Chapter 38: Fragments of the Past (1)

Signa forcibly suppressed the urge to lose strength in her legs as soon as she saw Yukomis’ terrible appearance.

“Hey! Hey! Lady Yukomis! Wake up!”

As Signa tried to shake her shoulder, she noticed that a thick bandage was wrapped around her shoulder.

“There’s blood on it. What is this…”

[It’s a penetrating wound. I’m sure of it.]

That’s how it seemed to Signa as well.

“To restrain her arms in this state, what kind of terrible person…”

[It’d be Manya… At least it’s something she condoned.]

Signa hurriedly began to untie the handcuffs connected by chains.

Click.

As soon as the handcuffs were untied,

Signa, who had been maintaining her tension to the fullest, quickly wrapped her arms around Yukomis’ raised arms as if embracing her.

This was because if arms that had been stiffened with weight on them for a long time suddenly moved, there was a very high possibility that blood vessels and muscles would be additionally ruptured.

On top of that, Yukomis was exhausted and had a severe injury to her shoulder.

She had to lower her arms slowly, very carefully.

It was all a fact she had learned from her previous life’s experience.

Signa pulled Yukomis near the dying brazier, laid her on her lap, and began to examine her condition.

Her skin, which had already been pale, had turned almost as pale as drawing paper.

‘…Cold sweat, chills, blue lips, and occasionally an irregular pulse.’

[She seems to be having nightmares because of the pain too.]

As the holy sword said, Yukomis’ eyebrows twitched occasionally.

Signa put her nose to the blood-stained bandage and could smell the nasty odor that the elves used to use among the smell of blood.

Sterilization and hemostasis would have been done properly, but she had to receive proper treatment quickly.

At the very least, if she could just recover her strength and regain consciousness…

‘Forcibly waking her up and making her use healing magic herself…?’

[It could be dangerous. I don’t even know if she’ll be able to wake up. She’s already too exhausted…]

The holy sword trailed off anxiously.

“How did this happen…”

Signa said quietly in a voice mixed with pity and anger.

‘You were always a composed person.’

‘Even when I became a prisoner, you came to rescue me by devising the best plan.’

‘If you wanted to come and rescue me again, you should have done that this time too.’

‘You did so well last time, so why did you rush here alone this time?’

‘Where did Karat go? Where did you leave Silissa…’

‘To be captured alone without any reinforcements…’

“…You’re not this kind of person, Yukomis…”‘

‘Why are you doing such reckless and hopeless things?’

It was as incomprehensible as it was heartbreaking.

“What kind of person am I to you right now…?”

It was true that a lot had happened in a short period of time.

However, her appearance, which had been constantly grumbling, was not so different from the appearance she had shown to her in her lifetime.

“Just because I’m a child that seems to have talent…?”

She wasn’t the kind of person to open her heart to others.

“Or, because of the guilt that I owe her my life…?”

Perhaps she was so full of thoughts and considerations as a genius,

that no one had ever understood her.

Because she wasn’t understood, she might not have had the motivation to understand others.

“Because of such things, you became like this…?”

She wasn’t the kind of person to like others.

She wasn’t the kind of person to act so hastily for a boy, no, a girl, she didn’t even know that well.

Sister is a fool. Sister doesn’t know anything. Sister is always slow-witted.

You’re a fool. You’re an idiot. What are you thinking?

“What happened in the meantime while I wasn’t there…?”

But even if she was such a person, even if she was such a cold and one-sided person…

She was still family.

Even if this wasn’t the originally given destiny, even if it was such a twisted and distorted relationship…

She was the one who rescued me, and I was the one who rescued her.

Time passed, and now they weren’t even mixed with a drop of blood,

but maybe they were blood-related by soul.

Signa slowly stroked Yukomis’ red and swollen cheeks.

Then, her eyebrows twitched slightly, and she let out a faint groan.

“Eung… It hurts…”

“…I’m sorry…”

Something hot surged up from within Signa.

Was this the second time already? Seeing her unconscious.

“It’s because of me again… That I ended up hurting you, as always.”

Why did only these things happen?

“…I should have been in pain instead…”

And that was supposed to be protecting you…

“It’s my responsibility…”

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Footsteps were heard from behind Signa, who was holding Yukomis.

No, to be exact, it was the sound of a cane and footsteps.

Signa slowly placed Yukomis on the floor.

“Please get away from her.”

The voice she had expected was heard from behind.

“…Manya.”

“Quickly.”

It was a voice that was as firm as it was uneasy.

It was polite.

Which meant that she wasn’t alone right now.

“Just answer one thing.”

Manya couldn’t answer easily.

“Did you do it?”

“…I had no choice.”

Shuffle. Shuffle. Shuffle.

Soon after, another sound of footsteps, of a different kind, was heard from behind.

