< 156. Toward the Holy Land (3) >
#156
Nabirose walked out to the water. She still didn’t seem to have any intention of covering herself up. she said extending her finger.
“Could you get me some clothes from over there?”
“…Of course.”
Nabirose’s clothes were lying in a corner of the lake. The fact that everything from her coat to her underwear was freely spread out seemed to represent her personality.
I shouldn’t watch this on good conscience. Ronan handed her clothes and turned her around. A playful voice came from behind her.
“That’s funny. “It’s a topic I’ve already enjoyed enough.”
“So you said it wasn’t intentional. “I didn’t know you were taking a bath there.”
“You can be happy because you are the only man who has seen this. Come to think of it even including women Adeshan is everything. “That kid is also quite…”
Butterfly Rose began telling a story about how she went to the bathhouse with Adeshan one day. It was a really interesting topic but the situation wasn’t very good. Ronan cut her off.
“So what happened?”
“Let’s take a walk first.”
Before I knew it I had stepped forward as a butterfly wearing all of her clothes. Her stance was carried on her back. Water was dripping from her uncurled hair.
The two began walking slowly along the lakeside. Every time the wind blew through the grass the song of the insects grew louder. She opened her mouth.
“What you think is right. “This is a wound I received during a fight with Jaifa earlier this year.”
“As expected there are no injuries….”
“okay. “I lied for her to save face.”
Nabi Rose laughed. She pulled her shirt up above her navel to show off her scar. Looking back it was a fairly serious wound.
“After receiving this injury the game was decided. I thought he was sure to win because his scimitar broke midway but that damn cat was hiding his skills. “Claws flying like ten swords were not something I could handle.”
“The fuck isn’t that a foul?”
“It was ridiculous but his skills were real. And I didn’t have the courage to question whether it was foul play to lose to Talon while holding the famous sword made by Master Doron.”
Nabirose described the match against Jaifa at the time. Her sword fight itself could have been seen as a victory for her but she said she was sidelined once Jaifa brought out her claws.
“I said it before but I didn’t think I could win. In fact the scimitar was broken because it couldn’t handle the guy’s power so it couldn’t be said that he won with the sword. “This wound tore not only my body but also my heart.”
“Wasn’t everything better that day?”
Ronan recalled the sparring she had with her shortly after her return from Haeju. After finishing her sparring Butterfly Rose was clearly smiling innocently. She apparently thought she had shaken off her hurt then.
“I thought so too. “Actually I’ve felt surprisingly better since I lost to you.”
“If I were to be honest it’s not a defeat. “Because the instructor wasn’t normal.”
“Defeat is defeat. It was a pleasant defeat. Anyway the bottom line is that I thought everything was better but it wasn’t. “The frustration I felt at that time killed the snake that was living in my heart.”
“There is no way the snake is dead….”
“okay. “It became impossible to manifest aurors.”
Ronan’s face hardened. The words that she could not manifest her Auras settled on her heart like heavy lead. Suddenly something stirred up from the depths.
“I fucking don’t understand. “Is your core hurt at all?”
“The core is not easily damaged by physical damage. “The wound even missed my heart.”
“Then why on earth…”
Ronan trailed off at her. She didn’t understand. With a bitter smile on her face I opened her mouth as a silent butterfly.
“Ronan. “Do you know how the types of Aurors are classified?”
“What is that all of a sudden… can you please stop changing the topic?”
“It’s not like that so answer me. Some just create a breeze while others create a storm that can sweep across the kingdom. Have you ever thought about this unreasonable standard?”
Ronan frowned at her at the sudden sound. I knew that the standard by which the unique mana Auror was revealed was an issue for which no clear conclusion had yet been reached. He shook his head catching his breath.
“…no.”
“It’s a guess but I think ego is the standard. “It is the consciousness or idea that constitutes an individual.”
“ego?”
“okay. I was born in the great jungle of the South. An adventurer found it abandoned on a road infested with wild beasts. “I have never even seen my parents’ faces.”
Ronan’s eyes widened at the sudden history. Although he was friendly in his own way it was my first time hearing his personal story. Nabirose continued speaking.
“The South which was engulfed in war was not a very good place for a young girl to live. Especially if you are an orphan with no one to look after you.”
“Instructor.”
“I did anything to survive. All she had was her body but fortunately she had a talent for martial arts and was not reduced to a prostitute. While orphans my age were hugged and treated by soldiers I survived by paying for their lives.”
Nabi Rose’s life was rough. Her life was to walk a path built from her corpse. While her previous life’s Ronan was complaining to her Iril about getting sick of her potato stew Butterfly Rose was already in the barracks collecting the noses and ears of enemy soldiers that she had cut off on the battlefield.
“There has never been a time when I pursued strength more than that time. The only thing on my mind at the time was to overwhelm my opponent and not belittle him. “It was around that time that the auras appeared.”
“At the time I was chasing a notorious wanted criminal. I cut off my ankle with a sword beforehand so all I had to do was follow the blood trail. “I was walking through the jungle for a few hours when a snake caught my eye.”
“snake? “Isn’t that the snake I know?”
