Ch.154300 Years of Essence (4)

The Helm Knight taught Najin swordsmanship diligently as promised, perhaps even more than promised. Quite contrary to the reluctant attitude he had shown when first offering.

“Your swordsmanship is specialized for fighting humans. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a strength worth having. It would have been enough on the continent. You wouldn’t have had many occasions to face undead, monsters, or beasts there.”

He pointed at Najin’s sword as he spoke.

“But the Outer Continent is different. Most things here possess immortality. Things that don’t die just because you cut off their heads or stab their chests are everywhere. So what should you do?”

“Cut more vigorously?”

“Well, simply put, that’s right. More vigorously—I’ll teach you how to cut in a certain way.”

How to deal with those who don’t die.

“Sever the spine. Even if they regenerate, cutting the spine will render them helpless. Whether monster or human. Incapacitate them that way, then hack them to pieces—that’s most effective.”

The Helm Knight taught Najin how to neutralize their healing abilities. Not stopping at mere instruction, he took Najin to places where the Outer Continent’s beasts dwelled and demonstrated.

“Try it.”

“Like this?”

“No, strike deeper. Don’t just fell a tree—imagine you’re digging out the roots completely.”

“Ah. Like this?”

“W-well, that’s right, but how did you understand after just a few words? It took me over a month to grasp this.”

“I’m just naturally talented.”

“Tsk…”

Show, imitate, correct.

The Helm Knight spent time teaching Najin the fundamentals of swordsmanship. When those basics were sufficiently mastered, he began to talk about sword techniques.

“The swordsmanship I use seems to have become the foundation of Empire swordsmanship now. Show me the Empire swordsmanship you know.”

Najin demonstrated Empire swordsmanship. After watching for a while, the Helm Knight spoke.

“They’ve cut out the difficult parts and restructured it around the easier elements. Whoever did it has remarkable skill. Do you know who created this?”

“It’s not written down precisely… but there is someone who has been training Empire knights for the past 100 years.”

“Who is that?”

“Sir Gerd.”

“That guy?”

His voice sounded somewhat surprised.

The Helm Knight let out a hollow laugh and said:

“Right. I did teach him swordsmanship. I never thought he’d still be using it after all this time.”

“Were you Sir Gerd’s master?”

“Not quite a master. He was using some strange swordsmanship that didn’t suit his hands, so I briefly taught him this instead of that sloppy technique.”

Well, that’s that.

Muttering thus, the Helm Knight raised his sword.

“You seem to have learned all the basics, so from today I’ll teach you Empire swordsmanship. Including all the techniques that Gerd didn’t incorporate.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

“It won’t be easy to learn. This is the essence of my 300 years, after all.”

A swordsmanship perfected with his entire life. He swung his sword to pass this technique to Najin. Najin quietly observed his sword movements. Then he thought:

I’ve seen this swordsmanship somewhere before.

However, he couldn’t remember exactly “where” or precisely “who.” Considering Najin’s good memory, this was strange. It felt as if something was preventing him from making the connection.

2.

“What’s that ring? Did you get married or something?”

During a rest after the day’s training, the Helm Knight pointed at the ring Najin was holding. Usually, he kept it on a necklace tucked inside his clothes, but before sleeping, Najin would take out the ring and hold it in his hand for a few minutes.

Because he could feel its warmth when he held it.

“No. It was a gift.”

“A ring as a gift? Do you have a fiancée?”

“I did receive a confession.”

“…Tsk.”

The Helm Knight’s voice immediately soured.

“Young punk getting frisky.”

-That’s what I’m saying!

For once, Merlin agreed with the Helm Knight, nodding vigorously, while Najin shrugged.

“Isn’t nineteen considered an adult?”

“I’m 300 years old.”

“Perhaps you’ve never been in love?”

“Hey. You seem to be underestimating me, but in my prime, noble ladies would swoon at just a glance from me. On days when they got to dance with me even once, they were guaranteed to be the belle of the ball.”

“Wow, really?”

“You clearly don’t believe me.”

