Chapter 113 - Fragment (2)

Toma Rhapsody.

Rhapsody’s youngest son. Unlike his father, who had reached the summit of the world, or his brothers, who had already attained greatness, he was still nothing more than an immature young master.

Toma Rhapsody, who caused all manner of trouble even within the estate, had one day gone astray. He had left the six free cities, where he enjoyed absolute power, to participate in a diversion called the Endless Duel, where the lowborn of the western continent’s Iron Kingdom cavorted. On his way home from the Endless Duel, this precious young master had suffered a most dishonorable attack. In the course of that attack, his mind had been damaged beyond repair, and Joseph, the loyal member of his household who had cared for him since childhood, had met a gruesome death.

Toma Rhapsody had never forgotten that day, not for a single moment.

He remembered the helplessness he had felt to his very bones, and the violence that had broken him and Joseph. He even remembered the smell of blood, the warmth of the blood flowing from Joseph’s dying body. And so, to Toma Rhapsody, who remembered everything, something about that fighter’s sword seemed strange.

“Uh...”

That was not the sword that had sullied his honor.

It was not the blade that had severed Joseph’s head from his body and made his final moments so wretched. Watching the execution ceremony his brother was conducting, Toma Rhapsody felt an unbearable headache. Yet as he watched the sword unfold at the fighter’s fingertips, he thought: It was not unfamiliar. On the contrary, it was almost familiar. As though he had experienced it himself. As though he had once been on its receiving end.

[“Stop running away.”]

But Toma Rhapsody felt no resentment toward the fighter’s sword that his body remembered. Instead, it felt welcome, exhilarating, even thrilling.

Why were these feelings stirring within him?

Why?

[“You have no idea how boring it is to fight these things, do you?”]

Why did memories he did not recognize surface whenever he saw that blade?

[“You truly startled me this time. Running away without a word, and even participating in the Endless Duel, where the lowborn gather.”]

What was this memory?

Were those nightmarish moments that tormented him the truth?

Or was this unbearable memory the truth?

[“So, did you enjoy yourself?”]

His head felt as though it would split.

[“Was there no meaning in coming here?”]

[“That’s not true.”]

He saw Joseph. He saw the old man who had always remained at his side like a shadow. He saw himself lying in an uncomfortable bed, and the warmed milk Joseph offered him. As always, the milk had been heated to a pleasantly perfect temperature. It was too vivid to be a lie, too real to be a hallucination. Toma Rhapsody’s eyes began to widen as though they would burst from their sockets.

He remembered a moment when he had chattered like a child. His shattered memories, his mercilessly torn soul, were being put back together. Light returned to his clouded eyes. They became a boy’s eyes, no longer those of a corpse.

[“Then it was a meaningful escapade.”]

[“Yes. Father was right.”]

A precious moment returned to him.

A moment he must never forget.

Yet a moment he had forgotten...

[“You have grown up.”]

The immature young master opened his eyes.

“Brother.”

It was not Liam, the Sword Demon.

It was not that lowly fighter who had broken him. That man was not the source of all this. That was not the sword that had cut apart his soul, that had humiliated Joseph and hacked him to pieces. At last, he remembered.

“Brother, no. Wait...”

Toma Rhapsody realized the truth.

The soul destroyed by a sword had been restored to its original form by a sword.

Only now restored to his senses, Toma Rhapsody saw the wrongs unfolding before his eyes. But no matter how he cried out, his brother could not hear him. And the knights around him? They, too, were paying him no attention. The duel was in full swing. At this rate, an innocent person would lose his life to his brother’s sword. An innocent man would be judged, rather than the one who deserved punishment. Toma Rhapsody could not stand by and let it happen.

Immature though he was, great blood flowed through Toma Rhapsody’s veins. And a descendant who inherited that great bloodline had to fulfill his duty. His duty as a descendant of greatness.

“...”

Sword clashed against sword.

Steel and waves were intertwining.

Toma Rhapsody soon realized what he had to do.

The moment he realized it, he did not hesitate.

“... I have something to confess.”

Toma Rhapsody looked up at the sky.

At the blue sky without a single cloud.

“O gods, are you listening?”

* * *

The first Steel.