A heavy sound, the sound of boots dragging on the floor. It wasn’t the footsteps of a mage.

Occasionally the clanging sound of metal. The sound of armor and chains colliding.

If so, it was a person wearing armor. Probably a knight.

“She’s a dangerous person.”

“Dangerous?”

Signa smiled slightly.

“Aren’t you the dangerous person who made her like this?”

“It was really unavoidable. She came all of a sudden and threatened us with magic…”

Manya appealed again, but

Signa didn’t answer and tightly gripped the hilt of the holy sword placed next to her.

[…I’m ready. Master.]

A soft vibration and warmth were conveyed to the small palm through the hilt.

“Manya. I don’t care what kind of figure you’re looking for in me.”

Signa was speaking in a voice that Manya had never heard before.

“I don’t even care that I became your toy.”

“No matter how much humiliation and shame you gave me, I can endure it.”

“…Lady Thermis. I…”

“Since no one was hurt, it was just something that I could laugh off. I was going to never care about what kind of games you played as long as I finished my business with you.”

Signa, who turned around slowly, could see Gallar blocking Manya’s path.

“But you crossed the line, didn’t you.”

“Even a lot… Why did you do that, Manya?”

Small and quietly,

“I can’t forgive you for this.”

Signa whispered.

“I didn’t want to hate you this much sincerely.”

It seemed more like a person grieving than full of anger.

“Was what you said back then sincere? Do you really want me to take your life?”

“Signo… No, Lady Thermis. Please put down the sword. I don’t want to hurt Lady Thermis.”

Gallar, who intervened, said as if he was sorry.

“Thermis?”

But Signa didn’t.

Rather, she raised the half-drawn holy sword to her chest.

“My name is Signa now.”

“Lady Thermis…”

“Heal Yukomis immediately… Release her.”

“Lady Thermis. I told you. You’ve been brainwashed by her. That black witch is trying to take you away from us again…”

“I won’t say it again.”

Signa completely removed the scabbard for the first time.

“And no one can call Yukomis that way in front of me.”

Then, a brilliant golden glow that couldn’t be compared to when it was half-drawn

filled the dark room.

“Ah… This light is definitely the holy sword’s…”

Gallar let out a sigh.

It was a holy sword that didn’t react no matter who among the devotees touched it or how they grabbed it.

This light clearly meant that the holy sword was now held in the hands of its rightful owner.

“So, you really, really are the reincarnation of that person…”

He said with joy, forgetting the situation for a moment.

But without paying any attention to his reaction, Signa slowly raised that brilliantly shining hilt and aimed it at Gallar.

“I ask you one last time. I really don’t want to hurt Lady Thermis.”

“Shut up.”

Gallar looked at Manya as if he was troubled, but she just nodded.

‘Subdue her so that she’s never hurt’, that’s what she meant.

It was the same as the instructions he had heard before.

Gallar nodded.

He had already tested the opponent’s skills in the VIP room of the fortress.

She had almost subdued him, who was an adult and had even experienced actual combat, but after all, she was still young and had a fragile body.

He knew very well that the difference in physique was the biggest and most decisive factor in pure hand-to-hand combat.

But… Even this time, Gallar couldn’t figure it out at all.

That ‘reincarnation of Thermis’ who believed herself to be Signa,

wasn’t taking any stance even though she was gritting her teeth and raising her sword.

Not measuring the distance, not taking any stance, she was awkwardly holding the sword with both hands.

‘Is it because she’s holding a sword handle that doesn’t fit? No, even so…’

Far from seeing a glimpse of her as a veteran warrior like before, she looked like a young lady holding a sword for the first time.

But that couldn’t be.

‘…Is she not coming?’

That figure in the VIP room was definitely not a beginner’s.

“Lady Thermis, what kind of footwork is that?”

Gallar tried to use psychological warfare, but Thermis didn’t react at all.

He couldn’t read her mind at all.

Whirling around and spinning the sword like a toy now, Thermis didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking first.

Gallar entered the range of a single strike to check while brandishing the sword’s tip to check, but she didn’t react either.

After a brief standoff, the girl finally opened her mouth again.

“…Gallar. If you want to find Thermis’ figure in me so much…”

Suddenly, all emotions were removed from her voice.

“You’re going to see it from now on.”

It was a spine-chilling voice that was lower even though it was the same volume.

Gallar reacted reflexively to the murderous intent that filled the room without warning.

“Heup!”

Gallar delivered a blow from above towards her head with the unsheathed sword.

He didn’t even intend to strike her directly. It was just to induce the opponent’s reaction.

But even if it was a feint, Gallar’s blow was fast, accurate, and had the corresponding force.

Until the last moment, she didn’t take a defensive stance.

There was no obstacle between the trajectory of the sword and her head.

