Breakfast with the Sword Saint
Sword Saint Carlos.
Just what on earth was going on right now?
"Mm. Truly excellent food."
"....."
"What's the matter? Have you lost your appetite, perhaps?"
"No.. that isn't it.."
"Then eat up at once. You're far too thin. How do you expect to lift a sword looking like that!"
"......."
The table was laden with a lavish spread that should have made anyone's mouth water, yet none of it registered. Not with the man sitting right in front of me.
Hard as it was to believe, I was currently having breakfast with the Sword Saint.
No, seriously—how had I ended up eating with this man?
I distinctly remembered running into him by chance in the hallway on my way to the dining hall. He had asked me where Athena was.
Caught off guard, I had answered that she was still asleep in her room.
Looks like I'll have to wait, then. Come to think of it, where are you headed?
Off to breakfast, you say? Perfect timing—this body hasn't had a proper meal either. Come along with me.
No need to refuse, hahaha! Eating alone is a lonely business. At least keep me company in conversation.
Swept along by his unstoppable energy, I had somehow ended up here.
Has he gone several days without eating or something?
Like a starving beggar, the Sword Saint was wolfing down every dish on the table with shameless gusto.
"...Um.."
When I called out to him carefully, his dark eyes shifted toward me.
"What is it?"
"You are.. the Sword Saint, correct?"
"That's what everyone tends to call me."
The Sword Saint.
A elusive figure who barely appeared even a handful of times in the novel. Yet despite his scarce screen time, his free-spirited nature and romantic devotion to the sword alone had made him surprisingly popular, as I recalled.
"Did you.. send word that you were coming..?"
It was far too early for a guest to arrive. And judging by how the servants had nearly jumped out of their skins at the sight of him, there was no way he had given any advance notice.
I still remembered the head chef collapsing in a foaming fit after seeing the Sword Saint not long ago.
"Of course not. Dropping in unannounced is half the fun, hahaha."
Wow.
The sheer shamelessness....
"It's been ages since I last ate my fill. The food here is always delicious, I must say."
Apparently finished with his meal, he set down his utensils and wiped the crumbs from his mouth with his sleeve.
No—there's a napkin right there. Why would you deliberately...
I frowned slightly at the rather unhygienic gesture, but he paid it no mind whatsoever. Smiling at me, he steered the conversation along as naturally as breathing.
"Since I'll be waiting for her anyway, why don't you tell me a little about yourself, young lady?"
"About me..?"
"Indeed. From the looks of it, you don't seem to be a servant. The daughter of some noble house, perhaps?"
"I.. I'm.."
A slave, actually..
But somehow I felt I shouldn't tell him that straight out. The word "slave" never earned anyone kind looks.
It might be better to simply claim I was a maid.
I was still scrambling for a suitable cover story when—
Bang—
"Carlos!!!"
Athena appeared.
She looked thoroughly irritated; her expression was twisted into something downright vicious.
"Oh. So you've arrived?"
But the Sword Saint greeted her with perfect calm, as if her murderous look were nothing new.
Athena strode right up to him and glared as though she meant to kill him on the spot.
"I told you not to show up uninvited."
"Hahaha. If I don't come like this, there's no other way to see you. I've brought news worth delivering, so here I am."
"....If it isn't important, you'd better prepare yourself to die for real."
Wearing a thoroughly rotten expression at his words, Athena came over to me and gently stroked my hair.
"Athena.."
"Good morning, Hera. Would you wait for me in the room for a bit? Looks like this old man has something to say to me."
"I'm not quite that old yet."
Athena ignored him completely.
"I'll be right there, so just wait a little for me."
"Y-Yeah.. okay.."
The moment she heard my answer, she turned on her heel and headed straight for the Sword Saint.
"Follow me."
"Mm! A pleasure meeting you, young lady. I hope our paths cross again."
"Stop spouting nonsense and get out here already."
And just like that, the two of them vanished.
As if a typhoon had swept through and gone, the dining hall that had been pure chaos only moments before fell utterly silent.
"What in the world just happened..?"
"Talk. Why are you here."
The instant Athena reached her office, she cut straight to the point.
"How cold. Not even offering a cup of tea?"
When Carlos answered with breezy composure, Athena arched one eyebrow in clear annoyance.
"You barge in uninvited and still expect hospitality?"
"Hahaha.. When you put it that way, I've got nothing to say."
Carlos drew an object from his robes and set it on the desk.
"A recording magic tool?"
"Since you want the point, I'll get right to it."
The moment he activated the device, a bright light bloomed in midair and projected a series of images.
"..Monsters?"
What appeared in the photographs were monsters—vast numbers of them. Enough to reduce an entire village to rubble in the blink of an eye.
But that wasn't all.
Monsters were mindless beasts driven solely by the urge to devour any living thing before them. Yet here they were, gathered in one place as if following someone's command, forming something that looked unmistakably like an army.
"Indeed. The monsters' recent movements have been anything but ordinary. Forming groups and acting in concert like this is highly unusual."
He was right. Until now, monsters had never lived in packs. Far from it—they were creatures that would just as soon devour one another.
There was only one force that would ever try to control such vicious beings.
"The work of the demonkin?"
"Most likely."
The demonkin.
The sole race that had chafed under the peace following the Great War. Blessed with physical abilities superior to other races and exceptional skill at wielding mana, they were nonetheless so bloodthirsty and slaughter-loving that they had earned the hostility of nearly every other people.
