Chapter 35. My Death (2)
Chapter 35. My Death (2)
"Sword Saint......?"
Paladin narrowed her brow.
"What business do you have here?"
She surely hadn't expected to run into the Sword Saint in an alley like this. It was an unexpected place, and an unexpected figure. To write it off as mere coincidence, the Sword Saint's presence was too menacing.
"Young lady's hearing's already going, is it?"
Because the old man was radiating killing intent at me.
"I said step aside. I have business with the man standing there."
"You speak roughly. Are you saying you have something to discuss alone with Hunter Kim Gong-ja?"
"Heh. I've no interest in whatever that bastard's name is."
"......."
The air in the alley shifted.
Paladin no longer narrowed her brow. She simply stared expressionlessly at the Sword Saint. Clear wariness. This skilled hunter, who had risen to number two in the massive guild known as the Vigilante Corps, was certain of it. That the aged swordsman had not approached with friendly intentions.
"Move aside."
The Sword Saint said.
"I've already told you three times to move."
"What can't be done with one word won't be done with three, nor with thirty. Sword Saint, have you grown so old that you've forgotten even the simple truths of the world?"
Paladin slowly raised her hand to her sword hilt.
"Hunter Kim Gong-ja has formally joined the Five Great Guilds, including the Vigilante Corps. Attacking Kim Gong-ja is no different from declaring war on the Five Great Guilds. I don't know what you're thinking, but... don't imagine the Vigilante Corps will stand by and watch."
"Ha!"
The Sword Saint let out a sneer.
"As I thought. So the guilds are all in the same rotten pot. I knew it."
"...The same pot? I have less and less idea what you're trying to say."
As time passed, the air in the alley grew more hostile.
"Sword Saint, we've already received multiple reports that you occasionally carry out [human hunts]. Of course, the Vigilante Corps isn't idle enough to interfere with your personal convictions. But if you intend to commit a hunt right in front of my eyes, that's a different story."
"And if it is different?"
"I will stop you with my life."
"Are you confident you can?"
"No."
Paladin stared expressionlessly at the old man.
"I will fight you with everything I have, and I will die. And the moment I die, you become a piece-of-trash murderer who beat an innocent person to death. Sword Saint, if you want to spend the rest of your life as a murderer, come at me all you like."
"......."
"A life with little time left anyway. I'll drag you down into the gutter with me."
The Sword Saint's aged face twisted.
It was already evening. In the alley, the sun was setting quickly. From the far end of the alley came the sounds of people coming and going, but here there was no one but us. Silence flowed between the Sword Saint and Paladin as they faced off.
This very stillness.
'Yes.'
I had brought Paladin here to create this silence.
'The Sword Saint is weak against the innocent.'
And Paladin was perhaps the only innocent among the executives of the great guilds.
Last cycle. When the Sword Saint had tried to kill me on the 12th-floor stage.
Back then, too, Paladin had stepped up and mediated between the Sword Saint and me. The Sword Saint had let slip a meaningful remark and gladly entrusted the role of mediator to Paladin.
-So it's Miss Paladin.
-You are the only person here who has not harmed a single soul. Good. I'll trust you.
Words that seemed to pass by unremarkably.
But my ears did not miss them.
In other words.
'Paladin's kill count is displayed as [0].'
No matter how violent the Sword Saint's ethics were... no, precisely because his ethics were so extreme, in the old man's eyes Paladin could only appear as a good person.
'The Sword Saint can never harm Paladin.'
A kind of natural counter.
To the wicked, the Sword Saint was a terrifying killer.
To the good, the Sword Saint was nothing more than a harmless old man.
And furthermore.......
'It's not just Paladin.'
Step.
Someone walked out in front of us. It was the pharmacist. Frozen until now by the successive appearances of Paladin and the Sword Saint, the pharmacist finally forced his feet forward and spread his arms wide.
"E-excuse me!"
The pharmacist opened his mouth. Clack, clack. His jaw trembled from how nervous he was. The pharmacist pursed his lips several times, spitting out one word at a time.
"I have no idea what's going on, but... this c-customer here! Is my benefactor!"
The hunter who would one day rise to become the guild master of the Alchemy Ministry.
Alchemy Ministry Head.
A hunter with a guaranteed path to success shouted with all his might.
"Babylon doesn't have laws like the outside world, but... protecting a customer is only natural for a shop owner, and... no matter who you are, Sword Saint! I cannot forgive anyone who lays a hand on a customer of my shop!"
