episode_0083

Helias took the drink and began to fill the empty bar in the outskirts with his voice.

“After living for a long time, there are human characteristics that I have come to know even if I didn’t want to know them. That’s the desire for exclusivity. Although there are dwarves and orcs who are said to be greedy, they surprisingly share that same greed. Even if it is stolen, the loot is shared as ‘property of the group or village’.”

“So, unlike them, humans only want to keep things as their own?”

“That’s right. Humans have an overwhelming desire to have it all to themselves. Even if the poor join together to attack the rich, the money is not shared equally. The one with the biggest knife tries to take the most, claiming that since I put a lot of swords into the richest person, my share should be the biggest. Although there are not as many people as we think who know that such greed is at the foundation of our foundation. Or maybe everyone knows but pretends not to know because they want to be recognized as noble beings.”

“Isn’t that the same for demons too? In the end, they too are people who have changed.”

“If you really think so, Longsword took on a somewhat honest and foolish guy as his disciple. It should be said that the demons are already different from us. These guys are the ones who only care about becoming stronger. Money or whatever, it’s been a long time since the ultimate important thing for these guys was treated not as a thing, but as a means to become stronger and maintain that. So what they have is a desire to show off, not a desire to monopolize. The two are completely different.”

After saying that, the corps commander raised his glass to his mouth, gulped, and complained to the bartender.

“Cluck, click! You gave me alcohol without mercy. No matter how strong I ask for it to be, shouldn’t it be moderately strong so that people can get it down their throats? Barnes kid.”

“I gave it the same as usual. An old man. If I’m worried about something, I may not be able to hear the order and mix it up the way I want, but at least I’m fine today.”

“Is that so? Then, give me some water. I guess it was because it had been so long since I ate it. I guess I’m old now too.”

The corps commander continues his conversation while the bar owner adds some ice to his drink.

“Anyway, if someone hears it, they might say I’m full, but I originally had no intention of coming up to this position. Originally, when the kingdom was in good condition, I was a collateral descendant of a common count family in the outskirts. So, I didn’t have much property and it seemed like it would be difficult for my family to do anything, so I joined the military just to make a good living on my own, but somehow there were more and more wars. Ah, thank you.”

gulp-

He took a sip from his returned glass.

“Hmm, this is about right. Anyway, they said that no matter what my status was, I was a noble and had to lead others. Nowadays, if something happens, souls are replaced, but back then, human life was very precious. So, I worked really hard to avoid leaving other people behind. At that time, there were many wars where annihilation was the norm if anything went wrong. It was a continuation of such daily life. A daily life of trying not to die and swinging a sword to survive. Meanwhile, he suddenly asked me to become a corps commander.”

Vincent calculated the timing of his words for a moment and then spoke.

“If it was when the corps commander held the position… wasn’t that 20 years ago?”

“Yes. I didn’t even notice the passage of time, I was just rolling my head, and before I knew it, 40 years had passed since I was born and 25 years had passed since I went into battle with a sword. And in front of my name, I had the title of undefeated, which I had unconsciously received while struggling to live or die on the battlefield. At the time, people around me said that if I married the third daughter of a duke, I would have the right to become a corps commander even if I was a collateral descendant of an earl family on the outskirts, so I married someone who was 30 years younger than me.”

“With that age difference, isn’t it just like father and daughter?”

‘This is a pure thief.’

After hearing his words, I seemed to sober up a little.

When the corps commander saw me raising his head, he cursed and continued to explain.

“Shut up. You might not believe it, but it was still a love marriage. I also have a conscience and didn’t touch it until I was older. Anyway, the story is that I am a human being, so as I started to gain things, I became greedy. I knew how people around me looked at me, but after I got rid of the guys who secretly flirted with my wife and asked me to marry them when I got older, I suddenly got scared that someone would take my food away from me.”

After saying that, the corps commander took a sip of his drink as if he was still thinking about the people he had destroyed.

I thought that in that kind of environment, it was acceptable to have such thoughts.

“So I started working harder. Since it was my own corps that I had already taken command of, I thought I would do as much as I could. I was a little annoyed at first. My corps looked very shabby compared to the incompetent 2nd corps, which was completely buried in the ground, or the 1st corps, which had been under the direct control of the king since birth. Obviously, the 3rd Corps fights with other races the most.”

