1025. A star rose in his heart.
Zion stabbed someone to death and fled. He killed two more on his way out, and thus he went from being a male prostitute to a thief. To be precise, he hid himself in the Thieves’ Guild.
“Hey, who here doesn’t have a story? Ah, me? I don’t. I just threw myself into the guild to make a living.”
One of the guild members looked out for him unusually. At first, it was uncomfortable, and later, unpleasant, but after about half a year, they had become close enough to call each other comrades.
Yes, it had been half a year since he had shot a merchant in the stomach and hidden in the Thieves Guild. Although it was called a guild, backstabbing each other was commonplace.
They were bound by things like a moderate distance, moderate trust, and contractual relationships.
That is why Sion felt more at ease. Since every single one of them was a criminal, he was fully prepared to kill anyone who dared to stab him in the back .
It was during this time that Sion learned proper swordsmanship. He
didn’t use Crona specifically; he merely peeked at a guild member training, who boasted that he would proudly kill people in a head-on confrontation, and that was enough for Sion. He understood the principles of swordsmanship simply by watching and imitating a few times.
Judgment, distance, time, location.
Each of his hands, body, feet, and steps held a completely different concept of time. Add
to this his understanding of the line of attack and the trajectory of his weapon.
In an instant, his skills rose to a level where he could easily look down on famous mercenaries. It seemed to say that this was literally what a genius was, yet no one knew of his swordsmanship prowess. Though
it was called a Thieves’ Guild, it was a place that also accepted contract killings. Sion finished almost every job with a single stroke. He rarely worked with just anyone.
Then, things got complicated, and he ended up on the same side as a guy who preferred a head-on confrontation under the guise of assassination.
This, too, was a common occurrence. It was a very common situation that arose because everyone was busy looking out for their own self-interest.
“you.”
Contrary to his words, he preferred surprise attacks. His usual enthusiastic talk of a frontal confrontation was a scheme to kill him with a surprise attack once the sides were divided. Then, he was stabbed in the stomach by Zion’s sword and died.
“The place I stabbed is a passage where blood flows. You cannot live.”
It was something I knew because I had killed people time and time again.
“Why are you so used to fighting?”
“I don’t know. Because I’ve been using a sword all this time?”
If everyone became a knight just by swinging a sword every day, who wouldn’t be a knight?
The thief, divided into factions, died without being able to bring himself to say those words. Someone called out to Zion as if cheering.
“Zion, you crazy!”
They were at a disadvantage. Even though it was a small-scale battle, the numerical difference was more than five, and the opponent’s skill was vastly superior, yet Sion alone filled that gap.
After this incident, few guild members were unaware of Sion. The talented colleague who used and discarded people to look out for his own interests had become the guild leader before anyone realized it, and one day, he abandoned Sion as if it were nothing.
“Oh, sorry. But don’t take it too personally. Honestly, you were a bit self-centered, weren’t you?”
Had I trusted him? Ah, I had. I trusted him without even realizing it. It was a stupid thing to do. Zion cursed himself a thousand times inwardly.
“Zion, the thief who steals women’s hearts with his good looks. You shouldn’t have acted so recklessly. Didn’t you know we’re a group that kills even pregnant women for gold coins? The woman and the kids you saved are giving me a headache. It really is. Huh? Because of you, pressure is coming in from everywhere.”
It was a lie. What was killing him was the desire the man harbored. Zion knew that.
“I heard there is a nobleman who has his eye on you. Try to talk to him nicely.”
The guy turned around smiling. That was when he realized. That bastard had never once considered him a friend.
Sion drew a dagger and slashed his face. It was a diagonal line passing through a horizontal line. It was the moment another scar was added to his face.
“Who am I?”
The man shook his head at the sight of the blood gushing out. “Terrible bastard,” he muttered.
Zion showed a smile as twisted as his heart.
“So who am I?”
“You used to throw a fit whenever I mentioned my face.”
Was he always like that? Or had he held a grudge from the moment he first saw him?
Sion fought half-mad. He killed twenty members of the private army said to have come from a noble family, killed the guy, and killed most of the guild members.
