Solo Swordmaster

Episode #197. Didn’t you hear me?

That moment.

A crack appeared in Rose’s expression.

If she had been told that by someone else, she would have smiled faintly as always.

Perfect like a blue dragon princess.

Such a fake smile.

But the fact that it was none other than Limon who had said it made her express her honest feelings from her heart.

“…why are you saying that?”

Doubt, anger, resentment, etc.

Rose opened her mouth with a face she had never made in her life, distorted by the mixture of so many emotions.

“You were the one who accused me of being a hypocrite all along. But why have you come now…!”

If I hadn’t known, I would have been able to imitate the perfect princess without knowing anything.

Why are you now affirming your own hypocrisy on the subject that made you this way by letting you know that it would be nice if you didn’t know?

Rose questioned without realizing it.

But the moment I heard Limon’s answer.

She couldn’t help but harden.

“There is no particular reason why. If you have to say, it’s not nice to see?”

“…No, twisted?”

“If someone looks too perfect, you just want to say something.”

“…”

Rose realized again.

The fact that murderous intentions can arise so easily.

If it hadn’t been for Limon’s continued words, she would have openly put that killing intent into action.

“Hey Count. Humans are never perfect.”

How can a mere human be perfect without any flaws in a world where even God, who is the embodiment of providence, is not perfect?

Limon pointed out with a smile and added a word.

“You don’t even have to be perfect in the first place.”

“…what do you mean?”

“There is no word as meaningless as the word perfect.”

Suppose there is a perfect human being.

The human wouldn’t have to have feelings. Because emotions are imperfect.

There will be no reason to be nice to people. If you are perfect alone, your interaction with others will only be a hindrance.

But can such a being who is born alone, lives alone and dies alone really be called a perfect human being?

Limon laughed.

Where do you see it as perfect?

“Even if you are not human. Perfect country, perfect work, perfect swordsmanship. That kind of thing can’t exist in the world after all.”

Being flawless means not changing.

In other words, no matter how much time goes by, you can’t learn anything more or grow.

And at the point where the possibility of the future is lost, perfection is bound to become a contradiction.

“If people forget that and pursue perfection, they end up just like you.”

“You mean like me?”

“A person who believes that he can do anything without anyone’s help, struggles carrying it alone, and ruins everything in the end.”

“….”

The emperor who was deprived of everything by the devil while pursuing immortality in order to establish a perfect country.

An adult who dedicated his life to perfect music, failed and committed suicide.

Sword Demons who slaughtered a tenth of humanity in order to create a perfect world.

Rose remained silent as Limon mentioned the people who, after racing alone in pursuit of perfection that did not exist, eventually fell into madness and were destroyed.

It wasn’t just because their stories felt like their own.

The overwhelming weight of his words, as if she had directly witnessed the destruction of countless people, made her lips shut.

“In that sense, Count. No Rose Sea Serpent.”

Limon looked straight at Rose and called her full name for the first time.

And he spoke softly.

“You have been doing well.”

“Even though he showed mercy based on the idea of being a descendant of the dragon, he did not become arrogant just because he could show mercy.”

“Even though he thought of justice according to his own frame, he did not harbor the will to do anything for justice.”

“Even though I tried to be perfect myself, I didn’t force that standard of perfection on others.”

“The blue dragon princesses of the past have always been just and merciful, but few princesses lived as faithfully as you.”

Point out the hypocrisy, but also mention the sins that could have been committed, and show that the hypocrisy was valuable just by not committing evil.

Even if perfection is meaningless, it is said that the effort to pursue perfection was meaningful, and awakens the honor and pride that the Blue Dragon clan has built up for generations.

Even if hypocrisy made people like cattle, the responsibility lies only with those who have become pigs and dogs themselves.

What Rose did was a good deed, even if it was hypocrisy.

that she lived a good life

“So you can be proud of yourself.”

“…”

Just calmly.

just plain.

But that’s why it’s more honest.

Seeing Limon at the end of the long story, Rose made an indescribable expression.

It was because it was only then that I realized why he came to see me and told me such absurd stories at this late hour.

“…Are you sure you’re comforting me right now?”

“Well, that’s not very like me, so let’s call it recognition.”

“Recognition… is it?”

Give me 100 points or something.

A score of 90 is already great.

you did good enough

A remark as light as an adult comforting a crying child because he did not get the desired grade on the exam.

However, those words that could not be heard by those who only looked up to them as perfect princesses, strangely penetrated deep into their hearts and brought to mind a thought.

