Chapter 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The First Step
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“You promised. If I win, you teach me how to use a sword.”
A bewildered silence hung in the air for a moment before the mercenaries, sensing an amusing spectacle, erupted in cheers.
“Now that’s what I call a real man.”
“Maybe the future of humanity isn’t so bleak after all!”
Only Johan Wolf Frost let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.
“A duel? Camilla! This joke has gone too far. How can you possibly fight a child like this—”
“—Let’s just watch for a moment.”
As Wolf desperately tried to intervene, the mercenary captain, Eltram, stopped him.
“My Lady wouldn’t even deign to face the rising stars of the Seven Swords or the heirs of the Three Great Sword Families. She threw them all out.”
“……!”
“And yet, she’s given this little brat the chance for a duel? Doesn’t that mean she saw something in that cocky kid?”
Eltram’s assessment was unusually generous. Perhaps it was because he had sensed the strange fighting spirit Kaisen possessed during their earlier encounter.
“And did you not see the emblem on his cheek? It’s the mark of the Valkrush clan, the one that’s been laying waste to every place they go.”
“……!”
“It means he’s a warrior acknowledged by the Valkrush chieftain. Don’t you think he’ll show us something?”
Despite these words, Wolf’s eyes, seen through the lenses of his glasses, were filled with nothing but worry.
‘Does he have any idea who Camilla is…?’
She was the direct disciple of Raminea Alter Aradamanthel, the hero hailed as the strongest FakeWarrior of her generation.
Hadn’t even the most renowned knights of the empire been struck down in fewer than three exchanges?
‘Against such an ultimate being, can that gaunt, starved boy even last a single blow?’
Kaisen gripped the sword.
The weight of the longsword, the first he had ever held, was almost too much to bear.
He couldn’t possibly hold it with one hand, so he had to grasp it with two. Only then did the trembling of the blade cease.
“I’m going to ask you one thing, so answer me straight.”
Instead of drawing the holy sword at her waist, Camilla picked up a twig from the grass.
“...You’re going to fight with that?”
“If you have a problem with it, you can use one too. Anything can be a weapon.”
An overwhelming presence.
No, a menacing killing intent.
It was just a twig. All she was pointing at him was a mere twig… yet it felt as if the very air around it was scorching.
But.
What was even more suffocating was not the aura of her sword, but the question Camilla posed.
“Alright, question. Don’t tell me you think your mother’s death was your fault.”
His breath caught in his throat.
It was a question he couldn’t answer.
Camilla’s eyes told him she already knew the answer.
“You’re ridiculously weak. What the hell could you have done?”
For a moment, his mind went completely blank.
“So why are you sitting here blaming yourself for not being able to do anything when your mother was killed by the Uruk?”
At that moment, Camilla wished for it.
For her old master’s son to resent a clear target—her—rather than some vague entity like the world.
“Isn’t that the obvious outcome?”
Don’t despair.
Giving in to overwhelming despair would one day lead him to give up on life.
“You were just born that weak. If you’re going to blame something, you have to blame the world. What else can you do?”
I can’t let him hate the Uruk. It’s too dangerous.
Redirect your resentment toward me.
That sharp edge of emotion will surely keep you from giving up on life.
“It was only natural that you couldn’t do anything back then! It’s because you couldn’t do anything that you survived!”
Deep within Kaisen’s heart, a turbulent wave of emotion rose, large and fierce.
What was this feeling?
It felt like something was exploding inside his chest, hot as lava. The boiling heat propelled his body forward.
“Whoa!”
A cheer, then a roar of excitement erupted from the mercenaries.
“The kid charged first!”
“Khah, his spirit puts knights to shame!”
Only Camilla’s old friends, Wolf and Eltram, furrowed their brows in confusion.
‘I understand this less and less.’
‘My Lady Camilla, provoking him? A little kid like that?’
Just as Raminea had been the hero who succeeded Roveris Alter Scherpang, her disciple Camilla reigned as the strongest FakeWarrior of her time.
To say she was the foremost among all living FakeWarriors was no exaggeration. So what was so special about this boy?
Eltram and the veteran mercenaries held their breath, focusing on the boy’s charge. What was he going to show them? But.
