Chapter 17: The Gathering of Swordmasters
I follow behind him.
We proceed through an alleyway, turning multiple times. Gradually, we move into a place with less sunlight, and I feel a slight sense of eeriness.
This man’s intentions are unclear.
He claims to provide me with information, but why would he do such a thing?
It’s natural to suspect there’s some ulterior motive. Just in case, I quietly reach for my sword.
“Don’t worry, there’s no need to be cautious. Well, actually, it’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it? Haha.”
He says that and laughs, then continues further inside.
This swordsman seems to be somewhat capable. He wasn’t emitting any murderous intent for now, but he probably sensed when I touched my sword.
The remaining swordsmen might, after all, be quite formidable.
“This way.”
“Seems like a hideout.”
“Indeed. That’s correct. Ayame-san, you’re still getting used to the kingdom, but the standards for swordsmanship here are very strict. I was a bit surprised that you’re so nonchalant about it.”
“Is that so.”
Certainly, I don’t know how the other swordsmen are treated.
It seems there are swordsmen at the Adventurers’ Guild, but I’ve hardly seen any. Although, it’s also because I haven’t used the Guild much yet.
“Then, this way.”
“Ah.”
When I enter the room, a sparse space spreads out before me. There’s no sign that anyone lives here, but there are some pieces of furniture.
“This way.”
“A hidden door?”
“Yes. We are targeted by the Mage Corps, so we need something like this.”
He takes out a few books, and then a bookshelf starts to move. Beyond it, a staircase appears.
That’s meticulous. Do swordsmen have to go this far?
No, he said they are being targeted by the Mage Corps. Perhaps, then, now is just a particularly dangerous or unusual situation.
Following him, there are—several swordsmen sitting down. At the back, there’s also a person who seems to be the owner, and behind him, shelves are lined with bottles of sake.
“A tavern?”
“That’s what we’re going with. Although, only swordsmen are allowed inside.”
“I see. Understood.”
While I was talking with him, swordsmen kept approaching me one after another.
“Hey! Are you Ayame?”
“That’s me.”
“Ooh…!”
A ripple of surprise spreads among them.
What. Why do they know my name?
Is it some kind of trap— I briefly considered, but it’s not that. The reason is clear, they are looking at me with respect.
“So, did you really defeat Eric!?”
“Yeah.”
I definitely defeated Eric with my own hands. I don’t know what happened to him now, but he’s probably not dead.
“No way.”
“Seems like the rumors were true.”
“The word is he’s mentally wrecked now, apparently.”
“Really, that arrogant bastard!? Did he get traumatized or something?”
They all speak rapidly, but then the leader claps his hands, and silence falls instantly.
“That’s enough. Don’t trouble Ayame-san too much.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. But, that Eric guy was a trashy sort, yet he was clearly powerful. I never thought there’d be someone capable of beating him besides the Sword Saint.”
The burly man says that, and the others nod deeply in agreement.
“Ayame-san, please go to the seat at the back. I have an important matter to discuss with him. You guys are free to do as you like.”
With that instruction, I followed him once again.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Ah.”
I sat down, facing him.
“Sorry for the disturbance.”
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t sense any hostility.”
“I appreciate that. By the way, would you like to order something?”
“Well, I’ll have that thing called black tea.”
“We also have alcohol.”
“Alcohol dulls judgment. I don’t really prefer it.”
“Understood.”
He placed the order with the shopkeeper, and soon the black tea arrived. I took a sip, and as expected, it was delicious. However, the tea leaves are different from what Luna made. That difference is also quite interesting.
“Apologies for the delay, but I should introduce myself. My name is Fin.”
“Fin, huh? I’m Ayame.”
“Of course, I know. You are a samurai who appeared from the Far East and are already an A-rank adventurer.”
“You know quite a bit.”
“I’m good at gathering information, after all.”
“Still, your swordsmanship must be quite formidable too.”
Every gesture and movement—I observed everything while following him.
His movements are efficient, with no unnecessary motions, and his body remains perfectly steady. Evidence of intense training.
“Can you tell?”
“Just looking at it, I can see.”
“As expected of your keen eye. I am, after all, the leader of this ‘Sword Gathering.'”
“I see. So, what is the main purpose of this meeting?”
“I’ve heard of your accomplishments. Defeating Eric was greatly appreciated by us. Many of our members suffered because of him. However, you’ve also drawn too much attention.”
So, it seems he was doing similar things not just to Luna but to others as well.
“Is it a problem to stand out?”
“You were already attacked by assassins, weren’t you? That was a special unit from the Grace family, a top-secret group that governs ice within the Elements.”
“What are the Elements?”
“The Elements is a collective term for the five Duke houses specializing in the five elements. Think of them as the top of the magicians hierarchy.”
