DMHS 106

“Is there no way to escape from the illusion?”

“I don’t know. Let’s watch for now.”

At that moment, a huge cloud of dust rose from the path that led toward the village.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

What appeared, shaking the ground like a large wild beast, was a boy.

His black hair, like his father’s, was soaked in sweat, and his eyes shone with heat. The boy, Kian, who had found his father, ran toward him.

“Father! Do you know what event will be held at the lower village festival this year?”

His father smiled and brushed back the boy’s damp hair. His hand was full of affection.

The boy spoke excitedly.

“No, wait. I won’t tell you first. Father, you try to guess.”

“Hm, seeing how excited you are, it must be something fun.”

The father looked at the boy’s flushed cheeks.

“A knight play?”

“Wrong! That’s something I really like, but it’s not the answer. What else?”

“How about a hunting contest.”

“Wrong again. Now it’s your last chance.”

“Then it must be a treasure hunt.”

“Oh, do you still think I’m a child? The answer is the gladiator tournament!”

The boy was still excited. Because of that, only Kian and Lucien noticed the father’s face darken.

“Do you even know what a gladiator tournament is?”

“Of course I do. It’s when people fight with swords! It’s a good chance to show the skills I’ve trained until now.”

“But, Yan…”

The boy looked at his father.

“I know what you’re going to say. Our family can’t leave this cabin. You were exiled by the king’s order, and we share your situation. I know you feel uneasy even when I go down to the village sometimes.”

“…I’m sorry. Because of your useless father.”

“No. I didn’t say this because I wanted an apology. I just wanted to say that I’m fine with it.”

“What do you mean?”

“This tournament is a masked event. All participants wear masks when they enter the arena, and even the spectators wear masks! Can you believe it? Isn’t this the perfect stage for me?”

“……”

“If I hide my identity, I’m confident I won’t lose to anyone with a sword! Father, you’ve also been curious. You’ve wondered how much I’ve grown after learning from you.”

“Yan…”

“Father, please. You know how much I want to cross swords with others. If not this chance, I’ll spend my whole life in the forest, swinging my sword at the air. Just this once. Please?”

A shadow fell across the father’s face. Even so, he couldn’t refuse his beloved son’s earnest plea.

“I’ll think about it.”

The boy knew that this answer was as good as permission. A bright smile spread across Yan’s face.

“Thank you, Father!”

“……”

“……”

Unlike the excited Yan, Kian was expressionless as he watched.

It wasn’t that he did not feel anything. It was because he had already poured out every feeling he had toward that choice.

Participating in that gladiator tournament had been the first turning point in Kian’s life.

Kian regretted that decision hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times.

No, even the word regret was too light.

Kian lamented. He blamed himself. He reflected and repented. Some days his heart was filled with shame, and other days it was filled with pain.

He had no idea how many times he had wished he could turn back time. If he could return to the day before this one, he would have accepted any price.

But even when his heart ached as if it were being torn apart, reality didn’t change. Time moved only forward, and what had passed never came back.

The scene unfolding before Kian’s eyes now was the same.

After the flash that marked the gap in time faded, Kian and Lucien stood in the gladiator arena.

The arena was crowded, far beyond what suited a small village. It must have been because of the enormous prize money.

The fact that participants didn’t need to reveal their identities also played a part.

Mercenaries who wandered the kingdom, soldiers of noble families, adventurers, hunters, and thieves who were proud of their swordsmanship, all gathered regardless of their status.

Among them, the boy Yan stood out. Surrounded by large, muscular men, Yan looked so fragile that a push might send him flying.

The boy had only grown taller, and his limbs were slender like those of a noble’s child, and his lips, visible under the mask, was thin and well-defined.

“What’s with that kid?”

“There should be at least one opponent like that. The first match will go easy. Five gold on the kid losing.”

“I bet ten gold!”

