Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The Swordsman's Path (4)
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Ban’s eyebrows twitched.
After realizing the secret hidden in his identity, Ban had always harbored a certain thought. What if he were to obtain the sword used by the previous guardians who had read the sword just like him?
If he gripped a sword that still held their memories and traces intact, then no matter how long it took, he would eventually reach their level. After all, the most powerful strength granted by the Voice of the Sword was the guarantee of limitless growth.
If so many guardians had passed down their memories, connecting them, connecting them again and again... until the realm became ridiculously high. And if he were to inherit that sword.
“...How do you know of that sword?”
Ban tried not to show his excitement as he spoke. But it wasn’t something he could hide just by trying. The corner of his mouth twitched with unconscious anticipation, and his leaning-forward torso seemed ready to leap out at any moment. Watching Ban like that, Erok smirked mischievously.
“Hmph. Such trivial details aren’t important. You know Ballagot despises lies. So, does that give you some motivation now?”
“Tell me what I need to do. It doesn’t seem like you’re just asking me to stand by and watch...”
“You know this, but we may move the world itself... but we have no talent for fighting people.”
He knew that. Drnoa was like that right away, and seeing Erok now made it even clearer. They could move mountains and fields to protect themselves, but in terms of ‘combat’...
‘If it came to a real fight... could I win?’
Ban gauged the distance between him and Erok. It would be tough. Erok alone might be manageable, but from the Word Command just moments ago, Ban had felt how much Erok could halt him. Resistance was possible if he steeled himself, but that momentary gap... would be enough time for Munet to sever his neck.
But the very fact that he was thinking this way proved that the Word Command alone couldn’t wield such overwhelming power. Of course, that would change as the scale of battle grew larger.
“Vampires grow stronger with every feeding. Not only do I extend life through the ‘life’ I stole from them, but I also share in that strength.”
“...That’s not exactly shocking. Isn’t that what vampires are?”
“I’ve carried a grudge against them for centuries.”
Erok looked at Ban with a strange glint in his eyes.
“The Seonwoo Clan once flourished more than any other family, simply because we could trace back centuries of history. But what if those who actually lived those centuries were involved?”
“Didn’t you just say you stole eternal life from them? I thought they’d just live normal lives and die...”
“Stealing eternal life and granting death are different matters.”
“...I don’t get it. So, what do you want me to do?”
“Steal one more thing from them.”
“Not enough with eternal life?”
Munet’s sharp gaze prickled. Erok gave a wry smile.
“Steal a living corpse for me.”
§
“...To think I’d become a knight just to steal corpses.”
“If you have complaints, you can quit right now.”
“Complaints? Hah.”
Ban laughed.
“As if.”
The guardian’s sword was at stake, after all. He couldn’t confirm if it was exactly what he imagined, but if he could obtain that sword...
‘...’
Ban glanced up at the moon, then quickened his pace. Munet followed slowly behind him with an irritated expression.
‘Why this guy of all people...’
Munet had become Ban’s companion. Not by her choice, of course. The moment Ban agreed to the mission that might take years, Erok had told him to take her along.
She’d argued she couldn’t leave him with the vampires still pursuing, but Erok’s will was firm.
Even as she walked, Munet kept looking back several times. Her face was openly worried. Ban glanced at her and asked.
“You look young, but are you actually in your tens or something?”
“...I’m in my twenties. And stop talking to me. It’s annoying.”
“Why? Oh, can’t stand someone way more skilled than you? Sorry. I lacked consideration.”
“Don’t act superior with skills you stole.”
“Stolen skills are still skills.”
Ban’s expression remained unfazed. He looked at Munet with a composed gaze.
“I became a swordsman because I want to cut the sky. Not to train in cutting the sky. Of course, I don’t hate training or anything, but anyway, a swordsman’s duty isn’t about how hard you tried. It’s about what you can cut.”
“So, what have you cut?”
“A river.”
Munet’s eyes widened slightly at the nonchalant answer. Ban added belatedly.
“...About half of Ban River, though.”
“Hmph.”
Despite snorting involuntarily at his oddly bashful tone, Munet was inwardly surprised. Half of the Ban River was still a river. A swordsman who could pull off a feat like that. Well, considering he’d shattered half of Erok’s barrier, he’d have to be able to cut at least a river.
They headed first to Jensen’s abode. Jensen’s initial reaction to Munet trailing behind Ban was quite calm.
“A bride candidate?”
“Ugh!”
“No. I have a girl I like.”
“...You actually have one?”
Jensen stared at Ban with wide eyes. Ban scratched his head, frowning as if unsure himself.
“...Probably?”
