Chapter 72 – The Nation’s Best Swordsman (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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I was dumbfounded. For a long while as I looked through the attached file, all I could do was let out low murmurs.

“…What the fuck is this.”

The information about Kang Geom-ma, meaning me, was unnaturally clean. Everything that should have been there, my hometown, my family relations, my parents’ names, all of it had been cleanly erased.

Every bit of information listed there was from after I entered the academy. Everything before that made it seem as though I had never existed.

In truth, I was not originally from this world. That was an undeniable fact. But it also remained true that I spent more than a year in this world before enrolling.

The parents of this world who had warmly taken in me, a person swallowed one day into another world. Yet after returning from Avalon Island, even when I tried to recall the two of them, not even the faintest afterimage remained in my memory.

‘Ha.’

A hollow laugh slipped out through my teeth. Even as confusion and shock surged up, it felt as though a sharp intellect were pouring cold water over me.

There was no trembling in my fingertips, no cold sweat running down my back. I simply kept organizing my thoughts one by one. I suppressed emotion by excluding all unnecessary elements from the realm of my mind.

Had they disappeared from my memory? That couldn’t be right, because too clear a contradiction was sitting right there on my phone screen.

Was it all just my own delusion? Certainly, that was possible, but as always, my sense perception denied that hypothesis.

I lifted only my chin and looked up at the sky, heavy with dark clouds. Thick masses of cloud floated there as if trying to blot the heavens out.

“The two of them were there only to help me adapt.”

I didn’t bother finishing the sentence. No matter how I tried to think around it, my thoughts ultimately converged on only one conclusion. I stood there silently for a while, then suddenly pressed a hand to my chest.

Just a moment ago I had been admiring the solid, well-muscled body I had, but the inside of me felt empty, hollow. It was as though there were a hole straight through my solar plexus.

“This is fucking awful.”

I tossed the phone onto the desk with a tap. No matter how long I thought about it, it didn’t seem like I would get anything more out of it. Besides, there was so little written there that there was no longer any point in looking.

But it felt as though I’d been toyed with by someone’s trickery, and something hot began rising from the pit of me. The bewilderment was gradually replaced by fury.

Thick veins rose across the back of the fist I had clenched. I was gripping it so hard that blood seeped between my knuckles.

“Hoo.”

I let out a long breath. The blood boiling in my veins slowly cooled. Then I opened the notebook I had folded shut.

⌜God of the sword⌟

⌜G.M.⌟

The two words I had written down immediately after waking from the dream.

“…One of them, or both.”

The eyes fixed on those words burned fiercely. My teeth ground together.

“Someday…”

The moment the words left my mouth.

Rumble.

A crash of thunder rang out as the gray-white clouds slammed into one another. A bolt of lightning immediately exploded down toward the earth.

Kuh

Guh guh

Gr

Kwaang!

The thunder was fiercer than usual. But I watched the sight without any change in expression. At some point, Murasame was already in one of my hands. I extended that hand and pointed the tip of the blade forward.

It seemed for a moment as though the lightning had stopped, only to immediately lash out again so violently that the air itself shook. The roar was loud enough to make my ears ring, and several cadets poked their heads out the window to watch.

“……”

I kept that sight imprinted on my retina for a while, then headed for the bathroom to wash up. In the middle of showering, one corner of my mouth rose faintly. The movement of lightning didn’t seem all that fast either.

* * *

Before the morning lesson, in Saint Class.

“Haa…”

Rachel let out a long sigh, utterly deflated. She buried her face in her folded arms with a sulky look on her face. It was such an unusual sight that Abel was taken aback.

Rachel, who was normally so energetic it bordered on excessive, was totally drained today. Even the heart-shaped pupils that were usually half-lidded had become plain circles. Glancing at her, Abel thought.

‘What’s with her today. Was she affected by the weather?’

The day was especially cloudy, with frequent lightning. There were even cadets in Saint Class who skipped class under the excuse that the heavens were angry and gave religious reasons for it. Of course, most of them were lying.

