[Nell: The losses total 7 billion. We cannot let them go like this.]
Hyunsoo had simply thought that it was enough because Barad and Ban had reunited.
At Nell’s words, he realized they were in no position to think that way.
Because he had failed to remember the losses they had suffered.
No matter how I look at it, they were penniless, weren’t they?
[Hyunsoo: Fighting......]
Hyunsoo reluctantly cheered Nell on.
The nation of Hyun might have to absorb an enormous loss.
But soon, an astonishing notification struck him.
[The nation of Hyun gains ownership of Sword King Baman’s Legendary-grade sword.]
[The nation of Hyun gains ownership of Sword King Bardan’s Legendary-grade dual swords.]
[The number of swords whose ownership has been transferred is too large. The notification will be compressed.]
[The nation of Hyun gains ownership of 545 Rare-grade swords.]
[The nation of Hyun gains ownership of 153 Epic-grade swords.]
[The nation of Hyun gains ownership of 29 Unique-grade swords.]
“......!”
It was a jackpot.
They had appeared wearing white robes, each holding a sword in one hand.
Whether they had been heroes of close combat.
Whether they had been knight commanders.
Whether they had been Sword Kings.
Because they were the gathered essence of the powerful figures who had once led the Sword King family, the grades of their swords were generally high.
The value of those things would reach tens of billions, so they would be used wonderfully in all sorts of ways.
[Nell: I did it^^.]
Hyunsoo thought he should pay Nell a bonus this month.
I really am a good king.
A pleased smile spread across his face.
Would 200 gold be enough?
That was a full 200,000 won.
Thinking of how delighted Nell would be made Hyunsoo happy too.
Anyway.
He recalled the notification he had heard after reuniting Barad and Ban.
[Sudden Quest: Reunion completed.]
[Sword King’s swordsmanship. Sword Cry levels up by 1.]
Once the two reunited, the quest ended, and Sword King’s swordsmanship. Sword Cry leveled up.
(Sword Cry.)
Active Skill
Required MP: 700
Cooldown: 1 hour.
Effects:
· Paralyzes the senses of all beings recognized as enemies within a 30 m range of the designated location for 4 seconds.
· Cuts down all enemies recognized as enemies with 400% additional damage.
· Even if you do not cut them directly, all within range will be cut.
The Sword Cry he checked was not satisfying.
If Hyunsoo had been an ordinary user, he would have been satisfied.
But considering the skills Hyunsoo possessed, it fell short of them.
Tsk.......
Hyunsoo felt a little disappointed.
But it was only a very slight disappointment, so a smile returned to his face.
Let’s be satisfied that the two of them reunited.
Of course, it did not seem Hyunsoo would have many chances to use this Sword Cry.
Right then.
[The reward for Sudden Quest: Reunion will be changed.]
Hyunsoo heard a notification he found puzzling.
*****
“I am curious about the Goyad of today.”
Ban.
Those were the words he spoke after meeting his father and sharing old memories.
As a prince, and as Barad’s son.
It was only natural that he would be curious about Goyad after the changes that had taken place following his death.
“I am sorry, but it would be best if you wore a mask.”
Ban had once been a prince.
Since he was someone who would soon have to leave, nothing good would come of anyone recognizing him.
After coming to Goyad, Ban realized that the doubts Sword King Baman and he himself had held had truly been foolish.
“We’re selling pickaxes, sickles, and hoes from the nation of Hyun!”
“Bows from the nation of Hyun for sale!”
“Artifacts from the nation of Hyun for sale.”
The market.
Unlike in the past, the market in Goyad’s capital overflowed with life.
And throughout the market, blacksmiths from the nation of Hyun had been dispatched and were making artifacts for the country of Goyad.
“In this way, our country dispatches knights to the nation of Hyun to teach swordsmanship, while the nation of Hyun dispatches blacksmiths to us and supplies us with high-quality tools and arms.”
“That is amazing. Truly amazing, Father.”
Ban was moved by Goyad, which had become several times stronger than before his death.
Thank you, Hyun. Thank you.
What made Ban happiest was not Goyad standing so steadfastly like this.
It was that there was no shadow on Barad’s face, which had once held deep sorrow in its depths.
More time passed after I died, but.......
Instead, his father’s face had grown younger, and he had even gone one step further and become stronger.
Before Ban knew it, he felt that the time for farewell was drawing near.
Sadness rose all the way to the edge of his throat, and he worried about his father, who would be left alone.
Barad seemed the same, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at him.
“It tears me apart that I left behind not even a single painting by which Father could remember me for the rest of his life.”
Just as there were people who grieved over not having even one photograph taken together while someone was alive, Ban was the same.
At that moment, Barad smiled.
“Do not worry. There are things that preserve the memories of you and me.”
“Pardon?”
His death had been sudden.
Yet there were things that preserved their memories?
Led by Barad’s hand, Ban arrived at a certain place.
There, these words were written.
-For my beloved friend Barad......
-In memory of his son Ban, from Barad’s friend......
“??”
If it was his friend, that meant Hyunsoo.
This place was a memorial exhibition.
It was a small space prepared on one side of the Sword King family tomb grounds.
“Every day, while drinking tea, I told Hyun that I missed you. There was not a single day when I did not speak of you, and he silently listened to my stories. Then one day, he led me here.”
As he listened to Barad, Ban walked inside as though possessed.
Paintings hung there.
“After listening to my stories, Hyun hired painters and filled this place with paintings.”
Ban took in the paintings one by one.
-Ban is born.
The painting showed him as a newborn baby, and his father looking at him with a strange smile.
-When Ban learned to walk.
There was himself as a small child, and behind him, Barad from his fairly young-looking days, with a look that said, That’s it.
