Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Audience with the Sword Sage
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The Sword Sage's disciples sat tightly bound with the very ropes they had brought.
Perched on chairs at the dining table, they faced my full interrogation.
"So, you kidnapped my vice warden, planning to lure me to some secluded spot?"
"Yes, that's right. But we had no intention of harming her at all! None whatsoever!"
The two disciples pleaded with eyes begging me to believe them.
"Kidnapping her is harm, you idiots."
I snapped at them with a look of contempt, and their faces fell in dejection.
"What were you planning after luring me out? Threaten to hand over Myoran?"
"How did you even know that...?"
"What else would the East Continent want with me besides Myoran? It has to be to reclaim the Heavenly Jade."
"You've spoken to the Heavenly Jade yourself? How could you leave Myoran be after witnessing that eerie power?"
The elite experts from the East stared back, utterly baffled.
It was a perfectly reasonable reaction.
The Heavenly Jade's sinister power preyed on people's desires, binding them to its will.
Even the former wardens had lusted after Myoran because of its influence, strictly speaking.
Of course, their trash natures made them easy targets.
"I'm not a man driven by great ambitions. Neither is Myoran. With no strong desires to exploit, the Heavenly Jade was powerless against us."
Could a person without desire even exist?
The two disciples furrowed their brows at the incomprehensible situation.
"Even so, we must reclaim the Heavenly Jade. If we don't..."
"Or else Myoran becomes the Moon Spirit and rampages, dooming the world?"
I replied indifferently, and their pupils dilated in shock.
"How do you know that too?"
"If I want to know something here in Berryhill, I know it."
I flashed my signature sly grin.
Meanwhile, Clea brewed me some coffee, while behind me, the Grand Elder and imperial officials stood with arms crossed.
'S-Senior Brother... This guy's seriously weird. How does he know top-secret Alliance intel?'
'I told you. He's the empire's shadow power broker. Never let your guard down.'
"How much longer are you two going to whisper via sound transmission? Squeeze your brains all you want—nothing changes."
"We're sorry..."
"I know you and the Sword Sage don't want Myoran out of malice. It's all to avert the world's end."
"Thank you for understanding."
I quietly gazed at my reflection in the coffee's surface.
At the dark circles etched from countless apocalypses.
"But your approach is dead wrong. You're trying to forcibly separate the Heavenly Jade from Myoran, aren't you?"
The first disciple swallowed hard.
The scar across one eye didn't stop him from mustering his courage to speak.
"There's no other way. Surely you know a little girl can't handle that power, sir hero?"
"A little girl... Yeah, that's what I thought when I first met Myoran."
I had to choose my words carefully here.
The Sword Sage's past attempt to forcibly separate them had triggered the Heavenly Jade's rampage.
'In this life, I have to prevent any clash between the Sword Sage and Myoran.'
"But that child is different now. She's stably absorbed the Heavenly Jade's power and achieved great perfection."
"Is that true...?"
The disciples looked incredulous.
"No child can handle the Heavenly Jade's power."
"Exactly. You must have mistaken a temporary borrow for mastery."
I put my notoriously fierce face to good use.
I met their doubting stares with icy impassivity.
"So, you're saying I'm lying?"
"..."
The men glanced at each other warily, holding their tongues.
To help them along, I extended my hand first.
The beefy one wearing my mafia boss ring.
"If you can't believe me, arrange a meeting with the Sword Sage. I'll explain it to her myself."
"Convincing someone at the immortal realm won't be easy."
"I'll inform Master, but I can't guarantee she'll agree."
No, she would meet me without fail.
Reaching the immortal realm wasn't child's play.
It demanded not just supreme martial prowess, but love for the world, boundless compassion...
And the resolute will to save it, no matter the cost.
She would grant me an audience.
But if my answers didn't satisfy her, that same resolve would demand my elimination.
'So I have to meet her and slither my way to her approval.'
"That's all I have to say. Go report my wishes to the Sword Sage."
"...Understood."
The two men stole glances at the Grand Elder behind me before slowly rising.
Captain Greta promptly untied their ropes.
"Sorry for intruding so late at night."
"Thank you sincerely for the dinner, despite our rudeness."
The Sword Sage's disciples offered fist salutes and hastily departed Clea's home.
Only after their presences fully vanished did the kitchen regain its peace.
"Phew..."
