Chapter 140
"Haaap! Haaap!!"
Late at night, the training ground that should have been empty was filled with someone's shouts.
Countless wooden swords lay scattered across the floor.
Every one of them was broken.
Ever since the funeral ended, Wayne had been here alone, swinging his sword dozens, then hundreds of times.
The distracting thoughts that had plagued him since the battle against Gwak Cheol refused to leave.
Wayne tightened his grip around another wooden sword and kept thinking.
His Grace... no.
Who is he, really?
At first, Wayne had denied it.
He had simply convinced himself that the Grand Duke, who had been oppressed for so long, had finally changed.
People could change.
And if that change was for the better, Wayne had thought there was nothing wrong with it.
But that kind of rationalization could only last so long.
Eventually, he was forced back to a more fundamental question.
What was his true identity?
No...
Who was he?
The man Wayne now served was clearly not the Grand Duke he had once known.
One doubt gave birth to another.
By the time the dark sky began glowing with the light of dawn, morning had already arrived.
Whoosh! Crack!
"..."
Another wooden sword broke.
The grip that fell to the ground was already shredded.
Wayne had swung so many times that blisters covered his palms.
Even so...
He picked up another wooden sword and started again.
"Huff... huff..."
"AAAAAAAH!!"
Morning had come, yet his face was still filled with confusion.
The doubts piling up inside him had finally formed a heart demon.
Then...
Footsteps sounded outside the training ground.
They stopped.
Wayne lowered his sword, caught his breath, and spoke.
"...Your Grace."
"You seem deeply troubled."
Suhyeok looked over the broken wooden swords scattered everywhere.
"You've been swinging those since last night."
"..."
Wayne couldn't answer.
There was nothing incorrect about what Suhyeok had said.
[SR Rank ‘Wayne's’ heart demon deepens.]
[If this is not resolved, he will leave this place.]
After reading the message, Suhyeok quietly picked up a wooden sword from a barrel and stepped onto the training ground.
"This is probably the first time we've sparred."
"...Yes, Your Grace."
"Then give me a lesson."
Silence followed.
Wayne attacked first.
His lower body formed a firm foundation.
Using that stability, he transitioned into downward strikes and horizontal slashes.
Feints and killing moves were woven naturally between them.
It was orthodox swordsmanship.
Straightforward and disciplined...
Yet every strike was rough and heavy, forged for fighting magical beasts.
The Northern Swordsmanship of House Waven.
Clang! Clang!
Blue Mana wrapped Wayne's wooden sword as it repeatedly collided with Suhyeok's.
A fierce exchange followed.
Despite already being exhausted from hours of training...
Wayne eliminated every unnecessary motion.
He attacked continuously with as little movement as possible.
If we're judging only swordsmanship rather than cultivation or raw strength...
He's around my level.
Maybe slightly better.
Suhyeok was deliberately using the exact same amount of Mana as Wayne.
Under those conditions...
Their battle should have been even.
Or at least too close to clearly determine a winner.
Yet Wayne didn't feel threatening at all.
Instead...
As the exchange continued, Wayne gradually began getting pushed back.
"Keugh...!"
In a battle between people...
Raw strength wasn't everything.
Unlike monsters or magical beasts...
Humans possessed countless emotions.
Clang!
"Ugh...!"
The more complicated the mind became...
The more hesitation entered one's attacks.
And even the smallest hesitation could decide victory or defeat.
Wayne's wooden sword flew from his grip and landed outside the training ground.
Suhyeok's wooden blade was already pointed at his neck.
Wayne's expression hardened.
"...I lost, Your Grace."
Through that spar...
Wayne must have realized it.
The Hail Waven standing before him was not the Grand Duke he had once known.
Perhaps he'd hoped confirming it directly would ease his heart demon.
But the confusion remained.
Suhyeok lowered his wooden sword.
Then told him the truth.
"Wayne."
"You already know it too."
"I'm not the Hail Waven you knew."
"The body is the same."
"But the soul inside it belongs to someone else."
"..."
"To put it simply..."
"I'm a Player."
"Like the people you met earlier."
Wayne didn't look especially surprised.
After hearing Suhyeok exchange strange words with Gwak Cheol...
He had already suspected something similar.
"The real Grand Duke..."
Wayne hesitated.
"Is he still alive?"
Just like on the 50th floor...
The people Players possessed were originally destined to die.
More precisely...
They were people who would live miserable, oppressed lives and eventually perish.
Heuk Mujin had been the same.
He was destined to waste his life visiting brothels before dying miserably.
Suhyeok had changed that fate.
Hail was probably no different.
Without Suhyeok...
He would have remained controlled by the retainers until dying during a Wave.
"I don't know the details either."
Suhyeok answered honestly.
"All I know is that every body I've entered belonged to someone originally destined to die."
"And once I'm here..."
"They don't return."
"I see...."
"When I enter these bodies, some of their memories flow into me."
In Hail's memories...
Wayne had been his one true ally in the north.
And also...
The very image of the person Hail had once dreamed of becoming.
"He was always grateful to you."
"Every time the retainers sent knights after him, you were the one who protected him."
"When he returned after being mocked and humiliated..."
"You were the one who beat those bastards down for him."
