Episode 70. stimulus (3)
Yuri closed the entrance to the cave to prevent light from leaking out.
Then, when I came back, I found Yohan, who had occupied the only bed, clearing his nose.
“Your reception is poor. What are you doing, aren’t you bringing out something to eat?”
Whijeokwwijeok-.
That free-spirited posture of whipping your nose and wiggling your legs.
Yuri lamented at seeing him for the first time in a long time.
‘… I was out of my mind for a moment.’
It’s not anyone else, but I’m happy to see that old man with a burst of personality.
Yuri shook her head in disgust and sat down in front of John.
“Did you manage to find out that I was here?”
“If you tried to hide, I couldn’t find you alone on an island with only this body and this snot. So what to eat?”
“Didn’t it feel like it was just a snot island?”
“Hmm, originally, my snot is a bit on the big side. Do you want me to bring you something to eat?”
Saying that, Yohan snapped his nose-digging fingers.
Then a really big snot popped out.
Looking at the snot stuck to the wall of the cave, Yuri frowned.
“Oh, filthy real! And stop talking about food! I came here yesterday too! Could there be anything to eat!”
“If you have nothing to eat, bring me a glass of water to quench your thirst.”
“Isn’t there anything like that?”
“Eh, is there anything missing in this guy’s corner?”
“… … .”
“Tsk, tsk, mess around the house.”
“… … .”
Yuri seriously thought about it.
It’s been a long time since I’m going to run into this inspirational tank once.
While he continued to worry, Yohan also looked at Yuri.
‘You’ve grown.’
It had been a little over a month since I had been away from Yuri.
And Yuri, whom I met after a month, was growing rapidly even without confidence, as predicted.
‘I don’t know where and what I ate, so my mana has increased significantly.’
But what changed most of all was the confidence in Yuri’s eyes.
‘Something must have happened.’
He said, lying on his side and looking at the glass.
“Tsk, then it’s enough to eat, talk about what you’ve been doing for a month.”
“What happened at the cradle? … Can I just talk about this? Did I even sign a non-disclosure agreement?”
“If anyone sees you, you’ll think you’re the kind of person who protects every single one of those things well, right?”
“Come on? To someone like me who has lived a good and innocent life!”
“You’re sick, and it’s you who signed it, not me? You’re the only one who gets killed even if you get caught, right?”
“… If I get caught by the black swordsman, I will definitely call out the old man’s name.”
“By the way, don’t you think I messed with them once or twice anyway? And if I try to run away, no one can catch me unless the Sword Master steps in.”
“… Could you take me with you when we run away?”
“Look at what you are doing. So are you going to talk or not?”
“Sheesh.”
A glass with pouting lips.
Although he grumbled, he intended to tell John everything anyway.
‘Isn’t it okay if I just walk around outside the cradle anyway?’
This is not a cradle? rationalized, Yuri opened her mouth.
“Well, I mean… … .”
Having lost her luck like that, Yuri started talking lightly with the beginning of the forest and the changing dragons.
Hearing this, John’s lips twitched slightly.
“Oh, it’s been a while since I heard it! It’s a dragon in the forest of beginnings… … .”
“uh? Was there anything like that when you were young?”
“Nothing! The 1st cubs were harassing us so badly that they didn’t even get hit. Even now, half a century later, I still have vivid memories of that time! First-generation bastards!”
“Have you been beaten by the first generation of inspiration?”
“who? I? Did you get hit?”
“I thought it wasn’t, so I asked.”
“Of course I didn’t! Rather, the 1st stage guys who got caught on me were very harpooned! But at that time, my motives and friends suffered, so I got angry instead… … .”
“You don’t have any inspirational friends.”
“… … .”
“… … .”
Silence lingers between the two for a moment.
John asked in a low voice.
“… Are you there?”
“… … .”
The silence between the two grew a little longer.
The bitter silence was broken when Yuri opened her mouth again.
“Inspiration, I… I saw the sword master.”
“What?!”
