Part 2 Chapter 51

Part 2 – Episode 51

His movements were terribly clean.

It was the first time I’d seen speed like this from anyone aside from Jean and Gavroche in a while. The man’s sword was fluid, sharp in instinct, and utterly without hesitation.

‘He looks pretty young.’

At most, he appeared to be in his early to mid twenties. He also did not appear to be someone who simply “looked” young by having reached a transcendent level like the Swordmaster.

Kiiing—

As I blocked the vertically descending blade with my sheath, I studied the man’s face closely. He was certainly handsome, in a gentle and subtle sort of way—but it wasn’t a face I recognised.

So why was it that I couldn’t bring myself to throw a punch?

Had we crossed swords on the battlefield in the past, maybe?

It was the only plausible guess, but that was hard to be sure of as well. This was undeniably the first time I’d ever matched blades with this man.

My memories of the Magic War were still vivid to me as if it had only been months ago. Once I crossed swords with someone, I rarely forgot it.

In an instant, a chilling cold spread from our clashing blades and began freezing over the back of my hand.

‘A magic swordsman?’

I shoved him back and shook my hand, scattering black frost to the ground. Along with a burning sensation like a fresh scald, tiny droplets of blood welled up across the skin that had been wounded by shards of ice.

This was a style of fighting that would become seriously exhaustive if I let it continue long.

Just as I blocked his next strike, thinking maybe I should just rough him up a little to force him to calm down—

A sharp electric sensation crawled down my spine.

Good grief, th-this feeling is…!

“Stop!”

At my shout, the man’s movements stopped for a second.

Not missing the chance, I immediately turned back to check on Rue. I sighed in relief when I saw him right there, though the sharp look in his eyes clearly showed his foul mood.

‘Rue almost stepped in.’

Sure, he’d declared he wouldn’t interfere in my journey… but a man’s heart is fickle like reeds in the wind…

I lowered my sheath with a click of my tongue.

“Let’s stop here, kid. Keep messing around and you might end up crippled.”

And Rue, leisurely watching all this from the sidelines, definitely wouldn’t mind doing it himself.

The man’s expression turned strange. If I had to put it into words, it was the look of someone who genuinely couldn’t understand what he was seeing. Though honestly, maybe I was the one who didn’t understand.

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I should be asking you that, you lunatic. Do you usually go around jumping people?”

From what I could see, he’d arbitrarily decided I was some sort of follower.

“Innocent people don’t walk around carrying swords. And they definitely don’t have skills like yours.”

“What, you’ve never heard of self-defense? I just came to look around because I have some history with this place.”

“Really? Truly? Haha. Unfortunately, there was never anyone like you in this town. If there had been, I would’ve recognized you immediately…”

A survivor from the garbage hill.

‘Maybe that’s why I couldn’t bring myself to hit him.’

The rain grew heavier. The man still studied me with wary eyes. Judging by his reaction, he’d probably been betrayed more than once.

Then—

Rustle.

A presence stirred somewhere in the desolate brush.

Not an animal.

The moment my gaze naturally followed the sound—

Clang—!

A sword strike far more vicious than before crashed down over my head, which I shielded with my sheath.

The man facing me now had icy eyes. Without saying a word, he swung his sword again—harder, rougher. Every time the blade brushed past mine, black frost spread across my skin, leaving shallow cuts in its wake.

This time, there was no hesitation in his killing intent.

It had been a long time since I’d stood before murderous intent thick enough to make my skin tingle. And it was the first time I’d seen that intent to come from someone who looked barely over twenty.

‘What suddenly changed?’

Killing intent never leads anywhere good. Especially when directed at another human being. Anyone who swings a sword for the sake of killing inevitably brings a storm of blood behind them…

—I’ll protect it.

‘…Hm?’

—This time, I’ll protect it no matter what.

The resonance of his sword dug into my mind.

There was no mistaking it—this was the cry of this man’s blade. A resonance bizarrely at odds with the merciless way he kept aiming for my throat.

