122 Part 2
I had heard many an old man in a rural village like this say that he had been a famous adventurer when he was young. However, this time it was the Holy Sword. While I would have suspected that it was a lie, those perfect muscles that tried to burst out of his clothing were convincing evidence.
“You might not believe it, but it’s true.”
I remained silent while I wanted to say your muscles made me believe you.
“Are you drunk?”
“Yes, I’m lit up!”
I shrank for an instant as he raised his hand, stinking of liquor. Was he saying the truth under the influence of the alcohol, or just saying nonsense as a drunk?!
“I was the Holy Sword, but I lost to the young current Holy Sword just because of a sword.”
While that old maid was not young in any chance, if what he was saying was true, she would have been younger as I heard that she had become the Holy Sword in her twenties.
“I had believed that a swordsman just needed to use a weapon that fit his skills. However, I lost the title from the difference between weapons.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. My Miniature Tree, which had been my sword, broke under a mithril blade.”
A miniature tree?
“Did you use a wooden sword?”
“No, it was a branch I picked up from somewhere.”
I had heard that the previous Holy Sword had been a crazy guy who used a wooden stick as his sword...but did that mean what he was saying was true? Was my next-door neighbor the previous Holy Sword? Can a coincidence like this really happen? Was it the princess and her dastardly plans?! Would she come out and say that my peaceful life had been a hoax?!
“I had to use my bare hands since my sword broke down. I was a swordsman who had protected my title, but the opponent was stronger than others. I began to fall behind as the time passed, and I lost.”
“Was that so.”
Under the assumption that this old man was really the Holy Sword, it was astounding that he had endured that monster’s attack with his bare hands.
“I saw you swing your sword every morning, and your posture was decent.”
“You’re too kind.”
“No, while I gave up on my sword, I can still recognize your hard work.”
His eyes were warm like a senior looking over on his junior. Had he really been the Holy Sword? I began to believe that he had been, and at the same time, felt overwhelming anxiety. What was the probability that my next-door neighbor was the previous Holy Sword in this vast land where millions lived? What star was I born under for a situation like this?!
“Alice told me that you could solve any problem that came to you.”
“Well...for a girl at her age, her father is the best in this world.”
That was why I was raising my daughter sternly now since Alice might rebel against me when she became a teenager saying she hated me. I just wanted her not to be a delinquent like the metal bat.
“While I hesitate to say something like this...but I want to ask you as a swordsman. Which do you think is more important, A weapon or skills?”
A choice between a weapon and sword skills? Normally, the obvious choice was skills since someone weak would lose no matter what weapon they held. However, this case was different.
“It’s absolutely the weapon.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
The old man looked surprised at my firm words.
“Aren’t you embarrassed to depend on your weapon as a swordsman?”
“Yes. A weapon is part of one’s skillset. Acquiring a high-class weapon is hard work like training and learning new skills are.”
“However...”
The old man seems not to have understood my meaning despite the fact he had said it all.
“You have said the reason why you called your wooden stick a sword. Human beings have made swords first out of wooden sticks, stones, copper, and then steel.”
“Yes.”
His frown told me that he still had not understood.
“Why are you so adamant in going back in history? Did we go from wood to steel because we were stupid? We use them because they are more convenient and stronger.”
“That’s true...”
“We worked hard to achieve that. It might be true that dwarfs had done it much earlier, but humans still managed to become the strongest race in this land despite how we still have not caught up to them through our efforts.”
“What does that have to do with a swordsman’s weapon?”
“I’m saying that it’s the same thing with a weapon. If you’re going to use one, wouldn’t it be better to use a stronger one?”
“As a swordsman...”
This old man is getting tiring.
“Can we spar now?”
“With you?”
“I’ll solve your problem.”
I left behind after the old man nodded and went to Alice’s room.
“Daddy.”
I stroked Alice’s hair as she ran to me and reached out to the metal bat who was smiling strangely.
“I have to do something with your sister, so please wait.”
“Does it end soon?”
“Hmm...probably.”
“All right! Unnie, hurry!”
“Yes, I’ll go after I finish up.”
The metal bat smiled in satisfaction as she looked at Alice, waving at her with a bright smile. The door closed with a bang, and the metal bat started to laugh evilly.
“It has been so long since we had a party!”
“You know what we’re about to do, right?”
“Of course!”
I held the metal bat’s hand with my right one, and she started to melt to form a handsome silver sword.
-Is this form, all right?
-It looks like a good sword.
The emperor who built an empire once said that items never betrayed.
-Is there really an empire like that?
-There is, in a novel.
I would follow in the emperor’s footsteps and make the old man realize the importance of items.
-Are you attacking an old man?
-It’s me respecting my elders. I’m solving a problem he kept in his chest for this many years!
I desperately hoped that he would leave this village with that realization. I did not see anyone who was previously a named warrior and feared the chaos the previous Holy Sword would bring to my life!
-I think you’re the one who brings chaos...
-That’s not true!
I was going to spend the rest of my life in peace in this quiet village! I was going to teach a lesson to the old man as my first step.
proofread by rondo
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