Ch.53Nest Building (1)

“You want me to teach you swordsmanship?”

When I returned to the campsite, the Blood Knight was dressed.

It’s not that I was disappointed she was clothed; rather, I had been hoping she would put something on, so this wasn’t a problem.

If there was a problem… it would be what she was wearing.

Lorian was dressed in attire befitting her current appearance.

A pure white, flowing dress. Anyone would recognize it as something a noble young lady might wear for a spring picnic.

The problem was that she had wrapped her awkward crimson prosthetic arm around it, and at her waist hung a thick executioner’s sword nearly as big as her waist itself.

It was a strange combination. One that made her look insane at first glance.

If anything matched her weapon, it was the breastplate covering the chest of her dress.

A silver breastplate that complemented the dress well. As I wondered where she had gotten such a thing…

“Ah, you mean this? It’s a soldier’s memento.”

Could that really be called a memento? Wasn’t it more like spoils of war? Though I wondered what the soldiers would think about that, I didn’t press the issue.

“Anyway… did you say you wanted to learn swordsmanship?”

“Don’t you already know how to handle a sword?”

Similar tone but completely different voices. I nodded at the old man’s follow-up question.

Even Isla, who had been quietly chewing on stew chunks by the campfire, looked at me.

“I don’t like it.”

“It’s me who’s learning.”

“I don’t like you learning from her. Learn from me instead.”

Swordsmanship, from Isla?

She could probably do more than just ranged combat, but no matter how skilled Isla might be, I didn’t think she’d be at the Blood Knight’s level.

Above all, unlike with Isla, there was a specific technique I wanted to learn from the Blood Knight.

“Teach me later. There’s a particular skill I want to learn now.”

“…That one?”

As expected of Isla. She seemed to have caught on and pouted her lips, while the Blood Knight, who had been sitting quietly, just blinked her eyes.

“What do you mean, ‘that one’?”

“The technique that cut my neck.”

“…Ah, you mean Moonshade.”

So it’s called Moonshade. The name sounded strangely Oriental.

No, maybe it just sounded that way to me.

I still didn’t understand this fluent language comprehension thing.

“Well, I’d be curious too if I were you. People naturally want to know about the means that killed them…”

The Blood Knight seemed to understand and said:

“Alright, though I’m not thrilled about it.”

No, maybe she didn’t fully understand. She concluded with a somewhat uneasy response.

“I’ll teach you whenever we make camp. Ruwellin.”

It was a conclusion that could be described as relatively agreeable.

For a moment, I thought, “Is it that simple?” but I didn’t say it out loud.

While the situation seemed favorable to me, I didn’t know how sincere she was being, and I couldn’t fully trust her either.

I needed to be cautious. While hiding these thoughts, I pondered.

“I have something else I want to ask.”

“Something you want to ask.”

“Do you dislike me becoming stronger?”

It’s not that I’m reluctant, it’s just hard to explain. Lorian seemed to have anticipated this question and smiled.

“That’s not it. I’d like you to become stronger.”

As if I’d like that. The thought I had was still within Lorian’s expectations.

“Of course I would. I’ve been lacking worthy opponents. In my clan, there were only those stronger than me or weaker than me.”

“Then why did you seem reluctant?”

“You’re perceptive. Or… does this face reveal emotions too easily?”

The Blood Knight, with her small face, sighed deeply as she touched her face.

She answered:

“It’s just that I find it unpleasant that it won’t be me fighting you when you get stronger, but others instead. It feels like I’m doing someone else a favor.”

So that’s it. As I suspected, the reason this Blood Knight came down to earth was because she wanted to fight me.

I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but I accepted it.

“What an impious thought.”

Until she said that.

“Impious…?”

Isla spoke instead of me. The Blood Knight seemed to have belatedly realized her slip of the tongue.

“If you could pretend you didn’t hear that—”

“Since it came up, I’m curious.”

“Hmm.”

“What kind of being is your father that you would consider such words and actions… impious?”

My guess is that she considered it impious to prioritize her personal desires over finding her father…

Lorian narrowed her eyes briefly, as if annoyed.

She crossed her legs and kept her mouth shut.

Was she refusing to answer? Just as the silence was becoming uncomfortable:

“To clarify one misunderstanding, it’s not that I don’t want to talk. I can’t talk about it.”

Not wanting to versus not being able to. The difference is clear. From where my gaze was directed, the Blood Knight touched her neck and said:

“Oaths, commands, covenants. These are bindings that constrain the Blood Clan, Shapeshifters, and Necromancers.”

“Bindings…?”

“I can speak about the constraint itself, but I cannot speak about certain things related to some clans, or about Father.”

