Chapter 166, Not Peaceful At All (5)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

Winter in northern Cyries is harsh.

 

Harts-ara built a city in the north of the great continent for Syspanian, who loved snow. At this point, Syspanian might seem like a malicious Dragon who thoroughly made a fool of the human man, but that was not actually the case.

 

Syspanian had merely once said that snow falling from the sky was beautiful, and it was Harts-ara who remembered this and made the cold northern region of Cyries the Capital. What could one expect from someone who heard her say that human dwellings were too cramped and stuffy and that she would never marry him, and took it literally to build the Royal Palace so enormously large?

 

Anyway.

 

That cold place was Cyriesus. In the middle of winter, the Senu River literally freezes solid.

 

If one were to ‘tap’ the Senu River at this time, would it shatter?

 

If one step on a frozen rock, does it break?

 

Of course not. No matter how cold Cyriesus got, the frozen river and rocks do not freeze rapidly enough or to extreme enough temperatures to be shattered into pieces.

 

“Wh-what in the world is this…”

 

Count Gray Beurisen, who had unknowingly let out words of shock at seeing the marble table shattered to pieces, quickly shut his mouth. Making sounds of surprise in the current situation would do him no good.

 

“Do you know how much this cost!? Why did you break it!?”

 

He changed his words naturally like this. He thought it would be better to be seen as a petty person who cherishes possessions rather than someone who was scared. Seeing Arsene’s devastating gaze in return, he briefly regretted it.

 

“Please answer me, Count.”

 

Arsene said this without making a single mention of the cost of the marble table and the obviously high-quality tea cups, which clearly showed a master craftsman’s touch.

 

When he was acting as Kalian’s lackey, he could sell Kalian’s name and salary, but the current matter was not something Kalian could handle for him. Of course, there was not much more that could be deducted from his salary that had already dropped to 1 fiorin.

 

Gray had known Arsene was not normal from the moment he blew up his carriage, but he had not expected the man to be mad to this extent. Gray let out a groan. Arsene, who had been silently waiting for Gray’s answer, opened his mouth again.

 

“As you know, this will be the last opportunity. It won’t be long before the First Prince turns twenty.”

 

It would not be long before the Crown Prince position was decided, and if things continued as they were, Gray would get nothing regardless of who became Crown Prince. Even if Plants ascended to the Crown Prince position, it would only benefit Evan and had nothing to do with Gray. So, he needed to secure a position somewhere now to have a path to the Capital.

 

“I’ll think about it for now.”

 

Gray had contemplated for three full days even when Sillike or Randel had called him. He was not stupid; he did not live impulsively. Had he not shown considerable patience even when facing Kalian?

 

“How much time do you need?”

 

“Three days should be enough.”

 

Gray asked for three days, the same amount of time he had contemplated before. Arsene readily nodded and answered.

 

“Then I’ll come back tomorrow.”

 

He had no intention of accommodating any of Gray’s demands. The initiative had to remain absolutely in Arsene’s hands.

 

Well, Mages being impatient was not anything new, so Gray would have to understand. When facing a Mage who could freeze Gray instead of the table at any time, even non-existent ‘understanding’ would bloom, so this was fine.

 

Of course, that was from Arsene’s perspective, Gray, who was not fine with it, frowned and opened his mouth.

 

“Didn’t I ask for three days?”

 

“What’s the point of wasting so much time? It seems like you’ve already reached a conclusion anyway.”

 

Arsene was right. Gray would absolutely not be able to refuse Arsene’s words. Gray would know better than anyone that this was the last opportunity.

 

“Tomorrow. I’ll come back.”

 

Having finished what he had to say, Arsene rose from his seat. He then lightly bowed his head in greeting and went outside, without asking for permission to leave now that the conversation was over.

 

* * *

 

The lighter it becomes, the heavier it gets.

 

That is a sword, and that is what a sword should be.

 

The blood-red sword that had wedged between Kyrie and Plants twisted slightly. It was not a large movement, but Kyrie’s sword slid in the direction Kalian had foreseen and fell toward the ground.

 

Plants, who had been standing behind Kalian, silently sheathed his sword. Outwardly, there was no particular change in his expression, but in his mind, what had just happened was repeating itself endlessly.

 

[It’s different.]

 

There had been a clear change in Kyrie’s eyes.

 

After that, the sword rushed forward at a speed Plants could not follow, and when he tried to block it, Kalian was already standing in front of Plants.

 

If Kalian had not intervened, he would have been stabbed through the heart, but he did not have any great feelings about nearly dying just now. Somehow, since Kalian was there, he figured Kalian would have managed to keep him alive no matter what happened. Since he actually did not die, it probably was not excessive faith.

 

Anyway, Plants did not know exactly what had happened to Kyrie. He just thought that something about Kyrie had changed during the sparring and Kalian had said congratulations, so he must have achieved some level of growth.

 

“…Kyrie.”

 

But the atmosphere was a little different from usual.

