Chapter 79: The Sword of Fire (1)
Inside the carriage that was leaving the Ketterland region.
There, Gilford was bowing his head with a dark expression.
In his hand, he held Ascalon, which had been drawn out of its sheath.
His eyes, which looked at Ascalon while bowing his head, were filled with frustration and despair.
Not only Gilford, but also all the mercenaries, including Jenny, had gloomy faces.
The death of Gaff, who had been the vice-captain of Gilford’s mercenary band, was a significant event for them.
“…Gaff.”
Gilford, who was leaning on Ascalon, muttered Gaff’s name.
He was his friend before he was his vice-captain, and also his comrade who had fought through every battlefield with him.
He had once been his rival, too. But now that he was gone, all that was left for Gilford was emptiness.
His eyes, clouded with confusion, looked at the most sacred sword in the world.
Even though it shone brightly, Gilford’s eyes were still dull.
Ascalon spoke to him, who was staring blankly at the sword.
-“Your divinity has grown by one level.”
“…”
-“If you grow a little more, you will gain a different power. You won’t have to run away helplessly like before.”
It was a message that Ascalon had become stronger by one level in Gilford’s hand.
Strength.
It was something that he would have been happy about normally.
Gilford would have pursued strength more than anyone else in the past.
He dreamed of becoming stronger to help people, shake off his obscurity, and collect gold.
But now, he couldn’t feel happy even when he heard that he had become stronger.
His strength had no meaning in front of the evil god’s power that he had faced.
Gilford looked at Ascalon with his cracked lips and opened his mouth.
“Is that… so important?”
Being a mercenary was dangerous as well.
They always stood on the edge of life and death, and a moment’s mistake could cause the loss of the mercenary band.
He had lost countless comrades so far.
But Gilford had fallen into a deeper sorrow than ever before, because Gaff was a more special existence to him than anyone else.
Facing the sacred light that flickered in front of his eyes, Gilford bit his dry and cracked lips.
-“Think about the battles that will come.”
“The battles that will come…?”
-“Aren’t you a hero? No matter what you have gone through, or what you think, you have something that you must do.”
“A hero… yes. I was.”
It was as Ascalon said.
Gilford Proud was a hero.
He was chosen by the Goddess of Abundance, and he possessed the divine sword Ascalon.
His heroic duty never vanished, even when he was broken and bent.
Ascalon’s voice pierced his ears, who held the sword.
-“You have experienced war. It is losing what you cherish countless times, and declaring victory on top of a pile of corpses.”
-“There is no other meaning to war.”
A bitter laugh escaped from Gilford’s lips.
He had lost his friend.
And he had lost his comrades.
After losing what he cherished, there was only one thing left for Gilford.
Duty.
The eternal duty that weighed down on his back.
“Ascalon. What exactly is a hero?”
-“······.”
“What is so great about being a hero, that I have to······.”
Gilford’s hand tightened around Ascalon.
The weight of the hilt in his grip was heavy.
He could see the image of Gaff, who vanished screaming on the sharp blade.
This was a curse.
As long as he carried the burden of a hero, he would never escape the shadows of his comrades.
-“Do you think the load you bear is too heavy?”
“What am I supposed to······.”
No one wants to lose anyone.
Jenny, Gaff, and the countless mercenaries who followed him.
He didn’t want to lose any of them.
But he also wanted to protect them all.
He wanted to free all the people who suffered because of the evil god.
Even though he knew it was impossible, Gilford wished for it.
Because that’s what a hero does.
“What did I covet for, in the first place?”
He remembered the faces of the mercenaries who drank heavily and laughed with him.
Gilford wanted all the mercenaries who followed him to stay with him until the end.
He wanted them to be with him until they grew old and retired from being mercenaries.
Even when they were too old to fight, he wanted to meet them with their wrinkled faces and share a beer.
-He refused to give up on his mercenary band.
He wanted them to stick with him until the end of this arduous journey.
He wanted them to accompany him in the future, just like they had overcome all the ordeals together so far.
But the enemy was a completely different beast from anything they had faced before.
“Did I… kill Gaff…?”
The evil god’s minion.
Its power covered the sky and sliced through the earth.
It was a forbidden act for ordinary humans to oppose them.
The chosen ones who were called heroes.
Only they could stand against the evil god.
He foolishly ignored that fact and led his comrades to fight against the evil god.
He believed that he could defeat the enemy with his comrades, as he always did.
And this was the result.
He became a loser who fled from the shadow of the evil god after losing his comrade.
“Boss…”
Jenny, who had been watching him from the side, reached out her hand towards Gilford’s shoulder.
Her slender fingers covered Gilford’s shoulder.
But even so, it felt like a rock was pressing down on his shoulder.
Gilford, who had been staring at Ascalon with bloodshot eyes, shook off her hand.
“I… killed Gaff with my own hands.”
The light that leaked from Ascalon gradually dimmed.
In it, Gilford howled.
A beast-like scream came out of his mouth.
Sighs and cries.
In front of the pain that tore his throat, he had to make a choice.
Would he fight until only one remained?
Or would he fight with one left?
The fight against the evil god was different from the heroic tales he had imagined.
-“Hardships and trials are what make a hero.”
A mercenary and a hero could not coexist.
