Chapter 47
Chapter 47
7. Things You Shouldn't Know -6
-Fated one, the Glass Sword is a martial art my homeland, the Duchy of Selvikia, has been developing since the founding of the nation! At first, it began to beat those damned Kingdom of Kojobu scholar bastards to death, but after the Monster invasion, its purpose changed⋯⋯ Hmm, perhaps I should leave out the origin story?
-If it were me, I'd leave it out.
-Then I'll have to step forward and record it again⋯⋯ Also, I should mark this area so no one plants 『Forget-Me-Nots』 here. Since we've already failed, shall we practice a few more times before going? Fated one, the Glass Sword is my homeland—
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
I watched a vision from the past that looked, no matter how I saw it, like a botched recording. Apparently, there had been some errors in the recording process. No wonder the past being replayed was excessively trivial.
The 『Forget-Me-Nots』 must have bloomed more than expected and caused something to go off track.
If anything, that's good.
If important information had been cut out, that would be one thing, but having these leftover scraps remain meant there was room to make effective use of them.
Above all, wasn't this a chance to glimpse what kind of person the Glass Sword Lord was? He was favorably disposed toward me, but I didn't know why he showed such goodwill. I couldn't even tell whether that goodwill was positive or negative.
So I needed to find out this time. The sword lord's true intentions, his genuine character.
-Now that I think of it, seeing this flower brings back old memories. I remember sending a love letter to a viscount's daughter when I was young. But a few days later, a reply came back as a polite refusal. Out of spite, I sent letters again under my older brother's name, my younger brother's name, even my attendant's name⋯⋯
⋯⋯Even so, I don't need to hear about that part. Let's move on.
After filtering out useless stories—like how in his youth he had a talent for juggling five swords—I decided to gather and organize only the meaningful records.
First, the Glass Sword Lord's name was Barca Selvikia.
At the time he left behind the secret manual, he was a trial knight of the Duchy of Selvikia, and his duty was to travel the land and adjudicate, simply and clearly, "conflicts that harmed the national interest the longer they dragged on."
For example, territorial wars between nobles under his command, hoarding and cutthroat competition between merchants, and powerful criminals that ordinary guards couldn't stop.
To "mediate" and "judge" these under the blade—that was the trial knight.
The Duchy of Selvikia, compared to my world, felt like a medieval era where swords and magic existed. But there was one peculiar thing. All magic power in the world originated from an entity called the "God of Law."
Since a trial knight could only be appointed after being chosen by the God of Law, it was an honorable position revered by all.
Because of that, he took pride in his work. The world was unfair, so someone had to strive for justice. So, how beautiful was the act of saving the weak and restoring a crooked scale to its true form?
But the world was too vast for one person to hold every trial, and the variety of sins was dizzyingly numerous. So the young Glass Sword Lord agonized endlessly to establish his own justice⋯⋯
-Around the time I'd been agonizing for about three months, the Gate opened.
That deliberation soon came to an end because a pan-cosmic blue-green apocalypse had arrived.
-His Grace the Duke passed away because of the plant bastards that broke into the manor. I lost the lord I served, and something more important than the rule of law had appeared in the world.
-What's that?
-Survival.
The Glass Sword Lord inherited the position of his deceased lord, and to protect Selvikia's territory from the monsters, he swung his sword day and night without rest.
Even so, many died. Those countless deaths were too heavy for anyone to endure, and so the fragile things collapsed first.
The Duchy of Selvikia, which many peasants had envied because it was governed by a fair and upright duke⋯⋯ was weak.
The law and order the previous duke had built collapsed. For survival, people took up swords, and in that hellish chaos, there was neither enemy nor ally. Everyone harmed their neighbors and tried to stuff even one more potato into their pockets.
By the moment the Glass Sword Lord had annihilated every monster in the ducal territory and finally lowered his longsword, what he had so desperately pursued and devoted himself to had crumbled like a sandcastle.
-There was a time I saved a village woman whose property was being extorted by a wicked lord. She was grateful for the fair trial. But once the destruction arrived, that village woman was killing her next-door neighbor and looting their storehouse. Can you believe it?
-Most humans are like that, Glass Sword. That frailty is natural. Only a chosen few can find light even in the darkness.
-You really are pessimistic. So, are you saying the wanderings I undertook to teach justice and morality to the common folk had no meaning at all?
-They may have had meaning as the anvil that forged the blade that is you, but what you bestowed upon each of them individually—I consider that meaningless.
Loss.
Faced with that doubt and loss, the Glass Sword Lord and his friend seemed to have arrived at different answers.