-When he held a sword for the first time.
The painting showed him holding a child-sized iron sword, thrusting it forward with an expression that said, Here goes! while Barad made a Hooray! gesture.
-When he wore the Academy uniform.
-When he became the top student in swordsmanship.
-When he defeated an imperial royal in swordsmanship training.
-When he turned fifteen.
-When Ban bought him a gift for the first time.
-When Ban and Barad crossed swords.
Dozens upon dozens of paintings were there.
The paintings in this place had one thing in common.
Each painting showed Barad and Ban together.
“He remembered my stories and conveyed them to the painters.”
Hyun had not lost a single word Barad had spoken.
Ban, overcome with emotion, was soon about to fall into another sorrow.
Because there would be nothing after his death.
But Barad smiled gently, took Ban’s hand, and guided him onward.
It was a memorial exhibition, and a painting exhibition.
The name of that place.
-Ban’s Life.
“.......”
Ban knew.
For this painting exhibition, Hyunsoo must have imagined the time when Ban would not have died and given the order to have it painted.
“Every day, I would say, If only you had been here.”
Within words that gouged into his heart, Ban took in the paintings.
-When Ban first crossed a battlefield.
It showed him riding a horse alone through hundreds of enemy soldiers.
-When the country fell into crisis.
Before an army of hundreds of thousands, Commander Ban stood on a platform and received their salute.
-When he won the war.
He returned on horseback with his father and received the cheers and bouquets of all the people.
-When he inherited the throne.
Before the eyes of all the people, Barad stepped back, and Ban himself wore the crown.
-When he married.
There was also the sight of him walking into the wedding hall in joy with the woman who had become queen.
There was Barad as well, holding the child who had been born.
Paintings like those unfolded without end.
Before long, he reached the final painting.
The final painting was made of several images connected like an animation.
The first painting.
An aged Barad was looking at the sun about to set.
Barad, visibly old, weakened, gaunt, and with age spots blooming across his face, looked lonely.
The next painting.
It showed Ban walking into the space beside the lonely-looking Barad.
The painting after that.
Middle-aged Ban and old Barad sat beside each other and smiled at one another.
The last one.
Their backs were visible as they watched the setting sun together, and with that, the memorial exhibition, the painting exhibition of If Ban Had Lived, came to an end.
“I was happy.”
Barad’s voice, swelling from his chest as he sobbed, reached him.
“Because I could see you growing here every day.”
Ban understood that his father had not been lonely, and why he had chosen two countries.
He also felt the heart with which Hyun had left his own country of his own accord, saying he would protect his father’s place.
Barad could not bring himself to say it, but Ban knew.
Hyunsoo was his friend, his rival, and the king of an allied nation.
He was his son.......
It was something that, under normal circumstances, would have made him feel hurt and sad, but Ban was not sad.
After leaving the memorial exhibition, Ban saw it.
At the entrance leading into Goyad.
A statue of Hyunsoo and Barad stood together, filling the place where he was absent.
Hyunsoo had a hammer at his waist, and Barad had a sword at his waist as the statue showed them looking out at the world together.
Sssssss—
It was all right, even if he was not there.
Ban realized this, and he began to scatter softly.
At the sight of Ban scattering away, perhaps it would have been right for both Barad and Ban to wail and grieve.
But Barad, who remained, had to keep living, and because he was happy that he had been able to show his son that he was living well, he was filled with relief.
“Farewell, my son.”
His son Ban smiled like sunlight.
There was one man beside his father who had taken Ban’s place.
Hyun.
Because that name, remembered in that way, existed, Ban felt relief rather than sorrow and smiled more brightly than ever before.
“You must become even happier, Father.”
And so.
SHAAAAAAA—
Like a momentary dream, Ban vanished and brushed past Barad.
Barad did not grieve or weep. Through this one meeting, he shook off longing, sorrow, and pain.
“I will be happy.”
He turned and took one step, then another.
Behind him, the statue of Hyunsoo and Barad remained proudly standing, suggesting that it would protect this Goyad and Barad.
It was true that farewell could not be a happy story.
However.
This was the most beautiful farewell in the world.
A farewell with no regrets and no longing, a farewell that forgot everything and was only happy.
That was the reason.
It was the story of the most beautiful farewell, created by the things born from Hyunsoo’s heart, who had acted simply because he cherished Barad.
That was why it appeared before Hyunsoo.
[The reward for Sudden Quest: Reunion will be changed.]
[Your friend Sword King Barad sends his son off without a single regret, and the departing Ban closes his eyes in the greatest comfort, without the slightest sorrow.]
[His son Ban will never forget you, who created this moment.]
[Ares sends praise to you.]
[You greatly contributed to creating the most beautiful farewell in the world.]
[You acted in your own way so the most beautiful farewell could be created.]
[It was an astonishing act no other user would have done.]
[Something special occurs.]
Through the notifications he heard, Hyunsoo realized that the reward was changing.
So that was it.
More than the reward.
He was happier that they had met the most beautiful farewell without a single regret.
And for Hyunsoo, who had arranged such a beautiful story, Ares bestowed the greatest reward he could give.
It was something granted by Ares, yet it originated from the gift left behind by the departing Ban.
[Ares changes Sword Cry.]
Only then did Hyunsoo belatedly realize it.
In the past, Hyunsoo had already created the most beautiful thing.
It was “the most beautiful sword in the world,” born from the Overlord and Barsen.
And Hyunsoo, who realized it one step too late, finally understood.
The grade of the most beautiful sword was Mythic.......
Just like that.
[You acquire Sword Cry, Final Version.]
The most beautiful farewell gave Hyunsoo a gift called Mythic.
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