Sword Whisperer

"Prosecutors are quite different from what people think."

It's not just about swinging a knife to kill people.

Luke's eyes, looking at Citadel's examinations, were almost in love. Most of those examiners probably buried blood on that blade. Perhaps, it was the blood of a relatively less sinful person.

If the prosecutor asks if it's good, Luke can shake his head decisively. Eventually, the moment a man's blood begins to be buried in his hands, his soul is caught and touched by an infinite ring of evil.

But can the mind of a prosecutor who seeks strength also be said to be evil? Just purely, can you say that the pure heart that wants to cut down everything in the world is like the root of evil?

"There are not many questions asked in the life of the prosecutor."

Are you going to bellow or are you going to cut?

Every moment of the examination is divided into life and death choices. Few of the examiners considered the options themselves. By dominating that choice, those who are right to say that I am the ruler of life and death have seen Luke countless times.

"We can pick the wrong answer at any time, and the wrong answer calls for another one. There are so many moments when a prosecutor is forced to fall."

"So do you mean I have to help them not fall?"

"Why do you think you're helping? Because you're stronger?"

Luke smiles as if Van's insides are clearly visible. Van felt wonderful somewhere in front of that laugh. Right now, Luke, despite being much stronger than Van, used to get a lot from Van.

"Being strong doesn't make you choose the wrong answer less. Rather, the aftermath of a chosen misanswer is more likely to be massive. To choose the right path, it would be a pretty valuable experience to lead others."

"…… I thought about it before."

Van opened his mouth.

"What is Carl telling us? I don't think Carl's just telling us to cut more people off. I'm not interested in Carl being our killer. I feel it when I swing. When I feel the blade leading my hand through the air……"

I can see Carl's voice. That voice is telling me. Me and you are here for the greater. It's not just to kill people. There's something we need to cut. There are things you shouldn't do if you don't cut them. I don't have that voice.

Despite Van's blurred speech, Luke could see what he had not said. Van hesitates for a moment and opens his mouth.

"I think I need some time."

"It can't be bad. But remember."

Luke looks down at the inspectors down the hill.

"Sometimes it's better not to think about something too long."

§

If anyone asks, "It is indeed a warm day," K'Shatu will probably say so.

The sun, the environment, the heart were warm days. It was impossible to tell whether K'Shatu had a human heart or an animal mind, but K'Shatu was so good every day that he didn't even want to care about it.

People liked Kchatu. The reason was because he was strong. As a Kchatu, I had to feel unfamiliar with that favor. In the land of abyss, where only disorder and chaos remained, strength was not usually the reason to admire someone. Not to mention why I would like it.

But I never hated being stranger. When people smiled at me, K'Shatu smiled face to face. I don't know how much it means to laugh, but when you smile like that, sometimes you feel like he's a human being who's really nothing like them.

Among other things, it was Ezel who made K'Shatu feel the most human. Being young must have something magical in itself. Faced with Ezekiel's young face, that was enough to comfort him.

"I envy K'Shatu."

Ezekiel was gloomy today. K'Shatu notices Ezel sliding his right leg. I wonder if he fought somewhere. It doesn't look like it's here. Kchatu did not ponder for long. He was not so good at hiding his inner voice.

"Are you hurt?"

"Yes? Oh, this? We had a little fight with the local Yankees."

"…… your legs look uncomfortable."

"What about the dogs if I had this much?"

Ezel swings his wooden sword in the air. I don't know why the tip of that finger was stabbed somewhere. Kchatu said in a strange voice.

"Did you hold a hedgehog? Strange fingertips."

"Ah, ah... this? Yeah, uh, um... I just have a job to do."

"What do you do?"

"Hey, look! K'Chatu! It's a white crow!"

"I don't think there's anything there?"

"Ah, I passed by. That's a shame."

"So, what you do……"

"Oh, right. K'Shatu, should we try to fight each other? I think I'm getting stronger these days."

"......."

Seeing Ezekiel continuing to cut off his horse, K'Shatu raises his body with a knife that seems like he can't help it. And I thought to myself,

'But why do you keep calling yourself a man?'

I knew it from the moment I first saw it. Ezel was a girl. He had the same amber as men, but the smell of flesh was a girl's. K'Shatu wanted to ask about it too, but saw Ezel's fingertips tremble anxiously, avoiding the question. It was such a vivid fear, as if a predator were in front of him.

So Kshatu kept his mouth shut. K'Shatu could not understand why she was afraid of his questions. But if she was really afraid of it, if his question bothered her, K'Shatu thought it would be better to ask curiosity.

Ezel's wooden sword is approaching.

That wooden sword that should be infinitely light,

I just felt heavy about why.

§

The name Van now takes a lot of time. The boys in the kingdom who had such a name had a nickname like the Celestial Sword or the First Sword, without any exception, and some gave Van's name to a freshly born child, saying that he should be such a great man.

What it means to see the world staring at me, Van has been feeling the senses these days. And in particular, the most realistic of the gaze was this resort where Citadel's prosecutors gathered.

'Van.'

'.... You're still here today.'

'How can a man make such a trajectory?'

'Somehow, I don't feel like his sword is swinging to kill.'

Even if I whispered a small word, I had to hear it all in Van's ear. It used to be a grumbling and indifferent gesture, but after talking to Luke, Van couldn't stand to ignore them somewhere after K'Chatu showed up to teach him life.

