Translator: Kim | Editor: Darling
Running through the Holy Land of Divinum as well as the territory of the Yosrahim Empire, the Acus River stretched to the lake at the easternmost point of the continent.
The path between the Acus River and the Great Lake. A large tree, cut through its lower part, flowed down the river in the dark. As the leaves on the branches were still green, it looked like a tree that had just been cut down. Strangely, small bubbles were constantly rising around the branches above the water. It’s because I was breathing underwater.
I put my head out of the water for a brief moment and then looked around. I couldn’t find any person around in the great open lake. Feeling relieved, I came out at last and climbed a tree.
“Since I’ve come this far, that shit fly won’t be able to find me. Right?”
The distance from here to the Holy Land of Divinum was more than 90km. Even though Valkyries did have a great mana-sensing ability, it’s not possible for her to find me.
Glancing at Yojo hung on my waist, I slapped it with my index finger.
“Hey Yojo, how could you tell me to go the wrong way? It’s a betrayal.”
Yojo kept silent.
“Anyway, you saved my skin afterward by using that weird magic. So, we’re even now. But you should be careful next time.”
After I finished speaking to myself, I pulled out Yojo and stroked its blade. I thought it was just a damn sturdy sacred weapon which however couldn’t use magic. But I was wrong. It could use pretty good magic which I never had expected. At the last moment when Yojo pressed down on Katrianne with its huge weight, I thought it completely went out of control.
‘Oh, by the way, how can I activate it again? Obviously, it’s not by infusing mana like when using other sacred weapons…’
At that time, I took all the mana out of Yojo and infused them into my body instead. Thus, it meant that Yojo’s magic was activated by mana infusion. Then, there must be another way of activating it but I had no idea how to do it because the magic was activated in such a chaotic moment.
Anyways, I could learn more about it down the road. It got activated once already so there’s no way it wouldn’t be activated twice.
‘Yeah. I should not forget the sense I felt at that moment. Surely, there must have been something.’
Singing through my nose, I rowed by using Yojo. Now I was free. Once I got way away from Katrianne, there’s no one who could capture me.
“Let’s row, row, row my boat~”
I was heading to a nearby riverbank. I could’ve gone further but I had to wait for someone at that place. It was Shura. When I had a little time while running away from Katrianne, I threw away the pendant embedded with Location Tracking magic. If I kept it, I would’ve exposed myself due to the mana effect inside of it. But I didn’t just throw it away. To make sure that Shura could find me, I left a small clue on the back of the pendant.
‘Will she be able to make it? If she can’t, I’ll just leave alone.’
It sounded cruel but I would really leave alone if she couldn’t make it. Beforehand, I definitely warned her that I would throw her away. And actually, I spared no effort of leaving a small clue during the urgent moment when Katrianne chased after me. So if she could not meet her expectations, it would be better for us to be apart here.
If she couldn’t make it, it would mean she’s a dumbass. If I traveled with such a dumbass, my life would get difficult for sure.
“Even if she can’t make it, she has all the luggage and money. So, she’ll do just fine on her own.”
After starting a fire, I began to grill the fish I caught during the time I was coming down the river. They were all small fish but I caught a lot of them. So, it’s definitely enough for two people.
As the fish got cooked, I felt a rush of energy coming this way along the bank of the river. It’s fast. It seemed that the person had learned Assassin Skills or professional pursuer’s skills.
I gently made a little smile. Actually, I taught Assassin’s Mobility Skills to Shura not long ago.
“Master!”
Soon I could hear a desperate cry of a woman. I was right. It’s Shura. After she approached the bonfire, Shura looked at me. With her trembling body, she hugged me.
I tapped Shura on the back.
“Hey, you are here.”
“You’re still alive! I knew it!”
She handed my pendant over me. It was engraved with two ancient Rune characters which meant water and flow. In other words, if she followed the flow of water, she could find me at last.
The culvert underneath the Castle of Divinum was very complicated. However, the water flowed from top to bottom. So as she kept following the water, she ended up at the Acus River. Then she kept going down along the Acus River and finally reached here.
“Of course, I am alive. Do you think a Valkyrie can murder me?”
Being out of the blue, Shura stared at me.
“Wasn’t she the owner of Idron?”
“The owner of Idorn is the Flaming Valkyrie. Be careful when you see her next time. She’s got a pretty bad temper.”
“Oh, I see.”
Shura got relieved.
“What’s up?”
“After I heard that you’re murdered, I was trying to avenge your death.”
“Oh really? But you didn’t actually do it, did you?”
“Yes. First I went to find the pendant to recover your body.”
I picked up the cooked fish and handed it to Shura.
