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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Hwagolsan
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Hwagolsan
"Grand Prince. Were you speaking to me?"
He paused, raising a pair of garden shears he was using to trim a clover-shaped bush.
"Yes. Might you have a moment?"
"Haha, of course. This way."
He let out a hearty laugh and led me past the edge of the garden to a cozy little house on the outskirts. I walked through the garden every day, but I never knew there was a house here.
"Hmm..."
He went inside and began to brew tea while I looked around his house. The house was well-kept, spotless and free of dust.
"It seems you don't live in the servants' quarters?"
"No, I live here alone. I only take my meals there. Ah, and please, speak comfortably."
"I see."
[Creator's Eye is activated.]
[Name: Polain Lox]
[Traits: Swift Sword lv4, Aura Alteration lv4, Sword Cry (劍鳴)]
[Favorability: 56 (Considerable Favor)]
[Current Mood: Slightly flustered.]
The person I had sought out was the old gardener I'd seen in the garden during my first outing. He had been on my mind, so after returning from my trip, I looked through some records and found out who he was.
"This is a tea brewed from dried Taein flowers from the garden. I'm not sure if it will suit your palate."
"Thank you."
A warm, gentle fragrance, as if steeped in sunlight, wafted from the tea.
"What did you wish to speak to me about?"
When I remained silent, Polain spoke first.
"Grand-uncle... it's you, isn't it?"
"Hoo..."
The smile on Polain's face stiffened. He set down the teacup he was lifting to his lips.
"Did Willington tell you?"
The atmosphere shifted in an instant. An overwhelming presence, as if capable of pressing down on the world itself, surged from the kind, smiling old gardener.
I could tell for certain.
It wasn't Marquis Willington. It was this man.
Polain Lox was the strongest swordsman of House Lox.
"No. I figured it out myself, Grand-uncle."
His presence was incredibly heavy, but I didn't waver.
After all the things I've consumed, did he think I'd buckle under mere presence? If I backed down here, the Sichuan Tang Clan would weep in their graves.
"Haha, I was just being a bit grumpy, an old man whose cover was blown, but your expression didn't even change. You really have changed. At your age, no one can match you."
Polain relaxed his presence, returning to the face of a kind old man.
"When we met before, you seemed to have changed overnight. I was so surprised that I let my presence slip without realizing. I suppose you noticed then."
Polain was talking about the time I had reached the intermediate level of the Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi.
"Yes. I knew then that you were no ordinary person, and I found out while investigating. I learned that there was a grand-uncle who had gone missing."
"That alone wouldn't have been enough to figure it out, would it?"
"I did a lot of digging here and there."
In truth, I just saw his name with the Creator's Eye and then looked up a document detailing the family relations of the Lox Marquisate.
"Huhu, is that so? You surprise me in many ways."
Polain, who had seemed a bit flustered, regained his composure and brought the tea to his lips with a smile.
"Why are you working as a gardener here?"
I couldn't understand why someone who could live in comfort was living alone and working as a gardener.
"If an old man everyone thought was dead suddenly reappeared, it would just be a nuisance for everyone, wouldn't it? I told only your father and have been tending the garden as a hobby."
"Didn't the Marquis try to stop you?"
"Of course, he did. But I'm more stubborn than Willington. Huhu."
"Then, during the time you were missing..."
"I was in the Empire."
Polain stared into the distance, his eyes tinged with a hint of sorrow as if recalling the past.
"Your situation is a bit unusual, but House Lox has always been led by the eldest son. No matter what I did, my older brother was destined to be the Marquis of Lox, so I decided to just leave. I didn't want to stay in the kingdom either, so I traveled and happened to befriend a noble in the Empire."
"I see."
"It's peaceful now, but back then, the Empire was at war with the Meryl Kingdom. My friend convinced me to join the war. I killed countless people and gained much in return—money, honor, and status. At the time, I was excited by the thought of becoming an Imperial Marquis and visiting my brother."
Polain, who had been speaking in a heavy tone, sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"After conquering the capital of the Meryl Kingdom, the Empire massacred thousands of civilians who didn't need to die. That's when I thought, 'What in the world am I doing?' Huhu, it was a regret that came too late. I gave it all up and left the Empire right then. Fortunately, I wasn't married, so I had no lingering attachments."
His eyes were colored with remorse, as if he still regretted the events of that time.
"It's not a very interesting story, is it? I've never even told Willington, so it's strange that I'm telling you."
"Not at all. Thank you for telling me."
I stood from my chair and bowed my head to Polain. It wasn't easy to share such personal stories, and I felt truly grateful to him.
"Now, let's get to the point. What is it you really want to say?"
"Do you happen to know someone named Kabol?"
"Kabol? I don't think so."
"He's the author of this sword manual."
"That sword manual..."
Polain took the sword manual, opened it, and nodded.
"Ah, this is the book I placed in the library."
"Ah!"
I had a feeling it might be, but to think it was truly connected to him... I could feel my heart pounding with anticipation.
"Where did you get this book?"
"A long time ago, there was a child begging at the Marquisate's main gate, wanting to sell a book. I don't know the circumstances, but he seemed desperate, so I bought it from him."
"A child?"
"Yes. He'd be about your age by now."
A child my age trying to sell a book... it didn't seem like a coincidence.