 

Kyrie did not give any particular response even to Kalian’s joking words. He had not expected an apology from the start for feeling killing intent toward Plants to the extent that Kalian had to intervene. He was usually the type to give no response to Kalian’s words, yet he was too quiet.

 

Moreover, even though the sparring had ended, he had not sheathed his sword. Most importantly, the killing intent had not subsided.

 

*Swish*

 

As if to prove Plants’ thoughts right, Kalian moved slightly more to the side. In other words, he moved a bit more to the side to completely block Plants’ front.

 

That meant Kyrie was still in a dangerous state.

 

[I must really be hated by him.] Plants chuckled at this thought. Unable to see Plants’ expression, Kalian still looked ahead and opened his mouth.

 

“Kyrie.”

 

Having called his name once more, Kalian looked at Kyrie silently for a moment. Then he sighed briefly and tapped Kyrie’s sword with his own. The sound of blades clashing rang out briefly.

 

With that sound, Kyrie, who had been looking ahead but also seeing something else at the same time, turned his gaze toward Kalian.

 

“Kyrie.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Finally, an answer came back.

 

Kalian opened his mouth. With the same face as before, smiling the same way, he said the same words as before.

 

“I said congratulations. To you.”

 

“Ah…”

 

The response did not come immediately. On Kyrie’s face was an expression that seemed like he had seen something hard to believe, and also like he had many other thoughts on his mind.

 

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

 

Only after a long while did the belated expression of gratitude come back. Kalian nodded briefly, then gazed into Kyrie’s eyes and spoke.

 

“I know what you’re seeing.”

 

It was a phenomenon Bern had experienced before walking the path of the sword, but not everyone could see it. So, Chase, having heard Bern’s explanation, gave it the name ‘Garm.’ A line that could surely sever life, dividing life and death, so they called it that.

 

The past Kyrie had seen Garm just a few months before meeting his death. So now he was facing it at a much earlier time compared to then. Therefore, Kalian was naturally overjoyed, but he could not just celebrate.

 

Because he knew how important and dangerous this moment was.

 

“Sheath your sword first, Kyrie.”

 

Kalian said this, pointing to the sword still hanging loose in his hand. To Kyrie, who still could not erase his killing intent.

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

Only then did Kyrie briefly apologize and sheath his sword. Kalian’s eyes quietly watched the process. Seeing the sword completely enter the sheath with a *click*, the sword finally disappeared from Kalian’s hand as well.

 

Plants did not know yet, but Kalian knew. That the killing intent right now was not directed solely at Plants.

 

Plants just happened to be in front, and after Kalian blocked Plants, the same energy reached Kalian as well. So just now, Kyrie had been trying to bring death without distinguishing between opponents.

 

“Sword, give it to me. Kyrie.”

 

Kalian extended his hand toward Kyrie’s sword.

 

Asking for the sword he had given back. Kyrie knew what it meant for a swordsman to have his sword taken away. It meant he would not be allowed to hold a sword.

 

“Yes.”

 

Knowing this, Kyrie answered like this. And he handed the sheathed sword to Kalian. It was an action without any hesitation or question. Since Kalian asked for it back, he returned it.

 

“Let’s go somewhere for a bit.”

 

Having received the sword, Kalian said this and smiled gently.

 

* * *

 

Euria’s fair forehead finally wrinkled slightly.

 

Four glasses of beer.

 

No, how could a person get drunk on four glasses of beer?

 

If they were large glasses, she might understand, but she let out an annoyed voice at the ice Mage who had become completely intoxicated from four glasses of beer that were barely larger than water cups.

 

“You should have checked when looking for alcohol.”

 

Euria was not unaware that Arsene had low alcohol tolerance. Even knowing this, when he came out after meeting Gray, saying his mouth felt like it would rot and something seemed wrong with his tongue, ultimately asking for a drink, Euria was wrong for not stopping him.

 

Euria, who remained fine even after emptying a bottle of premium Himolika, opened her mouth.

 

“Hey, kid.”

 

“Yes, Enclave Head.”

 

A half-slurred voice came back in response to Euria’s call. And it began.

 

“I didn’t plan for this, Enclave Head. I did it because the Prince ordered me to, Enclave Head. I really hated that guy, Enclave Head. But in front of that guy, I suggested siding with the Deputy Commander who is the Prince’s brother. I didn’t plan for this, Enclave Head. But I did it because I was ordered to, Enclave Head. I just hated saying such things, Enclave Head.”

 

“Oh, right.”

 

Arsene did not mind Euria’s half-hearted response.

 

Arsene touched the french fries he had ordered as a side dish. Then the french fries his hand touched froze slightly and hardened.

 

Seeing this, Arsene said as if amazed.

 

“Oh, it froze.”

 

“You froze it.”

 

Euria held back.

 

There were still unfrozen french fries left.

 

“But Enclave Head.”

 

“Right.”

 

The hand trying to grab unfrozen french fries kept freezing new french fries. As deep wrinkles increased on Euria’s brow, the frozen potatoes also increased.

