The Price of Strength and the Sweetness of Concern
I parried the sword flying from left to right with my greatsword. Immediately, I drew my dagger to block a surprise thrust aimed at my chest. When a blade descended as if to cleave my head in two, I drew a sword in each hand and crossed them to hold it off. The barrage of attacks flowed as naturally as water, yet their speed was like a flash of light. There was absolutely no opening to counterattack between the strikes. Even though I was capable of storing and drawing my swords at will, the relentless assault from a single blade left me unable to move an inch.
It was a time of pure struggle, barely even worthy of being called a battle—one side attacking unilaterally while the other defended for dear life. Amidst the intense combat, my labored breathing suddenly made my head swim. In that instant, a pure white flash erupted. A blade pierced my chest, moving too fast for my eyes to track. Yoon Siwoo’s body collapsed, hitting the floor with a thud.
The one who pulled the snowy-white blade from the chest of the fallen Yoon Siwoo was a beautiful woman with hair as white as the sword itself, cascading down to her waist. After withdrawing the weapon, she stroked the cheek of the fallen Yoon Siwoo with her slender, pale hand. Then, with a faint smile, she began to slap his cheek repeatedly.
“No, Lucy! I’m not tired! I’ll get up right now!”
At the thunderous declaration, Yoon Siwoo scrambled to his feet and shouted. I was already at my breaking point; the thought of the intensity increasing even further was too terrifying to imagine. I trembled as I looked at Lucy—the Holy Sword of Humility, my only family and my swordsmanship instructor, who shared the same snow-white hair and eyes as me.
Watching Yoon Siwoo, whose wounds from the blade had already vanished, Lucy spoke.
“No, even so, this is the seventh time today. No matter how many times I revive, the feeling of dying is horrific... Besides, we’ve been doing this every single day while I sleep for days now, so it doesn't even feel like I'm resting...”
Is that really something to say to someone who hasn't even landed a single counterattack? Yoon Siwoo grumbled inwardly. This place was a mental landscape created by the ability of the Holy Sword of Guidance, one of the seven I possessed. Here, I could train while my body rested, and the training had the effect of strengthening my physical body to a certain degree. Using this, I had been growing stronger under the tutelage of the materialized Lucy.
Lucy, who had taught me since I was young, was a strict but kind mentor. However, ever since we formed a new contract a few days ago, all traces of that kindness had vanished.
On the night the contract was signed, Lucy had told me that if I only grew stronger, I would naturally be able to use the true powers of the Holy Swords. And she claimed that the fastest way to grow strong was to engage in life-or-death battles with a powerful opponent. Then, Lucy had struck me with her sword. Saying that since I wanted to be stronger than anyone, she would use her own hands to make it so, she had cut me down without mercy. Since then, it had been a cycle of writhing in pain, my mind being whittled away by constant death, and struggling desperately to survive Lucy's attacks.
Lucy drove me to what I thought was my limit every single day. As a result, while I had gone from lasting only a few seconds on the first day to being able to block some of her attacks after a few days, this was, by any measure, an insane endeavor.
I glared at Lucy with a heart full of protest, but it was useless. The kindness of the past was gone; she simply raised her sword and forced me to stand. Moreover, she knew exactly how to handle me.
Seeing my motivation waver, Lucy smiled faintly and uttered those cruel words.
“Damn it...”
Hearing that, I had no choice but to grip my sword with trembling hands and stand once more. I remembered the girl who had refused to bend even after losing her left arm, saying she wanted to protect people. I recalled the resolve of that day—the decision to become strong enough to protect everyone in her stead, because I didn't want her to be hurt anymore.
“Damn it...!!!”
Yoon Siwoo screamed and lunged at Lucy, who was laughing happily. The training only ended after Yoon Siwoo had truly experienced twenty deaths.
After finishing the grueling training, I went outside to get some air, but feeling my body sagging from mental exhaustion, I stopped by a mart. I had gone in thinking maybe eating something delicious would make me feel better, but I didn't have the energy to cook anything at home, so I was leaving empty-handed when I saw Scarlet entering the mart.
“Hi, Scarlet? Are you here to shop?”
When I greeted her, she took a step back, then nodded with a stiff face. Her reaction was a bit cold, but at least she acknowledged me. That was enough for me. A jewel imbued with illusion magic was attached to her left arm. I offered to help, thinking it would be difficult to shop with one arm, but I was refused. Even if I tried to help, she would always refuse. All I could do was grow stronger and stronger, protecting people in her place so she wouldn't get hurt anymore. Even if I died countless times in training to achieve that, she would never know of my efforts. It was something I had accepted, but it was still a little sad, so I gave a bitter smile.
Just as I was about to say goodbye and leave the mart, thinking that seeing her would only make me dwell on those thoughts, I heard her voice calling me to wait.
