5. Bread and dagger (88)
The pupil is a window into the heart.
If you could look carefully, you could roughly guess what the other person was feeling. Especially if the opponent had lost his composure.
That was the woman standing in front of me.
At first doubts, then expectations, then despair and resignation.
In the past, the only emotion remaining in those blue eyes was strong distrust.
She spit out the question.
“What nonsense is that?”
“It is literally. There is a way to break the curse.”
“Impossible.”
It was a sharp assertion that seemed like a cut.
The woman’s reaction was always the same.
Extreme refusal to drink or otherwise.
At least in the latter case, the conversation went through. But when she was sober, like now, she would look precarious like cracked glass.
It was the same even if he just gritted his teeth and glared at me.
He was ready to slash me with a little more provocation.
“Do you know how much pain I’ve been through?! Maybe you don’t know! A life cursed from the moment of birth… In the meantime, I looked at all the possibilities. But all that was left was despair! But it’s already been a few days since I saw you… … .”
“It’s okay if you become a master.”
Maybe it’s because I’ve never thought about the answer I came up with.
The woman’s heated voice stopped abruptly. and light twitching eyelashes.
It was a face that seemed confused about what reaction to show.
It was worth it. It was a proposal that even I, the person who brought it up, felt quite absurd.
“Once you become a Master, you can distort reality beyond reconstructing your body. Of course, the curse in your bloodline will also be resolved.”
“You say that?”
His voice softened a bit, probably because he was so dumbfounded.
Even so, there was no change to the fact that it was still a sharp tone. Those eyes that glared at me were as sharp as a blade.
“Of course, it is true that I am close to becoming a master. But there have been hundreds of prosecutors who have reached this level over the last few hundred years… And do you know how many of them have reached Master?”
“That’s when you’re alone.”
I deliberately shrugged my shoulders and pretended.
As if to say something, the woman’s face was stained with deeper suspicion.
There was no need to linger. I got straight to the point.
“You know? That I am collecting secret martial arts from all sorts of organizations on a special order from His Majesty the Emperor.”
“You’re asking me to hand over the sword circle’s secret skill?”
“You’re the only one left anyway.”
‘absolutely impossible’.
It was a face I wanted to add right away, but I had no intention of making a gap for the woman.
My persuasion continued.
“Also, you have the qualifications to become the ambassador of the Sword Circle. You can think of it as taking me in as a student of the Sword Circle.”
“Even though… … .”
“The world might end.”
At my heavy warning, the woman’s mouth fell silent.
why don’t you know
That was the reason she had come all the way to this desolate North from her seclusion in the mountains.
He lost both his priesthood and his family.
Due to the conspiracy of the Dark Church that was lurking everywhere.
“You have to gather your strength. It’s a matter agreed upon by the Holy Kingdom, the Empire, and even the Ten Kingdoms… Also, it is a story that will help you.”
“I’m thinking of conveying the secret secrets of each organization. Then you might see a new path.”
If you already understand, there is no need to explain.
Instead of answering, I stared at the woman without a word.
It meant what to do.
The woman hesitated for a moment, but the end of her troubles was obvious.
It is a world that may be destroyed anyway.
There was nothing special to keep the Samantha’s Mac alive.
Soon after, a sigh escaped from the woman’s mouth. It was a sign of surrender.
“like. I accept it.”
“Thought well, I will tell you well… … .”
the next moment.
Pak, the woman’s elbow slammed into the pit of the stomach. There was no room for me to resist.
It was a car that the woman did not even know was moving in the first place.
I was short of breath and a suffocating pain spread throughout my body. When I came to my senses, I was already rolling on the ground.
For a while to complain of pain by pounding on the chest.
Receiving my blank stare, the woman said with a nonchalant expression.
“Sword Circle training begins immediately upon initiation. From now on, always keep ‘Jeongjungdong’ in mind.”
“What the hell is that… … .”
Hook, and once again the new model of the woman stood right in front of me.
It wasn’t that fast. However, since there were no signs, it was so fast that it even gave the impression that it was new.
I felt it in a cold sweat.
This is the vision of Sword Circle.
The woman declared to me.
“everything.”
My training in the future will not be smooth.
“It’s not just swordsmanship. Footwork, bactu, or even the smallest details of everyday life.”
An expressionless face, a cold voice full of chills.
With a genuinely nonchalant expression, the girl made a ridiculous request to me.
“Stay by my side until you learn the jungjungdong.”
I was dumbfounded, so I burst into laughter.
From that day on, the grueling training began.
Nevertheless, the reason why this memory gives me a warm impression is, well.
Because at this time there was still hope.
It was before a man cut his emotions into pieces.
**
Chilling, I opened my eyes.
My vision is blurry. The muscles that exerted all their strength in a short time were like shackles.
It was also a shackle with a heavy iron ball.
The son-in-law is pure white. A fierce blizzard battered my prone body.
wake up right now
If you don’t, you die.
I was willing to heed Mother Nature’s warning.
I almost fell several times while staggering to get myself up.
slip and fall
Even so, I stood on the cold ground. I could still sense someone’s presence in front of me.
It was a man with black mud dripping from his body.
That hideous face distorted by burns, and that devastated gesture of struggling to pick up the dirty mud.
I giggled and burst into laughter.
“Oh, no! The Lord’s blessing, our hope!”
“Is that much hope?”
Ha ha, I took a deep breath and asked my question, and the man’s gaze turned to me.
I could feel the strong tenacity in those bulging eyes.
He stumbled and got up. Like me, I was in bad shape.
“… … you don’t know.”
I didn’t bother to object.
He only wiped his eyes once with his sleeve. The dried blood was hit by the cold wind and crumbled like ice.
