Ishura - Volume 2 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Togie City's First Highway Checkpoint

Togie was a midsize city located along an area of wetlands. Though there were many residents who avoided a direct assault from the True Demon King disaster and remained in the city, it was not at all a big town, in part due to how difficult it was to get to and from.

It was three days prior when Togie City was blocked off from the world by the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists.

This force, after spending close to a year making inroads in the city council, at last commanded complete authority over Togie City, and the entire city was placed under martial law. The predicted path of the Particle Storm they had obtained earlier, and the heavy losses they sustained from an assault on their rear camp from an as-yet unknown force, both played significant roles in accelerating the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists’ movements.

“Stop. Who are you?”

The current state of affairs swirled like a vortex. It was an obvious turn of events that Toroa the Awful, appearing from Wyte, would be challenged by an inspection far outside the city.

“I heard General Gilnes is recruiting soldiers. Came to apply. Hope you’d show me the way.”

He was a tall dwarf with a massive frame, carrying a preposterous number of bladed weapons. The light in his eyes, peeking out from the darkness of his cowl, was filled with a callousness, like the deepest pits of hell, and it was clear to anyone that he was no ordinary individual.

“…You think we’re letting someone suspicious like you through? You have an intermediary or an introduction seal from the Kingdoms’ Army?”

“Gngh……”

Toroa choked on his words.

“……No.”

“Then, turn back! Passage in and out of Togie City is currently forbidden!”

He had spent his time together with his father in the mountains ever since he was born and had no worldly experiences outside housework and training. He could count the number of times he had even gone into town on one hand. To him, the existence of the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists was the only clue on the state of the outside world he had gleaned from the bandits.

According to whispers heard in passing, Alus the Star Runner belonged to the largest nation of Aureatia. If the Old Kingdoms’ war with Aureatia was beginning in earnest, then he should be able to confront his father’s bitter foe on the battlefield.

Moreover, the commander of the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists, General Gilnes’s enchanted sword, Charijisuya the Blasting Blade, was one of the enchanted swords that had remained out of his father’s hands. He wanted leads on this as well.

“But…um, is there anything you can do? I came all this way.”

“And I told you to turn back. If those swords are weighing you down, I’ll call the city blacksmith for you. You could probably get a reasonable price for ’em if you sold ’em off.”

“……”

Toroa wavered. Naturally, cutting this unwitting soldier down and continuing forward wasn’t an option.

Nevertheless, even if he did use his refusal here to go to Aureatia and challenge Alus the Star Runner directly, he could easily imagine it would end with a large number of innocent citizens getting wrapped up in their fight.

His father had also killed any uninvolved witnesses. Though it didn’t serve as any justification for his crimes, his father still strived not only to steal enchanted swords, but to keep the lives sacrificed in the process to a minimum. Toroa, too, couldn’t let such needless sacrifices happen, as much as possible.

“Is something wrong? You seem to be having a bit of a disagreement.”

Someone stepped out of a carriage that had arrived at the checkpoint during their back-and-forth.

The soldier immediately saluted.

“Yessir! We have an applicant who wishes to join the Kingdoms’ Army, but…well, as you can see sir, he’s a very suspicious individual. Put your mind at ease, sir, as I would never let such a ruffian through this checkpoint!”

“Oh, if you mean this man here.…”

The boy looked barely thirteen years old. His hair was a gray color, mixed with white.

“…I’ve had him come here on my recommendation. I intended on introducing him directly to the staff office aide myself, but it appears we both ended up arriving at the same time. My apologies. It seems I’m the one who’s late.”

“Um… Oh, I see, sir! My apologies for being so discourteous in my ignorance… Um. He did claim to have no intermediary…”

“Ha-ha-ha. Without the critical party, myself, here, he did not have one, indeed, yes? He must have been quite troubled by it all himself. Forgive me, Erijite.”

The young boy stretched out his hand to Toroa as he referred to him with a completely different man’s name.

“You must be exhausted from carrying all of that from the Wyte Mountains. It’s only a short distance, but I’ll escort you to the city.”

“What…”

Toroa lowered his voice in front of the young boy’s smile.

“…are you doing? Why are you helping me?”

“Oh no, you’re the one helping me. If you ended up going back, with the way this conversation’s going, I’d have a very hard time explaining myself. Will you hop on inside?”

“……”

The reality was he had no other options available. Despite his continued quandary, Toroa joined the boy in his carriage.

With a hasty inspection, the carriage easily traveled through the checkpoint. None of them realized the truth behind Toroa’s swords. Due to the outlandish number of blades he had with him, the thought likely never even occurred to them.

While they sat facing each other in the coach, Toroa took stock of the young boy. The enchanted swords on his back and the pressure of his gaze were nearly enough to kill the average person from intimidation alone, yet this boy remained composed.

