Reset Life – Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Shall We Talk Somewhere Quiet? (5)

She held out a small bottle she had been holding in her hand.

“Drink this.”

“What is it?”

“Medicine. I bought it from the temple.”

“Aha, I see. So you recovered thanks to this, Ibi-unni?”

Come to think of it, Levidian looks perfectly fine with no trace of her injuries. As expected, medicine prepared at the temple is different.

“I’ll drink it well.”

Aila opened the bottle and drank the medicine in one gulp, then immediately grimaced.

“Ugh…… Bitter.”

She stuck out her tongue and fanned herself with her hand. I chuckled and handed her a water pouch, which Aila gulped down. The medicine must have been incredibly bitter.

Levidian was watching the scene with a confused look.

“You didn’t even doubt it.”

“Phew! That’s better. Why? Is it poison?”

“I thought you’d at least be suspicious.”

“Hey. What are you talking about? You poisoning me would be like Risel dating another woman.”

“Hey, could you refrain from saying that while I’m here?”

I showed my displeasure. However, the sad truth is that I can’t help but agree with Aila’s opinion. Despite appearances, I consider myself to be completely devoted.

Aila completely ignored my words and said,

“Besides, I’m the leader of an assassin group. I have immunity to poison.”

“Huh, right. You’re right.”

“Hehe. Oh? Wow! Amazing! My body feels lighter.”

Aila widened her eyes and moved her arms and waist.

It’s a complete change from just a moment ago when she was sitting still and chatting.

Indeed. The medicine made at the temple is effective. Should I have bought some for emergencies too?

Aila stretched in all directions, then grinned and said to Levidian,

“But what brings you here? You didn’t come just to deliver medicine, did you? Especially someone who dislikes camping.”

“Th-that’s…… I have something to talk about.”

Levidian quickly hid her hand behind her back at Aila’s gaze. To be precise, it was the hand with the ring I gave her.

When I suggested camping after the fight, Levidian said it would be better to part ways here. It was clear that she wanted to avoid the uncomfortable situation due to Mangya, Aila, and me.

I was annoyed at the time, and since expressing it would probably make me even more annoyed, I simply said,

《You can go, but if you do, leave the ring behind. Then I’ll consider everything that happened as if it never did.》

Levidian wasn’t someone who would miss the meaning of ‘everything’ used there.

I reacted out of annoyance then, but thinking about it now, the drastic measure seems to have worked quite well. After all, Levidian stayed.

Aila tilted her head.

“Talk? About what? It’s not that unsuitable, boring, and utterly uninteresting talk about settling the score between Mangya and Black New Moon, is it?”

“Right. You know me well.”

Only she, Levidian, could answer such an annoying question directly. Impressive. Aila sighed deeply.

“Ugh, I knew it from the moment you brought the medicine. You want to adjust your condition and fight again tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

At Levidian’s calm words, Aila narrowed her eyes sharply. In truth, this duel would be unpleasant for her too.

“Yes, fine. But I want to ask you something. Is this something you absolutely, positively have to do?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Aila retorted in an annoyed tone. She crossed her arms, frowned, and then began to grumble incessantly.

“I don’t understand. Honestly, I still don’t know how you became the leader of Black New Moon. You said your father was involved, right? Ah! Now that I think about it, you seem to know that Silvan or Sylvie person. Let’s solve that problem first, shall we? Plus, those people said they talked about your father too…… Are you, by any chance, on Artshever’s side, Ibi-unni? And Risel’s enemy? Oh my! Goodness! They say you can’t trust anyone, but I didn’t know you’d be like this. I feel so bad for Risel. Hey, just take the ring and let her go. What kind of person is she?”

Even Levidian couldn’t withstand the torrent of words pouring out with the force of a flood, stronger than a rainstorm.

She was frantically trying to find a chance to speak, but Aila continued to pour out words without a single pause. By the time Aila finished speaking, Levidian was completely dejected.

Sigh, I guess a mediator needs to step in at this point.

“Aila, calm down. Levidian? I’m curious about the part Aila mentioned. How did you get to know that Silvan person?”

“I’ve only met him once!”

I shouldn’t have stepped in.

The words that suddenly popped out, like a dam bursting, were almost like a scream.

Levidian must have done it out of urgency, but somehow it feels like a clumsy excuse shouted by a woman whose inappropriate relationship has been exposed. Like self-destruction.

Aila narrowed her eyes and burst into laughter.

“You sound like a married woman caught cheating, Ibi-unni.”

To think we had the same thought…… Have I been infected by Aila’s germs? Uh-huh-huh……

While I was having such frightening thoughts, Levidian’s expression became one of utter speechlessness.

I waved my hands and tried to lighten the mood.

“Now, now, Aila, stop joking. Levidian, please explain the whole story.”

“Oh, yes……”

Come to think of it, Levidian told Aila that she wouldn’t talk unless she defeated her…… People forget important things when they are cornered.

I glanced at Aila, and she winked. As expected, she planned this.

Levidian, with a resigned expression, began to speak hesitantly.

“It was the first time I met my father in 24 years. When I was five, I saw him leave me at the Hall of Martial Arts, and I hadn’t seen him since. It’s not common for parents to abandon their children, but there were unavoidable circumstances.”

The background of Levidian’s birth and how she entered the Hall of Martial Arts, which remained a mystery even before I died.

The truth is actually quite anticlimactic.

Her father was an ordinary businessman who conducted triangular trade between the Empire and the Ruery Three Kingdoms.

He was said to be a man of considerable talent and iron will, having built his business from scratch, literally empty-handed. Naturally, his business flourished and he was on the road to success.

