The Sage that the Sword Saint is Obsessed With

8 – 3. To the Battlefield (1)

1.

Regretting one’s own choice.

What if it was like this?

What if it was like that?

Isn’t it too hasty after all?

Leowen repeated meaningless worries while looking back on that day many times.

However, even if she regretted it, it wasn’t the wrong choice.

Considering the number of lives Leowen saved after returning to her hometown, it was indeed the right thing to do.

It was difficult to expect support from the empire focused on defending the demon front line for a rural village, and the village’s finances were poor because they had experienced an attack, so relying on mercenaries or adventurers for protection wasn’t feasible.

The village had no choice but to protect itself.

And so, Leowen’s return offered great hope for the village.

Leowen slaughtered the monsters.

She cut down every visible monster.

Not only did this help her own village, but it also aided several other nearby villages.

After defeating the monsters and restoring the ruined village, Leowen recruited people to protect the village.

She taught people how to wield a sword and trained them.

Five years passed. Now, the patrol team is actively working as a full-fledged force and has expanded their influence to protect other neighboring villages. Leowen leads a significant number of guards as the captain of the patrol team.

There hasn’t been an idle day during her journey so far.

However, a part of her heart was always empty.

She was doing worthwhile work, but she couldn’t feel the value of it.

While the members celebrated and drank alcohol after stopping the monster’s attack, Leowen could only force a smile and couldn’t fit in the joyful atmosphere.

It has been 5 years.

Despite the passage of five years, Rüwen couldn’t forget Evan.

If they had broken up out of hatred, they would have forgotten each other in less than a year. But since they broke up while they were truly in love, it was even more impossible to forget.

If Rüwen closes her eyes, she thinks of him.

He appears in her dreams.

As spring rain falls and winter ends, Rüwen still remains in winter.

“…Evan must have forgotten, right?”

Rüwen curled up.

Perhaps he met a better woman and is living happily now.

She wishes for his happiness, but the thought of another woman being by his side felt like her intestines would knot.

She knows it’s greedy.

She knows it’s a selfish thought.

Isn’t it her own doing?

But the thought of a woman other than herself being embraced by Evan seemed like it would break her down.

“…I miss him.”

It’s fine if they don’t talk.

Even if she tried to talk and got cursed at, it’s still fine.

She just wanted to see Evan’s face once.

His smiling face.

2.

Rüwen’s day begins early in the morning.

She quietly leaves the house and heads to the forest while her younger siblings are still asleep.

In the morning, she patrols the forest.

If she finds a magical beast, she catches it.

When she encounters a merchant, she escorts them until they leave the forest.

Although she’s a captain leading the security team, she spends her days alone. She only works with her teammates when there are big operations, and the deputy captain manages all the tasks on a daily basis.

The deputy captain pleads with Rüwen to come and live at the security team’s residence, but Rüwen firmly refuses.

It would be much more comfortable.

A team member would be in charge of preparing meals.

But she didn’t want to live at the security team’s residence and leave her home.

It is a house that my parents sacrificed their lives to protect.

-Crrrack!!

Leuwen casually sliced the demon beast.

No matter how many times you kill them, demon beasts reappear from somewhere, forming their habitats in the forest.

Silver threads dashed through the air, striking the demons.

Five demon beasts were cut into several pieces.

Taking care of a few demon beasts is an easy task.

Ever since coming back to her hometown, Leuwen had been killing demon beasts every day, not feeling threatened by the average demon anymore.

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When was the last time she got injured?

She can’t even remember.

She had cut a giant demon beast, which attacked the neighboring town, in half with one blow.

Her fellow villagers showed respect and admiration, but to be honest, she didn’t understand why.

Hmm… Is that all it takes?

From her perspective, Leuwen thought her skills were about the level of an adventurer with demon beast hunting experience.

It’s only because these villagers had been in the countryside all their lives that they didn’t know. There were far more impressive swordsmen in the world than her.

“….”

With an expressionless face, Leuwen wiped off the blood on her sword.

She gathered the demon’s carcasses.