A man who had once gathered a volunteer army and fought against a blood demon who dyed the world in blood, but who couldn't overcome one overwhelmingly powerful individual, and only awakened the System atop a mountain of corpses where all his comrades had died.
The large, middle-aged man in a pitch-black robe like something out of a martial arts novel, with a shaggy beard, spoke with deeply sunken eyes shadowed in darkness.
-In the end, this world can only be saved by a single superhuman. It might be you or me, or it might be neither of us. But it will never be the many. It will be the single most capable one. He must change everything.
-Is that⋯⋯ the Hungry Ghost Path you walk?
-Yes. The little scraps that cannot become superhuman are used for the sake of one noble individual, and that superhuman makes this world a better place. This green calamity, too, must be overcome that way.
-You make using everyone who falls behind as stepping stones sound so noble?
-The world is originally structured that way. It's only a matter of whether you accept it or turn away from it. If I, too, had accepted this truth earlier⋯⋯ so much needless blood would not have been spilled.
The Hungry Ghost Path, huh.
To this, the Glass Sword Lord answered.
-I suppose I must agree with part of it. That the world needs one person to lead the people. But to believe in and follow a single person as you do⋯⋯ doubt has taken root in my heart, you see.
-Doubt?
-The village woman who had once suffered from sin became sin herself, and I, who thought I could fight forever under the name of justice, am wavering. Even if a superhuman appears someday, would they be without flaw? So I think we need a greater existence.
The Glass Sword Lord raised his hand and pointed above, toward the sky. But that finger was not pointing at clouds or the sun.
-The 『System』—this very existence that scatters opportunity across the universe can become the law of all people. And if a talented trial knight helps with that miracle, even better!
-You intend to walk the Heaven Path, Glass Sword.
He was trying to serve the 『System』.
Here, the cave path came to an end.
At the dead end of the cave, the secret manual rested. It was a book of parchment bound with cord, and on its cover was written "Glass Sword (琉璃劍)."
And before it stood a young man—a bluish vision of the young Glass Sword Lord. The vision did not move, frozen as if nailed to time.
On the cave wall, the following words were written.
[The fated one may learn this technique, or may choose not to. You may sell it to someone else. However, I hope that what you gain from it will be used to benefit the world.]
[If you touch the book, my friend's formation will activate and make the figure of the past move. This demonstrates every movement of the technique without omission, so it will help you learn it. Make use of it.]
For people who had gone on and on about their values along the way, the inscription was utterly plain. There was no talk of walking the Hungry Ghost Path or the Heaven Path.
We had only glimpsed it because of the abnormal growth of the 『Forget-Me-Nots』; originally, they seemed to have no intention of proselytizing about their paths.
Even the greeting he'd been practicing for so long—"Fated one, the Glass Sword is a martial art my homeland, the Duchy of Selvikia, has been developing since the founding of the nation" and so on—didn't come through. If he'd practiced that much, couldn't he have included at least one sentence?
Anyway⋯⋯ paths, huh.
When I'd heard about the five paths of martial arts in the tutorial, I'd thought of them as a kind of skill tree or secondary class route. But the two people shown in the vision seemed to focus on the meaning of the path rather than its utility.
The core wasn't what you gained, but how you gained it.
The paths I'd directly encountered so far numbered three. I couldn't say I fully understood them, but if I organized them within the scope of what I knew, it went as follows.
The Asura Path, a path of building strength through combat. Thinking back on Sergios's attitude and the secret rite of Battle-Demon Ascension, it seemed to place significance on the fight itself rather than on killing the opponent.
The Heaven Path, a path of building strength by being chosen by a superior. The Glass Sword Lord seemed to have chosen the System as that superior. Well, if I had to choose one myself⋯⋯ I'd pick the System over a B-rank or A-rank hunter.
And the Hungry Ghost Path⋯⋯ Based on the information I'd heard today, it was a path of building strength by taking from the weak. The sense of déjà vu I felt made me reflexively think of the [Hunter Alliance].
Hadn't they squeezed settlement support funds out of newbies and seized and hoarded the credits of the weak? Extorting the weak was common throughout human history, but⋯⋯ was it just a coincidence that they were so similar?
I shared my organized summary with Elijah as well.
I didn't know whether she would learn martial arts or not, but I thought there was no harm in her knowing. Elijah listened quietly to the explanation, then tilted her head to the side and asked.
"Which path does Noah walk?"
"I haven't settled on one. And I don't think I will. Because it doesn't seem like you have to stick to just one line."
Right now, I was preparing the rites for both the Heaven Path and the Asura Path. Honestly speaking, I had no interest in the meaning. I was more interested in the food than the ceremony.
