The Swordmaster Wants to Fall in Love 60. Mysterious Request (3)
* * *
Days had passed.
The meteorite that had fallen on Stell Castle had drawn countless organizations to the site. Mercenary groups smelling of profit, secret magic cults hunting Meteornium, knights and military forces from rival kingdoms.
Yet they had all quickly realized the truth: the Swordmaster was guarding the meteorite. Every single one of them who had sent men to claim it had been wiped out without a trace.
“*Hahaha*, kid. No need to resist—just come into my arms, Master…”
“Dream realm bitches.”
“Guh-?! Wh-what the…? According to the reports, the Swordmaster is weak to feminine wiles…!”
Thinking he could simply claim the meteorite from the Swordmaster who stood guard, the organizations now sent assassins instead—specialists tasked with killing him.
This one woman in particular had introduced herself as a ninja. She wore nothing but a skimpy loincloth that barely covered the essentials of her body.
Evan sheathed his sword and let out a scoff.
“Must be some old information.”
In truth, he hadn’t felt any excitement at all—the woman in front of him, no matter how seductive, was still far inferior to Penelope, the succubus elite who served him in the dream realm.
He saw no need to explain that.
*Getting a little boring over here.*
The excavation was still grinding along. Meteornium, worth astronomical prices per gram, was impossible to dig up indiscriminately, so they had been slowly chipping away at the meteorite.
At this rate, it would take at least another week. And during that week he would have to stand guard here, unable to wash properly or sleep.
The pay was decent, but boredom was inevitable.
“Wonder when they’ll send over some real tough guys.”
Evan muttered a line no bodyguard should ever speak, then pulled a simple bento from his spatial storage.
Onigiri, even—enough for a proper meal. He couldn’t risk an enemy attack while he was out on a break.
*No matter how strong they are, this is just how it is.*
The other Transcendent beings must have been wondering how he was handling the situation, but there was no one to ask. He let out a long sigh.
He couldn’t exactly ask the Spear King or Carnelly how they’d handled having to wait while nature called.
In the end, he simply endured.
* * *
“Move faster! Faster!”
“Careful digging! Every single chunk is more valuable than your life!”
Under the knights’ orders—rhythm and timing completely lost on them—the miners worked like madmen with their picks, fast and precise, yet never so much as scratched the priceless Meteornium beneath the rock.
The moment they struck the shimmering Meteornium hidden beneath the surface, they would immediately report it and begin to dig around it with extreme caution.
“*You two over there—stay put! Stop work on that side!*”
The surrounding knights gathered the laborers near the spot where the Meteornium had been found. Four or five of them carefully dug around the stone while the rest on the opposite side kept hacking away at it roughly.
He found the situation utterly intolerable. We’re not prisoners here—almost forcibly conscripted—and they’re acting like this?
Worse still, the expensive ore they were excavating was not even being shared with them. That was the most infuriating part of all.
*We sweat our guts out, the nobles reap the profit.*
What kind of crap is this? They call it more precious than life, yet the pay is only barely higher than what they’d get for any other job.
The moment he realized there was no reward for all that effort, he stopped feeling like working.
He was simply pretending to work because the knights’ blades were terrifying.
*Goddamn, these knight bastards—!*
*Thud—!*
“Ugh—!?”
The heavy pick struck the meteorite’s surface like a cannon blast, sending rock fragments flying in all directions. The laborer who’d taken a small stone in the eye rubbed his stinging skin with a scowl.
Fortunately, it hadn’t broken skin. He wiped the wound with the back of his hand, then picked up his pick and swung it wildly.
Hard. Harder. *Hard.*
*Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!*
Fragments of the meteorite exploded outward. Before long the laborer’s body was covered from head to toe in embedded rock.
“You there! What are you— wait, wha—?!”
The knight who had rushed over to the reckless laborer upon hearing his orders saw the writhing tentacles erupting across the man’s entire body. He immediately drew his sword.
The laborer looked at the knight who had unsheathed in front of him and sneered.
“Be gentle. No need to draw your sword, right?”