"And that isn't the end of it. Calamity-class monsters have begun to show themselves as well."
As he manipulated the magic tool, the images slid past one by one.
Enormous footprints. A village reduced to scorched earth. A forest engulfed in flames. A ruptured landscape.
Every single scene was pure devastation.
"This is merely the omen—the barest edge of a far greater catastrophe yet to come."
".....So what exactly are you trying to say?"
"The Emperor does not grasp the gravity of this situation. He cares only for the Empire's immediate safety."
Carlos's smile vanished as he spoke.
"My friend. What do you say we go out together and hunt down these demonkin? Leave them be, and I have a feeling something irreversible will come of it."
Gone was the earlier flippant air; his face was utterly serious.
"You want us to kill the Demon King or something?"
"If it's possible, that wouldn't be so bad either."
Athena fell silent for a moment, thinking.
If the demonkin had truly found a way to tame monsters on this scale, this was no trivial matter. Within a few years, a massive war could break out. And while a mighty empire might weather it, countless people living beyond its borders would almost certainly lose their lives.
In the worst case, the Empire itself could fall into the demonkin's grasp.
Yet Athena only let out a short, derisive laugh.
"Carlos. You still don't know me at all, do you? Do I look like someone who would care about any of that?"
Her mockery washed over him, but he continued without the slightest concern.
"True. In the past, that would have been the case. But I have a feeling things are different now."
"What?"
The Sword Saint regarded Athena with quiet eyes that seemed to see straight through everything.
"You've found something precious you want to protect, haven't you?"
".......You.."
Athena fixed him with an icy stare.
"So you knew when you came."
"Hardly. I originally came only to deliver a message. But I happened to see that child."
Carlos stroked his beard briefly, then went on.
"She carries your mana. And a considerable amount of it, at that."
"....."
"You, who never showed the slightest interest in anyone else, handed over a portion of your own power. That, too, is highly unusual."
Athena stared at Carlos in silence for a long while. At last she clicked her tongue loudly and let out a dry laugh.
"..As sharp-eyed as ever, you crafty old man. Unnecessarily quick on the uptake."
"Haha. I keep telling you I'm not that old yet."
The Sword Saint extended his thick hand toward Athena and made his proposal once more.
"I will protect humanity. You protect that child. How does that sound?"
"...."
Athena quietly closed her eyes and sank into thought for a long time.
Silence stretched through her office. When she finally opened her eyes again, she let out a heavy sigh and took his hand.
"This is irritating. I hate troublesome work."
"Looks like I've gained myself a very reliable backer."
"Well. Killing demonkin is something I've been doing all along, so killing a few more shouldn't be that hard."
"Hahaha! Excellent thinking. I'm sure that child will be pleased as well."
The Sword Saint let out a booming laugh and shook her hand vigorously up and down.
"Do you have a plan?"
Carlos's face lit up with confidence at her question.
"Of course I do! Find the demonkin and kill them. Could there be a simpler, clearer plan?"
"So you don't have one."
Figures.
Athena muttered under her breath, her expression thoroughly sour.
The demonkin possessed rather cunning minds. Charging out blindly would never be enough to find them.
She exhaled a short breath and offered a suggestion of her own.
"I've received reports of monsters appearing in sharp numbers in the eastern and northern forests. We'll each take one zone."
"Oh! Then I'll take the north. With luck I might even run into the northern warriors."
"Whatever."
With that, Athena waved him off dismissively, making it clear she was done talking.
But Carlos didn't budge an inch from his seat.
"Is there something else?"
"My friend."
His face had grown even more grave than before.
"Was it your doing?"
"Doing what?"
"While speaking with that child earlier, I discovered one particular fact."
As his gaze deepened, the atmosphere around them began to grow cold in kind.
"Her mindscape was shattered to pieces."
"....."
"I sincerely hope it was not your handiwork."
"And if it was?"
At Athena's frigid reply, Carlos looked at her for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
"...Those of us who have reached a certain realm, you and I alike, are doomed to live lonely lives."
With a sorrowful expression, he continued before she could even answer.
"So I understand the desire to keep someone by your side. In fact, I've recently begun raising a disciple of my own."
"You?"
"Yes. I ran into her by chance in the Empire. I can still vividly recall the look in her eyes as she clung to me."
"Hmph.."
As if the memory had returned to him, a small smile touched Carlos's face.
"How a little girl could hold such a vicious light in her eyes—even I felt a chill for a moment. Her talent is extraordinary as well. Someday she may well surpass this body of mine."
"Pfft. That's quite the exaggeration. Aren't you laying the disciple-love on a little thick?"
"Hahaha. I'll introduce you someday. She's an adorable child—you won't dislike her."
A warm smile lingered on his face as he thought of his disciple. Then his expression shifted, and he spoke in a quiet, steady voice.
"My friend. No matter how lonely you may be, you must never trample on someone's heart like that."
"....."
"You may claim that person for a moment, but it will only ever be a false relationship."
His words clearly grated on her; Athena's face twisted.
"What would you know.."
"When one reaches the realm of Hyeon-gyeong, there are things one comes to see whether one wishes to or not."
Carlos delivered his final words to Athena.
"If it was you who broke that child so utterly—"
"—then every sin you have committed against her will return to you as karma."