The New Sword Saint Candidate

"I'd like to know the reason."

The sharp edge in Maria's voice slipped out before she could stop it.

She was, after all, the daughter of the Far Eastern Forces' supreme commander, a colonel in those same forces, and a healer rarer than gold—an A-rank healer, no less. Even a government agent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had no business treating her lightly.

So she decided to push.

After leaving Serena to fall apart like that, the government had the gall to demand her presence now. Maria hated the look of it.

"If a new war had started, I would know. We agreed you wouldn't touch her again unless a real crisis hit, didn't we?"

She had been planning to step back from the battlefield soon enough and find some other line of work. Once you returned to civilian life, even a four-star general was just another neighborhood grandfather.

So Maria snapped back as if she couldn't care less what they did.

"Isn't this a clear breach of contract?"

Only then did the other party take a step back.

World government agents weren't usually the type to yield like that. Maria carried a flicker of suspicion even as she pressed on.

"Then why are you trying to call Serena in?"

"A new Sword Saint?"

Maria sank deeper into her chair and stared up at the white ceiling, thinking.

Sword Saint was a symbolic title—the same kind of intuitive label as Saintess, Hero, or Archmage, something even ordinary people recognized at a glance. Packaging for turning a person into a fantasy-novel hero.

With a Second Saintess and a Second Archmage already in circulation, naming a Second Sword Saint wasn't strange at all.

If a Second Sword Saint appeared, Haneul would have to throw herself into the meat grinder that much less. Maria couldn't see the downside.

But then why were they looking for Haneul?

The agent answered that question himself.

"A title succession ceremony—like the one the Saintess does...?"

"Well, if that's the case... fine. I'll pass the word along."

Maria said it and hung up.

It seemed there was someone she needed to look into before that streamer called Ara.

"Nnngh..."

I stretched and pushed myself up out of the capsule.

Seventeen kills, four assists, second place on the leaderboard.

I'd handed first to Ara, so it was a pretty satisfying run.

The second I was upright, I reached for my phone. I couldn't stand not knowing how the gallery was reacting.

I didn't used to be this impatient. When did I turn into this?

Still, it didn't feel like a bad change. Having things I wanted to try, things that made my heart race with curiosity, times when waiting itself felt happy—it had been so long.

Still in my clothes, I flopped onto the bed and hugged a huge pillow. I held the phone up to eye level and opened the gallery—then the door suddenly swung open.

"Haneul."

"Ah—Maria?"

"I hate to say this, but we need to talk for a minute."

"Huh?"

A serious face and we need to talk. Orphan or not, I wasn't so clueless that I missed the weight packed into those words.

Goosebumps prickled over my skin before I could stop them. I clutched the pillow tighter and sat up.

"What's... going on?"

"An official summons came down from the world government. A summons for Sword Saint Serena Eustania."

"What?"

The soft, cloud-like feeling I'd been carrying since dawn popped like a bubble.

What rushed in to fill the space was the hollow emptiness of waking from a happy dream.

But I didn't feel like fighting it.

This sticky swamp of despair and misery was where I had always belonged.

"Mm. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I see."

I'd only been granted a brief rest. Maybe because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd always known the happiness would end, it didn't hurt as much as I'd expected.

Even in that nightmare of a war, I'd held on for three years with my sister's memories. I could hold on with the memories of my viewers, too. No—I had to.

I couldn't break any further.

This body had been bought with my sister's life. Someone like me had no right to ruin it.

"...Where is it this time? Siberia? Africa? Australia?"

"Whoa, hang on. Stop digging your own grave."

As always, it was Maria who hauled me back up as my mood sank. She settled gently on the edge of the bed the way my sister used to, and spoke slowly.

"Don't worry. There isn't a new war. The gates have gone quiet across the board."

"Th...en what is it?"

"It's for a Sword Saint title succession ceremony. They're choosing the next Sword Saint soon, and they want to call you in for it."

"Ah. So that's all it was..."

Title succession ceremonies were usually peaceful. Look at the Saintess's—the First Saintess had simply offered a few light words of blessing to the Second, and that had been the end of it.

But I was the Sword Saint.

Sword Saint. A swordsman who shone like a star. A blade that cut the sky was a radiant achievement worthy of the name.

So I didn't expect the ceremony to go the ordinary way. For the next Sword Saint to bear this title, they would have to show an achievement that matched the Sky Sword.

"Heh. So the part where I get worked half to death stays the same."

"You don't have to agree if you don't want to. Dad and I can cover something on this level."