*Thwack…!*
The next thing they saw was the boy being sent flying before he could even swing his sword.
The match was decided by Camilla’s finger.
She hadn’t even used the twig she held so playfully; it was a simple flick of her finger against her thumb.
Naturally, there hadn’t even been a single exchange.
And yet, that one blow sent Kaisen tumbling across the ground three times, knocking all thought from his head.
“What was that?”
Captain Eltram and the veterans exchanged puzzled glances.
“He doesn’t even know how to use a sword.”
“No. Forget the sword, his movements show he’s never learned any martial arts at all.”
“Then how did he earn the Valkrush clan’s recognition?”
The FakeWarrior approached the fallen Kaisen with a blank expression.
“It wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t your mom’s fault either.”
*Srrng.* From Camilla’s waist, her master’s short sword slid from its sheath, emitting a ghastly phosphorescence.
“It’s the fault of FakeWarriors like me, who are never there when it counts! Not yours! So don’t you dare stand there looking like you’re about to cry and bark about revenge.”
The moment Camilla slammed the short sword down with all her might, every onlooker gasped in horror.
“Camilla!”
“What, did she really kill him…?”
“Damn… I thought that even though she talks like a villain, our Lady was a good person at heart!”
No, she hadn’t killed him.
Wolf, who had rushed over in a panic, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the short sword embedded in the ground right next to Kaisen’s head.
Camilla tossed the short sword’s scabbard onto Kaisen’s face and spoke.
“Revenge? From a brat with less talent than an ant’s turd? Teach you how to use a sword? I’ll get revenge for you, so take that and get lost.”
Camilla finished speaking and bit her lip.
She didn’t know how it happened, but Master Raminea had died protecting this boy.
And the fact that he had reached this age without knowing how to use a sword meant she hadn’t wanted to draw him into the world of the blade.
‘I can’t dare to break the decision my master made after so much deliberation.’
Just as Camilla thought this and turned to leave, at that very moment.
“!”
*Snap…*
Something broke as it glanced off her shin guard.
‘A twig…?’
A pathetic attack that would have been meaningless in a real duel.
“That’s a hit, isn’t it…? You said… anything can be a weapon.”
At the attack from the boy they thought had fainted, Camilla, Wolf, Eltram, and all the mercenaries were momentarily speechless.
“What in the world…?”
“Well, it did graze her… so does that mean… My Lady lost…?”
The mercenaries, muttering in a daze, fell silent and looked away when Camilla shot them a fierce glare.
“Are those really the eyes of a child?”
Eltram, too, was bewildered.
Those were the eyes of a warrior.
Eyes that hadn’t lost their fighting spirit even in a situation like that… Was this the mark of a first-rate warrior?
“Kaisen, are you alright? Kid! Wake up!”
Wolf then pulled the unconscious Kaisen, whose eyes had rolled back, into his arms and urgently checked his condition.
“Kid! Kid! Hey, you two! Prepare a tent. You, bring the medicinal herbs I tell you to. Quickly!”
Childhood,
The Prelude to Summer (2)
“Where… am I?”
The next evening, as the volcanic ash-covered fields glowed red in the twilight, Kaisen opened his eyes.
The savory smell of oatmeal seemed to have stimulated his starved brain.
Wolf, who was sitting by his bedside, gave him a bright smile.
“Are you feeling better now? That’s a relief.”
Kaisen tried to sit up in bed but collapsed again with a groan.
Pain flared through his entire body.
It felt as though a month’s worth of accumulated fatigue had finally exploded. Above all, his forehead—the spot where he’d been flicked—ached terribly.
‘Was that really just a flick? That? It felt like I was hit with a sledgehammer.’
Wolf, who had been carefully stirring the oatmeal in the pot with a spoon, poured it into a bowl and handed it to Kaisen.
“Let’s get some nutrients in you first. That’s the fastest way to heal.”
“...I can eat by myself.”
“Don’t push yourself. Here. It’s hard for you to even move right now.”
He wanted to argue harshly, but he couldn’t. Wolf’s eyes were too calm, too kind.
Who is this person…?
He couldn’t understand who this man was, to be so kind to someone he had just met.
