Chapter 2 TRG Vol. 1 Prologue Part 2

Prologue to Posing as a Master (The Inside Story)

“Are you really going back?”

“Yeah, I’m going. This is as far as I go.”

Even now, I still dream of that day—the day I decided to return to my homeland, leaving my partner, the man I’d fought back-to-back with against monsters for so many years, behind in that snow-bound town.

It was a cold town, buried in snow year-round. A town built after some ‘legendary hero’ had succeeded in pushing the Demon King and his monsters to the other side of the mountains.

The hero had only managed to wound the Demon King, and monsters still poured forth from beyond the peaks.

This town’s beginning was as a fortress, a breakwater built to stop that tide from crashing into human territory.

“…It’s going to be lonely. There’ll be no one left who can keep up with my sword.”

My partner’s face, now far more wrinkled and scarred than when we’d first arrived, clouded over with loneliness. I was sure I’d aged just as much. The fact that we were still alive, even with all our scars, put us in the top percentile.

“I could only ever fight with cheap tricks. I was never able to really keep up with a demon of the sword like you.”

“If you couldn’t, who else could?”

In this town—no, in this entire country, save for the descendants of the legend himself—my partner’s skill with the blade was, I could proudly say, the best. Those days I spent fighting beside him, a partner far beyond my station, were like a treasure to me.

“…I doubt it’ll happen, but if I find someone promising back home, I’ll teach them. I’ll teach them your sword.”

Because I had watched his sword from his side for longer than anyone, I wanted to be the one to pass it on, in place of this man who was hopelessly bad at teaching.

Even if it was an impossible wish.

“Hah. That’s something I’d like to see…” my partner said, smiling sadly.

That final promise was nothing but a hollow comfort. The sword of a man who loved the sword, and was loved by the sword… who in the world could possibly learn such a thing?

Those words had only slipped out, born from the guilt of leaving my partner to face it all alone.

My body began to settle into its new life. I returned to my home village, set monster-warding traps along the roads and clearings, and spent my days hunting and making charcoal. The villagers, who at first had looked at me like some strange creature, were finally starting to accept me as one of their own.

It was around then that the kid showed up.

“My kid’s got it in his head he wants to be an adventurer… He’s out there swinging a hoe all night. Sorry to bother you with kid’s games, but could you rough him up a bit and make him give up?”

It started when I went down to the village to sell my charcoal and meat. One of the villagers approached me with this request. According to him, the second the kid finished his farm work, he’d just swing a hoe, and when he stopped, he’d mutter incomprehensible nonsense. He said it was creepy.

I saw my younger self in that story. You look at your dreary village, and you decide you’re going to accomplish something in the outside world. You’re driven by a baseless confidence that you, you can do it. It’s a game of make-believe, common for boys that age.

“If it’s just something I can do on the side,” I said, accepting the offer. The very next day, the man brought his kid to me.

“I’m going to be an adventurer. I want to hear your stories.”

The kid cut right to the chase, and his father sighed, giving me a pointed look. Yeah, this one’s going to be trouble.

“You want to be an adventurer, so you want to hear my stories? What a strange kid.”

As I said it, I signaled the father to leave. Some kids just get more stubborn when their family is around.

“Getting involved with monsters… you’ll run out of lives fast. I was just lucky to live this long. I’ve seen more unlucky guys who died anticlimactic deaths than I can count.”

Once we were alone, I said that and watched his reaction. Just as I thought. He didn’t believe a word. And why would he? No reckless kid is going to believe the ramblings of a shriveled-up old man. I lit my handmade pipe.

“Well, I get that farm life is boring.”

Wake up, go to the fields, sleep when the sun sets. For the villagers, this village is the entire world. The outside is another realm. The only connection is the occasional merchant. My old partner would have laughed and called them “no different from trees or plants.” That’s what the adults here were like.

