Academy’s Genius Swordmaster

280. Savior (6)

#280

“Don’t look at me lightly. Because I can do it too!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Cain. What kind of whale are you catching?”

The man who sneered at him tousled Cain’s hair. With a thick beard and thick forearms, he was the father of Cain and the best hunter in the village.

The 12-year-old son, like all boys of his age, was trying to prove his worth by accomplishing heroic feats.

“What are you going to do if I catch Mr. Wu?”

“Keuugh… Then I’ll give you the egg of the golden dragon in the warehouse. It’s a pity, but I can’t help it.”

“There is nothing but dried fish and firewood in the warehouse! Who do you know as an idiot?!”

“Okay. It sounds like you were foolish, similar to a 10-year-old boy who catches whales. Oh, I’ll also take care of the fairy I caught in the sea a while ago. Ha ha ha!”

The man grabbed his stomach and burst into laughter. The laughter was as loud as its size, and the whole house reverberated. Cain, who was blushing, opened his mouth.

“Let’s see. They will definitely catch a whale bigger than our village.”

“Cain. If something like that gets caught on a fishing hook, we all die. honey. Dry this guy off.”

The man stopped laughing and looked around the corner of the room. A pregnant woman was sitting by the warm stove. She was stroking her swollen belly with each rocking chair creak.

“Even if you don’t act like that, you will be a good older brother. Cain.”

“Ugh…!”

The woman smiled kindly. In the corners of her eyes curved like crescent moons, scarlet eyes like hers twinkled. Hearing his mother’s words, Cain frowned. I was completely punctured.

“It’s not like that. What does being unborn have to do with me…”

“There is a time for everything. You will surely become a great hunter like your father in a few years. Even now, your ability to dismantle prey is the best among your peers.”

“…Heng Even if you bring all the people in my village, not my age, it won’t work for me.”

Cain stuck out his tongue. In fact, he was exceptionally good at swordsmanship for his age. To the extent that he finished grooming the seals, which he had never done before, faster than his father.

“that’s right. Admit it. I took a peek at it the other day and it looked like a little devil. I think he handles a knife better than my late grandfather.”

His father, who had been teasing Cain all along, nodded as if in agreement. Cain puffed out one cheek and glared at him.

“What is the devil to my son? The devil.”

“Uhuhu, please teach me well when my younger brother is born. Come to think of it, have you decided on a name?”

“Ah…”

asked the mother. She had offered to give the soon-to-be older brother Cain the right to name his younger brother. Cain, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

“…Abel.”

“It’s Abel. That’s a pretty name…ah.”

The woman who was talking suddenly stopped. I felt something tap on the inside of my stomach. Seeing her reaction, her father widened his eyes.

“Is it full?”

“yes. I guess you liked it. What does Cain mean?”

“I don’t know. I just built it roughly.”

Cain turned his head. Of course, it wasn’t a rough build, it was something I had been thinking about day and night since I heard the proposal. A little embarrassed, he picked up the harpoon lying in the doorway.

“Anyway, I’m glad you liked it. I’ll go fishing!”

“It’s so late. Where are you going?”

bang! Cain pretended not to hear and ran out of the house as if running away. Looking at the closed door, the mother sighed.

“That child is really…”

“Leave him alone. You don’t want to look down on your brother. I haven’t even been born yet, so who do I look like?”

“well. I don’t know about anything else, but being dishonest definitely resembles you.”

“Kuhm…is that so?”

The man stroked his beard arrogantly. He leaned down and stroked his wife’s stomach.

“No matter how you look at it, your brother is a great person. Abel. Really, I might catch a whale bigger than the village later. No matter what anyone says, he is my son.”

“Look at that.”

the woman laughed The howling of the north wind could be heard through the wooden walls. Cain, who was trudging through the snowy field, raised his head.

“…My little brother.”

The cloudless night sky turned into a sea of stars and swayed. Inside the Milky Way across the field of view from east to west, colorful nebulae scattered mysterious colors.

The occasional falling meteor drew a thin slash. Although he couldn’t see the aurora borealis, Cain, who likes to look at the stars, rather liked a day like today. When I turned my head slightly, I saw a village that was already far away.