The only survivors on the spot were a fifteen-year-old boy and a girl. He couldn’t bring himself to lay a hand on the two, who were still young and knew nothing.
A fragile heart.
Yes, he was frail. In less than three days, those two had become his guides, chasing after him.
The nobleman, having lost his private, had bloodshot eyes and sent a whole pack of hunting dogs following behind him. Woof! Days continued with dogs barking and packs of soldiers chasing.
Meanwhile, Sion’s swordsmanship improved day by day. Then he opened his eyes to Will. He must have been somewhere between a squire and a knight.
By that point, the pursuers were no longer a problem. They were merely combat dummies to gauge his current skill.
Having survived once again, Sion raised his dagger and slashed his face once more. The number of knife marks on his face increased to three.
Encred saw this far and opened his eyes again. Sion Bant—the boatman he saw now—had more knife marks on his face as well. His face was not as beautiful as before. The skin where the blade had passed was bumpy and raised, and because it hadn’t been stitched properly, it had healed twisted.
Yet, dignity still flowed from his eyes.
“Do you still say you are worth saving the world? Rather than dying after experiencing nothing but bad things, just stop. Show some wisdom!”
He shouted. He looked angry, and he looked sad. Encred opened his eyes and walked into the new darkness.
After killing the Wind Blade Giant, restoration had become second nature to him.
Use up all the Will and refill it.
The fight continued with Will pouring out to the point where it was ridiculous to call him Usuke. His body, pushed to its limit, could not handle what Will was sending. His muscles were torn.
This is.
It’s bad. It’s really bad, but what can be done?
Waiting for him up ahead is a herd of fire-breathing wingless lizards.
Is it a degenerated version of a salamander?
I don’t know. Anyway, there were quite a lot of them. Roughly over 500. Three Balrogs were mixed in among them. They are all guys with three crystals.
“Raising!”
Although we couldn’t communicate verbally, I understood the meaning of the words shouted with determination.
So you’re saying you’re going to raise me.
It is an honor.
There are three Balrogs, each with three crystals. That alone was overwhelming, but as I slashed, stabbed, and crushed the heads of a herd of lizards, another Balrog with flame wings appeared in the meantime.
I began to think that this labyrinth was a Balrog farm. There were four crystals in its chest.
“Is it you? The one holding us captive here? You crazy bastards, the day we get out, we’re going to burn everything you know.”
He wielded a sword made of pitch-black flames. It turned into a sword, transformed into a whip, and split into a javelin. I knew from experience that even a graze was fatal.
I am dying again. It was a fight where there was absolutely no way to win because Will was lacking. And it wasn’t enough even if both my body and Will were intact.
So you gave up?
It was the voice of a different boatman for the first time in a very long while.
It’s really pitiful to watch.
He was the boatman who always looked worried. He spoke from inside his robe, and when he took it off, Zion Bant revealed his face again.
“We’re going to be trapped here anyway. Aren’t we?”
The boatman spoke to himself and answered to himself, but it was a conversation between two people.
“If you’re going to use the word ‘anyway,’ then show everything you have to show before you speak. It’s so unsightly I can’t stand it.”
It was the moment another boatman spoke through his lips. Once again, Zion’s life flashed before his eyes, short yet intense.
Having become a mercenary, Zion was betrayed one after another, and he betrayed others. It was even worse after he became a loner.
He was unlucky. He could not meet anyone who truly cared for him. Then, he found the Vantran family. With what mindset did he do so? Was it his last hope?
He found the family name and finally found his father.
What was the father he found like? He was obsessed with rolling dice every day, and even while coughing from illness, he could not quit gambling.
If that was the case, he might as well be in his grave. So that he could see it and remember him as a cool person, even if only in his imagination.
Instead of killing him, Zion burned down the gambling den he frequented.
He hoped that doing so would bring him to his senses, but naturally, he likely failed. He never looked to see what had happened to him afterward.
It was simply because he could not bring himself to kill him with his own hands.
He continued to wander. After becoming a knight and, acting on a whim, saving a girl, he experienced the repetition of today.
