Final Chapter: Sunny

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Translator: Soafp

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“It's finally time, Erius.”

“Yes.”

On the day of my departure, my father called out to me with an unusually serious expression. I straightened my posture in response.

“To become a ‘Sword Saint' at fifteen… and what's more, you're beginning to embody the sword I always envisioned.”

“That's thanks to your teachings, Father.”

“Well, of course! I'm a great teacher, after all!”

His seriousness didn't last long, and his face broke into a grin.

Feeling my own lips relax at his familiar attitude, I asked:

“So, what's with the formality?”

“Ah. Even the best teacher can't do anything if there's nothing left to teach. From here on, what you must do is take what I've taught you and develop it further during your journey of training.”

Ever since I was little, I had learned the sword from my father, a Sword Saint.

My style wasn't the same as his, but according to him, it was ‘a sword that pursued my ideal.'

At my coming-of-age ceremony, I was granted the skill ‘Sword Saint.'

Not as an awakening from sword mastery, but as a heaven-bestowed skill—it was apparently the first case in history. My parents, relatives, and fellow disciples all joined in, turning it into a festival-level celebration.

And so, in order to hone my abilities even further, I decided to leave my parents behind for a time and set out on a journey of training.

“Yeah, I know.”

“I see. Then that's fine.”

All I took with me was a small sum of money given as a parting gift, my sword, and a pack with a few changes of clothes. Nothing more.

“If you plan to keep traveling while earning money, become an adventurer. Even in these peaceful times, there are still monsters and remnants of the Demon King's army. There will be plenty of times when your sword will be useful.”

“Yeah. That's what I was thinking too.”

The world says that ten years ago, my father defeated the Demon King…

But the story I heard from him was different.

According to my father, it was a female swordsman who defeated the Demon King.

She appeared out of nowhere, cut him down, and vanished the very moment it was over.

At first, he apparently tried to correct the misunderstanding, but everyone took it as mere modesty.

That's why only my father and I—and a few others like my mother—believe in the mysterious swordswoman.

Only those who know that my father isn't the kind of man who would lie about something like that.

My father calls her the “Divinely Sent Guardian Swordswoman.”

A swordswoman sent by the gods to protect humanity.

My father was deeply shaken by the swordplay he witnessed when she fought the Demon King.

He replayed her movements in his mind over and over, unraveling the principles behind her sword.

After adding what he believed were improvements, he passed it on to me.

He said that for himself, his past experience and training would only get in the way—so he taught it to me instead, when I was still a blank slate.

“Thank you. I'll keep honing my skills while using my sword to help people.”

“Good. You've inherited her sword. Use your blade to protect others.”

“Yeah. Thanks for everything so far. …Alright, I guess it's time to go.”

I bowed my head and started walking off to begin my journey.

After a short pause, my father threw one last question at my back.

“Erius! Is the sword fun?”

I turned back to look at him again.

For once, there seemed to be a trace of unease on his face.

Maybe he was worried that he'd forced his ideals onto his son.

That sense of responsibility might have crossed his mind.

So I shouted back, straight from the heart.

“There's nothing more fun than this!”

At my answer, my father nodded with clear satisfaction.

And so, I set out on my journey.

It was a cloudless, perfect day—one that made it feel like something wonderful was about to begin.

One year later.

I was in the worst possible situation.

“I'm broke. Seriously broke.”

Muttering to myself in the dining hall of a familiar inn, I looked around.

After setting out and becoming an adventurer, I formed a party.

Our party's name was “Dragon Fang Bite.”

A dragon has many fangs.

But when they bite without slipping, it symbolizes unity—a phrase I've always liked.

Right now, the members of that Dragon Fang Bite were gathered around me.

They were all good people, but… unlike our name, there was one thing that didn't quite mesh.

The first to react to my muttering was Phalan, the spear user.

“Erius, don't tell me you got cheated again at fishing? Going all-in on the sword is fine, but you should at least be able to do some basic math.”

“I-I only got cheated once! I don't mess up like that all the time!”

Probably.

