Chapter 40 – 40. Farewell

Piing-! I run like a darting to the sound of protests passing by my ears. Soon after, three or four arrows flew and pierced the spot where I was. It checks the direction the arrow flies from, kicks off the tree and jumps up, predicting the direction the opponent will flee.

Whip- Even though Ludwig suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, he swung his weapon without hesitation. Ludwig’s unique, explosive swing that lacks acceleration.

Seeing that, he drew his weapon and swung it at him. Although he couldn’t accelerate from 0 to 100 all at once like that, his magic-enhanced body was able to follow his movements to some extent.

Kaaang-.

At the same time as the sound of metal colliding with each other resonated widely, Ludwig quickly threw away his weapon and grabbed me with his bare hands.

Ludwig grabbed my wrist in a very natural motion, as though water was flowing, and bent my wrist in the reverse direction of the joint.

Against that, I used a technique I had been learning for a month. Although still immature, I was able to unleash his grasp somehow with force.

I let go of the hand I grabbed, my fist blocked, and the weapon deflected—I blocked all of his attacks with near perfection.

Considering that the whole body was covered in blood and bruises on the first day, it was a great improvement.

“Stop.”

Sweet-! I, who was brandishing a weapon, heard his words and immediately stopped the weapon. Returning the weapon that had stopped in the air and inserting it into the floor, Ludwig nodded as if this was enough.

“This should be enough. Excellent. In just one month… Maybe you have a talent.”

“Ah, the instructor is also a true-history genius. I’m not that level.”

“…… You never said anything like that?”

Ludwig, who was looking at me as if it was absurd, probably thought it didn’t matter as it was the last time, and after letting out a laugh, he blankly looked at the sky.

Clear sky without a single cloud. The sun beating down intensely as if to say that a new day will dawn from today.

“It’s the perfect weather to die.”

The promised month has passed.
The day to kill Ludwig came.

* * *

Returning to the cabin, Ludwig urged me, holding out his dagger as if he was in a hurry.

“Come on, stab me.”

“…… What are you talking about as soon as you come? People are ungrateful.”

“Affection? Are you going to get caught up in that and not keep your promise?”

“No, I have to keep my promise. But, what if I learn more later?”

“I have taught everything to be taught. Now it’s your turn to learn.”

“Ah, you might have forgotten or something.”

“…… In case that happens, I’ll tell you which swordsmanship guild to go to. Is that okay?”

Saying so, Ludwig told me the name of a city. In this city, there is a guild founded by a disciple he taught long ago. He also advised me that if I told him his name, I would be able to learn his skills.

However, upon hearing the name of the city, I hardened my expression and looked at Ludwig.

“That city was destroyed some time ago.”
“…… What?”
“Did you not know?”

At the word that the city was destroyed, Ludwig put on a look of surprise as if he couldn’t believe it. No matter which city I went to, the story was making a fuss, so I thought there would be no one who didn’t know about this news…….

Come to think of it, when we first met- he was being kicked out of a bar drunk with the appearance of a homeless man.

An alcoholic homeless man couldn’t listen to other people’s stories. For a homeless person looking for alcohol, the most important thing is alcohol, and then the money to buy it.

“I can’t believe it.”
“Really. There’s no reason to lie about this……”
“…… John, can you go to the city? I guess I’ll have to see it with my own eyes.”

He said so and asked me. To be precise, it was a request from Margaret——but I happily nodded.

Regardless of whether I was going to become Margaret or not, I was going to convince her. Yes, it was because I felt the will to live from him when I heard that my disciple had died.

“Okay, wait a minute. I will bring you soon.”

I went straight into the cabin to pick up Margaret.

* * *

“…… Ruins.”
“Because it is.”

Ludwig looked at the city and let out a rejected laugh. Even for him, who has lived quite a long time for a human being, it would not have been very common for a city to be destroyed overnight.

If that had happened in the first place, mankind would have perished right away. If not, it means that this case is rather rare.

“How did this happen?”
“Because of the witch.”
“Right. Is it because of the witch?”

He pondered the word witch and stared at the ruined city in silence. As if to honor him, dark clouds began to form in the clear sky.

All the sun’s rays, which had been shining brightly on the land, were covered up, and black clouds continued to gather, as if rain would pour down at any moment.

In this situation, I couldn’t say that I would comfort Ludwig clumsily.

Most of the witches I met, like Master and Margaret, were kind to me.

‘Well, there were some crazy bitches who weren’t like that…….’

At least, like Ludwig, he didn’t go through sad things because of the witch. Human beings can’t relate to things I haven’t experienced. At this time, pretending to sympathize would not be so comforting.

I just waited for him to shake off the wounds with silence and waiting. After waiting so long, Ludwig lightly opened his mouth as if he had calmed down.

“Is the witch dead?”
“Yes? Yes. Dead.”
“It’s fortunate. I didn’t want to live any longer.”

