Chapter 283 – 28. Family Management (3)
At the crossroads of the central mountain range, steep, rugged shortcuts and gentle, leisurely roads, the swordsman, without a saddle, mounted his horse and was lost in thought. It was because there was a lot of room to spare thanks to the animal that took care of itself without being instructed in the direction.
‘If it’s okay, can I tell you the reason?’
The idyllic eastern landscape was still there even after reaching its borders. Climbing up the mountain trail, Oliver glanced at the occasional street he had passed, so he was sentimental as he felt the wind blowing in the quiet meadow. As the horseshoe stepped onto the road, I was intoxicated by the clacking sound and chewed on the memories of the city I had left.
‘It’s not that I can’t guess. Still, there’s nothing more certain than hearing it from your own mouth.’
The meeting with the disciple many years later became a clue to solving a complicated relationship like a tangled thread. Acknowledging that there had been many misunderstandings with her nemesis, who was entangled in love and hatred, Kang Gum confessed her deep feelings with her before she left the duke’s palace.
‘Do you remember Jude Somerset?’
‘… How can I forget?’
The two of them tried hard to maintain a bright atmosphere while bringing up a story that could sink heavily. Recalling the day that triggered the conflict, we exchanged words slowly to exclude emotions as much as possible.
‘Before Evangeline took you, her apprentice was Simon. You will remember that he, who originally trained in the sword, was closely related to his younger brother Jude’s willingness to switch to the sword.
‘Yes, at the time I was a bully who couldn’t throw away my back alley spirit, and because of that, I had frequent frictions with guys like Jude. Unlike his older brother, this naive guy was very wary of teaching a murder sword to a gangster of unknown origin.’
‘How can an inexperienced disciple understand the teacher’s lofty will?’
As was the case with the other two instructors, Evan, who was a bit young to teach someone, was especially respected by the Guild. It is because even if his dignity and skills, which are not suitable for his age, are enough to be in awe of him, his kind temperament has even won the favor of everyone.
‘At that time, I didn’t like you like Jude. However, since he was a disciple who was directly harvested by the master of the sword, he thought there must be a special reason. In reality, your flirting attitude is only a problem, because your attitude to learn the sword was excellent.’
‘I wonder if it was me who provided the cause.’
‘Now it seems to me that there is no point in arguing who started the work first. But the origin of my grudge against you was definitely from that time. In the sparring with Jude, who was quarreling with each other…’
‘I broke his wrist on purpose. So that I can never lift a sword again.’
The disciple, who was considered the next leader of Yu-geom, took his own life because he was pessimistic about his life that way. And Simon, who lost his only blood relative, did not hold any responsibility for his brother’s suicide, just as other teachers had kept silent about.
‘To this day, I have no idea how Simon must have felt when he lost his brother to someone he considered a friend. I only remember the fact that my man, who I became a lover around that time, was visibly depressed, and the way he was wiping away tears in a place that was not seen by others.’
‘That’s how Gero came to hate me.’
‘At the same time, I came to hold a grudge against Evangeline, who was protecting the person who caused the death of a student like her. Furthermore, Edgar Allen was frustrated as to why he did not come out again. After that, I pleaded for punishment for you several times, but all I got back was polite words of advice.’
What Oliver did to Jude was clearly intentional. He could say that his actions were low and vicious retaliation, so that no one who had properly trained his swordsmanship would raise any objection.
‘The resentment only grew with each passing day. Eventually, I came to the point where I believed that the reason the Guild supported you was because of one person’s faulty humanism. So, I figured that if only she could get away for a while, she would be able to solve all her troubles.’
Coincidentally, at that time, the Gallic Millennials felt the need to check the lion who conquered the island. In particular, Somerset’s swordsmen were extremely skilled, both in terms of quality and quantity.
‘Then it was one day. In my ears, information fell into her hands that could force Evangeline to vacate her seat. It was only later that I found out that it was arranged by the Duke of Dior in Gaul.’
‘Master was a person who seldom got angry. He was my ideal, if I confess honestly. The reason why he learned the sword was actually because of the slightest expectation that he would be able to catch his eye. And that’s why I remember more. How bloody he was when he turned on his twin hearts to avenge his close friend.’
Evan met such a miserable end. Her duke, who wanted her Britannia split in the first place, deliberately left her to die a brutal death, and naturally the rumor reached her Oliver’s ears, bringing about her ruin.
‘After that, you became an instructor and focused on chasing Evan’s enemy. With Alan dead and only Edgar remaining, I questioned him, thinking that there could be no other culprit besides him. And only then, for those who realized that the reason my colleague died like that was because of this disciple…’
He died, bearing the sins of his disciple instead, before he could even stop them. Even so, Oliver, blinded by revenge and unwilling to stop, revealed his ambition to conquer Gaul with this combination. It was a decision that stemmed from personal feelings.
