Chapter 16
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Son of the Crimson Lotus
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“The Crimson Lotus?”
“The son of the Crimson Lotus?”
The Uruk warriors muttered the name, stunned.
Who among the Uruk did not know of the Crimson Lotus and her great renown?
But there was one who was even more shocked than the Uruk—Johan.
“The Crimson Lotus… you mean the Captain…? The Captain’s son?”
In that instant, something Camilla had said half a year ago flashed through his mind.
- This shortsword… I gave it to my master as a gift.
His mind went blank.
Was it true?
Kaisen was Captain Raminea’s son… A hollow laugh suddenly welled up from deep within his chest.
“So, she was happy in the end.”
Everyone in the company had respected her and prayed for her happiness… Was Kaisen, standing before him, the answer to those prayers?
‘Wait, if that’s true, then…’
Wolf flinched, looking down at Camilla, who was gasping for breath. The reason Camilla was always so harsh with Kaisen was…?
“The son of the Crimson Lotus…”
A smile formed on Kishun’s lips.
He bellowed at the Uruk warriors who were slowly surrounding Kaisen, forcing them to back away.
“What proof do you have that you are the Crimson Lotus’s son?”
Kaisen answered with his eyes.
He swept his gaze over the mangled corpses of the Uruk warriors.
Just as his mother had done that day to protect her most precious treasure in the world.
“Hahahaha! I like it, I like it very much! Yes, that’s how it should be!”
Kishun had a habit of getting excited in front of a worthy opponent. Knowing this well, his adjutant and younger brother, Kishe, spoke in their native tongue.
“Wait, Kishun. Just because he has such skill doesn’t guarantee he’s the son of the Crimson Lotus.”
“No, it does. Look closely at his cheek.”
“Hm? The mark of the Valkrush?”
The Valkrush Clan.
They were the infuriating bastards who, after Valkaro became chieftain, had surpassed the formerly top-ranked Kiral Clan to reign as the number one clan in the tribe.
“Valkaro, that whelp, once came to see Father. I overheard him say he was the one who killed the Crimson Lotus.”
“What…?”
“But the method must have been questionable. He said he’d let the son live and that no one was to touch him until he became a warrior. Claiming he was his prey.”
Kishe let out a hollow laugh.
If that was the case, then there was more than enough reason to accept this Kaltake. Simply put, it was killing two birds with one stone.
“The honor of having killed the son of the Crimson Lotus.”
“And by touching Valkaro’s prey, we can provoke that bastard into attacking us first.”
Kishe let out a hearty laugh and nodded. Without needing any instruction from Kishun, he commanded the Uruk soldiers to clear a space for the duel.
“Greeshe (I accept).”
The moment Kishun spoke.
A roar, a thunderous roar, erupted from the Uruk warriors.
“WUUUUUAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”
The force of the roar shook the forest.
Wolf, on the other hand, shouted in desperation.
“Stop it, Kaisen! We’re fine, just go! You have to survive!”
“What was the first rule of the company?”
“What…?”
“That you never abandon a comrade.”
Wolf shivered once more.
Now that he realized it, the resemblance was uncanny, just like the Captain…
From his stubbornness in the face of a comrade’s life or death to the very expression on his face…
“Just wait a little while and stanch Camilla’s bleeding.”
Kaisen unfastened the scabbard from his sword belt and gripped it firmly in his right hand. He crossed it with the blade, forming an X.
“I’ll kill that lanky bastard quickly and get you both out of here.”
Kishun rolled his shoulders, loosening up. Rainwater streamed down the surface of his claws, giving them an eerie glint.
“Please don’t disappoint me, son of the Crimson Lotus, Kaisen!”
*For what reason do you hold your sword?*
Kaisen thought back to his mother’s question from his childhood.
