Chapter 67
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: The Calm and the Storm
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“The first contingent of the Central Army, which had aimed for the heart of the southern Empire in a subjugation campaign, was shattered and scattered under the blade of the True Warrior Sharrilion in the decisive battle of the Geram region…”
As she began to speak, Tarsiyo was gazing out the window.
The color of the Empire was summer.
The flowers, having drunk the blood of the eastern front, shimmered with their last light, dyeing the fields.
Bellflowers, so blue they stung the eyes, bloomed in full, swaying. Tarsiyo waved her hand, drawing in the scent of their petals.
“…That’s what they’re all saying, so why were you the one who collapsed?”
As I folded the copy of the *Imperial Daily*, published two days ago, and placed it on the side table, Tarsiyo gave an awkward smile.
Tarsiyo had collapsed that day.
To be precise, right after saying, *You’ve come, Kaisen…*
“Do you have any idea what people have been whispering for the past two days? I had to fend them off all by myself…”
I had barely managed to catch her before she fell from her horse, but to the soldiers, it must have looked like I was simply holding her in my arms.
- Yes, of course, the Hero’s partner could be none other than the strongest soldier… They’re a perfect match…
Recalling the voices I’d heard here and there from that day until today, my face flushed against my will.
“Hm? What were they whispering?”
Tarsiyo suddenly leaned closer, her eyes sparkling.
They were words I simply could not repeat.
Unable to meet her gaze directly, I turned my head, only to feel her teasing me with that characteristic, all-knowing smile of hers.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
The only way to cut through that smile was with a question that caught her off guard.
“I’m asking if you can still fight.”
I had already heard the gist of the story from Julius Page.
- This is classified, but the Hero’s health is not good, so she always collapses like this after a battle…
The evidence of that story was etched all over Tarsiyo’s body. Her arms and legs, wrapped in layers of bandages, were terribly thin.
Perhaps she even sensed my bitter gaze.
Like a girl caught in mischief, Tarsiyo hid her arms under the blanket.
“I heard AuthenticWarriors regenerate automatically. Explain what happened.”
“Let’s not talk about that.”
“Then what do we talk about now?”
“Tell me about your mother.”
“What?”
“Where did you live with your mother? What did she say to you when you woke up in the morning? What was your favorite food? Among the things she made for you. What did she make for your birthday every year?”
Even after so many years, the life of my mother was too painful to even speak of.
That smile…
Only that final smile…
It pierced my heart more sharply than the abyss that gnawed at my very soul.
How could the smile she wore at the end of her life be a smile at all?
As always, instead of pressing for an answer, Tarsiyo began to tell her own story.
“You have memories with your mother, don’t you? But for me, I have nothing but this.”
“What do you mean?”
“You see, I have no memories with my mother. She passed away while giving birth to me.”
“What…”
“Do you know about the Gospel of Heaven, Kaisen? It’s the world after death. They say people can meet again there.”
When she spoke of heaven, the smile that blossomed on her face was so beautiful… her unique vitality was returning.
“But, you know, will my mother recognize me when I get there? She would only know my face from when I was born.”
A silence fell, as if listening to a tale from a world beyond reach.
Beyond the open window, the bellflowers danced on the breeze. It was the last wind of summer.
The silence was the tip of a blade. Like a blade’s tip, it was aimed at my throat. And so, I answered.
“Maybe looks aren’t the only thing a person needs to recognize their child…”
It was a thoughtless remark.
It occurred to me that perhaps it was a remark aimed at my own mother. Would my mother recognize me now?
Tarsiyo clapped her hands, as if overjoyed by my words.
“That’s right! Even if we don’t look alike, what if our hearts, thoughts, and actions could be exactly the same? No matter how long we’ve been apart, wouldn’t we be able to recognize each other?”
“…”
“I want to become like that. The moment my mother sees me, I want her to think, *Ah, this child is my daughter.*”
Watching your smile, which seemed to open up a vast, blue tunnel, I thought.
*She’ll definitely recognize you.*
*How could she not, when you shine so brightly…*
Even knowing that such unspoken truths would remain as lifelong regrets.
“To do that, this was the only way.”