“…You knew who I was, didn’t you? You a general here?”

In the previous conversation, the boy had mentioned the Wyte Mountains by name. If he knew Toroa’s circumstances, then that meant he had been sending a secret signal with his word choice.

“Unfortunately, I am not. I am a visitor, merely involved to some extent in munitions dealings with the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists—or the Kingdoms’ Army, as they call themselves. As to your other question, I of course know who you are. Toroa the Awful…yes? Though I may not look it, I am rather shocked, to be honest. I had heard you were dead.”

“I would never die by the hands of someone like the Star Runner. More importantly, will this method really get me into their army? We’ll face the same reactions we just dealt with when we’re inspected before entering the city.”

“…Indeed. Regarding that issue, Toroa.”

The young boy folded his hands together on his knee. Leaning his small body forward, he continued.

“That also depends on what your goal is. Depending on the circumstances, you may find better results if you didn’t join the Old Kingdoms instead. Is it all right if I ask why exactly you wish to join their army?”

Toroa was unsure how to answer. If he did tell him, would this young boy be his ally?

However, he wouldn’t be disadvantaged either way. There wouldn’t be anyone familiar with the name Toroa the Awful who wouldn’t know about his end goals, too.

“…I want to destroy Alus the Star Runner. During the war with Aureatia, I’m going to win back the Luminous Blade. I… I came here to reclaim the enchanted sword he stole from me.”

“Understood. Regarding my intermediary role, with your name and degree of skill, it should be a simple conversation to actually get you into the army. If that is your wish, I can help you. That said, I am apprehensive about when war does break out, and it comes time to send the army into action.”

The carriage clattered over the stone pavement alongside the marshlands. The young boy raised his pointer finger.

“In war, whole armies don’t get lumped together and thrown at each other en masse. Should you be placed on the front lines, naturally all soldiers are divided up into units, and in certain circumstances, you may be sent away from the Aureatian front, or be transferred to a defensive position. No matter how excellent the warrior, these position movements are a vital part of the army’s job. To go one step further, this also applies to Alus on Aureatia’s side, too.”

“In other words, you’re saying I won’t be guaranteed a chance to fight the Star Runner?”

“…That’s right. There is also the possibility that Alus the Star Runner is killed in the chaos of war, and the Luminous Blade ends up lost somewhere else. At the very least, for this objective of yours, there is a better way to go about it.”

“But, if I’m not on the inside of the Old Kingdoms’ camp, then—”

“You can’t search for the whereabouts of Charijisuya the Blasting Blade. Correct?”

“!”

“Ha-ha-ha, there’s no need to hide it. The Blasting Blade held by General Gilnes is a very well-known rumor. Actually, this sword, too, is no longer within this city’s walls. In actuality…”

“Wait.”

Toroa interrupted.

While he had the self-awareness to know he was unacquainted with wheeling and dealing, from the moment they had met, he was being totally pulled into the young boy’s cunning banter.

“Why would you tell me all of this in the first place? If you know that I’m Toroa the Awful, then that should be all the more reason not to tell me about the Blasting Blade. You’re an ally to the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists, right?”

“Not at all. While I conduct business with the Old Kingdoms, I am not an Old Kingdoms’ loyalist. More than that, I’d like instead to form a cooperative relationship with you, individually.”

“Now that I think about it…the timing of your carriage showing up, right during my inspection, was too perfect. You knew I was going to show up from the beginning. Just who would’ve told you…”

He had lived deep in the Wyte Mountains, without anyone ever discovering his whereabouts. No one should have even known that the supposedly dead Toroa the Awful was still alive, let alone that he would be traveling to this region.

“……The bandits?”

He arrived at the conclusion. The bandits who came to raid him. Toroa got the information regarding the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists from them.

“Quite perceptive of you. Erijite was a client of mine. He approached me, you see, asking for me to vouch for him, should he succeed in recovering the enchanted sword collection of Toroa the Awful. I was aware of their movements.”

“That raid…”

Toroa the Awful’s fingers reached for the hilt of an enchanted sword.

“…was your suggestion?”

The young boy continued to solemnly stare at Toroa. He showed no hint of fear or restlessness while facing imminent death in the coach, not a single bodyguard in sight.

“Presenting enchanted swords as a gift was Erijite’s proposition. Of course, while you could say I am equally guilty for knowing his intentions and failing to stop him, I had indeed heard that Toroa the Awful was already dead, after all.”

In the marshes outside the city, far off in the distance but still visible, wurms poked their heads out from underground before quickly sinking back into the soil.

With his hand still on his enchanted sword, Toroa remained motionless. As did the young boy.

“…May I continue?”