I didn’t understand how precious that was. That’s why, like this kid, I had a reckless dream, left the village, and learned its value the hard way. And now, here I am, playing at being a hunter.

“If you’re an ex-adventurer, I don’t just want to hear stories, I want you to teach me the sword. There isn’t a single decent sword in this village, so I can’t even train properly.”

I looked at his hands. The skin on his palms was calloused, repeatedly torn and healed over, far thicker than a boy’s hands should be. So, it wasn’t a lie. He had been training, even if it was his own style.

“I will be an adventurer. So please, I’m asking you.”

With those words, the kid bowed his head. I will be. For him, it was an unshakeable fact. He didn’t say, “I want to be.”

“A disciple for a failure like me, eh… Well, I guess I can humor you for a little while.”

We’ll see how long that attitude lasts, I thought. My skills may have dulled since my active days, but I wasn’t so soft I’d lose to a child. I am, after all, one of the few who repeatedly faced man-eating monsters and returned with all his limbs intact.

Come to think of it, what was it that made me become an adventurer? Looking at this kid, I was starting to remember.

“My stories, eh? Don’t have many grand ones…”

I started by just telling him what came to mind. How I left the village, how I survived against monsters by pure luck. How I made allies, though only my partner stayed ’til the end.

Monsters.

They aren’t just wild animals. Their power, their tough hides… everything about them exists to kill other living things.

For an average adventurer, it takes a party of four just to take down one monster. A half-assed blade will be repelled, and ordinary armor won’t save your life from their attacks.

I had faced them, side-by-side with my partner, in a dance of death. The last straw… the thing that finally broke my spirit and made me quit… was when we went to repel a goblin attack on a village near our base.

“Village life might be boring, but that boredom is peace. Wanting to be an adventurer is a dream all kids have, but the smart ones let it stay a dream.”

As I said it, I remembered that goblin raid. A tragedy that only happened because the village was so close to the front lines. That would never happen here. As long as I’m watching, even the monster that lairs on the mountain won’t be able to do as it pleases.

“It doesn’t matter. I have no place in this village anyway. My brothers will inherit the farm, and there’s no chance of me finding a wife.”

My ‘discouraging’ stories had no effect. But, his reasoning was sound. If words could stop him, the village elders would have already.

“…You’re just like I used to be. Fine. I’ll play along until you give up. Finish all your chores at home, then come to me.”

“Got it. Thank you for taking me on.”

If words wouldn’t work, I’d have to use force. If he realizes he has no talent, he’ll lose the will to be an adventurer. And if he hates the village that much, I could even let him inherit this hut. I have no family, and I needed someone to maintain the traps I’d set. If he had another path, it would be an easier pill to swallow.

That was my plan. I’d teach him the sword, and how to maintain the traps.

From the next day, the kid showed up at my hut every afternoon, right after his farm work. In recognition of his enthusiasm, I gave him a kodachi a kid could wield.

“Alright then, first… keep swinging ’til you collapse.”

“Huh?”

I nudged the dumbfounded kid and forced him to swing. Swinging a hoe builds a little muscle, but that’s it. If we were going to do this, I was going to drill the fundamentals into him, even if it broke him.

“Swing straight up. Don’t use just your arms.”

“Ugh, gnn…!”

When his arms dropped from exhaustion, I’d tap them with a branch to make him correct his form. He had some stamina from his own training, but it wasn’t long before he collapsed.

“Hh… Hh…”

“Already at your limit? And you had the nerve to say you wanted to be an adventurer.”

When I taunted him, he shot me a sharp glare, pushed himself up with trembling hands, and started swinging again.

“Damn… geezer…!”

I heard him mutter through clenched teeth, and a smile crept onto my face. It seems he has guts. That’s an essential quality for an adventurer.

Some time after I started teaching him, I noticed his sword-form was changing.

His self-taught, weak, slow swing was, while still slow, starting to come together. Even as I forced him to swing until he collapsed, his form wouldn’t waver.