"......."
"A f-few days ago, thugs caused a ruckus and made things difficult for me! I'm sorry, but please leave the front of my shop! This is a formal eviction request!"
The pharmacist shouted. If it came to a direct confrontation with the Sword Saint, the pharmacist's head would fly off in less than a second. And yet, despite that, the Sword Saint's presence actually weakened.
For the same reason.
'Saintess, Paladin, Alchemy Ministry Head.'
Because these three were hunters famous for their goodness even in the future.
'When the Flame Emperor set fire to the slums, Paladin and the Alchemy Ministry Head were the first to arrive at the scene.'
Good people.
Those who live taking a little more loss than others, who take on a little more stress than others, and who are therefore treated as pushovers by many.
But the only people who could stop the rank-1 hunter, the Sword Saint... were such good people.
There was no one else.
"What will you do?"
Paladin said.
"If you want to fall into the gutter, I'll gladly oblige you."
"......."
The Sword Saint hesitated for a long while. If my thinking was right, the conclusion was already decided.
And my thinking was right.
Before long, the aged swordsman withdrew his hand from his sword hilt.
"...It's simply not my day today."
The Sword Saint withdrew his killing intent.
Even as he turned his steps away, the old man glared at me to the very end.
"Pray that you never cross paths with me. Had Miss Paladin and that shopkeeper not been here, your head would already be lying in the street."
Good.
Stage-2 condition cleared.
With this, I had avoided the Sword Saint swinging his blade at me the moment he saw me. Even if he killed me, at least I could exchange a word or two before dying.
What I needed was exactly that margin of a word or two.
"Sword Saint!"
Before the old man could fully turn away, I shouted.
"I'll be waiting tomorrow at noon in the empty lot north of the city!"
"......."
"You may come, or you may not. I'll wait alone. Truly! If you want to know what kind of person I am, please come tomorrow at noon!"
The old man turned his head slightly and glared at me. His blue eyes swept over my face thoroughly. But that was all. The Sword Saint quietly left the alley without giving any particular answer.
Trudge. Trudge.
Only after the footsteps faded and finally stopped altogether did Paladin let out a sigh.
"Hoo! That took ten years off my life. Meeting a killer on a moonlit night, of all things."
A killer.
"...Is the Sword Saint famous as a killer?"
"Not famous. But at least the Five Great Guild masters know well."
Paladin shook her head.
"They say he lost his daughter to a murderer back when he lived in the outside world. He's an old man who doesn't talk about himself, so I don't know the details."
"......."
"Maybe because of that, the Sword Saint shows no mercy to murderers. His hands are brutal. Well, but there's no evidence, so we're practically turning a blind eye....... Hm, but of course, this is a secret."
The guardian spirit cut in front of me.
-Right. Old man Marcus told me once. Said his daughter and son-in-law were killed by a serial murderer. Only his granddaughter and grandson barely survived.
'Why are you only telling me this now?'
-Huh? What do you mean? You never asked.
The guardian spirit said shamelessly.
Right, this was just how he was.
"Well, it's not that I can't understand the Sword Saint's heart."
Paladin looked around with a bitter expression.
A shabby alley.
The city's Harlem district spread out like a shadow against the evening glow.
"Working in the Vigilante Corps, you meet all sorts of criminals. Talking with them, there are many times when you really wonder if it's okay for scum like that to be alive. Killing those who deserve to die before they die....... Even I sometimes feel that temptation."
Paladin muttered.
"The great guild masters all have their own deep stories. Kim Gong-ja, now that you've joined our ranks, you'll come to learn it gradually....... Truly, there are places so rotten they reek. I wonder how you'll react... hm."
Paladin shook her head. Perhaps she thought she'd told an outsider too much.
"The conversation has wandered off track."
She deliberately spoke in a slightly brighter voice.
"So, how much are the potions here? The Vigilante Corps is always short on budget, so it'd be a problem if they're too expensive......."
4
The next day.
I stood alone in a desolate empty lot, looking at my smartphone.
The field, already sparse with people, truly had not a single soul. That was only natural. Right now, the hunters of Babylon were gathered in the plaza, holding a festival.
It was similar to the last cycle.
'But there are differences too.'
Glance.
I read the news floating up on my phone screen.
-[Breaking] Floor 11 is a group battle? All Black Dragon executives assembled.
-Ahead of the festival, great guilds hastily organize raid teams by squad.......
