The Jet-Black Sword was the nickname of Sword Master Mondegreen. It was because the sword he used was black.
This was a disaster. A serious one at that.
On the other hand, I felt wronged.
Who could have predicted that the sword I picked up without thinking back then would cause such a butterfly effect?
Is this even possible? Even considering the probabilities.
It’s hard to believe that a Sword Master’s disciple died alone in a remote desert.
‘And to think we’d meet a Sword Master on the way after picking up his disciple’s sword...’
Mondegreen looked at us with cold eyes. It made my skin crawl to the point where my hair stood on end.
Even though it was midday in the desert, it felt like walking on thin ice.
It felt like his sword would fly at us if we made even the slightest wrong move.
“There’s a misunderstanding.”
I stepped forward with my hands raised. I signaled with my eyes for the others to step back.
The words I spoke were more careful than ever before. If I said the wrong thing, we’d die right here.
“A misunderstanding?”
“We just found a corpse in the desert. It was a few days’ journey southwest of Sonora.”
I quickly continued speaking while watching his reaction.
Even with Denif and me here, we had no chance of winning against a Sword Master.
Moreover, with the distance between us so close, it was even more so. Escape was impossible too.
Not because of my companions, but physically.
Hadn’t I failed to shake off Rudehrn’s pursuit even in my best condition? A Sword Master was on a whole other level.
“We did take the sword, but he was already dead. And we buried him.”
“Why did you take the sword?”
“We thought it was an excellent sword and figured a swordsman who used such a sword would want it to be used properly as a sword.”
It was an excuse I came up with quickly. I wasn’t sure if it would work even if the other party was a Sword Master.
People usually think of themselves and others separately.
If it was someone unrelated to Mondegreen, he might have said it was natural, but this was his disciple’s sword.
But I couldn’t think of any other excuse at the moment.
Mondegreen looked me up and down. His fierce gaze moved past me to my companions.
‘I hope his judgment is sound.’
I hoped Mondegreen wasn’t in a state of losing his composure.
Looking at our group, we don’t appear to be people who would do bad things.
Of course, appearances aren’t everything.
Mondegreen would know that too. But maybe we could still have a conversation. The tension was rising.
“Hmm...”
Mondegreen let out a hum without any change in expression. Two seconds passed in silence.
There was a change in his eyes. I tensed my muscles.
“You seem to know who I am.”
“That’s right. You’re the Jet-Black Sword, aren’t you?”
“Then I should hear the details.”
His words were sharp. I quickly drew my sword and shouted.
“Step back!”
As I drew my sword, Mondegreen’s sword was already in front of my eyes. I twisted my waist and swung my sword upwards.
Clang-!
The sound of metal rang in my ears. My body was roughly pushed back. The impact was beyond imagination.
Of course, it had to be different from before.
I wasn’t in top condition today, and this fight wasn’t just a friendly sparring match.
“Carlyn!”
Denif, who had rushed forward at full speed, blocked the opening created as I was thrown back.
He had come forward, opposite to the retreating group.
This was precious time Denif had bought. I quickly readjusted my stance.
Even Denif could barely hold out for two exchanges. It’s dangerous. I kicked the ground with all my might.
‘Damn it.’
The meaning behind his action of drawing his sword while saying he wanted to hear the details was clear. He meant to subdue us first and then torture us. Ȑ
It seemed he judged that we deliberately took a submissive attitude knowing his identity.
I don’t think a Sword Master knows much about torture. Would he just inflict pain without damaging the body?
That’s unlikely.
Whether cutting off fingers, cutting off hands and feet, or stabbing the body somewhere with a sword. There was a high probability of leaving aftereffects.
None of us deserved such treatment.
‘What should I do?’
For now, I’m barely blocking, but I don’t think I can beat a Sword Master.
That’s impossible.
The Jet-Black Sword Mondegreen.
He’s someone I don’t know that well. A wanderer. I’ve encountered him a few times, but he acted as he pleased.
“Hmm.”
