Ch.10835. A Mirror That Reflects Me (3)

Several days had passed since then.

I’d heard that stag beetles often live in deciduous forests.

When I once asked the old man who told me this why that was, he said it’s because the sap from the trees is their food.

Birch trees have snow-white bark.

When I saw them before, I couldn’t tell much difference from ordinary trees, but as we ventured deeper, strikingly pale white birch trees came into view as if showing themselves off.

Even their branches had started to grow thick.

Though it was seasonally entering autumn, it seemed strange for them to be this lush.

Just a few steps away, branches with the characteristically flat, broad leaves of healthy deciduous trees were clearly visible.

As if the world changed with just a few steps’ difference, the climate and environment here were peculiar.

When the mist rising from the lake spread thickly, there were times when it was difficult to see even a foot ahead, as if even sunlight couldn’t penetrate.

Then, without warning, everything would clear up, and distant scenery would become visible at once.

Climbing high up a tree only confirmed this feeling more strongly.

It was distinctly different from the views I’d seen overlooking Somern Village from higher ground and its surroundings.

Unlike when I wandered around with the children, pretending to be their uncomfortable legs while picking flowers all day on so-called outings, this place had an underlying silence and tranquility, as if it were a small world made of forest.

“Deciduous trees are known as hardwood, while conifers are considered softwood. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and different uses, but if you’re not just making something rough to abandon, I’d recommend using pine from the west. As for tools… one axe will do, and for the method, you can make it in a modular form. For that, the design would…”

Those who had recently come to temporarily stay in this place, the Forest of the Lake Dragon, following Gazef, one of the Nine Heroes, had begun building a small cabin.

Perhaps because everyone was physically strong, the labor issues progressed surprisingly smoothly.

Unexpectedly knowledgeable in this area, Ases gave detailed instructions on which timber to use depending on the size of the dwelling and its location, whether it was for temporary or long-term use, as if offering them a choice.

Are mercenaries always this capable?

The middle-aged man with blonde hair, named Mayer, looked much younger than before since he had somewhat trimmed his beard.

His rugged appearance was sturdy, and his brown eyes looked very firm.

However, the atmosphere around him was relaxed due to the leather flask of unknown origin he always held.

And the boy and girl who followed him resembled Ases in both good and bad ways.

Mainly in terms of innate talent.

One was a boy from the Kingdom of Davas, which shared a border with the Empire and maintained a hostile relationship with it in many ways.

This child, who had an air of having transcended the world, exuded a profound atmosphere that didn’t match his age.

Reddish-brown hair and blue eyes.

His build was average, but his natural physique was like a weapon.

Lyurik.

Having mastered the Tushin-style swordsmanship famous in Davas at such a young age, catching Mayer’s eye, he was somehow led here.

On the other hand.

The girl named Aristetes seemed somewhat timid and lacking in self-confidence.

But she was no less strange in her own way.

Slightly tanned skin with silvery-blue hair and green-tinted eyes.

Her growth was pronounced for her age, with a firm chest and slender waist, but notably large hips.

In some ways, her physical condition didn’t seem suitable for physical activity, yet she demonstrated ghost-like movements as if it were nothing.

…Judging by her strangely low self-esteem, her upbringing must not have been easy.

“I-I’m a woman, so… I-I just want to marry well and have children. For that, I need to be attractive… but I don’t really know how to do m-much.”

That’s what she was saying.

But with just a little grooming, she could look quite attractive—wouldn’t that be enough?

Even to another woman, she was an attractive girl.

Plus, her face looked young and pretty.

She said she was from the Kingdom of Bartia.

Krik, a union of states that had established systems of outstanding magical theory, philosophy, and various academic disciplines since ancient times.

Bartia was one of the many nations that claimed to be descendants of Krik.

Located on the Krik Peninsula at the southeastern end of the continent, it was once considered the center of the world in its own right.

Though it later lost its hegemony to the ancient great empire of Vera, before that, the union of states on the Krik Peninsula had taken turns dominating the continent.

And even Aristetes had mastered the Tushin-style to the point of reaching the level of a master, according to Mayer’s assessment.

“She’s never even held a sword and reached that level just by watching—this girl is truly a genius among geniuses. I see her as something beyond that.”

To this, Ases added:

“She’s about as good as me.”

It was unclear whether this was boasting or praise.

And why these people had come here, what they were pursuing.

And why one of the Nine Heroes had passed this task to Ases.

Mines had inadvertently overheard these complications.

“Long ago, the master of this place—that is, the dragon of the lake and virtue—was once defeated by someone called the Sword Saint.”

The humiliation of being defeated by a mere human drove the Lake Dragon to research and develop weapon techniques and swordsmanship.

For decades after that,

The Lake Dragon challenged the Sword Saint with a sword.

Surprisingly, he was defeated even by the Sword Saint in his old age.

The Sword Saint grew stronger with each passing day.

Every time they met, though his body weakened, he was twice as strong as before.

How could he get even stronger like that?

In this way, the Dragon of the Lake, overwhelmingly defeated each time, experienced shock and recovery repeatedly.

He’s just a human, isn’t he?

Normally, one should weaken with age. What kind of nonsensical situation was this?

In fact, after their final battle, the elderly Sword Saint passed away quietly in his sleep less than two days later.

Thus, the Lake Dragon could not claim victory against him even once in their ten confrontations.

Eventually, many inherited the name of the Sword Saint.

But the Lake Dragon never lost to them during his lifetime.

However, the Dragon of the Lake still wasn’t sure whether he could have defeated the Sword Saint of that time.

That was already hundreds of years ago.

