Episode 14. The Winner’s Privilege (2)
Early in the morning, when the darkness has not yet disappeared.
The heads of the branches of the Assassin’s Blade family left the Roinen mansion with their children. The road was pitch-black, but for the Assassin’s Blade family, night was more comfortable than day.
Rubin gave them an example as they disappeared into the familiar darkness.
‘I wonder how much everyone will have changed in two years.’
There are two years left until the ‘second selection’.
Although it is an unwritten rule that formal education is impossible during this time, the collateral heads will still diligently train their children.
In particular, Kuhn was sure to do whatever it took to get revenge on Rubin.
‘I can’t just sit still either.’
In the garden where everyone else had left and he was left alone, Rubin opened his hand that had been holding the shard of the blade.
At that moment, one of the men approached Rubin.
“Master Rubin, the master is waiting in the Asleep Hall.”
“Okay. I’ll be right there.”
I knew why my mother was looking for me.
The ripple effects of Rubin’s choice.
At least no one asked why I made that choice on the spot, but that doesn’t mean it was a decision I could just let go of.
“Come in.”
In the middle of an empty, twilight hall stood a siren.
As Rubin approached, she got straight to the point.
“You do realize that your choice surprised everyone, right?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Some will think you have ignored the other families. Others will wonder if the items you have chosen are superior to the ten I have specifically mentioned.”
A dry tone.
I can’t read my mother’s emotions at all.
“I also thought about it all night. And I came to the conclusion. All the suspicions I mentioned were wrong. Am I right?”
Rubin nodded.
“you’re right.”
“So, did you think that because you are my child, you could freely come and go from that warehouse and grab the treasures as you wish?”
“Never.”
“Yeah, fortunately he’s not an idiot.”
Siren was curious.
Why on earth didn’t you choose Kerghiti’s dagger?
If he is of the bloodline of the Assassin’s Blade, it is a famous sword that even a newborn child would admire. If he had chosen, Rubin could have become a skilled swordsman who would leave his name in the history of the Roinen family.
Siren looked at Rubin silently.
Rubin clearly had a rationale for his actions.
confidence.
Siren saw in Rubin a confidence that was unfounded, a confidence that was unwavering, with no room for regret or doubt.
“The thing you chose is nothing more than a piece of blade. It can’t even be called a treasure, let alone a weapon. It’s more like a souvenir. Well, you could probably refine it into a small dagger, but that’s not why you chose it.”
The Noble Phantasm chosen in the first selection is a ‘companion’ that will stay by the owner’s side for life and fight against enemies.
Siren couldn’t guarantee what consequences her son’s decision to use this precious opportunity in this way would have.
“Your decision today could lead to your death later. Won’t you regret it?”
“I have no regrets, Mother.”
“Okay, I guess you have a plan too.”
Siren came right up to Rubin.
“With this test, I have confirmed your wit. You are smart. However, to survive in this world, being smart alone is not enough. Especially, do you know that the ‘second selection’ in two years is a test that cannot be overcome with just smarts?”
“I promise you that you will win then too.”
Rubin’s answer without hesitation.
Siren doubted her ears.
The ‘second choice’ is different from the test we had today. People often say that the ‘second choice’ is a test so painful that it leaves a mental scar for the rest of your life.
But Rubin declared victory as if it was a given.
Recklessness. Or confidence.
Ultimately, it would take two years for us to know what the correct answer was, but Rubin’s answer just now wasn’t all that unpleasant to hear.
It was something I hadn’t expected from Dorian or Mafis. I thought maybe I could hold on to a glimmer of hope.
“Okay. Now go back to your room.”
As Rubin was leaving the Twilight Hall, Siren called out to him again.
“Do you know whose blade fragment you chose is it?”
“It was written on the spot where it was lying. It said, ‘Fragment of Haneke Brion’s sword blade.’”
“He was once a great general of the empire. He was a strong man.”
Then, Siren unconsciously put her hand on her left forearm. The sword spirit Haneke had put on her remained there.
“It’s a legacy he left behind. It means you can be proud of your choice.”
Rubin returned to his room and sat down at his desk.
I spread out my palm. The pieces of the sword blade sparkle in the moonlight shining outside the window.
