Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Swordsman's Path (2)
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If it's a path, you can lose it. You might not look straight ahead.
But this slash couldn't bend... or waver.
That thrust advanced as if it would tear the world apart. Indiscernible illusions clung to the thrust. They seemed to whisper. You're walking a bizarre path right now. Turn your head and look elsewhere.
But the thrust wasn't deceived.
It distorts. False laws crumble, and the petty illusions that had covered their eyes and ears revealed their frail innards in an instant.
And Ban's sword didn't stop.
He added thrust upon thrust. Just as his efforts had never withered throughout his life, the thrusts he created bit tail to tail, continuously ripping open the path ahead.
A vivid thrill rose to Ban's lips. It wasn't a bad feeling. In that moment of clashing against the world itself, Ban could focus solely on his sword, unswayed by any stray thoughts.
‘This sensation... it's not unfamiliar...'
If this was what he imagined, he couldn't back down even more. It was the moment Ban gathered his qi once more to slash.
"That's enough."
A displeased voice rang out. Ban slowly raised his head without sheathing his sword. Beyond the thrust, at the end of the winding, distorted narrow path, a man in pristine white robes stared at him intently.
"You're going at it like you mean to rip the entire mountain apart. As expected of the young ones—they've got nothing but bravado to show off."
"If you have something else worth showing, tell me. Next time I come, I'll demonstrate that."
"What a mouth on you... Fine. What brings you here? I don't recall any connection with a fledgling like you."
"I've come on a request from Shionel Village. But... I can't even remember the details of the request anymore. I never imagined the monk who 'takes the pepper from a crying child' would turn out to be... someone like you."
Ban's smile deepened. He lowered his stance like a wolf and gripped his sword more carefully. His undisguised hostility rippled toward the monk as if it had a will of its own.
"Who would've thought. That a great bloodline would be hiding in a backwater like this."
And at the moment those words ended, Ban recoiled in shock, stepping back a pace. In the spot he'd just occupied, a bluish sword gleam flashed.
‘A woman?’
If his reaction had been even a fraction slower, he would've met the end of his life right there. It was the most insidious and swift strike he'd ever faced—enough to make him think that.
There wasn't even time to open his mouth. A seamless barrage flowed in naturally, stabbing toward his heart. Ban gritted his teeth and swung his huandao greatsword.
It had been ages since he'd felt deflection to be ‘burdensome.’ Even that murderous fiend who'd taken the salvation medicine hadn't burdened him. It wasn't comparable to the swords of Luke or Urong, but she was no opponent he could overwhelm with deflection alone. No, far from overwhelming—he could barely hold his ground.
‘At least on my level... no, in a situation like this, I'm at the disadvantage.’
He hadn't even sensed anyone besides the monk. It wasn't solely due to this bizarre place that beguiled the senses. Her concealment skills were exceptional enough to make even the Eustaine assassins click their tongues in admiration.
Concealment wasn't all she had. The rapier and main-gauche in her hands moved with organic fluidity rivaling Shade's Scorpion Sword, tightening around Ban's throat.
Dangerous.
So, Ban laughed.
It must have been a bizarre expression. A human who truly felt alive in the face of life and death. The most fundamental part of his humanity was twisted. The moment the woman flinched at that dissonance,
Ban seized the opening and drew his shortsword with his empty left hand. He wasn't fully accustomed to the difference in length yet, but still... his dual-wield swordsmanship hadn't lost its shine.
Second sword. Devour.
Like water bursting from a broken dam, sword strikes poured forth. Instead of clashing, she tried to step back, but she wasn't the only one with feet. Ban charged ferociously at her, and the moment some strange resolve flashed across her face,
—Stop!
A voice rang out. Spread. Seeped in. A familiar phenomenon. The power to command the world and make it submit.
Word Command.
Unlike Ban, who halted his slow steps, the woman jerked to a stop as if seized by something. The monk sighed as he slowly advanced.
"...I did tell you not to swing your blade recklessly."
"But, Elder...!"
"Quiet. Don't go spilling blood in someone else's yard—stay put."
The woman bowed her head with a sullen expression. The monk shook his head and looked at Ban.
"Forgive her. She's the type where her body moves before her mind..."
"No problem. It was fun. So, uh... I can call you Monk, right?"
"Those close to me call me Erock. Familiarly."
Erock said.
"So call me Monk. Formally."
§
"The village is in a bad spot? And?"
"...The guard captain was hoping you'd come, Monk."
"Hah, you think I'd manage a playground for those snot-nosed brats?"
"Well, if you don't want to, fine. I'm just the messenger anyway."
"If Shionel's grown enough to use a knight like you as a messenger, they probably don't need my help."
There seemed to be some strange misunderstanding, but Ban didn't bother correcting it. Truth be told, he'd never expected the monk to appear with a snap and save the village. In over a decade in Shionel, Ban had never even glimpsed the monk's shadow.
