Chapter 190: The Island Loved by the Stars (1)
“It’s…… beautiful.”
The Last Saint dipped her white hand into the emerald southern sea.
Splash—
As if tickling her hand, the seawater gently swirled between her fingers and disappeared.
The Sorcerer King and the Sage were busy conjuring a table and a giant parasol on the sandy beach, as if they had sold off all the magic and mystery they had accumulated.
Thud—
John Doe, the Hero, took off his shoes made of Twin-Headed Ogre hide.
Rustle.
Covered in scars.
The Saint’s divine power could heal wounds, not scars. The path the Hero had walked to get here was engraved on his feet.
No matter how sacred the power, it couldn’t erase the Hero’s journey.
“The sea in my hometown was a little bluer.”
At first, he couldn’t speak the language of this world, but now John Doe was forming sentences naturally.
He gazed at the sunlight shattering on the surface of the sea with his clear, light brown eyes. It was sparkling and brilliant, but not enough to illuminate his darkness.
Click—
John Doe raised his finger.
He pointed to where the sunlight shimmered as if thousands of fish were reflecting it on their scales.
“‘Yunseul’.”
The Last Saint, who had been enjoying the pleasantly warm sea, turned her head.
A strange pronunciation.
But somehow, a beautiful word.
“Yunseul?”
“It’s what we call the way the sunlight shatters and sparkles on the waves.”
“Yunseul, Yunseul. That’s lovely. Is it a word from where the Hero is from?”
John Doe looked out at the distant horizon.
He stared at the place that was clearly visible but could never be reached, then turned his head away.
If he couldn’t have it, he might as well forget it.
If he couldn’t have it, it might as well have never existed.
John Doe suppressed the emotions he couldn’t yet name and answered.
“Yes. Although not many people know the word.”
“Then I’ll use it! I’ll tell the Order to have it written in the temple right away. We need to know all the words related to light, and if there’s such a beautiful word—”
The Saint continued excitedly at this breathtakingly perfect and peaceful sight.
Thump—
“Or, how about we name this beach after it?”
Short.
Not just short, but so small that one might think he was suffering from some kind of illness. The old man approached John Doe and the Saint and asked.
The two bowed their heads at the sight of him.
“Would that be alright?”
The short old man stroked his white beard that grew down to his chest.
“It would be my honor to have the Hero’s mark left on my island.”
“‘Yunseul Beach’. Thank you.”
John Doe muttered the words and bowed his head once more.
It was the first time.
That the name of a place from his world was given to a place in this world.
The old man looked up at John Doe, who was clearly choked with emotion.
“It would be wonderful if everyone in this world knew the name of this place.”
“……?”
“I’m thinking of building an auction house.”
Point—
The old man raised his finger and pointed to the center of the island, which was covered in forest.
“It’s good to keep the island protected and isolated, but I thought it might be good to protect it by letting everyone in.”
John Doe’s black eyes sparkled.
The old man wasn’t wrong.
He had thoroughly guarded this entire island as his own territory to protect the ‘treasure’ it held, but humans were creatures who were more tempted to go where they were forbidden.
The so-called adventurers were desperate to reach this legendary island.
“What would you have me do?”
The old man must have spoken because it was time to open the island, but there must have been a reason he spoke to him first.
John Doe calmly asked back.
The old man smiled with satisfaction.
“Give me one more name. What should I call the greatest auction house in the land, to be built on my island of Lesbos?”
“Mytilene?”
“Oh? And what does that mean?”
The old man rolled the name John Doe had spoken around in his mouth like a piece of candy before asking back.
John Doe smiled bitterly.
“I don’t know. There was an island with the same name where I lived, so I just borrowed the name they used for their island.”
“To think there’s an island in another world with the same name as mine. How interesting. Very well. Then I shall name the auction house Mytilene.”
Whoosh—
A breeze blew behind them.
The chairs the Sage had made from the sand on the beach rose from the ground.
Pop!