I was so surprised that Yohan, who hadn’t gotten up before, jumped up to his upper body.
“where?”
“At the hundred foot ceremony.”
“Baekba Ritual? What is it?”
“I guess it wasn’t when I was inspired?”
“I hear it for the first time. Please explain what it is.”
In a urging tone, Yuri unraveled the story.
What is the Baekbo Ritual?
what did you do there
Hearing this, John said bluntly.
“Fifteen? What’s wrong?”
“… I’m sorry for taking fifteen steps, draw it.”
“No, after all, isn’t it 10 steps instead of 15? You walked on your own without any demons.”
“… I don’t want to say it if you keep saying such harsh things.”
Seeing the glass pouting, Yohan gasped.
Then he asked in a serious voice.
“How was it to meet the Sword Master you’ve only heard of?”
“… … .”
At that question, Yuri was silent for a moment.
After a moment of silence, he responded with sincerity.
“It was strong. To the point of being terrifying.”
“Clack cluck.”
Yohan gave a rough laugh at Yuri’s answer.
Sharp words flowed from him.
“So are you giving up? You said you would beat the strongest guy in the world and take his place? Did you think you couldn’t do it when you saw the sword master?”
“well.”
“Are you scared?”
“It is true that when I was ignorant, I looked at the huge mountain called Geomju from a distance and looked at it with ease. And it is true that when I arrived at the bottom of the mountain, I was surprised by the invisible peak.”
“however?”
“still… Still, shouldn’t we go up first? To think carefully about how to conquer the great evil of Sword Master.”
“Is that what you wanted a reward for? Do you want me to participate every year in that one-hundred-walk ceremony or something?”
“An opportunity to challenge the Sword Master four more times without risking his life. And a chance to see how much I’ve grown every year through Sword Master. I just decided that was the best reward I could get from this cradle.”
It was a sincere voice.
Also, John felt an unquenchable heat in the golden eyes of the glass.
‘It’s not broken.’
If Yuri’s will had been broken by the sword master, he wouldn’t have thought of participating in the annual hundred steps ceremony.
The words ‘That’s it’ came up in his throat, but John managed to swallow them back.
Instead, the words that came out were ironic.
“Baby, pretending to be cool. Do you think all you saw was the Sword Master?”
Yuri with a questioning expression.
What he could do for that admirable guy who didn’t break his will even after experiencing the Sword Master himself.
He was just conveying his experiences so that he could mitigate the shock he would receive later.
John thought so.
“Tsk tsk tsk, it must have been quite a while since that hundred foot ceremony or something started? If you can’t do it, isn’t it tens of years, if it’s long, tens of years?”
“Perhaps.”
“Then, if not the sword you went through that day, it must be a sword from decades ago, at most.”
“… What do you mean?”
“The sword master… The monster is more upright and conservative than you think. It is said that if you had performed that hundred-step ritual for the first time decades ago, the ritual you performed a few days ago would have been at exactly the same level as that time. That will be a yardstick for understanding the level of newbies.”
“… … ?!”
Yuri’s pupils shook.
he asked in a slightly trembling voice.
“therefore… That sword master at that time was at the level of decades ago?”
In Yuri’s mind, the image of the Sword Master, who had dyed the sky red, came to mind.
‘If that’s the level of decades ago… … ?’
What is the level of the current Sword Master?
Looking at the hardened glass in surprise, John clicked his tongue.
“What are you surprised about? So did you think the Sword Master would be just that much?”
“It didn’t seem like that was all… … .”
“It’s just that. The monster that had already been completed decades ago was the sword master. Such a monster has grown in strength for decades without dying of old age. How much do you think that would be?”
“… … .”
“That’s why I created demons. You can never catch that old monster by normal means.”
“… Although it does not encourage the buds that are about to grow, it very much tramples on the will. A mean old man.”
“Cluck, I want you to know. That the old monster I’m trying to catch, and you’re trying to deal with, should never be judged by common sense.”
“… … .”
Yuri did not respond to John’s warning.