Gilford realized that after he lost all the possibilities of his future that supported him.
***
It had been a few days since <Regular Meeting> ended.
During that time, I tested various minor things in the game.
Things like checking how far I could share basic skills, including <Eye of Observation>.
Or changing the authority sharing settings of <Divine Response Device> over and over again.
Needless to say, there was only one person who could share <Eye of Observation> with me: Roan.
That was because it required a higher divine contribution limit than other skills.
“Sigh…”
Time passed without any significant results.
In the passing time, I repeated work and games with a bored feeling.
And then, when the rainy season that poured down heavily stopped and the suffocating heat returned,
I was able to face the moment I had been looking forward to.
Payday.
It was the day that everyone who lived in the modern world eagerly awaited.
“Finally, this day has come.”
There was no one who wouldn’t be happy to see the amount of money that came into their bank account on payday.
Except for the money that went out, it was also the most relaxed day than any other time.
It was enough to make me think that it would be okay to buy some beer and chicken on my way home from work.
Once I had made up my mind, there was no reason to hesitate.
I packed some chicken on my way home from work and returned to my house.
And as soon as I entered the house, I threw my luggage and immediately placed the chicken on the table.
“How long has it been since I ate chicken?”
The first thing I did after washing the beer and arranging the chicken was to check the balance in my bank account again.
I opened the bank application and checked my account, and I could see the balance of my account that was more solid than usual.
It was an amount that made me feel reassured just by looking at it.
At the same time, in my head, the consumption plan for this month repeated fiercely rising and disappearing.
Among the plans that came to mind, of course, there was also a plan to spend money on mobile games.
“Come to think of it… maybe I should try some gacha for a change.”
Chick.
I opened the beer can on the table and then tore off a piece of crispy chicken.
The smell of greasy chicken filled my mouth.
The taste of chicken eaten on payday was more special than usual.
I moistened my oily mouth with beer and then turned on my smartphone and ran the game.
With a grease-free hand, I swiped the loading screen and the familiar game play screen appeared.
“It doesn’t look like any important messages popped up while I was away.”
Swipe.
I moved my finger to check the message box, and then shifted my gaze to the <Paid Currency Shop> button at the top of the screen.
When was the last time I did a gacha?
From what I could remember, it was probably when I got the magic book for <Control Weather>.
It had been quite a long time since I did a 10-pull in the <Paid Currency Shop>.
Since I got paid today, I decided to go all out and do some gacha.
“Let’s go for 30 pulls this time.”
I touched the <Paid Currency Shop> button on the screen.
The screen went dark for a moment, and then the gacha screen that I hadn’t seen for a long time greeted me.
The 10-pull button that glowed brightly.
And below it, the price tag for 10 pulls.
The 10-pull was still the same price as it was back then.
It hadn’t changed at all since the last time I did a gacha.
“Please… give me 30 magic books.”
I had done many 10-pulls before, but this was the first time I did 30 pulls at once.
I touched the 10-pull button with a pounding heart.
Hoping that all 10 would be magic books.
As soon as I touched the gacha button, a flash of light appeared on the screen, and then the results of the gacha started to appear one by one.
I checked the items that came out of the gacha with tense eyes.
-You have acquired [Baguette].
-You have acquired [Hard Black Bread].
-You have acquired [Sponge Cake].
The first items that appeared were all bread.
It wouldn’t be a bad situation if some decent items came out later.
I was running low on bread anyway, thanks to Estasia who ate a lot of bread at the <Regular Meeting>.
I kept an eye on the gacha items with anticipation for magic books.
-You have acquired [Sponge Cake].
-You have acquired [Baguette].
-You have acquired [Magic Sword: Lagius].
-You have acquired [Baguette].
-You have acquired [Apple Pie].
-You have acquired [Apple Pie].
-You have acquired [Baguette].
Sponge cake. Baguette. Apple pie.
I couldn’t help but make a dumbfounded expression as I saw the items that came out one after another.
Except for [Magic Sword: Lagius], they were all edible items.
I looked at the smartphone that was lying on the floor and chuckled sarcastically as I swiped the screen.
“Are you telling me to open a bakery or something?”
It was true that I needed more bread in my inventory, because Estasia had eaten a lot of bread at the <Regular Meeting>.
But that didn’t mean I wanted different kinds of bread.
The only consolation was that [Magic Sword: Lagius] appeared in the gacha.
It was the second time I got a magic sword from a 10-pull.
The appearance of the magic sword with a purple halo was a sharp dagger wrapped in darkness.
“I would have really opened a bakery if it wasn’t for this.”
Unlike [Magic Sword: Ednos] that I got before, it looked practical.
[Magic Sword: Ednos] was more like a decoration, but [Magic Sword: Lagius] was sharp enough to use in real combat.
I had to check the details to be sure, but it didn’t seem like a thing that focused on magic attacks.
Tap.
I touched the screen and brought up the detailed information of [Magic Sword: Lagius].
And then I started to read the traits of [Magic Sword: Lagius] with my eyes.
“The name of the trait is <Shadow Memory>… and the effect is…”
The name of the trait that [Magic Sword: Lagius] had was <Shadow Memory>.
And its effect was to move the user to the location where they activated the trait, after 10 seconds.
It was a trait specialized for hit-and-run tactics.
