Chapter 114

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Beyond the World, Outland (8)

Beyond the world, where irregularity is the norm.

Even in the Outland, night falls.

In the deep night, Najin sat outside the tent, gazing at the sky. During the day, the sky had been a bizarre mix of blue and black, but at night, the sky unified into a dark hue, appearing somewhat ordinary.

‘Except for the hundreds of stars scattered across it.’

In the Outland, stars were exceptionally visible.

When one looked up at the sky in the Inland, they could only see the large constellations, the famous ones named after heroic figures. Only on very clear nights could one barely observe the smaller constellations.

But not here.

In the Outland, any time one looked up, countless constellations filled the sky. Along with the famous heroic constellations, there were countless smaller ones, whose origins were unknown.

“……”

Gazing at the star-filled sky, Najin exhaled deeply. To others, it might have seemed like Najin was alone, staring at the sky.

‘Merlin.’

-Yeah. Speak.

Najin was not alone.

A constellation visible only to Najin was sitting right next to him. Merlin ran her fingers through her blue hair and swung her legs.

‘The Flickering Witch, Ermina, was strong, right?’

-Of course. That woman was once a transcendent with an 8th circle and five stars. Even though she has fallen, her experience and knowledge haven’t gone anywhere.

Merlin smiled bitterly.

-If Ermina had considered you an enemy from the start, if she had intended to kill you from the beginning… surviving would have been difficult. You know that, right?

Of course, he knew.

When he faced the magic Ermina cast at the end, Fluctuation, he felt it. The difference in class. The difference in dimension.

-But you fought well. Better than expected.

‘……’

-You don’t look satisfied?

Najin exhaled long and deep.

‘I just feel like a frog in a well.’

Honestly, he had been conceited.

Saying otherwise would be a lie. The youngest Sword Seeker. A peerless genius who shook the entire Empire. Those were all phrases used to describe him.

Even though he was cautious, he thought he had risen to the ranks of the strong. By any objective standard, a Sword Seeker was indeed strong.

But the Outland is a place that defies conventional standards. It’s a place teeming with powerful beings who could easily turn a Sword Seeker into ‘nothing.’ Najin had to fully realize this the moment he faced the witch. He had heard it from Merlin, but experiencing it was different.

‘There are many foes as strong as Ermina, right?’

-Of course.

Sitting on a rock, Merlin swung her legs and pointed to the sky. There were countless stars.

-Heroes of the old era. Heroes of the mythic era. And many among them have fallen. Not just fallen, but those who obtained bodies that could endure eternity, only for their minds to fail and become undead.

Hundreds of years ago, they were called heroes.

Now, they roamed the Outland as broken undead.

-Top-tier demons with nicknames, the rulers of the Demon Realm who command such demons, the Demon King, Witches, and Dragons at the pinnacle of those rulers…

Special powerful beings residing in the Demon Realm.

-Fallen stars. Broken stars. Human traitors who conspire with Camlann… countless. There are as many bastards as there are heroes in this world.

There were even some on the Round Table.

Mumbling thus, Merlin looked at Najin. Seeing Najin’s slightly dispirited face, Merlin chuckled softly.

‘What? Why are you laughing?’

-It’s funny seeing you so down. Where did the guy who shouted, ‘It only took me 18 years to hold your thousand years for 15 minutes’ in front of the witch go?

‘That was just the heat of the moment. You know how people say all sorts of things when they’re excited.’

Listening to Najin’s muttering, Merlin smiled faintly and tilted her head.

-Really? I didn’t think it was wrong.

She said.

-There are strong beings scattered all over the Outland. Transcendents, Demon Kings, demons… Wherever you look, there will only be strong ones. But, are any of them special?

Merlin smirked.

The laugh of a grand mage who could treat the powerful beings of the Outland as ‘nothing’ was light. Laughing lightly, she leaned towards Najin.

-Even after living hundreds of years, almost a thousand years, they’re only ‘that much.’ They’re stagnant and frozen. They’re not special. Not at all.

It was a message to Najin, but also to herself. Her time had stopped a thousand years ago, unable to move forward.

-Don’t be afraid or feel overwhelmed. You’re doing well enough…

‘Thanks for the encouragement, but…’

Najin chuckled at Merlin’s words.

‘I wasn’t feeling overwhelmed or afraid.’

-What? But you had that expression.

‘I was just thinking there are a lot of monster-like beings in the world. Why would I be afraid?’

Najin stood up.

