Chapter 59 – Deserted Island Survival Training (6)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The silence flowing between us was strange.

Whooooosh.

With one hand braced on the rock, I stared directly at Leon. Leon still wore that easygoing smile that made him look like a likable person.

From his perspective as well, my appearance should have been sudden, yet there was not the slightest trace of surprise on his face. My gaze slowly shifted to the bladeless hilt Leon was holding.

‘He found it.’

A weapon with the contradictory nature of being both a demonic sword and a holy sword.

The Sword of Twilight, the hilt of Balmung.

The hilt, bathed in a silver-white radiance, glittered sharply enough to hurt my eyes, and an exquisite wave pattern wrapped around the whole of what should have been the blade.

But what stood out most of all was the blue jewel embedded in the center of the hilt.

‘The Jewel of Ether.’

It was originally the catalyst that neutralized Balmung, the most vicious demonic sword in the world, with holy power. Its value would be impossible to measure.

Seeing it in person instead of only in gameplay filled me with a fresh feeling.

Back when I was a player, I had swung it around like it was a basic weapon, but even now, with only the blade portion missing, it still possessed a coquettish beauty fitting the strongest weapon in the world.

To be honest, as a fellow swordsman, I wanted it. But in any case, that ego sword would not allow even a finger’s worth of permission without Leon’s unique blessing.

‘…It really is cool.’

…But leaving that aside, why was this bastard here? Once my stray thoughts cleared, the question rose.

This orchard was located at the very center of Avalon Island. If memory served, Balmung’s location should have been far off on the outer edge from here.

Even for me, who had prepared thoroughly before coming to the island, it had taken two full days of wandering to barely reach this place.

And yet, compared to me, who had become a mess after pushing through countless thickets, Leon looked perfectly neat, so it seemed his journey had been rather easy.

Well, considering the island’s constantly shifting geography, there was still a chance he had ended up here by coincidence…

But the moment I realized that Leon had found the place I had discovered only after exhausting effort through nothing more than dumb luck, irritation shot all the way to the top of my head.

‘The protagonist buff should at least have some limits.’

When anger flickered in my eyes, Leon, who had been watching my mood, quickly pulled his overlapped hand away with a startled expression. Then, scratching his jaw, he spoke first.

“I saw the orb from far away and ran over here. Looks like our paths overlapped.”

Even while he spoke, his other hand was still gripping Balmung firmly.

He was obviously on guard. Though, thinking that was a bit much when I, too, still had not let go of the sashimi knife in my right hand.

I let out a short sigh and shoved the sashimi knife back into my pocket. Only then did Leon awkwardly put Balmung away as well.

Leon smiled uncomfortably and seemed to search for something to say.

Then silence followed.

No matter how wide Avalon Island was, it was still crawling with academy cadets, so the fact that I had not met anyone at all until now was the truly strange part.

‘…The problem is that it had to be Leon.’

For the protagonist, this deserted island survival training was an extremely important event and a branching point cutting across the early part of the scenario.

According to the original story, this should have been around the time Leon met Abel and the two of them started sweetly developing feelings.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman sitting before a campfire, opening up about the feelings they had hidden, soothing each other’s wounds, something like that. Thinking that, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Could it be that I’ve unintentionally stolen the time Leon was supposed to spend with Abel?’

If so, the relationship between those two would go completely outside what I had predicted.

‘Damn it.’

As I ground my lips together, Leon, who had been looking at me, carefully opened his mouth again.

“S-so, Geom-ma, did you come here because you found this orb too?”

I narrowed my eyes slightly, trying to gauge Leon’s true intention. His face was spotless, with not a trace of deceit. It seemed that he had not come here deliberately for the blessing.

From my standpoint, there was nothing wrong with grabbing the orb along the way too, but my primary objective was the Blessing of Regeneration.

Of course, an orb of this size would be highly valuable, but to me it still did not compare to the blessing.

Still, if I were to generously let Leon had only the orb, I would then have to explain in detail why I had come racing here in such a frenzy.

‘There’s no need and no reason to make him understand.’

Rather than letting Leon develop suspicious thoughts about me, it would be better to look like a greedy opportunist. I roughly settled my thoughts and gave a nod.

“Yeah, that’s right. I hadn’t found a single orb since coming to the island, and then I happened to spot one.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Leon thought for a moment while rubbing his chin. After tilting his head a few times, he muttered lowly.

“Then I guess it can’t be helped.”

“……?”

Saying that, Leon drew out the Balmung he had just put away.

Kiiiiing.

The sword without a blade rang out. The resonance lasted only an instant.

Immediately, a pure white straight blade extended from above the hilt.

Narrowing his eyes, Leon drew Balmung close to his chest.

The light of the formless blade cast a halo over the line of his face.

“Defeat me in a duel and take it.”

Leon, looking like some holy knight, was saying something straight out of a dungeon boss.

It was an unexpected situation. Wasn’t it absurd to end up exchanging blades over a single orb?

I found myself wondering whether he had really been this worldly in temperament.

Still, determination and fighting spirit lay thickly in his eyes. They were the eyes of a swordsman, clear of all impure thoughts.