 

“Come to think of it, it’s also annoying that the Prince’s brother, the Deputy Commander, is mixed up with guys from families like that, Enclave Head. I know the Deputy Commander isn’t really a bad guy, but our Prince keeps taking care of the Deputy Commander, Enclave Head. I know it’s not the Deputy Commander’s fault, but it’s still annoying and I hate it, Enclave Head.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Oh, they’re all frozen.”

 

“You froze them.”

 

Arsene poured the remaining beer into his mouth and opened it again. It was after confirming there were no more french fries he could eat.

 

“It’s all because of that damn family, Enclave Head. You know how good our Prince is, Enclave Head. Oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about, Enclave Head. He praised me for giving him a carriage ride and raised my salary when I broke a building, Enclave Head.”

 

“The points you think make him a good person seem a bit strange.”

 

“No, it’s not. He’s as good a person as my Master.”

 

Having heard this far, she just gave up.

 

Having turned on Silent and listened to Arsene’s rambling until she could not take it anymore, Euria just turned off Silent and cast only Sleep.

 

*Thud!*

 

[Finally, it got quiet.]

 

Having turned Arsene’s head, who had fallen asleep with his nose buried in the wooden table, just enough so he would not die, Euria picked up one of the french fries that had been completely frozen by his drunken rambling, tried to chew it, gave up, and threw it away.

 

Having pushed all the frozen french fries next to the ice Mage, Euria looked at Arsene sleeping face-down on the table for a moment and chuckled.

 

Anyway, the rain had stopped and the moon was bright outside the window. Next to her was a sleeping ice mage with low alcohol tolerance, and the table full of frozen french fries, so what could she do?

 

“One bottle of Himolika and one fried chicken here.”

 

Black stones, red power, politics, whatever.

 

Today, she would just drink.

 

* * *

 

Around the time Kalian’s crazy lackey was freezing french fries.

 

Two horses carrying Kalian and Kyrie entered the forest.

 

Kalian did not say anything during the journey. Kyrie, sitting beside him, was also silently following Kalian without other words.

 

Because of all the rain that had fallen, the forest still smelled of rain’s fishy scent. Having breathed in that pleasant fragrance to his heart’s content, Kalian opened his mouth.

 

“How is it?”

 

Kyrie, who seemed to have calmed his mind somewhat compared to before, quietly answered.

 

“It’s a peaceful place.”

 

“Probably won’t be peaceful at all in a bit.”

 

Kalian, who responded like this, smiled quietly.

 

It was as he said.

 

Kyrie, who had entered the place with rocks bathed in moonlight, looked around with a surprised face. Soil dug up everywhere, trees cut and hewn away along with small rocks, traces that were clearly from fire scorching. It was a complete mess.

 

Watching this quietly, Kalian’s laughter grew a bit louder. Because he knew well that this mess was caused by him.

 

“You saw that because what you learned was my sword.”

 

The lighter it becomes, the heavier it would become—that was what it meant to wield a sword.

 

The more familiar one becomes with the sword so that its weight was not burdensome, the more keenly one feels that a sword was ultimately an object made to take someone’s life. As Dmirea once said, a sword is ultimately a tool for killing, so understanding the principles of the sword is no different than learning methods of murder.

 

So, the lighter wielding a sword became, the more one had to feel how heavy an object it was.

 

But for Bern, the sword was endlessly light. The lighter it was, the lighter it became.

 

With a sword learned to protect, he had to endlessly sever lives before he could protect anyone. As a result, it became endlessly light. He could not even feel the weight of lives placed on the sword.

 

With such a lightened sword, while training swordsmanship, he saw Garm.

 

He could see a path that would surely sever the opponent’s life. It was an enlightenment perfectly befitting Bern, perfectly suited to Bern’s sword.

 

“You know it’s still not gone.”

 

But the problem was.

 

One could not easily escape from the world of Garm once first encountered.

 

“You’ll see it above me too.”

 

Another problem was that it did not distinguish between opponents.

 

Recalling how blood lines had appeared above Chase in the past, Kalian quietly looked at Kyrie, who would have been confused seeing red lines drawn toward Kalian.

 

“If you rest well for a while, it’ll get better. When your sword can no longer see Garm, I’ll return it to you.”

 

Having reassured Kyrie like this, Kalian looked around and sighed briefly.

 

It was not simply because he had learned Bern’s sword, but because he had walked a similar path to Bern that he came to see the same thing. Kalian now realised, because of the jobs he had assigned him, he had been stained with so much blood, and so had come to walk the same path.

 

“Sorry I couldn’t pay attention beforehand.”

 

For living while forgetting what it was like to cut down people.

 

“I didn’t know your insides are like this place.”

 

Because when asked if he could do it, he simply answered that he could, because he always showed a peaceful exterior, Kalian thought it would be fine. He did not know that Kyrie’s insides, like this forest, had become a mess because of him.

 

“Sorry, Kyrie.”

 

[Sorry for thinking it would be fine even after you kept swinging your sword like that. Sorry for making you bear such a big burden alone.] After words of congratulations, Kalian conveyed such words of apology.