But how difficult is it for someone without a background to rise in the world?

Money makes the world go round, people move money, and people flow through connections.

If her father had been introduced to or inherited proper connections from his parents or others, perhaps he wouldn’t have gone bankrupt in just three months.

Levidian, who was only five years old at the time, understood everything by watching the rapidly changing situation at home and her father, who suddenly started a journey holding her hand one day.

“The problem was that I understood but couldn’t empathize. My childhood was nothing but training in martial arts while accumulating longing for my mother and resentment towards my father.”

All that comes from doing business with numerous creditors is resentment.

Her father probably couldn’t afford to prepare a separate plan to protect his daughter in that chaotic situation. That’s why Levidian was admitted to the Hall of Martial Arts, which was relatively close geographically.

Martial arts groups like the Hall of Martial Arts are, and have always been, closed-off places, isolated from the world, solely focused on honing martial skills.

It’s a place where creditors dare not enter.

She said she trained in martial arts there to forget her father and find her mother. Her mother’s whereabouts were unknown after her father took her somewhere.

Time passed like that.

An unprecedented talent appeared in the Hall of Martial Arts.

A literal genius appeared, acquiring the qualifications of an instructor at the age of twelve and becoming one of the top three in the Hall of Martial Arts within ten years of joining.

“You never know when, where, or how a person’s aptitude will manifest. I didn’t know I was so suited for martial arts training myself.”

Thirteen years after she joined.

The five-year-old girl became an eighteen-year-old adult. And she became the leading expert in the Hall of Martial Arts.

Having mastered the secret swordsmanship of the Hall of Martial Arts, she had nothing more to learn or anyone to compete with there.

The masters and instructors who taught her were already her inferiors and, in fact, should have been receiving instruction from her.

Indeed, for a year after she became the strongest in the Hall of Martial Arts, she was teaching those three times her age.

The leadership of the Hall of Martial Arts was at a loss as to what to do with this awkward situation.

Of course, Levidian’s existence was a talent worthy of being announced continent-wide for the Hall of Martial Arts.

The leadership’s concern stemmed from the fact that if she continued to stay in the Hall of Martial Arts, they would benefit, but her skills would never improve.

“My masters and instructors were pure martial artists. I sometimes hear rumors that they expelled me out of jealousy of my abilities, but that’s nonsense. What they were wary of was the proverb, ‘Stagnant water rots.’ They were conflicted between learning from me to improve their own skills and sending me out to improve mine.”

In the end, the leadership of the Hall of Martial Arts made a decision.

Even if they learned from Levidian, it was uncertain whether they could surpass her skills. However, Levidian could grow further and had unlimited potential.

Let’s send her out into the world.

Levidian readily accepted this decision. She was already immersed in the joy of martial arts and longed to compete with strong opponents.

Above all, she wanted to meet her mother.

Thus began the undefeated legend of Sword King Levidian.

“I traveled to many places and made inquiries. If there was a strong person on my path, I would cross swords with them and win. After about three years of wandering like that, I finally met my mother.”

Meeting her mother after sixteen years. She had to experience a mix of unbearable joy, sadness, and anger.

Her mother was dying.

Her father, who she thought would be by her side, had abandoned her long ago.

Although he had set out on a journey with the determination to make a comeback, from Levidian’s perspective, he had abandoned her mother. She understood her father’s actions but couldn’t empathize with them.

“What is important to a person? It should be enough to live happily as a family, even if it’s a little difficult. But my father seemed to think differently. He left, saying he would definitely succeed, my mother said. And she was smiling as she said that. She believed in him. I couldn’t understand.”

A child sees their parents as mother and father, blood relatives, but they were a man and a woman who met as strangers. The perspective of a husband and wife looking at each other is different from that of a child.

In the end, Levidian couldn’t understand until her mother passed away, and she still doesn’t understand, she said.

“After sending my mother off, I searched for my father. It was a journey that wasn’t over yet. About five years passed like that. I couldn’t find any trace of my father, and my swordsmanship, which had been improving little by little, stagnated. So I decided to give up on finding my father for now and start moving my stagnant sword again.”

She had no reason to desperately search for her father, whom she hadn’t seen since she was five and who was the object of her resentment. From her earliest memories, her friend was the sword at her waist. It’s obvious which of the two is more important to her.

Eventually, she started traveling to improve her stagnant swordsmanship. In the process, she heard that the Herduke family’s unique swordsmanship was quite exceptional, and she came to the Imperial Capital Nek.

And she became my swordsmanship teacher.

“Risel, and Aila, know well about the three years that followed. I won’t talk about it separately. However…… it was a very enjoyable time.”

It must have been the first time she stayed in one place for so long since leaving the Hall of Martial Arts. Idyllic days spent teaching swordsmanship and training herself.

She didn’t seem bored at all. At least not to my eyes.

It feels like such a long time ago, even though only a few months have passed.

Like a childhood memory.

A hometown that feels so distant and missed because I’ve been away for so long.

The deep nostalgia feels bittersweet.

“The time that felt like it would be okay to stay still and let things flow suddenly changed. As Risel knows, I was suddenly kidnapped. It was an experience so unfamiliar that it was almost refreshing. Even I couldn’t help being dragged away after being rendered unconscious by sleeping gas through the chimney.”

That’s certainly true. How could she wake up to any presence while under the influence of sleeping gas?

When she woke up after being kidnapped in such a ridiculously forceful manner, her father, now old and withered, was already in front of her.

Someone she thought was dead long ago, having disappeared without a trace over time.

They say that the blood flowing in parents and children senses each other, no matter how long they are apart.

She recognized her father, whom she met after 24 years, at a glance.

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