EP.152 North, Epilogue (Part 2)
About two days before leaving the North, Raniel went out for her final training session with Lac. There was the intent to confirm Lac’s growth, but there was also something she needed to face again at the edge of the Holy Site.
And one hour after arriving at the Holy Site…
Raniel felt a surprise at the unexpected results. She looked at Lac with her eyes wide open.
“…You’ve really improved a lot, huh?”
The place that had been his limit during their first training was barely visible now from where Lac stood. He was holding his ground far beyond that point.
But that’s not all.
“I think… I might be able to use spells.”
With a short exhale, Lac applied strength to his arm. Veins bulged on his forearm as a spell enveloped his body.
Enhance-Strength.
Thunk, plop! The rope snapped with those sounds.
Raniel clicked her tongue, thinking inwardly.
‘…It wasn’t like this before.’
This is an amazing result. Really.
He had made incredible strides in just a few days. The unexpected result came with joy alongside surprise. Tap, Raniel lightly tapped Lac’s head with the back of her hand.
A smile lingered at her lips.
“Not bad at all.”
Lac held his ground for a while longer. It wasn’t until dusk that he finally collapsed, exhausted. That was the first fainting spell he experienced that day.
“Oops.”
Carrying Lac on her back, Raniel thought. If he showed such rapid growth in just a few days… there must be a reason behind it.
‘…If there’s a reason at all, what could it be?’
There was only one thing she could guess.
‘Facing the Sword Demon, Draka.’
The superhuman swinging his sword with the intent to kill.
Against the death that threatened him, Lac resisted. He even succeeded in cutting through a sliver of the sword energy shot at him by the superhuman. It was undoubtedly a remarkable feat.
The approaching death.
The boundary between life and death.
When one is placed in that gap, the one who resists for the sake of life is but a handful. And that handful of humans tends to gain enlightenment.
‘He must have realized something.’
In other words…
‘He saw the wall.’
Because Raniel had never felt or seen the wall, she couldn’t fathom what form it might take. She could only faintly imagine its shape from the words she had heard from superhumans.
The boy who had just faced the wall.
And the realm the boy would reach after crossing that wall.
Just envisioning it brought her joy. Feeling another rewarding moment from the journey in the North, Raniel mumbled to herself.
“…I’m looking forward to it.”
Muttering so, she continued on her way.
A little lighter and more cheerful than usual.
—
After laying Lac down outside the Holy Site, Raniel headed back inside. It was a path she had crossed once already. Walking the path again was easy.
Chuckle.
Before long, Raniel arrived at the center of the Holy Site.
In the center where the blizzard had ceased, she walked across the mesmerizing grasslands that still felt unfamiliar.
“……”
She paused in front of a broken statue.
Her pause was brief. Crossing over a stream filled with starlight, she headed toward an island in the middle of the lake.
A sword embedded in the center of the island.
A sword strikingly similar to the Death’s Blade.
Raniel narrowed her eyes and gazed at the great sword. It was different from when she first encountered this sword. Now that she realized the history of the forgotten past, this one sword appeared to her with an entirely different meaning.
“First Holy Sword.”
A sword that had been alongside the Sword Master throughout his lifetime.
A sword created from starlight that dwelled within it.
‘…Wasn’t the Holy Sword the most suitable form for containing starlight?’
Many heroes left their names in history.
Though the weapons they used differed, the champion who was deemed the strongest of each era always wielded a Holy Sword. It was said that the Holy Sword was the most perfect form of a star.
‘In a way, that’s not wrong.’
Having learned the truth, Raniel smirked.
‘It was always meant to house the starlight from the beginning.’
She had seen this sword in the history of the past. This great sword held by Ganikalt, the first hero, was more powerful than any spell and sharper than any incantation.
‘A sword that could change the tide of battle with just one swing.’
Parting the cursed armies.
Cleaving through the darkness that shrouded the sky.
Even severing the shade that swallowed the sun.
This great sword, held by the first superhuman and hero, was truly a weapon that could be called perfect. Remembering the past, Raniel took another step closer.
