I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue

BY THE TIME we arrived, a large ship was already docked in Grayseal. It looked quite official.

Looks like the Beast King’s back in town.

“Hm.”

We could feel his overwhelming presence the moment we set down. Eventually, we found Rigdith chatting with his subordinates at the harbor. When he noticed us, he headed over. 

“Hey there, Fran! Hey, Dumbass Daughter!”

“It’s been a while, Fool Father.”

“Ga ha ha! You get stronger every time I see you, my girl!”

“I get stronger just by sleeping at night.”

Mea and Rigdith exchanged jabs with each other. They lacked the reservations of a conventional parent-child relationship, but they were very friendly.

The Beast King turned his attention to Fran. He inspected her, then drew his spear in a flash and brought it down on Fran’s head. She dodged it by a hair’s breadth. The force of the spear flapped through the fabric of her armor. Fran brandished me and stabbed at the Beast King, but Rigdith pulled back—blocking the life-threatening attack with the shaft of his spear.

Metal rang on metal as I struck the spear several inches from his neck. They’d both struck to kill, although they limited themselves to using only Sword King Mastery and Spear King Mastery respectively. If Mea had been on the receiving end of this exchange, she probably would have been injured or knocked off balance. 

Fran and Rigdith exchanged blows for a while, grazing each other’s guard until finally, without speaking, they put their weapons away. 

“Good dodge,” said the Beast King. 

“You too.”

We weren’t offended or confused. Fran and Rigdith were just assessing each other, and it was only possible because they both had King-Class Mastery Skills. My conclusion? They were on an equal footing.

“Wh-what are you two doing?!”

Mea, on the other hand, was shocked. As powerful as she was, she didn’t realize that they weren’t going to harm each other. She wasn’t at their level quite yet.

“Ha ha ha! Oh, we’re just saying hello! Isn’t that right, Fran?”

“Hm.”

“Hello…? You could’ve hurt each other! Or worse!”

“Well, we didn’t. Besides, we would’ve stopped if things got too dangerous!”

“Hm?”

“Oh,” said the Beast King. “You wouldn’t have?”

“You would’ve been okay,” said Fran. “You have Spear King Mastery.”

“Can’t argue with you there…”

If Fran couldn’t avoid his initial blow, Rigdith would’ve stopped. Although “stop” could still be interpreted as “stopped short of a killing blow.” Either way, he sensed Fran wasn’t at 100 percent and definitely held back.

“So, you have Sword King Mastery now,” he said. “And you’re a Sword King too.”

“How do you know that?”

Rigdith smirked. “You’re good at hiding your presence, little lady. But you suck at holding back.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here’s the thing: you can sense someone’s presence and tell how powerful they are.” 

“Hm.”

“But, when we met earlier, you looked completely defenseless. I know that you trust me, but I also know that you don’t trust me completely. We’ve clashed swords before, and you know how strong I am. So why would you appear defenseless to someone like that? You had to have something up your sleeve, just in case. And Sword King Mastery is the only thing that could defend against my spear. Our little greeting pretty much confirmed it.”

That…was a very good point.

“Of course,” he said. “You need to be at the same level as someone to tell any of that, but it’s useful to know in a close match.” 

“Hm. Got it.”

“So, this is how King Classes talk to each other…” Mea said, a little shaken.

She couldn’t understand what they were talking about.

“So,” Fran said, “how do you look weaker?”

“Easy. Be more cautious of your surroundings. That’s usually enough.”

The stronger you are, the less nervous you were in a fight. Conversely, if you were weak, you had to be extremely careful. It made sense.

“That way,” said Rigdith. “You can beat anyone that underestimates you, and hold your own against anyone who’s actually strong.”

“Hm.”

“I could give a whole lecture about it, but that’ll do for now. You’ll fool chumps, but not me! But you’ll go easy on me, won’t you?”

No, we wouldn’t. Still, the Beast King taught us the importance of concealing our true strength. That was valuable advice.

“Thanks,” said Fran. 

“I gotta pay you back somehow.”

“Pay me back?”

“You really don’t get it, do you? In case you forgot, I’m the king of the country you just saved. I should be on my knees kissing your feet.”

“Father, even I think that’s overdoing it…”

“I know.”

As much as the Beast King’s people loved him, kissing a hero’s feet was a step too far. 

“But I’m allowed this much, at least,” he said. 

“?”

The Beast King took Fran’s hand and bowed deeply. Folding his large frame into such a defenseless position was the greatest expression of respect he could give.

“Thank you,” Rigdith said solemnly. “For everything.” 

He kept bowing for a good minute, but no one was about to tell him to stop. Mea and his subordinates only watched quietly. It almost looked like some kind of ceremony. 

“Sorry,” he said, raising his head. “That ended up taking a while.”

“No problem.”

And just like that, he was back to his regular self. He clapped Fran on her shoulder with a mischievous grin.

“Oh, and you should take this with you.”

“?”

