Chapter 148. Sword God, Sleeps Here
“Ugh, what’s with him again?”
Shine walked away, leaving Aster trudging off in the opposite direction. She had no idea what had gotten him all worked up this time.
Then again, he was the kind of man who always looked at the world through a crooked lens, there was no way to ever truly understand what went on in his head.
‘Tsk, and on such a monumental day where the hierarchy’s being re-established, too.’
Shrugging off the thought with a sigh, Shine made her way lightly toward the Sword God’s Tomb.
“Hm, so this is the place?”
“Yes.”
The attendant bowed politely.
Before entering, Shine took a moment to take in the sight before her.
“It’s… plainer than I expected.”
The Sword God’s Tomb looked more like the entrance to an underground prison than a resting place. For such a grand name as ‘the Sword God’s Tomb’, its outward appearance was rather shabby. Perhaps noticing Shine’s thoughts, the attendant who had been silently leading the way offered an awkward explanation.
“There were many opinions within the family, but apparently, it was the thirteenth Lord’s last will…”
Even as he spoke, the attendant wondered why he was making excuses.
But soon, he understood why.
“I see.”
“…Excuse me?”
“He was a man of humble character.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Nothing. Just muttering to myself.”
The attendant looked up at Shine with curious eyes. Her armor was pitch-black, and though her face was hidden, something about her aura felt… lonely. It wasn’t just the way she naturally commanded presence, it was that faint melancholy she carried that pulled people in.
As he thought of it, the attendant realized Shine’s demeanor on the way here had been rather strange. She hadn’t said much, but… yes, it was as though she were reminiscing about something long past.
“Have you, perhaps, visited Lorutel before?”
The question slipped out before he realized how absurd it was.
Shine only gave a small laugh.
“Heck no
But for some reason… That answer sounded unusually wistful, like someone longing for a time that would never return.
As the attendant wondered about that strange tone, Shine finally spoke again.
“Let’s go in, then. Are you coming with me?”
“Ah, no. My duty ends here.”
The attendant quickly shook his head.
“Ah, and please remember what I told you earlier.”
“No damage to property, no recording, and stay no longer than a day. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Yes, then…”
The attendant unlocked the door with the key and stepped aside. Shine stood before the staircase, gazing down into the pitch-black darkness below.
For a brief moment…
“Ah, could I get a flower?”
“I could find one, but… why a flower…?”
“Never mind. No need to fetch one.”
Shine plucked a wildflower growing beside the entrance.
“I’ll be going, then.”
With that single wildflower in hand, Shine stepped into the darkness. It was a humble gesture, but knowing him, he wouldn’t have cared for anything grander.
“……”
The attendant quietly watched Shine’s back disappear. It didn’t take him long to realize what the flower meant.
‘Someone bringing a funeral flower to the Sword God’s Tomb… That’s a first.’
At least, it was the first in all the years he’d been its caretaker.
* * *
According to rumor, the Sword God’s Tomb, or rather, the “Chamber of Trials”, was divided into three stages.
The first: The Stepping Stones.
Shine stood in a chamber filled like a swimming pool, gazing ahead.
“Sheesh… quite the effort you put into this.”
She’d wondered why they called it the Chamber of Trials instead of simply a tomb, but seeing it now, she understood. It wasn’t so much a “tomb” as it was a “gate.”
Her eyes followed the floating platforms spaced evenly across the water.
The method for passing the first trial was obvious.
“So you just step on the floating stones and cross, huh?”
Most likely. Otherwise, why bother putting these pointless stones here?
Of course, Shine could have easily leapt across without touching a single one, but instead of jumping, she stood still, examining the pattern of the stones carefully. Something about their arrangement felt… familiar.
After a while…
“…Tsk.”
Clicking her tongue in mild irritation, Shine muttered,
“What a petty bastard.”
With that, she sprang forward, feet landing one by one on the floating stones. Her movements were fluid, effortless.
She didn’t slip, didn’t fall, as though she already knew the exact order.
And when she reached the other side, she glanced back.
— “Ha-ha-ha, you fool! How can you tread the steps of Lorutel worse than I do? Hmm? Watch closely! This genius shall refine it for your clumsy sake!”
“…Even if it killed me, I’d never step like that.”
Murmuring as she revisited the memory, Shine turned away and continued toward the next chamber.
The second stage.
Shine stepped into a stone room with a circular marking at its center. Magic circles and artifacts lined the walls, this one was easy to figure out, too.
Stand in the circle and endure.
‘This… was quite a common training exercise.’
As soon as she stepped into the circle, magic arrows began to fire from every direction.
Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!
Shine’s crimson eyes tracked their blue trajectories.
Clang!
Her sword swept through the air. The first swing drew a smooth arc, graceful, flowing like water. Each motion cut, deflected, or diverted the magic arrows. There was no hesitation, not even for an instant.
It was… a sword dance. And when that violent dance finally ended…
Clunk, boom―!
With the sound of grinding metal, the door to the next stage opened.
