Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Truth (1)
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"As a knight, I kept training without relying on my sword. In spars with him, I never won once. He had the makings of a knight greater than me. He poured effort into everything and never stopped. Elis, I'm not saying your swordsmanship, yourself, or your efforts are lacking, but my friend's efforts carried a desperation you don't have right now."
"Was it a similar struggle? Is that desperation the answer to overcoming this slump?"
"No, my friend never had a slump like that. He didn't have time for it. He pushed forward desperately every single day, ignoring everything else, aiming higher than he could reach without pause."
Bulki recalled the training grounds where he practiced every morning. Then the ebony tree in the seaside village, and their Lije too. But at some point, the memories all burned away. Deep in that mental inferno, only a corpse-feeder stood glaring at him with resentment. The corpse-feeder aimed a broken straight sword at him. Just as his friend always had.
"My friend never hesitated to help others when they needed it. He thought deeply and always pursued his goals. If you have a goal, you must always point Rahav, the tip of your sword, toward it. That will become your unbreakable conviction and your blade."
The images and memories Bulki conjured faded away in this dark night with snow falling like white flakes.
"The tip of the sword..."
Elis glanced at her own sword. It looked just like his from that day.
"Never forget where the tip of your sword is pointing. In that way, Elis, you really resemble my friend. You'll surely become a greater knight than me."
"Without stopping for even a moment in anything... I'll forge my conviction and sword with desperation. Thank you-it helped a lot. I'm sorry. I'll do my utmost to become a knight who fulfills her duty. Ah, and of course, while serving the Hero well!"
Bulki gave a wry smile as he gathered the parchment and turned away.
"It's good to see you so diligent. I'm off to bed now. Rest well."
"Ah, what happened to that friend of yours, by any chance?"
At Elis's question, Bulki's expression twisted as if the dawn were rising into the black sky while he was heading back to his room. If his friend had been Bulki's sword, then Bulki's abyss was the friend himself.
It was a face tangled with regret, remorse, guilt, and rage. Not turning to hide his abyss from Elis's notice, Bulki continued.
"My friend, who was my sword and conviction, died to the Demons. That's why I became the Hero-and the end my sword is pointing toward now."
Elis hadn't heard Bulki's words clearly but realized she shouldn't ask more.
"I won't lose anyone ever again. Not a single thing."
For a moment, Bulki's abyss rippled faintly as he walked into the darkness.
***
The next day.
"Are preparations to enter Haipoji in order? First, help load this onto the carriage. It'seemed better to buy the finest raw materials rather than processed goods. It'll aid the Empire's research and processing techniques. Ah, of course, today's diplomacy has to go well first."
At the inn's entrance, Rondnel greeted the group warmly. His traditional armor had become more curved, shaped like a water droplet.
Rondnel had also bought ten bundles of ten plates each, graded appropriately. Of course, there were ten barrels of Haipoji's special liquor to take after diplomacy too.
"Well now, if today's diplomacy succeeds properly, that'll be something. We'll have to share a relaxed drink for sure?"
"Gil, was it? You seem to love your liquor."
"More than you, Fairy Lord?"
"Heh, not just big in size, I hope. I look forward to it. I fancy a drink myself."
Elis, who was moving plates beside them, stared at Shainelius as if she'd witnessed something absurd. And rightly so-she knew fairies had a strict prohibition on alcohol.
"Well, first let's see the diplomacy succeed! Anyway, the luggage is loaded, so shall we go?"
Having finished resupplying, the Hero's party arrived at the mountain gate with their carriage, horses, and Mirs in tow. Sional, the dwarves' nation on Haipoji Mountain. It was a fortress deep underground in Haipoji.
"It's awfully stifling, Hero."
"Yeah, Elis. It's been a while since armor felt this uncomfortable."
"Don't worry. I prepared a scroll for outsiders from Magen."
Rondnel tore a small parchment from his bosom and shook it in the midst of the group. In an instant, a cool mist like falling frost enveloped everyone.
"Magen must be an amazing place."
"For someone like me to hail from there is a miracle in itself, Gil."
The group left the carriage and horses in a central storage area and walked slowly, sightseeing with only their Mirs. Dwarves gathered along the paths marked with various emblems.
