Chapter 7 - The Truth Behind the Muttering (1)

1.

I immediately searched for the Sword Saint on my smartphone.

-He is said to have been a senior member of a Nordic tycoon family.

-His real name is Markus Kallenberg. A powerful man who wanted for nothing, he reportedly abandoned his family, connections, and fortune to enter the Tower alone.

-No one knows exactly what skills he possesses.

-He reportedly has a habit of muttering to himself.

I clicked my tongue.

“Not much useful information here.”

I searched for an interview video or something along those lines, but there wasn't even that. From the looks of it, this old gentleman's personality was the complete opposite of the Flame Emperor's. The Flame Emperor hurled abuse at reporters, but at heart he was an attention whore, so he got plenty of media exposure.

The Sword Saint, on the other hand, kept himself thoroughly shrouded in mystery.

Perhaps that was why the information floating around online was so vague. He was [said] to have been a senior member of a tycoon family, [said] to have entered the Tower alone, [said] to have a habit of muttering to himself. It was all speculation.

'Well.'

I turned my head toward a table tucked away in the corner. There, the Sword Saint was drinking his milk-and-vodka alone.

'At least the part about him talking to himself a lot seems accurate.'

Nothing about the old man was ordinary, starting with his clothes. Mixing vodka into milk was unusual enough, but even now, he kept muttering to himself as he sipped his drink without any food.

“... Shut up. Stop making so much noise. You were the one who...”

The muttering went on.

I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but he said something to himself every time he tilted his glass. And with a fierce scowl, too. Honestly, it was a little frightening.

'Does he have some kind of mental illness?'

A mentally ill hunter ranked number one. That was pure terror. Wasn't he like a nuclear bomb that could go off at any moment?

'... No, come to think of it, the Flame Emperor was a psychopath, too.'

Maybe developing a mental illness was a prerequisite for becoming number one.

'Anyway, nearly all the top rankers are lunatics.'

Shaking my head, I continued searching for information on my smartphone. As expected, speculation was everywhere, but one particular post caught my eye.

-[Warning] The taboo words you must NEVER say in front of the Sword Saint!

“Hmm?”

An intriguing title. The site hosting the post was an online community exclusively for hunters. You needed a hunter's license issued by the Administration Bureau to register—in other words, a place where they stuck to their own kind.

The post had been submitted anonymously.

-I saw this myself. There are taboo words you can't say in front of the Sword Saint. If you don't want to die, never say this to him. You'll seriously die.

└What words?

└Anything about his grandkids. A few days ago, some top rankers picked a fight with the Sword Saint at the hunting grounds on the ninth floor. One of them said:

[“Seeing how you behave, I can tell exactly what kind of little shits your grandkids back outside must be.”]

[“They must take after their grandpa and live thinking they're better than everyone else.”]

[“How ashamed would your grandkids be if they knew what you were doing right now?”]

-And then he killed him.

└What? Killed him?

└Yeah. Actually killed him. To be precise, his head came off when he got to ‘How ashamed would your grandkids—’ Nobody could react. His head and body were separated in the blink of an eye.

After that, comments poured in.

-Stop bullshitting.

-This is another big guild spreading false rumors.

-Just because someone's doing well, they have to stomp all over him. Every time.

Most people didn't believe it.

But the anonymous poster stubbornly stood by the claim.

-Believe me or don't! I only told you because I figured you should know.

-Of course, I don't think the Sword Saint did anything wrong. It's the fault of the asshole who dragged someone else's family into it for no reason. But this incident definitely pissed off all the highest-ranked hunters. You can tell from how the media keeps criticizing the Sword Saint lately.

-Anyway, watch yourself if you meet the Sword Saint. Later.

That was the poster's final comment, as though there was nothing more to say.

“...”

I stared down at my smartphone, deep in thought.

'Taboo words you must never say, huh.'

I looked toward the corner of the tavern. The elderly man was still sitting there.

“... You're too loud. I'll take care of it myself, so leave me alone...”

Still muttering to himself, just as he had been all along.

Even on a second look, he seemed mentally ill. But even if he was, number one was still number one. The fact remained that this old man possessed an unimaginably powerful skill.

'All right.'

And that fact alone was enough for me.

'It's worth a try.'

2

“That was a good drink.”

“Ah, g-goodbye, sir!”

The Sword Saint emptied his glass and left. The moment he was gone, the drinkers who had been holding their breath let out sighs of relief.

“Finally, he's gone.”

“Must have dementia. What was he muttering about like that?”

“How should I know? Really ruins a good drink...”

Apparently, everyone in the tavern had been waiting for the Sword Saint to leave. So had I.

Just in a slightly different sense.

“Here's the money for my drinks.”

I quickly stood up and handed the owner the amount I'd calculated in advance. There was no time to waste.

“Ah, yes. Thank you. Come again!”

“Thanks for the drinks. Have a good night.”

JINGLE

The bell hanging on the door rang.

It was late at night now. Darkness had settled over the streets.

'Where are you?'

I looked around. The street packed with taverns was packed with people, too. Dozens of them laughed loudly, releasing alcohol-heated breaths into the night sky.

'Where did you go, number one?'

Fortunately, it wasn't long before I spotted the back I'd been looking for.

'Found you!'

His unusual clothes had made it easy. Even on this broad street in Babylon, the Sword Saint was the only person walking around in a suit.

I quickly made myself as inconspicuous as possible and tailed the old man.

'What kind of skills does he have?'

My heart pounded.

