Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Silver Flower Sword Wave
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Emily doubted whether what she had just seen was real.
No, she couldn't believe it even after seeing it.
‘The wastrel….’
House Jerban's unparalleled wastrel had just demonstrated what swordsmanship? The legendary sword of the Stella Saintess.
Silver Flower Sword Wave.
Flower petals swirled around him, and his sword path drew flowers in vibrant colors.
The petals orbited him, joining his sword path whenever he willed it.
They gathered strength steadily like waves, then crashed down as a tsunami.
The force at that moment was like a storm.
Like the north winds of the north.
The ground was thick with traces of flower petals where his sword had passed. How could a sword create such a phenomenon?
Emily couldn't believe it even after seeing it.
And the one who produced it was House Jerban's wastrel.
Especially because it was Kallias von Jervan!
"Haa, haa… haa……."
But even that had come to an end.
Kallias's breathing grew ragged.
The divine power that had scattered brilliant holiness around him had weakened. It was because he had poured most of his energy into that single strike.
"The Great Warrior…."
The Great Warrior was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing Bernard sheathe his sword, it seemed he had regretfully fled.
But that alone was an incredible feat. To fight and repel an Orc Great Warrior who commanded an entire legion!!
Thud.
Kallias, having let go of his sword, collapsed as he was. Blood gushed from his chest again as he fell limply.
Emily's eyes widened like saucers.
"Nia! Brans!"
Emily rushed over immediately.
If left like that, Kallias would surely die. Even if he had swallowed a sacred stone, he had lost too much blood.
Splat, splat.
The blood he had spilled pooled on the floor.
Emily's face twisted.
"Oh no, my lord!!"
"W-what do we do?"
She didn't know.
She needed to treat the wound, but she couldn't.
He had lost too much blood.
Even if the wound healed, she wasn't sure if he could survive, and she didn't even have any wound salve on hand.
"Grandfather!"
"Let's see."
He responded, but Bernard had no good solution either.
If they could get to Jaybarshu Castle, they could try something, but it was too far.
Looking at Kallias's condition, Bernard expected him to die on the way.
Bernard, who had seen many wounded, felt his years telling him so.
His wrinkles deepened.
"We can only pray to the gods."
Great Sword God Valterus.
Your son is in dire straits. The swordsmanship he showed holds the promise of fulfilling your will, so please do not cast him aside.
As everyone prayed.
"Th-there's a way, with me!"
It was Brans.
He rummaged through his bag like someone pulling out hidden pocket money, then took out a vial with trembling hands.
"What is that?"
"It-it's the medicine you made for me, my lord. You gave me this one and said if you ever lost consciousness or seemed like you were dying, to use it…."
Emily snatched it before he could finish.
"How… do I apply it!?"
"Apply it and make him drink it."
Emily immediately uncorked the vial, slathering the wound generously before pouring the rest into Kallias's mouth after prying it open. Then she hugged his face and burst into sobs.
"Don't die! You can't die! We just met, why are you trying to die already!"
Bernard patted Emily sympathetically and ordered the knights gathered around.
"Head to Jaybarshu Castle. He's at death's door, so we need to hide in the nearby forest and watch his condition."
It was too precarious to move rashly, and there was no need for so many people here.
"We'll stay with you."
But the knights shook their heads.
They were men who had accepted death rather than flee.
They had survived because of Kallias; they couldn't shamelessly turn away to save their own skins now.
"I see. Heh heh."
Even in this situation, seeing those who followed Kallias made Bernard feel inexplicably pleased.
But looking at Kallias's pallid face soon soured his mood.
"Then let's move to another spot."
Soon, Kallias's group relocated to evade the orcs.
* * *
Crackle, crackle.
He awoke to the pleasant sound of a campfire. The ceiling appeared to be that of a log cabin made of dark timber.
Creak. As he shifted, the bed groaned.
"Ungh…."
Emily was slumped asleep by the bedside. A reddish campfire illuminated one side of the cabin.
He tried to get up but glanced at Emily and lay back down.
He pondered what had happened.
There was no memory loss.
Fortunately, he remembered everything.
Lying down, he reached out his hand.
‘I cut.’
With this hand. It had been almost unconscious swordsmanship, but it had the flavor of a cut.
However, he didn't know where he had cut.
He had been conscious, his memory clear, but not in his right mind.
But he had definitely cut the bastard.
So he must have fled.
‘A shame.’
If he had caught the Great Warrior, not only the quest reward but the grade of the Carcass Sword from him would have been extraordinary.
He smacked his lips in regret but soon laughed it off and forgot.
He had nearly died and come back to life.
Expecting more would be greed.
Surviving the Great Warrior was already something the other knights could boast about over drinks for life.
‘Hmm… He used the holy water Brans had.’
The wound from his shoulder down to his side had healed.
It was quite deep, so it wasn't fully healed yet, but the rest would come with time.
It was impossible to heal so cleanly without holy water, so they must have used what he had prepared.
‘Then the holy water he has now is his own.’
