Chapter: 162
If I reach out my hand, can I touch the clouds at the top of an incredibly high mountain peak?
In a small cabin built on that lofty place, right next to an abyss, a man was living.
Having discarded his name and family, the only possession he had was a single sword.
Thus, that man was just a swordsman—nothing more, nothing less.
*
The man’s routine was set in stone.
He would wake up early in the morning and swing his sword in front of the cliff at the mountain peak.
Sometimes, when he got hungry, he would scavenge for food nearby, eat until he was full, and then resume swinging his sword.
He would repeat this until late at night, then fall asleep.
Every single day was a repetition of this.
And the man thought it would go on like this for the rest of his life.
“…A girl?”
On a day like any other, if it weren’t for the presence that suddenly appeared before him.
As he was swinging his sword absentmindedly, he felt a gaze and stopped, turning around.
There stood a girl in ragged clothes with black hair, staring at him with eyes as dark as her hair.
It was improbable that a girl could climb up to such a mountain peak, where even a burly man would struggle.
He wondered if she was some kind of monster or spirit he had only heard about in stories and hesitated for a moment about whether to cut her down.
What was important to him was only the sword, and everything else was of no concern to him.
Thinking that she would disappear if he ignored her, he turned his attention back to the sword.
However, contrary to his expectations, the girl did not vanish.
She simply stood there, staring at him intently.
Until the sun, high in the sky, eventually set.
“…Ha.”
He thought he had abandoned everything but the sword, but he couldn’t even discard what was unnecessary.
With a sigh of self-reproach, he stopped swinging the sword and approached the girl.
“…Where are your parents? Why are you here alone?”
Yet, the girl remained silent, looking up at the approaching man as if she didn’t understand his question.
“…Are you mute?”
Noticing the girl only blink in response to his question, the man realized she didn’t understand his words.
Oh well. He muttered to himself and effortlessly picked up the girl, carrying her into the cabin where he lived, laying her down on the floor.
He then tossed her a rough blanket made from animal hides and went to lie down in a corner of the cabin, mumbling to himself.
“…In the morning, I’ll take you to the village down the mountain, so stay here for today. It’s cold, so do make sure to cover yourself.”
Anyway, she probably wouldn’t understand even if he said it.
Ignoring the girl’s unwavering gaze, the man turned away and fell asleep.
*
The next morning, the man awoke with a dazed expression.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
“…Wasn’t she mute?”
Yesterday, he thought she couldn’t understand speech, but surprisingly, she spoke naturally as if she had been doing it all along.
And in response to the man’s inquiry about whether she had been mute, the girl pointed to a corner of the cabin.
“I learned how to speak by watching that. Is there any awkwardness?”
The man turned to look where the girl pointed.
There, she had stacked books filled with stories of renowned swordsmen from the past.
He had read those books too, but there wasn’t anything in them that would help someone learn to speak, making him suspect the girl was just joking.
He almost considered pointing out her surprisingly sophisticated manner of speaking for her age, but since this girl wouldn’t matter to him after today, he casually asked.
“Well, at least it’s good that you can speak. What’s your name?”
“A name? I don’t have one.”
“…What about family? Where were you born and raised?”
“I don’t know. I think I probably don’t have any.”
The girl, who had learned to understand speech but was still ignorant of her own name and family.
In that case, she was not much different from being mute.
With a sigh, the man muttered to the girl.
“Ha, whatever. The sun will rise soon, so let’s head down to the village.”
“Hmm? I don’t particularly mind staying here.”
“…It’s not about you; it’s about me. I need to focus on my training, and I can’t do that with a kid like you around. Besides, this place isn’t suitable for a child like you anyway. The terrain is rough, and the food around here is nothing but low in nutrition. To grow up strong, you need to eat better food than this. We should at least find something to eat before heading down the mountain.”
What did she mean, that she wouldn’t mind staying here?
Shaking his head in disbelief, he tossed the girl some roots of the plants he had collected and dried nearby. As she chewed on it, her expression turned sour.