Honestly… I couldn't confidently say I was sure, though.

“More importantly, I found another good request!”

“Oh? Let's see—ah! The reward's food again! And a basket full of potatoes for dragon subjugation!? That's completely unbalanced!”

“Eh? But they seem to be in trouble…”

“No, no! Just yesterday the reward was money! Someone must've secretly swapped the request when they saw Lena-san—no doubt about it!”

“Mm… but it's a good request, right? I mean, it helps people.”

“By that standard, sure! But do you even know the state our party's in right now!?”

Nick the archer shouted while looking at the request Lena had brought.

Lena possessed the legendary skill “Saint.”

True to that skill, she was kind-hearted, compassionate, and deeply considerate of others.

No doubt thanks to her parents' upbringing.

…But that kindness went too far.

When she saw people in trouble, she would accept jobs where the reward didn't match the risk—or even take them with no reward at all.

“Seriously… I thought with a Sword Saint and a Saint together, we'd never go hungry.”

Phalan muttered in exasperation, tapping his shoulder lightly with the spear in his hand.

That was when I noticed something slightly off.

“Huh? Phalan. Did you change your spear?”

“Oh! Sharp eyes, Erius! That's right—check out this spearhead! A rare ore came in, so I had the blacksmith make a new one. This shine—beautiful, right?”

“…How much did it cost?”

“Credit, of course!”

“You idiot!”

At the Adventurers' Guild, depending on past completion rates, you can buy supplies on credit—payment deferred.

Our party hadn't been together that long, but our completion rate was high.

Especially for subjugation requests—we were at one hundred percent so far.

Because of that, our credit limit was fairly generous.

But that debt is shared by the party.

Which meant Phalan had gone and borrowed against our future rewards without asking.

It wasn't the first time either—he'd done it a few times before, and we'd always deducted it from his share, but still…

“At this rate, your cut's going to go negative. I get caring about your weapon as a fellow warrior, but taken too far, it's just wasteful.”

“Hey, hey, don't say that, Erius. Just take a look at this first!”

He said that and, completely unrepentant, pointed the spearhead toward me.

I sighed when I saw it.

“It really is beautiful… enough to make you sigh.”

“Right!?”

“Don't agree with him, Erius-san!”

Nick immediately scolded me—quite reasonably.

“Y-yeah, you're right. Sorry.”

“You spoil Phalan too much, that's why he gets carried away! If you're the leader, you need to be firm with him!”

“Hey, Nick, you spend plenty on your own gear too!”

“Arrows are consumables! Don't lump them together! And I'm doing everything I can to recover them, but Phalan-san slacks off, doesn't he!?”

That was true.

Nick was bearing the brunt of things.

Normally, the party should buy and supply his arrows.

But with our current finances, we couldn't provide enough, so he covered part of it himself from his share.

Even then it wasn't enough—I knew he spent nights hammering bent iron arrows, muttering, “Maybe these are still usable?”

…The room next to mine, so it was kind of noisy.

Naturally, such arrows lowered both power and accuracy.

So far, we'd managed somehow, but if this continued, there was a very real future where Nick would no longer function as combat strength.

And my precious sleep time would keep shrinking.

That was bad too.

Yes.

In short, we weren't interlocking properly.

—Our income and expenses.

That's why I'd been thinking about a solution for the past few days.

I'd gathered everyone today to discuss it.

I raised a hand to stop the two who were about to start arguing and spoke calmly.

“Actually, there's something I've been considering as a solution.”

“Oh? As expected of our leader! So what is it?”

At Phalan's words, everyone's eyes turned to me.

I looked around at their faces, then spoke what I'd been thinking about lately.

“How about we hire someone with the ‘Accounting' skill?”

At my words, everyone's expressions changed at once.

Phalan was angry.

Lena looked pitiful.

Nick, on the other hand, was smiling.

“No, hiring someone with the Accounting skill… Erius, what are you even saying?”

“Erius… I don't think this is the time to be joking.”

“Erius-san. I get that we're short on money, but saying something that ridiculous… I understand, you're just tired, right?”