‘…okay.’

‘I didn’t have to be perfect.’

It’s a very obvious fact.

Just muttering it lightens the heavy heart and clears the dizzy head.

A feeling of refreshment, as if the fog in my head had disappeared, or as if the foggy colored glasses had been removed from my eyes.

In the sense that everything was renewed like that, Rose inadvertently opened her mouth.

To say what you want most at this moment.

“Would you like to hear me play?”

“what?”

“Didn’t you say you could play for me to encourage me?”

“…You want me to play the violin? now?”

“yes.”

“…”

It took a while for him to make a strange expression at that sudden request.

Limon said as he put down the violin case he was carrying on his back.

“I’m sorry, but what I originally prepared was an ensemble, so without Jessica, I have no choice but to play any song in moderation.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What if the Count is like that?”

Limon shrugged and took out the Guarnelli violin borrowed from the count’s family.

So the moment he slid the bow he was holding over the strings with the violin on his shoulder.

Gee ying.

A quiet melody resounded in the garden in the middle of the night.

The second movement of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3.

Listening to the calm melody, commonly referred to as ‘Aria on the G String’, Rose looked into the air.

The sound breaks.

No, crumbling is the moonlight.

The calm and soft melody wets the eyes and makes the transparent moonlight shine.

I close my eyes quietly, feeling the scattered moonlight fall on the various flowers that make up the maze and resonate like a fantasy.

I miss you so much.

It’s so comfy.

wished so much

Drunk with that cozy melody.

He even glanced at Rose, who was resting her head on his shoulder.

Limon let out a laugh and continued to move the strings.

To continue the concert for the sleeping princess, who closes her eyes and breathes lightly as if she has forgotten everything to do.

* * *

A black-haired girl who, as always, was working hard on paperwork.

Li Qingyu shook his head.

“Are you sure you haven’t contacted the swordsmith yet?”

[Because it is. There was this uproar, but he didn’t even answer the phone, let alone contact me, so it seems like he was determined to explode.] “

Don’t worry too much. The swordsman must also have circumstances.”

Yu Na-kyung, who was on a video call at Li Qing-yu’s answer, seemed frustrated from the other side of the screen.

[I’m the manager, so I’m not worried. I’m worried about the Count’s sister.]

“If it’s the Count, you mean Rose?”

[yes. Because the team leader hates the blue dragon clan so much. I’m nervous about what he’s doing while I’m gone.]

At that moment.

Li Qingyu stopped handing over the papers.

Then, with a strange expression, she looked back at Yuna-kyung on the other side of the screen.

“…Does the swordsman hate the blue dragon clan?”

[That’s right.]

“Where did you hear that nonsense?”

[What’s wrong?]

Li Qingyu calmly said to Yuna-kyung, who tilted her head as if she didn’t understand the meaning.

“There’s no way the swordsman would hate the blue dragon clan so much.”

[yes? However, the team leader said that the Blue Dragon clan was what the Sword Emperor hated the most…]

“That’s the Sword Emperor’s words, not the Sword Master’s evaluation, right?”

[…Huh?]

Yuna-kyung blinked.

Although Limon treated the Blue Dragon clan cynically.

But that was always the case with the Seven Dragons, and when I thought about it, I don’t remember him ever directly swearing at the Blue Dragon.

As if guessing the situation, Li Qingyu smiled and opened his mouth.

“Do you know what the greatest enemy of justice is?”

[That’s a villain, isn’t it?]

“No, it’s another definition.”

[Yes?]

Yuna-kyung is bewildered by the erratic answer following the unexpected question.

Li Qingyu laughed at her.

And he spoke calmly.

“The original definition is different for each person.”

If obeying the law is justice for some, it is justice for others to protect their families even if they commit a crime.

Likewise, a person who steals important secrets from an enemy country is a hero to his own people, but a criminal from the enemy country’s point of view.

Therefore, even if he is infinitely righteous, he can become a very dangerous person depending on what kind of ‘justice’ he pursues.

A representative example was the blue dragon clan.

For the blue dragon clan, justice is to bring back the era of dragon rule.

In order to achieve that noble justice, they acted as a criminal organization in the past and were called the Demonic Cult, in some cases they became the most ruthless in the Seven Dragons.

“So, the Blue Dragon clan is the next clan that fought fiercely against the swordsman after our clan.”

It was for this reason that the Blue Dragon clan most valiantly ran towards Limon.

No matter how strong the enemy was, it was not justice to yield to force.