He sighed.

“I’ve been in love at least once.”

The Helm Knight poked at the campfire as he spoke.

“Do you know about Serena Pendragon?”

“Serena Pendragon… the traitor? The one who tried to overthrow the Empire by seducing the Pillars of Empire?”

“Yes. That arrogant princess was my first love. We were in a relationship. Quite intensely.”

“Were you a traitor?”

“If I had been, I wouldn’t be here like this.”

He exhaled deeply.

“I put the Empire on one side of the scale and her on the other, and the result was clear. I was a hero of the Empire. I had to be a hero. So what could I do? I had to give up one side.”

The Helm Knight spoke dispassionately.

“I killed Serena with my own hands. That was my first and last romance.”

“You had quite a passionate relationship.”

“Right? You know what’s surprising? That damned princess whispered that she loved me right before she died. She truly was a nasty person. I thought she was just using me, that it was all deception… but apparently that wasn’t the case.”

He chuckled.

“Well, experiencing love once isn’t bad. I hope things work out between you and the lady who gave you that ring.”

“We’re not dating.”

“What? You received a ring as a gift and a confession but you’re not dating? Hey, kid. Don’t you know what happens when you play with a lady’s heart?”

“It’s not like that, I just postponed my answer…”

“Ha, this bastard!”

Najin made a disgusted expression as the Helm Knight lectured him about his views on relationships.

“I just haven’t made a decision yet. When I don’t even understand my own feelings about liking someone, wouldn’t accepting a confession be disrespectful to the other person?”

“Aren’t you nineteen?”

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t you know all about these things at that age?”

“I lived in a unique place for a long time, so I’m awkward with human relationships.”

“Where did you live?”

“Do you know about the underground city Attman?”

Underground city Attman.

The moment those words were spoken, the Helm Knight tilted his head.

“That still exists?”

“Pardon?”

“Strange. It shouldn’t exist anymore.”

“It was perfectly intact. I left there just two years ago.”

“Isn’t it where the Hafen River flows?”

“Yes, that’s right. Where the main church of the Sacred Order is located.”

“That city was controversial even in our time. People said, ‘If you want to kill them, just kill them—why go through such trouble?’ They suspected something was being hidden there. And when we checked, what do you know? They really were hiding something.”

Hiding something?

As Najin narrowed his eyes, the Helm Knight poked at the campfire and continued.

“What was it?”

“Corpses.”

“What?”

“They had buried the corpses of Stars there. I don’t know whose corpses they were. Seeing that there were eight Stars, they must have been a Constellation, but I couldn’t tell exactly which Constellation. Still, it seemed they were planning to do something with them, so the city’s demolition was decided…”

He tapped his helmet.

“As I recall, that was about 200 years ago. I thought the city had been erased, so I wonder why it still exists.”

“If there were corpses of Stars… where exactly? The landfill? The underground sector?”

“I don’t know that much. It wasn’t an operation I participated in.”

This was the first time Najin had heard this story.

Despite having researched the underground city quite thoroughly after leaving, he hadn’t come across this information. I should look into this when I return to the continent, Najin thought to himself.

“Well… if you lived in the underground city, you must have had a difficult life. Isn’t it a place without sky?”

“It’s blocked by a ceiling.”

“If you were born and raised in such a place, I can understand your longing for the stars.”

The Helm Knight smiled bitterly.

“It’s paradoxical. Born in a place where stars can’t be seen, yet longing for stars more than anyone.”

“They say people desire what they cannot have. Perhaps I yearned for stars so much because they seemed completely unattainable.”

“Desiring what one cannot have…”

That statement seemed to leave quite an impression. The Helm Knight muttered those words for a while, then let out a laugh like a suppressed sigh.

“Yes. That’s right.”

Something one cannot have. Or something one has lost. Mulling over those words, he caressed the sword tied at his waist.

3.

While learning swordsmanship from the Helm Knight, Najin traveled to various places in the Outer Continent. The Helm Knight encouraged Najin to see, experience, and learn as much as possible, and Najin followed his intentions.