Even as I felt myself shrinking back at their words, I somehow managed to answer.

“No. I'm serious.”

They must have realized that I truly meant it.

All three shouted at once.

“There's no way someone with a high-value skill like Accounting would join some rookie party like ours!”

“Accounting is a winner-tier skill! There's no way they'd join a poor party like this!?”

“If I had the Accounting skill, I'd have quit a party like this ages ago!”

…Well, I expected opposition.

Though honestly, wasn't Nick being a bit harsh?

Back when the Demon King was still alive, it was standard practice for adventurer parties to be made up entirely of people with combat-oriented skills, and it was rare for non-combat skills to be included.

But now that the Demon King has been defeated and the danger level of adventuring has dropped, non-combat skills joining adventurer parties are no longer rare…

In fact, they're welcomed.

That's because, when you think of a party as an organization, the level of stability is completely different.

For example, a Blacksmith skill can properly deal with the inevitable wear and tear on weapons and armor that adventurers constantly face.

If we had a Blacksmith, Nick's arrows could be prepared in-house as long as we had the materials.

Appraisal helps uncover rare items that are easily overlooked, and Merchant can stabilize party finances through trade along the journey.

What's more, in recent years there have even been cases where such non-combat skills awakened into powerful abilities.

A famous example is the prime minister who currently serves as the king's right-hand man.

A few years ago, he only had the Oratory skill, but through his adventuring life he awakened to Word Spirit, and was invited to the royal court.

Perhaps because of that,

“It seems that the adventurer lifestyle encourages the awakening of non-combat skills,”

—such rumors are whispered with surprising conviction.

As a result, the interests of combat-skill adventurers seeking organizational stability and those with non-combat skills align, and their inclusion is welcomed.

Among them, Accounting is an ultra-popular skill, classified as “S-rank” in contribution when it comes to organizational stability.

Adventurers tend to be sloppy with money, and running short of funds only to accept reckless requests and lose their lives is a common story.

That's why there's even a saying: “One accountant is worth ten lives.”

So when word spreads that someone with the Accounting skill has appeared, fierce competition breaks out among famous adventurer parties and major trading companies to recruit them… or so it's said.

Of course, I know all that, but…

“But look, I'm a Sword Saint, and Lena is a Saint. Phalan's Heroic Spear is impressive too, and Nick's Wyvern Eye is basically an advanced hunter skill. If we appeal to that future potential…”

“Future potential? They don't need to gamble on something that vague when they already have more offers than they can count.”

“Well… yeah, that's true, but…”

“There was someone with the Accounting skill in my hometown, you know? It was incredible. There was a line stretching from in front of their house all the way outside the town. And apparently there was even a minister standing in that line.”

“I-I see…”

“Erius-san. I respect you. That's why… please stop doing things that will disappoint me any further.”

“Is suggesting we hire an accountant really that bad!?”

I was shot down in turn by Phalan, Lena, and Nick.

Still… when I first thought of it, I really believed it was a good idea.

But listening to them, I started to feel like maybe it really was impossible.

“See? Instead of talking about pipe dreams, let's face reality. We're broke. First, let's pick a job with good pay, alright?”

“…Yeah. You're right.”

As I replied to Phalan and was about to give up on the idea of hiring someone with the Accounting skill and end the discussion—

“Are you looking for someone with the Accounting skill?”

At the sudden voice from behind me, I turned around, and there—

—stood a man dressed entirely in white: a white mask, a white tailcoat, coordinated head to toe, with the atmosphere of a clown.

…His skill is probably Gambler.

Thinking that, I answered.

“That was the idea, but… we figured it might be too difficult.”

“Hm. Giving up before you even try isn't very like you…”

“Huh?”

“Fufu, never mind. That's just my own thoughts. Let me tell you something useful. Do you know the town with the giant tree?”

“Ah, yes. I haven't been there, but… that's where the Demon King was defeated, right?”

“Exactly. There's a girl there who recently awakened to the Accounting skill. She's still undecided about where to pledge herself. If you head there right now, you might make it in time.”

“R-really?”

