Chapter 14 TRG Vol. 1 Chapter 4 Part 3

Chapter 4 (The Supplementary Story)

“Hey, Thorn. Is this really necessary?”

“Of course it is, Rimi,” Thorn replied. “To be honest, I’m actually excited.”

I looked around, desperately hoping someone would stop this red-haired idiot. My eyes immediately landed on the black-and-white twins.

“Go get him, Brother Thorn.”

“Kick his ass.”

They had zero intention of stopping him; they were just ‘cheering’ him on in flat, bored voices. Completely useless. My gaze shifted to the man who seemed to be the companion of Thorn’s opponent. He was a powerfully built man with faded blond hair, just standing there with his arms crossed, watching us.

“Ah, apologies, but I must ask you not to interfere,” he said. “I would like for this to be a proper, honorable duel.”

Nope. This one’s crazy, too.

“Why?! Why is it, less than half a day after meeting, you all decide you have to try and kill each other with real swords?! You idiots!”

I couldn’t help it. I just looked up at the sky and screamed.

It all started at the tavern in the new town we’d arrived in, right after meeting Arche and Norn. We’d overheard a rumor.

“They say a swordmaster who can kill monsters solo is serving the lord of this domain.”

“I heard even the lord’s son is studying under him.”

Lately, as we’ve traveled, we can’t seem to avoid hearing rumors about some incredible swordsman. They’re all so exaggerated, you can’t tell how much is truth and how much is fiction. We were mostly just tuning this one out, too.

“It’s getting hard to track Master,” Thorn sighed. “We can’t tell which rumors are real and which are fake anymore.”

“There were even some who tried to take credit for his deeds, since he never gives his name,” Arche said.

“Even though they didn’t have the skills to back it up,” Norn added.

Thorn, Arche, and Norn all looked annoyed as they drank from their tankards. We’d been chasing rumors that sounded like their master, but some of them turned out to be about someone else entirely, sending us on wild goose chases.

“So, this time he’s ‘serving a lord,’ huh?” Thorn said.

“That’s definitely a lie,” Norn stated flatly. “Master would never serve anyone.”

“A ‘Master’ and a ‘Noble’ are complete opposites,” Arche agreed.

“You three… you do actually respect your master, right?”

Their dismissal was so total, I had to ask. To be fair, from what they’d told me, I couldn’t imagine this ‘master’ of theirs bowing to anyone, either. A guy who takes kids into the woods to ‘train’ by killing monsters isn’t going to get along with nobility.

“So, another dead end,” I sighed. “He’s like a cloud. Impossible to grasp.”

I was popping roasted beans into my mouth, figuring this town was a bust, when I heard someone approaching our table. I looked up. It was a young man with shining golden hair and emerald-green eyes, followed by that powerfully built, faded-blond man. The young one, from his clothes and his aura, was clearly a noble.

They saw us, and the young man walked over, a faint smile on his lips.

“Pardon the interruption, but I must ask. Are you the traveling adventurers I’ve heard rumors of? The ones with such… profound skill with the sword?”

The young man, who introduced himself as Knox, and his companion, Rowan, sat down at our table. Knox offered his hand to Thorn.

“…Thorn.”

Thorn, perhaps sensing the unspoken authority in Knox’s demeanor, took his hand. The instant he did, Thorn’s expression changed completely.

“This hand…!”

“It is just as Master said. You are my senior disciple.”

Senior disciple. At that word, Arche and Norn reacted instantly.

“You’re Master’s disciple?!”

“Where did he go?!”

“Please, calm down,” Knox said. “That is precisely why I am here to speak with you.”

The story Knox and Rowan told was, once again, completely beyond my comprehension. He what? He killed a Demon Boar in a single blow? He can sense monsters and just… goes and hunts them? I’ll be honest: I wasn’t entirely convinced they were talking about a human being.

“I see… that’s Master for you,” Thorn said, just nodding along. “It seems I’m not just ‘not catching up,’ I’m actually falling further behind.”

Thorn was just accepting it. But… he’s the one who goes around one-shotting monsters with a regular steel sword! He’s already not human! Just because your levels of ‘not human’ are different, from a normal person’s perspective, you’re all in the same boat!

“Master said he was heading north,” Knox continued. “His true destination is, most likely, the Farthest-North Mountains.”

“The Farthest-North Mountains!?”

I couldn’t help but shriek. That’s a place no one, save for the Hero of legend, has ever crossed! It’s the Demon King’s stronghold! The source of all miasma!

“Yes,” Rowan said, nodding like this was all perfectly normal. “If it is our Master, he will be able to cross them. As you all know, of course.”

No, I do NOT know! They have monsters there that are on a completely different level from the ones around here!

“When I asked our Master why he travels,” Knox said, “he gave me this answer: ‘To pass this on, to the one who is supposed to have it.’“

“It’s as if he knew, wasn’t it?” Knox said.

“Our Master’s sword is the ultimate weapon against monsters,” he said, his voice heating up. “It’s a new power for humanity, one that doesn’t rely on magic. He has been passing it on to those he finds who have the potential to learn it… like you… and like us.”

