Ken yo, kaku katariki – 28
28 – Thousand Nights
“I heard that swords are stronger than guns, but never put it to the test. I would like to try it very much.”
“You crazy bastard…!”
In spite of saying that, I did wonder if I was being an idiot.
But it could not be stopped. I didn’t want it to. I wanted to do this.
“…Please stay back, Mr. Sylt.”
“…It’s reckless!”
Ah, it’s no use. It won’t stop.
Now that I thought about it, the reason that I went down the mountain.
Part of it was that I wanted to see the world… But more than that, I had wanted to put my honed skill with the sword to the test.
But everyone I had encountered was weak.
The kind that would die with one touch.
I had not felt like this in some time. And that was probably why I was so excited.
“Hurry up…or I’ll kill you.”
Mr. Sylt jumped back, while the members of Death Butterfly began to shake violently.
“Shit… You shiiiit!!”
Ragi shouted. And at the same time…
The sound of operation. And from the barrels of the twin auto-turrets, spat out countless bullets, as if to envelop me.
(Ah…)
Like an endless swamp.
Inside of it, I was laughing
—Cutting Form, Thousand Nights.
The barrier of distance I defined, everything that stepped foot within, I cut down.
The basis of this technique was in presence detection and selection—and then unleashing the blade from its sheath.
Ka-ka-ka-ki-ka-ki-ka…! The metallic sounds rang in succession as they were all cut away. Like shining stars, the sparks flashed in the emptiness.
Ahh, this was hard. But…
(I could do it.)
I swung my blade. As small as possible. Without waste.
Speed was not about how fast you could swing.
It was about how little waste there was to get to that position.
Every single moment, every swing, I minimized that waste, which had remained like cloudiness, and made it more efficient.
“Haha…hahahahaha…!!”
Before I knew it, I was laughing.
I had never thought of training like this!
Perhaps I should incorporate it into my lessons at the academy!?
As my thoughts grew more heated…
I cut down the last of the bullets, and heard the sounds of the emptied machine slow down.
(Too bad it ends so quickly…)
But everything has to come to an end.
Besides, there was a different, pressing matter. So this was enough.
Cutting Form, Thousand Nights—Connect, Breaking Thread.
Through elongating the blade, Thousand Night’s reach increased in an instant.
At this point, my barrier could even reach the second floor turret.
No sound. A flash.
And then the two turrets, now scrap metal, fall and crash to the first floor.
“Ah, wait…I should have taken them for training. Damn it.”
How clumsy of me. My mutter echoed through the room as the dust rose into the air.
After that.
‘For training!? Please don’t tell me you were going to make the students train with them?’ Asked Mr. Sylt. As I had been thinking just that, I hesitated for a reply, and ended up being severely lectured.
Look, I wouldn’t have used them exactly as they are! They would have been modified to be safe. So uh…stop looking at me like I’m some kind of madman.
(I need to train more…)
I thought with some reflection after the lecture. I had gotten carried away.
The truth was, had I used Breaking Thread in the beginning, I could have ended it before the turrets even fired.
The fact that I hadn’t done that showed that I was too heated.
Though, one good thing was that I had been able to confirm that I could handle an opponent with a gun.
A swordsman should always be self-disciplined.
One of the few teachings from the old man.
You’re still a fledgling. Bonk. I could imagine him hitting me on the head.
As for what happened after that. Death Butterfly were dragged away by the police and put behind bars.
They had lost the protection of Black Tower Dragon.
…However, unfortunately…or fortunately? Their sentences were unlikely to be very heavy.
Even if they were criminals, they had not killed anyone.
The police had also used smoke grenades during the ambush, and so hardly anyone was injured.
“Besides, Ragi gave the order, and will take most of the blame. The rest will be charged less harshly.”
But even if they got out, they had nowhere to go now.
While Black Tower Dragon was unlikely to go through the trouble of erasing them, they would not take them back either.
I wondered how they would live out the rest of their lives now.
Well, it was up to them.
“Thank you so much for your help.”
After it was all finished, and we had finally returned to the guild, Mr. Sylt bowed his head.
“If it had only been me who was there, I would have been forced to kill them all. It’s because of you, that there were no casualties, Mr. Yukito.”
I had only one thing to say to that.
“You’re talking so politely again, Mr. Sylt.”
His jaw dropped and he looked stunned for a moment—before bursting into a great fit of laughter.
Thanks for the chapter, a good one.
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the chapters. Plus thanks to Astro for the chapters they helped us get.