Seeing that, Leon’s capricious reaction began to make sense at a glance.

The orb was only an excuse. What he really wanted was to use me as a stepping stone for his own growth. A drawn blade to temper himself.

The distrust I had been quietly harboring toward him until recently lessened.

A hero who overturns fate only carves out great achievements after overcoming countless hardships and trials. Maybe the reason Leon had felt so unreliable until now was simply because he had not yet been chosen by Balmung.

As if proving it, Leon gave off a proud and overbearing atmosphere quite different from before.

I let out a small, satisfied laugh and gripped my hilt.

“A protagonist really is a protagonist.”

Still, apart from admiring his admirable mentality, I had no intention of spending much time on this.

Considering possible variables, allocating my Blessing of Painlessness time to something like this would be a waste.

And even if it was only a duel, if I got carried away by the mood, I might accidentally cut his throat.

I stepped forward heavily and drew the blade from its sheath.

Kiiiiing.

Balmung and my sashimi knife resonated together.

* * *

A little later.

The duel ended as quickly as it had begun.

It did not even last a full second.

The moment my tiny sashimi knife brushed against the holy sword Balmung, Balmung’s blade was severed cleanly like soft taffy.

‘The bar is too high.’

It was a realm that felt impossible to reach even after swinging a sword for decades. More than having simply advanced beyond where I was during the midterms, the swordsmanship felt as if it had outright evolved.

There was no way to understand how someone the same age could wield such ghostlike skill. Even if I asked, I would not be able to understand it. Because this was not a matter of technique but something like instinct.

“Haha.”

Leon stared blankly at the hilt with no blade, then let out a hollow laugh for no reason.

Leon looked at Kang Geom-ma. He had already put away his weapon and was now examining the rock carved with symbols.

It did not look as though that duel held even a hair’s worth of importance in Kang Geom-ma’s eyes. All of his attention was focused solely on the reward he had earned as the victor.

‘…Kang Geom-ma, you should have been the one chosen instead.’

Leon said the words without moving his lips. An indescribably subtle emotion filled his chest until it felt tight.

Holding down what he wanted to say again and again, Leon slowly turned and walked away toward the forest path without a word of farewell.

The thickening sunset shadows dyed the turned-back figure as he left.

* * *

“Huh, what the. When did he leave?”

Sometime while my eyes had been fixed on the rock carved with patterns, Leon had disappeared without a trace.

“Did I finish that too fast…?”

Even by my own standards, the result had been empty.

Maybe my desire not to waste fifty seconds had been too excessive, because the duel ended in a single exchange.

The moment my sashimi knife traced the red line on Balmung, the formless blade scattered through the air like dust.

I had been careful to strike only Balmung so that no scratches would end up on Leon himself.

Even though it was only a hilt, it was still supposed to be the strongest weapon in the setting, and yet it vanished so helplessly. I replayed the duel in my mind for a moment, then shook my head.

“Well, the final form of Balmung should be different.”

I picked up the orb resting on the rock. The crystal-like jewel was about the size of a baseball.

“Even so, something this big should have pretty high grade value.”

After roughly shoving the orb into my backpack, I stepped closer to the rock carved with the pattern.

A faint glow flowed through the recessed carving. I stretched out my hand and held it near the rock.

“……”

There was no reaction. Normally, shouldn’t there be some flash of light and a visual effect of it sinking into your body or something?

Come to think of it, in the game, you just had to get close and it would naturally be obtained with a little mechanical chime.

Narrowing my eyes, I looked over the rock from top to bottom. Even when I examined it closely in case there was some hidden peculiarity, it was just a tree-shaped stone with a few lines of carved letters.

As I stood there for several minutes thinking hard, irritation rose.

I had worked like hell to get all the way here, and now what exactly was I doing with the goal right in front of me?

Then, suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. The memory of the time I had coincidentally obtained the Blessing of Regeneration came back in fragments. Sinking quietly into thought, I muttered.

“…No way.”

I took off my backpack and pulled out one sashimi knife.

Then I wrapped my hand tightly around the hilt, put power into it, and swung.

Crack.

The rock split like butter the moment the tip of the blade touched it.

Boom.

From the aftershock, the left that had lain scattered nearby sprang up and scattered even farther.

Then, at once, the welcome status window appeared before my eyes.

Fwaaash.

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[NEW! Congratulations. You have acquired a new blessing.]

[Blessing of Regeneration]

Rapidly multiplies damaged cells and restores them.

[※ However, severed body parts will not regenerate.]

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After frowning at the status window for a moment, I put away the sashimi knife and took the machete out of my bag.

“Should I test it once?”

I lightly drew the machete across my forearm. It was not deep enough to count as a serious cut, but it was enough to leave a scar if untreated.

However, the blood that had just begun to gather on the skin stopped, and the flesh sealed back together in an instant.

“Oh, the performance is definitely real.”

Out of everything I had gained so far, this was the most intuitive and certain result. I thought about testing it more, then stopped, because it felt like I would just be toying with my own precious body.

“Whew, still, I’m glad I got what I wanted.”