Maybe Van is their god. Wandering around the world looking for the right answers, they were trying to find them. Knowing how close it was to finding the right answer as a test, Van was salty, thankful, and at the same time beautiful.

I am not alone

I thought so. If so many people are wandering around trying to find the right answer somehow, no matter where the right answer is, it will never be found. Maybe it was an optimistic idea, but they were comforting enough for Van to embrace that optimistic idea.

Luke said, "Why do you think only half of them will lead the way?" I didn't know he was right. If Van was pulling them, they were supporting Van.

Van looked around and saw Ezel standing by K'Shatu with a water bottle and towel waiting to come running at any moment. Even the little one was here seeking something invisible.

"Ezel"

"…… Yes? Yes, Nene Nene Nene!"

Either Van didn't think he was going to call me, or Ezekiel panicked and trembled. Van smiles softly and opens his mouth.

"Come here. You've always been kind to me, because I seem so indifferent."

"No, I didn't mean that..!"

"I'll take a look at your posture."

Van clasped his arms.

"I'll swing the sword."

At that moment everyone took a breath. No one had ever said to Van 'disciple' because even though Van discussed the sword with the same sword, he had rarely tried to teach himself.

But half of them said that before anyone asked for it. What the hell does that mean? When the inspectors were looking at Ezekiel with their eyes, half of them also opened their mouths, looking at each other.

"I know a lot of people facing the wall. Let them wait. As long as it's time, I'll help you."

"… Bar, Van……!"

"Are you..... accepting us?"

"You don't have to take it and do anything. Maybe it's only natural to look at juniors as senior prosecutors."

I do not intend to receive it as a disciple. But it doesn't matter if you need help. At the words of Van, all the prosecutors had a cheerful expression. I didn't even wish for a disciple. Even if I give him one good piece of advice, at least they can figure out where to go.

They were still Van's disciples and could not be put to sleep. But at least, I think I've reached a relationship that can be said to be half human.

Since that day, Van has calibrated several tests. Sometimes if one of them wanted to have a bad quality, he didn't deal with it, so there was a small commotion, but the commotion was too minor to threaten Van.

The story that Van is helping the prosecutors in earnest has spread everywhere. And in Citadel, more tests than ever came. It was not without a fight due to the garden, but half of it was silent in an instant.

It was not an exaggeration in some way that Van was their god. His words and teachings were their doctrine and the law.

K'Shatu looked at the tests that followed Van's lead, thinking maybe it wasn't the monster who was looking for the meaning of life. Being human doesn't mean everyone has a life. I'm just trying to have it.

"Ezel. What is the meaning of your life?"

"…… Well, I don't know. Do you want to protect your mother, be happy?"

"Isn't that a goal, not a meaning?"

"Is there a life more meaningful than a happy one?"

"I don't know. I've never felt happy."

K'Shatu's face felt so pitiful and sad that he wanted to hug her. So Ezel grabbed Kshatu's hand tightly. The hand of the prosecutor was secretly smooth.

"You'll be happy. It makes us happy. It must be."

There was a cypher bruise on the girl's face that spoke of happiness. Because of that bruise, I somehow felt the happiness Ezekiel was talking about, so K'Shatu wanted to ask why he had a bruise, and to be happy, you weren't happy right now either, but he couldn't. Ezekiel was afraid of those questions. And K'Shatu did not want to see her float in fear, as much as she was wounded.

"I hope so. Ezel."

Especially you.

However, unlike K'Shatu's wind, Ezel began to appear with frequent wounds one day or another. K'Shatu didn't ask her anything at the end, but he didn't have to. It was thanks to the inspectors around him who had informed him in advance of his inquiry.

"Ezekiel's father is very bad. Why don't you put your wife and the tough guy on the bed? He said he hired Ezel to sew too. He'll only come here after he's done me a favor all night. I don't know what you think you're going to do with my father if you swing a sword like this, and you're not going to work."

".... How can you leave me alone knowing that?"

"You're a housekeeper. It's not our job to intervene."

"......."

K'Shatu could not understand, but perhaps it was because he was still less human. After Ezekiel's exaggerated bright behavior, I didn't know from the beginning, but Ezekiel's bruised smile made K'Shatu's chest more frustrating someday.

It is natural for a strong individual to rule over a weak individual. Ezekiel's body and heart were all hurt because she was weak. In Abyss, if K'Shatu had seen the same thing as Ezel, he would not have really felt any emotion. That was nature's providence.

But now K'Shatu was always angry because he couldn't stand the obvious. Perhaps this anger is proof that he became human.

I wanted to help Ezel. Even if she did, I wanted to pour out all kinds of questions and get rid of the problems she had. In the end, however, K'Shatu was unable to get the answer.

It was a rainy day.

Ezel didn't show up. Kchatu thought it might have been too much rain for Ezel to come.

The next day, it stopped raining.

Ezel still didn't show up. Kchatu thought maybe Ezel had a cold. I was worried, but there was nothing K'Shatu could do. Just waiting.

Three days have passed.

People's stories were different. Some say Ezel stopped dreaming. Someone told me that Ezekiel must have stumbled upon something strange. Thinking about Ezekiel as usual, that was also plausible. Kchatu began to bite his nails.

A week has passed.

The fortress flowed.

A month has passed.

Ezel didn't show up.