Solo Swordmaster

Episode #221. How about this?

* * *

I can’t adapt to the strangely serious air, so I scratch my head with my wings for a while.

Yuna-kyung asked cautiously.

[Um, manager? There is something I am not sure about.]

“What is it?”

[The ghost of a saint appeared in the temple of the muse. Is that something that would be shameful enough that the church and even God would directly step up and cause a stir?]

“Where is it? It is the worst scandal in the history of the Order of the Muse.”

[Only that much?]

Yuna-kyung was puzzled.

I don’t know if it was the past when I was surprised by a ghost.

She had already seen hordes of ghosts in London, so it didn’t make sense to take just one ghost seriously.

As if reading her mind, Limon clicked his tongue and explained.

“What do you think is the biggest reason people believe in God?”

[Uh… is that God?]

“…I was wrong.”

[Why are you apologizing?!]

Yuna-kyung gets angry at Limon, who is reflecting on himself that he expected a lot from chickens.

It was Ainsha who answered her.

“Salvation and rest.”

“okay. There are exceptional religions like the Seven Dragons, but the most common purpose of faith is to ensure spiritual peace after death.”

[Ah… I guess so.]

Maybe it’s because he’s the priest of the Holy League.

After hearing Limon’s explanation to Ainsha’s answer, Yuna-kyung nodded.

Heaven, paradise, Valhalla, reincarnation, etc.

Because most of the ordinary religions contain the doctrine of the afterlife.

Limon asked Yuna-kyung.

“But what if it became known that a pious priest who believed in God and a saint in particular died and became a ghost?”

[…Will it interfere with the missionary work?]

“It’s good if it interferes.”

“It’s a big deal. If you don’t, you’ll lose your temper. As a god, it is like being half-baked.”

Just as a witch uses magic at the cost of mystery and destiny.

A god whose existence itself is no different from magic maintains its own divinity based on the faith of Shinto.

Therefore, being damaged by a godhead was at least half-baked, and in the worst case, it was a crisis that could lead to losing faith and degenerating into a demon.

Because there was such a situation.

It was only natural that the muse was frightened and erased all records about the saint.

“Besides, I don’t think it’s a normal ghost.”

Limon had seen many ghost-like things in his long life, but few of them were intact.

Whether it’s a spirit summoned by magic.

Whether it’s a ghost that couldn’t leave the afterlife.

Because in most cases, they harmed the living or wandered aimlessly without even remembering their lives properly.

The only exception was the souls called to Avalon, who created a pseudo-underworld.

“Of course, the cause of death is also suicide. If you’re a dead ghost like that, you’re lucky, but at worst you’re a mad spirit or a demon.”

“It’s an adult evil spirit… It’s more dangerous than the devil if you’re serious about it.”

Limon clicked his tongue.

Then he looked down at the deep-black violin he had taken out of the box on his back and murmured.

“You mean the ghost is here?”

This is how you feel when you hear that there is a bomb in an instrument that you have been using normally.

Ainsha said bluntly to Limon, who was blatantly expressing his uneasy feelings.

“I cannot be certain. It’s already hundreds of years ago. It may have already disappeared.”

“No, it will probably stay.”

Limon cut it off.

And he continued with a frown.

“Because Shirg hag confirmed to me that this violin has a soul just the other day.”

A few days ago, when I appraised the dark violin in London and informed them that the identity of the Seven Arcs was close to being sealed.

Sir added a word.

I don’t know if it has something to do with the seal, but there’s a certain soul inside it.

Up until then, Limon had taken the story for granted.

Because I thought it wouldn’t change anything more if there was one more ghost dwelling in the already cursed divine magic tool.

However, I would have thought that the true identity of the ghost was the adult who made the deep black violin.

At this point, I couldn’t tell if it was a violin or a mass of disaster disguised as an instrument.

It took a moment to click the tongue at that fact.

Limon, who was rummaging through the scroll Ainsha had given him, stopped abruptly.

And he looked at Yuna-gyeong with gloomy eyes.

[manager? Why are you looking at me with those eyes?]

“Come to think of it, didn’t you ever say you’d seen a ghost in Leviathan?”

[…Ah, that’s it? Why do you ask that?]

Yuna-kyung, who rolled her eyes, nodded after a while.

Around the time when Leviathan’s affiliates were being attacked by the ghosts of the Liberation Brigade.

It was only belatedly that he remembered seeing the ghost while walking around Leviathan while Limon was away.

To her, Limon held out a scroll and asked.

“I’m asking just in case, didn’t the ghost look like this?”

[Yes?]

Yuna-kyung, who was puzzled by the sudden question, put on an expression as if her eyes would pop out for a moment.

The scroll that Limon held out.

It was because the portrait painted there looked exactly like the ghost she had seen on Leviathan.

[That it was the ghost of an adult!?]

“Looking at that reaction, it seems right.”

[No, wait a minute. But that doesn’t make sense!]

Yuna-kyung inadvertently objected.

Then, pointing with her wing to the portrait of a girl in her mid-teens at best drawn on a scroll, she asked questioningly.

[There’s no way that such a young girl could have been a saint and not just a priest, right?]

“It can’t be.”

“It is quite possible.”

Yuna-kyung hardened at the unexpected immediate answer.

Ainsha said to her with an expressionless face.

“The appearance of the soul does not necessarily match the age at death. Besides, excellent witches and priests are often young or look young.”

[Yeah, but…]

Yuna-kyung nodded.

Sir, who was the great witch, and Rakut, who was the high priest of the Muse.

The youth and beauty of the two people, who did not match their age, were certainly enough to make her feel the urge to learn magic.