“Hey, look at these crazy people. What will you do if you lose a big bet right from the first match? But I’ll take that ten gold, and I’ll add ten more! Twenty gold!”

Since long ago, gambling had always been part of a gladiator tournament. The masked spectators argued while placing their wagers.

“Come on, if everyone bets on the kid losing, how are we supposed to collect anything?”

“Then I’ll bet one silver on the kid winning.”

“Fifty bronze.”

After the small coins exchanged hands, the match began.

Yan’s opponent was a man whose hands were full of knife scars. Seeing how he gripped two daggers with both hands and lowered his stance, it was clear that he would use irregular attacks rather than orthodox swordsmanship.

At the sound that signaled the start of the match, the man moved his foot.

He vanished from sight, and in an instant, he was right in front of Yan’s nose.

“Waaah!”

The audience shouted. Because the tournament used real swords, everyone had already expected that blood would spill. They imagined the boy’s quick defeat.

But reality was different from their imagination.

Thud.

With a loud sound, the one who fell to the ground was the man.

Yan didn’t even swing his sword properly. He only lifted the hilt upright and struck the man’s exposed head.

Even so, the man fainted without uttering a single cry. A lump the size of a fist swelled on the back of his head.

“……”

“……”

“The boy swordsman wins!”

“Whoa!”

They started cheering a little late.

Yan defeated each opponent in turn and advanced without a single loss.

His movements were restrained, and at the same time, so fast that they were almost invisible to the eye. Each match unfolded one-sidedly, like a fight between a child and an adult.

Unlike at the beginning, the arena was now filled with cheers for Yan.

After subduing his fourth opponent, Yan sheathed his sword and turned his gaze toward the southern part of the village. His eyes carried complex emotions.

Kian knew who was in that direction.

‘Father.’

His father had once served as captain of the royal knights.

But because of the schemes of opposing forces, he was exiled to the western region far from the capital. Kian had been only four years old at the time.

Their family lived in the forest bordering a small village. They were forbidden to leave the woods.

In the early years, a watcher would visit often under the pretext of delivering supplies.

But as one year, then two, then three passed, the visits became less frequent.

By the time more than ten years had passed since the exile order, no one came to check on Kian’s family anymore.

Kian once overheard his parents talking late at night.

“His Majesty must have forgotten me.”

His father’s voice sounded lonely, but Kian thought that perhaps it was for the better.

Since no one came anymore, someone had to go to the village to get what they needed. Though they made do with what they gathered in the forest, it could not last forever.

But his father attracted too much attention, and his gentle mother was afraid to leave the forest. It wasn’t something they could entrust to his younger sister either.

In the end, after much pleading, Kian was the one sent to the village.

Kian had quick reflexes and awareness. He achieved his purpose and left before curious villagers could find out who he was.

Though the market opened only once every four days, Kian enjoyed those rare outings.

As he grew older, his desire to go outside only grew stronger.

More than once, he stayed wandering nearby until late, returning home after the sun had set.

Kian looked at the western sky as the sun was setting and thought,

‘I want to leave like this.’

He wanted to go without any regrets, like the migratory birds flying in a line, not once looking back.

‘On the journey, all kinds of strange and new things will happen.’

Kian thought of the heroes from old tales.

They fought monsters with many heads, met comrades and formed bonds, and fell in love with beautiful women. He wished that something thrilling like that would happen to him too.

‘Even if many trials and hardships come, I’ll never collapse, and I’ll endure them all.’

Kian believed in himself.

‘Nothing is more painful than this life where nothing happens. I must be the most unfortunate child in the world.’

Adding to the egocentric thinking typical of adolescence, he would often wallow in self-pity as days went by where he couldn’t go out of the forest.

His parents pitied him. His father especially couldn’t hide his guilt over his talented, lively son being unable to show his abilities.

That was why he hadn’t been able to stop Kian from joining the tournament.

That morning, his father handed Kian a sword.

“This is the sword bestowed by His Majesty the King.”