Abel was not particularly close with Rachel. But Rachel was the only person in class who spoke to her warmly, so it wasn’t as though she could simply ignore her.

While Abel hesitated, Rachel, her forehead buried between both arms, lifted only her brow to peek out.

“Abel, can you listen to a concern of mine?”

Her voice was damp. Abel instantly sensed that this was something serious.

After a brief hesitation, she straightened her posture and nodded. Rachel, her eyes half-lidded, continued.

“Lately, my self-esteem has been in the basement. I mean, honestly, I don’t think I’m bad at all, you know? I’m confident in my strength, and my face is good enough that boys keep sticking to me annoyingly. And above all, when it comes to my figure…”

“…?.”

Rachel trailed off and glanced over at Abel once. Her heart-shaped eyes paused briefly around Abel’s chest before lifting away. A bit of light returned to the lifeless glow in Rachel’s eyes.

Abel blinked once, then felt herself flare up. Rachel’s curves went beyond sultry and were more like a range of steep mountain peaks.

“R-Rachel, y-you just now!”

Rachel didn’t even give her time to finish and continued muttering on.

“Abel, you know Geom-ma made a club, right?”

At the sudden mention of Kang Geom-ma, Abel’s shoulders jerked. Rachel too seemed to realize something and only worked her lips awkwardly.

“Ah, right. Back then, Abel, because of Sword Emperor…”

“Y-yeah, well.”

In truth, after returning from Avalon Island, Abel had soaked her blankets with tears. It was because her grandfather, the Sword Emperor, had returned seriously injured. Even within the academy, only a very small number of people knew the details.

Abel had not forced herself to ask the Sword Emperor what had happened. As his family, she knew perfectly well that he would not answer even if she asked. But it had been her grandfather who had spoken first instead.

‘Abel, I’m sorry I cannot tell you precisely. You would come to know in time. Even why I myself had chosen to nurse Cadet Kang Geom-ma.’

After saying that, the Sword Emperor had turned his steps toward the ward where Kang Geom-ma was hospitalized.

‘Kang Geom-ma.’

A flood of emotions crossed her. But as far as Kang Geom-ma himself was concerned, not even a trace of negative feeling remained in her anymore. She had also accepted without resistance the Sword Emperor’s devotion toward him.

‘I don’t know the full story, but Geom-ma must have ended up like that while helping Grandfather.’

Suddenly, what had happened on Avalon Island flashed across her mind like a rush of lightning.

The fact that, after returning from the island, a rabbit-patterned blanket had replaced Abel’s usual bedding was her unspoken secret.

Abel gave a slight nod. A deep blush had spread across her cheeks.

“Abel, don’t tell me something happened between you and Geom-ma?!”

Rachel suddenly straightened her back and shoved her face close to Abel’s. A dangerous gleam had appeared in her heart-shaped eyes. The way she looked, growling like that, was no different from a beast facing down a rival over prey.

“N-no! What are you talking about!”

“Hmm.”

Abel waved her hands in denial. Her golden eyes shook wildly from side to side. Seeing that, Rachel frowned for a moment and then let out a short sigh.

“Yeah. Well, Abel isn’t the sort to lie. I guess I got a little too sensitive. Then again, I was the one who said before that I didn’t have even the tiniest, teeniest, dust-cell-sized bit of interest in Kang Geom-ma, so honestly…”

“…I never said it to that extent.”

“Eh? Then don’t tell me you have an interest in Geom-ma too, Abel?”

“No, how on earth does the conversation jump to that?!”

Rachel let out a short laugh, then brushed her hair back. Healthy gloss flowed through her blond hair.

“Well, people’s hearts can always change. Human relationships are never absolute, right? Anyway, what was I saying…”

“You said Kang Geom-ma made a club.”

At Abel’s reply, an exclamation mark seemed to pop above Rachel’s head. They hadn’t even spoken for long, but fatigue had already spread across Abel’s face.

