Reincarnation of the Sword Master - Chapter 28

Chapter 28 – Humanity chose to forget (1)
Translated by : betterdays
Proofread by : ch17175

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An emergency meeting was held with vassals of Lord Halvark as they discussed the information they had obtained from the mercenaries and merchants that had traveled to the Halvark territory.

“It’s a monster… I’ve read what kind of beings they are, but I haven’t seen them in person like this before.”

“You said they had green skin, a short stature, and long ears like elves. If so, it’s a goblin isn’t it?”

“Most likely. What kind of beings are they described as in the literature within the library here?”

“It is said that they attack humans, thieve supplies, apply poison to weapons and rape human women….”

“…It looks like a humanoid creature as well.”

Lord Halvark laughed at someone’s words. Goblins robbed possessions from traveling groups and used poison to kill others, as well as rape. They sounded just like human thieves to him.

“So how do you think we should respond?”

“… … .”

The vassals turned speechless at Lord Halvark’s words. They were also thinking the same question in their minds, but didn’t have an answer either. Lord Halvark sighed.

‘Is this what Van Ester was trying to warn me about?’

Van Ester had warned Lord Halvark to start arming his forces and tightening the security around the walls of his estate before he left. Lord Halvark wondered at the time what he should do it for, but nonetheless kept the words in mind.

It would have been nice if Van Ester had explained in more detail to him about what was coming though. Lord Halvark felt bitter at the unexpected situation. Suddenly, one of the older vassals, sporting a long and white beard, spoke up and broke the silence.

“Unfortunately, the characterization of these monsters was written to be quite savage in the literature, but there was no countermeasure written to combat these creatures in the literature. Even if we look through the other books, I didn’t find any specific methods described on how to fight them. I think we should draft a letter up to the capital and wait for a response.”

“Weren’t you still alive back in the days when monsters were present in the world? Are you saying even though you were alive back then, you don’t know of any methods?”

“I do not….”

At Lord Halvark’s words, the vassal smiled bitterly. He was over sixty. The monsters had disappeared from the world over fifty years ago. It wasn’t wrong of Lord Halvark to wonder why the old man hadn’t known of any methods. But, most humans were hiding in shelters away from the monsters as the warriors and Empire’s forces were the ones to carry out large scale subjugations and were the only experienced warriors that had knowledge of how to combat the creatures. Most people did not even dare to confront one, let alone fight one.

“At the time, I was still a child. The battles against the monsters were the responsibility of the adults. Besides, it’s been over fifty years.”

It was a different time and a different era all together. The years had passed by and the eras had changed with them. This generation was surely different from the past generation and the same might be said for those monsters as well.

“That’s why the response method wasn’t written in the literature.”

The reason for not leaving any records of how to provide countermeasures to the monsters recorded in literature, was because monsters were not fools. They would also adapt and evolve just as much as humans did. New methods and strategies had to be drafted.

Back then, the monsters had also not directly clashed with humanity under a unified front. The Demons had done that against humanity, sure. But, the monsters also fought amongst each other, lessening the burden on humanity back then.

The conclusion was that none of them knew how to respond. An uncomfortable silence settled in the meeting room.

“…Are you sure they are approaching and moving in this direction?”

“Yes. We sent scouts to confirm, but the monsters are coming directly towards this location. A fight will be unavoidable at this rate.”

“How on earth did these monsters just pop out of nowhere? Not only that, but this is too close to the capital to be called a coincidence. Things could turn dangerous if we do not defend properly.”

Someone clicked their tongue as they heard the last comment. Since the Halvark Territory was close to the center of the Empire and the capital, it was fortified through several layers of defense from other cities. So if anyone wanted to invade, they had to go through multiple territories to do so. But suddenly packs of monsters had appeared. Something was weird, but there was no time to worry about the details. They had enough things on their plate, having to first survive the monster’s attack.

Lord Halvark closed his eyes. His head felt dizzy and light-headed. He needed a break and some sleep. But he couldn’t do so, since if he did at this point the manor would fall into confusion

“You sent someone to the capital. Did you get a response yet?”

“No, they haven’t come back yet. Weird, they would have arrived by now…”

“Is there not enough room for error right now…”

The Halvark estate was near the capital. If this territory collapsed, the threat would directly threaten the capital. Still, if the response from the ca[ital was late, there were only two things that could have possibly happened. Either the Empire intended to abandon the Halvark territory, or the Empire itself was struggling with other similar requests from other territories. Either result was not good news.

“Why the hell is this happening! Those bastards disappeared over 50 years ago, why do they have to show up now of all times?!”

One of the vassals, who seemed to be younger than thirty, cried out, striking the table in anger. There was a subtle trace of fear present in his eyes.

‘I’m not sure this will work?’

