CHAPTER 29 - FAMILIAR FACES

The fists of the dwarf came down with matchless vigor, cracking the wooden surface of the counter into bits.

⌈YER ALIVE!?! I thought I'd never see you again!⌋

⌈Yeah, I think I am?⌋

⌈Lassie!? Is this the one you sold the Darksteel Blade to?⌋

The dwarf asked his daughter.

⌈Yep! He's the one, alright!⌋

⌈Ya dare sell something like that to 'im!? Ach, heavens, help me...⌋

He buried his face in his palms.

⌈B-But...! I'm sorry... I thought you would've been happy I managed to sell one of the more expensive pieces...⌋

⌈Aye, and I am. You'd make a fine shopkeep one day, lass... But to this laddie here, the Darksteel Blade ain't nothin' more than a flimsy toothpick. Even presenting a weapon like that, to 'im... Yer tarnishing our darn name! Or would've, if we still fecking had one!⌋

⌈HUH!? But you said it's the highest quality of weapons we have!⌋

Brigid didn't quite understand what was going on. But to be fair, neither did anyone else, myself included. To be honest, I thought the Darksteel Blade to be an amazing weapon! From its effectiveness down to its design... I've always been a bit of a sucker for slick looking gear.

⌈Of what we have, not of what we had, ya dimwit! Compared to the weapons he used, and the weapons I crafted, the Darksteel Blade is a stain o' shite! Hmph... If only I hadnae lost all my darn forging skills for two fecking decades! The Gods have cursed us, I tell ye!⌋

⌈The weapons he used? That would imply that you know him from somewhere..⌋

Lumi took part in the conversation too, intrigued as ever.

⌈Do I know 'im!? Haaah... I guess I'll have a go at it from the ground up... Do any of ya even realize who's standing in front of yer very own oglers?⌋

The dwarf came out from behind the counter. Though he had calmed down, he waved his hands around more expressively than he managed to move his mouth...

⌈Oh my... Don't tell me you're going senile in your old age, Dagda? Why it's just my little Light. The Arch Sage did crown him as a hero just now, but I doubt you'd know about that this soon...⌋

Violet tried to convince him, but for naught.

⌈Get yer hands off of the laddie, fox! Crowned a hero by the Arch Sage just now!? Ahhah! Ah, feck, if that ain't the best joke I've heard in ages! That gramps is just one of them useful idiot types the Gods are using the spread their message. If anyone's going senile it's that ol' coot and his superiority complex! This laddie right here has been a hero for longer than yer been alive!⌋

⌈He's been what!?⌋

⌈If it wasnae for 'im, the human capital would've fallen twenty years ago... Ye better show some damn respect!⌋

⌈If it wasn't for me? What the hell?⌋

I thought out loud. I had absolutely no idea what the dwarf was talking about.

⌈Aye, you. Ya probably ain't aware of it, since all you did was travel around, but ya used to be a fecking legend! Nameless Rogue... That's the only name you were known by. A wee bit ironic, ain't it?

⌈..?⌋

I saw Lumi's pointy ears twitch in surprise.

⌈Heh! You and I met a solid twenty years ago. All because of a request for a blade that would cleave the heavens in half.⌋

⌈No... There's no way you'd–⌋

⌈Nay, laddie. If anyone would know, it'd be I.⌋

The dwarf and I spoke in unison, cementing my fantasies as a reality far more bizarre than I had dared to imagine.

⌈⌈Voidinium Runeblade.⌋⌋

⌈The name of the sword I wielded in my last clash with the Dragon of Origin!⌋

⌈Ya remember, laddie!⌋

⌈And you know!?⌋

⌈How could I not!? It was a masterpiece of weaponry the world had never seen before! Brought into existence by the hand of none other than yours truly! Hah! It was a challenge and a half, that's for damn sure...⌋

⌈That sword was made by you? Brigid's dad!?⌋

⌈Yep! That's right, laddie! To think ya'd be buddy buddy with my daughter! A weird world, ain't it? Anyhow, the blade was quite something, wasnae it? Speaking of which...⌋

⌈I'm... terribly sorry...⌋

⌈For what, laddie? I'm just glad to see you alive an' kickin'! Now, where's the Runeblade?⌋

⌈I uh... broke it.⌋

Quite literally... My bad. Sorry about that one!

⌈Ya broke my fecking sword!? How!?! I spent weeks in the dungeons forging that bastard, weeks I tell ya! And now ya've gone and blasted me darn handiwork to thin itty bits!⌋

⌈Well, you see... The scales of a dragon aren't exactly the softest of materials...⌋

I tried to masterfully bullshit my way out.