“Ah, right, right. So, the thing is, when I heard that news, I immediately told Weapon I wanted to join too. But he flat-out said no.”

“Mm, why?”

At the question, Rachel shrugged. Abel too brushed aside the faint sting of disappointment that had seeped into her.

“I don’t know exactly, but apparently Geom-ma said someone from Saint Class would be too much of a burden to take in. But then what is that about the club advisor being the Headmistress?”

“But what does that have to do with your self-esteem dropping, Rachel?”

“Ah, that.”

Rachel leaned deep into the back of her chair and continued.

“A while ago, I happened to be passing Starbox and saw the travel club interviewing someone through the window. And I still haven’t forgotten Geom-ma’s expression while he was looking at the new member…”

Abel quietly listened to Rachel’s grumbling.

“That guy Geom-ma, the corners of his mouth were practically up by his ears. What is so great about some pale girl in glasses? Unless maybe that sort is his type.”

“……”

“Well, that’s all I was venting about… huh? Abel, why is your face like that?”

After finishing, Rachel blinked and looked at Abel.

Beautifully curved brows and a narrow furrow between them. Abel’s golden eyes were burning fiercely.

* * *

The stiff weather loosened just as the last lesson ended. Since the rainstorm had only just passed, a fishy watery smell clung to the air.

‘On a day like this, seafood does sound tempting.’

The club members and I hurried our legs toward the sushi restaurant.

Chloe, who especially loved seafood, had particularly light and quick footwork. She would run ahead, then wave her hand at us impatiently whenever the distance grew too wide.

‘It must be a good place.’

Apparently, no matter how good the place was, once evening drew near, the waiting time would easily stretch past an hour.

“Places that have long waiting lines have never actually tasted good, in my experience.”

I clicked my tongue briefly. If nothing else, I was completely serious when it came to food, so I intended to sharpen my sense of taste and judge every detail for myself. Then, prompted by a passing curiosity, I casually tossed a question at Weapon.

“Where’s Hana senpai?”

“Ah, senpai said she can’t eat raw fish. So she said she couldn’t come today.”

“Then nothing to be done about it.”

From Busan, but unable to eat raw fish.

Plenty of adults hate the slippery texture too, so it wasn’t exactly unheard of.

But why did I keep recognizing Hana senpai as an adult?

Even though she was only one year older, did she just seem that strangely un-childlike?

While we chatted like that, we soon arrived in front of the sushi restaurant.

The first thing that caught my eye was the signboard, which preserved the natural feel of wood.

Oh.

Among merchants there was a saying.

‘A shop’s signboard was like a first impression on a blind date.’

And by that standard, the first impression of this sushi restaurant the club members had brought me to was fairly decent. It wasn’t large, but the clean exterior and the well-kept area in front of the shop alone made it obvious that the owner wasn’t some nobody.

‘But.’

⌜Korean Sushi⌟

Those four proud characters were written boldly across it. Sushi was originally food from the neighboring country, wasn’t it? So how could it be written so confidently as Korean?

Could it be that the common sense I knew wasn’t quite right in this world? This was, after all, not Earth. For all I knew, sushi really could be Korean food here.

Since this was a Korean game made by a Korean company, I supposed anything was possible.

For a moment I almost asked Weapon about it, then stopped myself. There was nothing more dangerous than asking about something that would be treated as obvious common knowledge.

Rattle.

Chloe, leading the group, pushed open the wooden door.

“Hai, irasshai!”

A thunderous Japanese greeting slammed into my ears.

‘So in this world too, sushi is Japanese food after all.’

I nodded to myself alone. Then I realized the voice sounded familiar.

“Hm?”

Chloe, who had been the first to step inside, shuddered. Without even turning around, she immediately began backing away.

Wondering what was going on, I gave her a glance and stepped into the shop myself. Then I too froze for a moment.

The other person looked beyond startled and almost seemed to tremble.

“What are you doing here?”

“…!”

Nox Auditore, Chloe’s older brother.

He stood there with a bandanna tied around his forehead, attending to customers.