The Great Sword is not the Main Body!

God,
When I am called,
Grant me the strength to save a life, even in the hottest of flames.
Before it is too late,
Let me embrace the child,
And save the trembling elderly.
Always focused,
Let me hear even the faintest cry,
And extinguish the fire swiftly and efficiently.
Let me fulfill my mission,
Allow me to give my best,
To protect the lives and property of my neighbors.
And if, according to Your will,
My life comes to an end,
Please, with Your merciful hand,
Take care of my wife and my only son.

It was the prayer my father, a firefighter, would always mutter.

His voice and appearance from the past are still vividly etched in my mind.

Even now.
And forever.
I will never forget.

So.

I must protect it.

I must continue his will.

I must do it.

“You’ve checked the request details, right?”

Ailyn slurped down her coffee, as bitter as poison, and tapped the desk.

“Confidentiality... yeah, I’ll trust it for now.”

Ailyn’s gaze turned to the blacksmith.

Ugh, I knew it, he’s not the type!

Ailyn, having diverted her gaze from the blacksmith, glared at me and whispered.

“But if any leaks happen…”

A chilling sound echoed from Ailyn’s mouth as her teeth gritted.
Ugh... why's she grinding her teeth so hard?

“If it happens, I won’t take responsibility.”

“Y-yes…”

Cold sweat dripped down my back.

At least it’s a relief that Ailyn isn’t a criminal.

When she went to the kitchen earlier to make the coffee, I asked the blacksmith about it.

And the answer I got was, “Not a criminal.”

Yeah, “Not a criminal!” Wait, why does the word ‘Not’ keep coming up?!

Then what is she?!
What’s her deal?!

A noble? Or maybe, god forbid, royalty?!

Is that why she’s giving me so much gold?!

My head spun with complicated thoughts.

I may be a seasoned player of [Black Sun], but I don’t know every character in the game.

I don’t even know the story anymore... I forgot it!

I only glanced at it when I first started, then spent all my time hunting or doing PVP...

How am I supposed to remember something I saw 8 years ago?

If I knew the whole story, I wouldn’t be stuck in a small village like this...

“Ugh…”

As I was groaning from all these tangled thoughts, a huge pouch landed with a thud on the table.

“It’s 15 gold. That’s the advance. The remaining 15 gold will be given when we arrive at Cartia Village.”

But… for 15 gold, this pouch is too big?

I kept poking the pouch, and Ailyn mumbled as she opened her mouth.

“Uh, well... I couldn’t prepare it in gold coins, so I brought silver coins. But don’t worry, the amount is correct.”

“Hah... it really feels like you brought it from a piggy bank…”

Hearing my words, Ailyn jumped up from her seat, fuming.

“My piggy bank?! No way?! Seriously... What do you take me for?! Hah! I may look younger, but I’m not a kid anymore, okay?! I’m not using a piggy bank!”

Well, I mean, that’s what it felt like… Why get so worked up?

I’ve been there too!
I think I remember my middle school days... I once broke into my piggy bank and ran away with it for three years!

“Sorry... I’m sorry…”

“Ah... No... I’m sorry too. Let’s just get back to the point.”

Ailyn took a deep breath and spread a large sheet of paper.

“Alright, this is the village we’re in right now, right?”

I could only feel her finger moving, but I couldn’t see what was on the map at all.

From her words, it sounded like a map, though.
But I couldn’t see anything...
What if I stop speaking now and she gets mad?

I need to keep my 30 gold safe!

So, better answer first, and when she's done speaking, I can carefully say my piece, right?

“Yes…”

“Once we leave, we’ll head this way...”

Ailyn’s slender finger moved quickly.

“We’ll go this way. Do you think that’s alright?”

“Yes…”

“Mmm... you seem confident. Good. Usually, we’d take this route, but we’re going straight through this way.”

“...Yes…”

“It’s a bit dangerous, but it’s the fastest route. Then here…”

Ailyn stopped halfway, slowly raising her head.

“…Ah, wait…”

Suddenly, she became restless and lowered her head in embarrassment.

“Ugh, it’s not... I wasn’t doing it on purpose... I wasn’t teasing you... Ah, no…”

I knew it.

She must have forgotten I was blind for a moment.

After all, she’d seen me walking around freely, making coffee and all that, so she might have momentarily forgotten.

I’m a broad-minded guy, so I’ll understand!

“It’s okay. I’m used to it…”

I lightly patted Ailyn’s hand that was on the table and smiled.

To be honest, I wasn’t used to it.
It’s only been two months since I suddenly went blind, so there’s no way I could be used to it by now.

But if I say it this way, maybe Ailyn won’t feel too bad about it?

Well, actually, there’s nothing for her to feel bad about, right?
If I’d told her from the start that I couldn’t see the map, we wouldn’t have been in this situation...

Wait... am I the one messing up?

“It’s... my fault. It’s not your fault, Ailyn. So... y-you don’t need to feel sorry... I’m the one at fault... sorry!”

I tried to comfort her gently, but my words came out all jumbled.
And at the end... I even stuttered...