“okay. It was a huge poisonous snake. He had blue scales as beautiful as jewels and three monkeys that seemed to be his family were frozen in front of him unable to move. It seemed like if all three ran away or fought at the same time one would survive but that didn’t happen. “I was so overcome by fear that I felt like I had lost the will to live.”
“The snake eventually began swallowing the monkeys one by one. It was just picking up things that had fallen. “Forgetting about chasing the wanted criminal I stood still and watched the monkeys disappearing into the snake’s maw.”
“Uh…why?”
“Because that was the ideal I was pursuing. A domineering strongman who overwhelms his opponents even before the fight and does not need to exert any effort. Thanks to that snake I realized that that was my wish. And at the moment of realization an arrow flew from outside my field of vision and stuck in my arm.”
Shuuk pak! Suddenly with a butterfly I lifted her hand and pretended to hit her arm with an arrow. Ronan startled hesitated and took a step back.
“You were surprised.”
“Because your expression is so serious. “Looking at you like this I see you have a pretty cute side.”
“Stop it. So what was that arrow?”
“The guy who was being chased brought his colleagues with him. By that time I was already a notorious bounty hunter. When I came to my senses I realized that I was already surrounded. “The arrowhead was coated with poison.”
Ronan gestured that he was listening by muttering twice per second. I could see that his hands were sweating and his skill in telling a story was unusual.
A rain of arrows and a narrowing siege. Consciousness becoming hazy. The butterfly that had been tormenting Ronan describing the urgency of her time suddenly stopped me in place.
“And at that very moment my aura appeared.”
“her.”
“It was truly a miracle. It got dark everywhere and the poisonous snake I saw a while ago appeared. After that everything went as you expected.”
Nabirose took the heads of the paralyzed wanted criminals one by one. He said he still can’t forget the sensation of cutting his throat like he was harvesting a crop.
“What I wanted to say…is that the driving force behind everything ultimately came from the will to become stronger and to overwhelm others.”
“Then the reason why the instructor can no longer handle Aurors is….”
“okay. This is because their will was broken after being defeated by Jaipa one after another. At least I think so.”
Butterfly Rose smiled bitterly again. She muttered softly as she smoothed her scar.
“The arrow fell out but the hole remained.”
Ronan said nothing. Even though he wanted to suggest a solution he couldn’t think of one.
It was a very complex type of wound. To the point where it would be better to openly suffer from depression. In this case the only answer was to overcome it somehow.
“It’s fascinating. “When I meet you I start saying all kinds of things.”
“I’m glad you said that. “Do you need this?”
Ronan glanced at the cigarette pipe in his pocket. Nabirose laughed.
“It seems like you keep forgetting your duty as a student. “Why are you continuing to think it’s a good thing?”
“So you don’t need it?”
“anyhow….”
Butterfly Rose silently took a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Ronan shook off the cigarette dust with a smooth flowing motion and lit it with a match.
“Haaaa….”
She took a deep sip and let out her breath looking at her lake. White smoke like clouds dispersed over the two moons. Looking again her posture was perfect. Ronan who was looking at the side of her face laughed.
“It started blooming when you were young right? “Probably since I was traveling around the battlefield.”
“okay. “How did you know?”
“I was like that too.”
With butterflies I tilted her head. Soon she was asked if she had ever been to a battlefield but Ronan answered the question with her laughter. He was admiring the lake with his hands clasped behind his head.
“Now that I think about it I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“The swordsmanship you used when you sparred with me. “Who did you learn that from?”
Ronan raised his eyebrows. Given the context she seemed to be referring to the Savior’s sword technique. he asked scratching his head.
“Uh…why is that?”
“It was too similar to the swordsmanship of the person who gave me my first defeat.”
“defeat? “Wasn’t this your first time in Jaifa?”
“There was one more person before that. He was a person who had a great influence on establishing my sword. Jaifa will probably be reduced to nothing more than a cat in front of that man’s sword skills.”
Ronan’s eyes widened. A swordsman who can turn Jaipa into a cat. As far as he knew there were only two people with such skills. Savior and traitor.
“By any chance did he have white hair?”
“okay. “How did you know this?”
“What about the face? Do you even remember the face? “Eye color or something.”
“It was a long time ago so I don’t remember it in detail. “Oh I don’t know if I said this…”
With butterflies I tugged at her tail. Turning her body she began to gently stroke Ronan’s cheek.
“Somehow I felt the same way as you. I’ve been thinking about that since you made Cardan bald for Adeshan. “It’s already been three years.”
“What exactly do you mean by feeling similar?”
“Should I call it an exuding energy? Why isn’t there such a thing? “It’s something that can’t be described in words….”
With butterflies I closed her eyes and made her drool. She was dumbfounded that she couldn’t speak out and tell where the similarities were.
Meanwhile her palm was touching her own cheek. She felt strange thinking that the hands had been scrubbing and washing her body just a moment ago.
He was just about to say something. A loud scream rang out from somewhere.
“Ugh! “Save people!”
“What the fuck?”
Ronan turned her head in the direction of the sound. The birds woke up and took off all at once. With butterflies she opened her mouth to say that I was no big deal.
“He’s probably a rookie hunter.”
“Rookie hunter?”
“okay. If you’ve come this far it’s time to show up. “They are the ones who pick on random people who are trying to become the owner of the Holy Sword and prey on them.”