A movement resembling a vertical cut. In truth, it was closer to a blacksmith swinging a hammer than a vertical cut. Unusually, it could be swung with arcane power imbued in it, and no matter how it was defended against, it crushed down with overwhelming force, transmitting the impact. An attack that could not be blocked.

The first Steel was called Forging. A word for the ceaseless hammering of iron to make a fine sword. I did not know why it had been given that name. Was it because Liam was half dwarf? Perhaps it was. Perhaps Liam had been a blacksmith before he took up a sword.

In keeping with the name Forging, the second Steel was called Honing. The process of polishing the repeatedly hammered iron smooth, finally turning a lump of metal into a weapon.

That was the full extent of the Caravan techniques contained in the fragment. Yet I did not feel it was lacking in the slightest. No, not in the slightest.

“Whew...”

I drew a breath.

It smelled of blood mingled with earth. Breathing in the scent of struggle, I lowered my stance. Keeping the posture in which I had finished the vertical cut, with my sword’s tip pointing toward the ground, I changed my grip. I twisted my wrist and pushed the blunt end of the hilt, driving the tip into the earth. As though planting a gravestone deep in the ground. It was an odd movement to call swordsmanship, but it was the correct one.

As the breath gathered inside me, my flames converged on me. I was preparing to swing the second Steel. Even Edan Rhapsody would struggle to knock this aside so casually. With wings lost to my arcane power, stopping my sword with what remained would be nearly impossible. Perhaps he would have to manifest more wings, or unleash the authority of a 「sword expert」. If so, I could achieve not merely ten seconds of survival, but outright victory. He would have violated the terms of the duel.

“...”

But the moment I met Edan Rhapsody’s eyes, I was certain that would never happen. Even if keeping the terms of the duel meant his death, he was a man who would willingly choose death over dishonor. He resembled my departed neighbor more than his own brother. He resembled that honorable knight, Sir Petel the Loyal.

‘What will you show me?’

The world was slow.

Within that slow world, Edan Rhapsody’s hand wavered. It was a movement familiar to me as well. A thrust. But not a basic thrust. A technique of the 「Naseon Sword」 passed down through Rhapsody. A violent thrust that could neither be seen nor blocked. A technique that pulverized everything without a trace, one that was practically the symbol of 「Rhapsody」. The secret technique I had once faced in the Endless Duel.

“Consider it an honor.”

In the slow world, Edan Rhapsody’s voice rang clear. It almost sounded as though it was being conveyed directly into my mind rather than spoken aloud. After his voice came even the sound of waves.

SPLASH

The waves of a free sea that no one could defy. After the sound of the waves spread, a beam of light flashed at Edan Rhapsody’s fingertips.

As the beam flashed, my sword moved in turn. It was the finest movement I could perform at my level. Every muscle in my body screamed, and my heart pounded as though it would burst at any moment. In the black-and-white world stripped of color, even the two men now disappeared. Only two swords remained in the world.

CRUNCH

The sword embedded in the ground swung upward, gouging out the earth. Clods of dirt flew, followed by the flames that had gathered around me, pouring forth like a whirlwind. The waves obscuring my vision vanished beneath the flames.

「To make a complete sword, the honing process is crucial. You must strip away its surface perfectly, leaving no roughness or unevenness. Make it utterly smooth.」

I drew a single line from bottom to top.

Beyond the line I had drawn stood Edan Rhapsody. As my sword’s path was completed, the things surrounding him began to break apart. The ocean paths dominating the dueling ground were stripped away, his wings were stripped away, and even the second heart that made his sword special was stripped away. As though peeling away a sword’s uneven surface. As a blacksmith hones iron.

What was fully revealed was a single man. A man holding not a sword, but a worthless piece of wood. Yet even that man, finally laid bare, was far too great a presence for me as I was now. I knew it instinctively. My teeth could not reach Edan Rhapsody. But Edan Rhapsody’s teeth could reach me.

Blood spurted with a sharp sound.

SPURT

Where was I wounded? I did not know. Perhaps an arm or leg had been severed. Perhaps my heart had already been pierced, and there was no coming back. Yet I felt no pain. All my senses were already focused on this moment. My heartbeat rang out, electrifying. My heart was still beating. My sword was still in my hand. Then I could not stop.

I took a step.

