episode_0093

“Hehehe. You’ve finally taken interest in my saga. Where and what should I talk about first? A story about how he single-handedly cut down millions of demonic beasts for 10 days and nights? Or is it a story about coldly dumping the best prosecutor in the East Continent?”

“…No, not your saga, but tell me about the adventurer Arthur.”

This annoying chattering demon seems to be trying to spread his own sagas in some way, but he doesn’t seem to listen even though I keep asking him to tell me about the legend of Arthur.

“Oh my. As expected, like the strongest magic sword, there are so many sagas to tell, so choosing one is a task.”

So, I fed honey chestnuts to Fran’s head.

“It hurts!”

“Don’t make me say it three times. Please tell me a story about adventurer Arthur.”

Fran grabbed his head and glared at me.

No matter how much it hurts when I hit it.

“If it’s about Arthur, you’ve told it before. Did you roughly listen to my story again?”

“Because I wasn’t interested at the time.”

I’ve heard stories about Arthur before.

However, at that time, I wasn’t very interested in Arthur, and Fran was so talkative that I ignored most of the story.

“Really. I’m sad. You don’t even listen to my performance, but you ask me to tell you about another woman’s performance.”

If it were another woman, she would be talking about Excalibur.

I don’t know why, but the holy swords in this game all have female egos.

“…So will you do it or not?”

“Of course you should do it. I’m a little jealous, but I’m still Zeke’s only partner~.”

As expected of a talkative person, he never missed an opportunity to talk.

It would be nice if there were a little less extras on the back.

“Then where should I start? After all, it starts with the story of Carly and Arthur meeting, right?”

Kali is Excalibur’s nickname.

Calling someone by their real name is annoying and not cute or anything.

“Humans get energy through meals, right? Our holy swords gain energy by being exposed to sunlight. So, just as humans enjoy delicious food, we also enjoy the sunshine on sunny days.”

This is what I know.

The holy swords, as if their roots are plants, use sunlight to generate energy.

Although it is more realistic than creating energy from nothing, it is very fantasy-like in that the enormous power is provided by only sunlight.

“In particular, Kali was the sword that liked sunbathing the most. He was an incompetent guy who ate up sunlight all day like a pig. Even when I beg him to do some work, he always whines about not having a partner he likes.”

“…That goes for you too.”

“I’m the strongest even if I don’t have a partner, so it doesn’t matter. Didn’t I tell you? That I alone was blocking all the monsters on the Eastern Continent.”

“I heard. So, Arthur, keep talking.”

This is why I cannot interrupt when listening to Fran’s story.

If you’re not careful, the story will go astray.

“Then at some point, when Kali was enjoying a sunbath, humans came and tried to pick her out? But Carly held on to avoid being picked. He said he didn’t want to work.”

This is the part from the legend.

Excalibur stuck in a rock.

Only those with a noble spirit can be chosen by Excalibur, and those who are not chosen can never be chosen.

But the truth was that the unemployed Seonggeom didn’t want to work.

Is this the inconvenient truth?

“Even though I traveled around the Central Continent myself and spread the word, in the end I was unable to select anyone. I really don’t have that kind of stubbornness.”

“Was that something you had rumored? Why bother… .”

“It’s embarrassing! All the other holy swords are working, so how can they see Kali wasting away alone.”

That’s an admission.

“Then one day, when I heard that Kali had been chosen, I flew to the central continent, and oh my god, that stubborn ass obediently chose a partner. ”

“That’s Arthur.”

“That’s right. At first, I thought Carly had finally grown up, but when I looked at Arthur, it seemed like that wasn’t the case.”

“Why?”

“Arthur was handsome. I just liked Cali.”

“Huh… .”

Now you’re saying you’re stupid even with a sword.

What you need to pull off Excalibur is not a noble spirit, but a classy face.

“Oh, of course Zeke is more handsome, so don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Hmm~. Do you feel confident? Of course, there is no one more beautiful than Zeke except me.”

“…That’s it.”

Where on earth does that baseless confidence come from?

“Now that I think about it, there are a lot of similarities between Zeke and Arthur, right?”

“What, because of similar hair color?”

“Yes. They’re both black. Is Zeke also from the North Continent?”

In legend, Arthur is depicted as an androgynous handsome man with long black hair.

