SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 272

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 272: Epilogue (2)

──────

“Are you so certain? That I won't kill you?”

“Yes."

I nodded my head.

“You could have erased your presence and ambushed us earlier. The Black Dragon Master might have lost a hand, and I might have lost one side of my body. You had caught the perfect moment... yet you deliberately made a footstep and announced your presence, did you not?”

“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 Master.”

"......."

“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 Master was shocked.

“Can’t you understand? Stick with me so I can use teleportation or whatever! Ah, Kim Gong-Ja! Really! That lunatic!”

From behind me, the Black Dragon Master 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 Master and I stopped in our tracks. We turned our heads, exchanging glances, trying to comprehend what was happening. But the Black Dragon Master 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 Master 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 Master 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 keep from laughing, young man? The child who was called the master of the Black Dragon and the Black Witch, always cool-headed and never hesitant to kill those who needed killing, is worrying herself sick over your safety.”

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].

“As for me... I was worried that you might change.”

The Sword Saint was saying.

“You now belong, in both name and reality, to the highest echelon of this tower. It has become natural for people to accept you associating with the heads of the five great guilds as a friend.”

"......."

“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 Master 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 Master bared her teeth, looking as if she wanted to tear the Sword Saint's neck apart.

“We all carried out the Great Purge together, yet you alone act superior and noble! If you stepped down as captain of the Vigilante Corps, you should have holed up in some quiet hermitage for the rest of your life. Instead, you went around killing hunters merely suspected of being murderers! You 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 Master’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 Master is a human at heart.”

Anastasia flinched.

“……What?”

“In the tower, most residents know the Black Dragon Master 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 Master 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 Master 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 Master and me.

“Despite being a powerful figure who assassinated and purged many people.”

"......."

“Young man. The Black Dragon Master 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 Master, the Heretic Inquisitor, the Countess, and Viper.

Their hands must have been stained with a great deal of 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 Snail Tribe formed a net and tossed the Heretic Inquisitor into the air. “Ahaha! Haha! Amazing! What an incredible ride!” The Heretic Inquisitor’s laughter carried all the way to me.

The Countess having tea time with the Fairy Tribe, the Paladin swimming with the Gill-Fin Tribe, were also visible.

“The Heretic Inquisitor will often blurt out something like, [Mm! Let us kill them and eliminate future trouble!] That child knows only the easiest, simplest, and most certain method. But if I ask the Heretic Inquisitor to think once more... he will think again. That child 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 his 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 a hand and took hold of something inside my clothes.

The white lily-scented handkerchief Raviel had given me.

Keeping it hidden from everyone, I lightly clutched the 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 taught me in the marrow of my bones that [I myself may be wrong]. This time, you showed me that [even someone like the Black Dragon Master can change]. Once in every three meetings with you, I end up changing. You are more than a good friend. You are 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 is that if you die, everyone around you will return to being beasts as vicious as they were before, no, even more vicious than before.”

It was the same thing the Princess had once told me.

“The Black Dragon Master who exchanged names with you. The Heretic Inquisitor. Those hundreds of martial artists watching you and me right now, hands on their swords and ready to charge at any moment... All of them would lose their minds, even if not to the same degree as your husband. They would become beasts that bite and tear at the world.”

“.......”

“So.”

Thump.

The Sword Saint lightly tapped my chest.

The location of my heart.

“If you want us to remain human, young man, above all else, you must value your own life the most."

“.......”

“No matter what happens. No matter what sacrifice it costs, you must protect your own life. That is the duty of one who dared resolve to guide the Heretic Inquisitor along the human path, the responsibility of one who drew the Black Dragon Master in as a friend, and the obligation of the young man who has kept me from slaughtering even one person these 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.

“Forgive me, but I have even less faith in people than the Black Dragon Master does. Since childhood, I have found human beings somewhat untrustworthy and, at times, contemptible. McCallister often asked me why I had so little faith in humanity.”

"......."

“As for the promise you just made... I doubt you will keep it very well. No. I have a premonition that you are certain to break it. I dislike praising myself, but accurately reading such ominous premonitions happens to be my specialty.”

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.