104 - A Sword Saint’s Grumblings

I didn’t wanna do this.

Honestly? I was terrified.

He killed the “Nightmare” and ate it? Are you stupid.

Even if elves call it our natural enemy because magic doesn’t work on it, even with that discount it was one nasty monster, okay?

I’m the one who actually fought it, and no joke, magic doesn’t work on that thing.

I thought, “They must’ve exaggerated the report,” went in, and nearly died.

Write the report accurately for once.

Not “effects extremely faint,” but “doesn’t do squat,” okay… seriously, I nearly died.

Even without that immunity, it’s a pretty troublesome monster.

And the report said he one-sidedly killed and ate it, right?

And you wanted me to go fight him?

Yeah yeah, I don’t have veto power, I get it.

I don’t wanna be the elves’ guardian anymore.

Also, how long were you planning to make a 388-year-old geezer work?

Because I was clan chief you’d think— fine, it’s my fault I slacked on training a successor.

Couldn’t be helped, could it!?

Only the chosen can wield the Spirit Sword!

Ah— yes… yes, I did limit “chosen” to cute girls… I’m truly sorry.

Wait, my wounds aren’t healed yet, and my back still hurts… okay, fine, they healed ages ago. I lied because the nurse girl’s butt was perfection.

Couldn’t be helped, right?

She said she’s a fan who loves my biography!

She took such devoted care of me, and even when I patted and squeezed she chalked it up to accidents so I had a field day— okay, don’t tell on me!

I’ll go, I’ll have a proper bout!

A report?

Yeah, yeah, I’ll file it… as long as I do it properly, right?

Sigh— back in the day they called me “big bro” and looked up to me… I’m heartbroken.

Ah, yes, I’m going now— right now!

Man… isn’t there any man out there who can take my place?

So anyway, they shooed me out like this and— what was it again?

Right, Argos. I ended up going to slice him a little.

He was captured with control magic and they studied him, right?

Naturally, that info— wait, you don’t have it?

No no no, that’s crazy.

Why not?

Oh, Argos burned it, and nothing remains?

Not by accident?

He actually went back and burned the lab?

…He’s a lot smarter than I was told, huh?

Ahh, so that’s why the Forshna girl is fixated on him— makes sense.

That clan’s… well, unlucky or complicated— if they mesh in a good way, fine.

So— even if you don’t have lab records, you did bring some intel, yes?

Mm-hmm, credit to my own clan, you didn’t miss a beat.

Hmm… was this doable?

I’m impressed you even got another country’s battle records, but… what’s this “even low-grade magic swords can hardly scratch it” supposed to mean?

Oh, literally that? So it’s that tough.

Then hit it with magic— oh, magic didn’t work either.

But that’s human magic, right?

Oh, there was someone who could use third-tier-equivalent spells?

Hoh— so humans have those too… wait, he punched it and it was unscathed?

Sorry, that makes no sense— the details are “as written”?

Yeah, that makes less sense.

Ah— so because magic doesn’t work well on him either, this becomes “a job for me,” huh?

Don’t just say “that’s right.”

For the record, the Spirit Sword’s effect drops hard against targets that ignore magic, okay?

And you’re foisting this dangerous beast on a 388-year-old?

Sure, I admit I’m “strongest in the elven village” right now.

But that’s only with this sword.

And I’ve been declining for decades… compared to my prime it’s tear-worthy.

You wanna hear about that?

You do?

Back in the war with the Empire I was on a tear— those “tanks,” right?

The moving steel boxes with cannons.

I cleaved one in two with a single stroke— the Imperials panicked like crazy.

Know what the Empire used to call me then?

Ehh, you want me to say it?

Really?

I wanted to be the one to say it…

Ah, time’s up— mm, thanks for the escort.

Ugh, I don’t wanna go.

So I trudged over, exchanged a few words to pass through, and the guy’s reading a book.

A beginner’s manual on magic, no less.

I wanted to say, “Come on, seriously?” but then ran into a bigger problem.

He’s wrong.

He sat there unfazed even though I was blasting him with the Spirit Sword’s pressure full on.

No no no— this was, like, an anti-monster special, okay?

Why was he calm under that pressure?

Normally you frenzy or run.

Why were you calmly sitting there?

Was he dense?

Or just so monstrous he can tank it?

Ugh… I wanted to do this even less.

So I faked an “accident” to buy time.

And, while I was at it, I checked the young lady’s backside— mm, youth is fine.

I tried to get him to drop his guard by showing weakness… but he didn’t. To not fall for my Oscar-worthy acting— not bad.

So I kicked things off from the high ground.

I am the Sword Saint… the “guardian of the elves,” so I have to do it.

I know, so Miss, stop glaring at me!

As expected, he didn’t flinch at my boss aura.

Actually, his eyes were glued to the Spirit Sword.

Monster or not, he was very wary of this thing.

Sigh— hard to fight like this.

He was more wary of the sword than of me.

We couldn’t brawl there, so I changed venues.

I managed to talk the young lady around… honestly, I wish she hadn’t yielded.

On the way, I tried various topics to coax him to relax, but his gaze stayed on the Spirit Sword.

How was I supposed to cut someone who’s this on guard?

So I just laid it out.

And spilled my own objective while I was at it.

And that fired him up.

I shouldn’t have said anything.

At that point I decided, “Gotta land one by a cheap trick.”

The opener: max out the Spirit Sword’s buff, use an illusion to muddy my initial movement, slash-and-run— except he reacted clean and dodged.

Expecting a counter, I nailed his face with a snap wind-blast, but he used the recoil and smacked my flank with his tail.

“Your tail stretches?!”

I spat at the miscalculated length as I blew away.

Ah— I jumped, not “got blown away,” right— important distinction.

With barrier magic up I shouldn’t have taken damage, but even a brush told me how sharp that strike was.

But leaping in that big body was a bad move, let me say.

With magic, changing course midair was easy.

I planned to punish the landing, but he parried my blade with a fist and even went for a counter.

“What kind of reaction speed is that?!”

I snapped and blasted him with wind again.

His fist cut empty air; I took the chance and slashed, but the feel was off.

Then he psyched himself up and instantly “healed” the cut, wiggled his finger, and grinned “come at me.”

I admit, I got a little mad.

So I got a little serious.

Yeah, just a little— if I got really serious I could handle it, but that wasn’t the mission.

I closed in the same way as my opener and layered illusions.

Works great on monsters.

But the results were lousy.

The explosive spell into a strike— he’d pegged my position perfectly, and I nearly got grabbed— chilled my blood.

Thanks to that, I calmed down.

Anyway, I did cut him once.

The wound was smaller than I expected and healed right away, but a cut’s a cut.

That means I fulfilled my duty.

Therefore, no more need to fight.

Okay, stop! That’s the end of this bout!

And that’s how I turned and walked back.

Good thing I left with my back bared; we didn’t resume fighting, thank the stars.

You saw, right?

I landed a solid stroke, yeah?

You can add this to my list of exploits.

Evaluation?

Ahh… in my prime I might have managed.

Honestly, I don’t think I’d win one-on-one.

Right, thanks for the hard work.

I’m beat too, so I’m going home to rest, okay?

Oh, one more thing… I want you to confirm something about that monster— he’s not the type that gains the abilities of those he eats, right?

Yeah, like the “Gluttonous Chimera” in fairy tales— it acquires the powers of what it devours.

The feeling when I cut him— the resistance— well, it was like that, more or less, with variations in intensity but unmistakable.

“What” was it like? The Nightmare, obviously.

I’ll ask one last time.

That monster… it’s fine to leave him alone?

Not my problem if you do, got it?