‘I couldn’t stand it. She confessed that she would confess the whole truth to Simon, who became her husband, and admit her guilt. But the man who was calm at the loss of her brother loved this lowly villainess and was willing to make amends for me.’
Simon stabbed his friend Oliver in the back like that. And Oliver thought of Jude, his younger brother, and mistakenly thought that all this conspiracy had come from a trusted friend.
‘Maybe he was concerned about the child in my belly.’
Oliver, mortally wounded, was driven away just like that. While looking for a place to die, I came back after meeting the son of the enemy and gaining enlightenment. Thus, the three swords made a life-or-death decision through a duel trial.
The winner is Quick Sword, Kenneth Somerset.
However, it was a painful victory. The woman who, in her rage at the loss of her husband, stabbed her pregnant belly with her sword, lost the child in her womb and was left unable to conceive her child again. Moreover, thinking that this whole situation was caused by her own fault, she left the country without even killing Oliver.
‘The quick sword school that followed me was thoroughly purged by you. I’m late, but I’d like to thank you for not killing them and ending them in exile.’
‘The reason I became a witch…’
‘One day, I heard a rumor that an old witch lives in the frozen land of Gaul. She wields very strong powers, and the woman said she could bring a dying person back to life. I had no choice but to wander around a foreign country in a state of disrepair.’
Even in order to take responsibility for her exiled disciples, she had to make a comeback. So, after a long search, she met a young mystic at a secret old house in Saengbuh, Baengnyeong, the frontier.
Lucienne Lemoyn, self-proclaimed Lucille.
The girl who had annihilated her evil teacher and her classmates and gained strength from that knowledge looked at poor Kenna and asked her question. She calmly listened to her fate and passed on her powers and knowledge to me in exchange for absolute obedience.
‘The contract was surprisingly neat. Because the young teacher was a person who was sure to make and break. He tried to take me a few times to see if he had a particular taste, but he lost interest when he said he would offer up his body as long as he took care of his disciples. Maybe rebelling was my preference.’
‘Romuald, what kind of woman did he marry…’
‘Right or left, that’s it. After that, I descended the mountain and somehow ended up drifting eastward. There, he met Kinnard, Max, Chester, and Oscar, who were continuing their lives as a contractor, and other apprentices. Then I got to know Arno, who was not able to overcome them even though they all attacked.’
It was Henrietta, LeBlanc’s wife, who commissioned Kennard’s disciples, led by Kinnard, to assassinate the Duke of Bravery. Knowing this, Arno became more and more devastated with guilt for his past, and Kenna projected himself from him and fell in love with her.
Abandoning her quicksword, she becomes the freckled princess, and then the foreign witch again.
It was a really long journey. All Oliver could say to Kenna, who had arrived today, was a sincere apology.
‘Claire, that guy.’
I, too, calmly recounted what I felt.
‘Do you know why a guy who wouldn’t be able to become a great healer would dare to come under me and claim to be a swordsman apprentice?’
‘What is?’
‘They want to make a healing sword. Rather than a murder sword that kills people, he wants to create a swordsmanship that can double as a surgical and medical operation based on combat swordsmanship specialized in suppression.’
‘That’s a wonderful idea. When I was my age, I was just busy dating men.’
‘I did too. It was a time when I was full of thoughts of stabbing someone in the back like a bully. In that sense, I see our hope in that guy. I am looking forward to an end to this cruel era and a new era full of peace and laughter.’
Oliver, who had seldom cried since his teacher’s death, shed tears full of remorse.
‘Maybe it’s too late to apologize, Kenna.’
‘Oliver.’
‘I sincerely apologize. In front of the noble souls who were sacrificed to a man of inferior virtue like me.’
‘… Yes.’
How did it get to this point? The strong sword and the quick sword have already crossed the river of no return. Their relationship will never go back to the way it was before.
‘I also apologize. My folly of contributing to the deaths of two very noble teachers out of foolish jealousy.’
‘Okay.’
‘It was all my fault, Oliver.’
‘It was our fault…’
Spreading harmony and hope is not easy. However, the fierce duel and the trial that took a lot of gear ended. The situation, which could have turned into a commotion, was finally brought to an end by the mature disciple displaying force and wit while he was blind.
“Uh? Captain, are you crying now?”
Claire, who had been chattering all the time riding a donkey next to the man immersed in memories, tilted his head. The master, who never showed weakness in any trials, asked with a puzzled face as he tilted his head back to hide his tears.
“It’s the first time I’ve felt this way since holding a sword.”
“How do you feel?”
Humans are struggling creatures. The man caught in the past endured the pain and continued to move forward.
So today, finally, for the first time, I was able to reclaim myself by enjoying a certain feeling.
“… Expiation.”
Millennium worker, enemy who is finally left alone.
“And be prepared.”
Somerset’s strong sword will not break until it defeats you!
