chapter_0057

Chapter 56 : A bond that will overcome sadness

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Old memories flow through my mind.

Memories from over 70 years ago, when I first fell into this world.

When I first fell into this world, all I had was this useful body and the swordsmanship that this body remembered.

I had nothing else.

Not the human relationships I had built, not money, not credit, not reputation, nothing remained with me.

Because of that, when I first fell into this world, I didn’t even realize that it was just a game and I was so strongly denying it.

But in the end, I became aware of reality and lived desperately.

Like a hedgehog with thorns, like a pufferfish puffing up, I cautiously watched everything around me and tried to make my place in a world that was once empty.

No matter how much this world was real, I was just an outsider here.

Even when I lived as a lawless mercenary in the past, or when I caught the eye of a knight commander, or when I was chosen by the king and became the royal protector, my vigilance never loosened, even if the intensity differed.

Because I still thought I was just a floating existence in this world without a proper place.

Whenever I thought I had settled a little, my reflection always appeared in the sword, maintaining the same appearance without a wrinkle.

The unaging body and the strength I couldn’t understand always made me doubt whether this world was really not a game, whether the place I made was truly real.

And in the midst of living like that, I took on my first disciple.

There was no particular reason.

It was simply because, after the hollow war with the rebellious nobles had ended, and with nothing else to do, the king gave me an order to train talents for the kingdom, and I followed that order by taking on disciples.

Following the king’s orders, I gathered children who had not yet reached adulthood from all over the continent, and I taught them my swordsmanship.

The swordsmanship I had when I fell into this world.

I thought that if I could help them by teaching them that, it wouldn’t be bad, so I simply followed the order and, after filtering and filtering, I taught my swordsmanship to the remaining disciples.

And that was the first true human connection that came to me, who had always treated people in this world as either strangers or as superiors and subordinates.

I lived for several years with the same children, bumping into them every day, and each day was filled with noisy accidents without a quiet day.

Though my head ached and my mind hurt, to me, who always lived cautiously, it was an atmosphere where I could finally feel at ease.

In fact, I had many chances to fit into such an atmosphere before.

But I always refused because I was on guard, and they didn’t try to hold onto me.

However, the disciples were different.

They held onto me, making sure I couldn’t leave, forcing me to fit into their circle.

And it was only then that I could clearly realize.

The place I had desperately built over the years was clearly existing among those living in this world.

I could prove that my efforts were not in vain through the existence of my disciples.

Without a doubt, it was because they, who were alive and breathing, wanted to keep me with them, not the past me from a previous life, but the me in this world.

And after realizing that, for the first time since coming to this world, I gave my affection to my disciples.

Not only my disciples but also to others around me.

To the king, to the knights, and to the trusted nobles.

But of course, the ones I gave the most affection to were the disciples who liked me even more than I liked myself.

They inherited the swordsmanship I had from the beginning, and though their personalities were different, they all liked me.

I also liked them, and that’s why I gave them so much affection.

And if it was a mistake, it could be said to be a mistake.

· It is reported that your disciple has fallen in battle.

Because I gave so much affection, it was not simply a war with the rebellious nobles that felt like a game, but rather a bloody war where every day was full of slaughter.

I heard news of several disciples falling in the brutal wars.

Thud, a nail pierced my chest.

Countless nails pierced me.

Though the wound festered, there was no one to confide in on the devastated battlefield.

I could only fight for humanity while rotting inside.

I swallowed my rising tears and struck away the demonic claws that were approaching my neck.

And when the war finally ended, all that remained was intense sadness and agony.

I could momentarily feel glad that the remaining disciples were alive.

But I could not stop endlessly grieving because the dead disciples would never return.

Even if I wanted to talk about the festering wound inside me, I couldn’t share it with others—it was already too far gone.

If I did, the person hearing it would only end up suffering as well.

Maybe the real reason was that it had festered so much, there wasn’t even anything left to talk about.

Unable to even find the corpses, I mourned the deaths of my disciples at a grave that held only a headstone, and decided to retire and leave the kingdom.

Because staying in that place, where I had spent so much time with them, would only fill my head with dark thoughts.

I resigned from my position as the Royal Guard Captain and fled to a quiet countryside on the border.

And perhaps, God took pity on someone like me.

Because there, I found a blessing.

A blessing named Elia.

A baby who helped me look away from the emptiness carved into my heart like an abyss, and filled what once felt completely hollow.

Elia helped me slowly rise from the depths of sorrow, saved me from the nightmares I had every night, and transformed a faint bond into a deep one called marriage.

Thanks to Elia, I’ve slowly been filling that abyss.

For the past 20 years, without missing a single day.

That’s why—

That’s why, even when I saw the corpses of my disciples in the distance—

Even when I saw the bodies of those I couldn’t find on the battlefield—I could barely suppress the torrent of emotions inside me.

“Melion, Shasha, Zeke…”

Emotions of sorrow and rage surged up from deep within my heart.

I still remembered the names of my disciples so clearly, as if they were standing there.

They were names of precious children I could never forget, and must never forget.

And so, every time I whispered their names, I felt a sting in the festering wound, but the present me had new bonds.

Even though emotions I hadn’t felt in ages seeped in from the abyss I had once filled, I could stand strong with a different kind of support.

Tap.

“Kael, calm down. Look at me. We’re right here.”

…“Ruina.”

Facing me directly, Ruina held my cheeks in both hands and kept my gaze fixed on her.

Her loving eyes told me to look at her—and her voice became my anchor.

And when I followed her touch and turned my eyes, I saw Elia.

The child I had raised from start to finish with my own hands, now all grown up and fighting on that field.

…Yeah, I know. Now I have you, Ruina, and Elia.

“Yes, Kael. You have us.”

With those words, Ruina rose on her toes and gently kissed my lips.

Smooch.

Soft, warm, and deeply comforting—the kiss that conveyed peace touched and parted from my lips in an instant.

Yes, I now had new bonds.

Bonds strong enough that I wouldn’t fall just because the past’s sorrow tried to grab my leg—

Bonds strong enough that I didn’t have to keep staring into the abyss.

That’s why I could overcome my grief.

Even if the weight of that sorrow hadn’t changed, I now had a happiness great enough not to be overwhelmed by it.

And so the only emotion left in me was rage.

Swelling with the sorrow it had consumed, only rage grew ever stronger inside me.

“I’m okay now. Will you let me go for a bit, Ruina?”

“Yeah. Go finish this once and for all.”

As I placed my hand over the one she had on my face, Ruina let go of me.

And I began walking forward, slowly passing her as she stepped aside.

“I don’t know who did this…

But it was an unbearably repulsive experience—something I never want to go through again.”

The fact that the corpses of my disciples, which I couldn’t find on the battlefield, were here—

It meant someone had scavenged those bodies and created this chimera.

So the question was—who?

A necromancer? A back-alley sorcerer? Or maybe… the Worst?

It didn’t matter who.

As long as I found out, I would personally tear them apart without leaving a single piece of flesh.

But for now, I swallowed that vengeance and focused on what I had to do.

“I’ll save you soon.”

Retrieve the corpses used to create that chimera and give them peace.

For that, I stepped forward with full strength, like a flash of light.

-!!!

A speed so overwhelming that even sound was left behind.

And carrying that speed into my sword, I swung toward the grotesque chimera exhaling its foul breath before me.

The target: the mercury-and-mana core embedded inside it.

Slash—

-!!!!!

With a dry slicing sound—

The massive chimera was cleaved in two.