Chapter: 165
Slowly, the girl made a bewildered expression as she saw the man raising his sword towards her.
However, sensing the seriousness of the situation, the girl asked with a stiff face.
“Surely, you don’t intend to challenge me to a duel to the death, do you?”
“Of course not. Can you even kill me?”
“…That’s impossible. Killing you…”
As the girl mumbled, the man chuckled and replied.
“I feel the same way. There’s no way I could defeat you. So let’s just duel normally, but I hope you’ll give it your all. I’m going in with complete seriousness.”
“…You want me to use my abilities as well?”
“No, I just mean to give it your all as a swordsman. Even then, I doubt I can win against you.”
With that, the man spoke to the girl.
“Still, it’s customary for a swordsman to convey their words through their sword. I have something I want to tell you. So pick up your sword.”
At the man’s words, the girl slowly lifted her sword and took her stance.
Once she felt ready, the man rushed at her without hesitation.
Typically, it would be customary to introduce oneself before a duel.
However, the man had discarded his name, and the girl had none.
Thus, an introduction between them could be simply considered a mutual agreement to duel.
The man burst into laughter.
His sword was a real blade, while the girl’s sword was a wooden one.
It was a wooden sword that the man had personally carved to match the girl’s height and the weight of the real sword as she grew.
However, it was the man who suffered from their clash.
In that moment, the impact was so strong that it almost felt like the blade would snap.
Although it was a wooden sword, the girl had the skill to make it feel sharper than any fine blade.
Yet, despite her wrists being numbed from the impact, the man delivered a follow-up strike.
The girl grimaced at the blow she received.
Did her message get through?
He was a man without finesse, who didn’t know how to persuade others.
He could only convey his feelings sincerely.
And he wanted her to achieve her dreams.
Someday, to become stronger than anyone else, as she once said she would.
The man recalled the memory of that day when they shared drinks.
She wanted it not as a substitute for him, but because she wished it for herself.
Then he would just support her dream.
He simply didn’t want her to be bound to him if she was to achieve her dreams.
The swords struck and clashed over and over.
Yet, amid the clash, the man felt that the girl was not giving it her all, so he tightened his grip on his sword.
How could he claim to be a master when he couldn’t even draw out the full power of his student?
At the very least, he wanted to show off a swordsmanship he wouldn’t be embarrassed of for having taught her at one point.
That resolve infused into his blade.
Then, the sword in the man’s hand resonated.
Realization is not something special.
It only takes persistent effort to grasp it.
And the relentless effort he had spent swinging his sword all this time.
It culminated in this strike.
The man sensed it.
He had finally stepped into the realm he had long dreamed of, the level he had aimed for.
Yet, without reveling in joy, he calmly delivered his best strike to the girl.
And just as if to respond to that strike, the girl’s sword swung—
Very quietly.
Without a sound.
It cleaved through the world.
“Ha.”
Then the man, standing in the path of the girl’s swing, turned around and looked up at the sky, bursting into laughter.
The sky he looked up at seemed almost split, with moonlight shining through the parted clouds.
He felt it.
The girl’s sword wind certainly brushed past him.
But he was unscathed, while the sky behind him had been cleaved.
The girl had reached such a level purely with her swordsmanship, without any power to cleave through everything.
The man laughed again and turned back to face her.
The girl was looking at him with a complex expression beneath the moonlight.
“…It’s beautiful.”
The strike he had just witnessed, the moon glowing in the sky, and—
The man murmured, gazing at the girl, no, now a matured woman.
“That little child has grown so much.”
As he got lost in sentiment, the girl blushed and mumbled.
“What’s so good that you’re smiling like that…”
“Ah haha, how could I not be pleased? I reached the level I had always desired and was able to duel with a swordsman that anyone would admire. Especially since that swordsman is my student whom I taught. How could I not be glad? For the first time in a long time, I felt grateful to be alive. Even if I were to die today, I could leave without a single regret. Although, if there is one thing I regret, it’s that I have no name to remember the swordsman who showed me such a beautiful sword.”
With that, the man looked at the girl and said.
“Then, I’ll give you a name.”
“A name…you say?”
“Yes. I think Lucyphen would be a good name. They say it’s the name of an angel who was so talented that she opposed the gods and was cast out from the Heavenly Realm. I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
“…If it’s your choice, anything is fine.”
“Then I’m glad.”
For a moment, Lucyphen murmured her newly given name a few times before cautiously asking the man.
“I want to know your name too. It’s a bit strange not to know the name of the one who gave me mine.”
“Understood. It’s a name I’ve already discarded, so I don’t wish to bring it back.”
“But…”
“A name exists to be remembered by someone. Lucyphen, will you eventually forget me as time passes?”