“H-hey, Erius, don't trust what some suspicious guy you just met is saying!”

At Phalan's warning, the man in white gave a wry smile.

“Hahaha, that's harsh. But she should be able to tell whether I'm lying or not.”

Saying that, he looked at Lena.

Lena stared at the man for a moment, then nodded.

“Yeah, he's not lying… or rather, it seems like he can't lie.”

“Oh, you've trained your skill well. You're a good girl.”

The man clapped lightly, in an exaggerated manner.

“Now then, there's no time. If you're going, go now.”

With that, he turned on his heel as if to leave.

To his back, I called out,

“Um… thank you very much!”

He stopped, turned around, stared at me for a while—and suddenly shouted.

“The truth is! This is bad! I'm not supposed to do things like this!”

“Huh?”

“Aaaah, this is the first time I've broken a rule I set for myself!”

“Uh… okay?”

“But you all worked hard! And I've got a bit too much power to spare right now! That's why I ended up doing this!”

He grabbed at his head as if tearing at his hair.

With the mask on, the gesture looked rather silly.

After shouting his mysterious excuses and clutching his head, he suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

Though I couldn't see his face, I was sure he was smiling as he said,

“But somehow… I don't feel bad about it. Thank you, Erius.”

After thanking me for some reason, he turned away again and left the inn.

I stood there, stunned, watching his back for a while, until—

“…Why did he know my name!?”

Realizing that, I hurried after him.

But when I looked outside from the inn's entrance… he was already gone.

“Who was that guy…?”

I didn't really get it.

Maybe he just overheard the others calling my name.

Still, he was a strange man.

Shaking it off, I went back inside.

“…What exactly did we work hard at?”

“No idea.”

“I dunno.”

Listening to the murmurs of my companions, I declared,

“Alright! Let's depart immediately!”

A few days later, we arrived at the town the white man had told us about.

The town's symbol—the great tree—welcomed us.

Standing proudly, unbowed even by black clouds, that tree was called the World Tree, or the Tree of Hope, and was once the symbol of humanity's hope.

Now, it's more often called the Tree of Victory or the Tree of Peace.

The symbol of humanity reclaiming peace after defeating the Demon King.

After the Demon King's death, this place—once just a village—was flooded with tourists who came to see the great tree.

As people increased, businesses naturally followed, and through that cycle the town developed into what it is today.

It's a nice story.

It really is, but…

Nick muttered quietly.

“This is a pretty big town… searching for one person from here will be tough.”

Exactly.

The town is fairly large, with houses lined up everywhere.

Finding the person we're looking for from here will be quite a task.

“Complaining won't help. Let's split up and search. Our meeting point will be here—”

Just as I was about to give instructions, the three of them spoke again, as if they'd planned it.

“Erius, you stay here.”

“Erius, you wait right here.”

“Erius-san, please do not move a single step from here.”

I didn't ask why.

Because there were plenty of reasons that came to mind.

Yes—I didn't ask for an explanation.

And yet, the three of them each went out of their way to explain anyway.

“When you get absorbed in something, you immediately lose track of time. You remember when you said ‘I think I'm about to come up with a new form!' and spent an entire day practicing swings in a dungeon until you collapsed, right? If you get absorbed in searching for someone, you'll definitely go missing yourself. I don't want the absurd situation where the number of people searching increases because the searcher disappeared.”

“Erius, you're always confidently saying ‘It's this way!' and then walking straight into a trap, right? So I think it's more peaceful if you just stay still.”

“When you punched that arrogant noble's son because I looked away for just a moment, do you have any idea how much trouble that caused!? Leaving Erius-san alone in a crowded place is about as stupid and dangerous as storing explosives next to a fire!”

That was quite the assessment.

And Nick… do you really respect me?

You're not lying, are you?

After firmly telling me to “wait here,” they split up to ask around.

…I am the leader, right?

Left alone with nothing to do, I gazed up at the great tree before me.

I thought so the moment I first saw it, but it's a strange tree.

As I look at it, an odd sense of nostalgia wells up inside me.

