The "Master swordsman” who was reincarnated, wants to live freely - Chapter 115

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

On top of the lighthouse, they too knew that the fight had reached its conclusion.
As Iris had turned her back towards Ruino who lied on the ground, she had raised her sword towards the lighthouse.
She had won – And whatever comes next, she was going to leave to Alta.
I too followed her lead, unlocked my Blue Shell Blade from my waist, and raised its tip towards Iris.
She probably understood this, I figured.

“My oh my, Ruino lost”
Riglus sighed and gazed towards the sky.
Somehow he was really convinced it was Ruino that would come out on top.
He silently put down his gourd of sake.

“Up until halfway in it was without a doubt Ruino that was going to win. However, she might have rushed to her victory all too quickly. But she really had no need to get there that quick. What do you think?”
“Perhaps you’re right in that she was going too quick. However, fighting like that – Eventually made Iris the victor”
Iris had grown significantly during the battle.
Even during this fight, just like Riglus said, Ruino was the one that was coming out on top at first.
Still, Iris was the one that managed to land the finishing blow, even after Ruino threw out so many attacks against her.
And then the last strike – As they both went at each other with all they had, Iris managed to be the one left standing.

“No matter how we talk about it, the outcome won’t change. Iris defeated Ruino – That is the truth, and the reality. Iris stood there in order to get what she wanted, and that’s why she got it” 
“What she wanted… I suppose that Ruino did indeed lose the match”

“Iris and Ruino’s battle” – Those words are what would decide the next battle.
The battle between me and Riglus.

“Well then. It seems like it has come to us now. But honestly, there is no way that I’d win from you”
Riglus said, as he still sat down, now stroking the hilt of his blade.
To say that he lost before the fight had even started was only one member of the Swordsman Gang would say, and that’d be him.

“Before we do, could we talk seriously?”
“Seriously?”
“About what you did to Ruino… That talk”
“Ooh! That talk!”
Riglus clapped his hands together as he remembered.
I had to hear this.

“It’s nothing special really. Where should I begin…”
“Well then, let’s keep it this simple. What happened to Ruino’s family aside from you”
Ruino’s grandfather – Souki, had died. I heard directly from Ruino.
Riglus, who is his son, no doubt, is still alive though, and is affiliated with the Swordsman Gang. And in the meantime, his daughter Ruino is living a life of strife.
Why did that man’s family go down this path I wonder.

“Aside from me, eh? Well… Easily said, my wife – Ruino’s mother died. She was killed by one of the people that came after my father…”
“! Your father is…”
Souki and I of my previous life – Back when I was Raul Izalf, had fought many battles together.
No doubt that made him be targeted by some people. I too lived the same type of life as he did, and I defeated all those that stood before me.
Yet Souki choose to live a family life, so he had to hide no doubt.

“The men that came looking for my father, they had met my father on the battlefield…  They were knights of the country that had lost. A heart filled with lust for revenge is quite something eh? From a country real far away, yet they came all the way to us. And then — I lost my wife”
Riglus did not say much more about the where and when. But it was not necessary, the fact that he had lost his wife was more than enough.
But I still had to know more.

“And… Did your father die then as well?”
“No, the one that killed my father… Was I”
“—-!”
In surprise, I peeled my eyes.
The one that had killed Souki was his own Son, Riglus? … How did it come to this?

“It’s not that surprising, really. I am not much good with the sword as you might’ve guessed. Perhaps I was even weaker then than the troops of that country at that time and period. But I got stronger ever since then”
Riglus started smiling as he kept on talking.

“It was quite surprising. The lust for revenge – To kill the men that killed my wife that is. I started swinging the blade in order to get stronger. The fact that people can grow stronger with such a “one true feeling” was something I had never imagined. You see, the one that killed my wife had the audacity to run away. I had expected my father to be filled with the same kind of passion for revenge as I did. However, he never went after them. On the contrary, he dissuaded me and told me to “Stop longing for revenge”. And I figured… Who’s fault is it that we’re in this mess?”
He sighed once more and looked away. He now faced where Ruino and Iris were.

