271. Sword Emperor (1)
271. Sword Emperor (1)
Ever since Jin Yu-ha and his party first set foot on Mount Taebaek, Baek Seol-hee had been watching everything.
Under the spell of Chairwoman Rina.
Rina's magic forbade her from approaching within ten meters of Jin Yu-ha.
It also forbade any physical interference involving him.
Drawing her sword or attacking him was likewise impossible.
'Still, climbing the cliff is allowed. Relief.'
Climbing the cliff a little distance away from Jin Yu-ha, she felt a strange nostalgia.
Because once, long ago, she too had trained here.
Back then, it was a time when no matter how much she trained alone, her skills showed no sign of improving.
She could clearly sense the possibility of growing stronger just ahead,
yet the methods she had always used couldn't break through, and she had agonized over it endlessly.
The place Rina had brought her to was right here—Mount Taebaek.
Definitely.
Simply setting foot in this region restricts nine-tenths of your Mana and physical strength—a mystery that makes training possible that would be unthinkable under normal conditions.
At any rate, in an environment where body and Mana were so limited.
— Kreaaaaak!
Suddenly, a drake appeared, blocking the path of her disciple and his party.
Baek Seol-hee's face had stiffened for a moment, thinking her disciple might be in danger on a cliff where a weapon couldn't be properly used.
But even in that desperate situation, Jin Yu-ha had used his wits and succeeded in taking down the drake.
Whoever raised him, honestly.
He was such an outstanding disciple.
And then, the place in question.
They arrived at the dwelling of the Sword Emperor.
A wastrel who stood before her disciple puffing away on a cigarette with an indifferent face.
The Sword Emperor (劍帝).
As expected, even seeing her after so long, she was still a woman so hard to like.
Endlessly frivolous, endlessly flighty, and endlessly rude.
'......Her skill is the real deal, though.'
When that woman first assigned her disciple the training of passing through the Blade Forest,
Baek Seol-hee had inwardly scoffed.
After all, that was training she herself had put her disciple through long ago.
Seeing the Sword Emperor's face, so full of herself without knowing that, had been deeply satisfying.
Every bit of training that could be done here, she had long since siphoned off and ingrained into him.
The training program was somewhat novel, but all of it had been refined and improved by her hand and hammered into her disciple's body.
'As I thought, there's nothing for my disciple to learn here.'
Yes. Her disciple simply needed to swing his sword alone in this place's unique environment, train, and take only what was necessary when he left.
Baek Seol-hee allowed a faint smile to touch her lips.
Because she'd thought Jin Yu-ha would quickly lose interest in training he'd already experienced.
But.
The problem started right then.
"M-my sword! That child must inherit my sword!!!"
The words the Sword Emperor had screamed out like a shriek as she watched her disciple pass through the Blade Forest.
Baek Seol-hee's expression hardened rigidly.
'This crazy woman, how dare she, to who......!'
However.
Thud!
Right before Baek Seol-hee's eyes, a dense magical barrier impossible to penetrate was blocking the way.
* * *
'At last....... For me too, for me too......! A connection has come. God has not abandoned me.'
In truth, the Sword Emperor had been living in seclusion, forgotten by the world.
She hadn't been particularly dissatisfied with her life until now.
There were several reasons she'd gone into seclusion like this,
but the biggest one was, of course, Mal-sook.
The child of two people she'd ultimately failed to save from the gate explosion zone.
She had sworn on her sword, on the two people's final promise entrusting their child to her.
That she had no confidence she could raise the child well, but whatever happened, she would protect Mal-sook until she came of age.
And so Mal-sook had naturally become the Sword Emperor's granddaughter.
The second reason was more practical.
Honestly, someone of the Sword Emperor's caliber didn't strictly need to go into seclusion just to guard her granddaughter.
The sword she'd cultivated all that time hadn't betrayed her,
and she was confident she could protect her granddaughter no matter what ruffians came after her.
The real issue was her peculiar constitution.
She'd always held a Mana capacity vast as the ocean,
but at some point, an abnormality had begun developing in her body—her Mana reserves endlessly increasing without limit.
Simply walking outside would devastate and crush the surroundings.
As if her power could no longer be permitted in this world.
So how could she ever live among people?
Forcibly suppressing it each time had its limits too.
She'd asked Rina for help because of it,
but even Rina could only provide temporary measures.
She'd handed down a time-limited verdict: the Mana forcibly pent up would someday burst.
So, the place she'd settled for those two reasons was right here.
A strange place she'd discovered while subjugating monsters.
Mount Taebaek.
Here, for some reason, Mana and stamina dropped to rock bottom.
Even her Mana, which had been like a boundless ocean, was restricted to nine-tenths—this was unmistakably a miracle. A mystery.