Certainly, all those lessons were beneficial to Najin. New knowledge from experience and skills derived from knowledge accumulated steadily in Najin’s body.

Then one day during their travels across the Outer Continent.

“Well, who do we have here. If it isn’t the cowardly deserter.”

While learning swordsmanship from the Helm Knight, Najin encountered a man. The man’s appearance was wretched. His untrimmed beard was bushy, and his clothes were little better than rags.

The only thing not wretched was the sword at his waist. Caressing the hilt, he looked at the Helm Knight.

“A half-wit who can’t even hold a sword trying to teach swordsmanship to someone else? The stars in the sky would laugh.”

“…Bernstein.”

“Don’t speak my name with that filthy mouth, you monster.”

Bernstein, as he was called, glared.

“My name is not cheap enough to be spoken by an undead wandering this land, by a monster like you.”

Bernstein gritted his teeth. Flames flickered in his eyes, and deep anger resonated in his cracked voice.

“Why are you alive? Why is a spirit who should be dead still breathing? Were you so desperate for life? Even after suffering such a fate?”

“……”

“Losing your entire knighthood, defeated, kneeling before a demon, and still fleeing to cling to life? The Empire’s name has fallen to the ground. If it were me, I would have ended my life long ago. What, are you too afraid to do even that?”

The Helm Knight remained silent.

Bernstein’s insults continued for a while, and the Helm Knight let them continue. As if he believed he deserved it.

“It’s laughable to see a monster who abandoned being a knight still wearing a helmet and pretending to be one.”

“You sure talk a lot.”

“What?”

Of course, it wasn’t Najin’s business.

At Najin’s words, Bernstein’s head whipped around. Meeting those glaring eyes, Najin said:

“Are you deaf? I said you talk too much.”

Najin did not remain silent.

In place of the silent Helm Knight, Najin spoke up. The Helm Knight tried to raise his arm, but Najin ignored him and stepped forward.

“Seeing how casually you speak of knights, you must know a lot about them.”

“More than that monster. I am a knight myself.”

“Then you must know the code of knighthood.”

Najin slipped his fingers between his wrist and glove. Then, with a swift motion, he removed the glove and held it in his hand.

“Insults are cleansed through duels. Honor and pride are proven by the sword. Since I feel insulted, I must cleanse it. My ears feel dirty.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m this knight’s disciple. An apprentice knight, you could say.”

The Helm Knight choked at Najin’s answer.

While the Helm Knight had taught Najin swordsmanship and many other things, he never referred to himself as a master. Najin knew why he reacted that way.

He probably thought it didn’t suit him. He probably thought he wasn’t qualified to teach anyone anything.

But Najin considered the Helm Knight his master. He had learned much from him. He had asked for instruction and received teaching. Therefore, the Helm Knight was already Najin’s master. And when one’s master is insulted, keeping quiet is not the duty of a disciple.

Slap!

The glove Najin threw made a loud noise.

“Najin.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“What other meaning could throwing a glove have? It’s a challenge to duel.”

Clang! Najin, having stated his name, roughly drew his sword. Thinking Najin would charge immediately, Bernstein reflexively drew his sword as well, but far from charging, Najin stood in place and mocked Bernstein.

“Don’t you know the code? When I’ve stated my name, you should state yours too. Drawing your sword without revealing your name—are you really a knight?”

Grind, Bernstein gritted his teeth.

“You’re quite the talker, youngster.”

“So, your name?”

“Bernstein. The Royal Guard Bernstein, the Sword of the Imperial Family.”

Najin and Bernstein pointed their swords at each other.

“I’ll break that arrogant nose of yours.”

“Can’t back up your words?”

Twirling his sword, Najin took his stance.

“I’ll tear that mouth of yours.”

Can’t back up your words?

Najin didn’t just stop at words—he moved his body to fulfill what he had said. So, Najin swung his sword directly at Bernstein’s jaw.

It was such a clean strike that the watching Helm Knight couldn’t help but admire it.