[T.L: punisher87]
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"Father...."
Jin poured himself a drink and gazed up at the distant sky.
When he recalled his father, his older sister, and the Black Sea Expedition team, composed of the strongest Black Knights in the clan, a surge of anger seemed to boil within him.
The reason Jin hadn't set out to find the expeditionary force until now was nothing else.
The World's Greatest Sword, along with the strongest martial artists of the present age, embarked on an incomprehensible journey to find the end of the Black Sea.
Chasing after them was an almost impossible task, and Tikan, or rather the human world, was not in a situation where he could afford to be at ease even in his absence.
Zed resisted Rosa's tyranny and left to find Chiron, and Nameless had promised to send reinforcements to the Black Sea once the matter with Yona was settled...
Jin had a strong intuition that news of the expedition force would only reach the human world if a member of the force returned in person.
"The day we first met in the Sota Desert, I felt that you respected my Father."
"Respect... that's not entirely wrong. If I were to correct it, it's closer to awe."
"Have you ever lost to my Father in the Black Sea?"
Hedo let out a wry smile.
"It's a natural question. Is there anyone who stands against Sir Chiron and not be defeated? When I first saw Sir Chiron, I couldn't even share a single sword."
"How long had it been since you entered the Black Sea at that time?"
"It was about ten years ago. During those 10 years, I had a life and death situation not only with monsters, but also with countless other martial artists who came to the Black Sea like me. I chose the Black Sea as my refuge, but there were far more martial artists who came to train there than I had expected. I must have met more than five hundred of them."
"Five hundred? Were there many martial artists who chose the Black Sea as their training ground?"
"There was no better training ground than a closed door training facility. And I only learned about it after I left the Black Sea. At that time, the perception was strong that the Black Sea was Sir Chiron's territory among the martial artists."
From a young age, Chiron frequently left the confines of the garden of swords and ventured into the Black Sea.
The fact that he actually made maps of the Black Sea with his knights was still highly classified, but it was common knowledge that he had trained there for a long time.
"Currently, in your era, no one has dared to challenge Sir Chiron. But it was different back then. Not only the master of the hidden palace and the sword emperor, but also the martial artists, mages, and masters, who were said to be the leaders of each faction, were all eager to mix swords with Sir Chiron."
As the story of the previous era began, Jin suddenly became aware of Hedo's age. He has insanely great muscles, but he was about the same age as Chiron.
"It was a romantic era."
"To the martial artists of this era, it may seem that way. However, those who directly challenged Sir Chiron at that time wouldn't have found any romance anywhere. Their achievements, which they devoted their entire lives to, would have been nothing more than petty accomplishments in front of Sir Chiron."
Countless giants had turned to dust in the presence of Chiron's sword, becoming nothing more than specks of Black Sea's dust. Even those who broke free from their fate and those who were at a higher level than the unknown.
"Most challengers didn't even have a chance to fight, and those who had meaningful battles fell into despair and became cripples or disappeared. Among them were figures like the sword emperor, the master of the hidden palace, and the sword emperor...… I think it would be nice to have a drink for the sake of the sword emperor."
The two raised their glasses to the sky and emptied them.
"You are included in that as well."
"It wasn't until later that I realized I was standing in the midst of that turbulent era. At the time, I had no knowledge of what was happening outside, nor did I know that the World's Greatest Sword existed in my place of refuge. The reason I learned Sir Chiron's name was because occasionally martial artists who came to the Black Sea mistook me for him."
"Mistook you for my father?"
"Many challengers did come, but the Black Sea is endlessly vast. And the terrain changes abruptly. Those who managed to meet Sir Chiron by chance were considered lucky. There were also many who spent a long time searching for Sir Chiron in the Black Sea but ended up losing their lives because they couldn't find their way back."
"It's likely."
"You haven't been to the Black Sea alone yet. If you walk that dark land alone... in most cases, you're bound to go mad. Challengers who wandered in the Black Sea would draw their swords at anything they encountered, whether it be a person or a monster. However, I was quite strong among those who visited the Black Sea at the time, so I was misunderstood as Sir Chiron."
"Among them, was there someone who defeated you?"
"There wasn't. Perhaps it was because I didn't encounter figures like the master of the hidden palace or sword emperor. At the time, I was obviously weaker than them."
Although he is said to be a knight sent from heaven, all of Hedo's skills were purely self-taught.
He could only be weaker than those who had inherited the martial arts and traditions passed down through generations.
Hedo knew that fact better than anyone else at that time.
He had fought numerous challengers who were utterly insignificant in terms of physique.
The swordsmanship Hedo practiced at the time was wild and destructive, but lacked depth.
"However, there were those who didn't challenge me but pushed me to the brink of death."
