Chapter 5
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Pupil Engraved in the Heart
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‘That’s the name the witch hag from the star was calling.’
It wasn’t Grandma’s voice, but anyway, it was called out in a cracked, raspy tone.
You bastard, Luke Seid!
‘What’s the connection between the star, me, and Luke Seid?’
These guys must be from the Empire.
They’re beating him up because Luke Seid refused to pledge loyalty?
Well, it looks more like they’re the ones getting one-sidedly pummeled.
The way they swarm around like that makes them look like thug bugs.
If it were my body, I’d be scared shitless and piss myself.
But strangely, these guys don’t scare me at all.
“You cannot take a life. Isn’t that right?”
This ridiculously strong guy can’t kill?
Are these guys some kind of pacifists?
That was when it happened.
A mole rat teacher’s lips twitched upward inside his helmet.
This was a sneer.
It was the same facial muscle movement I made when smirking at pathetic thugs.
‘Does Mole Rat Teacher have a speech impediment? He’s so quiet. Did the Ruler of Frost or whatever witch curse him and take his voice? Like the little mermaid?’
Anyway, since the info I was curious about started spilling out, I waited quietly.
More! Tell me more, you blond tanned geezer!
“No matter how great a holy knight you are, you’re still just one man. You know your limits will come soon enough.”
Ooh—top holy knight?
What’s that?
It must be good if it’s the top one, right?
“If you pledge loyalty to the Emperor and serve the Imperial High Priest, it won’t end with just captain’s honors. The Emperor promises you a military command and a title. Once the continent is unified, you’ll be the greatest hero.”
It was a tempting offer.
Commander. Title. Continental unification.
Yet my heart didn’t race at all.
‘Mole Rat Teacher isn’t interested in promotions like that.’
Since the body’s owner wasn’t excited, I, sharing his flesh and feelings perfectly, stayed calm and unshaken too.
But these are weird guys.
They were charging like they wanted to kill him until now, so why the sudden change?
If they’d offered that from the start, couldn’t they have talked it out?
【Those who desire my heart are spouting nonsense. It’s a petty trick to minimize damage.】
As if answering my doubts, Mole Rat Teacher’s thoughts flowed in.
It was that voice from the star.
Excuse me, Teacher?
Why the heart?
Are these guys an organ-harvesting knight squad?
【Fools coveting the Pupil of Frost embedded in my heart.】
Pupil of Frost?
He really gouged out that witch teacher’s eyeball.
And embedded it in his heart? Luke Seid Teacher must be an expert in organ transplants too.
“Luke Seid, lead us with your power that overlooks the world.”
Ah, Gold Tan, shut up for a sec!
You’re talking about my Mole Rat Teacher!
‘Wait. Pupil of Frost. Power that overlooks.’
The star that cooled my head, the delusional navigator that guided me.
‘So the star that was shooting eye drugs at me was that witch’s eyeball?’
It might not be, but it might be.
My intuition was screaming it was true.
For some reason, the brain that had turned dumb from the star’s torment now spun smoothly like well-oiled gears.
I hoped for more info, but Mole Rat Teacher had no intention of talking.
“As long as you can’t reduce our numbers, your defeat is inevitable. Surrender and join us.”
The more I listen, the more it sounds like this old bastard is trying to fluff his tail and then backstab.
【The Imperial High Priest’s scheme to lure me in and rip out my heart.】
Ah... these annoying bastards.
I really hate guys who sweet-talk you into lowering your guard and then stab you in the back.
Teacher, can’t you just kill these bastards?
If you run out of strength and die, I die too? I don’t want to die.
I’ve already experienced death directly; I don’t want to do it indirectly too.
‘This vivid sensation I’ve finally regained. Smells, air. I bet I can taste food too. I want chadol doenjang jjigae.’
Not killing the guy trying to kill you isn’t being good—it’s being stupid!
“What say you, Luke?”
Mole Rat Teacher lifted his chin.
As if nodding toward Gold Tan.
【A wandering soul in torment has received the divine answer: Child, do not cast away your life for the laws of the earth. If you abandon me to seek your own path, that shall be my joy, saith the Lord.】
Prayer? Scripture? Feels like reciting holy text.
Anyway, this solemnity... seems like a body not meant for a nutjob like me.
【The wanderer who heard the voice of God has chosen his path.】
Hmm...
Thanks for the religious broadcast narration, but it’s too profound for my brain.
【I shall show these foolish swordsmen the ultimate swordsmanship.】
Middle school syndrome...
Ultimate swordsmanship.
And with that long, flat weapon like a spear...
“Fall back!”
Gold Tan, sensing something, quickly retreated while shouting.
But it was already too late.
【Distinguishing weapons is folly. The moment a swordsman grasps it, even a blade of grass becomes a sword. The sword is not matter, but will.】
The surroundings blurred.
Luke Teacher had swiftly turned and charged.
A knight approaching from behind was there, sword raised high overhead—what he intended was obvious without asking.
Splat—!
The double-edged blade, which he must have gripped again at some point, thrust straight out.
【The essence of the sword is speed—】
It was truly in the blink of an eye.
Splurt—!
“Guhk—.”
Before Luke Seid Teacher’s sword, even plate armor was useless.
A long hole pierced the red knight’s solar plexus from bottom to top.
【—precision—】
Swoosh—!
A trail of pure white light arced through the air the double-edged sword had passed.
“What in the—.”