“A sword is the half-body of a knight.”
It was a saying that Kuntel, the Sword Master, had repeated countless times.
“The sword carries the soul of its knight.”
She had brushed off that saying as a joke.
But, at least when it came to this one sword, the knight’s sayings became reality. Raniel narrowed her eyes. She realized she had a small box in her hand.
Flutter.
The starlight that flowed out from the box resonated with the starlight overflowing from the blade. For a brief moment, starlight filled Raniel’s vision.
‘It’s visible.’
Raniel reached out.
Extending her hand, she grasped the hilt.
Schiiiing!
Ignoring the burning sensation in her palm, she stared directly at the sword. Reading the flowing starlight that pooled in the great sword. Her pupils shimmered with a platinum hue.
Blood vessels popped in her eyes.
Her red, bloodshot glare widened.
‘Fragment of the soul.’
A fragment of a shattered soul lingered there.
It was the moment Raniel inserted her own soul into it.
Crack, splish!
Raniel’s vision split.
Temporary chaos erupted in her sight. The shattered soul pursued another soul. The discarded half-body of a knight sought its rightful place.
“…Ah.”
Raniel involuntarily gasped.
Her vision connected with something. Amid the blurry sight from her left eye, Raniel looked around. Darkness surrounded her. It was a place shrouded in fog. And something lurked there.
“……”
In the darkness, a pair of black eyes glimmered.
A flickering gaze from within a cracked helmet seemed familiar. Raniel shivered as a chill ran down her spine. A clink-clank echoed as her teeth chattered.
‘Death’s Blade, Ganikalt.’
The death she had faced long ago.
‘The connection in sight… is linked to the Sword of Death.’
Originally wielded by Ganikalt.
The sword enveloped in shadow was now connected to her vision. The shattered soul resonated with hers. In that space, she felt like a foreign object.
“Someone who is not a knight.”
And, of course.
A top-tier knight sensed the presence of this foreign entity.
“Don’t imitate a knight.”
The figure slowly extended a hand.
With a gentle stroke from above to below…
“Ugh…!”
Raniel let go of the sword with her hand, shutting her left eye.
Drip. Blood trickled down her cheek.
“That, crazy…”
Did someone mistake her for a monster?
Raniel mumbled that, forcing a laugh. Despite borrowing starlight to insert her soul, she had been effortlessly thrown back with just a light gesture. Wiping the blood flowing from her wound, Raniel closed her left eye.
‘But.’
She gained something.
There was merit in taking the risk.
“…So, this is what it is.”
The method she couldn’t find no matter how hard she tried.
A method to hunt the Sword of Death that nullified starlight.
‘After many years… now I’ve found it.’
Raniel discovered how to bring down the entity in the sky to the ground.
—
2.
“…Senior? Why is your eye like that?”
“I’ll be fine in a few days.”
“No, the left eye looks serious…”
Ignoring Kalt’s words, I packed my belongings. In fact, I had more things to pack when leaving than when I came to the North.
“Oh my, are you leaving already?”
“Well, this and this and…”
The amount of gifts prepared by Lady Failia was quite substantial. There were also a lot of gifts from the warriors. While I was packing, Kalt approached me.
“You mentioned you’d be returning to the capital today?”
“Yeah. Are you staying a bit longer?”
“Yes, someone from the Knights Order was dispatched…”
“…A member?”
Just one. With that word, I turned back to Kalt.
The people Kalt referred to as ‘members’ were few and far between. I subtly asked him.
“Knight Order Leader isn’t coming, so it must be…”
“Hero Galahal is coming.”
“Well, if it’s Galahal, I can trust that.”
I nodded.
If Galahal was coming, there was no need to worry. I gave Kalt a light pat on the shoulder.
“Make sure to send my regards to Galahal.”
“…Uhm, Senior?”
“Yeah. What?”
Kalt sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“Senior, you are officially retired and currently in an undocumented status. Are you aware of that?”
“Is that so?”
