Chapter 5

Star-Slaying Swordsman

Chapter 5

There laid a broken hoe randomly, one with a slightly crooked edge.

I picked it up and gave it a test swing once or twice using only my wrist.

“Hm.”

It gave me a familiar feeling.

A scrap of a stick, which I had been wielding day in and out, felt good in my hands.

I faintly hoped that I would just find her in this unused shed, but hopes alone didn’t get me anywhere.

There were no signs of people coming and going here, let alone Sofia.

“ …Guess I’ll go.”

I didn’t have the time to be standing around here.

I’d already decided what course of action I was going to do next, but only a little, there occurred a tiny detail that others wouldn’t be able to see, and it frightened me.

Being an unknown adversary to me, I’d never actually faced a monster before in my life.

I immediately understood that this was the most important factor surrounding my uneasiness.

But—

“Ha— haha. Hahahaha…”

As soon as I realized that I was frightened, the corners of my mouth began to twist into a hideous laugh that I didn’t want to hear.

This was not my vanity, not a pretense, not a scheme, but an outburst of my deepest feelings.

I couldn’t help but be amused by the fact that it was just as the swordsman who lives in my memory had been saying it, as if he was trying to engrave it into my soul.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Being afraid is what makes a swordsman a swordsman, and there is no room for growth for those who aren’t. The emotion that drives one’s growth is fear, and therefore, I approve of it. Do you think those who are frightened are weak? Declare anything you want, but I’m not going to change my mind. For what reason? Because this “fright” of yours will be my food… my nourishment. Alas! Thank you for allowing me to be frightened. And thanks to you,

—I would be able to climb even greater heights.”

The first emotion that came to mind was “fright.”

Most people wouldn’t be so positive about that emotion, but those feelings fueled my desire to be strong. That’s what I knew in my head.

And for that reason, I laughed.

I burst out with joy, amusement, and happiness.

“I’m going to affirm it. Indeed, this very feeling shouldn’t be dismissed. On the contrary, I should hold onto it with utmost importance.”

I felt scared, terrified.

So all the more reason for it to be diminished by my desire of wanting to be stronger.

“Yeah… This is not bad. Keeping on swinging my sword towards unseen heights hasn’t been so bad, but this feeling isn’t so bad too, after all.” 

It was rather comforting.

My emotion, my “fear,” was wrapped up in joy, and a feeling of elation filled my body.

The only regret I had was that I wished I had a sword in my hand at this very moment, as I was feeling all this heat and excitement.

I gripped the stick with strong vigor, following my emotions.

“This is really… not so bad.”

I muttered to myself as I turned my back from the shed.

Getting farther to the village but closer to the river, I thought if Sofia was hiding anywhere, it’d be in that cave-like place where she said she used for shelter in times of rain.

I had a general idea of what to expect, and I started moving my feet.

Even though I felt sorry for my father who had insisted that I stay home, the direction of my house was the last thing I’d wanted to look at.

There was no hesitation in my gait.

“Giii…!”

A goblin with sooty green skin squealed, stirring up discomfort in my eardrums.

It sounded sparse and out of nowhere, I felt my heart clench a little.

It took me about 10 minutes to walk from the village to the river bank.

I had never seen them in the daytime, but somehow I could hear their distinctive cries coming from everywhere.

I couldn’t see them, and I was only now beginning to recognize the fact that their presence alone was draining my spirit.

“This is a lot harder than I expected…”

There’s the extreme tension of not knowing when you will be attacked.

It just dragged on and on, with no end in sight, making the fatigue in my mental state accelerate even more.

To be found or not to be found. I thought countless times if I was going to be attacked or not, but the tension came to an abrupt end.

“Gii…”

It was about time I confronted my enemy.

“Of… course. I really can’t just walk past, right?”

I will challenge the ogre.

That’s why I decided not to waste my energy on a goblin.

I had a feeling somewhere inside of me of not wanting to do any more fighting than I actually had to.

But there was no reason for such a wish to come true.

And hence, right in front of me, with the piercing gaze of a predator on its prey, a pair of glowing red eyes shot out at me.

The club-like weapon swayed slightly, as if it was focused on me.

I exhaled.

I let out a deep sigh, as well as all of the tension that had built up inside me.

The longer I waited, the more goblins that were scattered around would come here.

I had to finish off the goblin in front of me as quickly as possible.

Calming my rapidly beating heart, I opened my mouth.

“Here I come.”

I was aware that I had little to no muscle strength, nor did I have any skills.

All I could do was mimic.

All I had to do was give him a blow that even the current me could embody.

I had drawn the action I was about to do in my mind over and over again, and I had already decided what I was going to do the moment I swung my sword.

TL/Note: The sword he’s talking about is the stick hoe he picked up at the beginning of this chapter.

That is why…

“I’ll end you in an instant.”

I proclaimed to him arrogantly.

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