Sword Whisperer

Quint's eyes trembled. There are countless who have fallen on his Great Sword. However, that did not mean that Quint underestimated everyone I had cut. He respected them and was proud of myself for beating them all that much.

"I didn't even see it…… how?"

Quint murmurs in a grumpy voice. Van didn't answer. He throws back his sword, which he never knew was drawn.

"It's not a matter of speed."

"Van..... a name I've never heard before, no, wait, no way..... are you that Van? This time, I graduated from Citadel Academy as chief...?"

At the words of the Citadel Academy, Armen turns his head and looks at Van. If it was the Citadel Academy, she didn't know either.

None of the wanderers are from the Citadel Academy right now.

'I was nothing there.'

They were strong enough that other guests at the Forest Wind Inn could not open their mouths because Gigi died, but they behaved humbly when the story of the Academy came out. It was a place full of geniuses, so I could see more objectively the value of my talent.

"Chief of Citadel...?"

Looking at Armen, who couldn't hide his surprise, Van felt strange. I was not so surprised when I saw him cut an apple, cut a great sword, and he was so easy to open his mouth.

Depending on what world you live in, something as precious as gold may look like cow shit to someone.

I knew it, but I was forced to feel strange. Even if he realizes the power of the sword, he thinks it might mean nothing to someone.

But I had no choice. Even if it was as futile as the moon on the lake, he decided to give his life to that futile thing.

Van urged a step. Maybe it's time to leave here, too. And it was then. Quint follows Van heavy.

"Wait!"

"What's the point? I think I won the battle."

"Me, I didn't see your sword."

Quint said in a trembling voice. Van looks at him with an indifferent expression.

"So?"

"One more time... please show me one more time."

"I've already broken your black hole."

"…… is that important?"

"It doesn't matter."

Van replied in a calm voice.

"Your turn means it's over."

That was the end of it. Van went straight to the inn. Quint stares at my Great Sword with a dismal expression.

It was also a great sword that I thought was pressed tighter as I was heavy.

"…… is it still light?"

§

Naturally, it didn't take a day for Van's skill to become a topic in the Forest Wind Inn. Armen was not a light woman, but not even a light mouth. Most importantly, the guests who saw the Great Sword of Quint were not allowed to hand it over.

And of course, Van had to meet quite a lot of guests, unlike usual.

"Citadel Academy..... I dreamed of it when I was a kid."

It was a young man who dreamed of becoming a druid of Youstein. He said with half his fist in his hand.

"I need to see if I've gone beyond that dream or not……."

He had to face half the blade in front of my eyes before he could reach his fist.

Most of them were like that. They buzzed about what my dream was and how hard I've lived my past life for it. Of course I would have lived really hard. Those who live lazy lives are overflowing with pride in their faces that cannot even be imitated.

And, without exception, they were defeated by prosecutors who could no longer be proud of themselves.

"..... Are you from the Citadel Academy?"

"Strong, though. But not everyone's that far. I told you, chief."

Quint replies. I could not challenge Van again without the Great Sword. But that's why he was forced to watch Van fight the others even harder.

What kind of sword is that? '

Even though he was preparing his mind, he could not even see how Van pulled out the sword properly. It was as if Van's hand was moving back in time.

'.... Are you really going against time?'

This is also against the laws of the world at the dawn of time. And actually, Quint has recently been trying to figure out what the landscape is and how it feels.

But there was no time among the 'laws of the world' he thought. He never thought it was an area of law. It is not at the law level, but more intrinsic…….

Well, isn't it God's realm?

It was the moment I thought so. Quint felt like he was peeking at something for a moment. With Van's hand, no, the world is twisted to the point of cutting the sword. Cutting, stabbing, plucking, plucking, all those series of processes were repeated dozens, hundreds of times, then repeated, and then disappeared beyond the ambiguous time horizon.

And at the next moment, the man who was throwing the spear at Van had to have hundreds of bamboo pieces instead of the spear.

"…… vs., sieve."

Rather than even measuring, Quint was more wet after measuring. I wanted to know what he had just seen. Is that swordsmanship? Is this an area allowed to man?

And that was a shock that half of them had held thousands of times.

'.... Lopo. Your sword..... the more you count, the less you know the end.'

When he wielded the knife, Van saw Roppo's back standing in the apple tree field. It was strange. Obviously Van can only read memories that are directly related to the knife, but then what he needs to recollect is Lopo's memory of wielding the sword, but what he looks like is Lopo's farming.

'No, that was definitely swordsmanship.'

Plant an apple tree. Give water. Hit a branch, catch a bug. Seemingly meaningless, the man who was allowed to live forever lost his sense of time in that work that seemed merely repetitive.

