Was Nina up next, then? But Nina didn’t look like she’d be moving anytime soon. I couldn’t have said why, but I had the feeling it’d probably be the Sword God. When the Sword God acted, that’s when I’d make my move.
Watch closely. This is the art of Go-no-Sen. As soon as the Sword God gets up, that’s when I swoop in, ready to abase myself! “Gee, those sure were some spectacular battles. I got thirsty just watching. What do you say we stop for a break, have a cup of tea?”
That’s how I’d make my entry. Was it smooth enough? It wouldn’t sound like I was trying to provoke him, would it? It’d be better to say something in praise of the defeated Sword Saints.
My word, you folks at the Sword Sanctum really get fired up about your training!
Yeah, I’d go with that. That way, they could tell themselves, “Oh, well, it’s training. Sometimes you lose.”
Okay, okay. Let’s go. Let’s do this thing.
There was a pause. The Sword God didn’t move, and Nina didn’t come forward either.
“Done?” said Sword God Gino Britz, his tone breezy amid the crackling tension. “Now, what was it you came to see me about?”
Huh? It sounded like he was going to hear me out before the fight. That wasn’t very Sword God Style, but it suited me. I stepped up.
“First, I’d like to apologize,” I said.
“For what?” Gino asked.
“The previous Sword God.” As I said this, there was a shift in the air around the Sword Saints, as though we’d finally gotten to what they’d been waiting for.
He’s handed us a chance! Now’s our moment! It’s revenge time! If they’d been dogs, they’d have been barking and ready to pounce. For a moment, I wondered if I should have been less direct, but it would have ended the same way. There was no avoiding the truth.
The Sword God had a dubious look on his face. Seeing it made me hesitate too. Had I said something strange? I almost started glancing around nervously. Then, Gino nodded with an air of understanding.
“Now that you mention it, Nina said something ages ago about helping you, I think. I suppose if you kill the father of an ally, you have to apologize, huh?”
He sounded like it had nothing to do with him at all. The Sword Saints looked more shocked than I did.
“But my master…that is, the previous Sword God Gall Falion, went to fight you of his own free will, right? If anything, shouldn’t we be the ones apologizing? If this concerns all of Sword God Style and he attacked you, then we’re the ones who broke the agreement. What’s going on with that, anyway? I don’t know anything about it.”
I would have liked to ask him what was going on. Was I really talking to the top guy in Sword God Style right now? I was expecting someone more, you know, unwilling to listen to reason, along the lines of Atofe. This guy was maybe too chill. It was a strange feeling, more like I was talking to someone from North God Style, if anything. Atofe excluded, of course.
“Um…” Calm down. Just answer his question first.
“That was just a conversation between Nina and Eris—it was before any formal agreement was reached. I actually came here once before but was told you were otherwise engaged, so I left again… I thought Nina would have mentioned it to you?”
“I did,” said Nina, nodding vaguely, “but it hasn’t come up since.”
“Mm,” agreed Gino. “I’ve never heard anything about us standing against Dragon God Orsted. That being said, if he fought you…” Gino’s eyes narrowed. “It sounds like my predecessor opposed you?”
The fervor of the Sword Saints mounted. I could practically hear them thinking, All right, you heard him! Time to draw our swords and fight! Come on, hurry up!
“Wait,” I said hurriedly. “If you’d just calm down…”
Gino raised his eyebrows. “Do I look upset to you?”
“Not at all! You’re the very picture of calm! Look, the thing is, we came here to apologize and to ensure that you and I don’t stay enemies. A hostile relationship with the powerful warriors of the Sword God Style isn’t what we want at all. We like to be on friendly terms with powerful people. We’re here ready to offer friendship to you. We can offer help with distribution channels for swords and food supplies, infrastructure maintenance, and even construction. Conversely, if you stand against us, we can cut those things off. It’ll be bad all round. Right?”
After I finished blurting all this out, Gino sighed.
I might have gone on a touch too long. Given I’d been imagining Atofe, I ought to have trimmed it down. But this guy didn’t seem so simple that he’d turn around and say, “Sure, I’ll be your ally!” just because I got him a really rare bottle of wine.
Gino regarded me, then spoke. “Do I have to spell it out for you to understand? My predecessor didn’t say anything to me about a grudge. That means his decision to fight you wasn’t on behalf of all of Sword God Style—it was personal. It has nothing to do with us, and so I have no interest in fighting. This is more important to me than that.”