Of course, if she forcibly suppressed it, she could endure for a day or two.
She did travel outside occasionally, but.
It was regrettable she couldn't let her granddaughter properly experience the outside world.
Still, she figured it would naturally resolve itself once the girl grew older and it was time for her to be independent.
Yes.
She didn't particularly have greed for wealth.
Nor was her desire for fame or showing off all that great.
She was someone who'd be perfectly content if she could just live out her later years quietly and peacefully.
Except for one thing.
If there was anything you could call a lingering attachment left to her,
it was her sword.
Not being able to pass down her sword, which she'd spent a lifetime polishing and training, to the next generation remained a deep lingering attachment.
Her granddaughter was impossible.
Because she lacked the talent to inherit her sword.
'So I was planning to send a swordsmanship manual to Rina when I send her to the academy next year.......'
Because someone like Rina would be able to find a talent worthy of entrusting her sword to.
But, understandably.
Raising a disciple who inherited her sword with her own hands.
Honing that growing sword.
Watching from close by as it became complete—that had been her natural desire.
She'd only given up because the circumstances wouldn't allow it.
That was why, in this moment, the Sword Emperor couldn't help but have her eyes sparkle.
A talent worthy of inheriting her sword had come rolling in on its own.
Jin Yu-ha, who'd passed through the Blade Forest without a single wound.
Looking at him, the Sword Emperor asked in a trembling voice.
"You, what is your name?"
* * *
Suddenly, the Sword Emperor was pressing uncomfortably close.
I answered with an awkward expression.
"My name is Jin Yu-ha."
Fondle.
Fondle.
Knead.
Knead.
She abruptly began groping my arms and legs, toying with my body.
"Hoh....... Ohhh....... This is definitely....... This is the real thing......."
A stream of exclamations poured out.
"Uh, your hands......."
"Let go of him while you talk."
At that, Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri snapped at the Sword Emperor from beside me with expressions as if they were looking at a pervert.
Even so, the Sword Emperor withdrew her hands, not seeming particularly bothered.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry. It's just been so long since I've seen a body so perfectly suited for wielding a sword. Anyway. You said Jin Yu-ha? You're a swordsmanship specialization, naturally."
"Yes? Yes."
"You, become my disciple."
"......Excuse me?"
"Didn't you hear me? I said I'll teach you the sword. So become my disciple."
She was a truly self-paced person.
Out of the blue, telling me to become her disciple.
Of course, it's true I came here to learn swordsmanship from her.
But becoming a disciple is a whole different matter.
Because I already had a Master, after all.
"Ah, is it because you're worried about the others? Worried that only you will receive training?"
She looked at my expression and made an odd remark.
"Granddaughter."
Step.
Step.
Then Alice, who'd walked out, bit down hard on her lip and glared at me as if something seriously rubbed her the wrong way.
'......What's this, did I somehow piss her off already?'
We hadn't even managed a proper conversation yet.
It seemed like I'd gotten on Alice's bad side from first impressions for some reason.
"Granddaughter. Take those girls over there and put them through the training you do."
This time, Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri wore dumbfounded expressions.
Because they weren't receiving training from the Sword Emperor—they were going to be trained by this woman called her granddaughter.
To that, the Sword Emperor added, as if she knew it all.
"I taught that child everything except the sword. Whether I look after you personally or that child does, the difference won't be significant. Because you aren't people who use a sword."
'What......?'
My mouth fell open at her words.
'What does she mean she didn't teach Alice the sword......?'
Since she was the Sword Emperor's granddaughter and carried the splendid alias Sword Flower (劍花),
I'd naturally assumed the Sword Emperor's sword would have been passed down to Alice.
'What is this, some Personal Story......? When you clear her Personal Story, she awakens to the Sword Emperor's sword?'
Knowing nothing about Alice, that was all I could think.
"Grandmother."
"Hm?"
"......Later, talk with me."
"Yes, alright, alright. Understood."
Alice shot me a glare once, then spun around and left the spot.
And since Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri seemed to be deliberating over what to do, I nodded for them to go.
"Just go for now. It's not like we only came to learn for one day anyway. If you don't like it, you can switch tomorrow."
"......Hm. Mm."
"......."
Once I put it that way,
the two of them also reluctantly followed after Alice.
After everyone had disappeared,
only the Sword Emperor and I remained here, just the two of us.
"Now, your companions' training has been settled. So, how about it—will you become my disciple?"
The Sword Emperor spoke to me with an attitude full of confidence.
As if my becoming her disciple was already a foregone conclusion.
To that, I answered in a flat tone.
"I'll learn the sword. But, I'm refusing the disciple offer."
"......What!?"
As if she couldn't believe what she'd just heard, the Sword Emperor's mouth fell open.