“How is it? Too bland? My apologies if it is. It’s been a while since I made oatmeal with medicinal herbs.”
After a brief struggle, Kaisen quietly chewed the oatmeal Wolf spoon-fed him.
It wasn’t good.
Frankly, it had no texture either. And yet, why did a single tear well up in his eye without him realizing it?
“Is it so good it’s making you cry? I’m quite moved.”
“No. It’s so bad it’s making me cry.”
“I see. So my cooking is trash after all. Hmph, I knew it. I’m just a piece of trash who’s no good at anything but magic…”
Wolf suddenly grew despondent, turned away, and began to gloomily scribble something in a notebook.
‘What’s with this guy…?’
The reason Kaisen felt a surge of emotion wasn’t because of the taste.
It was because it had been so long since he had tasted food made with such warmth and care.
Just like his mother used to do, in the name of daily life…
“I’m sorry.”
Wolf’s sudden apology came around the time Kaisen finished the oatmeal.
“For making you eat this food?”
“No, I’m talking about Camilla. She may seem cold, but she used to be an incredibly kind person.”
“That woman?”
“It’s true. She changed like that after the Captain died.”
The Captain?
As Kaisen tilted his head, Wolf spoke in a dreamy tone.
“Most FakeWarriors have a master. The Captain of our company was Camilla’s master. She was such a wonderful person…”
“……?”
“Since then, she hasn’t shown affection to anyone. No, she doesn’t show any emotion at all. But today, why did she play around with you like that? I really can’t figure it out.”
“She must have really liked that Captain person.”
“Kaisen, we all liked her. There wasn’t a single person who disliked her.”
The smile on Wolf’s face was tragic.
It was a smile filled with bitterness, pain, and sorrow. Wolf placed a hand on Kaisen’s head.
“On behalf of my foolish friend, I apologize, Kaisen. Please, forgive her.”
“I don’t need any forgiveness! Just teach me how to use a sword! Then I can forgive anything!”
“……”
“I can learn now, right? She said a single graze would count as a victory!”
With a low sigh, Wolf shook his head firmly.
“I don’t think so. Do you really think Camilla will acknowledge that as a defeat?”
“Then I’ll challenge her again. And again.”
“Until when?”
“Until I succeed.”
A hatred bordering on obsession…
He’s like a single, sharp blade.
Even if I told him to abandon his vengeance and hatred and leave the front lines, he wouldn’t listen.
“Even if she were to teach you, what happened today would only repeat itself. Kaisen, can you read?”
What Wolf held out wasn’t an ordinary book, but a grimoire whose contents could only be understood by experts.
Numbers…?
A sequence of numbers? What does it mean?
The numbers were written haphazardly, following some strange rule, but he couldn’t make any sense of it.
“You can’t read it, can you? Your situation right now is exactly like this.”
“……?!”
“It means you’re trying to learn the core without any foundation. As you’ve seen, Camilla isn’t the type to patiently teach you the basics from the ground up.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
Kaisen, suddenly overwhelmed, spat out the words in a disrespectful tone, but Wolf’s gentle smile didn’t falter.
“If you do as I say, you might be able to learn. The reason I can’t be certain is because the method I’m about to show you depends entirely on your talent.”
Talent…?
I was beaten down before I even had a chance to find out if I had any. Does it even exist? Wolf gently tapped Kaisen’s forehead with his thumb.
“Eltram said you have the talent of a warrior. So for now, rest well. I’ll teach you step by step after you’ve recovered.”
“Rest, and do nothing?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t need to rest. You can just teach me right now! What’s the point of waiting? How great can the basics be!”
The boy’s shouting tone, the moisture gathering in his eyes, the trembling of his clenched fists—it was all so tragic.
“I couldn’t do anything… anything at all… even when my mother was dying… and now you’re telling me to do nothing again…”
“Kaisen…”
“Those Uruk bastards are running rampant out there! To hell with ‘doing nothing’! I have to kill them all! As quickly as possible! All of them! Without a single exception!”
A cry stained with anger is inherently soundless. Wolf watched the boiling tears in the boy’s eyes for a long time before letting out a deep sigh.
Ah.
This world is so very tragic.
