I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

153 – Mixed Wishes (4)

The place Sirien took me up was a hill within the sanctuary.

Even when I was young, it wasn’t that high of a hill, but when I got a little older and tried to climb it, it really felt like it was a breeze.

As I climbed this hill, I had a great view of the surrounding coniferous forest.

The vast coniferous forest looked no different than when we were children.

That’s the cave where we fought the giant spider. And beyond that is the path we used to walk through when we were kids.

It was a place where we could look back on our journey.

“It’s been a while, here too. I felt a bit more relaxed when I came up here last time.”

“You were a patient back then.”

“I need to move a bit more to be healthy rather than just sitting still.”

“Uh-huh. Well, it’s okay since you’re fine.”

Certainly, this place was steeped in memories of me and Sirien.

When we had nothing, when all we had was a future full of dangers, it was the place where only the two of us held our knighthood ceremony.

I swore on this hill that I would become a knight of Sirien.

And that oath has been kept without ever being broken.

Even at this moment, I am a knight of Sirien, and I will always be.

– Do you know that at the end of this oath, you must bear faith and honor?

– Then engrave loyalty in your heart. Swear to your soul that you will not retreat before the enemy, that you will not tell lies, and that you will be brave until the end of your journey.

– I, Sirien Illencia, the rightful monarch of Illencia and the saintess of Hybras, the God of Rest, declare before all the gods that you have become a noble knight.

We climbed to the top of the hill.

The sanctuary was not very high, but there was a steep cliff on the other side.

The green horizon created by the old trees came into view again.

When I was young, I used to imagine that there might be a village somewhere far away.

Now I know the answer. The village existed.

There was a small village at the end of the road where we could stop for a rest.

Sirien sat on the stone at the edge of the cliff as before.

“Razen, do you remember? What we did here.”

“Of course I remember. There’s no way I would have forgotten.”

“Then you must remember everything I said back then. The time has finally come to keep my promise.”

Our inauguration required only the two of us.

A large, splendid royal court, expensive and luxurious clothing, and a large crowd of onlookers?

It was all just an afterthought in my relationship with Sirien.

But just one.

There was something that Sirien felt very sorry about at my knighthood.

“I told you so. I promised to give you a proper sword someday.”

It was a sword.

Originally, in the investiture ceremony, the lord was supposed to give the knight a sword, but we didn’t have a suitable sword.

At that time, all we had were two iron swords we had brought from the hut, and there were no other useful swords in the sanctuary.

It was an inevitable thing to do as we were in a desperate situation to survive.

Besides, Sirien had been paying a lot of attention to my weapons since the Northern Front.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about it, but it seems that Sirien had been keeping it in her heart.

“Actually, I’ve been preparing for it for a while. But I just didn’t feel like it.”

“Well, even back then, I would have been satisfied with a normal iron sword.”

“Absolutely not. That doesn’t satisfy me. We don’t need other people or empty formalities between us, but this is a gift from the Black Knight to his lord. I can’t give him something so cheap.”

Sirien, sitting on a rock, gathered divinity at her fingertips.

A single sword appeared in the torn open space.

Storing things in space is a common sight, but the sword that Sirien took out was something I had never seen before.

No. Looking closely, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen it.

“Revan’s sword?”

“Yeah. You rejected it because it didn’t fit, but after looking into it, I realized it was a waste to just sell it. So I looked into whether I could fix it and use it.”

There is no sword that I cannot use now.

In fact, once you reach this level, you start to move beyond simply using different swords and start reaching for different weapons.

It also touches areas such as daggers, spears, and axes.

In this way, swordsmanship is sometimes reorganized into a completely different style, and weapons that are compatible with the user are actively adopted to create a unique style.

For example, the swordmaster of the Ashin royal family fought with a short spear in one hand and a longsword in the other.

The leader of the Rangers. Sometimes, it fits in one’s hand, like the plainclothes sword that Hilia uses.

