Chapter 123: Strange Old Man
Time passed quickly inside the stone chamber.
Since the place was completely cut off from the outside world, I had no way of knowing exactly how much time had gone by.
But at the very least...
several days had passed.
During those days, I had drawn my sword countless times.
The old man always stood in front of me with that stupid grin on his face, while I repeated the same techniques over and over again.
“Your eyes moved first!”
“Again! Your shoulder twitched!”
“Friend! Your footing is too unstable!”
Every time I raised my sword, the old man never stopped pelting me with pebbles and pointing out my flaws.
At first...
it had sounded like the ramblings of a madman.
But as time passed...
I had no choice but to admit it.
He was right.
Bit by bit, I filled in the flaws he exposed with those damn pebbles.
And today...
I intended to put everything I'd learned and realized into a single exchange.
“Hoooo....”
I drew in a long breath...
then slowly exhaled.
The old man stood across from me, grinning as always.
From appearances alone...
he was nothing more than a senile lunatic.
But I no longer saw him that way.
An expert.
Ever since we'd met...
the old man had been completely consistent.
No matter how careless he looked...
by the time my sword should have reached him, he was already gone.
His skill was so high that I couldn't even properly follow his movements.
That was the kind of expert standing before me.
I adjusted my grip on the sword.
Hide the gaze.
Then suppress the opponent before he can read what comes next.
I repeated everything the old man had taught me inside my head.
This time, I'm ending it.
SHWAAAAAK!
I thrust my sword forward.
The first attack came straight from the front.
As the blade closed in on his body...
the old man casually slipped his upper body aside, just as he always did.
He retreated only enough to place himself barely outside the reach of my sword.
But this time...
I had expected it.
Paat!
Without hesitation, I twisted my wrist.
My sword path immediately curved toward the direction he'd dodged.
The sword tip drove toward his side.
“Hehehe! Good!”
The old man's giggling reached my ears.
“Friend's swordplay is fun!”
Once again...
he escaped my sword path.
As expected...
But!
I'd planned for that too.
This was the moment I'd been waiting for.
I twisted my waist again.
My foot planted with a short step...
and I revived the sword tip that had begun losing momentum.
Then I drove in a third sword path.
SHWAAAAAK!
My blade pierced straight into his guard.
"...!"
For the first time...
I caught a startled look on the old man's face.
Got you!
I was certain.
This time...
there was no way he could avoid it.
The instant that thought crossed my mind—
Fshhh!
His figure blurred.
What?
The old man's body suddenly vanished from in front of me.
And the next moment...
my sword tip cut through nothing but empty air.
“Haa....”
I withdrew my sword and sighed.
...Failed again.
I had truly thought I'd gotten him this time.
I had blocked his route with the first strike...
driven his body with the second...
then pierced the opening with the third.
I had been certain there was no escape.
And yet...
my sword had still failed to touch him.
I even felt a little disappointed that my carefully prepared strike had missed.
Then—
“Waaaaah! Friend did it!”
The old man suddenly jumped up and shouted.
I couldn't help tilting my head.
What is he talking about?
The old man excitedly raised his left arm.
“Look at this!”
Only then did I notice it.
The lower edge of his left sleeve...
had been sliced open by a hair-thin line.
It was so faint that I could've missed it if I hadn't looked carefully.
A mark left by my sword.
I had thought my attack had completely failed.
But judging by that cut...
my blade had barely grazed his clothes.
The old man clapped wildly in delight.
“Amazing! Friend really did it!”
Then he shouted,
“Well done! Mujin won the bet!”
Only then did I come back to my senses.
“Hm?”
“I won?”
“What do you mean?”
The old man answered immediately.
“Friend touched me!”
“So friend wins!”
"..."
A hollow laugh slipped from my mouth.
I'd assumed that winning the bet meant defeating the old man...
or at least landing a proper strike.
But apparently...
just grazing his clothes was enough for him to declare me the winner.
Did he think from the beginning that there was no chance my sword would ever touch him...?
The thought left me feeling strangely deflated.
But that feeling disappeared almost immediately.
If I won the bet...
I spoke at once.
“Then since I won, tell me how to get outside like you promised.”
The moment I said it...
the old man's expression froze.
“Ah!”
He slapped his forehead with his palm.
Then began muttering to himself.
“R-Right.”
“I said I'd tell you if I lost....”
He looked genuinely troubled.
What?
Don't tell me...
he'd forgotten his own promise?
The old man began pacing in circles where he stood.
His expression was serious.
His muttering didn't stop.
“What do I do?”
“If I tell friend the way out, friend leaves.”
“If friend leaves, I'm alone again.”
His face fell.
“That's too lonely....”
This was heading somewhere bad.
I felt deeply uneasy.
If the old man decided not to keep his promise...
I'd be in serious trouble.
He was the only one who knew the way out.
If he refused to tell me...
I had no way to escape this place.
After agonizing for a while...
the old man finally looked as though he'd made up his mind.
He clenched both fists.
“Yes!”
“A promise must be kept!”
Only then could I breathe a little easier.
Haa. Thank goodness.
The old man declared firmly,
“I promised!”
“I promised my friend Mujin that I'd tell him the way out!”
Worried he might change his mind again...
I immediately jumped in.
“Exactly! You promised, so tell me quickly.”
But the moment I finished...
his expression stiffened again.
Then he suddenly turned his head sharply away.
His lips pushed out.
He looked obviously sulky.
What now?
I stared at him.
“...What's wrong?”
“Did something upset you?”
He refused to look at me.
Then answered curtly,
“Bad.”
I frowned.
“What's bad?”
“I thought about it.”
He turned slightly.
“Mujin doesn't seem like my friend.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“What are you talking about?”
He spun around and complained as though accusing me.
“If I tell you the way out, Mujin leaves me.”