When I asked, he said that even after he left my hut, he’d go home and keep swinging until he collapsed. How could a kid not even ten years old do that? His hands were a wreck, the hilt of his kodachi stained a dark, blackish-red.

“Swords don’t work on monsters. That stuff only happens in stories. …Well, that, or you’re my old partner.”

I found myself muttering this, as if to drill it into the kid who was swinging with such single-minded focus. I used to be mistaken, too. I thought that if a mortal man just sharpened his strike enough, he could pierce the hide of humanity’s natural enemy. I realized that was a mistake when I met my partner. Every time we trained, I felt the cruel, overwhelming gap in our talent. That’s why I came to rely on tricks.

“I don’t care if it’s a story or if you’re not your partner. I will cut monsters.”

He said it, still breathing heavily, never stopping his swings. For some reason, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

Maybe it was because in this reckless kid, I saw my old self.

“The master of the mountain is called a Rat-Beast,” I told him, making sure he understood. “It used to be a normal animal, but it was corrupted by miasma, grew huge, and started attacking people.”

It was a monster that appeared after I’d left the village. Its body was huge, and it had a horn that could pierce armor. It was huge and ferocious. It usually stayed near the summit, but when it came down, it would block the single road connecting this village to the outside world. When that happened, the merchants wouldn’t come, and in the winter, old folks and children would die. All we could do was wait for the storm to pass.

Since I’d been back, I’d set traps and fought it a few times, so its appearances had dropped sharply. Still, I drilled it into the kid over and over.

“A half-assed sword won’t cut a monster. That’s why you set traps. This whole mountain is full of traps I’ve set. Neither sword nor trap can even scratch the master. But because of these traps, it finds it annoying and doesn’t come down here.”

When sword practice was over, I’d take him into the mountain and teach him about the traps. As long as he was with me, the animals wouldn’t attack, and the master wouldn’t show itself as long as we stayed below the mid-point. I showed him the safe limits and taught him about the trap network I’d spent years perfecting.

“Look at how this vine runs. It’s not natural. This is a trap…”

He learned the mechanisms and maintenance with surprising ease. He was absorbing all the ‘fangs’ I, a mortal, had spent my life sharpening just to survive. I found myself passionately teaching him, a feeling that was foreign to me.

I’m all alone in this world. I found myself thinking, is this what it would have been like to have a son?

“You’re a quick learner. Your form with the sword is good, too… At this rate…”

I muttered that one day, watching him swing. At this rate, even if he doesn’t become an adventurer, he’s more than good enough to take over for me. In two years, I could have him helping me for real. I’d have to figure out how to convince his parents, but someone had to manage this hut.

…I was actually looking forward to it. Making this kid, who I’d started to think of as a son, my successor.

I had no idea the kid had overheard me.

The next day, he proposed, “I’ll check the mountain traps by myself today.”

Normally, I’d never allow him to go in alone.

But I was… giddy. I’d drilled the danger of the master into him. His sword was good enough to fend off small beasts. He’d just be checking traps, he wouldn’t go above the mid-line. My thinking had become uncharacteristically optimistic.

Perhaps it was punishment for that.

That day, even as the sun began to hide behind the mountains, the kid didn’t return.

I want to murder the part of myself that thought, He probably just went to check on a faraway trap. It was too late to go searching. If I went into the mountain now, I wouldn’t make it out safely.

More than anything… that image was still seared into my mind. The hideous forms of the goblins that had attacked that village, slaughtering not just adventurers, but civilians. My feet were frozen to the spot, terrified that they would leap out from the mountain’s darkness, even though I knew it was impossible.

All I could do was pray. If there was such a thing as a whimsical god, please, please let him return safely.

I clutched the sword that had been with me through thick and thin, fighting the urge to cut off my own useless legs that wouldn’t take a single step. I waited.

