Sword Pilgrim

Divine power flows throughout this world, to the extent that every citizen of a country may have divine power simply by virtue of being born in a country serving a God.

However, just having divine power is not enough for it to be used. Skill in its use and growth in power can only come from tireless and repeated effort.

But sometimes, there are people like Emily, born with a disability.

Originally, divine power revolves around the outer parts of the body, and you have to pull it in and circulate it inside your body.

So the first step was to pull it into your body, but that's where Emily was stuck.

‘So it's just a matter of piercing that blockage.'

Puduk.

Emily, who had her teeth bared, pretended to be calm and awkwardly tried to assume a relaxed posture.

"I'll be fine! I won't hold you back! I'm confident I'll fight better than Bruns."

"Comparing yourself to something like Bruns is already proof that you're holding me back."

Bruns would have shed some big fat tears if he'd heard the conversation, but fortunately, only Callius and Emily were present.

"Are you going to throw me away? Make me wait here for the war to end?"

"You're saying something strange. I never picked you up. I never picked you up, but now I'm throwing you away, isn't that absurd?"

"You're being difficult on purpose, you freak."

"Then I'll talk straight like a freak."

I approached Emily and stretched out my hand, shining with divine power.

"What, what are you doing?"

"I will pierce your divine blood."

"Uh…? Divine blood? Suddenly?"

"Like you said, in your current state, you're only going to hold me back in battle. So I have to make you useful, even if only a little."

“… That’s absurd. The Lord tried to help me, too. The Church said that a long time ago, they could pierce the divine blood by pouring Holy Water all over the body…”

Now they had no more Holy Water.

Making it impossible.

That's what Emily would have heard.

But.

"I can."

Only me in this world.

But it wasn't as simple as it sounded.

Artificially piercing the divine blood could easily cause complications.

And if the pierced blood didn't heal, divine power would leak everywhere, mixing with the blood, accumulating blood pressure and causing death in the end.

So, the first requirement –

Had to be a person who could precisely manipulate their spirit power. And the second requirement was for them to be someone the patient could trust.

The divine blood was the second most important part a Knight had to protect, after their head and heart.

‘And finally –'

One had to be able to completely heal the divine blood that had been pierced.

In short –

Someone with access to Holy Water.

And Callius was the only person in Carpe who met all these conditions.

Although some Holy Water would be wasted, it was enough if he made some more later.

Valtherus' Tears could be nurtured if certain conditions were met, and Callius was somebody who knew all those conditions.

‘This battlefield isn't going to be fatal enough for me to need Holy Water three times.'

I'd be lying if I said this is worth it, but it's a kind of investment.

As an adult, and as a Pilgrim wielding a single sword, it's my duty to make sure that this young, fragile seed can germinate with a solid foundation.

A fragile girl who realizes her own weakness more than anybody else, and disguises her earnest wish not to be abandoned with an incongruent serenity.

So that Emily can bloom properly –

"Give me your wrist."

"Can I really trust you?"

"If you're fine with living like this for the rest of your life, you don't have to."

Emily pondered for a moment, before reaching out.

"I'm a Jervain. It's not death that I'm afraid of."

"I didn't ask you."

"Ask me!"

"Fine, what are you afraid of?"

"Uselessness. I'm more afraid of that. So, Callius."

So, I –

"Make me useful."

"Then I will tell you one thing. You will become another useful sword for me."

Emily nodded her little head.

Soon, Callius' divine power permeated into the girl's body.

"Heuk!"

As the arrant divinity suffused her whole being, the girl was sweating profusely.

Unfamiliar pain and torpidity assaulted her in tandem as pure divine power cleared the pathways for the divine blood to flow for the first time.

However, at some point –

Emily got used to the pain.

No, for the first time in her life, she felt the euphoria of power flowing through her.

"Don't get too excited."

As much as Emily was sweating, Callius was sweating as well.

Because Emily's condition was more serious than expected.

‘It's not just one place that's blocked.'