-Heretic Questioner exclusive interview! "If you want to clear Floor 11, you must form a thorough team."
-Another collusion among the great guilds?
-The source of the information is a mystery.......
Yes.
The world had changed a little.
And it was because of me.
"......."
And it would change a little more.
"Hm."
From the far side of the field, the Sword Saint walked slowly toward me. Was it because he wore a black suit? The sky spread out behind the old man's back looked especially blue. From afar, in the direction of the city, the cheers of people could be faintly heard.
[00:01:31]
A clock of light floated leisurely in the sky above.
The blue sky, the voices of people, the clock of light.
Leaving all of it behind, the Sword Saint approached me.
"You really are alone."
The Sword Saint stopped.
"Confident that you can face me alone? Well, an assassin who has committed that much slaughter would have reason to be confident in his skills."
His gaze.
The old man's gaze as he looked at me felt quite unfamiliar. Because it was completely different from the last cycle. Last time, trust and acknowledgment for each other had been contained in that gaze.
But now there was no trust, no acknowledgment.
Distrust. Hostility.
There was simply the look of someone regarding a murderer.
-You okay, zombie?
'.......'
-You alright?
I nodded inwardly.
'Yes, I'm fine.'
My heart just ached a little, that was all.
"Sword Saint."
I steadied myself.
"There is something I urgently wish to tell you."
"Speak. If it's your last words, I'll hear them."
"I know why you're trying to kill me, Sword Saint."
The Sword Saint raised the corner of his mouth.
"Is that so. A thief whose own feet are guilty. So you know your own sins."
"It's because of the skill [Detective's Insight]."
"......."
The Sword Saint's expression hardened for an instant.
"You bastard, how do you......?"
"Please, believe what I'm about to tell you."
I opened my mouth and thought.
How hard is it to earn a person's trust?
Everyone has their own stubbornness. In the Sword Saint's case, [Detective's Insight] was that stubbornness. A skill that shows the target's kill count. The fact that this skill might be wrong, the fact that it might commit some error—the Sword Saint simply ignored it.
That was why it was stubbornness.
The old man before me had lived his whole life by that stubbornness.
A person who has lived by stubbornness cannot separate his life from it. They are mixed together. The moment he abandons his stubbornness, he believes he is abandoning his own life.
'I have to persuade such a person.'
And on top of that, make him trust me.
I had to persuade the man before me to deny the life he had lived until now.
Thinking about it again, how difficult a task was this?
'But... I can do it.'
I clenched my fist.
'I just have to stake my life too.'
I opened my mouth.
"Sword Saint, I am a prophet."
"What?"
"To be precise, I possess a skill akin to prophecy. Thanks to this skill, I know that you possess [Detective's Insight]. If I stay still like this, you will kill me, and I will ask why I have to die."
"......."
"Then you will say this. That you have a skill called [Detective's Insight], and according to this skill, the number [4093] floats above my head."
It was a small lie.
But right now, I had to persuade the old man even if it meant using lies.
The fact that I knew the future.
Only if the Sword Saint placed his trust in this fact would it be possible to clear Floor 12 safely.
[00:00:00]
Before I knew it, the clock in the sky pointed to zero. Far away in the city, celebratory cannons fired. The cheers celebrating the opening of a new era drifted faintly over.
The old man and I.
Only the two of us stood a step apart from the festival, looking at each other.
After maintaining silence for a while, the Sword Saint spoke.
"...Guess."
"Pardon?"
"I am currently hiding my left hand behind my back. And I am holding up fingers. Guess how many fingers I am holding up. If you truly are a prophet, you'll figure it out without difficulty."
Okay.
So it came out like this, as expected.
Just as I predicted.
"If you fail to guess, I will consider you to have dared to speak falsehood......."
Most likely, the Sword Saint had been perfectly prepared in case I attacked. Whether I launched a surprise attack, used an item, used a skill, or made any attack at all, the Sword Saint would have easily blocked it.
But he could not have predicted 'this.'
Before the Sword Saint could even finish speaking, I drew a dagger. The Sword Saint flinched. And when the old man took a defensive stance in preparation for an attack, I stabbed my own throat without hesitation.
"What?"
The Sword Saint's eyes flew open.
The aged swordsman had only prepared for me attacking him. He had never imagined I would stab my own throat. A moment of carelessness. One second of time. Thanks to that, I was able to kill myself.
And then.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
One second of time was enough for me.
I started the day again.