Finally, as the night’s darkness began to creep toward the hut, I heard a rustling in the bushes. My senses, on high alert, caught it instantly. I ran.

“Fin…ally… made it… back…”

What I saw was a kid in tattered rags that could barely be called clothes, so covered in scrapes I couldn’t find a single untouched spot. He was faltering, but he was alive. All his limbs were attached. He stumbled toward me.

“You… you’re alive…!”

It was easy to imagine what happened. He’d run into the master of the mountain. And yet, he’d survived. He’d escaped. As he was about to collapse, I rushed to catch him, and he burst into tears.

“I was… so… scared…!”

I just nodded, listening to his sobs. I couldn’t speak. I just held him tightly. If I didn’t, he’d find out that I was crying, too. In front of him, I had to be the master. I couldn’t let him see me cry.

After he’d cried himself out, he fell asleep, still clinging to me. He’d been chased through the mountains by the Rat-Beast. On a child’s legs. I’m not surprised. I let him stay the night.

“You did well, coming back alive…” I whispered, wiping his matted hair and filthy face with a damp cloth, careful not to wake him. To face a monster at his age and not freeze… to be able to run… that alone was an astonishing achievement. This kid definitely has the talent to be an adventurer. Not for the sword, not for traps… but the talent for survival.

“But I guess this is the end of that…”

I squeezed the cloth. He has talent. But that talent was just snuffed out by today’s encounter. How could a kid not even ten years old, after an experience like that, still want to be an adventurer? He wouldn’t take over for me, either. For him, this mountain itself has become an object of terror.

“But that’s fine. As long as you’re alive.”

Thank you. It was a good dream. This foolish dream that I could have a son, that I could have a successor. I’d wanted him to give up, hadn’t I? So this was for the best. He’d give up, and live out his life in the village. And I’d go on making charcoal.

“Yeah… that’s… that’s what’s best…”

I ended up watching his sleeping face until he woke up the next morning.

For several days, the kid didn’t show. Just as I thought, he’d given up. I went back to my charcoal. I was disappointed, of course. But more than that, I was happy he would go on living in that village.

Which is why my heart lurched when he appeared before me again, kodachi in hand.

“I took a few days off ’cause of my injuries. But I’m resuming my training today.”

“What are you… you almost died.”

“I can’t beat that monster as I am now. But that’s only for now.”

That’s all he said. He just started his swings. He was wincing, his joints clearly still aching, but he didn’t stop.

“You idiot. Stop this. You can’t be an adventurer.”

Even when I said that, he didn’t stop. If anything, he trained with more fervor than before.

If I didn’t watch him, he would swing his sword forever. He wouldn’t stop swinging until he literally passed out from exhaustion. It got so bad I had to take his sword away.

“Stop it! I don’t know what’s driving you, but what kind of idiot trains until they knock themselves out?!”

He wasn’t being forced by me. He was voluntarily swinging until he lost consciousness. How could he keep up this insane training, day after day?

“I want to be able to beat that monster,” he said. “No, not just that monster. All of them. I want to become a man who can guide everyone.”

What was he saying? The third son of a farmer in a dead-end village? Guide? Nearly everyone born here dies here. The rare ‘crazy’ ones like me leave, and almost all of them die having accomplished nothing. I’m just one of the lucky few. How could he make such a grandiose declaration? I couldn’t understand it at all.

But I felt it.

That this kid… might actually do it someday.

Those words, delivered with such impossibly straight eyes, sent a shiver down my spine, even stronger than before.

“I certainly said your form was good… but to go this far…”

When did I start to become fascinated, just watching him swing?

The sword I was teaching him was my partner’s. It was the art of a Sword Demon, a technique that allowed a mere steel blade, through countless strikes, to cut monsters that normal men could not.

And this kid… was beginning to master it.

“Enough with the practice swings. Starting today, you spar with me.”

One day, I stopped his swings. He was already touching it. The fundamental truth of the sword that my partner, a man blessed by the blade, had found. If so, there was something I could give him.