After saying that, the corps commander turned his head, feeling a little dizzy.

After seeing that, I drank the drink ordered by the corps commander in the glass in front of me.

gulp-

“Kuh…”

It’s so damn poisonous.

Listening to the story earlier, it seems that the commander of the corps always drank this kind of alcohol, but it’s good that he doesn’t feel upset and is still alive.

Vincent also took a sip of his drink next to me and immediately asked the bartender to add ice and a lot of water.

When the corps commander saw that, he closed his eyes for a moment and then spoke again.

“… Anyway, I thought I had to work harder because I thought that my family and my corps were ultimately mine. Because of that, I overexerted myself this time and ended up cutting my arm.”

The corps commander shows us his severed arm with bandages wrapped around it.

“Once that boundary was formed, whether it was with my family, students, or people, I wanted to protect it. As I watched people only looking at me, I began to feel superior. And I thought that I wanted to live up to those expectations and make them continue to depend on me. I guess that’s my personality. I felt incredibly good.”

“So what does that mean?”

I became increasingly annoyed by his conversation there, so I hung up.

I’m already feeling dizzy and dying from alcohol, so I don’t really want to hear about the life story of a drunken old man.

When the corps commander saw me like that, he seemed to have noticed that I had been talking about himself too much, and started talking about me and Vincent’s teacher in earnest.

“You bastard, you are being rude. Anyway, to get to the point, I guide all of our knights. Even though they are people who have never been selected, I thought I should make them into people who would never be chosen anywhere. At least it does the job of someone who had to extract black energy for hours. But when I see Koraji bragging that these are skills he learned after going on a mission with other knights, I get strangely angry. I told him to move to another place if he wanted to use such miscellaneous skills.”

“Because each knight order has skills that can be called vision. Techniques for manipulating magical power and swordsmanship. These days, it seems like we are all sharing to a certain extent and working together to reach a higher level.”

Vincent supplements the explanation next to me.

It is said that the closed reality of swordsmanship before the kingdoms united changed into an open environment where young knights shared swordsmanship and other things with each other and pursued higher standards after the union.

“Yes. My thoughts were old. I thought that my students had to learn and use only what I taught them. Because I also gained a lot of things from the duke family. Maybe I was overly proud.”

The corps commander paused for a moment and asked the bartender to make him a drink to finish.

“I think I know what your teacher is thinking. They are both people who are incredibly proud of what they have. They must all be confident that if they bring out their secret trick, no one will be able to beat them. Those stubborn guys who are obsessed with monopolizing their students will naturally become extremely jealous the moment they find out that their student has turned his attention to something else. My advice is that if you learn from a teacher like that, you might be able to rise to the level that the teacher can do. But that’s the limit.”

“This is Deep Pelki.”

A glass filled with light pink liquor was brought out in front of the corps commander.

He shook the glass once, enjoyed the beautiful colored liquor, and then asked us.

“Soul Illness I don’t know your teacher well, so I left it out and said it was Vincent? What kind of person is your teacher Longsword?”

“Uh, you mean my teacher? He is a strong person. I’ve never heard of Longsword losing to anyone.”

Vincent had been talking cautiously to the corps commander from earlier, but became confident when the story of his teacher came up.

He seems to be confident in his pride in his teacher and swordsmanship.

And the corps commander responded to Vincent’s words by telling him a secret he didn’t know.

“Of course it is. He probably didn’t say that because it was in front of his student. But he was with me once before. I won.”

“The corps commander and the long sword fought?”

“Yes. Was it 10 years ago? He betrayed the mission I had given him, drank alcohol, and was sleeping, so I really threatened to kill him. And after winning, he made me promise to follow whatever I told him unconditionally and saved his life. So, when I saw the longsword guy, I told him to come here first because I was busy.”

“I didn’t know that was the reason. While training, I suddenly received a preceptor and asked to go this way, so I thought the plan had changed.”

“The expression must have been very rotten, but it’s a shame I couldn’t see it in person. Anyway, even though I beat him, I also lost to someone.”

“Wasn’t the corps commander undefeated?”

When I heard those words, the alcohol seemed to disappear slightly.

Is the title of undefeated really a title that only dogs or cows can receive?

The meaning of that weight is beyond imagination.

Since I know for sure how great the title a corps commander holds, I thought he was truly a man who had never been defeated in his life, but I am interested to hear that he has a record that is different from what is known to the world.