Its age is unknown, so perhaps it's not just me—maybe it appeals to something deep in humanity's collective memory.

—And then.

From afar, I heard footsteps approaching.

Running footsteps.

They weren't very loud—probably a child, or a woman.

Even so, I stayed alert, ready to draw my sword at any moment.

I rarely actually draw it, but it's a habit.

When the figure came into view, I relaxed my guard.

Clutching a large bundle to her chest, black hair streaming behind her, a girl—probably around my age—ran toward me.

She stopped in front of me and dropped the bundle at her feet with a thud.

That made her face clearly visible at last.

At that instant, I was seized by a strange sensation.

I'd never seen her before.

And yet, for some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off her.

She was certainly beautiful enough to catch attention at a glance.

But that wasn't the reason.

The feeling was close to what I'd felt when looking at the great tree—only stronger, something that appealed directly to my heart.

Likewise, she kept staring at me for a while too.

The time we spent looking at each other felt incredibly long.

But in reality, it probably wasn't that long at all.

“Uhm—”

Just as I was about to speak and break the strange balance, her expression suddenly changed, as if she'd realized something, and she rapidly spoke to me.

“Listen! People are going to come asking about me in a bit! So please say ‘she went that way,' okay? I'm begging you!”

With just that, she picked up her bundle again and moved to hide behind the great tree.

Soon after, the sound of several footsteps reached my ears.

As soon as they arrived, they fired questions at me.

“You! Didn't you see a black-haired girl!?”

Just like she said.

So she's being chased?

But they didn't seem particularly villainous.

In that case, there was no need to cause trouble by beating them all up.

“I did see her.”

“Which way did she go!?”

Hmm.

I don't like lying, but… well, it was a promise, even if it was forced on me.

I pointed off in a random direction and said,

“She ran that way.”

“I see, thank you!”

They ran off in the direction I indicated.

After watching their backs for a while and making sure they were gone, I went around to the back of the great tree to check on the girl.

She was sitting there, hidden behind it.

“I kept my promise.”

“Thank you. You really helped.”

It might be rude, but since I'd gotten involved, I figured I had the right to ask what was going on.

Sitting down beside her, I asked,

“What was that about…?”

“Before that, can I ask something? Have we met somewhere before?”

It seemed she felt the same thing I did.

But as far as I could remember, I'd never met her before.

“No… I don't think so.”

“Right? But it's strange. It doesn't feel like our first meeting… oh—your sword…”

Her gaze shifted to my sword.

This was the blade I'd inherited from my father.

Apparently, he'd used it when fighting the Demon King.

“Yeah, I inherited it from my father. My dad is a Sword Saint, and—”

“What!? You're the Sword Saint's son!? Wow, what an amazing coincidence! Now that you mention it, you do look like him. That must be why it didn't feel like our first meeting!”

According to what she told me afterward…

After the Demon King's death, my father had stayed for several days at her family's inn to recover from his injuries.

Wanting to hear stories of the Demon King's defeat, she'd visited his room again and again.

“Looking back, I must've been a real nuisance of a kid. But the Sword Saint never once looked annoyed and always talked with me.”

To her, my father had said,

“This is a secret from everyone,”

and told her about the “Divinely Sent Guardian Swordswoman” adding that “she looked a bit like you.”

Hearing that, I finally understood the strange feeling I'd had earlier.

Her glossy black hair, her strong-willed eyes—

they resembled the appearance of the female swordsman my father had described so many times.

That was why she didn't feel like a stranger.

“After hearing the Sword Saint's stories, I thought defeating the Demon King was so cool, and I decided I'd definitely become a swordsman like that! And then—when I came of age, I got a total dud skill! Because of that, even today…”

It seemed the people earlier had been chasing her because of her skill.

Curious, I asked what it was.

“What's your skill?”

“Accounting! Honestly, instead of something like this, I wanted ‘Swordmaster'… no, at least ‘Swordsman'!”

“Huh?”

To think the person we'd been searching for would come to me on her own.

At that miracle, my heart leapt into my throat.

But what came out of my mouth was a calm question.