“Hm. Indeed, those magicians were quite skilled.”
So that’s what it’s about. The story is gradually becoming clearer.
“Nobles pride themselves above all else. You defeated Count Eric and wounded the pride of the nobles. That’s my assumption for why the Elements sent assassins.”
“Thank you for the information. But I will simply cut everything down with this sword.”
“I believe you have that much strength. However, what complicates matters here is the existence of the The Riper.”
The Ripper.
I’ve heard that name a few times, but it’s appearing here again. It’s starting to feel like I’m not unrelated to this after all.
“The Reaper. I recently met the Sword Saint, and it seems they think he’s the culprit.”
“Yes. Not only the Sword Saint, but even us swordsmen are suspected. Some think it’s a rallying cry against mages.”
“Is that not the case?”
“No, it’s not. We don’t delude ourselves into thinking we can defeat mages easily.”
His reasoning was calm. It didn’t seem like he aimed for a major revolution or anything of the sort.
I thought he might be asking for my help, but apparently not.
“The Reaper is a mage. I have checked the corpses after the crimes several times.”
“There are sharp wounds, then.”
“Yes. Some people are aware of that, but the problem is that the head of the dead magicians were missing. It has been neatly taken away.”
“That’s quite strange.”
If it was just killing, there’d be no need to take the head. This means The Ripper has some purpose.
“Yes. What they are doing with the mage’s head remains unknown. And their strength is probably far superior to that of the Mage Corps. Multiple casualties among the members have been reported.”
“I see. It’s definitely unusual for mages to hunt other mages like that.”
“Yes. Such incidents have never happened before. Currently, swordsmen aren’t the target, but our own lives could be in danger. I wanted to warn you, Ayame-san.”
Apparently, there’s no suspicion, and he’s genuinely concerned for my safety.
“Thank you. But why are you being so nice to me?”
“Just being a swordsman is enough, but defeating Eric was a huge deal. Our members have endured a lot of hardship.”
“Fittingly, I was also saving them then. That’s good.”
The conversation ended here, and I decided to head home. I had received enough information, and I wanted to organize my thoughts.
“Ayame-san, knowing your skill as a swordswoman, you might encounter The Ripper. Please be careful.”
“Ah. Thank you for your concern.”
Fin bowed deeply and saw me off.
And so, I headed straight back to Luna’s house.
Chapter 18: A Sad Reunion
Finally, today we decided to venture into the Dungeon’s 20th floor.
This time, I thoroughly prepared together with Luna and accepted the quest.
“Finally, the 20th floor…!”
Luna’s expression was stiff, and she looked nervous.
“Luna. There’s no need to be that tense.”
“But it’s the 20th floor! It’s a place only chosen adventurers are allowed to enter, and this time the target is a horde of ghouls.”
“Don’t worry. Luna has been steadily training up to now.”
“Y-yeah, that’s true…”
“Leave the front line to me.”
“That’s right. As long as Ayame-san is here, I feel safe!”
The target for this hunt was the extermination of ghouls. Ghouls are apparently man-eating monsters, known to prey on human flesh. However, if it’s just ghouls, they aren’t that much of a threat.
The problem this time was that they were appearing in large numbers.
Recently, the guild has been talking about unusual phenomena in the dungeon.
After the Griffin incident and so on, I have my own concerns as well.
Luna and I smoothly continued to hunt monsters and finally reached the staircase to the 20th floor.
“Finally, huh.”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
I took the lead and descended into the lower layers. Gradually, I began to feel the cold. Then what spread before me was a vast snow field as far as the eye could see.
Heavy snow was falling, and the world in front of me was a silver-white landscape.
“It seems today is a snowy day.”
“I see. That’s an interesting phenomenon.”
It appears that after the 20th floor, the climate and ecosystems often change like this. We must adapt to this environment while also hunting monsters.
I was told that the reason only higher-ranked adventurers can challenge the floors beyond the 20th is due to such conditions.
“Well, it does seem like there are ghouls around.”
Right then, a ghoul was slowly wandering through the snow. The snow wasn’t too thick now, and the footing was decent.
I charged at the ghoul with a swift move and drew Amajiki. With Luna’s support, I managed to defeat all the ghouls in the area.
“Phew.”
“Ayame-san, as expected from you.”
“Well, ghouls are no problem. But there are unusually many of them.”
“Yes. Recently, there have been a lot of strange phenomena in the dungeon, so there might be a cause.”
“…I wonder what it could be?”
I have no idea what the cause might be.
However, I can’t shake this freezing feeling down my spine. Somehow, I sense that the anomalies in this dungeon are human-made.
It is just pure intuition. But I’ve had a feeling of auspicious omens since my previous life.
Carefully, I continued to eliminate the remaining ghouls.
“All done.”
