Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 232

232.

Quite some time had passed during our lengthy conversation. The initial purpose of my visit had long faded, and the conversation was now entirely focused on Ellyuen. Sensing that it could go on for days if left unchecked, I slowly began to wrap things up and prepare to leave.

“Well, I’ve explained everything, so I’ll head back now.”

“Ah, wait. Before you go, there’s something I want to ask.”

“Huh? What is it?”

I hoped it wasn’t more about Ellyuen. I was already tired of that topic and couldn’t help but feel a bit tense, wondering what else he wanted to say. Fortunately, Ifrit’s question was about something else.

“When you purified the Duke’s curse, you said you used a different magic sword, right? …Then what did you do with the one in the dungeon?”

His voice was calm, but his eyes betrayed a hint of anxiety. The one in the dungeon must be the ego sword, Fire Buster. I remembered that Ifrit had a special connection to that sword. It might have been the most pressing question on his mind. I stopped getting up and settled back into my seat.

“You mean Fire Buster? I brought it along. But it ended up becoming Isana’s sword.”

“Is that so?”

I was worried he might be upset, but Ifrit didn’t show any particular reaction. He seemed satisfied just to have his curiosity satisfied. His nonchalant response made me even more cautious.

“Are you okay with that?”

“What? Oh, you mean your contractor becoming the sword’s owner? It doesn’t matter. I gave it to her to do as she pleased. It’s not my place to interfere with how it’s used. Besides, your human contractor has a gentle personality and a reliable background. She won’t mistreat the sword, so it’s probably for the best for him. He can play the role of a holy sword for a while.”

Despite his seemingly indifferent tone, his eyes softened with affection. If Ifrit was reacting this strongly, he must have really cared for it. If Fire Buster had been used for purification, he would have been deeply upset, even if he didn’t show it. The thought that I might have faced his resentment forever made me glad I had found another magic sword. …Though whether it would actually be treated as a holy sword was another matter.

“Can’t you just purify it with that sword?”

The faces of the Royal Guard knights, serious and earnest, flashed in my mind. They had sought us out just before we infiltrated the Duke’s mansion, saying those words. At the time, they were all pointing at Fire Buster.

Fire Buster’s voice, filled with rage, was still vivid. Despite having met only recently, the knights and Fire Buster had become like sworn enemies. They were constantly at each other’s throats, hissing and sneering like cats with their fur on end. It was a terrible relationship for the Emperor’s sword and his knights, but neither side seemed interested in improving it.

They had gotten off on the wrong foot from the start. I briefly recalled the situation at the time. It all began the moment the Royal Guard knights and our group exchanged greetings.

Immediately after Isana’s emotional reunion, the knights came to formally greet us. The knights were briefly taken aback by the group, which consisted of a spiritist girl, a blue elf, and a demon, but they skillfully composed themselves.

“We have heard that you have greatly assisted His Majesty. We sincerely thank you on behalf of all the people of the Empire.”

Alisa and Sibelius were the ones who felt awkward at their polite greeting. They had only vaguely known about Isana’s status through words, and now they truly realized it.

Just then, Fire Buster chimed in excitedly. He had been quiet ever since I warned him, but he couldn’t resist interjecting at that moment. I was about to chuckle and move on when a murmur spread among the knights. Wondering what was wrong, I looked over and saw Kay with an expression of barely concealed embarrassment.

“Did…did someone just speak?”

“Ah.”

It was then that we realized we hadn’t mentioned the sword at all. From their perspective, a strange voice had just come out of nowhere, so it was no wonder they were surprised.

“It’s this.”

Isana quickly drew the sword from her belt, presenting Fire Buster to the knights for the first time. The knights’ eyes gleamed as they looked at the sleek, dark black sword.

“Could that be…!”

Fire Buster became even more smug as the knights gasped. The knights’ eyes widened at the low chuckle.

“H-huh!”

“T-the sword is talking?”

“Huh? You’re not?”

“H-holy sword?”

Perhaps because he was so agitated, his words were harsh. That seemed to have stung the knights’ pride. They looked at each other with troubled expressions before speaking seriously.

“It looks like a magic sword to me, no matter how you look at it.”

“I’ve never seen a more wicked sword!”

“What an ignorant sword. Doesn’t it know the opposite meanings of ‘magic sword’ and ‘holy sword’?”

From then on, it was as mentioned earlier. I thought it would die down after a while, but there was no sign of it subsiding even after several days. The frequent arguments seemed like they would never end until one side admitted fault.

“That sword… I heard it was supposed to be born as a spirit.”

Ifrit nodded at the beginning of the story, which I brought up to clear my head.

“Yeah, that’s right. If he had been born properly, he would have been Ignis. That was the name I gave him originally. It was changed to a strange name as it passed through human hands.”

“Ah, so that’s why he thinks of himself as Ignis. How did you find him?”