“Are you finally waking up? Yeah, I was definitely undefeated before that fight. Of course, like that guy with the long sword, I was embarrassed and didn’t go anywhere, so it wasn’t known. And the moment that becomes known, people here will be as anxious as they are now. The problem is that I still don’t know who the person who fought with me was. It wasn’t long after I joined the longsword, and I went for a walk into the northern forest and met a female swordsman.”

“Try to say it quickly.”

“Don’t hurry, you bastard. Let’s have some alcohol.”

This is a really curious story.

After saying that, the corps commander took another sip of his drink.

We all followed him and took a sip of our drink, and then he spoke again.

“Did we fight for about 30 minutes? I gave everything I had in that fight, my systematic and practical swordsmanship, and all my practical experience from fighting on the battlefield all my life, but I lost. At first, I thought he was an assassin trained to kill me because everything was destroyed, but he said no and let me live. He said it seemed like there was just a misunderstanding between us. At that time, I was a little embarrassed because I was excited alone. Anyway, so I asked the woman, where did she learn how to use a sword?”

I take another sip of alcohol to wet my throat and speak again.

“But the person’s story is that the sword skills he showed were just techniques he learned from fighting and meeting many people. Until then, I thought that competition was only between the swordsmanship of nobles who had built up their skills step by step from the basics over a long period of time. Adventurers and wanderers ultimately have their limits. But that wasn’t it. I lost to that baseless swordsman who only used techniques he had learned by stealing from many people. So after that, I completely abandoned that thought.”

“Who is that person?”

Vincent asked back with an expression of disbelief at the words of the corps commander, but the corps commander also did not know.

“I don’t know, it just disappeared. That’s the end of this story. Anyway, what I want to say is that in a fight, the person with the most cards ultimately wins. If nobles have a sword skill that can kill ten people, which they have cultivated since their ancestors, then if they have several times that amount of skill, they can easily defeat them, no matter how many soul soldiers like you or common adventurers they are. War and fighting are ultimately wars of attrition. It ends the moment the entire foundation is revealed. There is no need for honor in a fight that kills and kills. When it comes to fighting skills, you can survive for a long time in this world by looking carefully at the sword wielded by the drunken old man next door.”

Helias, who has completely emptied his glass, stands up.

“If you really want to reach the top, don’t limit yourself to just one teacher. Soul disease You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s your teacher’s fault for trying to stop you from growing while claiming to be your teacher. If you really want to become stronger, go for it. Watch and imitate the skills of others, not just your teacher. It works well for young people because their minds work quickly. You can only gain true strength by moving forward, even by throwing away your teacher.”

After that, Helias took out two gold coins from his pocket, placed them on them, thrust them towards the bartender, and picked up his jacket.

“I guess I should go now. Barnes, these guys even count the drinks. I can’t use my arms completely anymore, but these guys still have a bright future, so why not spend some money.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Corps commander.”

“Who said it was free? I think it will be difficult for me to fulfill my role in the future. Even if my arm is cut off, I have to protect my position. It’s definitely not a bowl worth giving to anyone. So, I guess I’ll have to make some trouble for you guys. All of you soul soldiers joined the strike force, and the results were good. Vincent, you and Longsword will stay here and do some work for me. I think this is a down payment.”

He said that and went out.

I, too, looked at his back and emptied my glass.

‘I guess I should go now too.’

It was very late.

Normally, I should have already been at Deshade’s dorm, but I ended up spending too much time at the bar.

thud-

“Ike.”

“Are you okay?”

I try to stand up, but my body doesn’t move properly because I drank more than I thought.

Instead, I hit my knee on the chair and it makes me want to lie down on the floor even more.

Thankfully, Vincent asks me about accommodations, but I cannot give a proper answer.

I think I drank too much because I kept drinking while listening to the story.

Now that my eyes were completely blurred, I felt like I was hearing a familiar woman’s voice.

“I went looking for you because you didn’t come back, but you were here.”

“Ah, it’s been a while.”

“Sorry. I will take Lee Rim with me. Vincent, please go back and rest now. The moon rose quite high.”

As my eyes closed completely and the sounds seemed to get farther and farther away, I seemed to hear Thistle’s voice.

And at the end of that voice, I completely lost consciousness.