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SSS-Class Suicide Hunter (Web Novel) - Chapter 272: Epilogue (2)
Chapter 272: Epilogue (2)
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Translator/Editor: Ryuu
“Are you so certain? That I won't kill you?”
“Yes."
I nodded my head.
“You could have ambushed us earlier by silencing your footsteps. The Black Dragon Witch's hand would have flown off, and I might have lost half my body too. You had the perfect timing... but you deliberately made a sound to reveal your presence, didn’t you?”
“Hmm."
“It’s just a threat. A mere warning. [If something like a purge happens, I will not stand idly by]. That’s the clear message you sent to me, no, to the Black Dragon Witch.”
"......."
“There’s already a relationship of iron-clad trust between you and me.”
Amidst the still palpable tension around us,
I smiled and approached the Sword Saint.
“Hey! Kim Gong-Ja! Don’t go! Stick with me, you fool!”
Naturally, the Black Dragon Witch was shocked.
“Can’t you understand? Stick with me so you can use teleportation or whatever! Ah, Kim Gong-Ja! Really! That lunatic!”
From behind me, the Black Dragon Witch was fuming at me like I was insane.
The interesting part was that the sound of her anger was getting closer to my back. Meaning, while she was angrily telling me not to go, she was actually diligently following me.
Towards a swordsman who had never lost the top rank for over a decade.
“……Ahem.”
It was then that the Sword Saint observed my form.
“Haha.”
Laughter emerged from the old man's wrinkled lips.
“Uahaha! Haha! Hmm, hmm……. Hahaha!”
Caught off guard by the sudden burst of laughter, both the Black Dragon Witch and I stopped in our tracks. We turned our heads, exchanging glances, trying to comprehend what was happening. But the Black Dragon Witch just shrugged her shoulders.
“Uahahahahaha!”
The old man’s laughter grew louder. As if he had seen something he thought he’d never see in his lifetime, like witnessing a truly incredible spectacle, the Sword Saint laughed heartily, holding his belly in a manner unbecoming of his dignified persona. With every laugh, his neatly groomed white beard trembled.
“……Has he gone senile?”
The Black Dragon Witch approached me with a disgusted look.
I cleared my throat.
“Should I contact the Apothecary to make some dementia medicine?”
“Ah. Come to think of it, the Apothecary is also one of your close people…. How do you always manage to snatch up such promising talents? Makes me think we need to establish a system of fines for hoarding talents.”
“What’s that weird system….”
As evident from this idle chat between the Black Dragon Witch and me, the Sword Saint’s laughter lasted quite a long time.
Finally, the Sword Saint stopped laughing.
“What was so amusing?”
“How could I not laugh, young man. The owner of the Black Dragon and the so-called Black Witch, known for being cold-hearted and unhesitating in killing those who stand in her way, is so worried about your well-being.”
Ah.
The title he used to address me changed from King of Death to young man.
I prefer being called young man to King of Death. It feels much more comfortable.
Like being treated like a grandchild by a grandfather? There was something pleasant about the Sword Saint’s way of saying [young man].
“You, on the other hand... I was worried that you might not change.”
The Sword Saint was saying.
“You now belong to the highest floor of this tower, in name and in reality. It’s even natural to see you hanging out with the leaders of the 5 great guilds.”
"......."
“Young man. I was worried that you might unknowingly receive [bad influence] from those kids while mingling with the guild leaders.”
“What?”
The Black Dragon Witch bristled.
“Bad influence? What do you think of us to say something like that?”
“Did it upset you?”
“Should I be happy about it? What makes you so great!”
The Black Dragon Witch bared her teeth, looking as if she wanted to tear the Sword Saint's neck apart.
“Pretending to be noble and superior after carrying out a mass purge together, and then abandoning your role as the leader of the Vigilante Corps to spend your remaining days in a quiet hermitage, only to go around killing hunters suspected of being murderers! Crazy old coot!”