You won’t hear it if it’s this far. Closing his eyes and putting his hands together, he chanted toward the sky.

“Star. please. Please let my little brother be born healthy. Please let my mother give birth without getting sick, and my dad…it’s a bit annoying, but he’s still a good person, so let the hunt go well.”

It was a wish my mother had made every day since she was pregnant. Although he acted harsh, Cain loved his family more than anyone else. A kind mother and a strong father also fell into that category.

‘First, I have to teach you how to handle a knife. I’ll teach you how to fish, look at the stars and find your way.’

Cain smirked as he imagined the near future. Although he didn’t show it, he was ready to become a respected older brother. There were already small tools made for his brother in his secret storage.

“…Shall we go back soon?”

Cain, who had been praying for a long time, got up. It was in the middle of brushing off the snow on my knees. Suddenly the world brightened up. Strangely, he raised his head.

“Is that…?”

Cain’s eyes widened. A shiny mass was falling obliquely. The burning mass, setting the atmosphere on fire, was reminiscent of a star shining in the night sky.

“Oh, no!!”

The problem was that the strange star was falling precisely towards the village. Cain’s face went white. He threw down the harpoon and started running, but the star was already close enough to touch the village.

The shadows of the long rows of houses stretched to their feet. The village bathed in light was disintegrating. It was the car Cain was about to shout.

Kwaaaaaaang-!!!

With a roar that seemed to turn the world upside down, Cain’s consciousness was cut off.

****

“…are they all dead?”

Ronan, who was listening to the Savior’s past, couldn’t stand it and asked a question. Even with the giant’s corpse in front of him, he concentrated without realizing the passage of time. Maybe it was because he had lived for a long time, but he had an extraordinary ability to solve the story.

“okay. No one survived. Except for me, who was far away from the scene.”

The savior nodded. It was a story from the distant past, but I still felt like I could see the situation at the time clearly when I closed my eyes. The eyes that fluttered between the eyelashes were wet with sorrow.

“Damn it.”

Ronan twitched his lips. It was already past, but I couldn’t help but feel dirty. Suddenly, a thought passed through his mind.

“wait for a sec. Then, what the hell is your relationship with Abel? Did you say that you and your father are twin brothers?”

“It may or may not be true. Anyway… I feel pretty weird when I hear it.”

“ok? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“You just called me father for the first time.”

“Ugh.”

The savior smiled. Ronan frowned. It was never intentional and it was a name that came out of nowhere. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he spat out.

“Sheesh, so what happened after that?”

“I was going to tell you right now. So…”

****

“Huh…!”

Cain opened his eyes. My body felt cold as if I had just come out of a swim. I remember until the star that fell from the night sky collided with the village, but I couldn’t remember what happened after that.

“The village is… Ugh.”

Cain, who was about to stand up suddenly, gritted his teeth. Unbearable pain rose like fire all over the body, especially in the leg. He lifted his head slightly, lowered his gaze, and sighed.

“All legs…!”

Both legs were twisted in bizarre ways. A white bone, presumably a shin, protruded through his pants. Even though it was his own body, he was about to vomit. Cain let out a scream at the belated, full-blown pain.

“Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

It was so painful that I couldn’t even breathe properly. If I couldn’t stand it and twisted my body, more excruciating pain came. Urine leaked from the exhausted bladder, staining his pants.

“Hehehe…”

Cain passed out and woke up several times before being able to regain his composure. The body that has reached its limit has reached the point where it is not conscious of pain. Suddenly, the faces of my parents passed before my eyes.

“Oh Mom…Dad…”

Cain, who came to his senses, shouted out the names of his family. But no answer came back. Despair hung over his face as he looked around.

“Oh, no. no…!”

He fell into a wide and deep pit. It didn’t take long to figure out the situation. This is where the village used to be. Starlight filtering through the hole, which looked like a small dot, showed how deep the pit was.

It was a miracle that he fell from that height and survived. Of course, even though I barely survived, I didn’t feel very happy.

Scattered around Cain were fragments of what once made up the village and its inhabitants. A broken girder. A charred piece of bone. A harpoon my father used and a box I saw a lot.

“This is…”

Cain’s eyes met the box, and he clenched his fist. Inside the half-open box were small fishing rods and small tools such as pocket knives. These were things he had prepared for his brother.

