Solo Swordmaster

#244. I have a gift.

* * *

“…You messed up the herb garden again, Princess.”

“I needed herbs for my experiment.”

“I told God to do that.”

“It is quick and accurate for me to find herbs myself at the time when I deliberately summoned you and ordered you to do so.”

“Instead, how many times as long does God have to spend to tidy up the herb garden that the princess ruined?”

“…Anyway, I am not at fault.”

Maia realized.

this is a dream

“It’s good to enjoy new drug development and research, but please take care of your meals.”

“Don’t worry about anything. My body is not weak enough to have problems simply by skipping a few meals.”

“Is that what you would say when you were growing up?”

“If there is a problem in the body, it is enough to treat it with medicine.”

“I’ve told you that you shouldn’t take the princess’ medicine habitually.”

Old like a rusty box.

As vivid as a black and white photo.

A faded but warm dream.

“I don’t know what to do with my daughters these days.”

“Carla, since you don’t take care of your daughter and always end up in places like this, isn’t it because you haven’t been able to properly educate her at home?”

“There are many people who will educate my daughter in my place, but I am the only one who can wait on the princess.”

“joy. You’re not the only one who can attend, and the others don’t like me.”

“Don’t be sad, princess.”

Even in that dream, as distant as it was hundreds of years ago, the only thing that feels especially vivid is the gentle smile and the gentle touch that holds hands. The warmth transmitted through the gloves

, albeit vaguely, is

so warm and cozy .

…The coldness of the drops of blood that splattered on my cheeks penetrated even colder and sharper.

* * *

As soon as Maia woke up, she felt uncomfortable.

It wasn’t just because of the content of the dream.

It was because the liquid she was soaking in had lost its original purity and had become cloudy.

‘…is it because of a dream?’

Normally, it would have been translucent.

Maia, who was staring at the liquid dyed in a dull green with cold eyes, slowly got up from the tank.

And more carefully than usual, I wiped off the liquid on my body and diagnosed my condition.

Slightly slowed pulse.

A chill permeated the entire body.

To the subtle soaring pain.

Maia frowned at her physical condition, which was slightly worse than usual in every way.

‘I made a mistake.’

He said the problem was that he neglected his body care a bit because he had been in relatively good shape for the past few days.

Having made a cold diagnosis as a doctor, she picked up the vial.

And when I was about to take out the medicine, I hesitated.

‘I told you that you shouldn’t take the princess’ medicine habitually.’

Maybe it’s because I didn’t get enough sleep.

For a moment, stay silent at the voice of someone who still clearly pops into your head.

“joy. It’s truly like you to say useless nags even in your dreams.”

Maia finally put the vial back in with a snort.

Then I got dressed and got my hair done.

My body was a bit heavy because of my poor condition, but it didn’t matter.

For the green dragon princess, doing something without an attendant was very familiar and natural, as would be the case with other princesses.

It was only because of the dream from a while ago that the natural thing felt strange again.

After a while.

Maia hesitated as she entered the artificial flower garden after passing through the long passage leading out of the locker room as always.

I felt the presence in the flower garden, which should have been empty.

And the surrounding scenery, which has changed surprisingly in just one day, made her look around slowly without realizing it.

‘This is…’

Instead of the originally smooth back wall, what rose up was a cliff made of rugged strange rocks.

Looking down from the cliff on the left is a vast forest with no end in sight.

Spreading out in front were several mountain peaks rising through the fog.

What appeared on the right was a horizon that stretched out at the end of the plain.

In addition, instead of a waterway on the floor, from the waterfall pouring from the cliff that crosses the flower garden to the thin stream that continues.

The scenery is truly fantastic.

It made Maia momentarily doubt that she had been kidnapped while she was sleeping and transported to a deep mountain stream somewhere.

But she soon realized that it was her delusion.

It wasn’t just because he knew there was no human being who could kidnap him while he was asleep.

Because with his excellent eyesight, he quickly learned the trick of the scenery.

‘…piece?’

It was.

A cliff made of rocks.

Forest road with timber and leaves.

The peaks seen through the artificial fog.

The vast expanse of plains and horizons.

In the end, all of that was nothing more than a sculpture using artifacts, not real things.

It was just a combination of unimaginably precise workmanship and optical illusions of light, creating a grandeur as if looking down on the world from atop a far-off cliff.

“Are you awake?”

It’s too real to be fake.

Too fantastic to be real.

Looking at the unrealistically beautiful scenery, she was silent and slowly turned her head.

Then, sitting down on one side of the flower garden and carving something with a platinum-colored carving knife, I asked the young man who stood up from his seat.

