Eugeo didn’t wait for him to finish shouting as he answered with a determined attitude.
“This sword—I got it from the cave in the north. Right now, it belongs to me!”
The villagers immediately started muttering, and Jink couldn’t say anything. I thought that he would ask Eugeo to prove his ownership, but Jink didn’t seem to have that intention. Most likely, in this world where theft didn’t exist, declaring one’s ownership would clearly determine that that ‘belonged to him or her., and doubting and asking this may be some violation of right.
— I didn’t know if this guess of mine was correct or not, but Jink didn’t continue as he spat out twice on his own hands before raising his own sword up high.
On the other side, Eugeo wielded the sword with his right hand only and pointed the tip at the opponent’s eyes. He moved his left arm and leg back, keeping his center of gravity low.
As several hundred villagers held their breaths as they watched, Gasupht raised his right hand up high, yelled BEGIN! and swung it down.
“UOOOHHH!!”
Just as I expected, Jink immediately rushed forward as he yelled out crudely, swinging down right from the front, and one might doubt if he would really swing until just inches away with that momentum—
“…!!”
At that moment, I gasped lightly. Jink’s sword changed direction greatly in the air. He looked like he was going to swing from the top, but was actually swinging horizontally from the right. This was just an elementary feint, but if Eugeo followed my suggestion and got ready to use the «Horizontal» to aim at Jink’s sword, it would be difficult for him to take on a horizontal swing with a horizontal swing, and may cause a miss before he gets hit by the opponent…
“I…yahh!!!”
The shout that was somewhat lacking in spirit as compared to Jink interrupted my thoughts immediately.
The skill Eugeo used wasn’t «Horizontal».
He raised his sword on the right shoulder and looked like he was getting ready. The blade let out a slightly thick blue light. He looked like he was going to shake the earth as he stepped forward before drawing a sharp diagonal 45 degree arc in the air. This was…a skill I never taught him, the diagonal slash «Slant».
Eugeo, who was a moment late in his activation, let his sword move at lightning speed and hacked at Jink’s sword that was swinging horizontally from above. I watched the iron blade get crushed easily and asked myself.
Eugeo must have used a wooden stick to practice the sword skill countless times once he got home. He properly discovered the existence of «Slant» during that practice, but there was no foreign sense of it being a last minute thing in that action just now. The united movement of Eugeo and the Sword of Blue Rose dancing even had a sense of elegance to it.
As he continues to practice and learn more sword skills and even go through the hellish test of the battlefield, what level of a swordsman would he become? If…if I really have to fight him for real one day, can I actually last in front of him…?
The villagers watched this clean decisive victory nobody expected and cheered loudly. I clapped enthusiastically amongst them, and yet felt cold sweat flowing down my back.
The Jink father and son combo looked stunned as they backed away, and the music immediately rang. The atmosphere of the celebration was a lot more intense before, ending only when the church bell at the tower rang to signal that it was 10.
I drank another 3 mugs of apple cider before finally forgetting the uneasiness that came for no reason, joined in the dance again with a delighted drunken feeling, and was basically dragged by Selka back to the church in the end. At the entrance, Eugeo, who was smiling wryly, agreed to go off together with me tomorrow morning before leaving, and I finally managed to get back to my own room and collapsed on my back onto the bed.
“Really, even if it was a celebration, you drank too much, Kirito. Here, water.”
I immediately gulped down the icy cold well water Selka handed over, and my mind was finally clear as I breathed out for a long moment. No matter how much beer I drank in Aincrad or Alfheim, I wouldn’t get drunk, but it seemed that the beer in Underworld was the real deal. I thought that I should take note of this and I looked up at the girl who was standing beside me, looking worried.
“…Is, is there something?”
I didn’t know what expression Selka saw on me as she was startled. I hurriedly lowered my head.
“Well…sorry. Aren’t you going to talk to Eugeo more?”
Still in her best clothes, Selka’s face immediately blushed a sakura-color.
“What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“Because, tomorrow morning, you’ll…no, I’ll have to apologize first. Sorry that things developed such that it looks like I’m taking Eugeo out of the village. If that guy continued to cut wood in this village, maybe he might, well…form a family with you or something, Selka…”
Selka sighed hard and sat down beside me.
“Really, you, what are you saying…”
She just looked extremely surprised as she shook her head several times, and continued,
“…Well, never mind—anyway, once Eugeo leaves the village, I’ll definitely feel lonely…but, I’m happy too. Ever since Alice nee-sama had gone, Eugeo lived his days as if he had given up on everything, and now he can smile so happily and decide to look for nee-sama. I think father must be rather happy to see him like this, because Eugeo never forgot about nee-sama.”
“…Is that so…”
Selka nodded, lifted her head to look at the full moon outside the window, and continued.
“For me…actually, I didn’t go over to the cave just to copy nee-sama and touch the land of the darkness. I knew I couldn’t do that. Even though I knew…I still felt, even if it was just a little, I wanted to get closer to nee-sama. I wanted to get the nearest to her as i could…until I reached a place I couldn’t advance forwards, and then from there on, I’ll realize clearly…that I can’t replace Alice nee-sama.”