"......."
“Shouldn’t people have some shame? Huh? What we do is righteous purging, but what you do is justice as a dark hero? Why don’t you just get a bat mask then? Even a hero in a bat mask doesn’t kill people!”
The extent of the Black Dragon Witch’s long-held resentment towards the Sword Saint was palpable.
Any ordinary person would have been overwhelmed, even turned pale, by such a storm of criticism, but the Sword Saint did not even blink. He just listened silently, and then casually threw out a single remark.
“The Black Dragon Witch is a human at heart.”
Anastasia flinched.
“……What?”
“In the tower, most residents know the Black Dragon Witch as a ruthless ruler. A woman who secretly poisons her enemies, scattering spies everywhere, so that every happening in the tower reaches her. A cold-blooded empress who decisively cuts down anyone who blocks her path, no matter who it is.”
"......."
The Black Dragon Witch clenched her fists. Her lips trembled, unsure if the old man was mocking her or had some other malicious intent, making her unable to respond.
“But, look at this woman here.”
The Sword Saint released his grip from the sword hilt.
And pointed at the Black Dragon Witch with his empty hand.
“She’s just an infinitely human person.”
"......."
“She rejoices at reducing meaningless sacrifices. She sheds tears for unavoidable sacrifices. She gets angry at corruption and incompetence, praises effort and struggle, and respects heroes who achieve success.”
Until this moment, the Sword Saint had been laughing loudly.
But for this instant, his eyes were not smiling.
His moon-like eyes glanced at the Black Dragon Witch and me.
“Despite being a powerful figure who assassinated and purged many people.”
"......."
“Young man. The Black Dragon Witch is human at heart. That’s why I couldn’t help but worry about you.”
The old man’s tone softened when speaking to me.
But the words he offered me were firm, and his white eyebrows firmly set.
“Normally, people say that everyone becomes human once you peel off a layer. But this old man thinks the opposite.”
"......."
“Anyone can seem human once they put on a mask.”
I remained silent.
Across the wide rock where we stood, the sounds of the festival were still audible. Dugurur, Dug! Dur! The Earth Spirit Tribe, having brought drums from who knows where, energetically played them. The Fairy Tribe offered free alcohol, and all races were intoxicated.
“That’s a valid point.”
The Black Dragon Witch, the Heretic Inquisitor, the Countess, and Viper.
Their hands must have been stained with countless blood.
Even the old man in front of me, before he met me and changed.
"......."
And Raviel too.
If, for some reason, I were to face a complete death. If I were to disappear. If I were to be lost forever, never to be reclaimed.
Just as she completes me, I too complete her.
If one of us were to vanish, what would remain is nothing but shattered remains.
A heart completely frozen over.
It doesn’t take much for a person to break.
"But it’s okay.”
I looked straight into the Sword Saint's aged eyes.
“As long as I am alive, it's fine.”
"......."
“Anastasia always tries to choose the easy path, resigning to inevitability. But if I'm by her side, she'll think twice. If I ask her to, she'll ponder it thrice. And if I outright say I hate it, she might sigh, but she'll relent her own view. [Ah, choosing the hard path again], she’ll think.”
"......."
“The same goes for the other members.”
I looked down at the festival.
Dozens of tentacles from the Mountain Calamity Tribe formed a net to carry the Heretic Inquisitor on a stretcher. “Ahaha! Haha! Amazing! This is an incredible ride!” I could hear the Heretic Inquisitor’s laughter from here.
The Countess having tea time with the Fairy Tribe, the Paladin swimming with the Gill Fish Tribe, were also visible.
“The Heretic Inquisitor often blurts out things like [Mmm! Kill them and get rid of future problems!]. A child who knows only the easiest, simplest, and most definitive method. But if I ask him to think again… he will. That child definitely will.”
"......."
“You said, sir, that anyone can appear human when they put on a layer of a mask. Elder, if that's the case, I’m willing to become the mask for our members.”
