Ch.277Who Am I? (2)

# Master of the Order of Sword, Charon, the Sword Master.

There are many expressions to describe him.

Most of them were taken by Najin, but even so, Charon was once called a once-in-a-lifetime genius. Until Najin appeared, Charon had held the titles of youngest Sword Expert, Sword Seeker, and Sword Master.

Master of the Order of Sword.

One who mastered a thousand sword techniques.

The Star of Heavenly Sword has many aliases, but those who know Charon well, and those who know the Order of Sword well, would often describe Charon like this:

A man obsessed with swords.

From the beginning, the Order of Sword was a place where only perverts who were prepared to dedicate their lives to swords gathered. The mindset of someone who had climbed to the highest position in such an order couldn’t possibly be normal.

“I can kneel too.”

Charon was serious. He couldn’t be anything but serious.

It was Excalibur. Not just anything, but Excalibur!

The legendary sacred sword wielded by King Arthur himself, a star sword forged from starlight. It’s the greatest of all great swords that any swordsman would dream of at least once. If there was a chance to touch such a sacred sword, he could easily kneel.

‘And not just kneeling.’

He could bow his head too.

What was the big deal about that?

In Charon’s mind, a Sword Master was someone who would gladly lower their knees and bow their head for the sake of the sword. Just as he was about to put this into practice by dropping to his knees, Najin hurriedly stopped him, breaking into a cold sweat.

“You don’t need to kneel. I don’t have a hobby of making my master kneel. So please…”

After seating Charon back in his chair, Najin sighed and grasped at the empty air. Excalibur, which had been stored in the void, appeared with a flash.

“Huk.”

Charon swallowed his breath. Though its light was suppressed, Excalibur shone like a star. Charon’s pupils trembled as he gazed at the star sword before him.

“It’s different from when it was stuck in the rock.”

“It seems to have changed to suit me.”

“It didn’t shine like this back then.”

It wasn’t Charon’s first time seeing Excalibur. He had seen copies of Excalibur that appeared across the continent and had even attempted to pull them out. However, it was his first time seeing the original.

It was different. The smoothly extended blade and the sharpness contained in the edge were on another level. The physical properties of the sword itself were like that of a star. It possessed the quality of resisting the wicked and cutting off the wrong.

A sacred sword. It truly was a sacred sword.

Charon asked Najin with his eyes.

Can I hold it?

Najin nodded. Though it would scatter into starlight if wielded by someone unqualified, holding it was possible. Just as Merlin and Bedivere had done.

“Aah…”

The moment he grasped the sword, tears streamed down from Charon’s eyes. While Najin was bewildered, Charon shed tears of emotion. When one sees something so beautiful, one can’t help but cry.

“This… this is a work of art.”

“What?”

“How can a single sword be this beautiful? Even blacksmiths called masters and craftsmen, dedicating their entire lives to hammering iron, couldn’t create such a sword. Is it a miracle born of chance? A harmony of principles…”

Only after praising Excalibur for a full ten minutes did Charon finally calm down. Najin recalled what Charon had once said, that “Among the transcendents of the continent, I’m probably the most normal one,” and made a subtle expression.

That doesn’t seem right.

“Whew, thank you. I’ve had a very good viewing.”

“Yes, well…”

“And.”

Charon leaned back against the chair and said.

“I’ll be accompanying you soon.”

“…”

Najin knew what he meant.

Though he would be accompanying Charon in the subjugation of the Empress of Bliss, what Charon was referring to lay beyond that. The First Sword Master who exists in Camlann beyond the Outer Continent.

Siegfried, the Sword Demon of the Abyss.

Charon’s goal was to liberate him, and Najin also felt the need to meet him.

“Then I’ll see you again soon.”

As if his purpose had truly been just to see Excalibur, Charon stood up once his business was done.

“Ah.”

Before leaving.

As if remembering something, Charon turned back to Najin.

“Be careful of Juel.”

Charon looked at Najin with pitying eyes and patted his shoulder.

“She’s really holding a grudge.”

It wasn’t good news. Not at all.

2.

The master of Albania, Duke Dieta, had narrowed down and further narrowed down his visitors, but even so, there were quite a few of them… and each one was a figure capable of shaking the Empire, which hardly needs to be mentioned.

Of course, it wasn’t just the big shots who came to see Najin.

He could spare a little time for those who had built connections with Najin, and who also had ties with Dieta.

“Bravo, bravo, bravo! This is how investments should be made. I knew it beforehand. I knew that the greatest knight here would surely pull off such a splendid feat!”

Marquis Eldelmar was an example, who brought the most expensive alcohol in the territory to chat with Najin and Dieta, and left after boasting about his ambition to expand his theater troupe to the capital of the Empire.

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Hey, you know, I recently reached the blooming stage? I thought this was quite a high level.”

“Yes, I saw it. You did it right in front of me.”

Roseline, who couldn’t bring herself to speak casually to the current Najin and used honorifics instead, spoke awkwardly.

“Weren’t you at the sprouting stage back then, my lord?”

“I was.”

“But what are you saying now?”

“Full bloom.”

“…”

“When I hold Excalibur, I’m a Sword Master.”

“No fucking way, how is this possible?!”

