Sword Pilgrim-Novel

Sullivian.

It was hard to believe that she was over a hundred years old.

She looked like she was in her sixties, at the worst.

“The deadbeat old coot finally did something good.”

“The pope…”

“He should be wandering around my circle of illusion. I made it specifically to stop him, so there’s no chance he’s getting out of it. Don't worry and be at peace."

Sullivian's circle of illusion.

Sullivian, who had researched holy relics, dramatically broadened the scope and use of alchemy, and established a brand-new school of magic called the sacred arts[1].

Even the great pope was stuck inside her formation and had no recourse.

This was a demonstration of how great her skills were.

“Did you send me a message about my own death?”

"Yes. That's right."

“Don’t be offended. I’m just trying to keep an open mind.”

"Of course."

“When do you think am I going to die?”

It looked like she was treating the news her own death as a joke.

Her smirk was as mischievous as a little child playing a prank.

But Callius couldn't laugh.

“Someone close to you will appear. And then you will die.”

Tomorrow at the earliest, the day after tomorrow at the latest.

She was going to die.

"I see."

Sullivian fell into silence.

How could she be so quiet?

Confronted with her own mortality?

“And then?”

“The kingdom will be attacked.”

“Hmm, how exactly?”

“As soon as the news of your death is known, a civil war will start inside the royal palace.”

But the civil war didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

The true crisis would then follow.

“After that, a great spear will soar into the sky, a mark of the relic the empire has planted inside the kingdom.”

Like a beacon.

A pillar of light would rise from that giant spear, and the imperial forces would appear in large numbers.

The kingdom’s forces, unable to handle the empire's Masters and accompanying troops, would rout and flee.

Finally the Imperial Army waiting at the border would pour in, and Carpe would be occupied and controlled by the empire.

Gradually losing its legitimacy, its lands absorbed by the empire, and finally disappearing into the annals of history.

"I see. If it's the empire we’re talking about, it's indeed possible. Who have you told this to?”

"Nobody. They wouldn't believe it."

"Right. Well done. If you tell them, they really won't believe it. It'll just rile them up instead."

As soon as Sullivian heard Callius’ words, she seemed to be thinking about what to do.

She seemed to believe him completely.

Even though she was hearing his words for the first time?

It was a bit too silly to believe.

“Do you really believe me?”

"Or? Why, are you lying?”

“No, but…”

“I don’t see you lying, either. There’s no reason to, is there?”

“Even so…”

“I, too, have made a prophesy or two in my time. Some were faintly remembered visions, riddled with holes like a fleeting dream, but some futures were a lot clearer. Why did I see those visions? I still don't know. But usually when you know the future, you want to change it. I believe you because you and I are no different.”

Indeed.

Should he say, as expected of Sullivian?

She was far from ordinary.

“So what happens after that?”

“The prince will start rampaging.”

"For the better?"

“The opposite. His presence will take a toll on the kingdom.”

“Then what should I do, do you think?”

“I don’t know.”

He’d never set up anything like that.

Her death was an established fact.

There was nothing Sullivian could do.

It was for that same reason that he was telling her these facts.

‘Because you’re already as good as dead.'

She was the starting point of the civil war.

The beginning of the invasion of the empire.

However, there was only one reason why he’d come to meet her.

“There’s something that I want.”

“Tell me.”

“Please give me the reverse scale[2].”

Sullivian looked really surprised.

“You really know everything.”

“I don’t know everything. I only know what I know.”

“How sad. If I’d met you before, there would’ve been a lot of things I could’ve done.”

“…”

Callius was also sympathetic.

He hadn’t known she’d react so well to his news.

If they’d met right away…

‘Forget it. The past is the past.'

At that time, he wouldn’t have chosen to meet Sullivian no matter what.

It was safe to say that it was a miracle that they’d met like this today.

“So, why the reverse scale? Why do you need it?”

“To stop the prince.”

“… Okay, I agree.”

She didn't ask anything else.

Even though it was something that’d accompanied her all her life.

The reverse scale had originally come from the body of the shining dragon that’d attacked the kingdom hundreds of years ago.

She’d kept it and studied it all her life. Callius asked for something like that, but she agreed to give it to him so easily.

"There’s one thing. May I ask a favour of you?”

"Please."

Sullivian handed Callius the thick book she had in her hands.

“Take care of Esther.”

Callius took the book and shook his head.