I came down from the 10th-floor stage and met the great guild masters. Played poker. Won. Asked Paladin to accompany me into the alley. Encountered the Sword Saint. Paladin and the pharmacist defended me. The Sword Saint withdrew, and I shouted to meet tomorrow at noon.
[00:00:00]
And once again, I stood at this moment.
The Sword Saint said the same thing as yesterday.
"...Guess."
The same test as the last cycle.
But my reaction was not the same as last time. When the Sword Saint said "Guess," I did not stupidly ask back, "Pardon?" Instead, I answered as if I had predicted it in advance.
"You're about to hide your left hand behind your back."
"......."
"Then you'll hold up fingers and tell me to guess how many you're holding up. Thinking that if I'm a real prophet, I'll figure it out without difficulty."
The Sword Saint's face hardened a little more.
"Sword Saint, please believe me. I have acquired something like a prophecy skill. Killing me here is simple. But if you kill me, it becomes impossible to clear the 12th-floor stage safely. Countless people will lose their lives."
"...Wait. Hold on."
The Sword Saint said.
"This alone is insufficient evidence. It could be [Clairvoyance] or [Mind Reading] rather than prophecy. Where is the guarantee that you are truly a prophet......."
Right.
Once isn't enough.
I had already braced myself for this.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
Persuading a single person was never going to be easy.
Even more so when that person was an old man who had reached the pinnacle of his field.
"This alone is insufficient evidence. Rather than prophecy......."
"You're suspecting that it might be [Clairvoyance] or [Mind Reading] rather than prophecy. Asking where the guarantee is that I'm truly a prophet."
But it's fine.
If you want to test me, keep testing.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
If you want to doubt, doubt all you like.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
Whether it takes a week or a fortnight, it doesn't matter.
[You have died.]
[Regressing 24 hours into the past.]
I am confident I can persuade you.
My death is longer than your life.
"......."
At last, the Sword Saint closed his lips.
All of the old man's suspicions and doubts had been overtaken and overturned.
I spoke calmly.
"Sword Saint, please believe me."
"......."
"You must not kill me here. Countless casualties will occur on the 12th-floor stage. I mean it. I'm not asking you to believe I'm innocent, nor am I asking you to spare my life forever."
"...Then?"
"Five days."
I held up my fingers.
"Please don't kill me for just the next five days. Follow me around, and judge with your own two eyes whether I truly am someone who deserves to die."
The Sword Saint fell silent.
Without needing to raise my dagger and stab my throat again, I knew the old man was conflicted inside. It was the moment that required a final blow.
And I knew exactly what would serve as that 'final blow.'
"You still don't believe what I'm saying."
"......."
"Sword Saint, later on, in the distant future, you tell me a single phrase. You say that if I say this one phrase, you'll believe that I truly am a prophet."
"...And what is it?"
I answered.
"Sword Emperor (劍帝)."
The old man's eyes widened.
Regardless, I kept speaking.
"I don't know whose alias it is, but you said this one phrase would make you believe me."
"......."
Silence sank down.
Far away in the city, cheers still rang out. I could even glimpse the figure of a goddess descending and delivering a speech.
Around the time the goddess vanished, the aged swordsman barely managed to open his mouth.
"You said five days, young man."
"Yes."
"Very well."
The Sword Saint looked into my eyes and said.
"For the next five days, I will follow behind you. I will observe everything you say, everything you do, your attitude and your bearing, without missing a thing. After that, I will judge whether you are someone who deserves to die, or whether you truly are a prophet who approached me."
"......."
"Will that do?"
Good.
"...Yes, that will do. That's enough."
I bowed my head deeply.
"Truly, thank you."
All conditions cleared.
First, secure promises from the guild masters.
Second, prevent the Sword Saint from killing me the moment he sees me.
Third, make the Sword Saint trust me, at least for the time being.
'Finally.'
Now, at last, even if I climbed to Floor 12, the guild masters and the Sword Saint would not be at odds.
There would be no more pointless suspicion and infighting.
No more innocent hunters being killed.
"Then, Sword Saint. I'll see you at the next stage."
I said, enduring the tightness in my throat.
The Sword Saint was staring at me with a strange look, but I had no time to worry about that right now. I had to do what I had to do.
"Transfer."
Flash!
White light enveloped me.
Feeling my heart pound, I thought.
'Now all that's left is hunting the Demon King.'
The world had changed.
'Wait for me, Demon King.'
And it would change a little more.