The knight’s shoulder vanished mid-exclamation.
Thud—.
“—gap—.”
His head finished the sentence only as it hit the ground.
【—lies in bold, concise strikes.】
Riiip—!
The knight trying to smash Luke Teacher with his shield was cleaved from below upward, shield and all.
【Imbue the sword with will, back it with power. That is swordsmanship.】
I confirmed it once more.
Before Luke Teacher’s double-edged sword, plate armor was no longer plate armor.
【I am the Holy Kingdom Hellite’s greatest holy knight—】
Not just the red knights were stunned speechless by the sudden shift in aura.
I too was dazed watching until his inner monologue snapped me out of it.
【—Hellite’s Star, 1st Holy Knight Captain Luke Seid.】
Yes... I see.
Sudden let me introduce myself.
Feels like I should clap, but forgive me since I have no hands.
【Today, I break the precept of no killing in service to divine revelation. If the laws of the earth demand penance for this sin, I shall bear the cost.】
Of course. Commit sin, face punishment.
Ah, but tell him to cut the crap about precepts and rules.
Nothing’s more precious than my life!
This is self-defense!
Got it, Teacher?
【I swear by star and moon: if killing is the path to saving, I shall walk it willingly.】
Luke Teacher glanced upward with just his eyes, toward the distant horizon.
There hung a moon bluer than the blue sky. And right beside the moon...
‘There’s that star too?’
Familiar yet unfamiliar.
A white and blue star shone like a guardian constellation.
I wanted to observe the daytime moon and star closely, but Luke Seid Teacher’s gaze soon returned to the enemy.
‘I lived pretty proactively, but dying and becoming 100% passive is frustrating.’
This must be how it feels switching from manual to autopilot.
Doesn’t matter right now.
I just hope this autopilot teacher’s destination isn’t death.
‘Hmm—fresh air.’
Being alive is really great.
Now that I could see, hear, and feel, I could observe even more intently.
‘Nothing much to do anyway.’
What can I do when I can’t control anything?
【I am the hero who sealed rather than slew even the calamities descending upon Ea’r Continent—】
Self-hypnosis or what?
Why mumble like a madman?
“Invosta! Are you alright?!”
“Idiot! Invosta’s already dead!”
Viiiing—!
A terrifying whoosh cut through their conversation.
The knight inquiring after the decapitated Invosta and the one tugging his cloak both lost their heads to a single stroke.
“The holy knight’s gone mad!”
“Create distance! Get out of his attack range!”
As Luke Seid Teacher’s sword revealed clear killing intent, the red knights’ formation crumbled in an instant.
【—Before Hellite’s Star, awakened by killing intent, none shall escape.】
Screee—!
The double-edged sword flew toward the retreating foes like a boomerang.
No knight along its flight path remained unscathed.
Whoosh—.
The furiously spinning sword vanished into thin air.
“He threw his weapon! He’s mad!”
“He’s unarmed now!”
Their shouts were half an octave higher.
I could tell they were pumped up.
‘Teacher! What now?!’
Poof—.
It wasn’t there, but now it is.
Swoosh—! Riiip—!
A white flash streaked from the right shoulder to the left side of the red knight pointing at Luke Teacher. I now knew well what happens when you point at Luke Teacher.
“Grrgh...”
I thought it was metal because of its heavy weight and texture, but that was my preconception.
‘A summoned weapon?’
The ability to summon such a huge, heavy, glowing weapon from thin air.
If I had a mouth, it’d be agape in shock.
【I have broken the holy knight order’s precepts myself, becoming a profane holy knight. Divine weapons may only be wielded by those chosen by God. My brothers will judge me for my sin, yet God has not cast aside this body.】
Thanks for the kind explanation.
It feels like he’s answering my questions. The timing fits.
“Even if we retreat now, we won’t escape severe punishment!”
“Uwaaak—!”
The vast grassy plain, barren of trees, filled with red screams and shouts.
“No choice now—we must rip out his heart, even if it means total annihilation!”
Something’s wrong with the translator, I think.
How do you plan to extract the heart after being wiped out?
“Don’t fall back!”
“Don’t forget the honor of the Imperial Knights!”
The enemy didn’t just take it lying down.
Even as they died, they pushed forward desperately, trying to land even a graze.
“Aim for the heart!”
He killed, slashed, and cleaved.
Luke’s stamina gradually dwindled.
Shoulders grew heavy, fatigue piled in the thighs.
‘Is Luke Teacher’s heart that expensive?’
【Powers belong to the soul. Yet there is a power engraved in the heart—】
A power engraved in the heart.
Then my guess was spot on.
The eyeball ripped from the Ruler of Frost was in Luke Teacher’s heart.
【Originally the Glacier Queen’s pupil—】
See? Right.
【Now engraved in my heart, overlooking like a star—】
The star.
【The Insight Ability.】
Insight Ability.
The sharp intuition honed as a firefighter.
Delusional navigator.
Understanding the language of this unfamiliar world.
The mysteries neatly resolved.
Now, if I just figure out why the star appeared to me and why I entered this teacher’s body, I can rest easy.
No, not die. Sound sleep.
【In this moment of breaking the precepts, even I gain enlightenment—】
Congratulations—.
【I command thee—】
This teacher’s a nutjob too, huh.
Serious soliloquy symptoms.
That’s when I thought that.
【Spirit of the earth—】
Rumble rumble thump—.
The ground shook violently.