“… Esther and I aren’t in that kind of a relationship.”

“I know.”

“Then why…”

“Because you can protect her. I somehow feel that way.”

After saying that, Sullivian nodded towards the book.

Callius immediately flipped it open.

The reverse scale was nestled there.

Within a groove dug deep.

He’d never thought the priceless reverse scale of a dragon would be kept this way, as a bookmark.

Who could dare imagine that?

“How’re you going to use it? It’s accompanied me all my life, but I could never figure out how to use it.”

“I’ll eat it.”

“Is it really that simple?”

Normally, no.

Although it was a part of a dead animal, it was hard and indigestible.

No matter how much you tried to eat it, mostly it’d just kill you.

Dragon scales were harmful to humans.

However, Callius was different.

“One last thing.”

“Tell me.”

“Please cast a sacred spell on me.”

“What spell? Where?"

“Here, put a restraint on me.”

Callius pointed at his own heart.

After talking to Callius –

Sullivian opened the door wide.

“It’s been a while, Sullivian.”

“Yes, so it has.”

She removed the circle of illusion and led Felice in.

“Why now? You’ve been saying for decades that you don't want to see my face."

“You brought a child I wanted to meet, and I heard some amusing news.”

“What’s so amusing?”

“I’m going to die.”

For a moment, Felice's face wrinkled harshly.

However, it soon changed back to calmness.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t die? Everybody dies. You’ll die, I’ll die too. No one lives for a thousand years. Even the long-lived giants died in the end.”

Death comes for all.

It's just something that happens to everyone.

Natural. Inevitable.

Fair to everyone, and always by our side, waiting.

But we are the ones always in denial.

“So, while you’re still living and breathing, you should think carefully about how to live on. That’s why, Sullivian –”

"Yes?"

“I want to quit being the pope.”

“Is that so?”

“I want to quit, and come live with you.”

“… But what if I don't like it?"

“Don’t do that. Aren't you past the age of being stubborn?"

“I have work to do.”

“What work? All you do is lie down!”

“Sir Pope.”

Sullivian's eyebrows narrowed.

“C’mon, you’re calling me by my title again? Call me Felice like you used to.”

“Sir Felice.”

“Ugh, why do you have to be so inflexible?”

“You’re the one who already abandoned me once. Do you have the face to say such a thing? I told you not to be pope.”

“It’s all in the past now.”

“If you’d just listened to me, we would’ve had children, and I would’ve seen the faces of my granddaughters by now. We might not have had much peace, thanks to how prone to accidents you are, but we would’ve had a rather happy life.”

This was the truth.

And that was why she hated it so much.

To the extent that she didn't want to see his face.

“Yeah, it’s late, but still, even now –”

“Once the time for something has passed, it never comes back. Please leave.”

“Vian…”

Sullivian turned her head.

Because if she kept looking at him –

Because she might really want to live.

After a while.

Another man's shadow fell on the floor of Sullivian's room. The pope had already left.

A middle-aged man wearing a hooded robe.

He pulled back his white hood and called her in a despairing tone.

"Mother."

“So many visitors today… you’re already the third. To be so popular even at this age… it's such a tiring life, isn't it?"

“Now I must hear your answer.”

The man refused to answer her mischievous question, and wanted to hear his own answers.

“Alhamtra.”

Alhamtra du Rohan Valus.

A child who was the archbishop of the Order.

“The child who came first informed me that you were coming. He even told me that I’ll die. So I can't answer."

“… Have you still not changed your mind?”

“How can I? What’s the point for someone who will die soon in changing their mind?”

“I will prevent your death, Mother. The empire is ready for that.”

Empire. Empire…

How did this child change so much?

The years had really been rough.

Why were men always so clueless?

Both the old man and the young one were no different in that regard.

“Just living longer doesn’t make life worthwhile.”

But Alhamtra shook his head as if he disagreed with all his being.

“You’re worth more than anyone else in the kingdom, Mother. You’re one of the main reasons the empire covets this kingdom. You’ve fought the fallen[3] all your life, more fiercely than anyone, haven’t you? The empire will unify this whole continent and destroy the fallen. Just like the stories you used to tell me when I was young! An end to the fallen! You’ll be the one to finally do it, Mother!”

Sullivian gave a little quiet sigh.

“I raised you like my own son.”

“And I’ve always thought of you as my mother.”

Even now, when she closed her eyes, she could look upon that heartwarming scene.

