The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 162

Chapter 162: Summer Flower (1)

「『Open your eyes.』

In the middle of the vast universe.

A young man in a half-torn suit lay down and then abruptly sat up.

“Uh… Uh?!”

The gravity that had been weighing him down every second was gone.

The young man began to flutter, feeling as if he was flying through the air.

『This is not real space. It is a place where the collective images of humanity are embodied.』

Click━.

He couldn’t understand what it meant.

But the young man could finally see the shimmering light holding his hand.

Human or not.

Life or not.

The young man looked at the sacred being, surrounded by brilliant light, but no matter how much he looked at it, his eyes didn’t sting.

The problem was that no matter how much he looked at it, he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Thump━.

But one thing was clear.

『Don’t be afraid of me.』

The voice was so dazzling.

And it was so full of the kindness that the young man longed for that he felt like crying like a fool.

“……Yes.”

In fact, he stood up straight, tears streaming down his face.

Twinkle━.

He didn’t know what it was, but the light twinkled, as if embarrassed.

The quick-witted young man hurriedly wiped his tears with the end of his sleeve.

“I’m fine. I’m not afraid.”

『Lying is not good.』

The light saw through the young man’s white lie.

The young man, who had never been caught lying before, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry.”

『But I know that it is a necessary tactic for communication, so you don’t have to apologize that much.』

“Yes!”

The young man shouted, standing at attention.

『I have granted you the wish you wanted most.』

“……?”

『Now I would like you to do something for me.』

“If the wish is prepaid, I can’t say no.”

『That is possible.』

The mass of light splits in two.

And it began to illuminate two worlds.

One was the gray world the young man had originally been in.

The other is a green world where the four seasons do not circulate.

『Choose.』

“Aren’t you going to explain it to me? When you travel, there’s always a guide, so when you get to this world, you should have some information about it……”

The young man realized what was going on.

But the ‘light’ that appeared explained things too roughly, and he was just dumbfounded that he had given him his wish in advance.

Twinkle, twinkle━.

The mass of light flickered for a moment, as if troubled, and then spoke.

『The left is the world you lived in, and the right is the world you didn’t live in. You can choose where you want to go.』

The young man realized this would never end.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that the other party didn’t want to answer, but rather that they didn’t seem to know what to say.

“If I go to a new world, can I become a hero and defeat the Demon King?”

He tried to find out by asking as detailed a question as possible.

『You can do that if you want to.』

Of course, the answer wasn’t very reassuring.

“Then why should I go to a new world?”

『You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.』

“……Why did you grant my wish, which I don’t even know?”

『I granted it because it was something I could do.』

“Why?”

Twinkle━.

The young man had a hunch.

That his question had just hit the mark. The ‘light’, which was not good at speaking, answered only when the rays of light in the universe changed.

『Because I am a crybaby.』

“Excuse me?”

『And your tears, ■■■, have touched me.』

“You are a kind god.”

The young man called the light ‘god’.

“Then what you desire is for me to go to another world?”

As a human who had encountered ‘god’, the young man took a step towards the green world.

『No. But if you go, the probability of it happening increases.』

The young man grinned.

He brushed back his long bangs that reached past his eyebrows and nodded.

“I understand.”

Whooosh━.

The young man stepped into the green world, and his figure disappeared at once.

And the mass of light stood still for a long time as if reminiscing about his back, and then left a word.

『■■■, for you, for me, and for our freedom.』

━The First Hero’s First」

🔹🔹🔹

Three days after the Royal Selection Ceremony.

It doesn’t get hot all at once just because it’s summer. Like the lingering feelings after a breakup, the seasons fade slowly and flow in slowly.

The cool spring passed leisurely.

“Hero.”

The Saint, Caterina, kept calling out to Cain as he walked down the hallway of the royal palace.

“Let’s go to Henerali-fe. Now that you are the true owner of ‘Summer’, you must be recognized by His Majesty and have your name engraved on the ‘Emerald Tablet’.”

“Later.”

“There is no time. Now that ‘Summer’ has chosen its owner, the Demon King will appear in the world.”

“I’m sure he will.”

“I know you are strong, Cain-nim, but you are not strong enough yet. You must learn the sword from Master Paladin and lead the ‘Order of Autumn’.”

“Uh.”

Caterina’s eyes narrowed.

She could see that Cain was listening with one ear and out the other, no matter how much she talked to him from the side.

Thud━.

She blocked Cain’s way.

“What in the world is the problem?”

“Your way of speaking.”

“……?”

“Stop talking so formally and just talk comfortably like you used to.”

Caterina frowned.

Then she pointed to the golden sword, ‘Summer’, hanging from Cain’s right hip.

“How can I do that? To the one who pulled out the holy sword.”

“You should. If you’re going to change your attitude just because of a sword, we can’t be comrades.”

Cain’s purple eyes met Caterina’s blue eyes. There was no feeling of like or dislike.

Just the truth as it was.

Only a calm sincerity was contained within.

“……The holy sword is.”

“What defines me is not this sword. It’s my actions, my words, and my past, built up over the days I’ve lived.”

Caterina closed her mouth.

Sound argument.

Her values as a human being, with her right words, and her whole life lived for the ‘light’, clashed.

Cain raised the corners of his lips and passed the confused Saint, saying,

“Take your time and think about it.”

At that moment.

“Let me make one thing clear.”

Caterina spoke to Cain’s retreating figure, several steps away.

“I respected you then, and I respect you now.”