As if someone had done it intentionally, her divine blood was blocked in several places.

It was not a problem that could be solved in just one go.

‘I'm going crazy.'

I started with a light heart, but as things progressed, anxiety began to creep in, like a serpent slowly raising its head from hibernation.

Even the thought that I might die here if I made a single mistake instead of in the coming war, filled my head.

Emily's divine blood was pierced again.

"Ouch!"

Perhaps in excruciating pain, Emily immediately spewed out some blood.

The satisfaction of divine power flowing into her divine blood disappeared, and her complexion was pale as if she was about to die.

‘Not yet.'

It was still too early for her to drink the Holy Water.

"Be patient."

A full seven out of the hundred blood vessels had been clogged. She had to wait till he pierced them all.

Callius' shoulders, with his hands on Emily's back, were heavy.

However, he had to continue.

If he stopped now, Emily would die without even being able to bloom.

Kung! There was a ripple of shock as if something had exploded inside her body.

"Ugh!"

Patter. The dripping blood and its thick scent tickled his senses.

But not yet. The end was still far away.

Immediately, he pierced the next blockage.

Kung! Kung! Kuung!

The small body staggered as if it couldn't stand the pain.

This must have been enough to cause even a grown man to cry and ask him to stop.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

But Emily still tried to endure it.

Even a little girl was trying so hard, so how could he show a weak heart?

Finally, he managed to finish piercing all the blocked divine blood.

A time of unpausing toil had passed in heavy silence, but it was not in vain.

Callius, who had succeeded in his task, took out the Holy Water.

"Drink."

Slurp.

"Damn."

Though he'd thought she was holding up well, Emily suddenly lost consciousness.

Already unconscious…

Her eyes were pale, and the black blood she'd spat out was enough to wet the floor.

Her condition was worse than expected.

Somehow, she lost consciousness even though she didn't make a single moan from the time he pierced the fifth blockage.

Callius immediately fed her more Holy Water.

Putting his fingers in her mouth, pouring holy water, and pressing on her tongue.

Forcing her to drink.

But was it because he was too careless?

"Come on, breathe…"

Emily stopped breathing.

Callius cursed and took a long breath.

"Kohok!"[1]

Cough! Cough!

Emily's complexion, which had become pale after vomiting a mass of black blood, slowly returned to normal.

An hour later, Callius grabbed the girl's wrist and began passing his power into her.

Not only giving her his own energy, he even began to guide her own divine power.

Along the pathway of the divine blood, the divine power gradually gathered from the outside and circulated, little by little, little by little, to the centre.

Towards her Elixir Field.

‘Look at this.'

With just a little guidance, she was already taking the initiative. Taking to the process like a fish to water.

"Don't get excited."

The pathway of Emily's divine blood, which had just been pierced, was still not completely cleared.

If you run too fast, you are more likely to get hurt.

It is more difficult to heal internal wounds than external ones.

Now that Holy Water was available, those could be cured easily, but there was no need to foster such bad habits from the start.

Callius guided Emily's power for an hour or two so that the divine blood that had been pierced would not be blocked again.

Around the time when the drops of sweat had cooled down and settled all over his body –

Gradually, a soft light began to shine.

From Emily's body.

A soft light signifying the flow of divine power.

‘Done.'

The man removed his hands from the girl's body and raised his eyes sharply.

His eyes were dark and his skin flaky, as if he hadn't slept for three or four days, but he had no regrets.

"It's brilliant."

The girl in front of him was covering the world with a dazzling gleam.

An effulgence of silver –

Like a flower, blooming.

Kuuuung –!

The gigantic form fell down.

Its fur was matted with blood, and the leathery skin covered with sword scars.

"It's all raggedy."

"Still, I did well enough. So praise me."

"It's useless. It's not a technique to tear up the opponent like this. It's a technique to cover up a one-shot skill inside a dozen other normal skills."

"You're just nagging. It's fine because I got it in the end!"

"On the battlefield, are you only going to kill one guy? If so, then it's fine."