After hearing Ludwig’s words, I wondered if he said something useless, but I hoped that he would not live a pointless life chasing a witch who had already died.

Haven’t you been suffering for too long already? There was no need to inflict more pain by letting him live any longer.

Ironically, however, I also wished he lived.

“That……Could it have been in another city, not this one?”

“It was this city. Even though I was a homeless drunk, I won’t forget that.”

“The possibility of moving to another city, or accidentally moving to a place other than the city at the time…….”

“Either way, it’s just a wishful thinking that isn’t very likely. John. Do you want me to live Or was there a sudden reluctance to keep promises? Are you afraid to kill me with your own hands?”

It was a story that was neither, but both at the same time. I wanted him to live, but I also wanted him to rest.

There was also a reluctance to kill because of the morality of modern people who are overly conservative in killing.

Both are reluctant to talk to him right now. Wasn’t it to disappoint the expectations of a month? So I shook my head.

“Then kill me right now. Well done. I wouldn’t be too suspicious if a body came out in a place like this.”

“…… Is that so?”

“If you burn it after killing it.”

Saying so, Ludwig threw the sword he always carried at me. Having received the sword, I drew it and pointed it at him.

When it was his turn to keep his real promise, his hands began to tremble. Even though I did image training so much because I was afraid this would happen.

Seeing that, Ludwig smiled and talked to me.

“Only use magic. I will walk.”

Tuuk- Ludwig, who put his head on the tip of the unenchanted sword, urged me to use magic.

I closed my eyes tightly and raised my mana. I didn’t think it would end like this in a place like this, but…….

“Goodbye, Instructor—”
“—Hey there! What are you doing!”

And then, from afar, the knights in armor blew their whistles and ran all of a sudden. Ludwig looked down at me with a sigh as if he was very sorry.

“Don’t hesitate next time.”

The knights who rushed in suddenly surrounded us and shouted to put down the weapons in their hands.

Seeing the knights circling around me and wary of weapons, Ludwig smiled and took the sword from my hand again.

“Knights, this is a toy sword. A toy knife.”
“…… What?”
“Look at this.”

Ludwig immediately raised his hand and struck the sword toward his neck. It wasn’t enough to cut their own necks, but the knights who thought the swords would still get stuck in Ludwig’s nape opened their eyes as they looked at the swords that bounced out of Ludwig’s nape.

Seeing the knights’ surprise, Ludwig didn’t miss the chance and continued the story.

“I was practicing for a play with this.”

“…… Why are you rehearsing for a play in a place like this?”

“Ah—actually, I came from a faraway hometown to do a play in this city. But when I came up, the city was like this, the weather was getting worse, it was a funny situation, so it became like this.”

“When did the city fall… People who were in this city have already moved to other places.”

“…… Yes?”

Ludwig’s eyes sparkled at the knight’s words. Whether he saw those eyes or not, the knight calmly continued his story.

“At that time, there were quite a few survivors, so most of them moved to the next city. If you want to do a play, go there…….”
“John.”
“Yes, instructor.”

Hearing the knight’s words, I immediately looked at Margaret. Margaret nodded as if she understood and moved her to the next city.

After a while, visions mixed up – we arrived at the next town.

Stepping down the back alley, I asked Ludwig how to find a disciple.

“How do I find it in this big city?”

“You just need to find Carlos, who runs the swordsmanship guild. The odds of people with the same name doing the same job in the same city aren’t that high…….”

Following those words, we wandered around the city looking for Carlos, who runs a swordsmanship guild.

As he said, even though the city was large, there were not many swordsmanship guild leaders named Carlos.

Ludwig, who went to the guild run by Carlos, checked Carlos’ face from a distance and nodded his head with a satisfied expression.

“Right. I just need to give my name there and receive training.”

“…… Don’t you want to see my face?”

“Just because you say that, do you think I will have any regrets?”

Ludwig burst out laughing, saying that couldn’t be the case. I asked him to prove that he could not really hold back, and he readily accepted.

“Come to think of it, this is the end. It wouldn’t be bad to say hello and leave.”

It’s the last time anyway, so it seems like it wouldn’t be bad to say hello and leave. Ludwig entered the guild with me.

And the moment we entered the guild, we frowned at the smell of blood.

“…… Smell of blood?”
“What is this again—.”

As I headed towards where the smell came from, I saw Carlos lying down with a hole in her chest and a woman standing in a paladin uniform.

Pounding-!

It’s a familiar look. Her short stature of her, her blonde hair in two braids, and the appearance of a paladin’s distinctive uniform coat hanging over her shoulders …….

“What? You…”

Turning behind her, Hecaterina looked at me with a big smile, as if she could really feel that the corners of her mouth her were rising.

“Isn’t that John?”

Her head her apparently exploded and she died, she was there.
At the same time, Ludwig burst into rage and ran.