“Y-you! What the hell do you think you’re—”
“What am I? I told you I’m sorry.”
It was infuriating.
Every last knight and sword here needed to die.
*Whiiiish—!*
Using that rage, the tentacles bursting from the laborer’s body whipped out and slammed the knight far away.
The laborer watching the knight fly off let out a loud laugh.
“Hah.”
Only then did he realize what had happened: his body and face had been replaced by a monster covered in tentacles.
—*My son.*
The meteorite called out to the laborer.
The man heard the voice and felt a surge of ecstasy. Electricity coursed through his entire body.
Hearing your voice is more important than anything.
—*Spread my seed far and wide.*
“I obey, Father.”
The next moment, the laborer tore off a chunk of the meteorite and hurled it in every direction. No distinction between the miners, knights, or mages.
All of them began to receive their Father’s seed.
“Uhaaaaa—!”
Scatter the Father’s seed across the world.
Let everyone hear your voice.
***
He couldn’t hold it in anymore.
He stepped into the nearby forest, dug a small hole, and took care of business. The heavy burden in his gut vanished in an instant.
Just as he felt a pleasant sense of relief, he sensed someone approaching from beyond the trees.
*Oh no, please don’t come this way.*
Still looking down, praying, he heard the footsteps stop right in front of him.
—*Raise your head, Swordmaster.*
Hearing the voice—like a bug’s wings flapping wildly—he slowly lifted his gaze and met eyes with a tentacled monster that had the face of a human body.
“Whoa… a monster.”
—*I am the son of the Great Father. I am Low-Medon. I am not a monster.*
“Not a monster, you say?”
Every inch of him screamed monster, yet the other party’s words made him frown slightly.
“Then wait somewhere else, will you? Don’t watch me take a piss.”
—*…Fine.*
Low-Medon obediently left his spot and headed toward the cliff. After he finished whatever he needed to do, Evan stood up, drew his sword, and walked over to him.
Low-Medon, hearing Evan’s footsteps, wrinkled his nose.
—*Did you wash properly?*
“…I did my best.”
—*I see. Sensitive nose.*
He debated whether to cut this tentacled monster down where he stood or simply walk away. Since he was a gentleman who needed to talk things out, he looked back at him.
Low-Medon’s tentacles twitched.
—*Our Great Father sent his children to this land a very long time ago.*
“Ah, yes.”
—*And those children planted their seed and gave you many offspring… the descendants of that Great Father are us.*
“Who are you people?”
—*Kra-tos.*
Evan remembered the book he had read at the guild not long ago—the one about the Eight Great Families.
The Nine Lives created by the White-Faced Golden-Mouthed Fox Rainia.
The True Blood Empire founded by the Queen of All Vampires.
The World Tree Union, where forest fairies gathered.
And the children of the Great Father—Kra-tos.
*They said these were mysterious, unidentified monsters…*
—*And recently, our Father sent you a gift.*
“A gift…?”
—*This meteorite is it.*
The moment he heard that, Evan drew his sword and swung.
The guy had been all sweet talk, yet he was a meteorite thief?
Surprisingly, however, the swing of his blade was blocked by an unknown barrier that had erupted around Low-Medon’s body.
—No need to be surprised. Our will cannot be pierced by anything…*
Absolute Cut
Double Layer
*Chwaaak—!*
The barrier shattered. Low-Medon, who had his chest sliced open, looked at Evan with disbelief.
Evan shrugged and swung his sword, cleanly severing the monster’s head.
“It pierced through.”
He kicked aside the smooth-talking head of the thief and checked that the meteorite was still intact.
Then he covered his face and let out a long sigh.
“…Damn.”
By now the area around the meteorite was filled with nothing but tentacled monsters like Low-Medon. He had missed them while he was gone.
If this was the case, had the mission failed? He was just thinking that when a voice spoke from behind him.
—*The Great Father took death from his children.*
“…?”
—*Death does not exist for us, Swordmaster.*
Looking at the revived Low-Medon, Evan let out a hollow laugh.
Deathless, you say…
“Even if I kill you until you’re dead, you’ll still come back.”
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