As the Sorcerer King snapped his fingers, drinks made from crushed fruit floated through the air in ice-filled glasses and landed before the three of them.
“Don’t look so serious. Enjoy yourselves.”
The three smiled wryly at the Sage, who spoke with his tongue half-stuck out.
It was a summer island.
The old man muttered as he glanced at John Doe and the rest of the Hero’s party.
“It would be a shame if the fire within you were to die out when this island loses its original name and becomes known as Mytilene Island.”
The old man could see it in his narrowed eyes.
The flames blazing in John Doe’s heart, spewing forth heat and sorrow that seemed to threaten to incinerate the entire world.
🔹🔹🔹
“Since today is my last class, both the Knight and Magic Departments will be coming at me together.”
Märchen’s Grand Training Hall.
The sun was shining so brightly it seemed to pierce through everything, and the trees, newly clad in their fresh green leaves, stood in a row outside the training ground.
And in the center.
Thump.
Cain, wielding his golden short sword, met the gazes of one hundred and fifty cadets.
One hundred from the Knight Department.
Fifty from the Magic Department.
And standing at the front of each department were Lourens and Headmaster Wiseman, whom he had specially requested for today.
“You’ve all come up with good strategies each time, but the two I’ve brought with me are at the pinnacle of their respective fields.”
Lourens, wearing his mask, bowed his head towards the Knight Department, raising his arm in a comical gesture.
Clap, clap, clap—!
A thunderous round of applause erupted. They had followed along reluctantly at first, out of respect for Cain who had brought him.
But after training and being instructed together, they all realized that Lourens was no ordinary man either.
“I will accept your applause when you have achieved victory.”
Wiseman said to the Magic Department, the corners of her lips lifting.
Thump—
The wizards responded by striking the staffs they each held against the floor.
If one didn’t know who the masked Lourens was, there was no way they wouldn’t know Margette Wiseman, the Headmaster of Märchen Academy.
One of the Magic Marquises, second only to the Magic Duke, the strongest wizard in the empire.
Someone who was just one step away from reaching the pinnacle that all wizards aspired to. Naturally, no other modifiers were needed to describe her command.
Cain watched the scene with a satisfied smile.
[’Summer’ is shouting excitedly. It says it’s been a while since it’s been able to fight for improvement without risking its life.]
[’Winter’ says it feels the same way as ‘Summer’.]
Watching the reactions of his two kind-hearted sacred treasures, Cain picked up ‘Summer’.
Only they seemed to notice that their true purpose, the one the Imperial Family desired so desperately, was being used in this way.
Lourens and Wiseman, who had returned to their original selves, exchanged glances.
“Your condition for victory is to make me use swordsmanship.”
Rumble—
Fire began to ignite in the eyes of the cadets.
It wasn’t about defeating him or making him yield.
Their pride ignited, sparking flames as they clashed in a battle where their only goal was to force Cain to use his swordsmanship.
“I’ll be going all out today as well, so it’ll be difficult. Or it might end even faster.”
Beckon—
Cain brushed his black hair back with his left hand and beckoned to them all.
“Come at me.”
“Wizards, divide into three groups! Offense, Debuff, Buff!”
At Wiseman’s command, the wizards swiftly divided themselves, and Lourens pulled out black and white flags from his pocket.
Flick, flick!
Without another word, he directed the cadets of the Knight Department with just the flags.
From swords to spears to axes.
Depending on their weapon of choice, their positions shifted dynamically, pressuring Cain.
Mud.
It began with magic.
The floor of the Grand Training Hall, where Cain stood, suddenly rippled. The moment Cain stumbled, an arrow with a blunted tip came flying towards his forehead.
[’Summer’ asks if it should deflect it.]
With the unstable footing, it would be difficult to swing his sword. Cain decided to move with the agility of a short sword rather than deflect.
Whoosh—
‘Summer’ sliced through the air.
The moment the thin blade touched the side of the arrow.