The common tale of a hero who annihilates evil and brings peace to the world does not exist here…
Exhaling deeply, Wolf draped a pure white mage’s cloak over his shoulders and smiled weakly.
“In that case, will you follow me? If you can, that is.”
Kaisen forced himself to his feet with a groan.
Wolf, walking ahead with his cloak fluttering, kept his steps short and slow.
He was kind. He would walk a little, then turn back and wait.
“What do you think is the foundation of swordsmanship, Kaisen?”
And so, Kaisen followed Wolf up the slope of a hill.
Slowly, so kindly and slowly.
He glanced up at a night sky not yet devoured by the summer’s volcanic ash, where four moons shed their light upon the wild grass.
“I’m not an expert in swordsmanship, but I’ve always been curious about many things. I asked the Captain once.”
“What did she say?”
“She said it was footwork. That it’s the foundation and the core of all martial arts.”
In linguistics, it would be grammar and vocabulary, I suppose… muttering to himself, Wolf stopped at the crest of the hill.
“This should be the spot.”
As Wolf spread his palm, a frost-colored magic circle was born and began to spin.
Another appeared and overlapped it.
And then another.
It was the realm of 3-star magic, achievable only by high-ranking mages in the empire’s 7-star magic system, but there was no way a country bumpkin like Kaisen would recognize and be impressed by it.
*Chiiing!*
The moment Wolf clenched his fist and shattered the triple-layered magic circle, Kaisen’s eyes widened.
What is this, a hallucination…?
Suddenly, a shadow made of cold air appeared on the hilltop. It was in a stance that suggested it was holding a sword.
“This is a 3-star spell, ‘Active Trace: Reenactment.’ It’s a spell that only justicars can use, but I’ve imitated it with an ice attribute base.”
At Wolf’s gesture, the white shadow began to dance. A dance that was both violent and elegant.
“This is…?”
Kaisen was dumbfounded.
It wasn’t just because the sword dance was breathtakingly brilliant. It was because he had seen these movements countless times. In the moments of his daily life, through his mother.
He barely suppressed the heart-wrenching pain that tore through his chest. Wolf spoke in a gentle tone.
“This is a reenactment of Camilla’s movements.”
Camilla’s movements…
Then, was the master she spoke of really his mother?
“That girl has a surprisingly diligent side to her. She still practices her swordsmanship at the time the Captain set for her. That’s why it’s easy to find her with this spell.”
The moment Wolf flicked his fingers again, the shadow froze in place.
“This single sword dance contains the essence of the swordsmanship Camilla has built up for nearly twenty years. At a level where you can’t even keep up with her footwork, it’s impossible to land a single blow.”
“……!”
“As I said before, Camilla has a pathological attachment to the Captain, so she strictly follows any teachings she left behind.”
And among those teachings is the one about [becoming a wonderful woman who always keeps her promises], Wolf added with a faint smile.
“I don’t expect you to copy everything. But for now, you must be able to perfectly mimic at least her footwork. Only then will you be able to land a hit on Camilla.”
This wasn’t some special strategy of Wolf’s.
He had simply seen Raminea begin Camilla’s training this way on that dazzling day long ago, when Camilla became her disciple.
“What do you think? Can you do it?”
Back then, Raminea had also asked Camilla this.
Camilla, who was then the illegitimate daughter of the Velchester family, one of the empire’s Three Great Sword Families, had answered by clumsily mimicking her master’s footwork.
Of course, Raminea’s footwork was on a completely different level from the norm. But Camilla, with her natural talent, had followed the movements.
‘But what is this?’
This child, he’s doing the same thing right now.
Was that why, for a moment, he saw the image of a young Camilla superimposed over Kaisen’s back? A mixture of nostalgia and astonishment flickered in Wolf’s eyes.
‘What in the world…?’
His movements should be restricted due to his injuries… yet he’s managing to follow at a roughly similar level.
A gasp escaped him.
He had tried to follow along himself, but he couldn’t keep up past the third part.
‘Overwhelming… no, is this what they call a violent talent?’
A dry laugh escaped him.
Camilla, you said Kaisen had no talent?
‘Not a chance.’
He’d simply… never had the chance to learn until now.