"No. I'm fine with it, actually?"

I meant it.

I'd always thought the title of Sword Saint never suited me.

Of course, the world government wasn't that kindhearted... even if I returned the title, they probably wouldn't tear up the contract. If another war for humanity's survival broke out, I'd be dragged back to the battlefield anyway...

"Still. Knowing there's someone who can take my place—I'm grateful for that."

"You don't have to go watch in person, do you?"

"I need to see it for myself."

That was exactly why I couldn't just sit back and wait.

I wanted to confirm with my own eyes whether this person truly deserved to be called Sword Saint.

"So... could I see the summons that came through?"

"Haah... Honestly, I was hoping you'd refuse. But if you're going to put it like that, I can't exactly stop you."

"Hehe. Thanks."

I smiled faintly and leaned against Maria. For all her grumbling, she seemed glad; her arm carefully circled my shoulders.

Maybe it was the comfortable position. The words on the page seemed to land more clearly.

"So, to summarize... they want me to put on a flashy fight with the Second Sword Saint?"

"Pretty much. That sort of thing looks better."

"Uh, hmm... Then one of us is going to get seriously hurt, right?"

I hadn't won the title of Sword Saint in a game of slapjack. Every form of the Sky Sword was dazzling—and every bit as lethal as it was dazzling.

The Sky Sword, forged to carve through monsters. And the Sky Sword's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Human-Slaying Form, forged to cut down people. Anyone who could truly wield both of those arts was already someone I wouldn't take lightly...

"And what is this? They want me to use Sky Slash in a demonstration duel? Did the entire upper crust of the world government get brainwashed or something?"

Sky Slash didn't cut the sky. It cut the flow—the flow of matter that made up the world, the flow of mana—leaving wounds that could never fully heal.

Defend against it? As if. I couldn't do that myself.

Even that SS-rank Gate in Siberia had been split clean in two and still hadn't recovered. And after seeing that, they wanted it used on a person?

"High-ups never know what the people on the ground actually do. You don't have to play along."

"Right. I just don't have to play along..."

What irritated me more was how quickly my own brain understood why the world government would make such an outrageous request.

To be blunt: in this era, no one handled a sword as well as I did. That wasn't self-praise. It was simple fact.

If there had been even one other person as skilled as me... I wouldn't have had to get ground down the way I did.

Which meant the Second Sword Saint would always be trailed by doubt. Proving themselves would be hard, and any propaganda built around them would be harder still.

"Honestly, if I were in their shoes... I'd try to block Sky Slash once myself. It's the cleanest way to prove who you are."

Hup—

With a light little effort sound, I pushed myself upright. This didn't seem like something talk alone would settle.

So I decided to move while I still had some strength left.

"I'd like to meet this Second Sword Saint. Could I see them today?"

"That'll be tough. They're Korean, but they're overseas on an operation right now. Earliest they'll be back is tomorrow."

I dropped back onto the bed with a flop.

"Mmm. Waiting until tomorrow... might be hard..."

I looked down at my trembling hands. I was holding on by burning happy memories as fuel, but I was nearing my limit.

"Ah—and please don't pull out the cross."

I caught Maria's wrist as she reached for the necklace again. It was pouring water into a bottomless jar anyway; I didn't want her wasting a holy relic for nothing.

"You know as well as I do that this isn't a sickness that gets better from something like that."

"But—!"

"I've got a good head. I can't forget. Taking medicine just lets me pretend I have."

"..."

"So it's pointless. A blessing can steady the mind, but it can't erase memories."

Saying that much seemed to crush Maria's spirits, so I put on a faint smile and nestled a little closer to her.

"Still—thank you for thinking of me. Because of you, Maria, I feel like I can keep going even when it's hard."

"...Yeah. If you need anything, call me anytime."

Talking Maria out of staying at my place for the night took a long time.

After endless pleading, she finally left—but not before filling me in on a few side details about the Sword Saint candidate.

"That Sword Saint candidate streams, just like you do, right?"

I'd been living in shady communities and hunting down niche broadcasts, so I hadn't known—but apparently they were a fairly famous streamer. With skill enough to be called the next Sword Saint, that only made sense.

Thinking about it, I'd been living too cut off from the world since coming back from Siberia.

"Guess I'll have to check them out tomorrow."

I muttered it and lay down on the bed.

Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.

Even if it was only in a game, I wanted to see what this Second Sword Saint candidate could do.

So I planned to drop into their stream myself.