Cain scratched his head for a moment and thought about it. She was right, she had been respectful most of the time, except when she was angry.

However.

“You may have been respectful in words, but the blade hidden inside was so sharp that I was mistaken.”

Cain waved his hand and disappeared.

Caterina, who was standing in the hallway, shook her head.

“Damn human.”

Whooosh━.

Then a wind blew from the spot where Cain had disappeared.

━I can hear you.

His voice came on the wind.

Caterina wrinkled her nose and turned around.

“I said it for you to hear.”

[‘Summer’ says that Caterina is only like that on the outside, but she’s actually a softie on the inside.]

[‘Winter’ asks, ‘So what?’]

[‘Summer’ mutters that it’s just saying.]

Thump━.

Cain smiled, tapping the holy sword at his right hip.

It was a bit distracting to see the two seasons talking so often now, but he was less lonely.

One way or another, ‘Summer’ was also a being who knew his previous world line.

It was disobedient and ill-tempered, but it felt like he had a companion.

[‘Summer’ asks that you raise your opinion of it a little.]

[‘Winter’ says to do well in the future.]

[‘Summer’ mutters that the damn nagging and temper are the same as ever.]

Cain, watching their conversation, looked up at the sky and asked.

“By the way, were the 〈Sacred Treasures of the Four Seasons〉 close in the past? You guys talk about the past a lot.”

[‘Summer’ and ‘Winter’ hesitate.]

Cain shrugged and started walking again.

“I guess this is something else I can’t talk about. So maybe I’ll be able to hear it later?”

[‘Summer’ and ‘Winter’ nod their heads.]

[‘Summer’ says that if your World Line Fixation increases, you will be able to know that much more information.]

“Then I’ll wait.”

World Line Fixation 25%.

‘Probably 100 percent is the end.’

A quarter of the total was filled. And one of the other 〈Sacred Treasures of the Four Seasons〉 became his.

‘It can’t be a coincidence.’

They were being mean, talking excitedly amongst themselves but not telling Cain the details, but Cain noticed one thing from their conversation.

‘There are a lot of restrictions on talking to me directly, but there are fewer restrictions on talking to each other.’

So it seemed like they were trying to convey something indirectly by showing him their conversations.

Of course.

[‘Winter’ clenches her fist, saying that she was going to say it.]

[‘Summer’ hurriedly ducks its head and runs away.]

It just seemed like they wanted to talk to each other……

Cain smiled wryly and quickened his pace.

[‘Summer’ says it’s gotten darker here.]

It was clearly the same royal palace, but it got strangely darker as Cain got closer to his destination.

[‘Winter’ speculates that space itself seems to reject light.]

“I think so.”

As if entering a basement archive.

He passed through the hallway, which gradually blackened into darkness, and stood in front of a completely black door.

“It’s me.”

No further introduction was needed.

Creeeaaak━.

At his words, the door opened immediately, revealing a pitch-black room, despite the fact that it was daytime and above ground.

Inside was Oleciren.

Jet-black hair and eyes.

She had the nickname “Princess of the Gypsum Flower” because of the gray color unique to the Airian royal family, but now it seemed colorless.

“Want some tea?”

She held out a teapot, dressed in a black dress that matched her changed color.

Cain sat down opposite her and held out his empty cup upside down.

“Tea is good.”

“Alcohol is good too?”

“Sure.”

“What are you talking about alcohol for, you’re younger than me.”

Pourrrrrrr━━.

Oleciren poured the tea with a look in her eyes that seemed somewhat desolate.

“Ah, it’s gone cold.”

Snap━.

She snapped her fingers lightly. The cooled tea instantly bubbled up and began to steam white.

“You’ve gotten used to it.”

Cain drank the tea she had warmed up for him and said casually.

But Oleciren gave a wry smile.

“Yeah. I tried to avoid it any way I could, but I guess a witch is a witch after all.”

She, who didn’t want to be a witch, had finally become able to handle witch’s power freely.

“Not yet.”

“Ah, anticipation.”

“You still don’t know what your origin is.”

“Does it even matter?”

Snap━.

Oleciren snapped her fingers again. Darkness gathered behind her, and an image of her and the Saint appeared.

━You are also unusual as a witch. No matter how much of a real witch you are, you can’t use as many different powers as you do.

━……

━And the strange thing is that your power is growing so much. So much so that I want to kill you right now.

Cain nodded his head nonchalantly.

“The Saint spoke well, like a Saint.”

“That?”

“If it was that Saint, she would have swung a mace at you instead of saying that.”

Oleciren smiled at Cain’s cold and accurate judgment. She felt stupid for being shaken by those words.

“But what brings you here all of a sudden?”

“Can’t I come?”

“Don’t you remember me telling you not to answer a question with a question?”

Cain shrugged as if to say what are you going to do, and Oleciren, who had been gloomy, laughed at his naturalness.

A moment of silence followed, and Cain put down his teacup and said,

“Don’t shut yourself up in a place like this and let’s go somewhere.”

“Where?”

“The place where we first met.”

“Why Ethelred?”

Cain pointed his thumbs at the swords on either side of him.

“Because there’s a guy who wants to kill me.”

“I never thought I’d live to see the day when I’d curse a count and a duke… … Are you really going to fight?”

At Cain’s words, a smile spread across Oleciren’s lips.

“Of course. We’re quicker with our swords than our words.”

It was the same smile from the old days, pushing away her gloomy mood.

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