Ch.90The Fishing Hook Made of Gold (2)

The answer is unexpectedly close.

Roseline Askarlo, who had been trapped in a cocoon for three years but ultimately achieved metamorphosis, said so. However, Najin could hardly understand her words.

It had been a little over a month since Najin became aware of the fragments of his mental image, and he was approaching the second month.

Two months. 60 days.

Typically, those who become aware of the mental image fragments reach the level of Sword Seeker within 40 days. After all, what matters in reaching the Sword Seeker level is becoming aware of the mental image, not the process that follows.

Yet Najin, despite being aware of his mental image, had been unable to progress for nearly two months.

Of course, it wasn’t that he had been stagnant for too long. However, for Najin, who had grown without obstacles at a pace dozens of times faster than others, feeling stagnant was unfamiliar.

‘What’s the reason?’

Metamorphosis. Molting. Reconstruction of sword energy.

Najin couldn’t quite grasp the process. It sounded like trying to catch clouds. Roseline had said it would be good to look back at himself.

-Indeed, that’s a reasonable point.

Merlin’s voice echoed in his ear.

-It’s natural that it takes you longer than others. Why? Because your mental image has two focal points.

Najin closed one eye.

What he saw was the landscape within his mental image. A star high above and a star below.

-People usually harbor only one mental image. They have one focal point. But you’re different. Your mental image has two focal points. This is strange…

Merlin said.

-And also fascinating.

‘Then what should I do?’

-This isn’t something I can tell you. In fact, no one can tell you. You must find the answer yourself.

That’s what gives it meaning.

Only then can it have meaning. That’s what Merlin said. Najin let out a long sigh.

-But let me give you a hint.

In Najin’s mental image.

Looking at the star in the sky, Merlin said.

-Never compromise. Believe that only the world you harbor, not the world you see with your eyes, is the truth.

The great magician who had reached transcendence said.

-Trust only in yourself.

That is the virtue one must possess when walking the path toward transcendence. Perhaps it’s selfish, dogmatic, and even severe. Whispering so, Merlin smiled.

2.

“Alcohol is the lubricant of life.”

Leaving Najin completely exhausted and sprawled out in the field, he continued.

“Even a dry life, even a life that’s absolute hell, tends to get better with just one drink. That’s why I like alcohol. Unfortunately, I hardly feel the intoxication these days.”

He took a sip of alcohol against the blowing wind.

With a grunt, the man wiped his mouth, put a piece of dried meat in his mouth, and made an expression as if he owned the world. Najin glanced at the bottle of alcohol and the piece of meat in the man’s hand.

Cheap alcohol available anywhere.

Just a piece of jerky, dried and salted meat.

These were common things, but from the moment the man before him began enjoying them, they became uncommon. Najin barely raised his screaming body and looked at the man.

Charon, the master of the Order of the Sword, the Star of Sword.

Watching the Sword Master with six stars enjoying cheap alcohol with jerky as a snack, Najin smiled.

“You enjoy things quite modestly.”

“The modesty is what gives it meaning. Would you like a drink too?”

“No, not alcohol. I’ll just take a piece of jerky.”

Receiving a piece of jerky from the Star of Sword and chewing on it, Najin loosened his stiff shoulders. The Star of Sword had promised to check his sword every month or two, and today was that promised day.

‘I must have swung for about half a day.’

His shoulders and arms were screaming.

An opponent he could never reach no matter how much he put into each strike. Having charged at such an opponent for nearly half a day, it was natural that his overworked body was screaming.

“Your sword has become much sharper. Your movements have improved too. Seems like you’ve met a decent opponent?”

“I’m not sure if they were decent opponents, but I nearly died two or three times.”

The Star of Sword burst into laughter at Najin’s answer and took a sip of alcohol. With a grunt, he put down the bottle and gestured with his chin, as if telling him to continue.

“I crossed swords with Griffin, the knight commander of the Albania family.”

“Ah, the one who uses the Trigadian sword. A knight who wields an uncompromising, straightforward sword, and breaking through that straightforwardness is extremely difficult.”

“Then I fought with Fauve, a 4th circle black magician who owns the masterpiece ‘Shadow of Fire’…”

“A black magician who owns a masterpiece, that’s interesting.”

“I also clashed with Kapman Theosis, the former ranger of the Tetzel Mountains. Ah, this was probably the most dangerous. I actually nearly died several times.”