This was something I’d never heard of before. Well, that makes sense, since there was no chance to meet the three clans during the game.

“Not even what kind of being your father is?”

Lorian shook her head. Watching her long white hair flutter, I continued with more questions:

“What happened to your father?”

“Why are you looking for your father in the first place?”

“Has there been no separate investigation about your father among the three clans?”

“Is your father human?”

From trivial questions to somewhat important ones, even information that could help deduce his current whereabouts.

She couldn’t reveal any of it.

“Why did you join me?”

“Didn’t you say you’d provide information?”

“Yes, but doesn’t that mean betraying your clan? Is that not a problem?”

“Of course it’s a problem. But… Father takes precedence over the clan. I don’t know if others in the clan feel the same, but at least I do.”

That was about all the information I could gather. I wasn’t sure if I could trust it, but if it was true, it was information from which I could infer a lot.

It seemed like the three clans weren’t as unified an organization as I had thought.

At the same time, they didn’t seem to have many means of enforcement like that binding.

It was a unique organization.

Based on what I had seen, heard, and experienced in the game, I had thought they were a completely evil organization of darkness with goals like world destruction or conquest.

But in reality, their purpose was different.

And at a glance, it seemed similar to my own purpose.

Just as I wanted to find my sister, they wanted to find their father.

I didn’t know what they intended to do after that, but at least that’s how it appeared on the surface.

The problem was their methods. It also gave me a lot to think about.

They didn’t discriminate in their means.

No, it even felt like they deliberately chose evil options.

But why?

No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t find an answer.

I finally gave up and gulped down Isla’s cooling stew.

“You should eat it while it’s warm.”

“Sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, I’ll give you another bowl, but make sure to chew it well.”

“How touching.”

I ignored Lorian’s offhand comment and gulped down another bowl of stew. Meanwhile, I heard the voices of the two women from across the bowl.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“How compassionate. But the Blood Clan doesn’t eat. More precisely, we don’t eat human food.”

“Then?”

“We drink blood. If I need it later, I’ll either get it from enemies or requisition it from Ruwellin.”

“I don’t like that, so drink from enemies instead.”

Consistent kindness toward me and a slightly perceptible obsession. It was clearly romantic feelings.

But honestly, I still didn’t know why Isla showed affection toward me.

What had I done?

Even searching through my memories, nothing significant came to mind.

And it felt awkward to just ask.

When I first came back to life after dying, I had resolved to respond directly to Isla’s kindness, but when it came down to it, I was too embarrassed.

Am I turning into a stoic father from Gyeongsang Province? I thought as I stacked the empty bowls.

“By the way, you didn’t answer my question.”

Isla suddenly blurted out.

Lorian turned emotionless eyes toward Isla.

“Which one?”

“What does ‘impious’ mean?”

“…Was that a question?”

Oops, I forgot there was someone who couldn’t read Isla’s coolness.

Isla lowered her eyebrows about 2mm, as if slightly hurt, but Lorian didn’t notice and just blinked blankly.

Then Isla glanced at me, asking for help. I responded to her request.

“Impious means… showing a disrespectful attitude toward a transcendent being, which is considered sinful.”

That was a pretty awesome explanation for me. While my intellectual confidence rose, Isla was confused.

“Does a contractor need to have a good attitude too?”

Interpreting that, she was asking if there was a proper attitude one should show to transcendent beings, and if not, would they be punished.

I shook my head.

“Not really, it’s just a culture specific to the three clans, so it’s best to just accept it.”

“I can’t do that.”

“It’s coming from a crazy woman who walks around naked.”

“Hey.”

“Just accept it like I do.”

“I’ll generously overlook it as the tongue-wagging of inferior beings.”

What a nasty woman. I swallowed that thought, but as if she had heard it, Lorian glanced at me before standing up.

“Now that the meal is over, shall we begin?”

She was using sword training as an excuse to beat me up.

She gestured with her chin, keeping her executioner’s sword in its sheath, and I stood up as well.

The snow had stopped falling a while ago.

“Fine. I was actually itching to beat you up because you’re so annoying.”

“Such language.”

Lorian didn’t bother to stop me despite her words. I nodded to Isla and the old man.

“I’ll be back. Old man…”

“I’ll just stay here. My knees are aching.”

He was someone who had been taught that it was polite not to speak while eating, so he had remained quiet throughout the meal.

He probably also had knee pain from using his legs a lot in the recent fight.

Elder abuse isn’t good. I nodded and followed Lorian to the clearing.

It was a place where the tents weren’t even visible on the horizon.

Lorian, dressed inappropriately for the flesh-biting cold, drew her executioner’s sword with its sheath.