As he said this, he pulled Nina close and buried his face in her hair. Nina’s cheeks went pink, but she didn’t stop him.
I get you’re hot for her, but maybe you should consider not doing that in public? Look, Eris is bright red! Her eyes are popping out of her head. She also had her arms folded and her feet planted apart like she was ready to fight.
Seriously, was this the Sword God I was talking to? His intelligent answers were freaking me out. It was creepy. High-ranked Sword God Style practitioners were more the sort to shout something like “What the hell are you talking about? Enough yapping! You’ll die for what you did to my dad!” Then they’d attack you. Right? Wait, scratch that. That was Atofe—so, North God Style. But they were pretty much the same, weren’t they?
There was a thought. Maybe this guy in front of me was a body double, like someone from the office in charge of diplomatic relations.
Regardless, I was grateful he felt that way. Even if it was odd that he was so unconcerned by one of his relatives getting killed… I guess he’d considered the situation and decided to prioritize the future over his own feelings. That made sense to me. I bet he’d thought things over and made up his mind long ago.
“In that case, allow us to—”
“Hold on!” shouted one of the Sword Saints, jumping to his feet. He was red in the face and pointing at us—no, at Orsted.
“All of us revered the old Sword God! Through watching him wield his sword, we learned, studied, and grew stronger! And they killed him! Those people right there! Are we supposed to stand by?! They killed the man we owe everything to! Do you want to make Sword God Style a laughingstock?!”
“All right, go ahead then,” Gino said without missing a beat. “Go fetch a real sword. I’ll watch you.”
The Sword Saint froze. “What…?”
“I’m sure they came here ready for a fight. Look, that’s Berserker Sword King Eris, Dragon God Orsted, and North God Kalman III, with Rudeus Greyrat behind them to support them with magic. Even if all of you attacked at once, they’d wipe you out before you landed a single blow.”
“But…”
“Come on, get to it. I’ll make sure your body is well taken care of, and I’ll even give you a funeral. I can’t say if your deaths will do anything to preserve the honor of Sword God Style, but I’m sure your corpses will be satisfied.”
The Sword God stood there in silence for a moment after this, then sat back down, fists shaking with repressed frustration. Then, he said in a trembling voice, “Do we…have no choice but to follow them? Without fighting, without avenging the old Sword God…”
“That’s what I’m telling you—if you don’t like it, go get your sword. I’m not going to force anything on any of you. Do what you like. Just like my father and the others.” Gino sounded tired of this.
I liked the idea of quickly bringing them around rather than letting any grudges fester—though it seemed harsh for that to be a matter of life and death.
Just then, Eris spoke up. “All the Sword Emperors are gone, huh?”
Gino shifted to face her. “My father left the Sword Sanctum along with the others. It seems they were displeased by my becoming Sword God.”
Apparently, “Sword Emperors” didn’t include Nina. Gino’s phrasing suggested he was talking about the two Sword Emperors who’d been the direct disciples of the previous Sword God. Now that Eris said it, I realized I couldn’t see anyone who fit the bill.
“I expect that by now, they’ll have started their own training halls in Asura or Millis, or perhaps the King Dragon Kingdom. I mean, I suppose I could have left too.” Gino shrugged. “Anyway, did you come just to apologize? It was nice of you to do that, but I’m honestly not sure why you bothered.”
Oh, man. Not to speak ill of anyone, but Gino was a little too—how to put it? Cold, philosophical, or just bizarre.
“No, there’s more,” I said. “It’s a long story, but we’re actually fighting a being called the Man-God…”
I laid out the details of the battle between us and the Man-God. All else aside, Gino seemed like a guy I could reason with. If we could come to an agreement without any bloodshed, so much the better! It felt anticlimactic, but that was fine. Once I stopped looking at him through Sword-God-colored glasses, Gino was a nice young man with a good head on his shoulders. After securing his cooperation, we could go sit down for a cup of tea and get to know each other better. I was sure he’d stop seeming so creepy then.
“In conclusion,” I said, “I’d like to formally request the cooperation of the Sword God School in our future endeavors.”
“I decline.”
You…huh? For real?
“I will not work with you.”
There was an “Ooh!” from the Sword Saints, but they looked as confused as me.
“So, you’re going to side with the Man-God, then?” I asked tentatively.
“No. I won’t work against you either.”