A selection of items chosen over legendary weapons.
‘Imperial General, Haneke Brion.’
We met right after I was born and haven’t seen each other since then, so 9 years have passed since then.
I’ve been waiting for this day. The real move for revenge. The moment to make myself stronger has arrived.
“Haneke.”
Rubin called softly.
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Holding a piece of the blade.
I felt something stirring inside Rubin’s body, but it soon became quiet. And then there was no response.
‘… … ?’
Has too much time passed? I don’t know.
That night, Rubin couldn’t fall asleep easily because Haneke didn’t respond.
Until the darkness had completely disappeared and the sun had risen, Rubin sat quietly at his desk, waiting for Haneke’s response.
“Oh my! Your Majesty, you’re already awake?”
It was a puree with wash water. She was startled. Looking at Rubin’s pale face, she realized that he was not asleep.
“Oh my, what were you doing all night?”
“I have something to do for a moment.”
“You came back victorious, so you can take it easy today!”
Rubin couldn’t respond to Puree’s words. At that moment, he felt a ripple in his body. Rubin closed his eyes and concentrated.
Soon, your dark vision will brighten and your ‘inner world’ will open up.
And over there.
I saw a person walking towards me.
The figure that was finally revealed as the outline hidden in the darkness became clearer. The old man, carrying a backpack with one hand and stroking his white beard with the other, was unmistakably Haneke.
-It’s been a while.
‘Haneke Brion.’
-How long had I been asleep? It was such a long, boring darkness. I really thought I was dead.
‘I told you, we’d meet again.’
-I didn’t know you’d keep your promise. By the way, you’ve grown into a boy already.
‘It’s already been 9 years.’
-Huh, 9 years.
Haneke stared into Rubin’s sparkling eyes, as if trying to see how much he had grown over the past nine years.
There were three rings wrapped around Rubin’s heart: two rings and an empty Haneke ring.
-You still haven’t mastered the previous ring. The second ring has grown quite a bit. You said it was Darkness, right? The source of your power.
‘That’s right. Have you heard of the dark smoke?’
-I didn’t know it while I was alive. Even at the moment of your death, I knew it from your mother. Now that I’ve looked inside your body, I can roughly guess what kind of power it is.
‘Then, do you see my third ring? The one the General gave me.’
-hmm?
Rubin’s face, as he asked that question, was filled with anticipation for a new stage. It was the anticipation of being able to learn the legendary Brion swordsmanship.
‘When should we start?’
-What do you mean?
Rubin suddenly kicked the ground and jumped into the air. A soft ripple occurred in the black swamp where the two were standing.
‘You know, Brion’s swordsmanship.’
-It’s been a while since we last met, and you suddenly started talking about forensics.
Even so, Haneke did not dislike Rubin’s reckless drive for improvement.
‘Haaaah!’
Rubin dug in quickly.
The target is Haneke’s heart.
Haneke twisted his sword vertically to match Rubin’s attack speed and deflected the attack. Then, he immediately cut Rubin’s left leg and right thigh with his sword.
‘If it were a real sword.’
Rubin would have lost his lower body without a fight.
Rubin leapt away from Haneke.
The space where the two people fight is Rubin’s inner world.
This place, which was a dark swamp when we first met, has changed a lot in the past week.
This is because Rubin, who discovered that he could consciously change the space in which he encountered Haneke, turned this place into a virtual training ground.
A training ground on a steep hill in a vast land.
‘My thighs will be in shambles by tomorrow morning.’
The impact of this training had an immediate impact on reality.
Although Haneke’s successful attack did not cut through Rubin’s flesh, it did convey the physical pain he felt when he returned to reality after completing his training.
-The core of Roinen’s swordsmanship is ‘single strike’. It mainly targets the heart or the neck. It is a swordsmanship that is solely for killing the opponent.
They only clashed swords and sparred, but Haneke knew the swordsmanship of the assassination masters with perfect precision.
The only goal of the Assassination Swordsman was ‘quick death’. The less traces of battle the better. For that reason, it was not as elegant as the other swordsmanship schools.
-But how did my sword move?
‘The General’s sword… It’s like he’s dancing a sword dance. How should I put it, as if he’s deliberately postponing his death.’