"I bought it because I felt sorry for the child, but it was a book I had no use for, so I just put it in the library."
Polain coincidentally bought a book, which the Marquis coincidentally found and gave to me. And that book just happens to be a special one that only I can understand?
Unless I've been shot in the head, this is no coincidence. Especially after recently acquiring the Sword Seal, I was even more certain it wasn't a coincidence.
"Do you remember anything else about the child?"
"Hmm, it was so long ago, I don't remember well. But I do recall he had black hair."
"Black hair..."
Since this is a fantasy world, black hair is actually uncommon. It's a distinctive feature.
Someone my age with black hair.
A figure flashed through my mind.
"Could it be..."
**
After finishing my conversation with Polain, I returned to my room to sort out my thoughts.
"What I have are two things: the Incomplete Emperor Sword and the sealed, unusable Forgotten Emperor Sword."
The Incomplete Emperor Sword is a swordsmanship style I created, but the Forgotten Emperor's Sword is not something I designed.
"Since I made it 'incomplete,' did this world create a 'complete' Emperor's Sword on its own to match the setting?"
I only named it the 'Incomplete Emperor Sword' because it sounded cool. But this world must have thought there was a reason for it, creating a 'Complete Emperor's Sword' and demanding that I find it.
But to unseal the Emperor Sword, I have to find sixteen basic sword manuals from various nations, and I don't even know where they are. The difficulty is too high.
"Sigh, I don't know. It'd be great if I get the books, but if not, then not. Impatience is poison."
Honestly, since I have the Sichuan Tang Clan's techniques, I wouldn't be too disappointed even if I couldn't get the books.
"The technique I really want to use isn't the Emperor Sword, but Mantian Huayu (滿天花雨)."
As I looked at the locked Mantian Huayu with a sense of longing, I remembered I hadn't checked the information on the True Hwagolsan yet.
Anyone who's read a martial arts novel would know of Hwagolsan.
The scene where someone kills another and sprinkles Hwagolsan on the corpse to cover it up is a classic trope.
Whenever I saw Hwagolsan being used, I could never understand why such a great item was only used for disposing of bodies.
"It's a shame. If it can melt a corpse, it should be a powerful weapon even if just sprinkled on a living person."
If it can melt bone and flesh, it would be an incredibly threatening weapon if scattered directly or launched with a device, yet it was always frustratingly used only for corpse disposal.
"Let's see..."
[True Hwagolsan (眞化骨散)] (Special)
An improved version of Hwagolsan, it is powerful enough to melt not only the corpse but also the soul. Without needing contact with blood, simply sprinkling it on a corpse will cause the bone and flesh to melt away in less than five seconds. It is effective only on corpses.
"'True' is in the name, so I guess that's why it only takes five seconds to dissolve. Huh? It only works on corpses? What kind of useless poison is this!"
As I sighed at the much less useful ability of True Hwagolsan, I remembered that this was a fantasy world.
"Only works on corpses, obliterates the soul... If this applies literally..."
The ultimate way to use Hwagolsan flashed through my mind.
"This is a total game-changer!"
**
The week-long vacation the Marquis gave us applied to me as well, but I spent the entire week training.
In the mornings, I circulated the Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi to increase its attainment. After lunch, I practiced with my hidden weapons to raise my proficiency. After dinner, I swung my sword.
"I could see myself getting stronger, so I couldn't help but train hard."
The results of my training appeared immediately, even if little by little, so I truly enjoyed my time training.
"Besides, I don't know what might happen now, so I have to get stronger while I can."
The story of this world is already going off the rails. I need to prepare in advance while I have the time, so I can survive whatever happens.
"Grand Prince."
"Peru?"
As I finished my evening training and was wiping away my sweat, Peru, who should have been at the manor, came running up, panting.
"Pant, pant! The, the Marquis..."
"Speak slowly."
"Hoo, His Lordship the Marquis has ordered me to bring you to him."
"Then you could have just walked. Why did you run all the way here?"
"The butler said it was urgent."
This was supposed to be a peaceful period for a while. I thought about it on my way to the Marquis, but I couldn't guess what it might be.
"I heard you summoned me."
"I'm sorry to call you during your vacation. It's an urgent matter."
"Not at all. My vacation is over anyway."
The Marquis's face was as stiff as tree bark. Something major had clearly happened.
"What is it?"
"Hoo..."
The Marquis hesitated, as if something was bothering him.
"My Lord?"
"The Northern Wall, defended by Duke Elion's house, was breached yesterday."
My heart sank.
I knew that Duke Elion's house, defending the north, would be pushed back. That was part of my story. But the Northern Wall being breached was not in my novel.
The original story had the protagonist and his allies showing up to resolve everything before the wall was breached.
"Hah..."
Now the protagonist was even neglecting his duties.
"They say the monsters coming down from the north now are different from the previous ones."
I know. The monsters that usually appeared in the north were large ones like ogres, but this time, undead monsters would have appeared alongside them.
"I heard they're abandoning the first defensive wall, the one closest to the Northern Wall, and gathering all their forces at the second defensive wall to push them back in one go."
There was only one reason the Marquis was telling me all this in such detail.
"A request for reinforcements has come to us as well. I would like you to go."
Thanks to the protagonist slacking off somewhere, the time to show off the overpowered ability of True Hwagolsan has come sooner than expected.
"I understand."