Chapter 1: Prologue - An Old Man’s Diary

1.

A stranger came to our village today. No one had a good first impression of him. His eyes were filled with malice, as if he had been through a lot. It seems as if he’s up to no good. I hoped he’d be banished, but our benign village chief welcomed him like he always does. I guess I shouldn’t complain since I was allowed to stay as well.

Anyway, I decided not to concern myself with the stranger.

2.

Three days passed since this man settled in our village.

He is very quiet, as if he doesn’t even exist. He doesn’t seem to venture outside of his house as much. A few nosy villagers were curious about him, but I wasn’t interested one bit.

I just hope my days will be peaceful as always.

3.

A week…that is, ten days have passed since the man arrived.

I now know what kind of work he does. According to some children who secretly watched him behind a stone wall, he practiced his swordsmanship every day. He sure looked as if he had a past…and maybe he did.

But still, I wasn’t that interested. I decided to ignore the children’s chatter and move on with my work.

4.

Another month passed by.

The man still practices his swordsmanship in his yard. Not that I saw him do it. It’s just what I was told.

And still, I’m not interested.

5.

Another month passed by.

Nothing changed. The man kept training while the villagers kept gossiping. Some said he was planning to take revenge, while others said he was a fallen knight or a renowned mercenary.

Gossip annoys me. I truly cannot care less.

But it is more annoying to tell people to stop gossiping, so I decided to move on with my work. And my work for the day…is to take a nap.

6.

Tomorrow I’m planning to go see him practice his swordsmanship. He’s been training for half a year now without missing a single day, no matter what the weather permits. By this point, it’s hard for anyone not to be curious. He has won my attention.

How fast is he? How strong? Just how amazing of a skill is he training himself for that he’s putting in that much effort?

I’ll find out tomorrow.

7.

I am disappointed. So utterly disappointed.

Those who don’t know anything about swords may be impressed, but I saw numerous swordsmen when I worked at a merchant company, so I can tell. He’s not impressive. To be frank, he’s mediocre.

As I was walking back home, I gave it some thought. He must have his reasons. Maybe he has a past so sad that it tore his heart to pieces. But it didn’t seem like his efforts would resolve it.

He’s a fool and a pitiful man. I really should stop concerning myself with him at once.

I think I’ll grab a drink tonight.

8.

A new family came to our village.

A retired mercenary, his son, and his daughter. The daughter was very fair. She’s like an angel from the heavens when she smiles. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way. Even now, while writing this diary, my heart keeps racing.

I should strike up a conversation with her tomorrow. I will do it no matter what. I’m even writing it here, so I won’t procrastinate.

Oh, and although this isn’t very important… The man trained his swordsmanship today as well. It’s been three years now.

9.

Today is a strange day.

I know I am as happy as I can ever be. It’s the day my two years of courting have borne fruit. Rema, my beautiful wife, is fast asleep next to me. I can even cry from the joy of it.

But yet. Strangely, I couldn’t stop thinking about that man who had absolutely nothing to do with me. Five years is a long time. Long enough for me to shake away my despair, court a woman, get married, and regain my laughter. Long enough for my neighbor, little Jackson, to grow up and leave the village to become a mercenary.

But he did not change. While everyone else was going through various ups and downs in life, he stood in his yard and persistently wielded his sword again and again.

A strange sensation swept over me as I thought of the man. He was going through his training as if he had just started yesterday. Like I said earlier, it’s strange. Why am I getting interested in him when no one is anymore?

But I decided to accept it.

Starting tomorrow, I will check on him every day to see through the end of his training.

10.

Five years, one month, and twelve days. The man trained with his sword.

11.

Five years, two months, and twenty-five days. The man trained with his sword.

12.

Five years, five months, and three days. It was scorching hot today. But the man still trained with his sword.

13.

Rema gave birth to our beloved child. A daughter, our lovely baby. Everyone, including my father-in-law and the village chief, gathered to congratulate us. My wife and I smiled among everyone’s blessings.

And the man continued training. It was six years, two months, and twenty-seven days.

14.

Nine years, six months, and sixteen days. The man trained with his sword.

15.

Today marks the tenth year. The man trained with his sword.

16.

Oops, I forgot to check on him today. I’m sure today counts…twelve years and three months.

It doesn’t matter. He must have trained today just like yesterday. To be frank, my interest in him is not what it used to be. There was no point in being obsessed with him when him training is like the natural order of things, just as the sun rises in the morning and the moon rises at night. I suddenly felt foolish about what I have been doing.

Right. I should stop wasting time and spend more time with my daughter, Laura, and my wife, Rema. I will stop checking on him starting tomorrow.

I’m serious.

The villager’s diary ended here. Twenty years then passed.

* * *

A wrinkled old villager woke up early in the morning. He was now the chief of the village, husband of Rema, and father of Laura. He used to have a cynical attitude in the past, but he changed. Now, every villager loved him for his kind and warm smiles. Time changed him.

I never thought the day would come to lose my selfishness and become a respected village chief. Time does change everything.

A smile drew over his face as he walked through the cold early morning. The villager took a stroll through the village. He greeted a hunter going out on his morning hunt, heard the snoring of the linen shop owner outside of his house, and checked a part of the wall that needed repair. After carefully looking at every corner of the village, he headed for the final destination, the house of the strangest man in the village.

On the way, he thought, So today marks the thirty-fifth year…

He was heading for the house of the man who trained his swordsmanship. In the beginning, the villager was not interested in him. He did gain interest later on, but it was not with a good intention. The villager always had a smug expression on his face, targeted at the pointless effort. Then, later on, it changed to pity and sympathy. But after five, ten years, it became something different. And now, the feeling the villager had was something more than admiration.

What really happened in his past? What was it that pushed him to train? What was it? What could it be? Even such questions did not matter anymore. Recently, the villager had been watching the training once a month, embracing the moment as if it was something very holy. Right now, he was heading there for that very routine.

But yet. Something was different today. The villager’s eyes grew wide as he began to run.

“Hah, hah, ugh!”

The villager was over sixty years old. He wasn’t sick or anything, but he was not fit enough to suddenly start running like this. He was out of breath just after a short run. But that did not stop him. He ran as fast as he could. Thanks to his effort, the villager was able to witness a short glimpse of the miracle that the man achieved in the end.

Swoosh!

An old man was standing still with his eyes wide open. He was leaning on a giant sword. And there, even while fading away, the presence of the silvery light was hard not to notice. The villager could not speak a word until it completely disappeared.

In the very end, the old man had finally achieved something. There were no words to describe its grandeur. The sword of light that the man created shined bright in its giant form.

Unfortunately, the villager could not see any of it as he was too late. But even if he did see it, he would not have understood what he saw as he was not a knight. But it did not matter. Everything the villager did see was more than enough. All of the man’s efforts. He spent his entire life suffering. The steps he took were more worthy than what he had accomplished.

The villager silently looked at the man’s dead body with tears in his eyes. Then he softly spoke, “Farewell… Rest in peace…”

* * *

A long time had passed. The man who had trained his swordsmanship, the villager who had watched him, and the village where they had lived disappeared in history.

“Hmm…”

There, the firstborn of the House of Farreira, the Lazy Lord Airen Farreira, had awakened to his past life.