I wonder how many times I’ve heard this sound in this short time. The good thing is that his hostility has decreased significantly.
He tapped the hilt of his sword.
“It doesn’t seem to be a lie.”
“It’s all true.”
“But.”
The Sword Master looked at me.
“During the fight earlier, you were using the power of the wind.”
As expected of a Sword Master, he noticed right away. It was fortunate that Denif didn’t use sand.
In fact, it wasn’t even at a level to be used in actual combat yet.
“It’s my mystic.”
The fortunate fact here is that the Empire hasn’t spoken about my mystic yet.
Rudehrn would certainly have reported it.
I’m not sure of the exact reason, but it’s not a particularly strange thing.
It’s probably for the sake of their own face. Even though religion has lost a lot of power, many people still believe in the God of Light.
Those who believe in the God of Light think that Mystic Power was given by God.
They had made me out to be a huge trash by declaring me as Devil’s Blood, so they probably didn’t want to mention that fact.
‘It wouldn’t make much difference even if I said I use Winds anyway.’
It might just cause unnecessary panic and strange reports if people hear that strong winds are blowing.
Mondegreen stroked his chin.
“Even if all that is true, it’s still a bit annoying that you took my disciple’s sword.”
“A sword of that caliber and belonging to a disciple of the Jet-Black Sword, he definitely wouldn’t have wanted his sword to be buried in the sand.”
“It’s annoying because what you’re saying isn’t wrong. Tch.”
Mondegreen clicked his tongue loudly.
“I don’t think tormenting you guys would make me feel any better.”
“We thank you for your leniency and apologize for touching it carelessly. As for the news of your disciple... we’re sorry.”
“I understand about earlier. I almost lost my mind when I saw my disciple’s sword.”
So it’s going to pass like this. I let out a sigh of relief.
All of this was because of Rudehrn’s swordsmanship. I felt grateful once again for his sparring and my memory.
“By the way, you said you buried him in the desert?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where?”
“Are you going there?”
“My disciple died, of course I have to go.”
In fact, this too was incredibly fortunate. After Denif had passed the sword to Aron, Aron had expressed concern.
Originally, we were just going to leave the body as it was.
-Even though he gave me the sword, is it okay for me to bury him?
That’s why we buried him next to the stone pillar while normalizing the path. At that time, I said it was unnecessary effort.
Who knew it would come in handy like this.
I wanted to shower Aron with praise, telling him he did well. Of course, the situation didn’t allow for it.
I immediately took out a map. Not the treasure map given by Toun Zaha, but a separate map I had drawn.
There might be a time when we need to come back here.
Since we have Denif who can control sand, if we find a use for the glowing stones, we can come back just for those.
“It’s here. When you go there, you’ll see 7 stone pillars. We buried him right next to the pillars on the west side.”
“How did you bury him?”
“Since he died in the desert, we followed desert customs, wrapping the body in cloth and burying it in the sand.”
“If I find anything strange when I see my disciple’s body...”
Mondegreen’s voice regained its strength.
“You will die.”
“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
I spoke confidently. Mondegreen, who was looking into my eyes, nodded and continued.
“Then guide me there.”
I had a feeling it might come to this, but is this how it ends up? I let out a small sigh internally.
I didn’t want to. We need to go to Chenarus, and this will delay our schedule by more than a week.
But we had no choice. If we refuse, we’ll be cut down right here.
I calmly nodded.
“Yes. Of course.”
Mondegreen patted my shoulder.
“In return, I’ll take a look at your swordsmanship during that time. If what you say is true, I might have treated you a bit roughly.”
Huh? If that’s the case, it changes things. I looked at Denif, and Denif looked at me.
His eyes were full of excitement.
Author's Thoughts
Hi everyone, I've completely translated this novel! So, for those who love this novel and wanted to binge read until the last advanced chapter, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. There, I have a product in which you can read them with discounted price (basically you get around free 40 advanced chapters) instead of buying them here with normal price. Thank you for the attention!