He never let any “Today” go more than five times. No matter who he met, he surpassed their skill within four attempts.
Whether it was a monster or a beast,
he mastered how to deal with it within four tries. In terms of talent alone, it was truly overflowing, but he did not find it particularly enjoyable.
What he desired was an end. Not a repetition of today.
That is why he succumbed to the Boatman’s first temptation, and thus became trapped in today in a solitary cabin on a mountain. That was his end. It
seemed as though this would be the end of his story, but it was not.
His memories continued. Sion became a Boatman and met Encrid, glimpsing his life.
Only then did his forgotten old memories resurface. No, it would be more accurate to say he was consumed by his memories. Unable to refuse or resist, he was attacked by them. Sion recalled and ruminated on the words his mother had told him before she died.
“Misfortune and happiness are separated by a fine line. Some people look at the rising sun and discuss hope, while others discuss despair. So, everything is two sides of the same coin. If things get tough, spin the coin. I hope you live your life without forgetting that. My son.”
Zion thought he was never loved by anyone, but that was not the case. His mother had taught him love.
He had simply turned away because the world was too painful for his tender heart.
‘ah.’
I should have looked at the back of the coin.
Sion regretted it enough that, had he been alive, he would have knelt, pounded his chest, wailed, and cried until he fainted. Afterward,
he looked back at himself, trapped in today. Is this right? Is this really the end?
It shouldn’t be. It must not be. The man who was pessimistic about the world also dreamed of hope. He was just like the man who longed for peace.
Sion tested Encred. It was absolutely necessary for him. Through the test, he asked.
Are you really different?
His final test is now over. The boatman who had been worried about him is by his side.
Encred faced two boatmen on the ferry.
As you can see, I don’t know about the change in purity. I just watch and copy everything, so it all worked out. So don’t forget. Copy it.
The knife scar on his face remained, but Sion looked much more at ease. As Sion said this and stepped back, the boatman, who had been looking worried, approached.
He, too, took off his robe. He was a handsome man with his hair tied back in a ponytail.
“I don’t have a story like that. I was just living diligently when I fell into a curse of repeating today, and I simply tried to break it but failed.”
Although he said that, his swordsmanship skills were just as good as the other boatmen’s.
My name is Jitte Reduin.
It is a name created in the old style.
“My nickname was once Lumen, the seeker of light.”
Only then did I see the other person’s face. Whenever the purple lamp light brushed past, the texture of their skin became visible, resembling scales. It is a characteristic of the Dragon People.
“The investigating knight, Jitte. That was the name.”
It is a curse that has consumed even Yongin.
Jitte fell under the curse, even though he knew it was true. He said it was for his friend’s sake. He even claimed that the reason he worried and urged him to give up was to prevent the great misfortune that would befall him later.
“I don’t know anymore. I said I would read the future and explore the light, but it seems I didn’t know everything. Just because it’s Yongin doesn’t mean everyone is smart. That’s why I’m saying this. Overcome this, Enki. I’ll be rooting for you.”
He persuaded Zion in the dark and changed his mind. Even after recalling his mother’s words, Zion had wavered, unable to find his bearings.
Encred bowed his head in gratitude.
Trust yourself. Moving forward starts from there.
These are the words of Lumen, the seeker of light, the seeking knight Jitte.
Is this temptation or mockery?
Enkrid staked his dream on the fact that it was neither. He opened his eyes again.
“You sick and tired things, how dare you lock someone up?”
Today begins with a Balrog in anger. It is a day that starts amidst countless fire lizards, and on top of that, three other threatening Balrogs are targeting me. Yet, strangely, my heart felt light.
Zion, Jitte.
The two boatmen conveyed what they had learned to Enkrid, even if reluctantly.
Jitte’s experience was compressed, short, and intense. He conveyed only what he pondered and agonized over the moment he realized the techniques and skills he had experienced.
Based on their experiences, Enkrid saw a signpost.
A star appeared in the dark sky. In reality, the pitch-black darkness was still filled with monsters and the stench of sulfur, but a star rose in his heart.