“Well, it was just a coincidence… I should have turned him back into a spirit as soon as I found him, but I messed it up by hesitating. He was just very unlucky. Anyway, I don’t know what those guys in the underworld are doing. Why do they keep turning perfectly good spirits into humans? Even a high-level spirit, a high-level spirit! It’s a loss for the spirit realm if he’s born as a human! It’s so frustrating to think about. Well, it’s nothing compared to the loss you suffered when you were born wrong!”

“Ahaha…”

I couldn’t really say anything about that, so I just gave an awkward laugh. I knew he wasn’t blaming me, but I couldn’t help but shrink whenever the topic came up. Ifrit clicked his tongue again.

“Come to think of it, he has a lot in common with you. Being a spirit born as a human, having terrible judgment and being clueless. If things had gone as they should have, you would have been the same age.”

“What’s wrong with my personality…? But the same age as me?”

“I mean, if you’re going by the time he was created. He was created the year Ellyuen disappeared. If the generational shift had happened normally, you would have been born that year too.”

Ah, I see. I nodded absentmindedly, but then I felt a sense of unease.

“Wait, if he was created that year, hasn’t it only been 30 years?”

“Well, probably? I think it’s been about 26 years this year?”

“Kanos said it had been stained with blood for generations?”

“…Ah, that.”

Ifrit’s expression, which had been calm, suddenly hardened. I flinched, wondering if I had touched a nerve, and then I heard a grinding voice.

“It’s all Haytn’s fault.”

“Haytn?”

I felt like I had heard that name somewhere before. After a moment of racking my brain, I soon recalled the being that name referred to.

“Haytn, the high-ranking god who governs the movement of dimensions?”

“That’s right, that guy.”

Ifrit’s eyes became even more sinister.

According to the explanation that followed, the story was as follows: Spirit swords were so rare that the divine realm paid attention to them once they were created. When a spirit sword containing a human soul was created, many gods came to see it. Haytn, the god of dimensions, was one of them. He asked who the sword would be given to, and Ifrit replied that he hadn’t decided yet. Haytn then made a suggestion: Why not create a random space inside Arkadon [a realm or dimension] and drop the sword into it?

“Random… You mean the one that made me fall into the Chamber of Azure when I went to the divine realm?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

I remembered being confused when I opened the door as instructed and ended up in a completely different place. It was thanks to that that I met Ellyuen, so it was an unforgettable memory.

If you fall into a random space, you don’t know where you’ll end up. Ifrit liked that aspect. He thought it was a fairer way to give everyone a chance rather than giving it to someone specific. So he readily agreed to Haytn’s suggestion. So far, so good.

“…I never imagined that the randomness would include time as well.”

“…”

I was stunned as I realized the meaning of those words. In short, Fire Buster had fallen into the past. He had fallen into the past, thousands of years ago. Ifrit didn’t find out about it until 10 years later, and he hurriedly contacted the divine realm to have the sword retrieved (this was also the moment when the divine realm first learned that I wouldn’t be born). That’s how Fire Buster barely returned to his original time. But by then, he had already been passed around by countless humans and had become a magic sword. The reason was simple. Only 10 years had passed in the original time, but Fire Buster had been found hundreds of years after he fell into the past. The time difference in spacetime was so irregular, and since he had fallen randomly in the first place, it was impossible to calculate the exact trajectory. They had tried to minimize the error as much as possible, but they couldn’t intervene any earlier than that. Since the result was already determined at the time of retrieval, it was impossible to retry.

“After barely retrieving him, I looked into the terrible past he had experienced, and it broke my heart. That idiot didn’t even realize what state he was in and just kept looking for the Hero. Anyway, so he was actually created about 26 years ago, but he’s lived for over eight hundred years.”

“…What did you do to Fire Buster?”

“It’s not my fault, it’s Haytn’s fault!”

I was speechless at his confident assertion that I couldn’t sympathize with at all. Now I knew why Fire Buster’s personality was like that. He had to be optimistic to live without resenting such a king.

“Anyway, be good to him. He’s a pitiful kid.”

“Are you serious!”

I was dumbfounded that he, the one who had created the misfortune, was saying that as if he was doing me a favor. Nevertheless, I couldn’t get angry because Ifrit’s face, staring intently at me, was very serious. It seemed that he had been trying to hide his guilt and frustration by speaking casually. I looked at him with complicated feelings and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll pay more attention to him.”

“Yeah, you really should. For your contractor’s sake too.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

I frowned, sensing that it wasn’t just a passing remark. Ifrit answered without making eye contact with me.

“It seems the Demon God didn’t tell you this far, but a sword with a soul becomes a little dangerous when it becomes a magic sword. It gets stronger, but it’s a double-edged sword. Anyway, if you don’t manage it well, it can go berserk.”

“G-go berserk?”

“Yeah, it loses its mind and goes crazy. When that happens, it even invades the owner’s consciousness and starts taking over as it pleases. There are quite a few madmen who have stained the continent with blood who are like that. That’s why I sealed it in such a remote place.”

“…Couldn’t you have told me that first?”

Now I knew why he had emphasized the fact that he was pitiful. He was trying to get ahead of me in case I disposed of Fire Buster without any sympathy.