“They’re just stepping stones for me to step over.”

-Wow, listen to him.

Though she pretended to be shocked, Merlin laughed. She seemed to like Najin’s attitude. Just as Najin was about to return to the tent.

Thud.

Someone approached Najin’s tent. The footsteps were light, but the presence was not. Drawn by the unique sound of the footsteps, Najin looked towards the source.

“Oh, I was debating whether to wake you up.”

The Sword Master of the Forgotten Kingdom.

“You weren’t asleep yet. Do you have a moment? Even if you don’t, I hope you do. I’m a bit busy.”

The last knight of Londinel.

Kirchhoff stood there.

The Sword Master of the Forgotten Kingdom, Kirchhoff.

By the time Londinel was destroyed, he had already reached the realm of transcendence, making him a warrior who had lived for at least 400 years. And he had spent most of that time on the battlefields of the Outland.

『He’s not part of the Imperial Army, the Kingdom Army, or the Allied Forces, but he’s always on the battlefield. He rushes in whenever there’s a variable. The lives he’s saved… well, counting them is meaningless.』

When asked about him, Gillet answered this way.

『He’s someone worthy of being called a hero.』

『Even the reason he stays on the battlefield…』

『What’s that reason?』

『Well, it’s best to hear it from him.』

Someone worthy of being called a hero.

Najin looked at Kirchhoff, who had suddenly come to his tent. His clothes were covered in soot, and he was covered in dust, as if he had just wandered the battlefield.

“Ermina, no matter how many times I meet her, she’s a fiery woman. I thought I was going to die from the heat. Look at this. My skin is all burnt.”

He laughed lightly and pointed to his arm. The arm bore signs of soot and burn marks. But that was all. Only superficial burn marks, no deeper injuries.

It meant that he had returned with only minor injuries from a witch who fought with deadly intent.

“What happened to the witch?”

“She ran away as usual. Chasing her was endless, so I let her go. I want a decisive fight, but she always escapes. She doesn’t want to bet her stars on the line.”

Kirchhoff shrugged.

‘What does it mean to bet stars?’

-There’s such a thing. I’ll explain later.

While talking to Merlin, Najin glanced at Kirchhoff. As expected of a transcendent unaffected by age, Kirchhoff looked like a young man. He didn’t bear the weight of 400 years.

“You stalled for time? Until I arrived, I heard from Gillet.”

“It just happened, yes.”

“Just happened? You talk lightly about risking your life. You could be a bit more proud.”

Kirchhoff smiled bitterly.

“Thanks to you, many soldiers survived. I thank you for stalling until I arrived. Thanks to you, I could arrive in a dramatic situation.”

A dramatic situation?

As Najin tilted his head, Kirchhoff shrugged and whispered to him.

“How did you like my sword? A swordsman swinging his sword alone under the falling red sky. How cool is that? Damn, my lord should have seen it.”

Najin blinked at Kirchhoff’s raised fist, as if in regret. He seemed lighter than expected.

“Ripping through the red sky with a single strike! Every strike tearing through the witch’s flames and pushing back the heat! Bards would go crazy over it. And if I were more handsome? It would have been a perfect opportunity to steal the hearts of women, but unfortunately, only you and a few soldiers witnessed it.”

Kirchhoff smiled, seeing Najin’s bewildered gaze.

“Well, that’s it. I came to say thanks and make an impression. To the youngest Sword Seeker with a growing reputation.”

“You knew about me?”

“If you have a star, you can’t not know. The moment you set foot in the Outland, all the stars turned towards you, whispering.”

Kirchhoff smiled meaningfully.

“It’s not strange to pay attention to the rising New Star. It seems your place in the night sky is already being prepared.”

“…What?”

“You didn’t know?”

Najin blinked.

A place in the night sky? Najin glanced at Merlin beside him. She pretended not to notice, turning her gaze away.

She murmured in a small

voice about wanting to surprise him later, but Najin ignored her and looked at Kirchhoff, who was still speaking.

“You’ve already achieved feats worthy of praise, and they’re starting to bear fruit. Stalling against the witch was part of that.”

“Is this also a feat?”

“Of course. You withstood 15 minutes against a transcendent as an untranscended human. It’s not enough to become a star on your own, but it’s enough to become part of a star.”

Such things pile up and create stars.

It’s not always one grand achievement that makes a star.

Saying this, Kirchhoff smiled.

“I hope you get a shining star, boy.”