He rushed at it without sparing his life so much that even the other clans of the Seven Dragons were tongue-tied.

Even so, the reason why the Blue Dragon Clan was able to survive was not only because their psionics were advantageous to covert activities as much as space movement.

“But at the same time, the Blue Dragon Clan is the only clan in the Seven Dragons that was respected by the swordsmith.”

[…Respect? Are you the boss? The Seven Dragons?]

“Yes. Of course, he never spared the Blue Dragon Clan, but at least he was considerate enough to accept it if he surrendered.”

Yuna-kyung opened her mouth wide.

To think that Limon respected the members of the Seven Dragons, and those of the days when they were called the Demonic Cult.

It was more absurd than saying that there is a mad dog taking care of cats.

“When you think about it, it’s not particularly strange.”

[What do you think, it’s not strange to do such a thing?!]

“You can forget that the Blue Dragon Clan is the Seven Dragons and only remember what they have done.”

[yes? No, what is that…]

Yuna-kyung, who was at a loss, suddenly blinked.

It was because the moment he did as Li Qingyu said, he felt a strange sense of deja vu.

To her, Li Qingyu hinted.

“A being who has kept his faith for nearly a thousand years, helping the weak even while ignoring all gains and never giving up against any enemy.”

[…]

“Doesn’t it somehow resemble someone?”

Looking at Li Qingyu with a meaningful smile, Yuna-kyung, who was silent, asked after a while.

[So the team leader said he felt a sense of affinity with the Blue Dragon clan?]

“I don’t know if I can call that a sense of affinity. In the first place, the difference between the swordsmith and the blue dragon clan’s view of justice is too big.”

The Blue Dragon clan regards all mankind other than the Seven Dragons as weak and to be protected and helped.

Limon, who believed that all humans could become strong on their own, built a tower of swords and taught them.

Aside from their grudges dating back to the Bronze Age, their ideas were very different, even in terms of the way each of them did justice.

That’s why they’ve been fighting each other’s lives without compromising for hundreds of years.

“But if the Swordsman was cold-hearted towards the Blue Dragon Clan, it’s clear that it wasn’t just because he didn’t like it.”

[Sure?]

“Well… if I had to guess, wouldn’t it be similar to how everyone wants to be mean to their rivals or nemesis?”

[…That was such a childish reason?]

“The relationship between the blue dragon clan and the swordsmith is that complicated.”

Limon, who regarded the Seven Dragons as the evil of mankind and mercilessly cut them down.

Nevertheless, it is natural that he has a complicated relationship with the Blue Dragon clan, which he had no choice but to admit as ‘compassionate evil’ or ‘wrong but justice’.

Looking at Li Qingyu, who spoke calmly, he nodded blankly for a moment.

Yuna-kyung suddenly blinked her eyes.

[Oh, by the way, the princess sister. Isn’t that dangerous?]

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

Li Qingyu, who tilted her head at the sudden remark, said Yu Na-kyung in a diffident way.

[As the princess sister said, the team leader rated the Blue Dragon clan the most in the Seven Dragons, right?]

“That’s right.”

[But by any chance, if the team leader gets along better with the Blue Dragon Clan, especially the Count sister…]

“That won’t happen.”

It was only then that she seemed to understand what ‘danger’ Yuna-kyung meant.

Li Qingyu smiled bitterly.

“Just as the swordsman has a personality that never bends, the blue dragon princess is the most stubborn and upright among us.”

The relationship between Limon and the Blue Dragon clan is like a parallel line that seeks justice equally but can never cross each other.

In a sense, there is only one way for them to get closer to each other.

Only one side compromised.

But whether it’s Limon or the blue dragon clan. They were stubborn enough to keep their own justice for nearly a thousand years, so there was no way they would break that stubbornness easily.

Especially considering the character of the blue dragon clan, which is the most proud and lofty among the seven clans, excluding the gold dragon clan.

“Even in just a few days, she’ll get along with the swordsman… well. It won’t be as long as you don’t get mesmerized by the swordsmith’s violin playing.”

[Ahaha, that’s a very interesting joke.]

Looking at Li Ching-yu, who spoke confidently with a smile on her face, Yuna-gyeong admired.

After all, the princess said that she has plans.

Even in Yuna-kyung’s opinion, there was no way that the sincere and smart Rose would fall in love with a musician she had only met a few days ago.

* * *

“Sir Lucas, what can I do to make someone who doesn’t want to be my own performer at all costs?”

“Well… didn’t you hear?”