Erock glanced at Ban's cloak. He spoke in a peculiar tone.
"Has the kingdom's standards changed that much? I don't see any insignia of affiliation on your cloak."
"Well, I'm a Free Knight."
"That's exactly what I'm asking. With skills that must've drawn plenty of offers, why stay a Free Knight?"
"If I answer that, can I ask you a question in return?"
"...Hah, bold one. Fine. Go ahead."
"I didn't want to become a frog in a well."
Ban said in a nonchalant voice.
"No matter how grand or vast that well is, a well's still just a well. That's all."
"Simpleton."
"Swordsmen who live complicated lives just shorten their lifespans. Now it's my turn. Why is a royal blood relative in a place like this?"
For a mere detour, the monk's presence here stretched as far back as Shionel's history. Yet his appearance looked no older than Ban's...
"Not much different from you. The royal well got stuffy."
"...The royal well was stuffy, but the well on this rocky mountain was fine?"
"You figured it out."
Erock said in an empty voice. Only then did Ban truly sense that the man before him had lived ages beyond what his looks suggested. The old man, numb to the world's worth, continued.
"Even after leaving the well, all you can do is peer into another one."
"That's pretty lame."
Erock looked at Ban in disbelief. He knew his status, yet he poured out his thoughts so freely.
But Ban didn't dislike it. Erock ended up chuckling. He plopped down on a flat rock and asked.
"Fair enough, it might look that way. So, will you head back quietly now?"
"I never planned to make a fuss anyway. If you hadn't set up this weird barrier."
"Couldn't be helped. Lately, unwanted guests have been dropping by often. With rather unpleasant intentions."
At those words, Ban involuntarily glanced at the woman behind Erock. Was that why she'd lunged just because he mentioned royal blood? Ban's eyes narrowed.
"Revolutionary Corps?"
"Why think that?"
"My friend nearly got kidnapped by them once. From the Nahar Clan. If they need a great noble for some reason..."
At Ban's words, the woman behind Erock wore a fearsome expression. Erock nodded with an indifferent face.
"I see. But not the Revolutionary Corps. An old grudge."
"Hmm. Either way, you seem like you could use some help... Want me to lend a hand?"
Ban asked with a grin. Erock shook his head.
"Don't bother. I've survived just fine without you all these years."
"Trouble always strikes when you're off guard."
"...Do you even have the skill to help me?"
"Want to test it?"
Ban didn't draw his sword. Yet the aura emanating from his body already stood in for thousands of blades. The woman stepped forward to guard Erock. Baring her teeth, she said.
"Don't get cocky. If I wanted, someone like you..."
"Were you not wanting to earlier? Didn't seem that way."
"...Elder. Leave this to me. I'll teach this mutt where he can and can't bark."
The woman bared her teeth as she spoke. Dusky skin. Dusky hair. Dusky eyes. Dusky clothes. She looked like she could melt into shadows at any moment. And like she was ready to pounce on Ban from there.
Erock sighed without a word. But that silence was as good as permission. Watching her draw her two blades, Ban curled his lips.
"Fine. This turn of events isn't bad. Have we introduced ourselves? I'm Ban. Swordsman. Free Knight too."
"...Munet."
Munet said her name with obvious reluctance. Ban's eyes widened.
"Munet? Southern name? Interesting. Hard to remember."
"No need to worry. You'll want to forget my name for the rest of your life."
Munet gripped her rapier and main-gauche. Rapier forward, main-gauche back. When a decisive strike landed, that main-gauche would shoot out like a shield, becoming her lifeline.
Ban drew his huandao greatsword and shortsword. Dual blades against dual blades—it felt right. Most efficient, too. Above all... he wanted to see. Whose dual-wield swordsmanship reigned supreme.
‘Shade's face when I beat him with dual-wielding was hilarious.’
The look on his face when Ban's nameless dual-wield crushed a lifetime of Scorpion Sword mastery... he'd never forget it.
He didn't know Munet's story. Why she guarded Erock so fiercely. How she'd mastered such clean dual-wield. He didn't care to know. What he wanted to know was this swordsman Munet—not the person.
"Hope it's not all talk. I'm pretty curious how good you really are."
The fight had been cut short midway, leaving him parched inside. For her to set the stage herself—Ban had no reason to refuse.
Second sword? No, not that. The devouring sword was like a salmon swimming upstream—a waterfall. Fine against reckless charges or solid defenses, but not ideal for someone leaping from the shadows.
So what then? What would work?
The answer was obvious. Ban smiled. Seeing this, Shade would mope around gloomily for a while.
He lowered his stance. Right sword parallel to the ground, clinging like to the earth. Left sword angled forward.
Someone might say of that ferocious, eerie form...
It looks just like a scorpion.