Kirchhoff stood up.

“Sorry for disturbing your rest. I’ve said what I needed, and I have places to be, so I’ll leave it at that.”

Watching Kirchhoff leave after saying what he came for, Najin spoke.

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

There was one thing he was curious about.

“May I ask a question?”

“Of course. One question is fine.”

“Why do you stay on the battlefield?”

Gillet had told him to ask directly. When Najin asked, Kirchhoff was silent for a moment, then laughed.

He turned and looked at Najin.

Then, he tapped the hilt of his sword at his waist with the back of his hand. It bore the insignia of the now-destroyed and forgotten Londinel.

“Do you know of a country called Londinel?”

“I’ve heard of it.”

“Right. I’m the last survivor of Londinel, and its last knight. Perhaps the last sword of Londinel.”

The forgotten country, the Forgotten Kingdom, Londinel.

The last knight of Londinel smiled.

“Even if my homeland has perished, Londinel lives on at the tip of my sword. And my lord, the last king of Londinel, wished for the sword of Londinel to shine on the battlefield for humanity.”

As magnificently, splendidly, and beautifully as possible.

Saying this, Kirchhoff flourished his cloak.

“I stay on the battlefield and wield my sword to fulfill my lord’s last wish. There are other reasons, but that’s the first.”

Does that answer your question? At Kirchhoff’s query, Najin nodded. A light tone. A light impression. But the weight in that sword was not light at all.

“That’s a knightly reason.”

“Indeed. A knightly reason.”

Najin and Kirchhoff looked at each other and laughed. One was a complete knight, and the other a boy dreaming of becoming a knight.

“See you later.”

With those words, Kirchhoff left.

As Kirchhoff departed from the tent, both he and Najin intuitively knew. The same thought passed through their minds simultaneously.

They would meet often in the future.

Often, intertwined in various ways.

It was an intuition and perhaps a certainty.

For some reason, both of them thought so. Meanwhile, Merlin’s face twisted as she recalled the name ‘Londinel.’ A country destroyed by a fallen star. She remembered the constellations involved in its destruction.

There were three stars involved in Londinel’s downfall. One of them was a star Merlin knew all too well and could never forget.

One of the Round Table’s traitors.

A dirty traitor who sullied the name of a knight, rendering himself forever unable to call himself a knight.

‘Lancelot.’

The former strongest knight of the Round Table.

Merlin’s eyes turned icy as she recalled her one-time comrade, who once occupied a seat at the Round Table.

The events in the Outland had concluded.

Now, it was time to return. As Najin prepared to head back to the Inland, it was Gillet who came to see him off. Normally, a commander should not leave his post, but…

“I lost an arm and passed on the command to a junior. I’ll take a break and return to the battlefield later.”

Gillet said it simply.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Following Gillet’s lead, Najin arrived at the nearest stable to the Outland’s boundary, The Last Drink. While waiting for the carriage, Najin and Gillet had a light meal.

“Damn, the food here is good. Must be because it’s the Inland. The air is different. The taste is great.”

Gillet sipped his drink.

“By the way, Najin.”

Since the witch incident, Gillet called Najin by his name, not as a rookie. When Najin nodded, Gillet put down his drink and pointed a finger at him.

“You came here to hunt a wyvern, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You said you were practicing to fight flying creatures…”

“Yes.”

“So, what were you aiming to hunt that you practiced against wyverns?”

Najin chuckled and replied.

“A dragon.”

“What?”

“A dragon. A real dragon.”

For a moment, Gillet was dumbfounded, then he burst into laughter. A dragon, huh. If anyone else had said they wanted to hunt a dragon, he would have laughed it off.

“Are you serious?”

“Why would I lie about that?”

“True.”

He couldn’t laugh it off when it was the boy in front of him. Indeed, if you wanted to hunt a dragon, wyverns were the best practice targets.

“So, do you feel prepared?”

“I’ve got a sense of it.”

“Glad to hear it.”

As they chatted, the carriage arrived. The carriage bound for the Inland. As Najin stood up and headed for the carriage, Gillet called out.

“Hey, Najin.”

Najin turned around.

Gillet tossed something to him. Najin instinctively caught it and looked at what he held.

“A gift. Take it.”

It was a chain stake, the symbol of the chain unit.

“When you bring down a dragon, spread the word that our chain unit’s chains were quite useful.”

“Will do.”

Najin chuckled as he climbed into the carriage.

It was time to bring down a dragon.