“But Accounting is a skill everyone envies, isn't it?”

“What other people think doesn't matter. It's not what I wanted. And I refuse to live a life I never hoped for just because of that skill. And yet—look at this!”

She said that and showed me the contents of her bundle.

Inside the bag was a massive pile of letters.

Judging by the addressees, they were all from famous parties, major trading companies, and powerful figures I'd heard of.

“They only see the ‘shell' of my Accounting skill and send me this many letters. My parents are getting all excited too—I'm so sick of it!”

From her expression, it was clear she truly was fed up.

But then she seemed to pull herself together and smiled.

“But… I owe my parents for raising me, and I know I have to choose from among these soon. I can't stay like this forever. Maybe it's because of the Accounting skill? Leaving things I've been given untouched just feels wrong somehow.”

She seemed dissatisfied with her Accounting skill.

Well, what others think and how the person themselves feels don't always line up.

Still…

“Hm, then I guess it's tough.”

“What is?”

“Actually, I'm one of them too.”

“Eh?”

I explained the situation to her.

That we'd heard the rumors and come to this town to invite her to join our party.

But that we were still a fledgling party, and couldn't promise a sufficient signing bonus or salary.

She listened silently, then after thinking for a while, she asked me,

“What's your skill?”

“Sword Saint.”

“Sword Saint! The same as your father! …In that case, I have a condition.”

“What is it?”

“Teach me… swordsmanship. If you do that, I'll contribute to your party with my Accounting skill.”

“Eh?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, I was confused.

Of course, if something like this would make her join, I had no reason to refuse.

And yet, for some reason, I asked something completely different.

“But even so, with such a valuable Accounting skill, wouldn't your parents oppose you choosing a fledgling party like ours?”

To my question, she answered confidently.

“It'll probably be fine! After all, the Sword Saint is this town's savior! There isn't a single person in this town who doesn't feel indebted to the Sword Saint, and my parents even advertise our place as ‘the inn connected to the Sword Saint' just because he stayed there for a short while!”

“I-I see…”

“That's right! If they find out I'm joining your party, they'll probably shout ‘Today's reserved!' and throw a huge party! Your name was, um…”

After saying that much, she suddenly asked me,

“Hey, what's your name?”

“Erius.”

“Erius-san, then. I'm Nonoa.”

“Nono…a?”

When I heard her name…

Once again, that same sense of nostalgia brushed across my chest.

“…? Is something wrong?”

“No… it's nothing.”

“This must be fate, Erius-san. You want an accountant, and I want a sword teacher. This tree… it brought the two of us together!”

She gently placed her hand on the great tree.

At that moment, a light breeze began to blow.

As if affirming her words, the wind rustled the branches and leaves of the great tree.

Watching Nonoa hold down her hair as it fluttered in the same wind, I somehow managed to reply.

“Maybe… it is.”

“Of course it is… so I don't need things like this anymore!”

Declaring that, she stood up and tossed the bundle of letters into the air.

At the same time, the wind picked up slightly, scattering the letters into the sky.

After a while, the wind died down, and the letters fluttered and drifted around her for a short time.

—Each of them was surely a possible path for her.

Exaggerated as it may sound—

each one was her destiny.

And yet, she chose none of them.

“This is the best possible meeting! Honestly, I feel like I should be the one begging you!”

After that preface, she reached out her hand to me.

“Erius-san! Please… let me join your party!”

The hand she offered—

I couldn't bring myself to grasp it right away.

For a moment—until she started to look at me suspiciously—I just stood there.

At her words, I was suddenly struck again by that indescribable sense of nostalgia.

And more than that.

Our—my—future adventures would surely become even more wonderful than anything before.

So strongly did I feel that premonition—

that it was almost dazzling.

The smile she gave me, along with the hand she held out,

—was brilliantly clear.

Clearer than the blue sky I had long since grown used to seeing.

Far, far clearer.

—The End—

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There are some extra stories left. A story told from Saints Lena's point of view, what happened with Erius’ “Guide” and Nonoa’s “Bookmark”.