.

It wasn’t a home worth praising even with empty words.

Mentor Hans seemed to be aware of this as well.

He didn’t react to my words.

“For now, clean up here. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Understood.”

I obeyed Mentor Hans’ instructions.

After he left, I started cleaning the house alone.

***

It had been about a month since I met Mentor Hans.

My first impression of Mentor Hans was akin to a mountain deity.

With his long white beard and hair, he appeared suddenly in the mountains at night.

What else could he be if not a mountain deity?

However, now he was just a nagging unemployed man in the corner of the house.

“Oh, failing in hunting again today… truly useless.”

Hans Yeongam scolded me for failing in hunting once again.

I had been attempting to hunt for a month, but I had never succeeded even once.

But that was to be expected.

“…Hans Yeongam, you are skilled with a sword, so you are good at hunting as well, aren’t you? I have never learned the sword.”

I had never learned the sword, never hunted.

If I had known how to hunt from the beginning, I wouldn’t have resorted to pickpocketing.

I would have just lived in the mountains, hunting.

“Oh! What does a sword have to do with hunting? Anyway, go out and try again.”

If you say that, at least teach me how to hunt.

I grumbled but went out to hunt again.

After these daily routines passed, half a year went by.

Hans Yeongam… no, it had been half a year since I had been with Hans Yeongam.

“Hans Yeongam, I caught a rabbit today.”

Finally, I understood the art of hunting.

But-

“That’s fortunate… Oh, this fellow! It’s not enough to eat alone at this size.”

“…Can’t we make soup out of it?”

“Tsk. Always complaining…!”

It’s not me who is complaining, it’s Hans Yeongam.

I couldn’t say that, my situation was pitiful.

There was a lot I had to repay to Hans Yeongam.

And so, half a year passed, a year.

“Arseus, come here.”

“Yes.”

I stopped what I was doing and stood in front of Hans Yeongam, grumbling.

Hans Yeongam spoke with a more serious expression than ever before.

“Do you have any intention of learning the sword?”

“Sword…? You mean the sword…! Of course I do!”

What Hans Yeongam showed me was the essence of the unemployed man in the corner.

But I hadn’t forgotten.

No, I couldn’t forget.

The nobility that Hans Yeongam showed me a year ago.

I had never learned the sword.

But I had a feeling that Hans Yeongam was a remarkable person with a sword.

‘Life is a mess.’

Hans Yeongam handed me a wooden sword.

As I was about to grab the wooden sword in front of me.

Hans Yeongam stopped me.

“I should start showing you who I am.”

“Yes? Who are you?”

I knew.

Hans Yeongam was not just an unemployed man in the corner.

“I am… a noble.”

Hans Yeongam was a noble….

It somehow made sense.

‘Living like a vagabond and thinking that the family had fallen… maybe he is a noble.’

Hans Yeongam, a fallen noble.

It seemed fitting.

But even though he had fallen, Hans Yeongam seemed to have no sense of authority.

That’s why I couldn’t be sure he was a noble.

Of course, he had no reason to lie to me.

“I was a viscount.”

“A viscount?”

Hans Yeongam was a viscount.

This was surprising.

This is the Kingdom of Deteosk.

As there is no grand duke in the kingdom, he was the third highest noble after the king.

Depending on his abilities, he could even be considered a grand noble….

“But why are you here? What does learning the sword have to do with it?”

Why is a viscount here?

Is he really fallen as I thought?

Is he seeking revenge for the family?

But if that’s the case, Hans Yeongam seemed capable of doing it himself.

“It shouldn’t matter, normally.”

“But why….”

“Normally, that is. In reality, I was a noble who made a name for himself with a sword.”

“Indeed, you made a name for yourself with a sword!”

“Yes, I made a name for myself. Another name that calls me! That is the Sword Saint of the Kingdom of Deteosk!”

In an instant, my excitement faded.

The Sword Saint.

Even a layman like me knew about the Sword Saint in the world.

“Haha, then Hans Yeongam, you must be the founding viscount of the Messiah Viscount family.”

“Oh, you knew about the Messiah family.”

The family that produced the Sword Saint was known as the Messiah Viscount family.

It was clear that Hans Yeongam had lost his mind.

Of all names, it had to be Geomseong.

There was no reason for Geomseong to be in this backwater village.

But…

“Why would such a great person like you come to this backwater village?”

I decided to play along.

I was the one who took care of Hans Yeongam’s needs.

It was best to go along with it to avoid any trouble.

“I have a promise. That’s why I plan to stay here for the next 14 years.”

“Is that so?”

“So, while I’m here, I plan to teach you the way of the sword. However… as I said before, I am Geomseong. I cannot teach you the sword of my family.”

“Of course. It’s not appropriate to leak the sword of your family to outsiders…”

He seemed quite immersed in his role as Geomseong.

He couldn’t leak the sword of his family to outsiders.

Just by his words, he truly seemed like Geomseong.

“So, I plan to teach you only the basics of the sword. Your sword will be crafted by you.”

I nodded.

Even if Hans Yeongam had lost his mind, I was sure of his sword skills.