I pushed my jaw with my palm. My joints cracked audibly.

I felt refreshed.

There had been Leon’s unexpected interference in the middle, but compared to everything that had happened so far, it did not even qualify as real obstruction.

Then I suddenly lifted my eyes and looked up at the sky.

The sun had fully dropped beyond the western horizon, and darkness was already thickening quickly.

Grrrrowl.

My stomach let out a fierce roar.

“Come to think of it, all I’ve had today is jerky.”

I had no food left. I had not been able to hunt today because I had spent the whole time pushing through undergrowth and running around.

I considered looking for a wild animal even now, but the fatigue that had been building up came rushing over me and made my eyelids heavy.

‘Then again, I did run around for more than five hours.’

Scratching my jaw, I broadly looked over the area. I wanted to find something edible. Then the fruits hanging thickly from the trees entered my vision.

“The Fruit of Life.”

Its smell had been pleasant from the start, but with an empty stomach, drool began to run down my jaw. My sense of taste came alive and sharpened my appetite.

“The fragrance of heaven, the taste of hell…”

Judging from my experience as a chef, it was hard to imagine a fruit with a fragrance like this actually tasting bad. Most likely, it was only a rumor born from some astringent aftertaste being exaggerated.

I picked one fruit, rubbed it against the hem of my clothes to clean it roughly, and left a deep bite mark in it.

Crunch.

“Kyaaaagh!”

At the revolting taste that wrapped around the inside of my mouth, my body recoiled on its own, and phlegm boiled up from my throat.

“Fuck! Ptooey, ptooey!”

It tasted like a transplanted piece of hell, the sort of taste that felt like it would make me lose my sense of taste entirely if I ate any more.

* * *

The next day, after dawn broke, I pushed through the forest path for a little over two hours.

I cut through the brush obstructing my view with the machete.

“…Whew, it’s scorching.”

Sweat streamed down from my temples in the sweltering wind. Maybe because this was an island surrounded by the sea on all sides, salty, humid sea breeze wrapped around my whole body.

I undid the top two buttons of my shirt and wiped the flowing sweat away with my sleeve. At the discomfort surging all the way to the top of my head, I let out a short breath.

My stomach hurt enough to sting too. Maybe because I had eaten the Fruit of Life yesterday, my insides were aching. This was not a figure of speech. When I woke up this morning, hell had unfolded inside my stomach.

“Water, water.”

I desperately needed water to rinse out my wrecked insides and wash my body too.

Flapping my sweat-soaked shirt, I sharpened my senses to look for a nearby stream.

There was no need to sit cross-legged with my hands neatly resting on my knees like in a movie. Just standing still and closing my eyes was enough.

The perception tempered by the Blessing of the Sword God far surpassed my normal awareness. The expanded field of sensitivity rendered the surrounding terrain in three dimensions and projected it into my mind.

After the sound of left brushing in the wind and seabirds drifting across the sky, I soon caught the sound of water flowing like a brook at the edge of my hearing.

‘Found it.’

I opened my eyes wide, putting strength into them. The terrain changed in no time at all, so I had to reach it before I lost it.

Putting power into my calves, I kicked off from the stone slab at my feet and started running toward it. The scenery stretched long in my vision and scattered apart.

Perhaps because I had continued training diligently, my feet were very fast despite the heavy backpack on my shoulders.

‘Then just how fast was that rabbit bastard the other day?’

I did not know for sure, but it seemed that thing had not been an ordinary animal. After running for about five minutes, I finally caught sight of the brook flowing at the end of the path ahead.

Humid wind pushed in from the riverside and drove the discomfort level even higher, but one good splash of cold water should wash all of it away. My whole attention was already fixed on that place.

The fragments of scenery flowing past gradually took shape, and just as I drew near enough to the brook to wash off my sweat.

Shushushuk.

A blade flashed across right in front of my eyes like a streak of light.

“…!”

The instant I twisted my hips and dodged it, a curved sword thunked into the tree standing beside me. The small branches quivered blue-green from the aftershock.

Before I could even fully wonder what was going on, three more of the same curved swords bent back like boomerangs and came flying in.

Shukshu, shushushuk, shushushuk.

The blades came twisting through the air.

At the same time, I planted my foot, rolled with the force, and spun around to deflect the blades trying to dizzy my eyes.

But because of the sudden ambush, I had not been able to activate the Blessing of the Sword God, so several parts of my body were lightly grazed, and blood seeped out.

Then, following the blades that went rattling straight into an old tree like awls.

Step, step.

The unpleasant sound of many footsteps.

“Wow, Captain. Is that bastard really a cadet? That’s insane. Since we’re at it, how about we just recruit him instead?”

“Shut up, Parik.”

“Yessir.”

Figures began to emerge one by one from the blind spots of my vision.

They revealed themselves with a man whose tongue was split like a snake’s at the front. Among them, the one who stood out was the woman standing at the center of the group of men.

Because I knew who she was.

Rei Shion.

The leader of the assassin group Undertaker, and the half-human, half-demon whom Leon van Reinhardt would one day face for the first time.