Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Haru
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The Eldest Martial Brother uses three treasured weapons.
The Wind and Thunder Halberd, which commands the wind and lightning.
The Yin-Yang Saber, said to contain the principle of true unity.
And finally, the Severing Wood Sword, which is said to be able to cut anything in the world.
The image I had always held of my Eldest Martial Brother was this:
Wide, gray martial arts robes.
Carelessly tied hair and a simple, unassuming impression.
And clashing with all of that, the sight of three fearsome treasured weapons strapped crosswise on his back…
But now, the saber and the sword were nowhere to be seen.
His other attire, however, wasn't much different from my memory.
Though his hair did seem a bit longer than before.
“…Eldest Martial—”
The moment I was about to speak.
A spine-chilling laugh echoed as the green wind swirled once more.
A round, ball-like shape began to form at the center of the current, once again taking the form of Tangtata.
[Ohohoho…!]
Just how do you kill that bastard?
To see it revive perfectly fine after taking a direct hit from the Wind and Thunder Halberd was shocking, even to me.
[Steeeeella…!]
For a moment, I thought it was speaking demon tongue or something, but its expression looked a little different.
Stella…
Is that my martial brother's other name?
[W-what brings you… to my domain…?]
“That’s my line. Why did you intercept my guest?”
[A g-guest?]
Tangtata put on a surprised expression.
The Eldest Martial Brother spoke with an unprecedentedly blank face.
“You can drop the pathetic act in front of me. I'll consider that last attack payment for deceiving me.”
[Ho, hohoho… I'm not quite sure what you mean….]
“I'm taking this human. Any objections?”
[O-of course not…! I… I'm not so b-bold as to fight you…. O-ohohoho….]
Tangtata said, giving a thumbs-up.
[H-have a good time…! Poof…!]
And just like that, Tangtata jumped and disappeared beyond the gloomy sky.
“Uh….”
Its exit was just as impactful as its entrance.
As I stared blankly at the sky, I heard the Eldest Martial Brother's voice.
“Will you follow me?”
His expression was still cold, but his tone was gentle.
The same voice from my memories.
I hesitated for a moment before nodding.
* * *
The Eldest Martial Brother entered one of the many buildings in the alley.
The inside of the twisted building was empty. Not just devoid of furniture, but also wallpaper, and the floor was no different from bare earth.
A fruit with no flesh, truly. The alleyway actually seemed cleaner by comparison.
‘Did it only care about appearances?’
Tangtata had babbled on about this place being a city, but a little digging revealed it was just an empty shell with no substance.
“…”
My martial brother, who had entered first, stood still for a moment with his back to me.
Why wasn't he turning around right away?
Could it be that he didn't want me to see the expression on his face?
Normally, I would have asked bluntly before such a question even formed, but given who he was, it was hard for me to speak so easily.
“You've reached the second stage of the Arts of the Greatest of All Time.”
Why is he suddenly talking about martial arts?
“Considering the time you've spent training, it's a great achievement. Congratulations.”
“…Thank you.”
I answered, slightly flustered.
Only then did the Eldest Martial Brother turn around and speak.
“…Tangtata.”
“…”
“Is a dangerous Demon King. Of course, there are no Demon Kings who aren't dangerous from a human's perspective, but that one is particularly malicious. It's best to assume everything you just saw of Tangtata was a lie. I don't know what brought you here, but talking to it and even playing a ‘game’ was a dangerous thing to do.”
“Is that advice?”
The Eldest Martial Brother fell silent at my question.
His dry gaze drifted past the old window frame.
The hellish landscape was painful just to look at, but the fatigue covering his face didn't seem to be solely because of it.
He looked as exhausted as someone who hadn't slept in a very long time.
I suddenly wondered when the last time he had smiled was.
“I knew you would come.”
“…”
“Though I didn't expect to see you so soon, let alone in a place like this. In many ways, this place is still too early for you.”
“So it seems.”
“Baek Rogwang must have told you a certain time.”
In that moment, I glared at him.
The Eldest Martial Brother nonchalantly brushed off my gaze and spoke.
“What did he say?”
“…He mentioned a reunion in ten years.”
“That's right. You're still ten years too early to kill me.”
“Kill you?”
“Didn't Baek Rogwang tell you to kill me?”
“Master… told me to bring you back.”
At my words, a change finally appeared on his face.
It was a faint change, but the amount of emotion it contained was not small.
Though all I could read from it was a slight wavering.
“…Let's pretend this meeting never happened.”
The Eldest Martial Brother shook his head as if to shake off his fatigue.
“Next time, I hope you'll find me on your own, with your own strength.”
“To where?”
“The Spirit Mountain.”
“What?”
The Eldest Martial Brother said nothing.
I nodded.
“You mean I should figure it out myself. Fine. Can I ask one other question instead?”
“Go ahead.”
“How many have you killed?”
He answered immediately.
“More than I can count.”
“…”
“And I'll be killing even more in the future.”
“What is the reason?”
“Reason.”
The Eldest Martial Brother smiled for the first time.
The low laughter was close to a sneer, and personally, it wasn't a smile that suited him.
“Let me ask you instead. If I gave you a valid reason right here, could you understand and accept it?”
“What do you mean…”
“You couldn't, could you? You'll only believe and follow Baek Rogwang's words. You'll take anything I say as an excuse, not a reason.”
The Eldest Martial Brother paused, then shook his head.