“…This might actually matter. This is awful. It won’t be easy living off such food.”
Seeing the girl mumble seriously, the man couldn’t help but chuckle.
That bitter taste, which was quite familiar to him, how would it sit on the taste buds of a child like her?
After quieting the girl down, he began the long trek down the mountain path, which took over half a day even with his quick pace, and reached the mountainside where the village was visible.
He set the girl down from his back and advised her.
“If you say you’re an orphan in that village, you should be able to get by begging a little for food. If you’re lucky, someone might take you in. Just don’t follow strange people and get into trouble.”
“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
“Right. You seem bold enough, so I guess I don’t need to worry. I’ll be on my way now. Stay healthy.”
“Hmm, then let’s meet again next time.”
After parting ways with the girl, who dashed towards the village with lively steps, the man concealed his expression and turned away.
He had resolved to abandon the mundane world.
If it weren’t for that girl, he wouldn’t have descended the mountain at all.
Therefore, he wouldn’t see her again.
Having said farewell to the girl, the man climbed the mountain again, ready to swing his sword as usual.
*
And just a few days later,
“How have you been?”
“……”
As the girl reappeared before the man, who was swinging his sword, he could only muster a dumbfounded expression.
“…I sent you to the village, and here you are back again. Why?”
“Hmm? Didn’t you say we’d meet again? I certainly remember saying that.”
“…I remember that, but I mean why did you come back to such a hard-to-reach place? Ha, I don’t know how you got back up here, but go back.”
When he said that, the girl tilted her head and replied.
“Go back? What do you mean? From now on, I’ll be living here.”
“…Living here?”
“Yeah, I like it here. Looks like we’ll be neighbors. I look forward to it.”
With a bold expression, the girl said that, and the man could only mutter with a headache.
“…Whose idea was that? I never offered you my home. Besides, I have things to do. I don’t have time to babysit a kid like you.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I didn’t plan on relying on your place. I’ve learned how to manage on my own in the village, so you don’t need to worry about me.”
Even with the girl’s confident words, the man had to frown.
What did that child plan to do all alone at the mountain peak?
It was clear that within a day, she would surely come asking for help.
However, despite his kindness, the man had no intention of helping this bold girl who had made herself a nuisance once again.
Therefore, he forcibly turned away from the girl and replied in a cold voice.
“…Do as you wish. Just don’t expect my help, regardless of the situation.”
“That means it’s okay to stay here.”
“…I said do as you wish.”
With that, the man left the girl grinning behind him and climbed up to focus on his training.
Later that day, as he returned to the cabin, he couldn’t close his mouth at the sight before him.
“…What the?”
“Seeing you’re back, I guess you must be done swinging that sword? What do you think? Quite a fine house, isn’t it?”
Next to the shabby cabin he had built, there stood a surprisingly well-constructed new cabin.
As the girl came out from that cabin, the man asked in disbelief.
“…Did you build this?”
“Yeah. I learned how to build houses in the village. I rushed it, so there are some unsatisfactory parts, but… well, it’s not bad, right? Oh, by the way, want to try this?”
Dumbfounded, the man accepted something that looked like a plant root that the girl offered him.
At first, he was puzzled about what it was, but seeing her bite into the same thing and telling him to eat it, he unconsciously took a bite as well.
And when he tasted it, his eyes widened in surprise.
The flavor was surprisingly nice, or rather, it was just plain delicious.
Delighted with the man’s reaction, the girl spoke.
“I learned about the plants you can eat in the village. That dried root you gave me earlier was definitely not something edible. I learned to cook too, but I haven’t made the tools yet, so consider this as a welcome gift. Next time, I’ll treat you to something even better.”
Nodding reluctantly at the girl’s words, the man felt a sense of intuition that day.
From the beginning, the girl hadn’t seemed ordinary.
He realized that the girl who would be living with him was not someone he could just ignore.