"You sure it's okay just letting them go?"
The Grand Elder took the seat the kidnappers had vacated.
The Imperial Knight Commander and Captain Greta looked displeased at releasing criminals before their eyes.
"Those are the ones who tried to kidnap your vice warden."
"Right. We can punish them ourselves if you want."
Only Clea, the near-victim, remained nonchalant.
She tended to her young siblings without a care.
"I appreciate your intentions, but I think it's best if I handle this personally."
I met the eyes of the high officials offering their kindness with respect.
"If important figures like you step in, it could hurt your reputations. Clea's my direct aide, so I'll settle it myself."
Clea's carefree hands froze mid-motion.
Chris, with the best view of her turned face, smirked.
"I'll make the Sword Sage pay for touching one of mine."
This could escalate into an international incident.
The Sword Sage wouldn't want major friction either.
No matter how strong she was, we were the Empire, and they were just the Martial Alliance.
'She'll probably want a quiet private settlement. That's when I'll press her hard on touching Clea.'
My usual mild gaze had vanished entirely.
The Grand Elder nodded slowly, approving of the shift.
"What about the girl, Myoran?"
"I'm not letting her go."
The Grand Elder stroked his chin at my curt reply.
"Why? She seems to have suffered greatly under the Heavenly Jade."
"At first, yeah. But lately, she's found a new purpose in life and is absorbing its power masterfully."
Images of Myoran in this life flashed through my mind like film reels.
Faces more human and girlish than ever.
"The Sword Sage has no idea Myoran's doing well. The Alliance just asked her to capture the girl before she rampages."
"Still, wouldn't it be better for the East Continent—where the Heavenly Jade originated—to have her?"
The Tax Agency head chimed in from the side.
True to his profession, he was utterly rational.
"Myoran came here because she hates them. Separating her from the Heavenly Jade would kill her."
"...!!"
The high officials fell deathly silent at the mention of a 19-year-old girl's death.
"Better to rampage and destroy everything than die. And the world becomes a wasteland."
I exhaled deeply.
Recalling the ruined world from when she became the Moon Spirit.
"I get the East Continent's side, too. The stronger Myoran gets from the Moon's power, the harder separation becomes, so they want to subdue her early and minimize damage."
"Like putting out a kitchen fire before it explodes—suffering just a minor hand burn."
The empire's burdened elites nodded, grasping their mindset.
But my stance remained firm.
"I know Myoran will make the Heavenly Jade's power her own."
She wasn't some frail vessel unable to contain it.
And if she was, I'd help her grow by her side.
That was the only path to avert doom.
"She's reached the level of a mature Swordmaster. Impossible without immense power alone."
"True. Only a mentally stable soul can achieve it."
The two knight commanders nodded in unison.
As martial experts, they grasped my point immediately.
"It makes no sense to kill a girl so desperate to live over a slim risk."
I held out my palm.
To the me who'd once judged and shouldered dooms alone.
"We should at least give everyone a chance."
No one rebutted my final words.
They simply stayed silent in agreement.
"Her disciples have probably reached her by now. We'll have a firm answer to my demands soon."
I rose from the table.
Before eating the meal Clea prepared, another matter needed handling.
"I'll be back."
Before exiting the front door, I glanced steadily at Clea and the twins.
"..."
My blue-haired vice warden said nothing.
She just nodded quietly.
As if to say she trusted me—come back safe.
In response, I stepped out.
And in the rundown front garden, I encountered a single purple butterfly waiting.
'Anyone can tell it's the Sword Sage Zaseop's familiar.'
It fluttered ahead as if beckoning me to follow.
Matching its swift wingbeats, I leaped across rooftops.
"..."
We arrived deep in Berryhill's woods.
A woman stood by a babbling brook.
Even at midnight, holding an Eastern-style parasol.
"Are you the Sword Sage?"
The pristine white parasol lifted slowly.
Revealing a face of jade-like skin and faint purple eyes.
"I've been waiting, Derek Minster."
In Berryhill's secluded forest, moon veiled by clouds.
Purple butterflies drifting softly over the brook.
There, the immortal awaited me—the Sword Sage Zaseop.
With a single sword at her waist, she greeted me.
'Of all times, right before my fight with the Tutton Grand Duke's daughter.'
I walked steadily toward the East's supreme master.
With Myoran's fate—the protagonist of my third bad ending—in the balance.