“……”

“Ultimately, Erijite was killed. By an enchanted sword, no less. Toroa the Awful—silent since his battle with Alus the Star Runner, and thought to be dead—killed him, and then moved far from Wyte. If he truly was moving openly, not shrinking from the eyes of others, then his first aim must lay in the bandit’s point of contact, the Old Kingdoms…and Charijisuya the Blasting Blade.”

“…So you guessed I would come looking for the blasting sword, and made contact with me, then?”

Toroa the Awful had been a terrifying ghost story, his true form totally unknown to everyone.

That was no longer the case now.

“Yes. If anything, I should be asking you a question. After all, it was far too easy to follow up on witness information to find you… Your build and weaponry are very conspicuous. How did you kill all those enchanted sword wielders without anyone knowing who you were up until now?”

“…Well.”

“Was the legend of Toroa the Awful truly all the work of a single individual?”

“…That’s right. It was all one person.”

The legend made by his father.

Though he could reproduce the transcendent techniques hidden in each enchanted sword, that was one thing he couldn’t possibly replicate.

The real Toroa the Awful had also accomplished everything beyond the battlefield on his own. Even with a physique far superior to his father’s, right now, Toroa’s skills were solely concerned with combat.

“Toroa the Awful. I firmly believe I can prove useful to you and offer you my cooperation. I can collect information on enchanted swords or hide you from the eyes of others. Will you allow me to help you?

As he was now, there was a power that Toroa sorely lacked. That power might have indeed been something only this young boy could give him. Toroa may have lacked the power to keep on fighting down the line.

“No.”

Nevertheless, he felt that this was an offer he shouldn’t take.

“You are trying to use me.”

“……”

The rejected boy didn’t try to protest, waiting for Toroa to continue.

“I made the wrong choice after all. No matter which army I belong to, if I end up cutting down some unknown strangers, that…that’s just the same as anyone besides Toroa the Awful wielding an enchanted sword. If I’m not wielding my enchanted sword as Toroa the Awful would, there’s no point. I should have realized that from the start.”

He had to kill Alus the Star Runner—his father’s murderer and thief of one of his enchanted swords.

He believed he should prioritize that mission beyond anything else.

Nevertheless, he shouldn’t bring about an enchanted-sword–fueled war in order to do so. That would go against his father’s wishes.

…Father never stole Charijisuya the Blasting Blade.

It was an enchanted sword that too many people knew about, and too many people had come into contact with. He knew that stealing it would only kindle a new conflict. Toroa the Awful wasn’t a simple machine solely devoted to indiscriminately stealing enchanted swords.

Toroa faced the young boy and lowered his head.

“…I appreciate your offer.”

The boy gave a carefree smile.

“While it’s unfortunate I can’t assist you, I would be happy if my words proved some kind of motivation. At the end of the day, this sort of small talk is the only thing I’m good at.”

“Given that we’ve broken off our negotiations, we should go our separate ways before we arrive in Togie City. I’ll only end up causing you more trouble.”

“Do you have any prospects from here on out?”

“…I can’t leave the Star Runner to do as he pleases. I’ll think of a way to lure him out. Though, leaving the Blasting Blade behind is unfortunate.”

“…Charijisuya the Blasting Blade was stolen.”

“What?”

“Togie City’s strengthened state of alert was due in part to receiving said sword in the first place. Using the assault on their camp as a pretext, the Old Kingdoms got the city council to take action… Though we’re getting a bit off topic, aren’t we?”

“Stolen by who?”

“Kiyazuna the Axle. A self-proclaimed demon king.”

Returning to action, Kiyazuna the Axle, together with her greatest masterpiece Mestelexil, were repeatedly launching raids on other self-proclaimed demon kings and armed groups.

Her surprise attack on the Old Kingdoms’ Army’s rear encampment and resource heist happened five days prior. Although the truth behind the assault was limited to a select few, even among the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists themselves, this one incident had already caused enormous damage, and if they hadn’t been given information regarding the Particle Storm, the opening of hostilities itself might have been postponed.

“If necessary, I can tell you where she’s headed. Also…I’m certain you’ll get your chance to fight Alus the Star Runner. A place where no one will intervene, no fear of getting others involved—a stage where you can fight each other one on one.”

“You…”

He had just met this young boy.

Yet, in their short conversation, he had seen through all the information Toroa possessed himself, and without pressing further on anything Toroa didn’t want to talk about, tried to offer him something that he, always fighting by himself, didn’t have.

A man of shifting impressions, both appearing to be a dangerous opponent, and a benevolent supporter.

Toroa had forgotten to ask the fundamental question, more than just his origin and information source.

“Why are doing all this for me…? I’m not going to become your ally. You’re not gonna get anything at all out of going to these lengths to help me.”

“Hmm. That is a good question. I’m just so addicted to my work, I suppose.”

The Gray-Haired Child grinned with amusement.

“I end up treating any conversation partner I’ve taken a liking to with kindness.”