So he was destined to become a Sword Demon.

Contrary to popular misconception, a Sword Demon isn’t someone who goes mad because they picked up the sword. It is someone who picks up the sword precisely because they are already mad.

Inevitably, they all lose control. Especially those who reach the highest boundaries while still young.

‘What a troublesome brat.’

If I ignored him and left, he’d probably end up colliding with some poor bastard like me again.

—I’ll protect it.

After a brief moment of thought, I finally drew my sword.

Breaking away from pure defense, I started to persistently target the swordsman’s right arm.

The moment he sensed the shift, he retreated a few steps and began cautiously testing me instead.

A blade steeped in killing intent falls into complete synchronization far too easily. Since I couldn’t exactly haul this hulking guy around with me like Ash to prevent him from mischief, it was better to make it so he couldn’t pick up a sword for at least a few months.

If possible, his right arm.

Clang!

Our swords collided. I could see his blade reaching its limit and trembling violently. It was a crude weapon, completely unworthy of his skill. Sensing the unfavorable situation, the man scattered his energy once more. Black frost surged aggressively along my blade and wrapped around my body.

And so, starting from the back of the hand gripping the hilt, I began to freeze in sequence—until at last the chill crept up to my eyelids.

I blew hard and sent the icicles hanging from my eyelashes flying off.

“Cut the cheap tricks.”

Crack.

The ice began to shatter. As the frost melted, I swung my sword hard. The blade I’d been clashing with snapped.

For the first time, surprise flickered in the man’s eyes.

“…How?”

“Grit.”

The instant our eyes met—

the focus in his blue irises lost its center and wavered for a moment.

I didn’t miss the opening and fired a spinning kick straight into his face. Just as I was about to drive my sword into his staggered right shoulder—

“No!”

It was a cry full of fear.

At the child’s voice, I instinctively faltered.

Then, out of nowhere, a small shadow burst from the bushes and threw itself between me and the man.

“Stop it! Don’t bully my brother! He’s a good person who helps us!”

It was a little girl.

Maybe just barely over ten years old? Her clothes were neat, but there was still something oddly grimy about her.

“T-that’s right! You nasty jerk! Don’t bully our big brother! You’ll die!”

A boy jumped out after her, clutching a carefully carved wooden club as he stood beside the girl.

He looked similarly grimy. I wondered why at first, but it seemed to be because their clothes, though clean, were wrinkled, and had some stains that hadn’t been fully washed out.

‘A good person?’

At that moment, the man hurriedly got to his feet and shoved the boy and girl behind him.

“Stop interfering and leave.”

At the cold warning, the boy gripped the wooden club tightly.

“N-no! I’m helping you, brother! You should run instead! We’ll buy you ti—”

“Shut up and go!”

For a brief instant, a similar scene from my memories seemed to overlap in front of me.

But I shook my head to clear myself from the past’s hold.

That was when I heard another rustling sound nearby.

Turning my head, I spotted yet another girl. She had tripped over a tree stump and was scrambling back to her feet in a panic.

She looked to be in her late teens, the most mature among the children. But the direction of her gaze and the way she moved were strangely off.

It seemed she couldn’t see.

‘…Ah, is that why this bunch looks so scruffy?’

Guess this is the right time to teach these kids a very important lesson.

Without the slightest hesitation, I unleashed a wave of sword energy toward the blind girl. The boy jerked upright in horror—

“No! Dodge it, sis!”

“Sister!”

No one could stop my sword at a time like this.

Demonic Sword Art: Ironing Technique.

—

You can take Daisy out of the maid job, but not the maid job out of Daisy.

Also the implication of a sword demon only becoming one due to the fact of having already gone mad instead of simply becoming one because of their sword art itself — Daisy knowing that personally due to having gone mad with grief as a 20 yr old who lost her only brother in a war. The boy from the garbage hill becoming a sword demon, perhaps due to his guilt for being unable to save Daisy from Rein or thinking she died protecting him…. Sigh PLOM sad days