A crying child had been rescued from the land of the fallen, brought to the Church, fed, and clothed.

He declared that he’d live for Carpe and the Church. That boy had now become a man, but he didn’t have those eyes anymore.

“But now I don’t want to think of you as my son anymore.”

"Mother…!”

“My answer is no.”

“Carpe’s already done for. Why are you clinging to a country that’s already damned? …”

“You must’ve riled up the nobles.”

“Yes, Carpe will soon be engulfed in civil war. And…”

“The knights of the empire will come.”

“Your intuition’s as good as ever.”

Even so, he’d come to her.

“And so you came to drag me away.”

“That’s right. I’m taking you with me. No matter what.”

"Okay. I see now.”

Now she thought she understood what that child had been saying. It was truly as if he’d foreseen her death with his own two eyes.

"What…”

“I’ve chosen my own death.”

Sullivian drew her sword in a flash.

The sword she’d shared her whole life with.

“… Mother?"

The archbishop's face darkened.

But she still lifted the sword.

And stabbed it into her own heart.

“Mother!”

The archbishop's screams resounded through the room.

He’d had no chance to block her facing that unstoppable speed.

How could she stick a blade into her own heart without the slightest hesitation!

“W-, why! Why!!"

The archbishop wept.

He’d never imagined something like this would happen.

Not somebody else, but Sullivian.

His own mother.

"Because… my death will protect Carpe…”

"Why!! Why would you give up your life for this crumbling ruin!”

“Even if it crumbles, even if it’s a ruin, it’s my home. Just like you thought of me as your home –”

My son.

Alhamtra, supporting Sullivian’s form as she collapsed and went still, slowly laid her down on the bed, still weeping.

“…”

Her hands were getting colder.

Grasping them, Alhamtra trembled.

“… Did you love Carpe so much?”

To the extent that she threw her life away so casually. To the extent of voluntarily committing suicide in front of whom she called her son.

“I remember, you told me one time.”

If I die one day –

Then follow my path and stop the demons.

“I’m going to destroy Carpe today. That’s how I’m going to continue following your path.”

There was no place to retreat anymore.

Carpe had to collapse! Today!

“It really was here.”

Callius seized the imperial relic that’d been secretly hidden.

The relic, which looked like a large hexagonal shield, somewhat resembled a tortoise shell.

“The empire’s arrival is inevitable.”

They were already ready.

The empire’s hold was deeply rooted in the kingdom, and this time it was the archbishop, who could be called the functional head of state, who’d opened the door to them.

No matter how much Callius intervened, there was a limit to how much he could do to stop them.

At first he’d tried to stop them completely, but soon he’d come to understand.

『Scenario Quest』

【Civil War of the Carpe Dynasty】

Progress – 99.5%

A progress meter that never went down however much he tried.

Rather, the sharp and continuous rise in percentage had convinced Callius.

No matter what he did, civil war was unavoidable.

He couldn't stop the empire from invading, and the fate of the country was to be engulfed in war.

“I did everything I could.”

He’d done his best to prepare, so now he could only hope that things didn’t get too out of hand.

“It’s a rebellion!!”

Screams erupted from all sides.

But Callius ignored it all and proceeded through the crowd.

“L-, Lady Sullivian!”

“Lady Sullivian passed away!!”

Callius' eyes grew heavy.

But he didn't pause and moved forward. He walked through the crowd as if he was trying to swim against the current.

His destination was the place everyone wanted to run away from.

The royal castle where rebellion had broken out.

A rebellion broke out, and even Sullivian died, but all of that was just the preface.

“Are you coming or not?”

Like meteors falling from the sky –

Five giant spears that turned the night sky red, fell into the castle.

The bombardment of the giant spears shook the earth like it was trying to change its axis.

And along with those grotesque spears came the flow of divinity.

Red beams of light stabbed upwards, like pillars supporting the sky.

From the pillars of light, appeared knights adorned with spears.

“For the Divine Lactus!!”

And they cried out to their God.

The imperial invasion had begun.

Editor's Notes:

[1] 신성술, being translated as sacred arts.

[2] 역린 (lit. reverse scale, royal ire). The reverse scale at a dragon’s neck that they treasure (and in folktales can also be their weak point). Can be used to mean something like a sore point, touching which can invite somebody’s ire.

[3] 타락한, fallen/corrupt/depraved. Seems to be another name for the demons in this story.