Most of the Hero's party had imagined dwarves as short because they were dwarves, but reality differed somewhat.
Just as humans varied in height, dwarves varied wildly in hand size. Those with large hands could grip a horse's thick neck and mostly smelted iron. Those with small ones were child-sized but had adult male-length fingers, engrossed in intricate work on jewels and machines.
Their geothermal engineering and civil works were so advanced that even Bulki, who knew woodworking, couldn't fathom the principles. Watching them, Bulki said.
"We must succeed in diplomacy."
Walking through Sional, the tunnel piercing the underground heart of Haipoji Mountain, everyone marveled at the wall shops and artisans. They, too, were plenty amazed by the Mirs Bulki brought.
"We're here. This is the Deep Summit where the great dwarf, Sherpandelnel, resides."
The great dwarf, Sherpandelnel-wrapped in paradoxes like the summit deepest in the mountain-was right before the Hero's party now. Bulki glanced at his companions, nodded, and followed the guard's guidance to open the mountain's grand doors.
In that instant, heat like melting eyes surged over the group.
***
"Senior Knight Nia of the 1st Knight Order, at your service, Captain Riu."
"Back from Ennaun now?"
"Ah, yes. That's right."
The training grounds. Riu welcomed Nia with eyes sharpened over the past five years. Her sword dance flowed gracefully like a butterfly in flight, yet at times resembled a pillar of fire that tore everything asunder. Tying her hair back, Riu said to Nia.
"If you returned this late at night, go rest right away, Nia."
Riu tried to resume training, but Nia's words stopped her.
"I have something to report. I used the magic from my book to prophesy, and it seems great danger is coming to the Empire-no, to all of Helred soon."
"A prophecy? Come to think of it, it's like what you mentioned before."
"Yes, but I can't do it exactly when I want."
"Only possible when you return home? No, first tell me the details, knight."
Sensing a long talk ahead, Riu sat on the stone steps beside Nia and drank from her canteen. The very spot Bulki had shattered before. Standing before it, Nia continued.
"Sorrow is coming. The prophecy showed the primordial Demon King crossing to the continent, many dying, and possibly a traitor among the Hero's party."
Riu thought for a moment and asked.
"Can prophecies miss? I'mean, can'the future in a prophecy change?"
"Yes, it's possible. The future only becomes recorded past after a certain point passes. Of course, it usually doesn't change..."
"Understood for now. I'll pass word through Central Command to prepare. I'll tell Graveheim and position the waiting 1st Knight Order knights along the western coast."
"Thank you. I hope my prophecy is wrong. But Captain, if all 1st Knight Order members go to the coast, Sonain's defenses will be even more vulnerable..."
Nia trailed off with a deeply worried expression, but Riu, unconcerned, simply picked up her sword in silence. She glanced at the wide-open training grounds and chuckled amusedly.
"I'm not a fledgling dwarf anymore."
Nia hesitated, not fully grasping the meaning. Riu pointed her sword tip at Nia and spoke even sharper than the blade.
"Excluding that Hero brat, the entire 1st Knight Order couldn't beat me even if they all rushed at once."
She looked just like a Hero.
"So rest easy. I'll remain in Sonain."
***
"Are you the Hero of Helred?"
A subterranean throne like cooled lava. Sherpandelnel, seated where it merged with the back wall, asked Bulki and the Hero's party.
"Yes. Great Dwarf, Sherpandelnel."
The dwarven king smiled sternly at Bulki's greeting and rose, propping himself on the throne with a massive hand that could crush even Cheret.
For a dwarf, his tall stature, orange armor befitting a king, long beard and hair bound with ornaments-all pressed his dignity oppressively upon Bulki.
"You wish to establish ties with our Sional, I presume."
"That's right. But there are other reasons too."
Yet Bulki spoke with an unyielding resolve.
"Sonain Empire-no, Helred itself needs the strength of the dwarves. And I, Bulki Sonain, the Hero who will write a new legend, need the wisdom of the dwarf king, mighty as a mountain. Please tell us what you know of the Holy Brazier."
The great dwarf king realized he was asking about this world's truth.
"Is that so?"
In response, the Hero's eyes flashed like boiling lava.