“I want to talk to you for a bit. Can you wait until I'm done shopping?”
She was the one who asked to talk first. It was a bewildering situation, but it wasn't a request I could refuse, so I nodded. In the few minutes it took for Scarlet to finish shopping, countless thoughts raced through my head. When she first spoke to me, she had told me to please stop paying attention to her. I was afraid that if I heard something similar again, my heart would break, but I couldn't throw away the chance to talk to her over something like that.
She finished shopping, took me to a nearby park, and we sat on a bench. With only a bag between us, the distance wasn't far. I suddenly remembered the memory of watching her from afar as she sat on a bench in this park. Back then and now, the physical distance between us had narrowed significantly, but the distance in our hearts had grown much wider, so I was conflicted about whether I should be happy or not.
She glanced at me and asked, “Why did your eyes turn out like that? One of them used to be black, didn't it?”
“Ah, th...this? Well, I guess you could say it's because of my ability... Ahaha, it just ended up like this...”
I had formed the contract to grow stronger so you wouldn't get hurt anymore, and this was the result. There was no way I could tell her that, so I stammered in confusion. Still, the fact that she noticed my eye color changed meant she had been looking at me. Honestly, I had thought of myself as nothing more than dust on the street to her, so I felt more joy than embarrassment or shame at her words.
Lucy’s sigh echoed from somewhere, but I ignored it. I wanted to focus on my conversation with Scarlet.
She looked at me, seemingly lost in thought, and said, “You look very tired lately. Is something wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ve just been training quite hard...”
I answered sheepishly, wondering if it was that obvious that I was struggling. Inwardly, however, I was overjoyed that she had been watching me enough to notice. Just as I was thinking that this alone would give me the strength to train harder, Scarlet muttered softly.
“...Even if I say I’m worried.”
[Truth]
Yoon Siwoo doubted his ears for a moment. Worried? Scarlet, about me? It was a statement I would normally assume was a lie, but the Holy Sword of Truth confirmed it was the truth. She looked into my eyes and continued.
“I care about you quite a bit, even if I don't look like it.”
[Truth]
This, too, was the truth. At Scarlet’s gentle words, which I would only expect to hear in my imagination, my heart pounded wildly. I had thought it was enough to silently protect her from the shadows, even if she never knew. That was why her words were so sweet to me. Seeing her look straight into my eyes and tell me she was worried and cared about me, I couldn't help but imagine. Perhaps, just perhaps, we could become closer.
And then, she looked at me with eyes full of sincerity and opened her mouth.
“If you have any troubles or worries, tell me. I’ll listen.”
[Truth]
Yoon Siwoo avoided her gaze, turning his head so she couldn't see his face. If he hadn't, she would have seen his lips curling into a smile of pure joy and his flushed face. He did have troubles and worries, just as she said, but now he couldn't tell her. It might be premature, but the thought that there might be a possibility for him had taken root. As a man, he didn't want to show his weak side to the girl he liked.
“...I’ll tell you next time.”
So, after saying he would tell her next time, he bolted from his seat and ran toward home. Happiness overflowed. It felt as if his exhausted body was suddenly filled with vitality, as if he had never been tired. There was no time to be doing this. He had to become stronger. Strong enough to stand proudly by her side. Strong enough to be a man she could trust and rely on.
“So, I’m counting on you, Lucy.”
As soon as he finished dinner, Yoon Siwoo entered the mental landscape, and Lucy spoke to him.
“That was earlier.”
Yoon Siwoo gripped his sword. “Right now, I feel like I could do this all day.” He said, wearing a vigorous smile.
Liking that brilliant, shining gaze, Lucy laughed aloud and lunged with her sword. Every time pure white crossed with pure white, a life was lost. After experiencing ten deaths, Yoon Siwoo landed his first counterattack. As soon as he fell, he rose, lunging as if every second was precious. After thirty deaths, Yoon Siwoo finally crossed blades with Lucy in earnest. Even though he had fallen many times, the spark in Yoon Siwoo’s eyes never dimmed. And then, the fiftieth death. Yoon Siwoo’s blade finally reached her. A fierce smile settled on Yoon Siwoo’s face. Pleased with that appearance, Lucy burst into a roar of laughter.
With those words, the sword strike flying from Lucy’s hand was tinged with a color other than white.
“Eh?”
Yoon Siwoo, who had been smiling, let out a foolish sound as he was cut down. By the time that day’s training ended, Yoon Siwoo had met a total of one hundred deaths.
Just how strong is she? Yoon Siwoo muttered, staring at her with eyes full of shock. Seeing that, Lucy smiled and thought to herself. He would have to become much stronger than he was now to wield her true power, but when that day came, everyone would eventually humble themselves before the one who held her. Yoon Siwoo, my master. I shall look forward to the day you become stronger than anyone else, from the very depths of my heart.