“Hmm…”

The Star of Sword laughed in disbelief.

“I shouldn’t be the one to say this, but you live quite a dramatic life. It’s not easy to encounter such formidable opponents one after another in such a short time. Did you perhaps go around challenging them to duels?”

“Somehow it turned out that way. There are quite a few people who want to kill me.”

The Star of Sword merely shrugged at Najin’s words.

After all, he had drawn a line, saying he would only teach Najin the sword and would not interfere in Najin’s life in the slightest.

“Well, these are all experiences that will become flesh and bone. There’s nothing as valuable as diverse combat experiences. Take this opportunity to train thoroughly.”

“Don’t I need to survive first for it to become experience?”

“If you die from that, then that’s the extent of your capacity. Survival itself is part of the growth process. There are experiences you can only gain at the boundary between life and death.”

Najin let out a hollow laugh. He felt it every time they conversed, but in Najin’s opinion, Charon wasn’t normal either. He had a strong tendency toward battle mania.

‘If someone else said it, it would be just empty words, but…’

Charging at the strong countless times.

Jumping into the boundary between the battlefield of stars and Camlann, walking the tightrope at the boundary between life and death—Najin couldn’t simply dismiss the words of the Star of Sword who lived such a life.

“That’s a radical approach.”

“It’s also the correct one.”

The Star of Sword caressed his sword hilt.

“I, Sir Gerd, and that friend Juel all reached the path of transcendence in this way. Not valuing our lives, we stepped onto countless battlefields.”

He grinned at Najin.

“Can just anyone become a Sword Master? Only the mad become Sword Masters.”

“Even you, Sir Charon?”

“Of course. I consider myself normal, but by societal standards, I too am merely a lunatic. I don’t intend to deny that fact, but…”

Charon shrugged.

“Among the active Sword Masters on the continent, I’m probably the most normal!”

Star of Sword, Charon.

The murderer, Juel Lazian.

The Empire’s First, Gerd.

Among the three Sword Masters, he claimed to be the most normal. To begin with, Juel Lazian was a hundred million years away from normalcy, so the remaining comparison was with Gerd… Najin tilted his head.

“Isn’t Sir Gerd the Empire’s First?”

“That’s right.”

“He’s an immense power holder who manages the core of the Empire… and you’re saying you’re more normal than him?”

“How do you see me?”

Charon looked incredulous.

“That’s something you can say because you don’t know Sir Gerd. That man knows nothing but the sword and the Empire. In some sense, he’s even more of a madman than Juel Lazian.”

The sword and the Empire.

The two values that constitute Gerd.

“For the Empire, he killed his own daughter and son with his own hands. He killed all his relatives, including his wife. They were traitors. And that’s not all. For the sword, he gave up everything, including his humanity. Because it interfered with wielding the sword.”

“…”

“The realm of transcendence, the path to perfection, is paradoxically completed by giving up something. The same goes for me and Juel Lazian. But Sir Gerd…”

Charon briefly held his words.

He exhaled a long breath and said.

“He has given up more than he has. He reached transcendence by removing everything except the sword and the Empire. A terrifying obsession.”

“That’s certainly…”

“It’s hard to call him human. Well, needless to say about Juel Lazian. How about it? Do I now seem a bit more like a person of common sense sitting in front of you?”

Najin let out a laugh.

“I can’t deny it.”

“Right?”

“Yes, especially when I recall my experience meeting Sir Juel.”

“What? You met Juel?”

“After the battle with the black magician, I encountered Sir Juel, who was dispatched to assess the situation.”

“Hmm.”

Charon was alarmed.

“You nearly died. For real.”

“Yes, I nearly died. For real.”

“If you met Juel, he must have had his eye on you… you’re going to have a tough time ahead.”

He gave a look of sympathy.

“If it had been revealed at that moment that you were my disciple, a prettily packaged head would have been delivered to the Order of the Sword. Truly a dreadful thing.”

I’m glad I hid the fact that I met Charon.

Muttering so inwardly, Najin nodded.

“Sir Charon.”

And Najin opened his mouth.

This was the main point.

“Do you know about metamorphosis?”

“I do. It’s a path I crossed more than ten years ago.”

Charon narrowed his eyes.

“Come to think of it, you seem to have become aware of the mental image fragments. Are you going through metamorphosis?”

“To be precise, I’m stuck. I can’t grasp what the reconstruction of sword energy is.”