“Boring guy. Come in. You too, miss. It’s cold out.”
“...Yes.”
The moment they entered Jensen’s abode, Ban recounted his encounter with the old man. As Ban casually revealed Erok’s royal status, Munet gripped her rapier multiple times, itching to act... but Jensen was the same. He glanced at Munet and said.
“You’re just going to openly declare the Seonwoo Clan?”
Ban had mentioned the Voice of the Sword and the guardian’s sword several times during the conversation. Munet, being Erok’s person, had heard it too, but it felt incredibly awkward. Ban’s identity was something they’d hidden for twenty years.
Ban shrugged.
“Of course not now. No desire to reveal it anyway. But if I don’t need to hide it later, that’d be nice.”
“...If you render great service to the kingdom, maybe.”
“To revive a clan erased from history... what would it take? Save the world?”
“Why? Lacking confidence? You, who dreamed of Sword God Ban so often.”
“Wish a moon would fall.”
Ban shot back calmly.
“Cutting that would make me a hero, right?”
Munet stared at Ban in shock. She couldn’t imagine him bantering like a child.
He was utterly unpredictable. Seemingly obsessed with the sword, yet not a madman dying to cut people; seemingly that, but fundamentally different from ordinary folk in some core way.
She realized it that night. Unable to sleep easily in the unfamiliar space, Munet saw Ban training in the dead of night instead of sleeping.
It was brilliant swordsmanship. She’d criticized it as stolen, but it wasn’t skill gained without effort... It clearly held Ban’s own contemplation and struggles.
‘Can’t even grasp it.’
Ban’s skill was 5-Star. Meanwhile, Wilrn, the owner of the short tachi he wielded, was 7-Star. A level Ban couldn’t yet face.
The 5-Star benchmark was infusing laws into the sword. The laws he could confidently bestow now were two: deflect what he willed to deflect, cut what he willed to cut.
But for the second, third swords and beyond, he hadn’t grasped what ‘laws’ to give them. Laws weren’t something granted just because he willed it.
‘Dug too many wells?’
The thought sometimes crossed his mind. From what he’d seen, skilled swordsmen usually had one ‘primary law.’ If he needed one, what would it be?
The short tachi gleamed. No, it absorbed light. Then absorbed shadow and faded.
[You have gripped the sword of one far superior to you.]
Gripping the sword always stirred respect. Unlike him, who could read and absorb so much just by holding it, they had poured their entire lives into it. Their struggles were longer than his, their walls higher.
Yet they stood far ahead.
‘How could I rest?’
He glimpsed Wilrn’s memories. He couldn’t comprehend them. With one swing, blades emerged from shadows, from light rays—blades he’d never swung before. What should be cut went uncut, what shouldn’t be cut was sliced. How to understand this?
When Wilrn walked, the world seemed to hold its breath, awaiting his draw. Ban became that world, watching Wilrn, awaiting the cut upon himself.
And he was cut.
With every swing, he cut and was cut. He felt the traces of those cuts with all his senses, accepting them. And each time, he grew stronger, bit by bit.
Munet, stealing glances, lost herself for a moment.
‘...Is this the power of the Seonwoo Clan?’
Ban hadn’t fully absorbed Wilrn’s sword yet. No, he hadn’t even properly understood it. That’s why, each time he practiced Wilrn’s sword, each step closer he got, the changes in his sword grew clearer. Clear enough to tell just by watching from the side.
Now she understood why Erok had told her so much about the Seonwoo Clan.
It was threatening.
‘...’
Munet gripped her rapier, glaring at Ban. Ironically, despite his sword being more flawed and crude than ever... she felt fear in that crudeness. In the back of the man tracing all things in the world, becoming something the present couldn’t allow.
A sudden thought struck her.
Maybe this man really could cut the moon.
§
Aidan apologized when Ban embarked on a longer journey than expected. But for Ban, there was no need. This wasn’t just for Aidan. With the guardian’s sword on the line, it was a mission he’d pursue even if it cost money and time.
Ban rode with Munet. They talked occasionally when time allowed, but not for long. From those talks, Ban learned Munet had once been a thief, caught while trying to rob Erok’s place on a commission—and that’s how she met him.
“The more I think, the more surprising it is.”
“What?”
“That you have a girl you like. You don’t seem the type for such fresh emotions.”
“...A compliment?”
“No.”
Ban glared at Munet, then turned back to the campfire. A wild boar was roasting nicely. Then, casually, he spoke.
“Oh, right. A really trivial request.”
“...What request?”
Looking embarrassed, shy, Ban’s ears reddened.
“Can I touch your sword?”
Munet’s face hardened.
“No.”