Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The Torchbearers of the Bridge Zone
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Loan and Lucas didn't rest.
It was as if their horsemanship had been honed through real combat. Lucas now looked quite the rider, seemingly enduring the saddle sores well enough.
When their horses tired, they exchanged them at the nearest village.
This was easy in the kingdom's territory.
Simply showing their Union uniforms and the emblems on their chests was enough.
"They say it'll be hard to get cooperation in Varcino. I wonder if this one will be enough."
Lucas said worriedly, stroking the navy-blue horse he was riding.
Loan, his gaze fixed on the distance, muttered as if to himself.
"I don't think we'll have to worry."
"Huh?"
"Because I don't think the conditions will allow us to ride fast anyway."
Lucas understood Loan's words as his vision grew hazier the further they went.
"So we've reached the border."
"Yeah. Past here is Varcino."
Between the Grafton Kingdom's territory and the Varcino Duchy lay a vast wetland.
Boats were useless for crossing this place, which was shrouded in mist year-round.
The water was shallow, much of it was swamp-like, and there were even patches of land rising like islands.
Therefore, to pass between the two nations, one had to cross a place called the 'Bridge Zone'.
It was a place where small landmasses, rising like a turtle's shell throughout the wetlands, were intricately connected by bridges.
To avoid this place, one would have to go through Versa in the southern Grafton Kingdom to get to Varcino, a journey that would take a very long time.
"I see a light over there."
Though the sound came from right beside him, Loan couldn't see Lucas.
The mist had grown that thick.
Loan read Lucas's position with mana while also observing the light he mentioned.
Indeed, a very unique and massive blue flame was burning some distance ahead.
"Looks like there's a Torchbearer."
Loan said.
It was knowledge he had read in a book.
In the Bridge Zone lived people who could be called a very special profession, or perhaps a race.
They lit fires at key points in the Bridge Zone and lived to manage them, ensuring they never went out, 24 hours a day, all year round.
Even factions with conflicting interests left them alone.
This was because they were the only guides who helped people survive when their vision was blocked by the mist.
Though their mission was unknown, they had become the natives of the Bridge Zone, known as the Torchbearers.
They carried on their lineage, unattacked even amidst war.
*Clop-clop-*
As they climbed onto the bridge, the sound of the horses' hooves gained a sense of space.
Loan and Lucas guided their horses toward the location of the first Torchbearer.
Thanks to the torch that overcame the mist, their surroundings were clear for the first time in a while.
The place they stood on was a fairly wide and flat piece of land rising from the middle of the wetland.
Around a simple hut in the center were quite a few people.
People heading to Varcino, people trying to cross into the kingdom's territory.
While everyone was very cautious, light commerce was also taking place on the roadside.
Among the clustered people, Loan spotted a group wearing red mufflers.
"Lucas. That's Libertha over there."
Loan and Lucas were wearing cloaks, so their Union uniforms weren't immediately visible, but those men were openly displaying their affiliation.
"Those bastards... But you said we're not supposed to fight here, right?"
"Yeah. It's an unwritten rule."
It was a place where even drawing a sword was forbidden, as the Torchbearer could be attacked.
During the long war, even the soldiers of Grafton and Varcino did not clash here.
Very rarely, there were those who, drunk or not of sound mind, caused trouble, and it was said that a harsh punishment was dealt to them.
The book didn't specify the exact punishment, but it stated that everyone feared it because there was no way to escape it.
Loan and Lucas left their horses with a stable hand and headed toward the group.
As expected, they were gathered there because of a roadside eatery.
The two ordered food and ate, straining their ears toward the Libertha gang to catch anything they could.
They were the type who didn't pay attention to what they were saying.
"Last time, we were ambushed and had no choice but to scatter, but this time will be different, right?"
"Well, the Commander-in-Chief is dead set on it. Anyway, I like that we're not doing cowardly things like them."
"Declaring war to fight a proper battle... it's probably because they're confident, right?"
"Still, it would be better if our brothers who crossed over to the Grafton side came back first. But that won't be easy, time-wise."
It was a story about Libertha preparing for an all-out war.
It was just a shame they couldn't send a message right away.
Since they said they would start even if the Grafton remnants didn't return, it seemed best to hurry.
"The key is whether we can strike before the royal family's dogs send reinforcements."
"It would be perfect if we could make this Bridge Zone ours, but that's not easy... Hey. You."
The long-haired woman stopped talking and glared at Lucas.
"Where have you been looking this whole time? You green little brat."
She frowned, adjusting her long, side-slit skirt.
It seemed that bowing his head to listen better had caused the misunderstanding.
But, whether he had actually been looking or not, Lucas immediately played it off smoothly.
"Ah, I wasn't looking on purpose. I was just listening to you all, and my head bowed without me realizing. It was out of envy, pure envy."
"Envy?"
"I was just thinking how great it would be if we could join Libertha. That's why we're crossing into Varcino right now."
"Hmm..."
The woman snorted, glancing at Lucas before her gaze shifted to slowly examine Loan.
It seemed his appearance tended to hold one's gaze.
"This one's just shy in front of such amazing people, so please understand."
Lucas said, patting Loan's shoulder, looking perfectly natural.
At times like this, it felt like there was a twenty-year age gap between them, not two.
But perhaps because both Loan and Lucas looked young to them, an unguarded reply soon came back.