Twang—
Cain lightly twisted his waist, altering the trajectory of the arrow and sending it flying towards another cadet from the Knight Department who was approaching from behind with a net.
[’Winter’ drops the popcorn it was holding in surprise. It’s astonished at how Cain used the ‘Flo■■ing Style’.]
[’Summer’ is also left speechless by the skill of Cain’s ‘Flo■■ing Style’.]
Cain smiled wryly at their reactions.
Wave.
Before he could react, the ground shook.
Heat.
Some of the cadets from the Magic Department gathered in groups of two or three and began to heat the air around Cain.
It was a veritable feast of debuffs.
Wiseman watched Cain and said,
“Debuffs that directly affect Teacher Cain won’t work, so it’s wiser to target his surroundings.”
She was right.
With the recovery effect of the sacred sword, ‘Summer’, such status ailments couldn’t even get close to Cain.
Therefore, Wiseman’s plan was to use magic to alter Cain’s environment.
Strength.
Haste.
Awaken.
And that wasn’t all.
Leaving aside a portion to cast offensive magic, one group focused on debuffs while the other group focused on buffing the cadets from the Knight Department, making them stronger, faster, and more accurate.
A terribly efficient tactic.
And it was a strategy that could only be executed with knights who could work together seamlessly.
Flick, flick!
Lourens’s flags fluttered busily once more.
The cadets from the Knight Department divided into seven groups and began to circle around Cain.
“The air is so hot he won’t be able to breathe soon! When his stamina drops, that’s when you strike from a distance with bows and magic guns!”
Lourens shouted, narrowing his eyes at Cain.
[‘Winter’ says that the weasel said that on purpose for them to hear.]
Victory was one goal, but luring Cain to the empire was a bigger one.
Lourens was walking a tightrope between the two, trying to stay in Cain’s good graces.
Shhhk—
Throwing knives.
The knights of the empire weren’t foolish enough to fight solely with swords.
After the war with the Holy See, they had become thoroughly focused on practical combat, and it had become a virtue to carry throwing weapons like knives and use them at crucial moments.
Rather than being righteous in defeat.
A knight’s righteousness lay in victory.
Clang, clang, clang—!
‘Summer’ accelerated with incredible speed, deflecting the throwing knives.
Wiseman, seeing the deflected knives flying towards the wizards, shouted,
“Block them!”
Shield.
A predetermined number of wizards, who had been preparing their offensive magic, combined their powers to deploy a wide-area shield.
In that gap.
The casting of the offensive magic was slightly delayed.
And the knights hesitated to approach Cain through the heated air.
[’Summer’ says the best defense is a good offense.]
‘That’s right.’
At that moment.
Cain’s violet eyes locked onto the seemingly weakest group of cadets from the Knight Department.
Dash—!
He kicked off the ground.
Cain’s long black hair fluttered in the air as he began to draw a black line with his movement.
“Block—him—!”
The shouts of the cadets rang out.
Their swords were too slow.
The casting of the prepared offensive magic seemed to crawl.
[’Winter’ says this is the perfect environment to awaken one’s senses.]
The pressure was similar to what he had felt back at the Great Wall.
The last lingering effect of Oleciren’s sword, which had prevented his complete recovery, had finally healed.
Wheeeeeng—
‘Summer’ drew a golden arc.
Whizz—
Cain’s movements left a black trail.
The two trails of darkness and light weaved intricately through the gaps between the cadets.
“…Insane.”
Lourens finally lowered his flags.
There was no point in their practiced formations and coordinated attacks against a Cain who was determined to fight back.
As if he was intimately familiar with taking on multiple opponents single-handedly, Cain’s sword moved with terrifying efficiency.
“This is the Hero?”
Wiseman also gaped.
A gust of wind blew.
And when it subsided, the cadets were lying on the ground, leaving only Cain and the two commanders standing.
“Five minutes and forty-seven seconds.”
Elena, who had been timing from afar, stood up and tossed a water bottle to Cain.
Cain took a long drink of the cool water and smiled.
“That was fun.”
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