“Yeah. Let’s head back.”
“Yes!”
The battle on the 20th floor ended safely. Since it’s our first time on this floor, we avoided fighting large monsters this time.
Luna and I have agreed that if we get more used to it, we’ll try those challenging battles as well.
“Ouch…!”
Luna, who was walking ahead, suddenly bumped into something. In front of her was the staircase to the upper floor, but there was something like an invisible wall there.
“This is…”
“A wall, huh? But why… No, wait. This is an enchanted barrier.”
“I see. So, they set a trap here.”
I had expected that the main attack might come someday. I was prepared for it, but it’s happening now.
“Nice to meet you. I am Grey Grace.”
The ones who appeared from behind were a group of magicians. About a dozen or so, roughly? But the quality of the magic power they exuded was obviously different.
It was clear that they were quite elite.
However, among them, a girl with pale blue hair opened her eyes wide and stared intently at me. I felt that I had seen her before, but I couldn’t remember when.
“Grace… No way, the Elements came,”
Luna muttered quietly.
This was exactly the kind of information I had received. It was no surprise that the Elements were making their appearance, as I had anticipated.
“Ayame here. Do you have any business with us?”
“Do you remember what happened with Eric?”
Though it was our first time meeting, the girl named Grey spoke to me in a condescending manner.
“Yeah,”
“You have hurt the pride of the nobles. This is your punishment. This world doesn’t allow swordsmen to rise up.”
“Hmm. So, the saying goes, ‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down,’ huh?”
“You’re quick to understand. What will you do? If you don’t resist, I might hurt you a little and then just banish you from this kingdom.”
“You don’t need to do that. All of you will be cut down by me. Honestly, why are nobles so incredibly foolish?”
I was fed up with the way nobles behaved. Basically, they just want to erase my existence to protect their own power.
This Grey guy clearly thought he could kill me. Still, I instinctively sensed that he was a stronger magician than Eric.
“Hahaha… Don’t get cocky just because you beat Eric. Let me teach you that there are always those above. This is just a warm-up. Come on, you guys.”
“──Come, magician,”
I drew my sword and prepared to face the advancing magicians.
Once again, the battle against the nobles was about to begin.
†
Early morning. I woke up as usual.
Right away, I washed my face, dressed, and headed to the family’s table for breakfast.
“Father. Today, we plan to confront that swordsman,”
“I see. What are the chances?”
“I looked into it, but it seems he’s completely absorbed in dungeon exploration. Based on his usual pattern, he’ll likely be delving into the 20th floor today.”
“Perfect timing with the cycle.”
“Yes. The Silver World is our domain.”
“All set then. As expected of my son.”
“Thank you.”
I listened to that conversation the whole time, zoning out. Ah, so I really have to go today. Honestly, I didn’t want to go at all.
In the first place, I had been questioning the very lifestyle of nobles who cling so tightly to power.
Since I was little, I always felt disconnected with the people around me. That was how nobles were supposed to act. They acted arrogantly around others, oppressing those of lower status. Even as a child, I thought that was wrong.
But nobles eagerly carried out those actions.
That sense of discomfort kept building up.
One day, I went into the forest without permission and was attacked by monsters. I painfully realized that curiosity can be your downfall… but at that moment, a swordsman came to help me.
“Are you okay?”
That was the encounter between me and the Sword Saint—my teacher.
His sword was incredibly beautiful. The trace of that sword remains etched in my mind.
I decided to ask my older brother if I could learn swordsmanship.
And then—
“Riana, don’t you ever say that in front of father. There’s no need to learn that archaic thing called swordsmanship. Magic is the highest craft in this world,”
He said in a very low voice after slapping my cheek hard. Ah, I see. So that’s what nobles are like. I felt like something inside me had broken.
But I secretly learned swordsmanship from my teacher a few times a year, sneaking away from home. He was too much of a genius to teach swordsmanship easily, but he was very kind and considerate.
Several years later, I experienced a fateful encounter.
“Who is that person…?”
A man and a girl arrived at the dojo, which was rarely visited by anyone. The man had a sword hanging at his waist and carried an aura that was far from ordinary.
Later, after exchanging swords, I understood. This person’s swordsmanship was different from that of the teacher, something unique and unusual. It is this person’s swordsmanship that I aim for.
However, I must not wish for that. I am the daughter of the Grace family. Just being taught by the teacher now is enough.
“Nice to meet you. I am Grey Grace.”
The plan to attack the swordsman who defeated Eric, wielding the elite unit of our family called the Frost Squad, began. It’s a heavy burden, but I have to go.
Here, I cursed my own fate.
Because the person standing there was none other than—
Ayame-san, whom I had crossed swords with and admired as the person I should aspire to be—was the one there.
The cursed wheel of fate had started to accelerate—.