Thud.
I walked up right in front of the Sword Saint.
A distance where if someone drew a sword, one of us would surely lose our life.
There, I looked straight up at the Sword Saint.
“You’re not an exception either, elder.”
"......."
“After meeting me, you stopped relying on skills to kill murderers. You decided to trust your own eyes.”
"......."
“What makes a person human isn't a mask, pretense, or acting superior, elder. What keeps a person human is always someone else being there for them.”
I raised my hand and grabbed something in my pocket.
The white lily-scented handkerchief Raviel had given me.
Unseen by anyone, I tightly held the small white handkerchief.
“I am that person for Anastasia, and she is that person for me.”
"......."
“And I hope to be that person for you as well, elder.”
Silence ensued.
The distant cheers and laughter echoed in our ears. Especially the Heretic Inquisitor's high-pitched laughter. Ahaha, ahaha. Ahaha....
Other than that, it was all quiet.
No sound came from the surrounding jungle.
“……Indeed.”
The old man opened his lips.
“You have already become one of those people to me.”
Ah.
My heart rejoiced.
I smiled faintly.
“I am glad to hear that.”
“You have painfully taught me that [I myself can be wrong]. Now, you have shown me that [even someone like the Black Dragon Witch can change]. Every time I meet you, I change a bit. You're more than a good friend; you're a good teacher.”
No.
That’s too generous.
This elder always tends to exaggerate. His threats, warnings, emotions, compliments, everything is over the top.
He might look neat in a suit, but in reality, he's incredibly passionate.
“But young man, there's a fatal flaw in your words.”
“Yes?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
“A flaw?”
“Hmm. A flaw, or perhaps a weakness, would be a better term.”
The Sword Saint nodded.
“It's that if you die, everyone around you will revert to being worse than before, worse than beasts.”
It was the same thing the Princess had once told me.
“The Black Dragon Witch who made a pact with you. The Heretic Inquisitor. Those hundreds of warriors watching us right now, ready to jump in at any moment… all of them, if not as much as your Matriarch, would lose their minds. They'd become beasts tearing the world apart.”
“So.”
Thump.
The Sword Saint lightly tapped my chest.
The location of my heart.
“If we want to remain human, young man, above all else, you must value your own life the most."
“No matter what happens. No matter what sacrifices are made, you must protect your own life. That is the duty of someone who decided to lead the Heretic Inquisitor on a human path, the responsibility of someone who befriended the Black Dragon Witch, and the obligation of a young man who stopped me from slaughtering anyone in the past few months.”
“……That is true.”
I nodded slowly.
A fact I already knew, but I reaffirmed it once more.
“I will never leave.”
“Never?”
“……I will do my best.”
“Hmm. Yes. That’s the most truthful promise you can make.”
Only then did the Sword Saint smile playfully.
“Sorry, but I trust people less than the Black Dragon Witch. Since I was young, I found humans somewhat unreliable, sometimes even despicable. I used to hear such remarks from McCallister, wondering why I had such little faith in humanity.”
"......."
“The promise you just made... I have a feeling it won’t be kept. No. Rather, I'm certain it will be broken. I hate to gild my own face, but predicting ominous feelings is one of my specialties.”
Huh?
"King of Death"
“Yes?”
Rustle.
The sound of grass being lightly crushed was heard.
The Sword Saint had knelt on one knee in front of me.
“I want to become your bodyguard.”
"......."
What?
“I want to be your bodyguard, to protect your life, and to eternally guard the humanity of those around you.”
The old gentleman gave a cheeky wink with his left eye.
A remarkably fitting gesture despite his advanced age. A wink that suggested he must have been quite the heartbreaker in his youth.
“Although I’m well past the average retirement age for a bodyguard, would you hire this pitiful old man?”
No, elder.
You're a former conglomerate president and currently the top-ranking swordsman.
Why would someone like you want to be my bodyguard!?