I pondered about the meaning of Selka’s words, and shook my head slightly.
“No, you’re amazing. Ordinary girls would have immediately went back once they reached the bridge outside the village or the path in the forest or the entrance of the cave. But you kept walking deep into the dark cave and found the goblin scouts. You did something only you could do.”
“Only I…could do…?”
Selka widened her eyes and tilted her head. I nodded at her.
“You’re not a substitute for Alice, Selka. You definitely have something only you have. You just need to nurture this talent.”
In fact, I believe that from now on, Selka’s sacred arts would improve greatly. That’s because she sent the goblin squad retreating together with Eugeo and me, so her System Control Authority should have increased.
However, this wasn’t a question of talent. She challenged what sort of person she was and got her answer. This itself would grant her a power stronger than anything else. Believing in oneself would be the greatest strength that could be created from a human’s soul.
It’s about time for me to try and find the answer to a question that was delayed by a certain will.
My consciousness— this me who is called Kirito or Kirigaya Kazuto, what exactly am I? Am I a Fluctlight residing inside a living brain, a «real me»? Or am I a «clone» taken from the real me by the STL and preserved in some medium?
There’s only one way to check.
Eugeo, Selka and the other people of Underworld, their Fluctlights would never break the «Taboo Index» and the «Empire Fundamental Law» But even if I could break through the taboo in this world, it wouldn’t mean that I wasn’t an artificial Fluctlight. I didn’t know the clauses of the Taboo Index…and in other words these rules were not written into my soul.
On the other hand, I had to check if I could use my will to break the one rule…morals I had always abided by throughout my entire life till now. I went through all sorts of thought
s during the past few days, but this was still rather difficult. Using the sword to hurt the villagers or stealing were definitely not within the boundary, but if it was just badmouthing someone just to check, it would be rather unreliable. Right now, I could only rely on this.
I turned around and stared at Selka’s face as she sat right beside me.
“…What is it?”
I reached my hand out at Selka’s puzzled looking face and apologized to Asuna and Yui deep inside my heart. I then said sorry to Selka herself, brought my face closer and placed my lips on the pure white forehead under her headband.
Selka’s body jerked suddenly, and she didn’t move. After 3 seconds, my face left Selka, and her cheeks were flushed so red it reached her ears as she stared directly at me.
“Wha…what, did you just do…?”
“I guess…it’s most likely something like the «Oath of a Swordsman».”
I tried to find a decent excuse as I grit my teeth once I realized something inside my heart.
As I did something that the real me definitely wouldn’t do, I’m the real me. If I were a cloned FluctLight, I would have stopped automatically several millimeters away from Selka’s forehead.
As I was thinking about this, Selka continued to look at my face and used her right hand to touch her forehead before sighing,
“An oath… that might be your country’s tradition, but, if it wasn’t the forehead but the… there might be Integrity Knights flying over now. That’s something against the Taboo Index.”
There was a part in the middle I didn’t hear, but I didn’t bother to ask. Selka shook her head again, showing a slight smile on her face, and asked me.
“Then…what is your oath?”
“Isn’t that certain…Eugeo and I will go save Alice together and take your sister back to this village. I assure you…”
I paused for a while, and then said the following words,
“Because I’m the Swordsman Kirito.”
Part 6
The weather was wonderful the next morning.
While feeling the weight of the boxed-lunch Selka made for us on our right hands, Eugeo and I walked toward the south, along a road we wouldn’t come back on for a long time.
When we arrived at the junction which lead to the narrow path toward the forest where Gigas Cedar once stood, I saw an old man standing there. The deeply wrinkled face was covered with a white moustache, his backbone was straight, the glint in his eyes looked like it could penetrate through me.
As soon as he saw the elder, Eugeo smiled happily and started running.
“Garitta-jii! I’m glad you are here. I didn’t get to meet you yesterday.”
I remembered when I had heard that name. He was surely the predecessor of the «Gigas Cedar cutting duty».
A tender smile floated under the moustache of the the elder Garitta as he placed his hands on Eugeo’s shoulders.
“Eugeo, you certainly managed to cut down the Gigas Cedar, which I could only made a cut about a finger deep…… Could you tell me how you did it?”
“It was this sword and……”
Eugeo pulled the Sword of Blue Rose out from the scabbard on his left waist slightly, then he turned and looked at me.
“More than anything, his…… it’s thanks to my friend. His name is Kirito. He’s really a ridiculous guy.”
I hurriedly lowered my head while thinking ‘What the heck is with that introduction.’ Elder Garitta walked to me before giving me a piercing look with his sharp eyes —— and gave a broad smile immediately.
“So you’re the rumored «Vector’s lost child», huh. I see….. such a variable companion.”
It was the first time I ever heard something like that, while I tilted my head trying to figure out the meaning of his words, the elder pointed his left hand toward the forest and continued speaking,
“Now, I’m sorry that I interfered your long awaited departure, but I would like you to come with me for a little while. As I need you to do something.”
“E-Err. Kirito, it’s okay, right?”
I nodded as I didn’t have any particular reason to deny the request. The elder smiled again, before beckoning us as he stepped on the narrow path into the forest.
