Solo Swordmaster

#Side Story 16. A trampled flower, blooming destiny (3)

* * *

Scatters away.

It’s scattering.

The petals are the will and the heart.

From the eastern end to the western end.

Covering the entire sky and crossing the entire earth.

The flower petals, fluttering as if singing, feel so helpless in the face of the eerie light that engulfs everything.

Nevertheless, what I had to protect was extremely precious, and my heart was desperate, so I continued to swing, swing, and swing my sword.

A sword light flashes.

The moment when the fate of the world was cut.

She…

shakes.

With gentle shaking.

She woke up.

Or fell asleep.

Between dreams and reality. The boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness. Even when I open my eyes, everything is blurry and I feel clearly even when I close my eyes.

she recalled.

Where is this place?

Who are you?

Even though everything is hazy, what I remember particularly clearly is one voice.

[With this, Geomhwa’s atonement is completed.]

[Anyone who thinks atonement is not enough, come to me. If so, I will risk my sword and take responsibility.]

[Instead, no matter what happens after this, I will not allow you to accuse Geomhwa directly without going through me.]

[―Never.]

Calmly.

But heavily.

It echoed throughout the city.

After reflecting on the voice that had clearly reached her consciousness, which had been clouded by the stone sling, she finally remembered.

ah.

Yes.

He must be…

“Are you awake?”

I flinch.

I even trembled for a moment.

When I open my closed eyelids, what I see in my blurred vision is the back of Hana’s head.

Unlike her young voice, she opened her mouth without thinking as she looked at the white hair that was white like an old man and therefore the most familiar thing in the world.

“teacher…?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

Why is Limon carrying him?

She was still thinking in a dazed state, and only after a while did she manage to remember.

Cutting down the Sword King.

Surrender to Limon.

A choice made for atonement.

Raining filth and slings.

An oath made while kneeling in front of the coffin.

And….

“You fainted. I.”

“That’s because it was too much.”

After fighting the Sword King for ten days, he immediately went to London and suffered such hardships, so it was natural for even a sword master to lose consciousness.

Rather than comforting, it’s just like explaining.

Therefore, after listening to Limon’s more soothing words, she muttered helplessly.

“There’s no need to carry me.”

“But I can’t wait until you wake up.”

“But I’m so dirty right now.”

Medicine for torn wounds and bleeding.

Of course, her original beautiful face became so dirty that it was difficult to recognize it because she was covered in all kinds of dirt, including rotten eggs.

Even though it gives off a bad smell.

Even though he was carrying her, Limon did not frown even once.

I just answered softly.

“Just wash the dirty stuff and that’s it.”

If you go a little further, there will be a place to wash up, so be patient.

She was silent after hearing what Limon said, but only after a while did she mumble again.

“I’m embarrassed.”

“There is nothing to be ashamed of. “This is proof that you did your best to atone.”

“…Do you think so?”

“okay.”

“is that so.”

Short and sweet.

Therefore, when she heard the answer that penetrated her heart even more gently, she slowly closed her eyes.

Then, she quietly laid her head on the shoulder of the man who was carrying her and fell into a hazy dream again.

Soak in the warmth.

Surrender to the shaking.

Like a baby in a cradle.

Soft and soft.

comfortably.

Deep and deep.

It was when the sun began to set that she finally woke up from her dream.

Limon arrives at a small village far from London.

This was after giving gold jewelry to the village chief and renting an entire farmhouse in a relatively remote location in the village.

He did a lot after that.

Ask for food in silver coins.

Buying herbs with gold.

Buying a horse and carriage with pearls, etc.

At first, the local residents looked at them with suspicious eyes as they were covered in blood and filth, but later they started hovering around them, begging them to do anything for them.

But of course, the first thing Limon did was prepare water and firewood.

And…

Sreuk.

slowly.

Stripping rags.

Limon overturned the bucket of water over the beautiful skin that was covered in dirt and wounds.

Sigh!

“Ah…”

“Does it hurt?”

“…no. “Because it’s warm.”

“I’m glad it’s not cold.”

Add the herbs, pour boiled water to wash away the dirt, and carefully wipe the wound with a clean cloth.

As the process continued, the dirty dirt was washed away and white, white skin was gradually revealed.

But Limondo wipes his bare skin.

Joan of Arc also exposed her naked body.

I didn’t really care.

It’s been too long since the two of us were together as teacher and student to be embarrassed again now.

Limon poured warm water on her head once again and skillfully washed her platinum hair.

Joan of Arc saw his hand wrapped in a bandage.

“…Are your hands okay?”

“hmm? “You mean this?”

Her hand was pierced back and forth because she had blocked the dagger that flew at her.

Normally, it would be normal for the injury to not only suffer from extreme pain that would make it difficult to even lift a finger, but also to be left with a permanent disability.

Limon actually spoke calmly.

“I think there was a curse on that dagger… but it’s not a big deal. “At most, it will leave some scars.”

“…It leaves a scar.”

Joan of Arc’s face became blurred.