Lord Halvark felt worried about this younger generation facing these monsters. This generation thought swordsmanship was just for showing off, and real armor was cumbersome and annoying. They had never experienced true war and looked rather unpromising as a whole.

Their innocence of not knowing the experience of war time was alright, but their mindset was a problem. It was due to them being forced to the frontlines because of the huge generation gap between the generations that had last faced these monsters and demons. That generation was too old to fight, or had all died off.

‘More than anything… This won’t be the end’

The vassals and residents of the territory were only thinking and worried about the current wave of monsters, but Lord Halvark knew. That the monsters appearing now, were most likely only the tip of the iceberg. There would only be more strife and hardship to come later.

It was a bleak future. Lord Halvark felt distressed as he rubbed his temples and kept his gaze down.

***

“It’s noisy.”

Reika muttered while chewing on an apple. Her expression was also not very good. She may be young but she was also the daughter of the Lord. Even if she hated being the Lord’s daughter and the cumbersome tasks that came along with that title, she knew the situation was dire.

“Is it a sign of something more to come?”

“Well.”

Asher replied, swinging his sword. In the past, he would barely even bother worrying about a goblin, but not right now. To the people here, a goblin was the most terrifying monster in existence.

Anyone would be scared if a creature they had never seen before, was trying to kill them. All of the villages were in fear at the presence of the unknown. It was possible Lord Halvark didn’t know yet, but Asher had noticed families trying to leave in the middle of the night. It was already becoming more and more difficult as the days were being counted down till their arrival.

“Do you think we can stop it?”

“Did you hear the number of goblins that are coming?”

“Well… about three hundred. That’s it?”

“Three hundred is a lot for this territory right now.”

There were only about two hundred combatants in the territory. Asher did the math, and the odds were against them as of right now. If the guards and warriors were experienced, and not in fear, this amount of goblins would be child’s play. But as it was, it would be a massacre.

‘You can’t just leave it like this, Lord….’

This was the place that Asher had lived in and grew up in both lives. He did not plan to let mere goblins soil his hometown. He once had some few individuals he cared for, and this was their resting place. He would never allow such a thing to happen.

“Then, let’s stop here for today. Take a good rest and don’t try to stay up late. You’ll need all the rest you can get.”

“…I got it.”

She seemed to feel a bit of worry for a moment, then replied. Reika left and Asher was then left there standing alone in the training area with a serious expression on his face.

“Then let’s go give them a visit, shall we?”

Asher rubbed his forearms.

***

It was night time. There was an unpleasant and deafening atmosphere and tension present in the town. It was time to sleep, but very few people in the territory were actually sleeping. How could they sleep when they were worried about if they would even be alive the next day?

Asher was walking through the streets quietly as nobody was outside. There was the guard that was supposed to be guarding the gate diligently, but Asher looked at him and saw him trembling with fear. Asher decided to just climb over the wall since it was easier to do so with his own strength and it was more discreet.

“Well, where are you going?”

“Where?”

Asher picked up his sword reflexively at the sudden voice he heard in the woods. The owner of the voice slowly emerged from the shrubbery. Asher frowned as he recognized the figure.

“…Reika?”

“Where are you going so late at night?”

She smiled and took her sword out of its sheath. She was wearing a leather armor that sticks tightly and flexibly to her body. She assumed a battle posture and looked at Asher.

“Did you know I was going?”

“Hey. If you have such obvious eyes that scream you were going to do something about it, of course I would know. Are you going to go see those monsters called goblins? Can I come with you?”

Reika asked with a determined voice. Asher tightened his jaw as he thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Okay.”

“…You accepted it more gently than I thought. If you didn’t allow me to, I was just going to follow behind you anyways.”

“That’s why I allowed you to. If you’re going to be so impulsive, then I might as well take you with me. But we don’t have much time, let’s hurry up and go.”

Reika was strong. It would be her first time dealing with monsters, but she wouldn’t be defeated by the likes of mere Goblins. Asher had trained her, himself. Not only that, but if the daughter of the Lord directly dealt with the goblins, the fear of the younger people within the territory would be reduced to some extent.

“…I got it.”

“I don’t know why you want to follow, but I’ll tell you one last thing. You are responsible for your own life.”

Asher’s voice was heavy. This would be a real battle. It would not end with a light bruise like in their sparring sessions, but rather it would be a battle where her life would be constantly threatened. It was kill or be killed.

Reika’s eyes sank for a moment at the reality of Asher’s words but strengthened her grip on the sword she held in her hand.

***

Goblins were normally found in very small groups on the outskirts of territories, but they were always the frontline of forces from monsters in times of war when gathered in large groups like this. In terms of the overall distance from the Halvark territory, the group of goblins was quite far. Asher and Reika would need to travel nonstop for the entire night to reach them.

“Huff… Hooh… Huff….”