Even though I only commuted along this path daily for a week, but I sensed a deep emotion that felt like nostalgia, as we walked for about twenty minutes, before we arrived at the large clearing.
The ruler of the forest, which stood tall as if it could reach the heaven across the long several hundred of years time, now laid its great body quietly. Thin ivies had started to clamber over its jet black bark, in a far distant future, I thought it would decay and return to the earth.
“……What is the matter with the Gigas Cedar, Garitta-jii?”
The elder didn’t answer Eugeo’s question but walked toward the top of the fallen trunk. We chased after him in a hurry, but were greeted by a maze which was created from the branches of Gigas Cedar and the other trees intertwined together. When I looked carefully, the black branches of Gigas Cedar, no matter how thin it was, there was not a single one which had been damaged, although some had pierced into the ground or the rocks. Their toughness was really astonishing.
We got some scratch wounds on our bare arms as we struggled through the branches, and before long, we arrived next to elder Garitta who looked refreshing as he stood still. While using his palm to wipe the sweat off his forehead, Eugeo said in a grumble,
“What is here, exactly?”
“This.”
What the elder pointed at, was the topmost point of the fallen Gigas Cedar, its treetop extended straight out. It was a small branch which hadn’t grow yet, its length was considerably long, the tip was tapered sharply like a rapier.
“What’s with this branch?”
To my question, the elder stretched his gnarled right hand and stroked the part of the treetop which was about five centimeters thick.
“In all of the branches of Gigas Cedar, this is the one which had inhaled the most blessing from Solus. Now, use that sword and cut it off from here. Cut it in a single blade strike, many strikes may damage it.”
The elder used his hand to chop at the part about one meter and twenty centimeters from the tip, before making a several steps backward.
Eugeo and I exchanged glances with each other and nodded. After taking his boxed-lunch, I also stepped back.
When the Sword of Blue Rose was drawn out of the scabbard, it shone brightly in light blue under the sunlight, the elder beside me leaked out a faint sigh. ‘Perhaps everything would have changed if I had that sword when I was young,’ —— I thought this kind of regret probably echoed within his mind, but glancing at his calm face, I couldn’t read his mind at all.
Although Eugeo had set up his sword, but he didn’t move at all. The tip of the sword shaking slightly probably due to the hesitation in his mind. The branch which as thick as the wrist, perhaps he doesn’t have confidence that he could sever it in one hit?
“Eugeo, let me do it.”
As I stretched my hand forward, Eugeo nodded obediently and offered the grip of the sword. After receiving the boxed-lunches, he went to stand next to the elder.
I stared at the black branch thoughtlessly, then swung the sword upward and immediately slashed it downward. Kishi— with a clear sound and a light respond, the blade passed through the place I aimed at. The long black branch which fell down right after that was caught by the blade of the sword, before it sprung up. As it spun in the air while falling down, this time I caught it with my left hand. It was cold like ice and I slightly staggered due to its heavy weight on my wrist.
After I returned the Sword of Blue Rose to Eugeo, I used both hands to offer the black branch to elder Garitta.
“Just wait a little bit.”
As he said that, the elder took out a thick cloth from his bosom, before carefully wrapping the branch in my hands with it. In addition, he tied it up with a leather string.
“Now it??
?s good. When you arrive at the capital Centoria, bring this branch to the north seventh ward, and give it to an artisan name Sadre, who set up his shop there. He would be able to make a powerful sword from it. It certainly wouldn’t be inferior to that beautiful blue silver sword.”
“R-Really, Garitta-jii!? That would be great, as I was worried about the future as we only have one sword even though there’re two of us. Right, Kirito?”
Eugeo said in a happy voice, I replied with ‘That’s right,’ as I nodded while smiling. But I could feel that the jet black branch in my open arms became slightly heavier as I rejoiced.
To both of us, who were bowing our heads repeatedly, the elder gave a smile.
“It’s just my farewell gift. Be careful on the way. Because nowadays, there are not only good Gods reigning in this world. ……I’ll stay here to watch this tree for a little bit. Farewell Eugeo and the young traveler.”
After following the small path and exiting back to the main road again, the fine weather until now started to decline as some small black clouds sprung out from the east.
“The breeze is a bit moist now. We better go before it’s too late.”
“……That’s right. Let’s hurry.”
I nodded in response to Eugeo, the leather string of the cloth wrapped branch of Gigas Cedar was firmly tied to my back. The thunderous roar from the far distance away resonated with the heaviness of the branch, and my mind trembled slightly.
A pair, two swords.
Is that a hint, a sign of something in the future?
Shouldn’t I bury this parcel in the depths of this forest? that moment of thought made me stop moving. But, what is the reason that I fear it will be necessary? I don’t get it at all.
“Hey, let’s go, Kirito!”
As I lifted up my face, the bright smile of Eugeo, who was anticipating the unknown world, entered my eyes.
“Alright…… let’s go.”
It was just one week ago that we met, but for some reason I felt as if he had been my best friend for a long time, I walked side by side with the boy on the road extending to the south —— toward the heart of Underworld, the place where all answers to the puzzle were awaiting us, as we started to quicken our pace.