She had only collected a few magical stones.

There was nothing worth selling in the market.

Leuwen started wandering through the forest again.

She roamed the forest and hunted demons until the sun set.

That was all she could do.

She couldn’t even think of doing anything else.

She could entrust the task to the villagers and spend her time more leisurely.

The weather is getting warmer, so she can go on a picnic with her siblings.

But she does not.

It is because of guilt and a sense of duty.

Whenever she tries to do something else, her conscience bothers her.

She can’t even enjoy her rest without feeling guilty.

Whenever he tried to take a break, a feeling of guilt pricked him relentlessly.

So all Lewen could do was hunt down demon beasts. Because in the moment he plunged his sword into a demon beast’s neck, he wouldn’t feel anything at all.

It was then that he heard someone’s scream.

“Uwaaa!!”

A piercing scream echoed through the forest.

Lewen immediately ran towards the source of the scream.

He dashed through the forest.

Swiftly weaving between the trees.

His black hair fluttered in the wind.

Upon arrival, he found a group being attacked by demon beasts.

Over 10 demon beasts.

Bipedal wolves in motion.

They wore armor and were armed with swords or axes.

Occasionally, there were such creatures among the demon beasts.

They possessed intelligence and acted like humans.

Although they usually didn’t speak human language, there were indeed some that could, albeit very rarely.

A few people had already been taken down by the demon beasts.

There was a person with an ax stuck in thei

The sharp silver line is drawn vigorously in the space.

With each swing of the sword, blood splattered and flesh fell.

The monsters began to counterattack only after half of their throats had been severed.

“Kwaaah!!”

A wolf-like monster rushed forward, spitting saliva.

Lifting the double-edged axe in both hands, it thrust towards Leuen’s head.

Leuen easily dodged by bending his upper body to the side.

*Thud!*

He kicked the monster’s flank with his foot.

He felt the bones breaking beneath the sturdy military boot made of iron.

*Shyak!*

Turning around, he diagonally cut through the monster’s body.

Though just an ordinary iron sword, its sharp blade cleanly sliced through tough armor and muscles.

Leuen snatched the axe from the falling monster, executing a smooth follow-up motion, he hurled it into the face of another approaching monster.

*Squish!*

The axe impaled the wolf-like monster’s snout.

“Kwaaeek!!”

With its snout wide open, the monster screamed, and Leuen thrust the sword into the monster’s throat. The pointed blade pierced through to the back of the neck, shattering the spine.

The muscles contracted, and the sword wouldn’t come out.

No matter.

Leuen let go of the sword and took the sword from the hand of the wolf monster.

It was different in length and weight from what he usually used.

Still, it didn’t matter.

Leuen was versatile with weapons.

Through numerous battles, he had become proficient in almost every weapon. Having faced life-threatening situations several times, he naturally learned how to use different weapons.

The remaining three monsters met a futile end without inflicting a single wound on Leuen.

“Hu…”

Breath escaped through Leuen’s dry lips.

Centered around Leuen, the monsters’ corpses lay in a gruesome mess.

Leuen ran his hand through his hair with an expression that seemed immersed in satisfaction.

“……”

She looked at the people who had been attacked.

They were looking at Leowen with surprised eyes.

“……Healing.”

Leowen pointed at the injured people. Then, the people who had been staring blankly at her began to move quickly and started to treat the wounded.

Fortunately, there were no deaths.

It would have been different if they had been a little late, but in the end, they weren’t.

“Um……”

Leowen collected the magical stones while the people were treating the injured.

Collecting the stones was important not only for making money, but also because if the magical stones were left unattended, they could resurrect the monsters or attract other monsters, so they had to be dealt with.

“No good.”

The weapons and armor the wolf monsters had used were too old and worn out to be sold at a low price. She collected only the stones from them.

She was doing this for a while when the leader of the pack came up to Leowen.

“Thank you. We owe you our lives.”

Leowen glanced at the man sideways.

“……Huh?”

The moment she looked at the man, her tired eyes widened, and her golden pupils sparkled.

“……Eh, Evan?”