Then Elijah asked again.
"Will Noah walk the Hungry Ghost Path?"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
"I guess my question was a little vague. If there's no downside to learning it and no expected conflicts, then wouldn't you benefit from walking more paths? If that's the case⋯⋯ the Hungry Ghost Path, which extorts large numbers of weaker people, would be a relatively 'easy to learn' path."
The Heaven Path, which requires offering sacrifices to a superior. The Asura Path, which requires fighting opponents on your level.
Compared to those, the Hungry Ghost Path was certainly convenient. Sweeping through those weaker than yourself was especially easy for a hunter. A single hunter, if targeting civilians, could commit mass slaughter on a scale hard to imagine.
And in that process, you could obtain as many sacrifices as you wanted, so raising your Heaven Path cultivation might also become easier.
But I answered flatly. Because the meaning was the same as the question she'd asked not long ago.
"You asked before what I'd do if you were a perverted serial killer. My answer is the same as then."
I won't go there until I'm desperate.
"I asked in case your thoughts had changed. Usually, people change their minds when they're handed a box full of cash. Can I ask one more thing, Noah? This isn't an overlapping question."
"⋯⋯What is it?"
"About the two people in the recording. Both of them seem to talk as if one person absolutely has to stand at the top of the world. Do you think so too, Noah?"
Well, now.
I agreed that in some matters, someone has to carry a heavier log. But if you asked whether it would be beautiful to see some absolute god control the world according to his will—
People whose code aligned with that god would live in heaven, but people who crossed wires with the god's thinking would literally live in hell. Like the story of a single trainee who got on the boss's bad side and was tied up for five years without debuting, wasting their youth.
So I said.
"Going as far as a god seems like too much⋯⋯ but I do feel like it would be nice if the world had at least one rule. So that everyone could live by the basics."
"A rule⋯⋯ Hearing that, something comes to my mind too."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
We didn't bother asking each other what that rule was. This was, how should I put it⋯⋯ like a "what would you do if you won the lottery" kind of conversation. Instead, we decided to start packing up the secret manual.
The Glass Sword, and the video learning material made using the 『Forget-Me-Nots』.
"It said the playback starts when you touch the book. I'll hold onto it for now, and we'll share it once we get somewhere safe."
"Yes, you keep it, Noah. I know you're not the kind of person to run off with something like this. Besides, I have the recording⋯⋯ we can meet up later and exchange. Right?"
If that's how it is.
I packed up the Glass Sword secret manual and tucked it into my chest. And at that moment, the mysterious hieroglyphs once again emitted light from the wall—
Blue light streamed out from the 『Forget-Me-Nots』 that filled the cave, sharpening the vision of the Glass Sword Lord.
Charging. Charging⋯⋯
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
How long is this going to charge?
I watched the vision of the Glass Sword Lord, which was beginning to take on vivid color starting from its fingertips beyond the blue light, and quietly drew my dagger and shield. Elijah, just in case, also stealthily readied herself for combat and said.
"About the technique that extracts visions from the 『Forget-Me-Nots』. Originally, it was supposed to show only the technique demonstration, but the flowers grew too much and ended up projecting other parts too, right?"
"⋯⋯Right."
"That could also be seen as excessively amplifying the vision's power. Then, manifesting the traces of the past very strongly means, in other words—"
It would be similar to summoning the Glass Sword Lord of the past. Perhaps the vision might even possess a bit of physical force.
-I will demonstrate the first form!
Shiiing—!
The vision of the Glass Sword Lord drew its sword. The ring of the blade echoed through the cave. But⋯⋯ the direction of its gaze was this way.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
I wondered if it might go berserk and attack me, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Because its focus wasn't sharp. It wasn't precisely targeting me, nor reacting to my movements. This vision was still functioning normally as an instructional model.
However, seeing the ring of the blade, and the way the clusters of 『Forget-Me-Nots』 were trampled under the vision's steps—it did seem that the overcharge had generated a bit of physical force. The recorded vision was simply oriented toward the front.
Then, if it executed the form like this⋯⋯
"Noah!"
"Step back!"
Right, the attack would fly this way.
The power I felt from the vision wasn't that great. I'd lightly block it and maintain a safe distance⋯⋯ That's what I thought as I thrust my shield forward.
Flash! CLAAANG—!!
[-> Download Slot 1: 『Glass Sword』 (Downloading⋯⋯ 5%)]
"⋯⋯Ghk?!"
After the flash passed, my hand was stinging. I had blocked it properly, and the force behind it wasn't that surprising, but⋯⋯
I hadn't seen the attack.