The real reason the weapon doesn't exist anymore is that I thought it'd be cool and dramatic if the ultimate sword would shatter into a million pieces to conclude the final clash...

⌈Hmph... Since yer alive, and I am too, at the very least the blade served its purpose, no?⌋

⌈Most definitely.⌋

⌈Ahhah! Well, that's what weapons are for. A befitting end, I suppose...⌋

Oh boy, am I glad we agree.

Still... To think I'd actually meet the smith who forged a weapon I used... I'm unable to shake the feeling of familiarity, but somehow, I don't really mind. After all, it does feel like we've known each other for longer than I can even dream of. I don't get that anxious feeling I usually do when conversing with new people.

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The same thing happened with Lime, too. I wonder where the line between the old me and the alternate me draws. Or whether or not it exists in the first place...

⌈But even more so, laddie, I'm damn glad it was yer sword and not yer arse who met their maker in the final clash. Without you, there wouldnae been a world which I could've raised my gemstone of a daughter in... So, if ya ever want somethin' a wee bit better than that flimsy black stick strapped to yer back, ya better let yer ol' pal Dagda know! I've been having this tingly feeling telling me to craft something since morn. If ya wanna, I'll fix ya right up in a heartbeat!⌋

⌈Oh! Really!?⌋

An offer like that from someone I described as a 'peerless dwarven craftsman' in my power-fantasies is really something I should absolutely not pass up on. Our conversation, however, was completely detached from everyone else present... Until Lumi adeptly interrupted us once more, at which she seems to be getting better and better at.

⌈E-Excuse me.. Would you care to repeat what you said a moment ago.. You mentioned something quite interesting there..⌋

⌈Aye, what's on yer mind, she-elf?⌋

⌈There were a fair few things in your story that didn't quite make sense..⌋

⌈Really, now? Now, I'm confident I can smack metal into any shape you can imagine, but I sure as hell ain't witty enough to lie!⌋

⌈You know Light, correct?⌋

⌈Light? If that's really the laddie's new name, then aye, you could say I know 'im.⌋

⌈And you said that you met two decades ago.⌋

⌈Aye, it's been a wee while longer than that, but not by much... Care to get to the point, lassie? I've been itching to hit the smithy for a while now...⌋

⌈But, Light's 18..⌋

⌈18? Hah! That joke would take the second place, for sure! Didnae ya know the laddie's over four centuries old by now?⌋

Dagda furrowed his brow in confusion.

⌈A-And the Dragon of O-Origin!?⌋

And Lumi didn't even try to retort his asinine claims of me being over 400 years old. She just kept course with her interrogation process.

⌈Ah, right! This laddie right here brought the Dragon of Origin down twenty years ago, no two ways about it. Nobody really knows about it, bar me and a few others who managed to connect the dots. I for one figured it out when I saw the human capital still fine and dandy after the laddie told me he was going to take on the Dragon of Origin on his own... Well, I didnae think he would succeed, but I'll be darned!⌋

⌈Y-You're being serious?⌋

⌈Couldnae be more serious if I tried, she-elf! Ya see, nobody really knows what happened during the darn Convergence except this laddie here. Not a month before the final days of the past era, he came to me with a request for a blade that would cut down the holy dragon itself.⌋

To think my stories would actually end up unfolding into events like this... I found myself listening to the stories of the dwarf in awe.

⌈Hah! Aye, I'll admit it... I, too, thought the laddie to be a right lunatic back then, but the pay was good, as were the materials provided... And, well... I'm darn glad I took 'im up on the offer. Soon after, chaos began to unfold across the lands, and the races were driven away from their homes. Only the capital of the humans remained. Now you know who you should thank for that...⌋

⌈That's...⌋

⌈As close to the truth as it gets, she-elf.⌋

Dagda crossed his arms and puffed up his chest, taking immense pride in his knowledge.

⌈How? Him!? I don't understand..!⌋

Lumi found herself totally lost. Though not as much as everyone else present, as they didn't even dare to utter a single word.

⌈Hah, neither do I, lassie! He's an enigma, ain't he? They've been telling the legend of the Nameless Rogue around the southern mountains for four hundred years now, but it ain't just any old fairytale!⌋

After the dwarf had explained the events that unfolded in the twilight of my last scriptures and second awakening, even I found myself speechless.

⌈I know of the texts... So... It's all real? Is this really true, Light?⌋

Lumi turned to me.

The similarities between the stories of the dwarf and those that I've written were undeniable. Even down to the four hundred year claim...