*
A week later.
“Before you go up to train, why not have breakfast with me? I just finished my cooking tools, so I tried making something.”
“…No thanks. You eat it all.”
“Wow, what a waste. I made enough for two people, and now I have to throw half away just because you won’t eat it.”
“…Fine, fine. I’ll eat it.”
Fifteen days passed.
“Look at this. I made clothes from the deer hide that got caught in the trap recently. I learned to tan hides, but I never knew it would come in handy like this. Here, put it on. It’s been pretty chilly lately, so it’s best to keep warm.”
“…I don’t need stuff like this.”
“Won’t you wear it? I tailored it to fit your shape, and I can’t wear it, so it would be a shame for my efforts to go to waste.”
“…Alright, I’ll wear it. Hand it over.”
A month later.
“I found some rare herbs while wandering around yesterday. I dug them up, but they’re beneficial for males but toxic for females. I can’t just throw them away, but I can’t eat them either. I wonder if there’s anyone who could eat this.”
“…I got it, I got it.”
“Yay, good for me.”
“…”
As time passed, the life of the man, who had only focused on his sword, began to change.
The essentials for living—eating, sleeping, and wearing clothes.
His environment, which had barely met even the minimal requirements for those, was hardly different from asceticism.
Yet, with just one person added, it had changed so dramatically that he couldn’t believe it.
However, as time went on, the girl became more and more a part of the man’s daily life.
Despite his initial warnings to be unobtrusive, the girl caused him no discomfort whatsoever; in fact, she created an environment where he could focus solely on his sword.
Even when the girl sometimes came to the mountaintop to watch him swing his sword, he found it now not to be uncomfortable at all.
One day, the girl asked him.
“Is that fun?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Swinging the sword. You do it every day without fail, even when I tell you to take it easy, so it makes me wonder how fun it must be.”
In response to the girl’s question, the man answered.
“…It’s not fun; it’s just my reason for living.”
“…Your reason for living.”
After staring at him for a moment, the girl seemed to ponder and then asked him shyly.
“…If you say that, I’m curious now. Can you teach me to wield a sword?”
At those words, the man’s expression hardened uncharacteristically.
While he didn’t mind anything the girl did, the one sanctuary he had was about the sword; it was a line he couldn’t let her cross.
“…A sword is a weapon that injures others. It isn’t something you can just pick up lightly.”
“…I thought I was being serious.”
Even in response to the girl’s words, the man’s thoughts did not waver.
Having witnessed the girl’s kindness during their time together, he wanted her not to wield a weapon that could injure others.
But seeing the first look of disappointment on her face, he relented and the next day tossed her a wooden sword he had carved.
“If you really want to learn from me, you can try to cut that rock with this wooden sword.”
“…This? That rock? Isn’t that nonsense?”
“If you put your will into it, there’s nothing a swordsman cannot cut. This is a test to see if you can do that. If you succeed, I’ll teach you how to wield a sword.”
“…You could just say you didn’t want to teach me.”
Watching the girl take the wooden sword, the man felt a little guilty, but he steeled his resolve.
She was right; it was a ridiculous request.
It wasn’t something a complete novice like her could do, cutting a rock—even with a wooden sword.
She would know it was impossible and have to give up.
Turning his gaze from the girl, who was staring dumbfounded at the rock with the wooden sword, the man began swinging his own sword and thought.
A sword was indeed tempting, but it could ruin a person’s life.
He wished for the girl not to follow the same path he had.
*
However, the next morning.
“Wait, wake up and come out.”
Awakened by the girl’s call, the man stepped outside the cabin, only to burst into laughter at the sight before him.
“…Ha.”
The cold morning air touching his skin served as a reminder that this scene wasn’t a dream.
The huge rock he had told the girl to cut yesterday.
It had been cleanly split in two, which was such an unbelievable sight.
“Remember your promise?”
With a smug expression, the girl stood with the rock behind her, and the man could only nod in disbelief.
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