“Too slow! Treat my attacks like a monster’s!”

From that day, sparring became our routine. We’d strike, sheathed sword against sheathed sword, until one of us was disarmed or landed a ‘hit.’ The kid’s form had solidified into something beautiful. All that was left was to give him the ‘eyes’ to use it against a monster. And the only one who could do that… was me, the ‘mortal’ who had stood beside that Sword Demon.

His ‘fight’ was still soft. He was too slow. He couldn’t predict their movements. Fine. I would become the monster. I would be his wall. Even if it was a wall he’d soon surpass, it would become his foundation.

“If you’re serious about killing monsters, you’re going to have to at least beat a simple old man in a hut, kid.”

“…Damn geezer. I’ll definitely land a hit on you.”

He’s on the ground now, but one day, he’ll surpass me. Watching him glare at me, frustrated, and immediately resume his swings, I felt a fire light in my own heart again.

“‘Monsters are living things, too. They always have a weak spot. Watch their bodies, their movements… They attack us on instinct. That’s why they don’t make unreasonable moves… That’s why humans, with our thinking brains, can find the small gaps. My partner… that’s how he cut monsters.'”

Our sparring became a time where our minds met. He absorbed everything I wanted to teach him. Not just the sword, but the traps, how to start a fire, even how to walk. I literally beat into him every combat technique I had ever learned, and all of my partner’s sword.

At the same time, a burning emotion was born in me. This kid is fighting so hard… so why am I still frozen in fear?

One night, after sending the kid home, I stared at the moon reflected on my blade, drawn halfway from its sheath. This body couldn’t move like it used to. I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I could beat the monster ruling this mountain.

“But… I can’t just stay quiet after my apprentice got hurt like that, can I?”

Just for a little while. Just until the kid surpasses me. I’ll make sure that thing doesn’t come down the mountain.

I moved through the pitch-black mountain, relying only on the moonlight. I’d walked this path so many times I wouldn’t get lost, wouldn’t even stumble, with my eyes closed.

But how terrifying must this night mountain have been for that kid?

As I climbed, the air grew heavy, so cold it seemed to freeze my heart. It wasn’t just the temperature. The presence of the monster was growing stronger. With every step, my knees shook, and my instincts screamed at me to go back. I gripped the hilt of my sword to suppress it.

I reached a place where the trees thinned. An unusual smell drifted to me. Not just animal musk. The thick, rank stench of blood. And their unique smell. A smell I’d had more than my fill of in my youth.

“So, you’ve finally decided to show yourself, Rat-Beast.”

Its body, as large as a man’s, was covered in fur as hard as metal armor. Its brown fur was stained a murky black, and a red horn, veined like a living thing, reflected the moonlight.

“So you’re the one who ‘welcomed’ my apprentice so nicely.”

I drew my sword, muttering words it couldn’t understand. The Rat-Beast roared, drool flying from its mouth.

“You think that’s enough to scare me?!”

I shouted to hide my own instinctive terror. It charged. I let my sword ride along its horn, redirecting the trajectory. Yellow sparks flew, but my sword held.

Just as I taught the kid. Monsters know they are strong. That horn can’t be blocked by any normal shield. No human has the strength to stop it.

So don’t stop. Keep moving. Even if you’re out of breath, even if your legs are shaking, keep thrusting that sword!

“I can’t kill you, but…!”

I dropped low, dodging a swipe of its powerful foreleg, and slammed my sword into its paw, where the fur was thinnest. More sparks. Not a single scratch. Of course not. The only person I know who can damage a monster with just a sword is my old partner. But…

“Like hell I’ll give up! I am his master!”

I twisted, escaping its snapping jaws. I swung my sword at its foreleg again.

With every swing, my body grew hot, as if remembering the old days. That’s right, remember! The days I fought alongside my partner. Back then, we were the only ones who came back alive!