“Ever since I was a child, I insisted on forgiving everyone. Because that was God’s will! But ever since I came to the North, I always felt despair when I saw elves. Why can’t we forgive each other?”
It wasn’t even honorific anymore.
I gave a sigh of relief.
“therefore?”
“Then one day, I was attacked by elves and left alone deep in the coniferous forest. That’s when I met that child.”
“It was an elf.”
“yes! The child handed me the bread! Do you know how precious it is to elves?!”
I looked around as I listened to Leoric’s story.
The sword and hatchet seemed to have bounced away. There was also a faint sound of breathing coming from far away.
It was a familiar sign.
Apparently, the princess and Seria were also caught in the final explosion. I wondered why I hadn’t been kicked out.
In the meantime, Leoric’s toro continued.
“I, exhausted from hunger, felt my destiny that day… I caressed the girl who was exhausted from the cold, and before long the two of us became close enough to look like father and daughter. No, at least I considered her to be my daughter!”
In the end, only Leoric and I were left here.
no one could help me Leoric’s situation was the same.
Two messed up, dog-like men.
I laughed out loud.
It was as if the work to be done was predetermined.
“Then the humans attacked us. Actually, I might have been able to stop it… If only I had attacked them from behind, right before they set fire to the food storage! However, the trivial teachings I learned from the Celestial Church made me hesitate.”
“So how did it go?”
“It burned. everything… … .”
It was the last conversation.
There was nothing wrong with listening to her complaints a little longer.
Maybe I’ll find out information I didn’t know.
Even so, I subtly tensed my arms and legs.
It was time to slowly unwind.
A showdown is imminent.
“I thought in that fire pit. Such a cruel fate, so painful, how can I forgive? It was a foolish arrogance. And the day I woke up after being in a coma for several days, what was waiting for me was the body of my daughter who had died of starvation.”
“Is that why you attacked an innocent human? For your petty vengeance?”
“No, to make them responsible for creating hell!”
Ink-colored steam began to rise from Leoric’s gritted teeth.
It lost most of its power, but it seemed to have some power left, like burnt ash.
not bad.
A battle that was too one-sided was not suitable for an ending.
“You guys made our lives hell! Would you have dared to guess? Do you think we live in such misery?”
“no.”
It was a soft word.
After just two syllables, Leoric’s long story came to a halt. He looked at me with puzzled eyes for a moment.
So I gave him the answer he wanted.
“I don’t know anything. How was the life of the elves, and even how the poor of mankind are living… I knew nothing.”
Leoric gritted his teeth at my low acknowledgment.
His bulging eyes, as if they were about to pop out at any moment, were impressive. He had the face of a benevolent religious person, but in fact, there was a deep hatred inside him.
Hatred for the human race that killed him and his stepdaughter.
I wasn’t afraid of Leoric until then.
He spat out mangled language without even knowing my heart.
“Then, it’s decided who’s right.”
“Then do you know?”
It was a word that was fired without even giving a chance to objection.
Leoric’s brow narrowed. He had the face of a witness facing an absurd interrogation.
So I had to interrogate him even more vigorously.
“What about the feelings of the elves who had to sacrifice their families and neighbors in order to survive? How does the older sister feel when she realizes that her younger sister is addicted to drugs? And the tenacity of the elves you destroyed?”
“Don’t spread sophistry… It was all about living.”
“That’s how you trampled on me.”
Breathing in, take a step forward.
Leoric did not back down. A jet-black fire burned in his eyes.
“Do you live day by day at the expense of your loved ones and neighbors? How is that different from the life of a beast? The elves I saw didn’t… They have maintained their dignity as elves even at the cost of eating the bark.”
“gibberish… If even that doesn’t lead to life, it’s nothing!”
“No, actually, you’ve been mercilessly ignoring me, haven’t you?”
The middle-aged eventually couldn’t stand it and bit his lip.
It looked like it would shed tears of blood any moment. That must be the case, for everything he believed in was shattered.
I was determined to sever even the last rope he was holding on to.
“Your life is hell, you’ve made everyone’s life hell! In order to fit in with that petty vengeance and sympathy… They used hunger as a weakness to brainwash the elves and make you their savior. So is it good? Do you feel like you’re doing something you couldn’t do for your daughter?”
“Shut up… … .”
Toduk, tok.
The black self-control disappeared from Leoric’s eyes. The sight of tendons bulging from the arms and neck to the face was unrealistic.
Still, I didn’t stop.
It was the same with me wanting to shake off the sediment that I had been harboring for so long.
“Has there ever been an elf who sold his people to eat and fill his stomach and be happy? Was there even one elf who was happy saying that sacrifice was hope!”
“You guys made us like this!”
“Yes, and you too… You too helped create this hell!”
Now all the emotions to vomit have been vomited.
I took a stance while breathing heavily.
No weapons were needed. Anyway, the stuff Delphine-senpai had packed just in case was still in my arms.
Leoric’s body began to tremble as he clenched his fists until they bleed.
“I, I am not wrong… … .”
Crying, Leoric’s mouth vomited black mud like blood.
The mud gave off ominous smoke and soon melted into the atmosphere. And not long after, mud began to overflow from every hole in Leoric.
Mouth, nose, and even pores.
It was as if his body was shedding tears.
Amidst the flood of filth, Leoric let out a scream like mad.
“I am not wrong!”
I didn’t have to listen anymore.
I kicked the ground, and a slashed fist landed on Leoric’s jaw.
And Leoric’s fist also to my face.
Blood gushed out and the new models of the two men collapsed. It was the acrobatics of the man-in-the-middle.