In a good way, it means ‘fluid’, but in a bad way, it means ‘inefficient’. Haneke might have been offended, but Rubin spoke honestly.
Because it was so different from Roinenga’s swordsmanship.
-Postponement of death. That’s a good interpretation.
Haneke jumped up and came back to Rubin. He shook his head, leaving his wooden sword stuck in the floor.
-But you’re wrong. The core of Brion’s swordsmanship is ‘survival’.
‘Survival?’
-The place where Brion swordsmanship shines is not the arena or the sword dance stage. It’s the battlefield. It’s a swordsmanship that requires one-on-many combat, not one-on-one combat like your family’s.
The Brion family has produced excellent soldiers for generations. Haneke is the only one to have risen to the rank of general, but throughout history, many Brion have served as commanders and fought on the battlefield.
-Even if it looks flashy like a sword dance, that’s just the difference between your assassination sword and swordsmanship. In terms of survival value, it means it’s extremely efficient.
Sword of survival.
Initially, Brion swordsmanship originated from spears, not swords. It was a swordsmanship based on spear techniques specialized for the battlefield. Therefore, there were many attack techniques that were performed while maintaining distance from the opponent.
The most notable feature was that it blocked the enemy’s movements rather than suffocating them.
Instead of aiming for the heart, aim for the easier ankles and wrists. If survival is the key, as Haneke says, this is the most efficient way.
‘So that’s why my wrists and the tops of my feet were gone.’
Every time Rubin finished training, the only pain he was left with was in his wrists, the tops of his feet, his thighs, and his ankles.
-Let’s stop here for today.
‘Already? It’s only been an hour.’
Rubin picked up Haneke’s wooden sword that was stuck on the floor. He just shook his head and did not accept the wooden sword Rubin handed him.
-Rubin, I said I would teach you the Brion swordsmanship, I didn’t say I would pass it on.
‘yes?’
Rubin looked down at the wooden sword with puzzled eyes.
It had only been a week. It was a short time, but it was enough time for Haneke to get to know Rubin’s abilities.
Awesome learning ability.
It was as if cotton was absorbing water.
This is not because Rubin is a regressor. Learning swordsmanship is a realm of the ‘unconscious’, not the ‘conscious’, such as experience or knowledge.
It would have been right for the experience and knowledge before the regression to have hindered Rubin’s acquisition.
Rubin was a man who had lived for nine years past the age of thirty, and so he had to be governed by the inertia of his original foundation.
That is why, whether it be magic or swordsmanship, learning anything from a young age is the fastest way to learn it.
But Rubin was different.
When he learned the swordsmanship, Rubin completely forgot all his memories before his return. Like a blank sheet of paper, he accepted whatever was written on it as it was. Sometimes he even added his own colors to it.
‘If it’s Rubin, he’ll definitely create a new Brion swordsmanship. That might be good for Rubin himself, but it’ll end up destroying Brion’s unique swordsmanship.’
The Brion swordsmanship has already been passed down to his grandson. Even if it is not Rubin, it will be passed down from generation to generation.
But what if Rubin shows up and uses a modified and improved Brion swordsmanship? The old Brion swordsmanship will be obsolete.
I hate to admit it, but it was entirely possible. That was Haneke’s concern.
Bam.
The wooden sword that Rubin had thrown landed right next to Haneke. His face looked like he was about to rebel against the words that he would not pass down the swordsmanship.
-Are you trying to protest to me right now?
‘General. General, aren’t you worried about the existence of the Brion swordsmanship?’
-Existence or non-existence? What does that mean?
‘If you don’t pass it down to me, the Brion swordsmanship will disappear from this world.’
Haneke burst into laughter as if to ask what was going on.
Even though he was killed by Siren, his grandson, who will continue the Brion swordsmanship, is still alive. How can he just disappear?
To be honest, compared to Rubin, his grandson’s talent was far inferior, but it wasn’t at a level where he had to worry about losing his swordsmanship.
‘hmm.’
Rubin, on the other hand, was at a loss as to what to say to Haneke.
That there is no one left in this world who can continue the family’s swordsmanship after Haneke. That Haneke is deeply mistaken about the methods of Emperor Telmach.
‘How do I convince this?’
