The "Master swordsman” who was reincarnated, wants to live freely - Chapter 79

Translator: Darling | Editor: Nebosuke

“You’re… you’re a swordmaster?”

Qufirio laughed as he looked at me.

As I prepared my silver blade, I spoke to Alia behind me.

“Alia, take Iris and get out of here. The way I took to get here should be safe. Leave this here to me.”

“…Understood. I believe in you, Mr. Schweiss.”

I’m sure Alia must have questions about this.

However, we couldn’t let Iris be, with wounds like that. I let Iris and Alia escape and will deal with Qufirio before me myself.

Qufirio was looking to his side, still with that smile on his face.

“Qufirio, what will you do?”

“Hmmm… seems like this whole ordeal got a little bit hard on me. However, you can leave this to me. We will join up later.”

“Understood. Then I will go first.”

The young Qufirio and the Qufirio in the white robes – They’re not just the same in name, but the very same person, living at the same time in this world.

Though this is the truth of it all is that it’s quite strange.

The white-robed Qufirio left the room at a rather slow pace.

While I looked at him, I was confronted by the Qufirio right in front of me. What I need to do now is deal with this boy.

“The man just now too is called Qufirio? That’s quite a strange thing, no?”

“Really? From my perspective, I find your life to be the most — Unusual. Your sword technique is like that of a Swordmaster, yet you don’t even hold such a title. The only strange thing about you is your appearance. You haven’t used the same technology as I do, do you?”

“Don’t put us in the same group. I am Swordmaster Raul Izalf. My blade and sword technique should be proof of that fact.”

“I see… You actually say this because you think you can kill me.”

“Ah, that’s right–“

The one to make the first move was me.

I gripped Silver Soul firmly and swung it. Qufirio answered with his shortblade.

As our blades clashed, fireworks erupted. The reverberating metal sounds could be heard throughout.

I swung my blade twice and then thrice. It seemed like Qufirio understood something during our battle, for his smile soon turned into a frown.

Our blades clashed in a rather balanced way – With one strike, blood came out of Qufirio’s flank and thigh. He wasn’t able to dodge all of my attacks.

“…It slurps up magic, huh. Really annoying blade, I must say.”

“You speak as if you know my blade. Although I am certain that all who saw this blade perished – That was what I thought, yet there are rumors going about then?”

“No, the name of the blade is known, but not its effects. But the fact that it drains magic away… I don’t think there is a single warrior who is willing to use that sword. After all, everyone uses magic to fight. If you take it away, all they’ve got left is their sword techniques. Even if you believe you can, no human can realistically do that.”

“I can.”

I declared that as I swung my blade. Our blades repelled one another.

We quickly covered the distance and went for another attack – His didn’t reach me, yet my blade met with his shoulder, almost the same spot as our previous going-at-another.

Qufirio jumped in order to create a distance between me and him. His breath was still stable… However, the amount of blood that poured out of him increased.

“I see, I can’t win like this then?”

“Like this? You talk as if you have another trick up your sleeve.”

“Ooh, I do. Do you think that I knew you back when you were a Swordmaster?” Qufirio asked. Indeed, that was quite the question.

Qufirio Notoria is not a man I know. However, he talks as if he does know me. But if he heard about me somewhere from someone, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Still, Qufirio knew about Silver Soul – He prepared himself to answer the question.

Simple summoning technique – Just like me, he used this to summon something to him from an entirely different place.

What he summoned was the sword with the Crimson blade. As soon as I laid my eyes upon it, I knew whose it was.

“…The Lord of War, Rikto Birta’s ‘Crimson Blade’”

“Oh, so you do remember? That’s right, you’ve fought this person before. The King who lived by the way of the Blade. This is the blade he left behind. They say that it got this intense red color from being painted by the blood of its enemies… You previously killed that man.”

I too remembered – The man named Rikto challenged Raul to a one-on-one battle.

A man who bore the burden of a whole country was still willing to fight on the frontlines in a war.

What he sought was death. He couldn’t live as King, so he wanted to live and die as a swordsman.

This was the blade of that very man.

“And how is this related to you?”

“Right… I will tell you. There is no relation at all.”

“…What?”

“I’m unaffiliated. This blade just ended up in my hands. Just before he entered the Empire… When Rikto Birta served the country as King.

If there is any degree of involvement, then that’s it. …By the way, do you know of the magic that is carved into this blade?”

“No, he and I settled it with our blades. He didn’t want to use magic; he wanted to settle it with just our blades – That’s all we know about one another.”

I should say that I was not interested, really. That’s the kind of man I was.

“Oh… right. This blade, you know, remembers everything. It remembers the magic of the foes it fought with – In a sense, for Rikto, it was a treasure he never used. Now I will use this blade to etch a memory of my battle with you,”

“I see. And will that memory serve you in any way?”

“Ooh, very much so. With this, I will be able to retrieve this man’s memory.”

“Memory, you say…?”

I understood what Qufirio meant to say.

As he prepared Crimson Blade, he traced around the blade. At his feet, a golden glittering magical pattern formed.

Before Silver Soul was able to absorb its magic – it created one final magic outburst.

“Memory reading – complete.”

Qufirio was ready to fight with Crimson Blade. Though it was the body of a boy, his posture was that of a man I had fought before.

Rikto Bilta stood before me.

“Long time no see… Raul Izalf. I’m glad you remember me.”

Qufirio’s tone of voice was different. For years he has been transferring from body to body, so that might explain why he is able to also host the memories of a different person.

The person who stood before me was the same man I fought before.

“Depending on the spirits of the dead… So this is your final trick in the book, Qufirio.”

“Spirits of the past, you say? I suppose so. I was killed by you – And now I am a man named Qufirio. I understand that it is only a matter of using my memories to bring me back… Yet, as of now, I feel only happiness. For right now… Once more… I can cross blades with you!”

Qufirio prepared his blade.

I agreed to his will to fight and leaped out immediately. 

His Crimson Blade and my Silver Blade met, and we exchanged glances.

“—Ha ha ha! This is the best! This time, I will kill you, Raul Izalf!”

“No, you won’t. You will be buried alongside Qufirio. That is the one thing that I am able to do.”

Those who lived in the past now once more had to fight against one another.

After they both took their distance, they once more lashed out against one another with fierceness.