The newspaper I had placed on the side table fluttered in the wind.
Tarsiyo’s gaze shifted to it, and then to what lay beside it.
Upon the blade of the True Holy Sword Sharrilion, which leaned against the inner wall, radiating a sacred light.
“There’s no other path.”
Echoes from Another World,
The True Face of the Religious Innovation (2)
Religious Innovation.
The Empire, once the greatest superpower among the existing human nations, was reduced to ruins before that maelstrom of blood.
The rapacity of nobles for war, the pillaging of mercenaries turned bandits, caused everything outside the city zones to crumble.
“The Empire’s administrative system has already collapsed.”
Rumor had it that monsters had moved in to nest in abandoned villages and castle ruins, but there weren't even enough troops to drive them out.
“It is the end of the Bronze Age, which was called the last era of peace.”
The vestiges of prosperity were scattering.
The great achievements of the great Emperor Raida Eijin and the Yonghyeon Rein Ludwig were becoming legends under the name of the “Silver Age.”
“They say that in the ‘Silver Age,’ one could travel the entire continent with just an identification card, but such a thing was unthinkable in this era.”
The balance of the Empire, where five Elector-Princes ruled five regions and an elected Emperor governed them, was shattered.
The first to break that balance was Duke Saion, the Elector of the Central region.
Duke Saion supported a heretical sect that directly opposed the doctrines of the Light Dragon Orthodox Church.
“The one backing Duke Saion was none other than Luxeria Ludwig, a direct descendant of the Yonghyeon and one of the Four Sages.”
Then the Elector of the West, Duke Eijin, also declared his support for the heresy and rallied his army.
He was a middle-aged man renowned as the greatest martial artist in the Empire of his time, a master of heavy weaponry.
His name was Pervias Eijin.
“It is truly ironic.”
That the descendants of Ludwig and Eijin, who had led the ‘Silver Age,’ would now lead the charge in societal collapse.
“At this time, those who upheld the orthodox doctrine, the True Faith, were Duke Arhen of the South and Grand Duke Duren of the North.”
After the entire Empire was engulfed in the flames of war, it is now the year 1698 of the Origin Calendar.
The fires of war are concentrated in the East.
For this was the year the young daughter of the previous Elector, who had died five years prior, would acquire the right to vote for the Emperor.
“This is because the faction that seizes the East and controls that vote can aim for the imperial throne.”
No one had a tomorrow in their hearts.
In that era, on that day, no hope or dreams could exist.
It was an age where instinct, not reason, ruled all; that year was the Empire’s 1698.
“It was also in this year, 1698, that Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel appeared amidst this war. The history in which the true face of the Religious Innovation would be revealed was also this year, 1698.”
And.
The year this great hero of humanity fell in battle and vanished into the annals of history was also this year, 1698 of the Origin Calendar.
***
“I told you I hate this kind of thing, didn’t I?”
The triumphal procession passed through the central intersection of Drakefang, the eastern forward base of the Southern Army.
Mounted military police controlled the front and rear of the column, as well as the sidewalks.
Modern high-rise buildings lined the streets, and from every floor, people leaned out, showering us with confetti.
“That’s Sharrilion! The Hero who is victorious wherever she goes!”
“Next to her is Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel! Humanity’s strongest soldier! They say he slew an Old King!”
People called Tarsiyo not by her name, but by the name of the holy sword, Sharrilion.
I didn’t know why.
Tarsiyo seemed to like it.
- Sharrilion means ‘She who prepares the way.’ That’s why I like that name, too.
Like a scene from a spring day, petals of various colors shimmered and scattered.
People laid their own coats on the street, bowing and weeping.
Hero, oh, Hero… Watching Tarsiyo hold each of those crying people and weep with them, memories of last year’s festival resurfaced.
When was that year?
When exactly was it that Isla linked her finger with everyone else’s and made that promise?
It felt as if dozens of pages had already been torn from my mind’s calendar. As if decades had passed.
Was it because the memories I was left with alone were rotting like a corpse, filling my heart with a foul stench?
“Smile, Kaisen. People need time to share joy and hope.”
“…”
“Or do you hate being with me that much?”