“…Sorry. I'm not trying to blame you. Nor am I claiming to be right. It's just that you all already see Baek Rogwang as an untouchable being. As if…”
The Eldest Martial Brother said with emphasis.
“As if he were the God of Martial Arts.”
“…”
“As long as that fact doesn't change, I have nothing to say to you.”
“You've certainly changed.”
I said, looking at him.
“The Eldest Martial Brother I knew didn't speak in such a conclusive tone.”
“What?”
“You asked if I could understand and accept it if there was a valid reason? Of course I could. Respecting Master is one thing, but I have my own values. I don't affirm everything he does.”
In the first place, that was something Master had taught me.
He must have given the Eldest Martial Brother the same teaching.
That's why I thought he had left the school on his own to stand on his own two feet…
The Eldest Martial Brother looked at me.
We had been making eye contact, but only at this moment did I feel our gazes truly meet.
“…Phuhu.”
The moment he let out a listless laugh, I felt as if I had returned to my days on the Spirit Mountain.
“It was good to see you, Ruan.”
“Huh?”
Right after, I realized my body could no longer stay here.
It was an instinctive feeling that was hard to describe in words… How should I put it?
A feeling that my body was about to leave this place at any moment.
‘Is this that "primordial rule" the Martial God mentioned?’
The Eldest Martial Brother seemed to realize it too, as he looked at me and said.
“And my name is Haru.”
It was a sudden self-introduction, but I understood its true meaning.
“Yes.”
I understood, but…
“…Let's meet again soon, Eldest Martial Brother.”
I wasn't ready yet, so I looked away.
I'll let it slide this time, but I won't be able to avoid it the next time we meet.
I'll have to say it clearly with my own mouth.
No longer Eldest Martial Brother—
But Haru.
* * *
Chirp chirp—
The sound of forest birds, the scent of grass, the feel of slightly damp ground.
I savored the sensations I couldn't feel in hell.
The sunlight shining down past the cool breeze was warm.
I felt like I wanted to lie here like this for just a little longer.
‘Should I?’
I kept my eyes closed and lay there for a while.
And I mulled over the recent encounter.
If the Eldest Martial Brother called Master by his full name, and he himself no longer wanted to be called Eldest Martial Brother…
It was as good as him declaring his own departure, rather than being excommunicated.
—To give you the result, I excommunicated the first one.
—To be precise, he left on his own two feet.
Only then did I understand what Master had said.
I had finally reunited with him in person, but honestly, I still wasn't sure.
The Eldest Martial Brother had definitely changed.
However, I didn't feel like he had become a fundamentally different person from the Haru I knew.
He no longer smiled, and his way of speaking had become much drier.
But that tone, chiding me for impulsively falling into hell, was definitely the Eldest Martial Brother I remembered.
“Ugh…”
He told me to come to the Spirit Mountain.
I'm not sure what that means.
Does he mean I should activate the Blessing again?
“Not enough. It's not enough.”
I'm lacking too much information, in many ways.
My strength is also lacking.
Despite the considerable gains from the Spirit Mountain, my craving for strength feels like it's only growing.
I also remembered Master's words that I had only just now entered the world of martial arts.
“…Should I get up now?”
My head is heavy, but my body feels light.
I shot up from my spot and let out a deep breath.
“Phuuuuu…”
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around, seeing a noticeably quiet clearing in broad daylight.
Seeing the traces of battle all around, I realized this was the place where I had disappeared with Juan.
I had returned to the exact spot I'd left.
The fact that it was daylight meant a day had already passed.
The perceived time wasn't that long, but thinking back, it wasn't a short amount of time either.
Whoooosh—
“Ugh, it's cold.”
I'm shivering.
My training uniform got pretty torn up playing that damn game of tag with Tangtata, and it was in no state to withstand the midwinter wind.
I quickly cut through the forest and soon returned to camp.
Perhaps because I'd just come from seeing the twisted buildings of hell, even the shabby cadet barracks looked clean.
‘It looks fine on the outside.’
Nothing happened, right?
In the end, Juan died, so the Demon King summoning ritual must have been successfully thwarted.
‘…’
Thinking of Juan brought on complicated feelings.
It's not that I pity him.
Juan orchestrated a massacre and paid the price.
Separate from that, the fact that his end came at the hands of a Demon King, both before and after my regression, felt strangely significant.
Was Juan's demise always destined to be at the hands of a Demon King?
I don't believe in things like fatalism, but it was enough to make me think that.
“Agh. My head hurts…”
For now, I just want to rest.
Of course, I need to meet Kaljak and Junian first and get confirmation that nothing happened.
‘By the way…’
The camp is strangely quiet.
I could barely sense anyone's presence.
Should I check on the other cadets before heading back to the infirmary?
‘No.’
At this time, they would have already been deployed into the forest for the second special exam.
In that case, it made sense that the camp was quiet.
The number of instructors was only about half that of the cadets, after all.
“Hm?”
“Oh.”
Then I ran into an instructor knight.
I paused for a moment, but quickly composed myself.
I was still officially a patient in the infirmary, so he wouldn't think it was strange for me to be here.
That aside, I'd have no excuse if he scolded me for my disheveled appearance and for wandering around.
“I was just getting some fresh air! I'll return to the infirmary right—”
“Ruan… Young Master?”
Young Master?
We're still in the middle of the training assembly.
“I'm Cadet Ruan…”
“Ru, Ru, Ru…”
The knight, who had been looking at me with trembling eyes, suddenly widened them and shouted.
“It's Young Master Ruan—!”
“…What the?”
Why is he reacting like this?