He had put holy water in the [Eldora Double Bag] he gave Brans just in case, and it saved him. People really should calculate possibilities and prepare.
Otherwise, he would have died before he could access the holy water hidden in his stigmata after losing consciousness.
‘I should praise Brans when he comes.’
He deserved it this time.
"But why is this girl like this?"
Emily.
Looking at her sleeping soundly made pity well up inexplicably.
‘Not Elverton's child.’
No route would have Elverton with such a young daughter.
So she must be adopted… but why would Elverton take in a child with blocked sacred blood?
He didn't think so.
So how did Emily become Elverton's adopted daughter?
No way to know which Jerban bloodline she carried.
"My daughter?"
No way.
Emily was twelve, Kallias twenty-six, so he would have had to father her at fourteen….
"Hmm…."
Given Kallias's character, it was possible.
‘I never set that.’
No matter how he thought, he couldn't figure it out.
Why was Bernard looking after this child?
It was then.
Creak.
"You're awake."
The door opened, and a short but white-haired old man entered.
A paladin with a physique unbefitting his age.
It was Bernard.
"Yes."
He hadn't been surprised, having sensed his presence already.
Extending his senses slightly, he felt quite a few knights camped near the cabin.
"How long was I asleep?"
"About four days."
Already that much time had passed?
He had delayed too long.
In four days, the orcs would have reached near Jaybarshu Castle.
He didn't have time to linger.
He carefully got out of bed and gathered his neatly arranged leather armor and gear.
"You just woke up. No need to rush; rest now."
"I don't have time for that. The wound is healing, and above all, this isn't the time to rest idly."
Bernard started to say more but closed his mouth.
His deep sigh held his inner turmoil.
"What happened?"
"I don't know the details. But I do know the orcs have reached the castle."
"Have they started?"
"No, not yet."
It seemed they hadn't fully clashed yet.
Good.
If the war hadn't begun, it wasn't too late.
He needed to hurry.
"Kallias."
"What is it?"
He answered Bernard's call lightly, securing Roas and Lucen at his waist. The wound throbbed with each movement, but it was bearable.
The holy water's energy lingered inside, slowly healing as he moved.
Clack.
Now draped in the Twilight Cape, Kallias looked at the sleeping Emily and Bernard.
Bernard’s expression was unusual.
"What is it? You look like a puppy desperate to shit."
"With that mouth of yours…."
Bernard grumbled about the rotten bastard, then glanced at Emily and asked indirectly.
"This war will be fiercer than expected, a battlefield where you can't trust anyone. Not just me, but you'll face many life-threatening moments too."
Why was this old man beating around the bush like this?
He crossed his arms in a slouch and listened quietly to Bernard.
"So stay here."
"Why would I?"
"I saw you fight the Great Warrior. I thought you were practicing some weird stuff, but it was the Stella Saintess's swordsmanship."
"…Then I should join the war even more."
"No, that's exactly why you must not set foot on this battlefield."
"Why?"
"Whatever way you obtained Silver Flower Sword Wave, now that you've mastered it, you're no longer just a pilgrim or House Jerban's wastrel."
In short, Bernard's words were.
"Kallias. Go to the Church now. Show them your sword."
Spread Silver Flower Sword Wave.
"You've been chased from your family, suffered needlessly many times, nearly died several times. Even just now, you came back from death. You don't need to go through this hardship."
"Hmm……."
He understood Bernard's intent.
No need for such hardship.
No need to risk death.
Just spreading the sword would strengthen Carpe and Sword God Valterus.
That was his point.
Doing so would earn the Church's recognition, and Carpe and House Jerban would accept him.
‘Is he serious?’
Bernard’s eyes were earnest.
He meant it sincerely.
Out of care for him.
He knew that.
But he didn't know.
‘What my goal is.’
What dangers lay ahead.
"I refuse."
No point listening further.
"What's your reason?"
Many reasons.
Demonic beasts, dark mages, the Empire, heretics, Crasion, demons—they would bring countless dangers.
To survive them, he needed to raise his own strength.
Hiding behind the Church and state achieved nothing.
Even if it did, it would be temporary.
On the pilgrim's path, the only way Kallias survived was by wielding his sword.
Nothing else.
"I am…."
Bernard waited calmly.
He pondered, then stated the obvious.
"A pilgrim."
A lifelong pilgrim seeking his sword.
Yes.
Before being a noble.
Before being Bernard's disciple.
He was a true pilgrim.
"I see. Yes… that's right."
Bernard smiled bitterly, apologizing as if for a slip of the tongue.
"Forget it. I momentarily forgot you're a pilgrim. Yes, a pilgrim's duty is to find his own sword…."
He caressed the hilt of his beloved sword.
Thunderclap Sword - Rakan, and lifted the corner of his mouth.
"Then where is your sword?"
[Wheel of Patalite]
-Killed Orcs: 172
-Killed Demonic Beasts: 86
-Saved People: 41
-???
<Reward> [A] ???
To his question.
Kallias lifted his mouth corner similarly and answered.
"The wheel."
The rolling wheel of pilgrimage.
His sword would be there.