To be able to learn from such a being…

“Just being able to learn is an opportunity in itself.”

I would learn the sword from Hans Yeongam and become stronger.

And maybe become a mercenary and make a name for myself… become a noble?

“Become a noble… I’m not sure.”

Even someone as impressive as Hans Yeongam had fallen from grace as a noble.

Seeing that, I didn’t particularly want to become a noble.

It was unclear if Hans Yeongam was truly a noble to begin with.

And honestly, I had no idea what I wanted to do.

If there was one thing that came to mind, it was this:

“Let’s become strong enough to survive in the future.”

With strength, I could overcome any hardship.

***

It had been about ten years since I had been with Hans Yeongam.

Hans Yeongam, lying weakly in the center of the room.

I shook him several times, but he showed no response.

“Old man… why won’t you get up!”

Hans Yeongam… or rather, the old man I now called him, had aged and left this world…

“Ugh, tsk! Let him sleep.”

It was no use.

He was snoring loudly.

“No, it’s noon, why are you letting him sleep!”

They say as you get older, you don’t need as much sleep.

But this old man seemed to sleep more than ever.

He claimed it was meditation, but judging by the snoring, it was definitely sleep.

“This…! How dare a servant speak so loudly to his master!”

“A servant…! I said I take care of the old man. I’ve never been his servant!”

After bickering with the old man for a while, it was time to attend to other matters.

“Anyway, I’ll be back down, so take care of the house.”

“… ”

The old man was back to his old self at the mention of me going down.

As irritating as it was to see him so annoyed, I just gave up.

“He can handle anything, even if thieves come.”

Since learning the sword from the old man, I had realized one thing for sure.

This old man was a monster with the sword, just as he seemed at first glance.

“Of course, his mind is a bit strange.”

He truly believed himself to be a Geomseong.

So, leaving the old man to his snoring, I went down to the village.

As it was market day, the village was bustling with activity.

“Oh, Arthas, it’s been a while since you came down. Is your master still alive and well?”

“He’s holding on stubbornly.”

“Haha, as expected of Hans Yeongam!”

After exchanging greetings with familiar faces, I headed to the weapon shop.

Clang-.

As I opened the door to the weapon shop, a dwarf with short legs and a red beard characteristic of his kind greeted me.

“Back already?”

Rednil, the red-bearded dwarf.

A race occasionally seen in the Dethiosk Kingdom.

“Rednil, can you tune up my sword?”

“Again? Didn’t you just buy it recently?”

“I’m back. But my sword is completely worn out.”

I extended the sword, so damaged that it would be difficult to repair on my own.

At that moment, Rednil’s expression filled with anger.

“Hey, you damn human! You’ve worn out the sword just by using it roughly.”

“I don’t think I used it that roughly….”

“What do you mean not roughly? This is just from swinging it all day.”

“I’m sorry-!”

“No need to apologize.”

Oh?

The stubborn dwarf easily forgave me.

“I won’t sell you a sword anymore.”

Huh…?

“You won’t sell me a sword…?”

“That’s right. Until I make a sword that won’t break, you won’t get one from me. Find some suitable materials.”

At first glance, Rednil’s words sounded harsh.

But I understood the hidden meaning behind them.

‘He’s going to make me a very sturdy sword, so he’s telling me to find the materials.’

Such a tsundere guy!

“Got it. I’ll find better materials next time.”

I left the blacksmith shop, looking forward to the future.

But after leaving the shop, I realized something.

“Wait… What about the sword?”

I needed a sword, but I didn’t have one.

I didn’t want to go to any other blacksmith shop besides Rednil’s.

Rednil’s sword was the best in this area.

There were no skilled blacksmiths in this village.

Except for Rednil.

If it wasn’t for Rednil’s sword, any other blacksmith’s sword would have broken after a few swings.

“Should I steal Hans’ sword…?”

Hans’ sword was a famous sword.

He used his sword as roughly as I did.

But he never maintained it.

Every time I looked at Hans’ sword, it looked as clean as if he had just finished maintaining it.

If this wasn’t a famous sword, what else could it be?

But I quickly dismissed this thought from my mind.

“I might end up dead if I do that to Hans.”

So I walked through the busy streets without thinking about anything.

“Have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

“Well, you see. It’s said that the granddaughter of Gumsung is engaged to the prince of Il.”

“What? The useless prince of Il?”

“Hey! Be careful what you say, if someone reports you, you might be executed for insulting the royal family!”

The news that the granddaughter of Gumsung is engaged to the prince of Il.

Suddenly, the face of the crazy old man who called himself Gumsung came to mind.

‘I wonder how that old man would react if he found out his granddaughter is engaged to the useless prince?’

I couldn’t help but imagine the crazy old man going to see the marquis.

Perhaps a battle between Gumsung and the reclusive master would unfold.

‘Let’s share this news with the old man.’

I didn’t know how the old man would react, but I couldn’t stop the smile from forming on my face.

But still….

‘Gumsung is truly heartless. Sending his own granddaughter to marry a useless prince.’