'The Flame Emperor had a regression skill. An EX-rank skill. What about the Sword Saint, who made it big a generation before him? Could he have a skill even more broken than regression?'

Soon, it would be mine. If I was lucky.

* * *

How long had I been following the old man?

We left the bustling streets and entered an alley. A little farther on, we left even the alleys behind. The very edge of the outskirts. An open field without a single building. The Sword Saint walked steadily out into that desolate field.

“Hmm.”

He stopped walking.

“This should do.”

The Sword Saint turned around. Starlight faintly illuminated his body.

“Come out now, young man.”

“...”

“Whatever happens here, no one will know.”

He was looking directly at the tree I was hiding behind.

I sighed inwardly.

'He noticed me after all.'

Well, of course. It had been unreasonable to hope I could tail the number-one hunter without being caught. I readily admitted my own incompetence and walked out from behind the tree.

“I'm sorry. There's something I desperately wanted to ask of you, Sword Saint.”

I tried to speak as politely as possible. But for some reason, the Sword Saint scoffed.

“Hah. Weren't you following me so clumsily on purpose, so I'd notice you? I can't imagine what you want to ask of a mere old man that calls for such an intimidating approach.”

“...”

Huh?

For some reason, he seemed to think I'd deliberately made my presence known. On top of that, even though I hadn't done anything else, the Sword Saint was gripping his sword hilt. He was fully prepared for battle. He looked ready to attack me at any moment.

'Uh, why?'

Of course, this suited me just fine. My goal was to die at his hands.

'But I haven't done anything except follow him yet...?'

Whether he knew what I was thinking or not, the Sword Saint's expression grew even fiercer. His eyes practically radiated murderous intent.

“... Your acting is remarkable. Just what I'd expect from an assassin operating at the very highest level.”

“Pardon?”

“Don't play ignorant. You might fool other hunters, but you cannot fool my eyes. Did you think I wouldn't know you were an elite assassin sent by Black Dragon?”

Uh...

This old gentleman was making a very serious mistake.

'Should I be happy about this or not?'

At any rate, it was convenient. It looked like he'd kill me even if I stood here quietly, without my having to mention his grandchildren.

But I had absolutely no idea how he'd mistaken me, a mere F-rank hunter, for an elite assassin. Honestly, I was baffled.

“Hah! Truly despicable. Still putting on an act, even now!”

The Sword Saint twisted his lips at the look on my face. His expression was so genuinely disgusted that I was starting to wonder what was wrong with him. Surely I didn't look like an assassin.

“Didn't I tell you? You can never fool my eyes!”

“Sir, I'm asking because I honestly want to know...”

In the end, I couldn't help asking.

“What makes you so certain I'm an assassin... and an elite assassin at that? Personally, I think I look pretty ordinary.”

“Shut your mouth.”

SHING

The Sword Saint finally drew his sword.

“I possess several skills. Among them is [a skill that reveals how many people someone has murdered]. Thanks to that skill, I have survived countless dangers.”

“...?”

What? I still didn't understand.

'Oh.'

A few seconds later, it clicked.

'I killed Yoo Suha.'

That's right.

Today, I'd hunted Yoo Suha. I'd killed him because I knew what kind of monster he would become, but people in this era didn't know that. To them, I was simply a murderer.

Even if murder was far more common inside the Tower than in the outside world...

'Murder is still murder.'

In other words, the Sword Saint probably saw the number [1] floating over my head right now. That [1] represented none other than Yoo Suha's death.

I supposed it was only natural for him to be wary of me.

“Yes, I understand, Sword Saint.”

“Hmm.”

“I can't blame you for being wary of me. But please hear me out, even if you think it's just an excuse. I did what I did for a truly important reason. I can't tell you exactly what it was, but it was something genuinely serious. I can swear it before heaven.”

I meant every word.

But things took a strange turn. After hearing my sincere words, the Sword Saint's face contorted even further.

“Disgusting.”

“Pardon?”

“How dare a demon who has murdered countless people utter such outrageous nonsense? I have hardly led an entirely blameless life myself... but I have never committed indiscriminate slaughter as you have!”

This was getting worse and worse.

I was genuinely bewildered.

“No, wait, sir. Slaughter? I've only killed one person in my entire life.”

“You lie without a shred of shame!”

He thrust his sword forward, pointing its tip at me.

Then he declared:

“I can plainly see the number [4091] floating above your head!”

I was dumbfounded.

“What kind of bullshit—”

I was about to ask what kind of bullshit that was, but I closed my mouth. More precisely, my mouth closed on its own. In an instant, I realized where the number 4091 had come from.

'Oh.'

One for killing Yoo Suha.

And...

'The number of times I killed myself.'

4,090.

It matched the number of times I'd killed myself... exactly.

“Prepare yourself, demon!”

Which meant...

“I do not know whether the Black Dragon Witch sent you or someone else hired you, but I will use every ounce of my strength to kill you!”

To the old man's eyes, I could only look like an infamous mass murderer who had slaughtered 4,091 people.

A chill shot down my spine.

'No.'

This was a serious problem.

'This isn't about whether I copy a skill from the Sword Saint!'

Exactly.

'From now on, whenever he sees me... the Sword Saint will try to kill me!'

Because to him, my very existence would be that of a loathsome mass murderer. Like a virus that had to be erased from this world as quickly as possible, even a second sooner.

“W-wait!”

I reached out a hand.

“Please, just wait a mo—!”

At that moment, the Sword Saint's blade came flying toward me.