“And by doing so… he intends to strike down the Demon King, the source of all monsters. The one who was deeply wounded by the Hero, yes, but who still sleeps beyond the mountains, threatening humanity.” Knox’s speech was becoming passionate.

“But… Rowan and I are not enough. Our Master’s back is still too far away. That is why I want to support him. I want to unite us, all of us, to help him achieve his goal.”

“And you want us to join you,” Thorn whispered, having grasped what Knox was trying to say.

Hearing that, Knox nodded and took Thorn’s hand.

“Please, come with us. Our goal should be the same.”

He looked, in turn, at Arche, at Norn, and at me.

“We follow Brother Thorn, our senior disciple,” Arche said.

“He is the leader of our party,” Norn added.

Just like them, I turned and looked at Thorn. He glanced at us, then lowered his gaze for a moment… and stood up.

“In that case… there’s something we have to do first!”

And that’s why we were now standing in an open, treeless field outside of town, watching Thorn and Knox stare each other down.

“Are you really going to do this?” Rowan asked.

“If we’re going to join your clan,” Thorn said, “then as fellow disciples, we have to have a match. Don’t worry,” he said, shooting me a dazzlingly bright smile, “Rimi’s an incredible mage. She can heal a few scratches.”

I’m not worried about scratches! I’m worried about you fighting with real swords!

“So… what’s the signal?” Thorn asked. He raised his unsheathed sword into a high stance and held it.

“Rowan, if you would.”

“Understood. I will begin.”

In response, Knox also drew his sword, but held it in a low stance, the opposite of Thorn’s. The one thing they all had in common—Thorn, Knox, and the twins—was that they all held their swords with two hands. It was a stance completely different from any swordsmanship I’d ever known.

“Begin!”

At Rowan’s call, Thorn exploded forward. He was so fast I could barely track him. He brought his sword down on Knox, who still hadn’t moved.

“! Fast!”

But that first strike hit empty air as Knox shifted off-axis. He immediately used the opening, swinging his own sword in a horizontal arc at Thorn’s exposed side, but—

“Too slow!”

With that shout, Thorn, from that over-extended swing, somehow snapped his sword back—it looked like he used only his arms—and parried Knox’s blade. …I think that’s what happened. The only reason I can even guess is because their blades are wrapped in that faint mana, allowing me to see the trails of light. Their master might be strong, but these guys are already at a level no normal adventurer could ever hope to touch.

“Then try this!”

Knox used the momentum from the parry to spin, dropping so low he was almost crawling, and swung his sword at Thorn’s feet.

“I see it, Knox!”

Thorn just… jumped, leaping clean over the attack like an acrobat, and in that same motion, pounced on Knox from above.

“Wha—!?”

Knox, who had been parried and was already in an over-extended, impossible stance, had no way to defend. Thorn tackled him to the ground and, in an instant, had his sword at Knox’s throat.

“Hah… hah…”

For a moment, the only sound was the two of them, panting.

“My… my loss,” Knox breathed. “As expected… of my senior.”

“That was a good strike,” Thorn said, catching his own breath and standing up. “I wasn’t doubting you, but… you really are his disciple.”

The two of them, having caught their breath, just… grinned at each other.

“With this… have I shown you? Proof that I am worthy to stand with you?”

“Yeah. Welcome aboard… Clan Leader.”

I have no idea what they ‘proved’ in that fight, but they shook hands, hard.

“Is it just because I’m a mage that I don’t get this…?” I muttered. I don’t think I’ll ever be on the same wavelength as these sword-demons.

“By the way, Thorn, are you sure about this? Me, as the leader?”

“I don’t mind. I’m no good at managing people. Besides, you’re the one who named the clan. That makes you the leader.”

A few days later, with Knox and Rowan now part of our party, we had officially formed a clan, as Knox called it. It wasn’t like we could register it—we’re travelers, not based in one guild—but it was a name for ourselves.

“So, Knox, what’s the name?”

“Now that you mention it, he never told us.”

Arche and Norn, who had already gotten used to Knox and Rowan, peered at him from either side.

“The clan name,” Knox said, “is the name of our Master’s sword style.”

“His… style name?” Norn tilted her head.

Now that she said it, I’d never heard a name for their sword style, either.

“He taught it to you?” Thorn asked.

“Yes,” Rowan interjected, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed. “But only after we whined and pleaded with him repeatedly.”

“But,” Knox continued, “I felt it was the most fitting name to represent all of us.”

“Well, c’mon, let’s hear it!”

Thorn pressed Knox to hurry up.

“Master was always saying it during our training,” Knox explained. “That the heart is the most essential thing. To control the fear of monsters, to swing the blade with a calm, clear spirit. That… was the source of his strength. And it was the name of his sword.”

To unify the soul and the heart, and become one with the blade.

“Therefore, our Master’s sword style—and our clan’s name—is…”

Hakushin Ittō-ryū. (The Soul-Heart One-Blade Style.)