The culmination of hundreds of years of obsession was the swordsmanship that the eccentric Lake Dragon and his descendants were now perfecting.

It was called the Dragon God Sword (Ryujinken).

And the Tushin-style of Davas was actually a lower-level swordsmanship meant as an introduction to it.

In other words, the ancient great warrior who spread the Tushin-style in Davas had been a disciple of the Dragon God Sword.

“So that’s what happened.”

“See? I told you she wouldn’t be interested in this stuff.”

Ases gestured dismissively at Mines’s calm reaction.

“Tch.”

Mayer seemed to have expected Mines to be shocked, but he had misjudged her completely.

“It’s a secret history known to fewer than ten people even within the kingdom.”

Despite adding this as if it were an afterthought, Mines merely nodded slightly.

“And Ases here is also one of the people who learned the Dragon God Sword. As am I.”

However, except for occasionally showing off the technique as a secret skill, Ases generally used the swordsmanship of Grandeus, the technique she learned from the Guardian Knights, as her main fighting style.

The reason?

“Because it’s the most optimal swordsmanship for crushing opponents.”

Anyone facing this technique for the first time would inevitably suffer humiliation.

“When Kariel first told me the name of that swordsmanship was ‘The Sword of the Fool,’ I wondered what he meant.”

The Sword of the Fool.

“Now I somewhat understand why I can’t master it.”

In the end, Ases was better suited to focus on the Dragon God Sword rather than the Sword of the Fool.

As for the great Sword Saint’s technique, she hadn’t yet had a chance to observe it.

In that sense, this was a swordsmanship perfectly suited for geniuses.

After honing the Tushin-style for 100 years, one finally earns the qualification to learn the Dragon God Sword.

However, most humans die before then.

So, if there is someone who can understand the enlightenment, principles, and subtleties gained from honing the Tushin-style for over 100 years.

If there is someone who can not only understand but actually acquire and use it.

They are given the qualification to learn the Dragon God Sword.

By that point, they would already be supreme swordsmen and masters in their own right.

But those who climb high mountains eventually face the realization:

No matter how high they climb,

They are still infinitely low compared to the sky.

At that moment, if someone offers a ladder to climb to the sky…

How could one not ascend?

“I-I was told that if I had skills, I could find a good husband. And if my husband became violent, I could defend myself well. If life became unbearable, I’d need to escape, right? That would be difficult if I were weak.”

Aristetes was a bit different.

Her reason was surprisingly materialistic, but what mattered was that she had been given the qualification to learn.

No, regardless of the reason, only that was important.

“……”

Mines herself, when she thought about it, hadn’t become an heir to the legacy by choice either.

Was this also God’s will? Intention?

Whatever it was, there must be some reason.

Mayer only gave advice and didn’t try to make Lyurik and Aristetes do anything in particular.

On the other hand, in Ases’s case:

“I’m bored. Can you give me a real workout? You’ve moved so much but haven’t broken a sweat? Do you even have any motivation?”

She exercised violence under the guise of sparring.

Even to Mines, Lyurik and Aristetes seemed to possess remarkably excellent skills.

Yet, Ases was at least several steps ahead of them.

In terms of experience, understanding, and application of swordsmanship, she was overwhelming.

However, the children she pushed were no pushovers either.

True to being called geniuses, their growth was visibly different with each passing day.

But Ases was also developing and pushing them just as much.

She was constantly driving them desperately, as if adjusting by stages.

And so.

Amidst the repetitive daily routine.

Mines, who periodically visited the cave where Kariel stayed, found that he still hadn’t awakened.

But why…

“…?”

One day when the dawn mist was thick.

Hearing some commotion outside, she opened the door and stepped out.

He was casually boiling soup in a pot over a fire he had lit in front of the cabin.

For a moment, she wondered if she was seeing things or dreaming.

“……”

Mines finally accepted reality.

Meeting her eyes, he nonchalantly stirred the pot with a wooden ladle.

As if his presence here didn’t stir any particular emotion.

Perhaps he had known in advance, or expected this to happen.

…Does it matter?

Though he looked emaciated and truly frail,

Still without a hint of color in his face, appearing like a moving corpse,

His eyes alone were incomparably bright.

So bright that even the blazing flames seemed to diminish in intensity before that light.

He was burning, indifferently.

…Yet what he was actually doing was stirring soup alone at dawn.

It might have been somewhat touching?

No, was she still half-asleep?

Or had she just woken up and become emotional?

“You’ve… awakened?”

“Neglecting it any further would be harmful to the body.”

Neglecting?

Mines sat down on a fallen elongated log across from him, using it as a chair.

“So the reason you’ve awakened now is…”

“Living beings need to eat to survive, don’t they?”

Calmly.

As if stating obvious common sense, Kariel explained.

He was right.

But it was a bit confusing that someone in his condition was saying this.

Mines cleared her throat softly and asked:

“Was my presence here not unexpected?”

“All phenomena are possible. Whoever is here, if it’s reality, then it’s reality.”

He stated the obvious as if it were obvious.

Yet somehow it sounded confusing while also sinking in with a certain weight.

It was almost dizzying.

There was something about him that couldn’t be felt from peers his age… or from ordinary humans in general.

…It was difficult to explain, but.

“So, you came because you have something to say?”

“Y-yes.”

Now that she was in this situation, she found herself at a loss for words.

Still, she couldn’t help but ask.

And so.

“I…”

Mines calmly touched her chest, regulated her breathing, and began to softly pose her question.

The sound of wood being consumed by flames, the bubbling of the contents in the pot as it boiled.

These sounds blended with her small inquiry.