- *My dear Kai, how do you want to use this sword?*
*Mother, how do I want to use my sword?*
*For a moment just like this.*
*Truly, I wanted to use it for a moment exactly like the day you left.*
- *Mama’s most precious treasure in the world…*
The taut urgency bred a suffocating tension, and the tension coiled into a tight knot in his gut.
Facing Kishun through the downpour, Kaisen’s heart beat with a quiet frenzy.
A feral glint shone fiercely in their eyes.
“……!”
“……!”
And in the next moment.
*Clang…* The grating shriek of metal on metal echoed from the midpoint between them.
The End of Childhood,
The Siege of Aristapo (7)
*Claaaang!*
Sparks flew, and the rainstorm erupted.
Kaisen, holding the Sipmunjado tachi in a reverse grip in his left hand and the scabbard in his right, unleashed the first attack.
*Clang, clang, thud, clang.*
He parried the claw with his scabbard, then slashed at Kishun's body with the blade. He blocked another claw with the scabbard and shoved Kishun back.
“UHAAAAAA!”
“Incredible!”
The Uruk warriors were genuinely impressed. The shock was even greater for Wolf, who had been watching Kaisen for a long time.
‘He’s holding his own? Against Kishun, the next chieftain?’
In theory, it was possible.
The Sipmunjado was a sword of dance.
A sword style that toyed with the opponent through a series of linked forms, like a dance.
‘It’s also a sword of counterattack, capable of reversing an overwhelmingly powerful opponent’s strength and turning it back on them.’
But that should only be possible against an opponent who played by the rules of common sense, shouldn't it…?
“HUAAAAAAAAHHHH───!”
Kishun let out a war cry and swung both claws at once. He crossed his arms, intending to crush Kaisen within his range.
— Sipmunjado, First Form, Circle.
The blow that should have landed was stopped in mid-air with a dull *thud*. The clashing masses of steel ground against each other violently, showering sparks.
- *Listen well. The Sipmunjado is a style of linked techniques.*
Sipmunjado, Second Form, Thrust.
The defense instantly turned into an offense.
In the instant the tachi’s tip flashed like a spear, Kishun hastily leaned back, but the blade had already grazed his eyebrow.
‘How can this be…?’
‘He landed a clean hit on Kishun…?’
‘A little human brat like that…?’
The Uruk could no longer cheer. They could only watch Kaisen’s dazzling swordplay with bated breath.
“Excellent. Truly excellent.”
Kishun stepped back slightly and let out a vicious grin. The blood trickling from his eyebrow tasted sweet.
His blood, his blood was boiling.
Kishun loved fights that were waged on the brink of life, with death on the line. It was in these moments that he felt most alive.
“This is how it should be. A fight should be this much fun. This is a true battle!”
Again, Kishun charged, thrusting his left claw at Kaisen. Simultaneously, he swung his right claw, cleaving the space at waist height.
In that moment.
Kaisen kicked off the ground and leaped high into the air, evading the strike. The sight of the claws passing just beneath his eyes was terrifying.
And then.
Using the momentum of his spin, he rotated the blade like a top and drove a deep gash into the beast’s right shoulder.
“KUAAAAAAAHHH!”
As Kishun let out a pained groan that was nearly a scream, Kaisen, from a distance, crossed his sword and scabbard again and spoke.
“If you wanted to live a long life, you should have killed me then. Isn’t that what you said?”
At Kaisen’s cryptic taunt, the Uruk began to cheer for Kishun, shaking their fists.
“Ro Robishie!”
“Gotake derma!”
The sounds, all those sounds…
To the dying Camilla, they were nothing but a droning noise.
‘I’m so tired of it all now…’
Camilla had never liked the world of the sword. Even being born into a family of swordsmen was a curse to her.
- *Camilla, a FakeWarrior is coming to look for a disciple today. You are not to come outside. Do you understand?*
- *Yes, Father.*
- *I told you not to call me Father!*
Camilla was an illegitimate daughter. She was not a being born of love, but one born of lust and pleasure.