“Well done. Now eat this. You must have been running all day long so you should be starving right now.”
Shura hurriedly stepped back and knelt her knee courteously.
“Master!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Master, I have become the owner of Dalahan – the Sword of Sun, Moon, and Sky – of the God of Yin and Yang.”
As she recalled her memories of becoming the owner of Dalahan, she was feeling great joy.
Way past midnight yesterday, she entered the Hall of Divinity with a Dark High Priest named Orter. As they went inside, she found a 2-Tier sacred weapon she liked and tried to do the trick that I told her. But the High Priest Orter, who entered along with her, kept watching her with his suspicious eyes so she got very nervous.
However, a very simple incident distracted the High Priest Orter. As he saw Dalahan rising in the air and exhaling both the flames of light and coldness of darkness, he prayed with great effervescence. While he got distracted, Shura was trying to do the trick but Dalahan came into her arms. So eventually, she failed using the trick.
Yes. Dalahan chose Shura as its owner. Later, worshipped by the Holy Calvary of Darkness and the Holy Soldiers of Darkness, she was guided to the Pope of Churches of Darkness. At that place, she also met the archbishop, who was a Moon Elf, celebrating her with effervescence. The archbishop said the daughter of Moon Elves had done a great thing.
She felt very awkward at that moment but overall, it was a very touching moment for her.
“Oh, Dalahan… the one that…?”
“Yes.”
As she drew her sword, I could see the sword shining dark black and bright silver with a clear boundary in the center. It’s definitely Dalahan.
During the Era of Destruction in my past life, Dalahan didn’t come out of the Hall of Divinity. But now, it’s in Shura’s hands.
‘Dammit!’
I didn’t know what to do with my face. I should surely celebrate her becoming the owner of Dalahn. But at the same time, my situation’s got damn crazy. Shura is my partner whom I sleep with. And the couples are one and the same. Under these circumstances, she’s become the owner of Dalahan so I would surely become one of the frontrunners among the possible successors to the next Yosrahim Empire throne.
Of course, it might not seem 100% logical. But that illogicality made the situation even a bigger problem. Violent power struggle often occurred when things were ambiguous. The reason that’s no power struggle between me and my half brother Yosef was the fact that I was a completely legitimate heir of the Grand Duke Carl’s family. That’s why even my father couldn’t say anything about my legitimacy. If that’s not the case and things were ambiguous, there would definitely have been a power struggle with bloodshed between the two of us.
In fact, this was exactly what Yosef said. Even though Yosef was an asshole, he never said anything that didn’t make sense.
“This is insane.”
“What do you mean, master?”
“Nothing. It’s not a big deal.”
I barely straightened my face and waved my hands. Honestly, she hadn’t done anything wrong. It’s my fault that I didn’t tell her not to choose Dalahan.
Besides, a person who wants to become an emperor should become one. He who doesn’t want to become an emperor does not deserve it. People think I am dead anyway. As long as I don’t go back to the Yosrahim Empire, there won’t be any trouble.
“By the way, you’ve received Dalahan’s spell scroll from the Church, haven’t you?”
“Yes master, I have.”
“Let me see it.”
Shura took out a scroll of parchment and handed it over to me. After taking a look at the scroll, I stared at her with a subtle gaze.
“Are you going to learn this?
“Yes, master.”
“Are you really going to learn this?”
“Yes, master.”
“Sure then. It’s your decision, so do it yourself.”
With a mixed face, I handed the spell scroll back to her. Then Shura got puzzled.
“Am I doing something wrong?”
“Not really. It’s just, you’ve made your decision so easily for such an important matter.”
“What important matter? What’s that supposed to mean, master?”
I scratched my nose and opened my mouth in a serious mood.
“What do you think will happen once you learn Dalahan’s magic?”
“I will become stronger.”
“Yes, you will. But does it mean you become stronger? Aren’t you using Dalahan’s power? And will the swordsmanship, which you follow from now onwards, be your way or Dalahan’s way?”
“Well, that’s…”
She could not speak a word anymore.
“It is your decision. The path to your own swordsmanship is great. Also, the path to Dalahan’s swordsmanship is great too. But don’t think too much and be hung up between those two paths. Otherwise, you would stand still forever.”
“Yes, master.”
“Well, let’s just eat now. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
“Yes, master.”
As I handed over the grilled fish, Shura received it and sat modestly next to me. While we’re eating, her eyes were always fixed on me and my eyes were fixed on the far night sky.
I’ve abandoned and left everyone behind but I didn’t feel heavy with worries. I could make a living by myself and have a beautiful female elf, who’s always looking at me, by my side. I think I’ll live a pretty good life until the day I die.
* * *