I swung the second Steel once more. This movement, which began with a line drawn from bottom to top, did not stop once it started. From top to bottom, from left to right, it could be swung freely in every direction. This sword continued until everything the enemy had was stripped away. All 「paths」 were connected. As long as the Wings of Steel guided me, the path of steel guided me, and the heart of steel kept beating, Honing would not stop. Not until its goal was achieved.

CLANG

My sword was bending in a direction I had not intended. Endless thrusts assailed my body. My vision was now entirely red. Even so, I kept walking without pause. Something caught against my shoulder. Looking ahead, I found Edan Rhapsody’s eye close to mine. His shoulder and mine had collided. I swung my sword without hesitation. Edan Rhapsody did not even dodge. Why?

“Ah.”

The sword in my hand no longer had a blade.

I had been continuing to swing my sword while holding only a bladeless hilt. I did not know when the blade had broken. If it was gone, I only needed to take up another. Ever since eating several swords, I had always carried other blades on my body. I could at least grab the fang-shaped dagger. With that thought, I reached toward my thigh. Then my legs gave way.

THUD

I fell to my knees. I was not trying to surrender. My legs would not support me. It was not a matter of willpower, but of my body.

CLATTER

The daggers strapped to my thigh tumbled onto the ground. I could not bend down to pick one up. Then I had to use my nails. I had to use my teeth. Even if I had to claw and bite, I had to keep fighting. I had to fight until my heart stopped.

I reached out.

I caught Edan Rhapsody by the collar. But when I tried to pull him toward me, I was the one pulled instead. Sky and earth traded places.

THUD

My body slammed into the ground. Agonizing pain struck me from head to toe, as though I had fallen from a cliff. In the upside-down world, I saw Edan Rhapsody’s face. His mouth moved.

“You are tenacious. Insanely so.”

“... Uh, ah.”

“Lowly fighter, stop now.”

DRIP

Hot liquid fell onto my cheek.

“You have already accomplished a remarkable feat.”

The liquid on my cheek was blood.

It had fallen from Edan Rhapsody’s face.

“You may take pride in it.”

Edan Rhapsody’s face was ruined.

His noble face was covered in blood.

More precisely, its left side.

“You are the first to wound me in nearly ten years.”

Edan Rhapsody’s left eye was gone.

A long red line was carved there.

“Father was right. The world is vast.”

“...”

“From now on, I suppose I will only see half of it.”

The sunlight was hot today, too.

I gasped for breath as the drops of blood fell on me. Without taking his eye off me, Edan Rhapsody spoke, his face still wearing its characteristic lack of expression. His voice was dry.

“It seems you were right after all.”

“...”

“It seems you truly never sullied Rhapsody’s honor. Nor murdered our loyal household servant, nor committed any crime for which you should answer. Is this why you asked us to bring Toma? Is this why you accepted such an unreasonable duel? For this scene?”

Edan Rhapsody tipped his chin.

Panting, I looked in the direction he indicated. There were the knights, my residents, and the immature young master, Toma Rhapsody.

Toma Rhapsody was floating in the air.

Characters made of light were inscribed around the airborne Toma Rhapsody. I had never seen that form of writing before, yet strangely, I could understand what it meant. As the light descended, the countless knights, the uneducated country folk, and the legion of a Great Family all bowed their heads without exception. It was only natural.

For the letters of light read:

「A descendant of the Great Families must pay the price.」

「Toma Rhapsody swore a false oath in the names of the nine goddesses and the seven chief gods.」

.

.

.

「Remember.」

「With great power comes great responsibility.」

.

.

.

「You will be held accountable.」

「As befits your sin.」

The nine goddesses and the seven chief gods.

The gods had arrived.

In accordance with law and duty.

And that proved my innocence.

“Young swordsman.”

“...”

“As Edan Rhapsody, Rhapsody’s second son, I would like to hear your name.”

“... Why?”

The plan had succeeded.

Everything had been reversed.

Yet Edan Rhapsody did not look the least bit resentful.

Instead, he was smiling.

“Somehow, I feel you will leave your name in history.”

With everything in utter disarray, Edan Rhapsody said something I had heard once before. I could not tell whether the cold expression he had shown earlier was his true face, or whether it was the smiling face he wore now. In my daze, I was simply glad to hear a familiar question.

And so, in a voice worn utterly hoarse, I spoke.

“... Arhan.”

“...”

My name.

“Arhan... Caravan.”

And my family, which the world had forgotten.