Was that why the world had been so cold? Why it had to be so cold, dark, and cruel?
The problem was she didn't even have the courage to die, but she simply wished for her life to end quickly.
That was how it had been.
Until she met Raminea.
- *Oh my, who is this child?*
- *You need not pay her any mind. Rather than that thing…*
- *Is her name ‘that thing’? Isn’t that a bit cruel of you, as a father?*
Ignoring the flustered head of the family, Raminea approached Camilla, who was huddled in a corner, and met her at eye level.
- *Hello, my name is Raminea. What’s your name?*
Her smile as she spoke.
It was so radiant, so warm and moving…
Tears welled in the eyes of Camilla, who had never received such a smile before.
- *Camilla…*
- *Camilla? Oh my, what a cute name. Though your face is even cuter.*
*Ahaha,* laughing brightly, Raminea extended a hand to Camilla.
- *Camilla, would you like to come with me?*
It wasn’t just a hand.
It was a ray of light shining into the darkness. It was the torch of dawn that illuminated the endless night.
- *Yes…!*
She didn’t ask about her talent with the sword. She didn’t ask about her aptitude, traits, or disposition.
Raminea simply saw Camilla for who she was and chose her as her disciple.
If unconditional love was a mother’s prerogative, then to Camilla, Raminea was her mother.
- *You don’t have to become my disciple, Cami.*
- *Pardon?*
- *Being a FakeWarrior… it’s not a very pleasant job. I don’t want to place such a heavy burden on you.*
Camilla trained desperately. She swung her sword and practiced her footwork until she collapsed from exhaustion.
She wanted to be her disciple.
Because if she became her disciple, she could stay by her side forever.
She would become the one and only person in this world for her. That was all she wanted from life.
- *Master, this is… a birthday present.*
- *Oh my, such a beautiful thing… what should I do? I’m so happy right now, I’m tearing up.*
- *I saved up little by little to buy it. I know you have a holy sword, so you might not like it…*
- *No! I’ll treasure it for the rest of my life. For my entire life…*
Her master was a hero. She was a light not only for Camilla, but for the entire world.
Countless talented individuals, awestruck by her radiance, gathered beneath her banner, and under her master, Camilla was able to meet so many people.
She believed that peace would last forever.
She had begun to dream of living with her master in the peace that would follow the end of the war.
But in this world, dreams were not meant to come true.
- *She was killed in action.*
- *What…?*
- *I’m sorry… At the end, at the very end… as she defeated the Incarnation-class demon… they fell off a cliff together… Even Lady Setsunen couldn’t find the body… I’m sorry…*
The light.
The light of this world was gone.
Camilla had lost her reason to live. The Holy Sword Aradamanthel, a memento of her master, was passed down to her.
She cut and cut.
She killed and killed.
Pouring the hatred of losing her master into her blade…
She had planned to live by killing, and then to die. The day of her death was gradually approaching. And yet.
- *Give it back… It’s my only memento of my mother…*
He appeared.
Her master’s son appeared.
A boy whose eyebrows, gaze, gestures, and even the expression on his face when he cried resembled her master so much that it was painful to be around him.
- *Teach me how to use a sword…*
She couldn’t just leave him be.
She had tried to scare him off, to make him never want to pick up a sword again, wanting him to live a normal life, but he kept coming back at her.
At this rate, he was sure to get himself killed somewhere. So, in the end, she taught him the sword.
She began to conserve her strength during battle, so she could live as long as possible, even with the little life she had left.
*Live.*
*Just a little longer.*
*Just until I can teach my master’s son everything she taught me.*
But she never gave him her affection.
No, she was deliberately harsh so he wouldn’t grow attached to her.
So that he wouldn’t suffer as she had.
Because she knew the pain of being left alone better than anyone, better than anyone else in this world. If he were to experience such pain twice, he might just die.
This was her way of repaying her master.