“Normally, the fact that I’m in contact with you should be a secret issue. So, uh…”
“Well, what of it.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“It’s fine if it’s someone like Galahal.”
“Well, that’s true…”
It was Galahal, of all people.
Surely he’d understand. Thinking that, I stood up with my hands full of luggage.
“Take care, then.”
“Yes, I will contact you once I return to the capital.”
“Okay.”
I waved my hand casually and began to walk away.
All schedules in the North were wrapped up.
Now, it was time to head back to the capital.
—
3.
Receiving light farewells and send-offs, I climbed onto the carriage heading to the capital. Lac would be joining me at the start of the new school term, so I was alone on the way down.
“Was your journey in the North enjoyable…?”
“There were plenty of events to keep it from being all fun.”
“There were many unpleasant events. Next time you come, I’ll make sure you can fully savor the beauty of the North…”
Although I was alone, it wasn’t a dull return trip anymore, as the butler, Sebas, whom I had become friends with, was around to chat. After several days, I finally arrived at a village near the capital. In other words, my hometown.
“Ughhhh…”
Stretching out, I walked through the fields.
A gentle hill, swaying green grass.
The path leading to the mansion of my Master, adjoining the forest, was just as it always was. Now that summer had arrived, a slightly warmer breeze blew, and I hummed as I walked along.
Knock knock.
I lightly knocked and opened the door. My Master, sitting on the sofa in the living room and sipping coffee, turned to look at me. Clinking, he set down his coffee cup and spoke.
“Have you arrived, Raniel?”
“Yes, Master.”
I said I had returned. When I showed him my arms full of luggage, I smiled.
“I brought a ton of gifts.”
—
“I have two pieces of news.”
Rosal opened his mouth while sipping tea.
At Rosal’s words, Raniel, who had been munching on snacks after dinner, tilted her head.
“What is it?”
“While you were in the North, there were a few incidents. Among them, only two are significant for you to know.”
Rosal took out two letters.
Opening one, he continued.
“One is that an elder from the Ashen Tower has retired due to an ‘unfortunate incident.’”
“…An unfortunate incident?”
“Right. The vacancy created by that elder is likely to remain vacant for the foreseeable future. And the one who sent this letter is…”
Rosal pointed to the sender.
“The next Master of the Tower, Resti Elenoa.”
One pillar had become vacant.
And it would remain vacant for a while.
That was a kind of warning delivered by the next Master of the Tower to the other elders. This Master would take a very aggressive stance in seizing control of the tower.
“He pulled quite a daring move. Personally, I quite like it. There were too many elders anyway.”
There’s a need to cut down the number.
For the Ashen Tower to progress, having six elders was simply too many.
“It is something that has been postponed for too long…”
“Looks like she plans to tackle it all at once.”
Raniel chuckled softly.
A faint smile crossed Rosal’s face.
“…Did you give her a hint of some kind?”
“I gave her a trap as a gift. I left it up to her to decide where and how to set it, and what kind of prey to hunt.”
Kukuk, Raniel burst into laughter.
“Seems like she’s properly found her grip.”
So, what’s the next piece of news? Raniel asked as Rosal unfolded the remaining letter.
“A secret communiqué has come down from the Royal Family and the Black Tower. Among the academic circles of Apuria, very few were informed.”
A letter containing highly confidential information.
Rosal read it line by line.
“It’s about a girl named ‘Chloe,’ who will be transferring next semester under an assumed identity.”
Chloe, the name made Raniel blink.
It was a name she recognized from somewhere before.
“Though she claims to be a girl with a special condition benefitting from the protection of the Black Tower…”
Rosal tapped the letter lightly.
The emblem on the letter was one that represented the Black Tower. A symbol only used by the owner of the Black Tower.
“The truth is, she is a candidate for the next hero, on the verge of awakening. Described as the fourth hero of this era by the Royal Family.”
Slowly lifting his hand, Rosal pointed at Raniel.
“The Royal Family has entrusted you with the education of that child, Raniel.”
Author’s Note:
Professor Raniel smiles brightly at the emergence of a new talent.*