"If that's the case, well. I suppose it's natural for young kids like you who practice the sword to look up to Libertha."
Loan felt a wave of nausea at her words, but Lucas, as if determined to butter them up further, continued with his questions.
"Varcino is a duchy famous for its swordsmanship. In terms of sword skills alone, Libertha must be on par with any respectable house, right?"
"Of course. You could say we created our own school by absorbing the ultimate techniques and secrets of those houses."
'Absorbed, my ass.'
Loan swallowed his bitter thoughts.
The original Libertha began when Varcino's wandering swordsmen banded together. For them, who prioritized strength above all else, the secrets and manuals of famous sword-wielding families were highly coveted treasures.
A conflagration of plunder raged across Varcino, and the middling families were the first to be sacrificed.
As Libertha gradually grew in power and skill, even Varcino's renowned families were forcibly assimilated.
"As you know, Libertha is a different breed from common thugs or clumsy bandits."
"That's right. We worship only swordsmanship. Martial power. Things like that."
Becoming stronger was their primary task and life's goal. Their principle was that anything else was permissible.
Since that 'anything else' mostly consisted of serious crimes, it was only natural that the Union and Varcino joined forces to annihilate them.
Currently, the Stabilization Division, deployed after the subjugation, was helping to rebuild Varcino.
"We have to take this chance to completely wipe out the Union and the Varcino remnants."
"Then the country's name might as well change, right? To Libertha."
Hearing the cackling voices of the thugs, Loan couldn't stand it anymore and got up.
'If only we get out of the torch's area, I'll deal with them...'
With this thought, he walked toward the Torchbearer's hut.
He figured it would be better for his mental health to meditate while looking at the blazing fire.
*Fwoosh—*
In front of the hut, a large brazier, the kind used for signal fires, sat on a hearth.
A gentle heat that seemed to spread far and wide for a long time.
Naturally, this phenomenon was captured perfectly in Loan's eyes.
Loan soon realized that the flame wasn't blazing, but rather dying down and cooling.
When he traced the flow of mana—originating from the hut, passing through the brazier, and being released—in reverse, it was the only conclusion he could reach.
'It must have been full of radiance at the beginning. And then, very slowly, it began to cool and die out.'
It was a fire lit to find the way through the mist, but afterward, the mist itself actually helped sustain the flame.
Acting as a medium that held the heat and light, helping them to spread gently.
'Magnificent.'
An ancient scene, as if the flame were entrusting its brightness and beauty to all directions while laying its own life to rest in the darkness.
The entire phenomenon felt incredibly elegant.
As Loan, lost in a trance watching the slowly spreading mana, someone spoke to him.
"So there's an interesting kid in the Union."
It was an enormous man.
His stomach and waist, in particular, protruded grotesquely.
Like a spinning top.
For the first time in a while, Loan had to look way up at someone, and he swallowed hard.
A man full of wrinkles and a beard, but with a strangely cute impression.
He plopped down next to Loan. Even so, Loan still had to raise his head to meet his eyes.
"How did you know I was from the Union?"
"The material of your clothes. It's not common."
"I see... But am I interesting?"
"You don't seem to be watching it just because the fire is pretty."
"No, it is pretty. I can feel a dying life. It looks like a light of sacrifice."
A gleam appeared in the man's eyes.
He seemed quite surprised by Loan's answer.
"Why do you think that?"
"It just looks that way to me."
"To hear you say that, even though you're not one of us, makes me very grateful."
Reassured by the other's smile, Loan asked, feigning ignorance.
His tone naturally softened.
"If what I'm sensing is right... this flame must be burning with your life force, sir."
He had already confirmed with his own eyes that the flow of mana was connected in such a way.
What kind of answer would he get?
He was curious.
"A human life lasts for several decades, even if it's short. During that time, it constantly emits light and heat into the world. We simply replace that with a real flame."
"Is that why it can last for so long without going out?"
"That's right. Perhaps the light lasts for as long as the natural lifespan a human is meant to enjoy."
"Then this flame must be quite old. It has cooled a lot."
"Exactly 74 years, 7 months, and 26 days."
"..."
"I have no strength left. It's almost over. I won't be able to sustain the fire much longer unless a suitable person appears."
He was speaking so kindly, even though they had just met.
Loan felt a strange sense of inspiration at their sense of calling. At the same time, he also had an unresolved question.
"By a suitable person, do you mean a successor, or are you looking for kindling to burn a life in your stead?"
He had guessed that this might be the terrible thing that happened when one broke the unwritten rule of the Bridge Zone.
The Torchbearer shook his head back and forth.
"Such scary words from such a pretty mouth. The Union is the Union, I see. Of course, I mean a successor."
"Ah, I see."
"If I could burn another's life... yes, if that were possible, it might be a good thing."
"I heard you receive a great punishment for fighting here, so I thought that might be it."
"We do give punishment. By making it so they can never set foot here again."
"How?"
"Hmm..."
Just as the Torchbearer was about to continue, he felt an unwelcome flow of mana.
And then came a clear sound.
*Clang, clang, clang-!*
Suddenly, Loan and the Torchbearer turned their heads at the same time.
The Libertha gang had their swords pointed at Lucas.
"Good. Perfect timing."
The Torchbearer rose to his feet with a stride.