'—Year 402, days before the Convergence of Gods'

Well, yeah... I didn't exactly use the currency of time all that sparingly within my stories. Well, in my defense, I thought I didn't have to! Being of a different magical race would excuse that, no!? The calendar began on the day the Dragon of Origin massacred the Celestial lands, which would indeed equate to me being around 420 years old by now...

⌈Yeah... I guess so. But, how do I put it...? Me then, and me now are two entirely different persons. I wouldn't worry about it too much.⌋

Lumi, however, wasn't having any of my sorry excuses...

⌈You can't just say 'don't worry about it too much' after claiming to be the Nameless Rogue, stating that you're an ancient being that bested the goddamn Dragon of Origin with his own two hands! Are you just playing around? Is this a damn game for you!? You probably ran away so we wouldn't hold you back!⌋

Her mismatched eyes began to swell.

⌈No, that wasn't it at all! I–⌋

⌈Shut up, shut up! Idiot!⌋

And with those words of wisdom, she barged out of the establishment faster than I was able to react...

⌈Laddie... Now ya've gone and done it.⌋

⌈That was my fault?⌋

I found myself every bit confused as I was surprised.

⌈Ya might be ancient, but yer dumb arse is still daft as a brick. Yes, it's yer darn fault! Who else's? Fox, ya said the laddie's yours, but how I see things...⌋

The dwarf turned to Violet.

⌈Please, Dagda, save your banter for later... I'll need some time to sort myself over after what you just told me, too. I think I'll go after the snow elf...⌋

⌈Ah, bollocks... Welp, there goes the fox too.⌋

I was about to run out of the door and chase after Lumi and Violet, but before I was able to take a step forward, Dagda grabbed my shoulder and stopped me...

⌈Nay, laddie. Let them be...⌋

⌈But–⌋

⌈No buts, ya dimwit! Let 'em take their time. They'll come around.⌋

I involuntarily let out a long, tired sigh...

Not only did I find myself experiencing a multi-dimensional existential crisis at the ripe age of somewhere between 18 to 420-something years old, but I managed to drag everyone I knew into the thick of it.

Great.

——————————

I stormed away from the smith.

It seems that I can't even control my feelings anymore. It's so frustrating. No... He's so frustrating.

He acts so damn oblivious, unaware of anything that's happening around him, but then he comes around out of the blue, absolutely obliterating any expectations people had dared to set for him without fail. It's like he does it on purpose...

That idiot does it every single time, but today, his antics were on a whole new level. I was so damn worried about him for the past few days, but now I regret ever even thinking about him.

First, he barges into the chapel with that huge jugged sorceress clinging onto his arm. It's not my damn fault I'm only modest in size...

He had already figured out how to flawlessly communicate with his slime companion, while I still find my understanding of the thoughts of my baby wyvern to be elementary.

He had also managed to clear multiple Trails on his first day out, and while that was according to my expectations, I could've never foreseen him acquiring Magic Sense and clearing eight damn times the number of Trails I did.

He didn't even budge at the mention of having acquired a new skill either, while I had to fight for my life for nearly a week to develop Presence Detection...

And, to top it all of, he supposedly got greeted by the Gods themselves, too, receiving no less than a Shard of Forbidden Knowledge, which in turn managed to net him the title of a hero. 'Why would the Arch Sage bestow that title someone so damn irresponsible and eccentric?' is what I thought at first, but that doesn't really matter after all, as he's supposedly been a hero for centuries...

All the pieces of the puzzle fell into their rightful place when the dwarf mentioned his moniker. No matter how hard I tried to deny it, it all matched up. Frighteningly so..

I remember the day I found that dusty old book in the ruins like it was yesterday... The first collection of southern scriptures, telling the tales of the Nameless Rogue and his lonely descent down from the heavens. Though I never found the remaining volumes, I've admired his adventures for as long as I can remember regardless, always doing my best to one day match up to his greatness. It was why I strived to become an adventurer in the first place...

But now? Him out of all the people ending up being a hero– no... My hero.. I don't know anymore.. Either he really is nothing like the stories told, or he's playing me for a damn fool again, leading me around by the nose.. Or maybe it could be that he's abandoned his old life and is now trying to live life anew? And I've been so rude to him, too.. No... That can't be it... 

I'm so confused. Should I be glad? Should I be mad? 

I don't even understand myself anymore.. 

⌈Lumi! Please, wait!⌋

A familiar voice called out to my name.

Lo and behold, it's none other than Light's favorite walking pair of tits!

Isn't that just great? No, it's really not... Please, stop following me and go somewhere else.. I'm not in the mood.