Ailyn lifted her head and looked at me.
I wonder if she was comforted at all...
I hope she’s not laughing at my stutter... oh, how embarrassing.

“Khr, khm…”

I awkwardly grabbed my cup and brought it to my lips.
But Ailyn’s hand firmly held my cup.

“Noa, you’ve already finished your milk…”

“Ah, oh.”

It’s true.
In my rush, I’d just grabbed the cup without thinking...

“Noa... you don’t have to force yourself to smile…”

“No, no!”

I turned red with embarrassment, hiding my face to avoid being seen.

Instead of gently comforting her, I stuttered, stumbled, and even messed up at the end...

Ugh!!

I hurriedly stood up.

Ah, I can’t even look at her...

Not that I could before... but still!

“I’ll... go get something to drink!”

Oh.
Another stutter.

I cursed my pathetic body today.

I grabbed the cup with both hands and ran to the kitchen...

“Be careful!”

Crash—

“Ugh...!”

I couldn’t make it and fell.

I’d forgotten my greatsword...

Damn it, Shin-Noa! Gaaaahh!!

First things first... Let’s find my greatsword... Ugh.@@novelbin@@

Crawling across the floor, I fumbled around.

“Noa...?”

Ailyn called me, her voice sounding much closer now.

Hmm... Is she nearby?
I’m not sure.

And where is my greatsword?! Ugh!

I’d like to ask Ailyn to find it for me... but it’d reveal my weakness...

“Nothing... Ah, no... heh heh…”

Let’s find the sword first.

It must be around here somewhere...

Hmm, this is the table leg... this is the chair... so...

“Ah...!”

Found it!

I jumped up and grabbed the hilt of the sword.

Looking around, I saw Ailyn staring at me blankly, and my cup... shattered. Dang...

There was blood on my palm and knee.

I’m used to these kinds of injuries.

But today... it stings a little more.

“Be careful!”

Crash—

“Ugh...!”

Noa, holding her cup, tripped on the hammer lying on the floor.

She couldn’t have missed it.

When she came to the blacksmith, she avoided the animal filth multiple times, carefully crossing puddles, and even cleared obstacles in my path.

She shouldn’t have missed that hammer.

As I watched her crawl on the floor, I realized something was off.

She shouldn’t be like this.
She knew better. But still...

For a moment, I wondered if it was intentional.

“Noa...?”

Hearing my voice, Noa didn’t seem to know exactly where I was.
She could only sense my direction, but she didn’t look at me.
She couldn’t look at me.

“…”

I... I must have reopened her trauma.

I had made her relive painful memories like that.

I was the one who had been careless, playing with my little pride.

I couldn’t even properly apologize after seeing Noa’s face twisted in self-blame.

The adventurers I saw at the Guild were all rough and harsh.

She’d endured in a world like that.

A blind little girl, who couldn’t read or see faces,
who had been scorned, isolated,
had pushed forward alone.

Without her family,

She was like a shining light in this world.

Even in a world full of people seeking only their own safety,
there are people like her.

And that’s why.
Noa, you, and everyone else who shines like you.
I owe you an apology.

No matter how much you shine or how beautiful you are,
the darkness of this world is too vast,
and the ugliness of humanity is too repulsive.

That’s why I don’t want to save this world.

Even if everything falls apart, I’ll run away until the very end.

“So that’s why it hurt so much... there were glass shards stuck.”

When I focused my Giga Sense on the painful area, I found tiny shards of glass embedded in it.

I relived my disgraceful moments.

Ugh... I’m so embarrassed...!

“Should I just... die...”

And what’s this...
It hurts even more today?!
You crazy idiot!

How old am I now?
Am I having a middle school crisis?!

Gaaaaah!!

I thought my situation was painful, but turns out it’s just the wounds themselves that hurt!!

“Ugh... I’m so embarrassed…”

As I scraped the glass shards from my wounds, I thought of Ailyn, sitting outside looking pathetic.

She seemed like she had strong energy, yet there was something uncertain about her.
She looked thorough, yet a bit of a klutz.
Her heart seemed fragile...

She was like someone with a painful past,
the kind of person who wouldn’t speak of it.

I don’t know.
It’s not that important.

I set my greatsword down and relaxed.

I opened my eyes.
I closed my ears.
I held my breath.

‘I’ thought.

No matter what painful past Ailyn has,
Whether she's a criminal,
A saint, or an evil person,
Whatever she is... if she’s a “person,”

‘Me,’ I will
Take the hand that reaches out.

If she asks for help, I’ll give it.
If she asks for her life to be saved, I will somehow,
By any means, save her.

Because I must.

In the past,
Now, and maybe in the future,

‘I’ can’t do anything else.

“That’s right?”

“Ugh…”

After shaking off the glass, I grabbed my greatsword and stood up.

“Even though I just had coffee... should I have one more?”

I poured Ailyn’s coffee and my milk into cups.

I left the kitchen.

“Is there anything I should leave behind?”

I turned back.

There, in the spot I had been sitting, there was...

“Hmm... nothing.”

Not a single piece of glass.

“This time, let’s act with confidence!”

It wasn’t scattered.