“And then I got an idea. What if I got enough strength to be able to cut down my own father. Then what would happen to my infant daughter? It seemed like losing her mother wasn’t enough. I then killed her grandfather, and faked my own death”
“You took everything from your own daughter?”
“No really. I have her something too… As her father, I gave her the will for revenge. And to be frank, it seems like I succeeded with flying colors. In just a few year’s time, Ruino took the life of the one that killed my wife, her mother, and didn’t even bother to walk into oblivion. That was somehow my work. Yet I still figured I had to make her stronger”
“… I see. That’s when you created the Swordsman Gang”

I always thought it was Adyl Grash who created the Swordsman Gang. A group of war-crazed lunatics with a  love for mortal combat – But now that I heard this story I finally understand. It was Riglus who created the group.

“It was actually Adyl that created the group though. I just persuaded him to do so. He was someone that just loved fighting too much. Naturally, he wanted to collect people who felt the same. …But in the end, even Adyl was done in by you”

“You had meant for Ruino to kill all of the Swordsman Gang then?”
“! Yes, that’s correct. It was a chance to let Ruino grow stronger… So I had to create this group. Unlike me, she has absolute talent for this. I can’t let that go to waste. But that might not be right either. She lost to Iris – The Swordmaster Princess huh. Oddly, my father always talked of the Swordmasters, but to see my own daughter lose to one is quite ironic, isn’t it?”
“Why did you put your daughter on this path? You could’ve lived together with her as well”
Souki chose the latter, and that’s why he probably didn’t go for a life of vengeance. Perhaps one day he would have managed to reach a conclusion by doing so.
However, he was a family man.
And as a result, he would not let his own son fall into a life of strife.
In response to what I had said Riglus sighted.

“But that option really doesn’t exist. To become stronger than everyone else – That is the one sole way as to how Ruino can live a happy life. And the Swordmasters, they never lose to anyone, and can therefore live on. There is no mistake in taking this path in life. And now that we’ve had this talk, what will come next? You’ve acquired the body of a child … Will you now neglect the urge for revenge?”
“I won’t neglect revenge. For it’s a way to become stronger”
“Right?”
“You can become stronger for the sake of revenge. Though Swordmasters become stronger by not having anything at all – That’s an absolute truth. But really, “In order to protect another” … If you actually believe that and have that feeling, then you’re able to become stronger as well. And there is someone who will. I’ll borrow your words, but that is also a “one true feeling”.

Iris Reinfell – As the daughter of a great noble, once walked the path of revenge in order to grow stronger.
However, she eventually didn’t commit to it, yet here she stands.
She is the one evidence that shows that you can grow stronger by going for something other than revenge.

“…And now that you’ve said this, what is to come next? You want me to go to Ruino and protect her from now on?”
“If you are to choose that path, then I, as a knight, will vouch to protect you as you do,”
I said briskly. That’s the least I can do for someone I once called a friend.
After a moment of silence, Riglus started talking, though it was more like mumbling.

“Even now… Do I really have that choice? I never figured I would”
“Well then—”
“However, I won’t. I do not know why you’d support us like this. But just like we said in the beginning, I am a Swordsman Gang member, and you’re a knight. That is something that doesn’t change, and I have already — I have already made my choice”
“You’ll choose that path, even though you know you won’t win?”
“That’s what a Swordsman Gang member is. And then again… Ruino is still alive. I’ll kill you, then Iris, and then I can once again open up the way for Ruino, can’t I? So for that sake – Though it’s a battle I can’t win, I will be victorious”

He was thinking just like Adyl. As a Swordsman Gang member, you’ll fight even the battles you know you can’t win, just so you can stay on the path of strife.
He then pulled his sword and prepared for battle as much as he could.

“Is that so. Well, then there is no more issue to be had. Riglus Tomura – No, Riglus Harvey. I regard you as an enemy that must be eliminated. And as a knight, I will bury you”
–Against a man who had already walked so far away astray from the right path, this was all I could do.