"The former Black Knights, my Father's knights, I suppose. The first one was Dame Vanessa."
"Yes. In the meantime, I happened to meet and duel with those who tried to challenge Sir Chiron. But Vanessa came to find me with a purpose."
-The crime of impersonating the patriarch is significant, whether it was intentional or not.
-Who are you?
-However, if you have superior abilities, you might be able to survive and meet the patriarch.
-What nonsense are you talking about?
As Hedo explained his conversation with Vanessa at the time, Jin's pupils widened.
"It seems like my father was trying to recruit you, Tower Keeper. If Dame Vanessa had found your skills impressive and if you were able to communicate, she would have taken you to my father."
"That could have been the case."
Although unknown to the public, Hedo had gained enough reputation in the Black Sea to attract Chiron's attention. It was truly an unusual occurrence.
Moreover, if he had been recruited at that time, Hedo would have become a Knight of Runcandel instead of being Zipfel's butler.
"I couldn't last more than fifteen minutes against Vanessa and was defeated. It was the first time I experienced such a shock."
"I somehow feel a sense of relief."
"And I ran away like a dog. Like the monsters that fled from me, I showed all sorts of disgraceful behavior."
"It's hard to imagine you acting like that."
"Think about it again. Imagine how a human who had never received any education and had never left the Black Sea since the age of fifteen would look like."
Then it was easy to imagine.
"... It seems to be in a state like a beast or a monster."
The current Hedo, always wearing immaculate shirts and suits, and behaving politely, was completely different from the Hedo of that time.
"I screamed and ran away. I threw everything within reach and even urinated. I didn't even have the thought of feeling ashamed. I only had the thought of surviving."
"What happened next?"
"Since I knew the Black Sea slightly better than Vanessa, I managed to escape. I hid and focused on recovering, but a feeling I had never experienced before tormented me. Shame and a sense of defeat. It was only then that I first realized those ordinary emotions. Along with a desire for revenge."
From that day on, Hedo devoted himself to training in order to defeat Vanessa.
In fact, simply surviving in the Black Sea itself was a form of training, so his daily life didn't change much, but he now had a goal.
"I searched deeper areas in the Black Sea to find stronger monsters and fought against wandering challengers for several more years. The sword... that I called Bale..."
Hedo paused for a moment.
That was not the original name for the longsword he called the Bale.
The real Bale, who became part of Sandra's retinue, called the sword "Shakan."
Hedo did not retrieve the Shakan from Bale. It would have been a simple task if Sandra gave a command, but Bale couldn't unleash its true power without Shakan.
"... I got it at that time. The one who had Shakan was an inner core monster who used the power of chaos. I don't know why it had the sword of the ancient Runcandel's ten great knights."
"Hmm, you can just ask Bale directly about it. Wait a moment, it seems we're out of alcohol."
Jin went back to the restaurant and brought new drinks.
"He said that before he was sealed, he was lost in a battle with former ten great knights in the Black Sea. Losing the sword was decisive for the sealing. The monster probably acquired it by chance."
Glug, glug, glug... The glasses were filled again.
"I never expected to hear these stories suddenly. I'll make sure to make a new sword that you truly like. My third sister will soon bring an amazing blacksmith from Huphester. His name is Vin Branche."
"That's a name I've never heard before."
"He's a manifestation of the Picon Minche, so you can look forward to it. So, after obtaining the sword, did you challenge Dame Vanessa again?"
"I challenged her again, but I couldn't defeat her. Even though I had acquired even greater power than Vanessa. It wasn't until after three more battles that I finally won once. It took about a year each time to find her, so I spent several years continuously ambushing Sir Chiron and his knights."
"Did you fight with other knights besides Dame Vanessa?"
"I fought against almost every Black Knight in the Black Sea."
"And yet you managed to survive."
"Sir Chiron regarded me as a cute wild animal, so I was able to survive."
"He regarded you as a cute wild animal?"
"In the dark and desolate land with only monsters and a dreadful landscape... I was a challenger who didn't show courtesy. Sir Chiron always took the humans, who came to that land to challenge, seriously, but he treated me like a stray cat."
Jin imagined Hedo and a cat simultaneously, but naturally, he couldn't find any similarities.
"A cat, huh? How can that be?"
"At that time, I was already looking at the 10-stars just based on the magnitude of my power. I didn't think Sir Chiron, who regarded me so insignificantly, would die in the Black Sea. Moreover, the white whale and the Black Knights from that time would be there as well, so you should stop worrying about your father."
Jin's pupils widened.
Since the first time Chiron's story was mentioned, Jin had unknowingly been carrying on the conversation in a somewhat lifeless state.
Hedo realized that and showed consideration for him.
"Thank you. But Tower Keeper, why didn't you become my father's knight at that time?"
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