With no regard for her dignity as a Hero, Tarsiyo swept her hair behind her ear and smiled brightly.
“I’m so happy that I can be with you like this.”
How can she smile so brightly… after collapsing and coughing up blood on her horse that day?
No matter how I thought about it, it was strange.
I had heard that AuthenticWarriors, unlike FakeWarriors, could regenerate their bodies without the Dragon’s Blood serum, but is it really possible for one to collapse from overwork?
‘Come to think of it, Mother and Master used to be like that sometimes…’
I thought they were similar in how they colored their surroundings with their own essence, but could their physical conditions be similar as well?
The light of that resemblance was truly sad.
On the last day that would soon come, I would have to leave this girl behind and depart alone. Did Master feel this way too?
“How can *you* smile like that?”
“Hm?”
“I can’t smile because of the pain… from the King’s Abyss. You don’t look to be in good shape either.”
The reason I couldn’t smile was because of the pain in my heart, but I feigned it as such and casually asked about her condition.
And then, you.
Like a young girl hiding a trivial secret.
“Because there’s no time to cry.”
You replied with such an incomprehensible remark and giggled.
“I’m too busy just following in my mother’s footsteps.”
*My mother’s footsteps…*
Why did those words bring back the echo of that day, the one that had been transmitted to my chest through a fist?
- Kaisen. Surpass Senior Camilla, and become a hero like Lady Raminea.
Mother, like mother…
Just then, the central avenue leading to Drakefang’s city hall plaza came to an end.
“To be able to welcome the returned Hero and humanity’s strongest soldier at the same time, no ancestor of the Arhen family could have enjoyed such an honor.”
The titans of the Southern Army were waiting there.
“On behalf of everyone, I ask that you permit us the opportunity to praise your martial valor and courage.”
The military band struck up a tune in unison.
People waved the blue dragon flag of the Ducal House of Arhen and the flag of the Ducal House of Tisria, cheering wildly.
After the medal ceremony, the Duke stepped back, and from behind him, a radiance like the sun shone forth.
「Kaisen.」
From beneath the wide-brimmed hat, said to be inherited from the Yonghyeon, radiated a beauty more brilliant than the light of dawn.
Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance.
One of the three miracles the Yonghyeon left behind in this land.
“Your Excellency Setsunen, I have just returned.”
As I saluted, Setsunen came right up to me and placed a hand on my cheek.
「To see you again like this, I cannot contain my joy. You’ve returned, you’ve returned.」
What I felt from her touch was the warmth of the morning sun. What bloomed from her touch was the golden fragrance of the morning sun.
What that warmth and fragrance held was true love.
In that welcome, which felt like an ordinary day, memories of the past days with my mother briefly surfaced.
I almost replied, *Yes, Mother… I’ve just returned…*
“…I apologize for causing you worry.”
So I said that instead.
Like apologizing to my mother on a day I came home late without a word.
Unable to bear the pain and love in her eyes, I simply bowed my head.
「It is enough. That you have returned like this is enough.」
Setsunen shook her head with a sad smile. Just then, Julius approached Setsunen and bowed respectfully.
“The Central Army’s main force of 300,000 has split into two. Nearly 200,000 of the enemy are heading this way. It seems they’ve confirmed their vanguard was annihilated.”
Setsunen let out a deep sigh.
And her gaze, her eyes, turned to Tarsiyo, and every single movement was strangely humble.
Setsunen even seemed to bow her head, speaking not with her mouth, but with her thoughts.
[It is a great honor to see you again like this.]
Because I had received a part of her soul when we subjugated Neigallas, I seemed to be able to overhear her thoughts.
But she’s using honorifics…?
As I stood there, bewildered, Tarsiyo shook her head and smiled sweetly.
“Please don’t speak like that. As I’ve always said, you are my superior. I’d like it if you would hug me, just like you did with Kaisen.”
[How could I possibly dare…]
What is going on?
Does an AuthenticWarrior ascend to a status even higher than the Three Great Dragons?
No, no matter if she was an AuthenticWarrior, it was incomprehensible that one of the Three Great Dragons would be so deferential.