Instead, he imprinted his warning deep in his heart.
Deep enough to never be erased.
In the meantime, a word from John thrown out.
“Good job.”
“huh?”
Yuri blinked her eyes in surprise.
In front of him was a smiling John.
“Not using demons to their fullest in the Baekbo ceremony, testing your capabilities to the fullest. And as a reward, even getting the opportunity to challenge the Sword Master every year.”
“to?”
“It was a good decision.”
“yes?”
Yuri who was in a daze at John’s praise baptism.
Soon, sadness crept over his face.
“Inspiration… Where does it hurt a lot?”
“… … ?”
“Or will you die soon? Why are you doing something you didn’t do?”
“… … .”
“If so, I wrote a will to leave the legacy to myself… … .”
Just-!
“Kak!”
The shattered glass grabbed his nose and rolled on the floor, grabbing his head.
At that pathetic appearance, he clicked his tongue at John.
“Tsk, what did I trust this guy to tell me about my lifelong masterpiece, the Magical Ryu? So, at what age are you going to complete the mage!”
“I am working hard too!”
“A hard-working bastard, a guy who’s already been in love even though it’s been a while since he came to the cradle!”
“Are you in love? I? when?”
“Did you go hugging a girl before?”
“… How long have you been here?”
Since when the hell have you been watching all of them?
Yuri, who was clutching his forehead, stared at John as if he was dumbfounded.
At that moment, Yuri remembered the trajectory of the white spear that defied the demons yesterday.
“Old man, do you know about the spear technique called brittleness?”
“Brittle? If it’s the spear technique called brittleness… Or, are you referring to the brittleness of the Winchester family?”
“uh? Ah yes? The person who used the spearman had the last name Winchester. Are you famous?”
In response to Yuri’s question, Yohan gave a pitiful look.
“Have you never heard of Briwell’s Winchester?”
“oh? Do you think it’s a popular family?”
“It goes well. The strongest family in the Briwell District. And most famous of all… … .”
“… … ?”
“They are a crazy family with a crazy idea to pierce the sky with a single spear.”
“Well, it’s about piercing the yard where people run through the sky.”
“You kid taught me good things, so how dare you compare the Redner family’s feast with such a spearman’s catching skills!”
“I will tell you these words as they are when he wakes up. A man named Johann Redner belittled the family festival. I just said that spear jab is a catch technique.”
“Either you do it or you don’t. If I fight, I will win anyway.”
“Wow, he’s no different than a thug.”
“This bastard… huh? Wait, then, could it be that the girl you hugged earlier was the Winchester family’s child?”
“I didn’t hug her, I just carried her on my back? Anyway, that’s right, he’s from the Winchester family.”
“Any child of the Winchester family of an age to be brought into the cradle now… Could it be just that child? frame… frame… what did he say?”
“Thearesia Winchester.”
“Yes, that child!”
“know?”
“I just heard the story. The child’s aunt has consulted with me several times.”
“consulting? why?”
“You don’t know?”
“what?”
“If we could just hug each other and sway, maybe we would have let you know, right?”
“What, bullsh*t! What is booming! It’s just that we’ve shared spears and knives a few times!”
Yohan looks at the denial glass with a grim gaze.
“Or not, the nature is.”
“this… … !”
Yuri, shaking his fists, calmed down and asked.
“So what did that person’s aunt get counseling from the old man?”
“Tsk, that’s stupid. Did I just bring up this story? Of course, the consultation is that te… It has something to do with a child called something, so that’s right.”
“what is that?”
“hmm… … .”
He stroked his chin as if he was slightly worried and opened his mouth.
“Well, it’s already been rumored, so it’s not really a secret, so it doesn’t matter if I tell you, but don’t show it in front of him.”
“Okay. What the hell is that?”
“Thearesia, she was quite famous in the Briwell district. As the deformed child of the Winchester family.”
“… what?”
“The child’s aunt consulted me about it. About how to get rid of my nephew’s sentence.”
Yuri’s eyes widened at the unexpected story.