It was true that she had been jealous of him. She thought he had stolen her master’s love.
But that wasn’t why she had treated him so harshly.
All of it, it was all for his sake, for him who was fated to part with her in the near future.
And yet…
It was supposed to be like that…
Facing death, Camilla felt her eyes grow hot. The world shattered into transparent fragments.
*You, why…?*
*Why did you come to save someone like me…?*
“La Kamila Tel Kaisen Kidero Belru.”
The echo of those memories was broken by Wolf’s dazed muttering.
“Yes, that was it! Camilla! This was it!”
“……?”
“La Kamila Tel Kaisen Kidero Belru. It’s a draconic proverb.”
Wolf’s voice trembled with emotion, and his eyes were moist with tears of wonder.
“It means, ‘Every encounter is a bond gifted by the gods.’”
“……!”
“Camilla, the Captain named her own son with you in her thoughts!”
─────*CRAAAAAAAAACK!*
An eardrum-shattering noise.
Kaisen kicked off the ground, stumbling back, gasping for breath. His wrist throbbed as if it would break.
‘I can’t win if I just keep repeating close-quarters combat. I need another plan.’
The very moment he parried the second series of blows, he abruptly swung his blade at the trunk of a tree to his left.
“……!”
The tree trunk shattered into countless large and small splinters, which shot out like bullets.
He confirmed that Kishun had crossed his arms to protect his face.
In that instant, he leaped up, aiming to turn that momentary opening into a decisive blow. That was his fatal mistake.
‘This bastard…’
The moment Kaisen leaped, Kishun uncrossed his arms and pulled them back with all his might, preparing a killing blow.
Even as a small splinter lodged in his chin and a long sliver of wood pierced deep into his left eye, the beast was smiling.
Wolf’s urgent shout rang out.
“Kaisen!”
He hastily crossed his sword and scabbard, smoothly transitioning from offense to defense, but it was too late.
The blade shrieked as it scraped against heavy steel before, *clang*, it broke.
The scabbard shattered along with it, sending fragments of wood and steel flying.
‘Huh─────?’
It hurt. His wrist, his arm, felt like it was being ripped from its socket.
If the force of the impact hadn’t sent him flying, his bones would have been shattered.
He felt the pain of two or three internal organs rupturing.
‘Get up. Get up, quickly.’
Kaisen, who had rolled several times, coughed up blood and tried to get up, his breathing ragged.
‘Even my eyes hurt…’
A fragment was lodged in his forehead, and the blood trickling down narrowed his vision to a red haze. Through his fading sight, he could see Kishun approaching.
“This is the end. You fought well.”
It really was the end.
Even if he managed to stand, what could he do without a sword?
“Son of the Crimson Lotus, Kaisen.”
His eyes trembled.
His heart began to pound with a cold rhythm.
“I will remember your name for the rest of my life.”
One step, another step…
In the instant Kishun drew near and raised his clawed hand high.
*Wooooom…*
In that single instant, Wolf’s eyes widened.
What is this…
The source of the dazzling wave of light was the Supreme Holy Sword Aradamanthel, stuck in the ground far away.
*Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum…*
As if a heart were beating, a brilliant crimson light danced upon the silver-white blade.
It was Aradamanthel’s unique radiance.
Wolf trembled.
‘Impossible. The Holy Sword… is crying out on its own?’
The Supreme Holy Sword only resonates with the heartbeat of its chosen master when held. But who holds you now, Aradamanthel?
In that very moment.
The sword lifted itself into the air and then, *whoosh*… it flew, leaving a beautiful red afterimage in the rainstorm.
Straight into Kaisen’s hand.
As if a slice of time had been cut out and preserved, Kaisen could see everything with perfect clarity.
“Huh…?”
The Uruk, howling fiercely.
Kishun, about to end the fight.
And the weight of the Supreme Holy Sword Aradamanthel as it flew into his hand with a clear, ringing sound.