The Betrayed Sage's Final Warning
Ha…!
It had been ages since I'd seen writing from my homeland, and while I sank into nostalgia, a part of me trembled with rage.
'They were completely fucking insane.'
The comment sections of the original novel weren't exaggerating when they said there wasn't a single normal person besides me.
Just thinking about those rootless fools hyping up some worthless weapon as the strongest, all while insulting the supreme sword art of Battōjutsu and the ultimate weapon, the katana—it still made me grimace even now.
I had zero intention of defending that lunatic author, but unlike me, who got isekai'd unfairly, those crazies deserved whatever possession came their way.
'…But this clears up a ton of questions.'
The reason this world diverged so wildly from the original novel I knew? It was the butterfly effect caused by other transmigrators sent back in time, unlike me.
In the original, there was no Pier von Pier hailed as a sage who died in this forest, turning it into the Sage's Forest.
It wasn't confirmed yet, but the mercenary who founded the von Grind family—probably another transmigrator—led to the birth of Jessica, the roll-bread-haired noble lady who didn't exist in the original.
The next Sword Saint being a woman with a sister instead of a man, the second prince becoming the fifth—definitely transmigrator meddling.
I'd have to hit up the library or somewhere when I got back and dig into history books to see how much had changed.
Parts like Marina Snowwhite being unchanged meant knowing the divergences would be a huge help.
"Answer the question."
"Huh?"
I'd been lost in thought when a sudden voice from behind made me whirl around.
There stood the spirit, now even more massive than when we'd first met, gazing down at me like a towering tree.
"What do you mean by 'easterner'?"
No hostility, but the oddly imperious tone demanded a response.
'Should I just spill it?'
There was no real reason to hide it. This spirit wouldn't blab that I was from another world, and even if it did, who'd believe a tree?
People would just shrug it off like, Spirits get senile too, huh?
"'Easterner' means I was from the same world as you guys before coming here."
"…Before coming here?"
Explaining reincarnation precisely was tricky, but I kept it simple for the spirit to grasp.
Once I finished, the spirit made a face like it was sweeping a hand over its nonexistent brow, then slowly opened its eyes.
"…Honestly, it's hard to believe."
"But it all lines up, right?"
"It does. And I know if you were lying, you'd come up with something more believable."
Having lived eons beyond human imagination and witnessed the unbelievable, the spirit nodded more readily than expected.
"Pier… often acted like he was from another world. I chalked it up to the eccentricities of geniuses."
But to think it was literally true—the spirit let out a self-mocking chuckle.
"I… might not have known Pier at all."
"Don't sweat it; figuring that out would be the weird part. Hell, my own mom might not even know I'm a transmigrator."
"…Thanks for saying that. But what did Pier write at the end?"
"Oh? This?"
Don't get married if you see this. Why? Just don't, you fucking bastards!!
I recited the absurd epitaph verbatim, and the spirit sighed in disbelief—or made a sighing face, since trees can't sigh.
"You won't tell me what happened even if I ask, right?"
"…I wasn't going to, but knowing his dying words… maybe that's what Pier wanted."
"I can guess from the epitaph. Spill it."
"Long story short: Pier was betrayed."
By his family—no, those he thought were family. The spirit's voice grew profoundly sorrowful as it began the tale.
Everything in this world eventually meets its end, and Pier's adventures were no exception.
After a lifetime of quests and heroic tales, even he sought stability back home.
And the first step toward that? Marriage, naturally.
To forge unbreakable bonds through blood and sire heirs for the family line.
Unlike modern folk for whom marriage is optional, for nobles, it was mandatory.
The famed sage Pier was the ultimate bachelor for honor-obsessed nobles.
His bride was swiftly chosen, and the spirit said the wedding was so grand it still lingered in memory.
Vassals and villagers, starved for news of their wandering lord, wept tears of joy at his return.
'Lehahahahaha!!'
Pier, who rarely laughed outside rapier talk, was all smiles that day.
It was bittersweet in a doomed tale, but Pier fell for his bride at first sight.
The spirit cursed her as wicked but admitted her beauty was undeniable.
The 20-year marriage was pure bliss for Pier—or so the ever-present spirit believed.
But perhaps from never settling with one person, or wielding a "gay" weapon like the rapier, Pier couldn't spot when to draw the line with his wife's whims.
Blinded by love, he indulged her every word.
Even the spirit heard rumors that the lady of the house ruled Pier manor.
Pier doted endlessly, but even he had a limit.
On a night when rain poured like a waterfall, foretelling tragedy…
Pier left to slay a nearby beast but returned far sooner than expected.
And then…
'D-dear…?!'
As anyone could guess, in his bedroom, Pier beheld his wife tumbling in bed with a knight from her family.
The mind blanks at such horrors, even for a Sword Saint-tier swordsman like Pier.
An eternity passed in his perception before he snapped to.
'Gaaaaah!!!'
The manor quaked under aura and mana beyond mortal limits.
The knight on the bed ditched Pier's wife to save his skin, hurling himself out the window.
But Pier wouldn't miss. A thrust pierced the knight's knee; he crumpled.
Pier advanced slowly to instill terror, ignoring his wife's pleas of "misunderstanding."
He raised his rapier to end it… but it never swung.
'C-Count!!'
Blocking him was not his wife, but his daughter, drawn by the manor's aura.
Just turned 20, she cried "Count" instead of "Father," as always, and begged:
'P-please spare Father!! I'll leave this manor… never return! For old times' sake…!!'
She knew: her true father was that knight.
His wife joined the pleas, shattering Pier's mind for good.
Those he called family weren't. In that vast manor, he alone was the outsider.
When he came to, he was atop Robo. Sensing his master's grief, the wolf dashed off without a word.
On and on, until they reached this distant forest.
Deep in the woods, unfed and unwatered, Pier dismounted and pondered.
Why protect her birth father? Silence would've let her stay his daughter.
Fear it'd be her turn next?
Or desperate love for her real dad?
No answer. Even the sage Pier was lost.
Curiosity faded; regret filled the void.
If he'd adventured forever, no tragedy.
Or returned home but skipped marriage…
Days of tears without food or water dropped him to the dirt.
Before death, for any man facing the same hell, he scrawled his final words in his homeland tongue.
"Thus Pier collapsed here, and Robo, resonating with its dying master's anguish, became a demon beast."
"F-fuck…!! You bastards…!!!"
I couldn't hold back my fury and bellowed at Pier's tombstone.
"Ha…! Fuck you, Pongpong bastard!!"
The real fuck!!!