‘Come to think of it, the head instructor once said that Tarsiyo’s very existence was a secret…’
Such thoughts, and the non-argument between Setsunen and Tarsiyo, did not last long.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang…*
Suddenly, all the bells in the city began to ring madly. The barrier that protectively enveloped the city began to flash red.
[Such a large number… spatial transfer… they’re pouring directly into the city!]
A soldier’s urgent scream.
Blan Arhen narrowed his eyes.
“A dimensional gate in the city? Is this the work of that wench Luxeria again!”
Luxeria.
Luxeria Ludwig.
A direct descendant of the Yonghyeon, a genius who had reached the rank of Sage at the age of twenty, causing a stir across the continent.
Drakefang was a city designed from the ground up as a military stronghold.
It had eight barrier generators, and with this power, it could perfectly block any external invasion.
But that power only blocked *external* enemies; it was powerless against *internal* ones.
Luxeria, with her absurd dimensional control, had forcibly opened a hole in the city’s defenses.
Julius spoke.
“Fortunately, aside from the dimensional gate, the Bewitching Sage’s magic is not detected, but…”
Every Sage has an epithet.
Luxeria was called the Bewitching Sage, for she was said to bewitch all she met with her mysterious and alluring charm.
The Bewitching Sage was one of two beings in this world who could use large-scale spatial transfer.
The other was Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance.
It wasn’t surprising that one was the heir the Yonghyeon had produced in spirit, and the other, the descendant he had produced in body.
That must be why.
With each repetition of the name Luxeria, the grief in Setsunen’s eyes deepened.
“The leader of the Central region’s elite swordsman group, the Heavenly Sword Unit, Sword Saint Naros, has been confirmed to be leading the enemy infiltration team.”
In the Empire, there exist beings known as the Four Martial Stars under the Emperor.
Meaning the four stars that serve the Emperor, it was an honor bestowed upon those who had reached the pinnacle in their respective fields.
The pinnacle of the sword, the Sword Saint.
The pinnacle of the spear, the Spear Saint.
The pinnacle of magic, the Magic Saint.
The pinnacle of the bow, the Bow Saint.
Once the pillars of the Empire’s unity, in this era of division, they had chosen their own masters and were fighting amongst themselves.
Only Mern and Tval had renounced their titles as Martial Stars and come to the front lines of human survival…
[Your Highness Blan, leave this to me! They clearly intend to neutralize the city’s defensive barrier and open the gates!]
“No, Count Karon! A Martial Star is not an opponent to be taken lightly.”
「Julius, you are to prioritize the defense of the barrier. I will take responsibility for the evacuation of the people.」
Setsunen clasped her hands as if in prayer.
The crowds, screaming in terror and running in confusion, were enveloped one by one in a golden light.
They were likely transported to the underground shelters in an instant.
‘But something’s strange…’
Why hasn’t Luxeria Ludwig appeared herself?
Does she not know that Her Excellency Setsunen, Tarsiyo, and I are all here right now?
Or is she simply blinded by arrogance? The chances of a Sage, the pinnacle of wisdom, being so foolish are…
[To all troops, assume city defense combat positions! We will use stronghold defense tactics!]
[Understood.]
[The dimensional gates have opened in three locations. We must prevent the enemy from destroying the barrier and opening the gates at all costs! North gate, report your status.]
[The Sword Saint, we can’t stop this monster… Uwaaaargh!]
The surroundings were descending into a pandemonium.
In that momentary chaos, where the screams of soldiers connected by Setsunen’s resonance echoed endlessly.
A resolute and clear voice, as if slicing through the confusion with a sword.
“Your Excellency, please grant me permission to break through to the northern gate alone.”
Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound.
A hush fell.
Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance broke the stunned silence.
「A solo breakthrough? Why do you ask me to throw you into danger all alone?」
The speaker, Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel, shrugged.
“A frog in a well needs to be taught how vast the world is.”
*The moment you learn that…*
*…will be the moment you die.*
But in the world of the sword, where we aim for each other’s lives, that is how enlightenment is achieved.
“Tarsiyo, I’ll handle the main force at the northern dimensional gate by myself. You take care of the other two.”