But Shine didn’t move right away.
She stood still, eyes roaming the chamber. Memories flickered through her mind, old, nearly forgotten ones.
As her sword had traced the same flow as those magical bolts, her body had recalled the past with it.
— “Ah, you’re swinging all wrong. Here, watch. I’ll broaden your vision myself. It’s Lorutel’s swordsmanship, but I’ve re-interpreted it, yes, call it the Shine-style!”
Looking back on it now…
“I really tormented you a lot, didn’t I?”
Whenever Lorutel and Leman held exchanges, it always ended the same way.
He’d show off some sword technique he learned, and Shine would mimic it at a glance, add her own “interpretation,” and then perform it just to show off.
Childish nonsense.
‘I never even understood the essence of the technique, just copied the surface.’
Feeling the heat of embarrassment, Shine muttered a curse.
“Damn bastard.”
She shook her head sharply and moved on to the final stage.
Now, the last trial.
To be honest, the first and second ones were things anyone could pass with enough persistence. Sure, without knowing the secrets behind the stepping stones or the trajectories of the arrows, it wouldn’t be easy, but still, it didn’t truly test the “heir.”
So then…
“This must be the real one…”
Shine stepped into the final stone chamber and looked around. There was… nothing remarkable about it.
“What, nothing here?”
Unlike before, there was no test to complete, no door leading onward.
Just emptiness.
The only unusual feature was the sun emblem engraved on the far wall, but even that wasn’t strange.
Lorutel’s emblem had always been the sun.
“Hm…”
While Shine was muttering to herself…The floor of the empty chamber suddenly shifted.
Grind-grind-grind!
“This is…”
She examined the stone slab that rose from the ground, tilting her head.
‘Place your hand on it?’
As she reached to place her palm on the imprint, a line of words caught her eye.
The sun never sets.
“……”
The sun never sets. It was a phrase the retainers of Lorutel often used, meaning ‘Lorutel’s glory is eternal.’
Shine frowned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Still, she placed her hand on the stone and infused it with Aether.
Immediately, heat surged through the room.
Sizzle-sizzle-sizzle!
The sun emblem glowed, radiating intense heat, so much that even Shine struggled to withstand it.
The more Aether she poured in, the hotter it grew. With a grunt, she dismissed her overheated armor back into shadow and pulled her hand away, scowling.
“Don’t tell me… that bastard…”
Was this meant to mock her?
‘Because I teased him so much?’
But then she stopped herself.
“Hah… he’s fallen to wickedness, has he?”
The world wasn’t rotten. And even if it was, not everyone was corrupted by it.
Would he really guard a cursed sword only to leave behind a childish line like ‘Lorutel is great!’?
But still…
‘…It does sound like something he’d do.’
If anyone would hand over a gift and still find a way to irritate her, it would be him. In her memories, Shamid hadn’t been that kind of person, but people change.
“Maybe I should’ve beaten some more sense into you—wait, hold on.”
A memory flashed through her mind.
— “The sun never sets.”
‘Did he… ever actually say that?’
She rifled through her memories…No.
Sure, when they were children, he’d chant it every time he lost a duel, but… after one particular incident, he stopped.
— “The sun never sets.”
— “But you lost, didn’t you?”
— “……”
— “I just didn’t like that look in your eyes.”
So she’d hit him.
With both families’ elders away, she’d used the chance to “teach him a lesson,” and beat him senseless. For every word of defiance, one smack.
‘And what did I say back then?’
Ah, right.
— “If you ever spout that “sun never sets” crap in front of me again, you’ll die. Got it?”
— “……”
— “Answer me.”
— “The sun never… urk!”
A memory from when both she and Shamid had been painfully young.
Recalling it now…Shine lifted her gaze toward the sun carved into the wall.
“……”
If Shamid were standing before her now…
If he were to say ‘the sun never sets’ to her face again, what would she do?
She didn’t know.
Now, she was a vampire who had crash-landed in the future. And he… was the family head lying in a tomb.
But two hundred years ago…Yeah, she probably would’ve done exactly this.
Shine stopped before the sun emblem and faced the wall.
A short breath in. And then…
Bang!
Her fist crashed into the wall.
Once wasn’t enough.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Until the wall carved with the sun crumbled completely…Again and again, smashing, pounding, destroying.
‘Yeah… that’s it.’
If Shamid had really been standing there, she would’ve beaten him just like this.
And when the wall finally gave way…
Crackle, crumble!
Through the drifting dust, another hidden chamber appeared.
“Of course. That’s the right answer.”
Shine smiled faintly and stepped inside. What greeted her were… two gravestones.
‘…Two?’
She released a pulse of Aether, sweeping away the haze, and looked at the first.
And when she read the words carved upon it…
“……”
Her eyes returned to their calm, red hue.
Then she read it again.
[Shine von Leman, My brightest and most radiant friend]
Here lies the Sword God as if engraving it upon her very retinas, Shine stood there…
wordless, endless, motionless.