“…what did you do?”

“If you’re asking who did this piece, I’m right.”

“Are you all alone for one night?”

“I don’t remember staying up for at least two nights or seeing anyone other than me carving here.”

It was an absurd answer.

Aside from its sophistication, the scale of the sculptures carved on one side of the wall would take at least a week even if countless manpower were mobilized.

Even doing all this work alone was not possible for a human being.

However, Maia did not doubt its authenticity.

She knew that Limon’s pieces were unusually fast.

What was not understood was the ‘why’, not the ‘how’.

“Why did you do this?”

“It is the result of faithfully keeping orders as a slave.”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it the master who asked the sculptor nobleman to learn sculpting?”

Of course it did.

If Limon, who already showed a versatile side, learns his skills from a top-notch sculptor, what kind of performance he will see.

Because I wanted to observe that learning ability.

I didn’t know that the result would come back to this scene.

“What does that have to do with this?”

“The sculptor Yangban said that the sculpture I made was perfect, but lacked humanity.”

“Humanity?”

“Something like creativity or individuality.”

Technically, Limon’s sculpting was already perfect.

However, what he actually created was just copying or copying existing sculptures, and there was nothing that could be called pure creation.

Maia narrowed her eyes after hearing what Herman had pointed out to Limon.

“What is the difference between imitation and creation?”

“Similar.”

Creativity that challenges new things and the individuality of a sculptor comes from imperfection.

That’s why it’s easy to swallow up creativity and individuality if the technology is too good.

In other words, the problem was that Limon was able to make a piece that was too perfect from the beginning.

Unlike sculptors who have repeatedly failed and established their own quality of art, Limon’s sculptures, no matter how perfect they were, were only imitations in the end.

“You mean imperfect creation is better than perfect imitation?”

“It seemed to me that a true sculptor should be able to create perfect creations.”

“Hmm funny.”

Maia was cynical.

“Since all outstanding and original works have already been created in the long history, do you think it is possible for pure creation that does not imitate anything?”

“That would be almost impossible.”

Limon shrugged.

Such as reinterpreting masterpieces of the past or applying parts that were moved by works that I have seen somewhere.

In this modern age, creation that is not influenced by any previous work is as absurd as a child born without parents.

“However, I could agree with the logic that only by copying existing works using that fact as an excuse would one become a sculptor, not a sculptor.”

If it is to make an elaborate sculpture, even a machine can do it.

However, no one regards a 3D printer as an artist that only perfectly reproduces input.

Hermann explained that in order to become a true sculptor that no one else can replace, you need something beyond technology.

“…so this is the result of accepting?”

“What is that?”

Limon scratched his cheek.

And he looked back at the walls on all four sides, which were made to feel infinitely close to the real thing, and continued.

“In the first place, if creation is nothing more than a form of imitation, I wondered what it would be like to imitate nature itself.”

“That sounds like an easy task.”

“It wasn’t that easy.”

What I did in just one night.

But to put it the other way around, it also means that even Limon needed to stay up all night to create this piece.

In this limited space, what materials should be sculpted and how to make it feel as real as possible.

Because I had to repeat trial and error dozens of times to test and improve the various techniques I learned from Hermann.

“Still, thanks to that, I got a sense of it, albeit vaguely.”

Limon shrugged.

It was easy to get a feel for it as he had already had a similar experience with a deep-black violin.

Above all, a carving knife is a knife.

Compared to the violin, which he had never held before, it was inevitable that he would become proficient in it quickly.

Looking at Limon, who calmly said that at this speed, he would be able to be recognized by the carving knife within a few days, Maia kept a sneer on him.

“I understand the situation.”

To practice sculpting all night long just because the master told him to learn it, is a truly loyal slave.

Saying it sarcastically, she glared at Limon with sharp eyes.

“But why did you have to practice sculpting here?”

“Because I am a slave.”

“You mean you wanted to rebel against your master because you were a slave?”

“Oh, what are you saying? If a good slave has something good, it is natural that he should give it to his master first.”

“For that reason alone, you dare to remodel the master’s garden without permission?”

“Do you need another reason?”

Limon smiles and asks shamelessly, asking if it is the duty of a slave to give joy to his master.

Maia, who was glaring at him, spoke coldly.

“You’re starving today.”

“Oh, isn’t this too much for a loyal slave?”

“Come to think of it, today is not enough. Starve until tomorrow.”

“Don’t do that, look at me. I prepared a gift for the owner like this after all.”

To Maia, who frowned at that unexpected statement, Limon smiled and held out an object she had been tinkering with a while ago.

the moment you saw it.

Maia involuntarily raised her eyebrows.