“Hmm.”

He slowly rose from his seat.

“Metamorphosis. Molting. Reconstruction of sword energy. It sounds difficult in words, but it’s actually simple and clear.”

On the wide-open field.

Standing on the field, Charon drew his sword.

“A sword is a brush.”

The Sword Master.

The Star of Sword discoursed on the sword.

“Sword energy is the ink that colors the brush.”

Sword energy rose above Charon’s sword.

Najin could neither see nor understand the sword energy Charon had raised. The immense difference in their levels distorted even perception.

“The sword is the brush, the sword energy is the ink, and the ink is the mental image you harbor. The mental image is your world.”

But the moment the Star of Sword swung his sword.

The moment that sword moved forward an inch.

“Wielding a sword is also the process of painting your world over the existing world.”

Najin’s eyes saw it.

The landscape being painted over along the trajectory of the Star of Sword’s sword. It was the mental image harbored by the Star of Sword, the color possessed by his soul.

Whoosh.

The Star of Sword lightly swung his sword. The world was painted over along the trajectory of his sword. Najin didn’t fully understand the scene unfolding before him, but he could roughly tell what the Star of Sword had done.

“This is the destination that those who walk the path of the sword should pursue. And a Sword Seeker is a seeker who wanders in search of the path of the sword. They cannot color the world by wielding their sword, but…”

Charon smiled as he sheathed his sword.

“They make their own world as far as their sword energy extends. What is needed for this, more than anything, is firm self-confidence.”

The Sword Master looked at Najin.

“From what I see, you’re confining yourself. That’s not to say it’s bad. Refining one’s conduct is admirable and deserves praise.”

But, he said.

“It shouldn’t lead to self-denial. You shouldn’t deny your own nature. Don’t try to change everything at once. The stairs to perfection cannot be leaped over in one go.”

Charon poked Najin’s heart with his scabbard.

“First, break the cage. Boy.”

Then a new path will open.

“Today’s lesson ends here.”

As he walked away, Charon waved his hand.

“I hope you’ll be a seeker of the sword when I see you next.”

3.

The core of Cambria, City of Opportunity.

Where the Central Guild and the Merchant Street meet.

In a location that can truly be called the heart of this city, the building of Dieta Trading Company stands tall. And on the top floor of that building sits a snake coiled up.

The Snake that Swallows the Gold Coins, Dieta.

In an office surrounded by maps, documents, contracts, trade certificates, specifications, countless numbers, and sentences, she narrowed her eyes. Her golden eyes, resembling gold coins, absorbed the light of the magic stone lamp and gleamed with a golden hue.

Money moves people.

People move money.

And naturally, where money moves, traces remain. That means information remains. A capable merchant should know the path that gold coins have taken and the path they will take.

In that sense.

The Snake that Swallows the Gold Coins, Dieta, is an unprecedented merchant.

The achievements she has built are not the result of mere luck and a few coincidences. She built them up step by step from the bottom. Surprisingly quickly and accurately. How was such a thing possible?

Her eyes follow the gold coins. They accurately pinpoint where the gold coins have flowed, where they will flow, and where they gather. That is the talent she was born with and has honed over the past several years.

…And if one understands all this process.

Creating an artificial flow is not difficult either.

The Snake that Swallows the Gold Coins flicks gold coins.

Just as a swordsman wields a sword, a magician casts magic, and an archer shoots arrows, the Snake that Swallows the Gold Coins flicks gold coins. That was her weapon.

The gold coins she flicks take their place on the map.

The gold coins spread to various parts of the adventurer city. The form of the gold coins is not fixed. Sometimes they are people, sometimes requests, and sometimes stories exchanged in taverns. Thus, she creates a waterway for the gold coins to flow.

A waterway made of gold coins, and not knowing that it’s an artificially created waterway, the fish are lured.

And Dieta merely casts her fishing rod into the waterway. Thus, the angler waits with a fishing hook made of gold coins. Time is on her side anyway. Moreover, she doesn’t need to wait that long.

With a flick of her finger.

With one flick of a gold coin.

She can even control the speed of the waterway as she wishes. A rapidly surging waterway. Fish begin to be swept away by the fierce current. With their vision blurred by the chaotically surging current, the fish eventually bite the bait.

“Found it.”

And the angler smiles.

A fishing hook made of gold coins.

Because a fish skewered on its end was struggling.