And in that era, black hair was generally a characteristic of northern continental people.

“In the past, one could tell one’s origin by hair color, but now black hair is common even in the Central Continent.”

However, as time goes by and exchanges between continents become more active, black hair is now common.

“I see. hmm. If you look closely, there are more differences. Although they are both androgynous, Arthur is a woman and Zeke is a man.”

“…What? Arthur is a woman?”

“Yes. Didn’t I tell you? For some reason, he was dressed as a man, but Arthur is a woman. Carly knew that and was frustrated. Stupid guy. That’s why they say don’t follow just by looking at the face.”

Arthur was actually a woman.

I thought it was just like that because in all the legends, they were only depicted as men.

‘…Something reminds me of a game story.’

Were you impressed by the game where the developer was talking about fate?

Why did you include such useless background information?

Afterwards, Fran told Arthur’s story at length.

From the hidden stories of achievements described in legends to forgotten achievements that have not been told.

What was surprising among them was that the vampire hunter who gave true education to Karjen, who was arrogant and ran wild, was also Arthur.

Because he knew that Karjen would not die, Arthur called himself an unknown vampire hunter to instill caution towards humans rather than a hero.

In addition, there is a legend that Arthur single-handedly defeated an army of red dragons rampaging in the central continent, but in fact, he only subdued an immature red dragon that had been expelled from the North Continent, and sent the dragon back to the North Continent without killing it. do.

After this incident, the punishment of banishing dragons was abolished in the Northern Continent.

However, perhaps because the red dragon was too loud, the perception of dragons in the Central Continent became worst.

It occurred to me that this incident may have been the reason why the dragons that had flown away from the Frost Witch were massacred without question a few years later.

Perhaps the story of Arthur defeating the red dragon’s army is a mixture of the anecdote of driving out the red dragon and the anecdote of the Central Continent dealing with the dragons that flew in to avoid the Frost Witch.

The problem is that although I listened to the story for over 5 hours, I couldn’t hear the story about the Lord of Death that I really wanted to hear.

All of the stories up to now are stories that Fran heard directly from Excalibur, but after Arthur sealed the Lord of Death, he and Excalibur went missing.

Fran tried to look for the two, but he was busy with work on the East Continent, so he didn’t have time to do so.

“Ha… . I didn’t hear anything I wanted to know, and I only heard a lot of good things.”

“Life doesn’t always work out the way it was supposed to. So don’t be too upset, Zeke.”

“…Ha. That’s it.”

I’m tired of making tackles now.

“Now that we’ve finished talking about Arthur’s legend, I have something to show you next.”

“Are you going to show me? Could it be that Zeke’s big and beautiful… .”

“Be quiet. And it’s average.”

Since I was with the chatty Franc, I also ended up spewing out useless TMI.

Fran was looking at my face and lower body alternately, smiling sinisterly.

It’s really sweet.

‘Well, seeing as you’re so energetic, it wouldn’t be a big problem to show it to you.’

Ignoring Fran who was laughing, he gave instructions to Bir.

“Bir, open the case.”

Bir, who was watching from afar, put down the case he was holding and opened the lid.

Eventually, a hideous demonic sword appeared. This is the magic sword that Aslen used in the ritual.

Fran’s face, who was watching this, instantly turned into a contemplative one.

“You know each other, right?”

“……”

Fran slowly approached the magic sword.

And then he sat down and grabbed the handle of the magic sword.

Magi encroached on Franc’s hand, but Fran did not let go of the handle.

“Claire… .”

Fran mutters while caressing the blade.

‘Claire… . ‘I’ve heard of this name.’

I opened the system window and looked at the notes related to the franc.

A name that had a lot to do with Franc’s strategy.

A holy sword that loved humans more than anyone else, but was ultimately betrayed and met its tragic end.

Fran’s close friend.

‘Hauteclaire.’

It is one of the famous swords that appears in the 12 Knights of Charlemagne, often seen in the Black Heart series.

When I re-read what was written in the memo, a past memory came to mind.

After Claire’s death, Franc became misanthropic.

Additionally, he felt skeptical about his identity as a holy sword, so he threw away his duties and authority and started calling himself a ‘demon sword’.

Franc’s strategy was to overcome this ‘pain’ and regain his identity as a holy sword.