In the end, Roseline abandoned honorifics and wailed. Her face turned bright red as she seemed to recall what she had said not long ago.

‘I’ll compete with you. Me? I’m not such an easy woman. Half of my bloodline is from one of the greatest witches in the world, and the other half is from a renowned hero, are you confident? Ha, this will be hard for you to keep up with, ha…’

That’s what she had said in the past. And the identity of the young man before her? He is the owner of Excalibur, who has proven to the entire continent that he possesses the same qualities as the great hero from a thousand years ago.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

After screaming, Roseline left. Tonight, her blanket would have to endure the kicks of a Sword Seeker (blooming).

Several others came to visit after that, but it’s better to leave those stories as interludes. Among the numerous visitors, there were about two more stories worth covering. One of them was Argo, a Knight of Atanga.

“I greet the greatest knight.”

Argo saluted Najin and then burst into laughter. He considered it a lifelong honor that it was none other than himself who had knighted the greatest knight who pulled out Excalibur.

He also told Najin that Ivan’s false charges had been cleared. This was perhaps an expected course of events.

The Sacred Host could not escape punishment. From the high priest of the order being corrupted, to the fact that they had been in collusion with the Empress of Bliss and Camlann, which aroused public indignation. The Empire wanted to make an example of the Sacred Host.

“Dig up everything.”

“Don’t miss even the smallest detail.”

The Emperor himself gave the order. Amidst the chaotic aftermath of the war, the Sacred Host had to face the knights of the Empire, and during the investigation, most of the upper echelons of the order were executed, effectively dismantling the Sacred Host.

The followers who lost their place were absorbed into the School of Blood or the Sacred Body Order, and only a lighthouse remained at the location where the main church of the Sacred Host had been.

In honor of the Lighthouse Keeper, Eurypylus.

Though most of the order had been corrupted, Najin directly wished to the Emperor that Eurypylus at least should not be branded as a traitor, and the Emperor gladly nodded.

“Indeed, your proposal has merit.”

“I shall do so.”

And so the incident was concluded. During the dismantling of the order, all the criminals were re-judged, and most of them were found to have been falsely accused and gained their freedom… among them were Ivan and Ofen.

The two who had been thrown into the underground city on the pretext of insulting the order were able to restore their honor through Najin.

Although their bodies were never found.

“…”

Najin bowed his head before the grave made from their belongings. Ofen was recognized for his “contribution in teaching Najin swordsmanship” and was granted a place in the Empire’s public cemetery where national contributors are buried…

Ivan, who had his honor restored, was granted a place in the cemetery where the Knights of Atanga are laid to rest. Najin, who visited Ivan’s grave with Argo, remained alone at the grave after a brief conversation with Argo.

“Ivan.”

A sword grave made from Ivan’s sword.

Najin sat down in front of the sword grave with a slight smile.

“So much has happened.”

Where should I start telling this?

“I should start from here. Thanks to Ivan, I managed to escape, but, ah, this is… living isn’t easy. No identity, no money…”

Najin told his adventure story in front of the sword grave.

“I went to Cambria. You know Cambria, right? Cambria, City of Opportunity! That’s where I started.”

Starting from you.

“And who am I? Ivan’s hunting dog, right? Being a mercenary, it was actually quite similar. So as I did this and that, my rank rose quickly. Oh, and I also caught and punished a Fallen Knight. Do you know what I said there?”

And the adventure story that could begin thanks to you.

“I am a Knight of Atanga, Ivan’s seed. Whew, thinking about it again, that line was awesome. How about it? Pretty good, right?”

Najin spoke with laughter.

The Laughing Star shone softly.

“I killed a dragon. Two of them, in fact!”

The story of the Dragonslayer.

“Let’s see what’s next. I crossed over to the Outer Continent. It was quite different from what I thought? I had some tough times too. But I was able to meet good people…”

The story of breaking through obstacles.

The story of being unyielding.

The story related to mourning.

And adventure stories worth telling with a smile.

“That’s how it went.”

Najin said.

“I pulled out Excalibur again, ended everything, and completed my revenge.”

The story continued until sunset but didn’t reach its conclusion. Perhaps that was natural.

“I’ll tell the rest next time, again.”

After all, Najin’s story wasn’t over yet.

Najin’s star hadn’t yet been hung in the highest place, and it was far from reaching the end of the story.

“I’ll come again next time. Ivan.”

Turning his back on Ivan’s grave, Najin moved on.

To move on to the next chapter.

3.

Just as he had elegantly concluded the story by saying “to move on to the next chapter”… not all stories can be concluded elegantly.

“Oh, nice to see you, Najin. I’ve been waiting.”

Najin looked at the woman standing before him. There were iron bars between him and the woman, but considering the identity of that woman, the iron bars might as well not have been there.

Snow-white hair. Blood-red eyes.

If one were to mention beauties in the Empire, she would definitely be among the top three, a woman whose appearance was close to perfection, and she was knocking on the main gate of the Albania estate in broad daylight.

The executioner of the School of Blood, Juel Lazian.

She was gripping the iron bars of the Albania estate with both hands and leaning her head toward Najin.

“How about opening the door for me?”

If you don’t open it, I’ll break it.

Juel was saying that with her eyes. There was a subtle madness in those eyes.

Najin slapped his forehead with his palm with a thud.