“In addition, hundreds of years ago, when you were in your mid-teens, you were already considered an adult. After all, magic talent doesn’t depend on age.”

[…it would be nice if the muse’s adulthood was a lot like her baby face.]

Yuna-kyung murmured gloomily.

To think that a girl like this had even committed suicide at a young age in despair made me feel uncomfortable.

“Hmm. If the ghosts of adults were able to freely roam Leviathan, it means they are not sealed after all.”

Unlike Yuna-kyung, Limon calmly thought.

It wasn’t particularly merciless.

I was just used to all sorts of things because I had lived a long life.

Likewise, Ainsha, who is good at controlling her emotions, expressed her opinion with an expressionless face.

“It is highly likely that it was written voluntarily rather than being forcibly sealed. It is common for ghosts to dwell on objects they were attached to in life.”

“You’ve been too quiet for that?”

“It’s strange. At least according to the records, it is said that they appeared in the temple every day.”

“Hmm, so originally, I was more active…. Why are you stuck here as if you’re dead?”

Limon and Ainsha were putting their heads together like that.

Yuna-kyung, who barely escaped from her depressed mood, opened her beak, remembering what happened when she stopped by the Muse Temple.

[Isn’t that because the team leader is afraid of it?]

“…I see.”

“…it makes sense.”

It was a sharp point indeed.

Fighting an evil god, creating a great canyon, or destroying a corrupt church in its entirety.

Even if it wasn’t as much as the Seven Dragons, the Divine Alliance also suffered a couple of things from Limon.

Especially if you were an adult who lived and died hundreds of years ago, when Limon was still considered absolute, it made sense to be intimidated by him and hide inside your violin.

“Hmm then how do you summon this ghost?”

[Call out? Why?]

“Why, why?”

Limon clicked his tongue.

Then he pointed to the violin that had been placed on top of the box and said.

“Think carefully. According to the records of the Temple of the Muse, the ghost of a saint has been inside this violin since it was made, right?”

[It is.]

“That means the ghost knows everything that has happened to this violin over the last hundred years.”

For a while, I tilted my head as to what that had to do with the reason I was trying to summon a ghost.

Yuna-kyung immediately widened her eyes.

[Ah, then…!]

“Yes.”

Limon nodded.

Then, looking at the deep-black violin with deep sunken eyes, he continued to speak in a low voice.

“The ghost of this saint knows the identity of the Seven Arcs, or at least has a clue about it.”

[…I can understand why you must call it.]

“The problem is that there is no way to call it.”

Even a legendary archwitch like Sir could only vaguely figure out that it was someone’s soul, far from pulling out the ghost of an adult.

That means no one can summon a ghost by force.

Then it means that the ghost should reveal itself….

There was no way that the ghost without any reaction would come out on its own even though it stopped by the tomb as well as the temple of the muse, which was a place deeply related to it in its lifetime.

It was when Limon clicked his tongue in a blocked situation.

Yuna-kyung suddenly opened her mouth.

[Well then, how about this?]

* * *

[That’s a big hit…]

A room with thick darkness.

The monster who was sitting there putting together a cube snorted when he heard that.

“To be honest, the Kaiser was a comrade who only pretended to be proud of a subject that was of no use anyway.”

A monster who cynically cynically asks what kind of blow a guy who is going to die someday has lost.

Those words were received by the 12 seats at the table.

It was the person who occupied one of the 4 seats, except for the 4 seats that were empty and the 4 seats that only had upside down cards.

[It doesn’t matter if Kaiser dies or not, but missing the Seven Arcs again is a big problem.]

“Ah, that was definitely a waste.”

The monster agreed, just this time.

Because Seven Arcs was a goal that the Liberation Brigade’s ghosts should never miss.

[It’s a pity, the same goes for the magic lord.]

“That old man? It certainly helped a lot, but I didn’t think he would have become a good comrade because he was secretly strict, right?”

[no. If he had just finished this job safely and obtained the Seven Arcs in London, he would have received the protection of a star and become a great comrade.

]

The monster agreed.

Even for them, who can demonstrate power beyond level 100 through 『Descent of the Constellation』, the ten monarchs were special in many ways.

In that respect, the death of Carol, who was already ready to receive the protection of the stars as she had been active since the beginning of the Iron Age, was obviously a wasteful loss.

“But don’t be too disappointed. I will fill that void.”

[Labyrinth You? How?]

What was contained in that question was blatant doubt.

It was more like interrogating an enemy than a comrade, but he didn’t care about the monster called Labyrinth.

I just smiled and said.

“The toy I’ve been working on for a while is about to be completed.”

[Would you fill the vacancy of ‘that’ Berserker or ‘that’ magic lord with only toys…?] Thanks to your genius

combat instinct, the transcendent unique skill of 『Incarnation of Wrath』, and a stable erosion rate, your fighting power surpasses even that of a monarch. Eugene who used to do it.

And if he had received the protection of the stars, Carol might have been able to fill the vacancy of 3rd in the rankings, and perhaps even rise to the 2nd position.

Will you fill that void?

No matter how much Labyrinth was the specter of the 4th rank of the Liberation Brigade, it was not something that could be recklessly assured.

“Oh, of course I admit it’s hard with just my toys.”

Labyrinth also readily admitted that fact.

With just one condition added.

“If it wasn’t for this.”

widely.

The moment Labyrinth put an object on the table along with the words.

The dark room was stained with blood.

The radiance from the icosahedral stone, too turbid to be a jewel and too beautiful to be an ore, illuminated everything around it in red.

[…Did you get it from London?]

“That’s right, Comrade Kaiser, who died like a sick man without doing anything, left us the only legacy.”