Now that the attack has already been completed, Fran has succeeded in overcoming the past.

Although he still calls himself the Demon Sword, he only does so out of habit.

However, even if you overcome it, witnessing your friend’s dead body in person is another problem.

Even more so if it is a body that has turned into a hideous thing.

“Zeke, I have a favor to ask.”

Fran said in a very serious voice.

“…What is it?”

“Find Claire’s Power Stone.”

Power Stone, a jewel that contains the ‘power’ of the Holy Sword, and each Holy Sword has two.

“You mean something other than black, right?”

Claire, like Fran, is missing one power stone.

The only thing that is stuck is black.

“No. It’s not black. What was originally transparent… . It was stained black.”

Fran touches the black power stone with a sad expression.

Every time she did that, her hands became more and more consumed by demonic energy.

I walked up to Fran and grabbed her hand.

It’s obvious that it will become dangerous if it is further encroached upon by demonic energy.

“I’ll find it for you, so stop touching it.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

Fran carefully placed Claire in the case.

Birr quickly closed the lid and sealed it tightly.

“But I can’t be sure. Because I haven’t found yours yet.”

When Fran gave up his identity as the Holy Sword, he pulled out the Power Stone himself.

Among them, the pink power stone was found during the raid, but the remaining purple power stone has not been found for over several years.

“…I know. If you just pretend to look for it… . That’s enough.”

Fran also seemed to know that it was a difficult task, and he didn’t seem to have high expectations.

“What is Claire’s power? Dead swords are free from rules, so don’t you mind telling me?”

“…I see. that’s right. It was like that. If you know what power is, it will be easier to find.”

I don’t understand why the Holy Sword’s rules say that power cannot be revealed, but in any case, since Claire is dead, the rules do not apply.

Fran must have never thought about this before, as if he had finally realized it and muttered to me.

“Claire’s power is inclusion and purification. You can accept both holy power and unclean power, and purify them.”

“Then what remains there must be the Power Stone of Forbearance. I continued to absorb demonic energy without being able to purify it.”

“That’s right… . I wish I couldn’t accept it… . It’s stupid.”

The power can be activated when the Holy Sword wants.

So, before Claire died, for some reason, she had to continue absorbing demonic energy even though she knew that purification was impossible.

That reason must have been more important than life, to the point where it continued to absorb demonic energy even after death.

I don’t know what it is.

“I have an idea about the power of purification. Since the Holy Mother Church can purify demon energy, they must have it or have something to do with it. But I have other things to do right now, so I’ll find you later.”

When I told him that there was a clue, Fran’s face relaxed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

“…Thanks, Zeke. After all, you are the only partner I accept.”

“If you know that, why don’t you look for the remaining power stones? I need that to be able to use you.”

Fran jumped up from his seat.

Then he smiled mischievously again.

“Zeek, did you want to use me? Of course, even if you pretend not to, you’re in love with me, right~?”

“Ugh… .”

“Unfortunately, I have no idea where the remaining Kwon Neung-seok is. Because of the rules, I can’t tell you what kind of power it is. So you need to work hard~? If you want to ‘use’ me, the strongest magic sword.”

It felt like they were forcing the tension, but I decided to go along with it in moderation.

“That’s it. I am enough without you. The remaining Kwon Neung-seok is probably worthless at best.”

“Nothing special! You say it’s because you don’t know my strength, but I’m the strongest.”

“Yes. I know it well. It means you can cut anything. That’s because my kitchen knife can do that.”

“Are you comparing me to a kitchen knife that only cuts food? I really can cut ‘anything’.”

Cutting is the ability of Franc’s pink power stone.

As the name suggests, it is a simple sword-like ability that can cut anything, but its power is beyond imagination.

Since it can really cut ‘anything’, it is possible to make an instant death attack that cannot be defended just by simply swinging it.

The problem is that when I use it, I search the opponent first before cutting them.

So francs are useless until you find other powers.

In the past, I used it to open safes or break down walls, but now the technology is so good that I don’t really need francs.

“Useless sword.”

“Really, wait and see if I find the remaining power. Because I will make you see me again.”

“Yes. It’s a useless sword until you find it.”

“Aaaah!”

Fran, who lost his temper, no longer seemed forced.

I almost died from the punch I threw out of anger.