I am the partner of the Sword Demon who slew monsters alone.

My swings, driven by spirit, eventually slowed. I was out of breath. My vision blurred. I’d collapse soon.

The Rat-Beast charged again. I moved to parry it, just as I had before… and I felt the strength drain from my right knee.

“…!?”

I kicked off my left foot, narrowly avoiding being skewered, but my left arm, which had been grazed, was numb.

“…I’ve gotten rusty.”

The Rat-Beast, sensing a difference, bared its fangs, drooling. It thinks I’m prey.

“I only need one hand for the likes of you!”

I raised my sword with my right hand, a taunt it couldn’t understand. I was saying it to keep my own heart from breaking.

It kicked off its hind legs, charging faster than before. Yes, that’s it. It knows its own strength. It knows which weapon is best for killing. It knows the best movement for a final blow.

“Yeah, I knew you’d do that.”

I dropped, rolling out of its path, and as it passed, I laid my sword against its leg.

The Rat-Beast’s foreleg, which had met my blade so many times, was split open. Blood erupted.

It wasn’t my strength. It was the monster’s own momentum driving my blade into its flesh. Its hide, weakened from my repeated strikes, was torn open by its own power. …It was a wound only a single hair deep. In my prime, maybe I could have cut deeper. My partner… my partner would have taken the leg off.

In reality, it was just one cut. It wouldn’t threaten its life. Still…

“How about that. I’m not quite finished yet, am I?”

It never imagined I could wound it. Maybe, in its entire life, it had never been wounded. This was the first time. As proof, the monster backed away, wary, and licked the blood from its leg.

“Well? What’s it going to be? We keep this up ’til one of us is dead?”

I pointed my sword. Its blood dripped from the tip.

The Rat-Beast backed away… then turned, and vanished toward the summit.

I held my stance, listening, but the smell faded. It was gone. I collapsed.

“Sheesh… actin’ like a hot-headed kid at my age…”

If it hadn’t retreated, I would have died on the next attack. It only left because it was wary of me, its first-ever wound.

“It won’t go like that next time.”

Once it realizes the wound was nothing, it won’t back down. That’s why…

“I have to raise that kid… before then.”

The day came suddenly.

“Don’t telegraph your moves with your eyes! Look at everything at once and keep moving!”

Our usual sparring. I’d knocked him down a few times, but then I felt it. A discrepancy. Why was my reaction slower than his? My response to his swing, to his movement… it was late.

He dove at my feet. I kicked off the ground, jumping back, and tapped his head.

“Too slow!”

My reaction was late. That’s why I had to jump. I said it to hide my mistake. This should have been the end of it. But not today. He was still standing. He’d even… gotten to my landing spot before me.

“Is this too slow?!”

His sheathed kodachi swung sideways and struck my thigh. Hard. The impact broke my balance. I fell, he mounted me, and he thrust the end of the scabbard at my throat.

“Haa… haa…”

“Zeh… zeh…”

Only our ragged breathing echoed.

I… lost? To this kid?

His face was filled with triumph, as if he was about to scream, “I did it!” And I understood. I had truly, completely lost.

At the same time, I couldn’t stop the laughter bubbling up from my stomach. I covered my eyes with one hand and laughed, loud enough to echo through the mountains.

I did it to hide the tears streaming out from under my hand.

“You did it faster than I expected. I… I wasn’t planning on losing just yet…”

I picked him up, forcing my aching leg to stand. I couldn’t look any more pathetic.

“Alright! You landed a hit. This calls for a celebration.”

I made a huge meal. The kid was starving, and watching the food vanish into his stomach made me feel full, too.

“…When you first said you wanted to be an adventurer, I thought it was just a kid’s fever dream. But look how far you’ve come. How about it? Why don’t you stay here and take over for me as the hunter?”

I said it without thinking. Stay here. Be a hunter. You could beat the master of the mountain one day. Then you can leave. You’ll be a famed adventurer in no time.