“Ah…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa of ah…”

Her vision became hazy as if it were fogged up. A squeaky voice escaped from his mouth as he hit his head on the ground.

“Abel…!”

It felt like my heart was being shattered. The younger brother was not even given the right to be born. Now, they couldn’t go fishing together or show off how to dismantle their prey beautifully.

‘star. A damn star.’

aww A cracking sound echoed from the inside of Cain’s mouth. The anger that bloomed at the end of the sadness was consuming him. The days of praying toward the stars every day made me feel extremely regretful.

“uh.”

He was scratching the floor until his fingernails came off. All of a sudden, my eyes spun around, and my body lost all strength. It seemed that too much blood had been spilled.

I see You’ve taken my family, so you’re taking me one last time.

At this point, instead of tears, I burst into laughter. Cain giggled and closed his eyes. My leg was broken anyway, so I couldn’t do anything. It was a car in which consciousness was blurred.

“You’re upset.”

“What is it?”

Cain opened his eyes at the sudden voice. It was a low, thick voice like the deep sea where whales live. A movement that had not been noticed until just now was coming from the depths of the hole where the stars did not reach.

“…Is anyone there?”

Cain spoke, but no answer came. After thinking for a moment, he turned around. His legs were completely disabled, but he managed to move his arms.

“Heh-huh…heh-uh-uh…”

Cain started to crawl with both arms in the direction the voice came from. Every time his broken leg dragged on the floor, there was a grinding sound.

The blood flowing from the wound was making a red path, but the nerves died anyway, so there was no problem with moving. Cain himself couldn’t understand why he was doing this. I know better than anyone that there is no hope of surviving.

“This…!”

Not long after, Cain’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. For a moment he suspected he was hallucinating. A man as huge as a mountain lay dead, impaled on a wall of ice.

The snow-white giant had four pairs of wings hanging from its back. There were burn marks all over the wings and skin. Cain instinctively realized that this giant was the star that had just fallen.

Blood was pouring from his body, as if he had been injured in the fall. Blue and thick like the sea, it seemed far from the blood Cain had known before.

The blood that flowed down his toes formed a puddle large enough to believe that it was a small spring. I had never seen anything like this. Cain suppressed his rapid breathing and finally opened his mouth.

“…hey?”

No answer came back. He had been alive until just now, but seemed to have just stopped breathing. Cain moved right up to the puddle and took his seat. Kim was blooming in the blue spring.

“What the hell…what is this…”

It reminded me of a hot spring that didn’t cool down even in the fierce cold. It was the car Cain was looking at the giant with his upper body up. Suddenly his vision darkened and his body leaned forward.

“uh?”

There was nothing to do. with a plop! Cain’s tiny body fell into a puddle. Even if you pour oil on your body and set it on fire, it doesn’t seem to be this hot. He suddenly swallowed blue blood and screamed.

“……!”

But no sound leaked out. His body continued to sink into the depths of the pool. In the midst of the green world, a thought passed through Cain’s mind.

‘I want to go back.’

The flickering sight finally turned off.

.

.

.

“brother. wake up.”

“Umm…”

Cain heard someone’s voice and opened his eyes. My mind was hazy, as if I had woken up after a long sleep. The wind brushing my cheeks smelled like the sea. Raising his upper body, he raised his eyebrows.

“…uh?”

My body didn’t hurt anymore. When I lowered my gaze, I saw completely intact limbs. The wounds that had been engraved all over the body had completely disappeared.

In front of his eyes, the pit he had just been lying in was opening its mouth. I couldn’t even fathom how deep the bottom was invisible.

It was to the point where I thought that everything up until now had been a dream. Suddenly, a young voice came from Cain’s side.

“brother. I’m cold.”

“what?”

It was the same voice as before. Cain hurriedly turned his head. A young boy, apparently not even ten years old, was squatting, staring at him.

“You, you…”

“Now what are we doing? huh?”

Cain froze. The boy’s appearance perfectly resembled himself. White hair and scarlet eyes were an impossible element without blood.

I felt my heart beating fast. Cain, who was taking a deep breath, exhaled without even realizing it.

“…Abel?”