As a result, Reika was exhausted before even meeting the goblins. Her whole body was covered in sweat, and she had dropped her armor off and threw it in the bushes as they took a brief break. Asher threw a canteen at her.

“Drink water.”

“Thanks….”

As they had been traveling for a long time and Reika had been sweating a lot of the water out of her body, she would be incredibly dehydrated.

“According to the state of your body, the body can’t accept large amounts of water right now, so only squeeze the bare minimum on your lips. Just enough to get your throat wet.”

“Okay….”

As Asher had spoken, she was able to finally recollect her breath and safely drink after she followed his instructions.

“I’m tired….”

“You kept up with me quite well. You have a lot more endurance than I thought, so I apologize for not being able to pace myself with you properly.”

Asher wasn’t sprinting, but he had to traverse through a rough forest for several hours. He was thinking of taking a break in the middle because he expected Reika’s physical strength to not be able to withstand it, but she followed well without complaining. She had better stamina than most soldiers of the Empire.

“It’s because I’ve been following your training every day… It’s made me much more fit.”

“It’s this much, you definitely won’t have a problem in the future either.”

Asher had only run for a few hours, and it was not a whole lot comparing himself to his previous life. During the Demon Lord’s invasion, he only ran without sleeping for four days. He almost died back then.

“We’re almost there. You just need to work a bit harder.”

“Wow….”

While Reika was exhausted, she raised her body up at Asher’s words. After traveling another thirty minutes through the forest, Asher suddenly stopped his movements and raised his hand. Reika took a deep breath in and stopped moving. In front of them, a loud cry rang out. The cry was something that was significantly different from a human’s vocals.

Asher stuck to the tree with his body and hid his body from being seen. Reika ducked down in turn. As the bushes that were in front of them started to move, two green and ugly creatures suddenly emerged with worn down armor on their bodies.

“Kyareuk. Kyaureuk.”

“Karreuk.”

They cried, scouring through the bushes with their spears. They looked like scouts. The number was only two. Asher pulled out two daggers from the wrist brace and held them in both of his hands.

They shook their spears through the bushes, poking around and slowly approached Asher’s location. As they touched the tree with a spear, Asher dashed out from the other side of the trunk.

“Kyareuk!”

The goblins became frightened and swung their spears. Asher ducked and avoided the spears as he twisted his body and brought the dagger upwards in a sharp motion. Asher quickly stabbed one of the knives in the neck of the first goblin and quickly pulled it out, letting blood spurt out on the grass. Asher then dropped low, kicking the other goblin’s foot in the air, kicking it away, not killing it. Asher then quickly spoke signaling to Reika who was hiding.

“…Reika.”

“Yes.”

Reika, who was staring at the dead goblin and the other goblin who was getting up after getting kicked by Asher, replied in amazement. Asher trapped the goblin’s escape route and then spoke to Reika once more.

“You kill this one.”

“…What?”

Reika’s eyes suddenly shuddered. There was also a hidden sense of fear that was present in her voice and trembling eyes, but Asher spoke once more with indifference.

“You said you want to walk the path of a swordsman. Then there is no doubt your life will be filled with people or creatures that will try to kill you. The only way you’ll survive in the future, will be the same as how you will survive here. You better get used to it now and get it over with.”

“Geruk!”

Goblin struggled as it got up and glared at Reika. Reika’s body trembled with fear at the Goblin’s expression. Taking another life. The very action was something that brought chills to her body. She had resolved herself before leaving the estate with Asher but found herself trembling right now, that resolve shaking. Nevertheless, her body responded naturally without her mind being able to. Reika raised the sword.

She slowly approached the goblin. The goblin saw this as a weakness and shot forward with crude movements. Reika’s eyes shook for one last moment before turning ice cold as her body reacted on it’s own and stabbed through the goblins neck with ease.

“…”

Reika withdrew her sword. There was green blood on the sword. After she started to suddenly realize what she had just done, she hugged herself with her arms and knelt down, shaking violently. Asher cleaned up the bodies and hid them as he spoke.

“Don’t forget that sensation. It’s a sensation you’ll feel over and over again in your life.”

There was no need for encouragement, but rather cold truth. The act of killing something was not easily forgotten with flowery words. The cold hard truth was the only and best option for someone to recover from their first kill. If Reika came out on the other side of this as a determined swordsman, she would be able to continue walking the path of the sword.

Still, she would need some time to organize her thoughts. Asher respected her space and gave her time to do so, as he started to wipe their traces from the surroundings.

***

After a while, Reika had somewhat calmed her nerves. Still, compared to most, this kind of progress was shocking to Asher. Most of the time it took people anywhere from a day to a week.

This could also be a kind of talent in it’s own right he guessed. Asher pondered on it as he signaled Reika to follow him quietly. He started to walk forwards and she followed his footsteps diligently.

After a bit of time, no more than a minute, there was a much louder cry coming from out in front of them.

“Uh….”