“What are you talking about? I’m going to be an adventurer. That’s what I’ve said from the start.”

His reply was cold. Yeah. You’d say that. That’s why you endured this insane training. That’s why you’re here.

“But be warned. It’s not a path you can walk with half-baked resolve. …Don’t you die.”

The reason I want you to stay… is because I don’t want you to die. You’ve become that important to me. So please, don’t die.

“Of course. I won’t forget what you taught me. So I won’t die.”

He looked right at me. If I don’t forget your teachings, I won’t die. My vision blurred. Dammit. This quiet, un-cute kid… saying things like that.

“I see… I’ll just pray that what I’ve taught you helps, even a little.”

That’s all I could say. If I opened my mouth again, I’d say something I shouldn’t. I retreated to my bed. Why do I have to cry so many times for this brat?

From then on, I started stuffing him with survival knowledge. He had to learn to read and write. On the road, you have no family, no friends. Being illiterate is like traveling blind.

His quick mind absorbed that, too. Within a year, he was proficient.

And in our sparring… my losses began to stack up. It became hard to even follow his sword with my eyes.

“I know I’m old, but to lose this much… Is this what they call a ‘talent blessed by the sword’?”

“….I have no sword talent at all.”

He said that one day, after beating me. As if. But he… he really seemed to believe he was weak.

That’s where he and my partner were completely different. Maybe he took after me in that.

My one worry… was the Rat-Beast. It was quiet, maybe waiting for the small wound I’d given it to heal, but it would be back. If the kid was here, maybe we could fight it, two-on-one. But after he leaves… how long could I hold it off alone?

“My turn to check the mountain today.”

While I was agonizing, the kid just went out as usual. I’d stopped worrying. He could beat me, he knew the traps. He’d learned his lesson.

But that day… just like that day… he didn’t come back by dusk.

…He couldn’t have lost to a simple beast. Which means…

“That bastard…!”

He went alone! To finish it! He knew I’d stop him, so he went in secret!

“That damn fool…!”

It was getting dark, but I could still see. I grabbed my sword and ran out—and my feet froze. The darkness between the trees… I saw the shapes of goblins, of the Rat-Beast. Pathetically, my body was completely frozen in fear from that last fight.

My hands trembled. I almost dropped my sword. You useless old man! Why can’t you move?!

I was glaring at my rooted feet when a bush rustled. I drew my sword, staring. Please, just an animal… the worst case is…

“What are you doing, geezer…?”

A voice cut through my worst fears. I knew that voice.

“I’m late.”

He emerged from the dusk… dyed bright red in splattered blood.

And behind him… I was dumbstruck by what he was dragging.

He was gripping the horn—a horn as thick as a man’s arm—and pulling the corpse of the master of this mountain. The Rat-Beast.

“No way… you actually did it… Am I dreaming…?”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. “No way,” I kept muttering.

The kid looked at me, confused. “What’s wrong? You finally going senile, geezer?”

He had no idea what he had just accomplished.

I ran to him and smacked him on the head. “You damn cheeky apprentice…!”

I hugged him, not caring about the blood soaking my clothes. This time, I couldn’t hide the tears. I couldn’t hide my sobs.

Ah. This kid is the real deal.

He had cut a monster… without the supernatural power of magic, which is a monster’s only true weakness. A kid with no magic talent had cut a monster with only a sword.

The only other person I know who could do that… was my old partner.

This kid is going to be a legend.

A few winters later, on a spring day, the kid, dressed in the gear I’d given him, left the village on a merchant’s wagon.

“Head north. You’ll find a good meeting there.”

That’s all I told him. He’ll make it to that town. The northernmost point of human survival. The front lines against the monsters.

And there… he’ll meet my partner.

“Looks like I’m finally… going to keep that promise to you…”

I will never, for the rest of my life, forget these few years I spent teaching this kid how to swing a stick.