"… Tsk."

In front of Emily was a huge bear with horns on its forehead.

It was a demonic beast that was the original owner of the cave that Emily and Callius had entered.

It was a perfect opponent for Emily, who had finally pierced through her divine blood.

‘A bit too enthusiastic, but not bad.'

It was the first time in her life that she was dealing with spiritual power, so how could that be?

Even so, her talent was real.

The girl was already gathering her divine power inside the Elixir Field.

But it wasn't harmful.

‘Not all swordsmanship is learned from others.'

There were many types of swordsmanship among the Knights.

Congenital, and acquired.

Many of them started as Squires of other Knights, learned how to hold a sword, and learned swordsmanship through training and guidance.

Most of the time, that was the normal approach.

But not for Emily.

The young girl's talent was that dazzling.

Emily was a born Knight.

A talent that no one could teach.

To put it simply, she was a child who could take care of herself even if left alone.

‘If you just stop her bad habits, she'll soar quickly.'

Unlike himself.

"This unlucky guy."

"What? What did you say?"

"We can't even eat its meat anyway, so let's just peel off the skin as a souvenir and go."

"And this?"

"You have good eyesight. The horns of horned bears can be made into artifacts, so it's better to collect them. They'll be useful."

Callius turned over the bear's body with one hand and began skinning it.

As if it was not something he had done once or twice, the skin was completely peeled off in the blink of an eye.

It was not something that could be done easily if you didn't have moderate strength and dexterity.

"You do the horns."

"Yeah!"

Callius handed his dagger to Emily. The horns were easily harvested with Zornic.

"Leave the skin to Bruns. He's uselessly good with leftovers."

"Yeah! Are we leaving now?"

"Right."

The day was already bright.

The mornings were late in the North.

They'd gotten delayed more than expected.

"Let's go."

"Yeah! Callius!"

Long shadows trailed after the dark-haired man and the girl accompanying him as they walked under the light of the dawn.

In a while.

Returning to the makeshift camp, Callius was immediately summoned by Bernard.

Bernard took out the pipe from his mouth and puffed out smoke.

"What is it? So early in the morning?"

"The problem is it's morning. What did you do with Emily!"

“… What would I have done with that little kid?”

"Tell me the truth!!"

Did you swallow a foghorn?[2]

His shout was like thunder.

Callius, covering his ears, confided what had happened last night before the old man made even more noise.

"What… her divine blood?!"

"Yeah. I did a good job, so stop looking at me like a paedophile."

"I can't believe it! What kind of ability did you use to pierce Emily's divine blood! I don't know if it's something else…"

"… Did you think I would have pierced something other than her divine blood?"

"Really, you didn't, right?"

"Fuck, what do you see me as?"

As Callius spat out a curse, Bernard put down the pipe as if he was sorry.

And started running right away.

He seemed to be rushing to see Emily's condition.

There was nothing wrong with that per se, but it highlighted the (lack of) credibility of a famous maniac.

After Callius waited for a while with his arms folded, Bernard finally came back with a smile on his face, and said:

"Callius. You've never been a kind person to anyone I've seen. I don't know how you did it, but I have to ask you this. What's the purpose of piercing Emily's divine blood?"

"It was just a whim."

"I, too, had scrutinized Emily's clogged divine blood carefully. Even a Paladin in the Master's realm would have said that it was up to God to fix it. It must have been no easy task. Right?"

That's right.

Emily almost died along the way.

And I'm exhausted, too.

"I think you already know, right?"

"What do you mean?"

What do I know?

"Stop playing the fool. I know your personality, so I'm sure that you won't suffer that much for just somebody in the family. So I'm guessing that you've noticed."

If that's the case –

"Did Emily tell you?"

That in fact, you –

"You are her father."

Editor's Notes:

[1] This might be CPR, but the text doesn't go into detail.

[2] 기차화통을 구워 드셨나 (lit. did you bake and swallow a train's smokestack) is an idiom meaning one sounds like a foghorn.