The best sword in the world.

The absolute of the absolute.

The fact that her teacher, who rarely suffered even a single scratch, had a scar because of her made her heart heavy.

“Worry about yourself rather than me. “Can I get married if I look like this?”

“…I don’t need to worry. “This will get better after a few days of rest and eating potatoes.”

“Potatoes are not a panacea, you brat.”

I wanted to apologize.

But I couldn’t apologize.

Because he won’t want it.

So I tried my best to laugh it off, but the laughter still wouldn’t come out.

Refer, refer, refer to the end.

She finally asked.

“…Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s why you took on my sins.”

She remembered.

A proclamation he made before all the citizens of London before he fainted.

A declaration that would draw resentment from all British people and could even tarnish the honor he had built up throughout his life.

“I am a sinner who needs to be punished.”

“Because I’m a sinner…”

That’s why I wanted to ask.

Please pass on that declaration even now.

Please allow her to fully pay for the sins she committed.

But after hearing her words, Limon sighed.

“What sin do you want to pay for?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking you which of the things you have done do you consider a sin.”

“…I cut down the Sword King.”

“It is not your sin. “If I may say so, it is Richard’s original sin.”

“It even caused a massacre.”

“It is definitely a sin. “But you are not the only one to blame.”

Until the time when Richard the Sword King declared his desire to retake the Holy Land and went on his first crusade.

Not only the British Empire but all European countries actively supported the expeditionary force, with their kings, nobles, and people cheering.

They believed that if the Sword King conquered and plundered Jerusalem, everyone would be able to share enormous wealth and honor.

However, when the sword blocked the Sword King for hundreds of years, they ended up suffering from poverty and hunger.

The British Empire exploited other countries to protect its own wealth and glory, and ended up with a massacre named Geomhwa.

Whose sin is it?

The Sword King who started the war in the first place?

Europe entered the war out of greed?

A sword that protects its own land?

A sword to protect the country?

“I don’t know who is ultimately responsible for that crime.”

“You don’t know?”

“Because it’s a problem that has no answer in the first place.”

“….”

That’s what war is in the first place.

When we justify the worst crime of murder for the sake of the country, everyone becomes the same sinner.

That was why he did not intervene in war or politics as much as possible.

Good and evil too.

large and small.

Both precious things and insignificant things.

Things that need to be protected and things that need to be cut.

Because it is a monster called a nation or nation that breaks down all boundaries and changes them according to interests and gains and losses.

In that sense.

To him, even the massacre of Geomhwa was not truly a big crime.

Just as efforts were made to eradicate the barbarians who raided the border every year, massacres were not uncommon in war, and it was difficult to clearly define good and evil.

If he had prevented and punished all those massacres, he would have long ago become the worst massacre in human history.

“Your greatest sin is ultimately one that I could never tolerate.”

nevertheless.

He comes running from the end of the continent.

There was only one reason I stopped her.

“―I went crazy.”

“….”

It’s okay if you’re an ordinary human being.

There are many things in the world that are difficult to endure with a sober mind.

However, an absolute person who can change the world alone should not do that.

This is especially true if you are a sword master who can destroy the world just by giving up control of your sword for a moment.

Although swinging a sword is a swordsman’s destiny, he must know when to put it away.

Nevertheless,

forgetting mercy.

Throw away forgiveness.

Without giving up judgment.

From the moment she fell into madness and committed a senseless massacre, she became something he could not tolerate.

Just as a carriage full of flaming gunpowder barrels that has lost its driver should not be left unattended to run carelessly and trample on passers-by.

“So, Jan. “You may feel sorry for those who sacrificed you, but you do not need to feel sorry for me.”

“….”

“Because I can bear any price just for you to let go of your own madness and accept your sin before it is too late.”

The winner of this war is her in the end.

If he had stopped the indiscriminate slaughter and only moved for conquest, he wouldn’t have bothered to stop it.

Nevertheless, of course, the war was stopped.

Rather than justifying his own sins, he said he was proud enough to give up the country he loved to atone for them.

Looking at Limon speaking calmly.

Joan of Arc felt her heart throbbing.

A teacher’s love is infinitely deep, like a parent who never gives up on even the most misbehaving child.

And her own foolishness and sin, which almost led to the death of the student she loved so much, tightened her heart as if it would explode and made her cry out loud.

I wonder if he knows that feeling.

Limon no longer spoke to her.

He simply poured hot water again on the disciple who had his head down and his shoulders shaking.

But while I was wiping her back like that.

He suddenly stopped his hand.

“What is this?”

“Yes…?This?”

What do you mean out of nowhere?

Even though she was immersed in passion, she asked blankly, not knowing what it meant.

Limon asked repeatedly.

“―This rose tattoo on your back.”

It’s like a burning fire.

It resembles a blooming flower.

From the waist down to below.

A tattoo of dawn light engraved faintly on her flawless skin, which was originally pure white.

And Limon couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows as he looked at his student who was blinking blankly as if he still didn’t know what he was saying.