Chapter 422
Chapter 422
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 422
Chapter Title: A Small Wish
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A few days had passed since returning alive from the Sword's Tomb.
Natida was strolling through the grounds of Crempelia Castle as morning broke. The area around the castle had long been purified by priests and Natida herself, free from the demonic landscape, so sunlight poured down from the sky.
As she walked across the castle's training grounds, the knights who recognized her bowed their heads toward her. She gave them a faint smile and shook the cigarette case she had pulled out.
A gesture asking if they wanted one.
The knights smiled wryly and shook their heads, and Natida muttered "Eh-hey" before tucking a cigarette into her mouth. With a hiss, she lit it and exhaled a long breath. Staring at her fingers amid the thick smoke, Natida gazed at them.
Fingers bearing the scars of reattachment.
Looking at the pale new skin, Natida swallowed the smoke.
"...It doesn't quite feel real."
This was proof that she had survived.
Proof that she had lived through facing two calamities. Natida clenched and unclenched her fist repeatedly. Chewing over the dull ache that came with each bend of her fingers, she let out a long, very long breath.
Thick smoke rising toward the sky.
Gazing at the smoke, she recalled the moment she had touched the Holy Grail—the Star Chalice.
"I pray, please."
She had grasped the blade of death and offered her prayer, and death had answered. From the darkness, death approached her... and as her other half drew near, the greatsword embedded in the ground vibrated fiercely.
The sword's resonance, death approaching from the darkness.
In that instant, Natida saw it.
A gap formed by the vibrations of the greatsword stuck in the ground. From that crevice leaked faint starlight—not brilliant, but soft and subtle. It was the starlight of the shattered Holy Grail, just as the tales described.
The Holy Grail was not buried amid the temple ruins.
The Holy Grail lay buried beneath the sword of death.
Pierced through and shattered by the blade.
Whether the Grail reacted to her will, answered her prayer, or responded to Ganikalt's presence... Natida had no way to know. But one thing she was certain of.
The Grail had acknowledged her as its owner.
The moment the platinum starlight seeped into her body, Natida lost consciousness. When she came to, everything was over. She was back in Crempelia.
"Hoo..."
Letting out a long breath, Natida stubbed out her cigarette.
Though everything had resolved like a miracle, Natida felt an inexplicable unease. It was because the scene from her dream lingered in her mind.
Thanks to the future glimpsed in that dream, she had survived.
But the version of herself in the dream had met death.
Miserably, without saving anything.
That dream was undoubtedly something that had happened. Not just a mere future... but an event that had already occurred. Natida was convinced of it. When she shared her theory with Lania, Lania hadn't denied it.
She couldn't elaborate in detail.
But she had affirmed that the guess was likely correct.
"The world, huh."
Natida smiled wryly.
Gazing at the pouring sunlight for a moment, Natida let out a short sigh. She had realized why her heart felt so unsettled and queasy.
In the dream's future, there was one thing her other self regretted. It was a small wish. A modest hope nurtured by a saintess who had lived her life as the church's puppet, only to be cast into a ruined world.
Yet a wish she had ultimately failed to fulfill.
The moment she recalled that wish, Natida couldn't help but chuckle. It was truly such a small one.
"So small that..."
A wish she could grant right now. Mulling over that wish, Natida took a step forward. Her steps were lighter than usual—not the hollow eyes of a drug-addled addict, but those of a girl her age.
With a faint smile, she headed off.
Toward Rak's office.
2.
"...Should we call it the Sword's Ruins now, instead of the Sword's Tomb?"
Kalt let out a hollow laugh, standing at the entrance to Sword Canyon—Galatric.
The canyon was filled with traces of severing and collapse. Galatric had lost even its original shape... it had surpassed being a tomb and become utter ruins.
"At least the canyon itself is still here."
As Kalt laughed hollowly, a voice came from behind. He turned. Raniel van Trias, who had arrived in Crempelia last night. She stood with arms crossed, gazing at the canyon.
"Ganikalt and the Beast King fought for a good while, right? It's a miracle the map didn't change."
The Sword of Death, Ganikalt.
The Beast King, Barta.
Two swordsmen who reshaped terrain with a single swing had clashed here. Raniel was amazed that even the canyon's basic form remained intact.
"Um, Senior."
"Speak."
"You're sure the signals vanished completely from here?"
"They cut off about half a day after you all returned to base. Both signals disappeared."
"So they're both dead?"
"Not exactly."
Raniel unfolded a map from her pocket.
A map marking the calamities' positions. Ganikalt had returned to Gehete, its original location...
"Ganikalt went back to Gehete. The Beast King... no signal at all."
"...Meaning?"
"It's dead, or no longer a calamity, or freed from the contract."
Raniel sighed.
That was why she had paused expanding the front lines and come here. If Barta was dead, they needed to confirm it.
"Let's go in."
Climbing over the piled boulders at the canyon entrance, Raniel and Kalt entered Galatric. As they reached the top and overlooked the interior, Kalt unwittingly swallowed hard.
What filled his vision were endless sword scars.
Traces gouging the ground like claw marks. Long gashes in the walls. Neatly bisected boulder piles and sheer cliffs sliced at angles. Everywhere he looked, only signs of swung swords.
"Hoo..."
Kalt exhaled.
Countless sword scars etched into the canyon. Considering the power in each line, Kalt let out a hollow laugh.