Then she twirled it with her wrist.

The executioner’s sword spun with a whooshing sound. It was a massive sword that would kill a normal human even with the sheath on.

In contrast, my sword was just an ordinary sword when its fire was extinguished.

No, actually it was below ordinary.

I kept that fact in mind as I gripped the Blade of Stars in its sheath.

“To see the sword that cut off my arm like this…”

“Feels like shit?”

“It’s exciting.”

“Crazy woman.”

“Ruwellin, I was going to caution you but… speak more politely. Being a blood bag doesn’t mean you should forget the manners instilled in you.”

“I don’t remember having such manners instilled in me!”

I immediately rushed forward and swung my sword.

The Swordsmanship Level 3 skill that had melted into my body made my strike fierce, sharp, and above all, accurate.

This was the ability granted by the knowledge I gained upon reaching Level 3.

For any attack, the factor that most affects its power is accuracy.

In that sense, Level 3 was much more accurate than Level 2. It gave me the feeling that I could hit my target with some precision.

I wondered what it would be like to reach the final level, Level 6. Even as I pondered this, my sword was easily blocked.

“It would be easier to teach the technique if I held back my strength… but since you want to get hit, I’ll oblige.”

Watch carefully. With those words, Lorian pushed her executioner’s sword forward. Even though she held it with only her left hand, I was easily pushed back.

How? The reason was obvious.

It was her waist. Even with reduced strength, Lorian was a Blood Knight.

And if she used her waist as well, it was simple for her to push back a blocked attack.

Above all, the executioner’s sword was heavier and larger than mine. Thinking of it as a lever, it was a much longer and heavier lever than mine.

But I didn’t let go. As the pushed sword was about to fall, I pulled it back and attacked.

I swung horizontally with the strength of my waist.

Whoosh!

But my best attack only cut through the air, flattening the grass on the ground.

She wasn’t there. Where did she go?

As I looked around…

Slash!

Something struck my neck and passed by. Despite her reducing the force, it was still a powerful impact.

Cold sweat ran down my back. I thought I wouldn’t fall for it again, but I did.

I couldn’t even see it properly.

All that remained in my vision was the blood-red afterimage of her acceleration trajectory, her right foot dragging on the snow, and the executioner’s sword that had struck my neck and passed by.

If it hadn’t been sheathed, my head would have been severed.

And that annoying smile. Her face might be pretty, but her smugness was irritating.

“This is Moonshade. Well, do you understand a bit now?”

Even her boastful words were annoying. That was irritating too.

But I couldn’t dismiss it just because I was annoyed.

“That’s awesome.”

“Awe… hmm, is that an insult? It sounds like a compliment…”

Moonshade was an incredible technique.

It was my mistake to think I could counter it now that my skill level had increased, my strength had improved, and I could attack more times.

Even if I mastered that technique, I wasn’t sure if I could block it. It was that impressive.

But that didn’t mean I had wasted the opportunity by foolishly getting hit.

“I still don’t quite get how to do it, but I understand why it’s called Moonshade.”

The footprint dragged on the ground.

The foot that dragged as she decelerated after accelerating past me looked like a moon halo near the moon.

Add to that the light from the sword. If this was a technique unique to the Blood Clan, their weapons would shine with a crimson light.

It wouldn’t be strange if that looked like a shadow. Hearing my deduction, Lorian opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“None of my disciples ever grasped it at once… impressive observation.”

I couldn’t say it was thanks to my skill bonus and incredible agility.

I wasn’t the kind of crazy person who would reject praise.

How happy I was whenever people praised me for carrying a game and called me the best top laner they’d ever seen.

Even if I did report them for “intentionally dying to enemies” right after.

Still, praise made me happy. I smiled with satisfaction.

“Then, I’ll show you once more—”

Suddenly, I saw Lorian shoot upward.

“…Huh?”

The executioner’s sword fell to the snow-covered ground, and Lorian soared high into the sky, getting farther away.

It happened so quickly that I had the stupid thought that this might be part of the technique.

Belatedly, I saw something flying away, gripping both of Lorian’s shoulders.

Yes, it was a bird.

A massive black bird that looked like it could swallow a decent-sized human in one bite.

The Darli Brock, a creation of the three clans.

It was a monstrous raven they had created and abandoned.

“No…”

And now, it was abducting my daily tutor, disciple, and informant.

But why? Frozen in shock, I watched as it disappeared beyond the horizon toward the mountain range.

Belatedly, one fact came to mind.

Brocks are attracted to shiny things.

“Oh shit.”

And as luck would have it, Lorian was completely white and shiny.

I picked up the executioner’s sword and ran back to the campsite.