He handed her a small, dirty pouch. It didn’t look very magical. In fact, it didn’t look magical at all. 

“An item pouch?” Fran asked. 

“Yeah. I heard they only gave you a measly ten million gold.”

Again, ten million gold was not a measly amount.

“You saved an entire country and that’s all you get?” said Rigdith. “Personally, I think you should get ten billion, at least. But a king can’t go blowing his nation’s coffers however he pleases.”

He might be a little rough around the edges, but he was no wayward tyrant.

“We don’t have many ministers as it is,” he said with a wry grin. “Can’t annoy them too much.” 

The beastmen’s natural temperament meant that they’d never want for fighters here. The herbivores fought as ferociously as carnivores. On the flip side, administration and accounting were always understaffed, so those positions would always be valued highly. Some of these ministers looked down on the muscle-brained generals, but they were the exception.

“Considering how much beastmen eat,” said Rigdith. “Logistics is very important. All the more reason to keep our officials happy.”

“I see.”

The government ministers had them by their stomachs.

“But I digress. What I mean is: the state can’t give you any more than it already has, so consider this a tip from me.”

“What is it?”

“Not much. Just five million gold. It’s what I have left over from the trip.”

“Hm.”

You know what, I wasn’t even surprised anymore. Five million? When you added in the award money, and our profits from selling all the monster materials, we were leaving the Beastman Nation with an extra twenty million gold…! Ah, but Fran was unfazed! It made me feel ashamed of how much I freaked out. 

As all this was happening, Royce, Gaudartha, and someone who looked like a ship’s captain approached us. The boat was ready to leave. 

“Fran, we must ask that you make preparations to board the ship.”

“All right.”

“Do you have any luggage?”

“No. I’m all good.”

“Right. I forgot you have Timespace Magic.”

This was it. Once we got on the ship, we were on our way back to Jillbird.

“I hope your next visit here will be one of leisure, little lady!” the Beast King said.

“Hm.”

“Thank you for all that you’ve done,” said Royce. 

“You saved our country,” added Gaudartha. 

They bowed their heads, and the Beast King raised his hand in gratitude. 

“And thank you,” he said. “For Master Kiara.”

“What?”

“She got to Evolve, fight a ferocious opponent, and die on the battlefield. That’s all the master ever wanted. I heard you were with her when she died, like a good granddaughter. I have to say…I’m jealous.”

Royce and Gaudartha nodded.

“I agree. Dying in bed never seemed like a fitting way for her to go.”

“If it weren’t for you, she would never Evolved, or had the chance to go out fighting.”

The Beast King patted Fran on the back.

“Hold your head high! You didn’t let her die. You gave her the most glorious death she could ask for! I’m sure Master Kiara is thanking you as we speak! As her number one student, I guarantee it!”

Rigdith seemed to think that Fran was still in shock from Kiara’s death. He was trying to cheer her up. Fran understood, and nodded to him. 

“Hm…”

“Also,” he said, “a word of warning about Sword God Form. Don’t let the power get to you.”

“I know.”

“Good. Think of it as a signpost. That’s how I treat it, anyway.”

To Rigdith, Spear God Form was no mere Buff Skill. Rather, it was a sign that there was something greater than the King-Class Skills out there. We had come to a similar conclusion ourselves.

“Hm. I’ll catch up to my Sword God Form one day,” said Fran. 

“Ha ha ha! That’s the spirit!” Rigdith laughed. “Let’s have another duel next time we meet.”

Finally, he made way for his daughter to speak. 

“Fran…”

“Mea…”

They held each other’s hands, looking sad. 

“This is goodbye…”

“Hm…”

They were both tearing up. I could see them welling up in Fran’s eyes. 

“Just give me a call if anything happens,” said Mea. “No matter where you are or what I’m doing…I’ll come flying.”

“I’ll do the same for you…”

“Excellent.”

“Hm.”

Fran and Mea nodded, in perfect sync with each other.

“Don’t cry,” said Mea, even though she was crying herself. “This isn’t the last time we’ll see each other.”

“Urgh…”

“Oh, what will I do with you?”

Mea wiped the tears gently from Fran’s face and let go of her hands. This was goodbye.

“The ship’s going to leave without you, Fran.”

The departure bell sounded, and Fran ran up the ramp. She didn’t give herself the chance to waver. The sooner she got on the ship, the better. Once she was on board, she and Mea looked at each other silently, then broke the silence together. 

“Goodbye…!”

“Thank you…!”

Fran forced herself to smile. She didn’t want to say goodbye in tears, and the feeling was mutual. As awful as their smiles were, it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

Thanks, Mea, I said. For everything.

I should be thanking you. We’ll see each other again. I’ll show you what Lind can really do.

Looking forward to it.

“We shall meet again, Fran!”

“Hm!”

“Woof!”

This boat was called a speedboat for a reason. It pulled away from the harbor faster than any ship we’d ever been on, but Fran still kept waving until Grayseal was nothing but a speck in the distance.

“Bye-bye, everyone.”