But the result was completely different from what Gallar had expected.

Right before the attack was about to hit, she raised the holy sword with one hand and blocked Gallar’s vision with a dazzling glow.

And when her vision returned, Gallar’s sword had already been blocked by the holy sword that had been gripped at a completely different angle.

Clang!

It was an absurd action. It was a result that could only be thought of as having been subjected to some trick or magic.

It was a speed he hadn’t even seen from the master who had taught him.

‘Is it that bizarre trick I saw before!’

The girl fended off his sword.

However, he gauged the girl’s muscle strength again with that one time the swords collided.

‘The speed is definitely amazing. But it’s a child’s weight and a child’s strength, as I saw before. If this side comes out with force…?’

Although the blow was defended, he didn’t try to distance himself recklessly, as a skilled person would.

Instead, he rotated the deflected sword around the center of his body and aimed it at the opponent’s shoulder.

Then, holding the root of the scabbard with his gloved hand, he attempted a stabbing attack as an additional hit.

This was also just to make it look obvious.

‘If she blocks this, grab her and subdue her…’

But such a thing didn’t happen.

She didn’t try to fend it off. She didn’t back down either. She didn’t shake her upper body.

She just took it.

‘…This!’

Even though it was a long sword with the scabbard not removed, if it was slammed down so powerfully, the impact force would have been enough to break the collarbone or the scapula.

On top of that, the opponent was still a child.

Whack!

Because of the powerful impact, one side of the girl’s upper body was twisted.

‘It’s too late to take out the strength…! I got nervous and used too much sincerity…’

But…

The girl didn’t fall. Even though she had received an impact that would have made an ordinary person pass out, she immediately took the next action.

Grabbing the opponent’s long sword that had hit her shoulder with her hand, she pulled it towards herself with all her might.

“Uh oh…?”

Gallar, who was pulled towards the girl while holding the weapon, suddenly stood so close to the girl that their noses touched.

Then, he saw her eyes.

‘This is, after all, are these eyes…?’

Those clear eyes, with no loss of fighting spirit even while enduring the pain…

“Keuheok…?”

An enormous impact flew and struck his abdomen.

The girl had stabbed Gallar’s lower abdomen with the tip of the holy sword.

It was an attack that had accurately struck the part of the armor that was not protected by the iron plate.

However, as he already knew, the holy sword Puhbannol wasn’t sharp enough to pierce the thick clothes that protected his abdomen.

‘Th, This…! The distance…!’

But even this time, the opponent was a little faster than Gallar could react.

As Gallar lost his breathing and posture without being able to control the impact,

the girl threw the knife she was holding in her other hand right in front of her and grabbed Gallar’s neck, his windpipe, with both hands.

“Keuheok!”

And…

She pushed him towards the ground.

Violence like an animal.

A way of fighting that left everything to reflexes and instincts without any stances, any techniques, or anything.

She didn’t intentionally defend Gallar’s attacks.

The reason was simple.

‘Because it’s not a real sword.’

‘Because I won’t die even if I get hit.’

That was enough.

She didn’t close her eyes or flinch until right before she was hit by the attack.

He had never seen a person fight like this girl anywhere.

‘This is… A way of fighting that only a person who doesn’t fear injuries or pain can have.’

This boldness of even willingly using his own body as one of the baits.

At a close distance where even his breath touched her, Gallar was able to see the eyes of the person he was facing again clearly during the short time he was falling towards the ground.

‘They’re the eyes of a warrior.’

Those wide-open eyes, the deep pupils with an unfathomable bottom.

Those cold eyes that controlled emotions.

To her, all of this was so natural.

To this girl, somehow, all of these things were as natural as breathing.

As if he was only one of the enemies she had overthrown as much as breathing.

‘I see…’

There was no pain from the injuries in those eyes, nor anger towards the opponent.

Not even joy for victory was felt.

Insensitivity.

That infinitely cold expression of one who made fighting and killing a career.

‘This person is… After all… She’s the reincarnation of that person.’

Gallar, who had fought a second battle, was convinced.

‘Was Manya’s words really right?’ The doubt that had settled in his heart disappeared as if washed away.

Thermis.

The peak, the protagonist of myth.

The person who single-handedly killed the Demon King.

Of the thousands of sword tips that had been inflicted to kill her, not a single one had killed her.

How ridiculous did his attacks look?

How insignificant did it feel?

If she wasn’t trapped in this frail body,

his sword wouldn’t have even grazed the hem of her clothes.

The bones in her small and weak hands, which had grabbed his windpipe, collided and creaked.

However, the tightening force wasn’t weakened at all.

‘A mental strength to transcend pain and willingly injure oneself…’

Beyond the consciousness that was blurring because she couldn’t breathe, he finally realized one thing.

‘This person is the one I should serve.’