Anyway, as your skills increase, the range of weapons you can use will naturally expand.

However, the range of preferred weapons is rather narrowing, to the point where it becomes difficult to find common ground with other sword masters.

At best, I use a combination of a longsword and a greatsword.

To this extent, it is less nitpicky, but that doesn’t mean you can just pick up any sword and use it.

Revan’s sword was too thin and light for me.

As expected of a sword master, he was using a good sword, but it wasn’t something he would use while risking not getting hit.

“Hehe. I should brag about this a bit, but do you know that it’s incredibly difficult to find a craftsman to make a weapon like this?”

“Of course I know. I’m very interested in swords.”

“Heh. But since it’s a sword you’ll be using, of course you put some effort into it. This is a sword that went all the way to the southern kingdom of Ashin.”

“Since when?”

“Since when? Of course, from a very long time ago.”

Sirien gently stroked the black cotton.

As the divinity flowed through her hand, the pure white blade turned a deep black.

Sirien turned the handle towards me.

“Want to hear it? Come on.”

“… … Thank you. I didn’t know you would care this much.”

“You can’t not know. You always come first to me. Next time, just say thank you.”

“Yes, thank you. I will use it well. I will always think of you.”

“Right. That’s enough. Well done, my lovely knight. But… … this isn’t the end.”

How did you prepare so diligently?

The gift that Sirien brought was not just one.

Not only was there a scabbard prepared to store the sword I had just received, but there was even a greatsword prepared.

Just as the longsword’s prototype was Revan’s, the greatsword seemed to be based on Nezra’s.

Here and there, the remains of Decarabia and even what is presumed to be the weapon of Eligos were naturally incorporated.

You could call it Sirien’s stubbornness.

It was a part where I could see his sincerity towards me.

Even though we prepared as best as we could, we would have to make revisions if a better method emerged.

It was very Sirien-like that even each gift was filled with sincerity.

“Originally, it had various magic in it, but I boldly removed all of that.”

“Good job. I’m not the type of person to rely on that kind of thing anyway. The protection attached to the armor is sufficient.”

“Yeah. I thought that half-assed magic would only be a hindrance to you. That’s why both swords will be faithful to their original roles. They will better accept your power, and they will shoulder the burden that you carry. I only thought of two things.”

Fortunately, both swords worked surprisingly well for me.

I had a habit of pulling the sword slightly towards me, and every time I did, it felt like it was fitting nicely into my hand.

Could we say that the center of gravity is exquisitely designed?

Thanks to this, the feeling of swinging a sword was much better than before.

It is a given that there will be no bending or warping of the blade when swinging it.

It was true to its original role as a sword. It didn’t have any fancy names like a holy sword or a demon sword, but it was a sword that was extremely useful.

And for me, this simple and sharp sword was the best fit.

While I was testing my sword in the air, Sirien looked at me with a very satisfied expression.

A hand slightly extended. I knelt down on one knee and kissed the back of Sirien’s hand.

I was definitely the one who received the gift, but Sirien looked even happier than I did.

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it. There is no sword in the world I like more than this.”

“Is that all? Hehe. It was worth the effort.”

Sirien opened her arms wide.

I hugged her because she seemed to want me to, and her petite body fit right into my arms.

Then I wanted to play a little prank.

Since I received a lot today, I think it would be okay to do a little more event.

He put his hand between Sirien’s knees and lifted her up in the usual princess-like holding position.

Sirien blinked her eyes.

He hid his gaze as if he was embarrassed, but he didn’t struggle to get off.

“Black… … I really wanted to give it to you here. I can’t turn back time now, but I wanted to make up for what I couldn’t give you here.”

“So, do you feel a little better now?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll have any more nightmares. Even if I do have them again, I think I’ll be able to endure them if I remember this moment.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Sirien whispered softly in my ear.

“I love you, Rajen. It’s all thanks to you.”