When the man posed the question, the girl shook her head as if it were nonsense and replied.
“…There’s no way I could forget you.”
“Right, so I’m fine being the nameless swordsman. Even as time passes, you’ll remember that there was a person named me.”
With a smile, the man sat down on a nearby rock and gazed at the sky.
The moon shining above seemed particularly bright today.
Looking at that shining moon, the man asked.
“Lucyphen, do you remember when you said you wanted to become stronger than anyone?”
“…Of course, I remember.”
“You will be able to. If it’s you. So let yourself be arrogant to your heart’s content. Become a being that everyone looks up to, like the moon above. You deserve that.”
With that, the man said to the girl.
“It’s cold. It wouldn’t be good for a girl to be out in this chilly air, so you should go inside now.”
“And you?”
“…The moon looks lovely today. You go ahead first. I’ll stay out a little longer to enjoy the moon.”
Thus, the man remained behind, gazing up at the moon for quite a while.
*
The next morning, the girl woke up and prepared breakfast just like any other day.
Two servings, one for herself and one for the man.
She could survive without eating, but since he worried about her not eating, she always prepared two servings.
Having finished preparing breakfast, the girl headed towards the man’s cabin.
She knocked on the door, but when there was no response, her face stiffened.
Immediately sensing unease, the girl ran up towards the mountain peak.
What awaited her there was—
The familiar high precipice and, planted before it, a single sword.
It was the sword that the man cherished so much, he never let it go, even while sleeping.
“…Did you really have to leave without a word like this?”
The girl asked with a sad expression.
As expected, there was no reply, but she already knew why the man had done this.
It was because she had heard the reason from him last night.
He knew.
As long as he lived, she would never leave his side.
He would have thought about it too.
A future spent growing old and dying together.
But he chose not to.
Because he wanted her to achieve her dreams.
Because he had said he wished for that.
“…Truly, you really are an utterly careless man from beginning to end.”
That’s why he left.
To not bind her, to allow her to pursue her dreams.
That was his own way of cheering her on.
So utterly careless, and so extreme.
“I have received your support, so I must meet your expectations.”
Murmured, the girl slowly walked towards the precipice.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m doing this because I want to. It’s not something I’m doing for you.”
Then she drew the sword, which seemed to be a gift, and lifted it towards the sky, declaring.
“So watch from there. Witness my ascent to becoming the strongest in the world.”
Believing that those words would reach the nameless swordsman who had departed for the highest peak.
And that day, the girl left the mountain.
*
In a tavern, a man was having a meal.
He was a well-known swordsman.
Certainly, no ruffians would dare to bother him, and he was quietly enjoying his meal thanks to that.
“Kaliss, right?”
However, his peaceful meal was shattered by someone calling his name.
With an unpleasant expression, he turned to see who had disturbed his meal.
It was not a “guy” but a “girl.”
With mahogany-like hair boasting a lovely hue, he wondered if she was some courtesan hoping to catch his attention.
With a complexion like hers, there might be room for negotiation based on price.
“Do you remember this sword?”
Unfortunately, seeing her immediately present the sword, he stopped eating and replied.
“Unfortunately, I don’t remember.”
“Hmph, is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter. That’s not why I’m here anyway.”
The woman spoke while gripping the sword.
“Stand up. I challenge you to a duel.”
“…Are you asking me to teach you a technique?”
“No, I mean a duel to the death.”
Suddenly proposing to fight for their lives, he thought she was quite ignorant and asked for her name.
“…What’s your name?”
“My name? Only one person needs to remember it, really.”
The woman smiled as she spoke.
“Well then, I’ll introduce myself as the Witch of Arrogance.”
*
Rumors spread.
The tales of a witch who sought out the strongest wherever they were.
At first, most of the strong contenders accepted her challenge.
“What a… monstrous girl…”
However, all who engaged in duels with her lost their lives.
Afterward, to preserve their pitiful pride, some began to avoid her challenges.
“Stop her! Don’t let her near me no matter what!”
Yet all means proved futile.
If a guard stood in her way, she cleaved through the guard.
If an army marched to stop her, she cut down the army.
If a castle wall barred her way, she sliced through the wall.
People spread her infamous reputation.
There was a reaper who killed everyone reputed as strong.
There was no way to stop her using any means.
And the only way to save one’s life against her was—
“I… I give in. I surrender!”
To acknowledge defeat and surrender was all one could do.
At any time in history, gossips have circulated.
Who is the strongest person in the world?
But now people knew.
The one who had brought all the strong to their knees was indeed the strongest being in the world.
This had happened just five years after she had introduced herself as the Witch of Arrogance.
All that terror she had instilled was subdued by a single man.
That happened twenty years later.
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