Numerous sensations swallowed up his world. Certainly there was one tree that gave water, but there were dozens of trees that looked at him with their bottoms soaked. Obviously, dozens of apples were hanging from the buds until just now, but at some point, the branches were completely melancholy without a single handful of leaves.

What does he give water for? For the moment the leaves fall from the apple tree? Or for the day when leaves and flowers and fruits will be brought forth again? For ordinary people, the moment of the 'apple' would be the answer, but it was not true for Lopo who could not taste the apple.

On an endless staircase, Lopo never knew if I was going up or down. Without even knowing how sweet the fruits of his hard work were, he had been treadmills without such compensation for hundreds of years.

So it was training.

So it was a sword only Lofo could have.

Examination dedicated to farming that can't even taste the fruits of hundreds of years. I couldn't even understand what Lopo was thinking, what he was feeling, and what world he was peering into…… Van didn't even understand. Nevertheless, if there was anything he could know, it was only Lopo's heart.

He really didn't want to cut anything.

If there is a god, he truly loves contradictions. To a prosecutor who felt a meeting about cutting something, God gave him the power to read everything he wanted.

'It's arrogance that I want to fully understand.'

All Van can do is stab the trail.

Van put a knife in it. By stumbling on the trail, none of them dared even try to understand his sword.

'What is a swordsman to be great...?'

I don't know. Thinking about Lopo, I felt vulgar and ashamed to discuss whether he was great or not.

".... Who did you learn such a sword from?"

"Lopo."

"…… Lopo?"

"There was an apple farmer. I learned from him."

"An apple farm...?"

Van left them in doubt and avoided the position. It will never be easy to infer who Lopo is. He was gone hundreds of years ago.

I went up to the room and put my butt back on the chair, and after a while, I started hearing familiar footsteps. Van could only hear the sound of his feet and see that it was facing him. After a while, Armen opens the door and looks at Van.

"..... You're such a terrible liar."

"Did I lie?"

"I didn't lie. But I didn't say anything! Graduated from the Citadel Academy, no, I'm a senior, and I'm so strong!"

"You don't have to talk about it."

"Are you sure you want to act like a master?"

Van laughed at the sound of Armen's Volmen. Like a preacher, a story I've never heard in my life. That's how much meeting with Lopo changed him.

I had to. The strongest prosecutor he's ever met is the one who farmed with a sword. How could I not be held to him?

'I gave up the Vampire, and now I'm a ghost and I'm going to hang around.'

Van realizes that no matter how much time passes, I cannot escape the shadow of Lopo. I didn't feel like I owed Lopo much. I attacked them. Even if it is impossible, it will never go away as long as I have taken my life.

"Armen."

"Huh?"

"…… no one has cut it, and if there is anything that can't be cut, what?"

"No one has cut it... Hmm."

Armen wears his arms and submerges himself in thought. Soon he touched half his shoulders and smiled bitterly.

"My heart about you?"

"….. Huh, the girl sounds really strange."

"If you don't believe me, cut it."

Looking at Armen's attitude, he shook his head as if he would not be able to dry him. But in a way, it also seemed right. Just as Van's Sword Roppo can't contain the sweetness of the Bear Moon apple, so can Armen's heart.

"Sword is hard."

There were so many things in the world that I couldn't tell you.

His ambition to make the world unbearable was a dream that was impossible when he looked back.

"...... when are you leaving?"

Armen's question sounded a little slow. Van slowly looks back at Armen. Armen smiles with a determined expression. Looking at her smile, Van thought he couldn't even imitate a face like that. Only the one who put down the dream could make a face.

"Don't look at me like that. I spent the rest of my life at this inn. I can tell when someone's leaving, just by looking at those steps. You're leaving soon, aren't you?"

"…… yes. Maybe tomorrow."

"You're really leaving with Carl. A decent man."

"Should I say I'm sorry?"

"That's it. Then it gets more miserable. I'm used to being blinded. This inn is too mediocre to come at the end of a trip. It's always been a crossroads thing."

However, there are some who are the only places where the crossroads can be.

Familiar with parting, the woman who was so tired of parting said.

"I won't remember for long. Van."

"It's not easy to forget. I'll take care of it."

"All right. I'll let you forget about Gigi... However, if you need a place to rest at a later time.. come visit me anytime. Even if you forget, I will greet you by pretending to remember."

"... You are the woman of the crossroads."

Van smiles. Armen shrugs.

"Yes. So where do you intend to cross here? Forest? Desert?"

"I'm going home."

Van's voice sank.

"I have a promise to receive."