"Now I see—it's a miracle how anyone survived. What the hell..."
Monsters who reshaped the land with every swing. The fact that he had fully parried even one such strike made Kalt glance at his own sword.
"Senior."
"Yeah."
"Aren't I actually ridiculously strong?"
A joking remark.
Normally, Raniel would have smacked him and told him to quit talking nonsense and get to work. But not this time. She replied curtly.
"Why ask something obvious?"
"...Pardon?"
"Any superhuman is strong enough. But even they can't withstand a single blow from the Beast King or Ganikalt. You'd need someone like Uncle Kontel to hold out a bit."
Raniel stated matter-of-factly.
"That's what calamities are. And you've survived against them multiple times."
She turned back as she led the way.
"Especially this time? Word is you fully parried the sword. Returned the incoming sword aura. Who else but you could pull off that feat?"
"I-is that so?"
"In my eyes, you're already on Uncle Kontel's level. If not for that guy Kyle, you might've claimed the title of humanity's strongest swordsman."
Raniel was unmatched in accurately assessing others' strength. She repeated it.
"You're plenty strong. Strong enough for me to rely on."
Flustered, Kalt blinked.
He never imagined such words from Raniel's mouth. As he stammered, Raniel chuckled and added,
"That's why I pile work on you. You're the guy who can handle it. Gotta work hard."
Kalt's expression soured instantly.
"Don't ruin my感動."
"What're you on about."
Kalt whined, and Raniel smiled wryly.
"Anyway..."
She exhaled briefly and said,
"I'm really sorry about this mess. It was clearly my mistake. I should have come from the start."
"Eh, no... I wasn't blaming you. Who could've predicted this?"
As he walked, Kalt's hand drifted to his sword hilt.
"And in the end, it all worked out."
"Worked out?"
"We recovered the mission target—the Holy Grail. And more importantly... that six-month plan you set up?"
Kalt drew his sword.
Sword aura rose from the blade.
"Growth. Awakening the key personnel."
"Nothing beats brushes with death and experience for enlightenment and growth. Especially clashing blades in a life-or-death duel with a superior swordsman."
The rising sword aura was moonlight.
Kalt's blade gleamed with soft lunar light. Raniel's eyes widened at the sight. Different from his usual sword aura—denser, sharper.
"I nearly died, but I survived..."
Kalt swung.
The blocking boulder pile shattered into dust upon touching the aura. The trajectory of the moonlight-wreathed blade was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Doesn't that lead to major growth?"
Spinning his sword, Kalt smiled proudly, showing off the lunar sword aura. Raniel chuckled at the display.
"Bragging to me now? That you've gotten stronger."
"Look at this moonlight aura. Worth bragging about, right? So subtle and elegant..."
Raniel snapped her fingers.
A pillar of light crashed down on the boulders Kalt had been clearing. He turned slowly. The debris had vanished like evaporated mist—over a wider area than his swing.
Screech.
Turning his creaking neck, Kalt looked back at Raniel. She shrugged with an innocent expression.
"...Did you have to?"
"What."
"My sword isn't for smashing like your crude magic? It's about deflecting, parrying, flowing smoothly with any strike..."
Ignoring Kalt's protest, Raniel strode ahead. He grumbled as he followed, missing her amused smile.
She knew exactly the realm he had reached and the effort it took.
Leading the way, she tossed out,
"That sword aura looks cool, though."
"Forget it. You're getting crankier with age..."
"What'd you say?"
"...Nothing."
Sensing the killing intent in Raniel's glance back, Kalt shut up politely. He held back from saying, "We're both in our thirties anyway..."
'Why so sensitive about age?'
Raniel hadn't aged a day in recent years.
With her hero traits and grand mage status, she was practically eternally in her twenties. Not fleeting youth from elixirs, but permanent.
'Just hits a nerve?'
He left it as speculation.
Wiser that way.
"Anyway."
Raniel blatantly changed the subject.
"How are Rak and Natida?"
"Physically? Growth? Or relationship?"
"First two. What's this about relationship?"
"You didn't know?"
"Know what?"
Kalt gave Raniel a pitying look.
Not for nothing was his senior called the pity mage. She didn't just fail to grasp the subtle flows between men and women—she didn't even try.
"...Anyway, first two are fine. Rak's growth is accelerating, and his injuries are mostly healed."
"And the last?"
"Their relationship... might be too good."
"Too good? Isn't that great?"
Kalt rubbed his eyes.
"Senior."
"Yeah."
"Don't you know what 'close' means for two young folks in their prime?"
Raniel blinked.
She pondered, stroking her chin.
"Ah."
Her eyes widened.
"Those damn..."
Kalt broke out in a sweat holding back Raniel, who looked ready to bolt to Crempelia.
3.
Someone knocked on the office door.
Rak, handling paperwork, said "Come in" curtly. The door opened, and someone entered. The click of heels made Rak look up.
"......"
A stranger met his eyes.
Neatly combed-back brown hair. Eyes gleaming green. Slender eyelashes. Natida stood there, looking entirely different.
No hollow gaze.
No baggy priest robes or disheveled clothes for comfort. Dressed up meticulously, she stepped toward Rak.
In the half-year facing her, Rak had never seen this look. Flustered by the unfamiliar sight, he stared as Natida smiled.
"Rak."
She whispered.
"I have something I want to say."