Star-Slaying Swordsman

“I… want to slay the stars.”

When I said that phrase, everyone was taken aback.

Everyone in my age group laughed at me.

They told me that I should know my place.

That I was just a mere villager, and instead of yearning for something unrealistic like “Slaying the Stars,” I should aim to be a swordsman first.

My parents told me that it was okay to dream as long as I kept it in moderation.

There was no one around me who was happy to hear about my ambition.

“Stars, huh…”

Thud, thud.

As the breeze sounded through, she looked at me with half-opened eyes as I continued to plow the field with the tip of my broken hoe, with only the handle intact.

Her name is… Sofia.

My childhood friend and the sole person that was astonished by my “Star Slaying” aspiration.

Four years had already passed since the day I had that vivid dream, and I was now 12 years old.

However, the passion that built up from my aspiration never cooled down.

On the contrary, it did the exact opposite and only grew more and more.

That's why I'd been swinging the wreckage of this hoe, day in and out, ever since that day.

Perhaps it was because I'd always refused to listen to what anyone had to say, but Sofia was now the sole person to complain about my un-village-like behavior.

“I can’t fathom what you’re thinking at all, Julius.”

She dropped to the ground, letting out a big sigh.

“I admired him because he was amazing. And I intend on aspiring to be like him, too.”

That’s what made me want to become a “Star Slayer.”

I admired the way of life of the swordsman who dreamt of becoming a "Star Slayer."

I harbored the same passion that he did, which was precisely the reason why I carried out the same longing.

And to fulfill being a “Star Slayer,” I had been swinging my arms for four whole years, to the point that I wouldn’t be able to lift them anymore.

Nonetheless, Sofia sighed and complained about how she couldn’t understand my sentiment.

But I guess it couldn’t be helped.

I was certain that she would have to feel the same passion that I did in order for us to understand one another.

And given that it wasn’t a matter of logic, I had to think about it even more.

“Do you want to be an adventurer, Julius?”

“…Hm?”

My arms, which had been moving at a regular interval, slowed a bit.

It was a question that'd been thrown around so much that it was almost like a callus to my ears.

A common question that everyone asked me when I said I was trying to become a swordsman.

“I… just want to slay the stars. If something could help me do it, I’ll do anything.”

I replied in a sense that denied her question.

Adventurers are the common name for individuals who made a living by hunting monsters.

They could be swordsmen, wizards, and so on…

There were many of those who aspired to be one.

So I figured that might be the reason why she asked me that question.

“…I really can’t comprehend how Julius thinks after all.”

If it had been for the sake of tangible profit, Sofia would have been immediately convinced, but the reason I was wielding the sword was completely different from anything like that.

I wanted to live a shining life like that swordsman who dreamt of Slaying the Stars.

I wanted to share the same passion that he did.

That was my underlying principle.

That was why my way of thinking was beyond the scope of Sofia's understanding.

“I see.”

I didn’t wish to be understood.

A sword was a deadly weapon that could take someone’s life.

The reason why I wanted to become a swordsman who wields a sword as if it were a matter of fact was— "I admire him."

And that was where I’d end up.

Maybe other people wouldn't understand.

For I was the only one who had this passion. Yeah, I could almost say that.

But still—

There was still one thing that I needed Sofia to know, as someone who cared about me throughout the four whole years that I'd dreamt of Slaying the Stars.

“…But…”

“…?”

“It may be an idea that no one understands, but I am having fun. The world looks so much brighter than before. It’s more fun to have a goal as ridiculous as this than just to idly coast through life. That’s what I think.”

As I swung the broken hoe, I wondered if she was surprised to hear me say those things.

Blindsiding me for a moment, Sofia’s face broke into a smile, followed by a giggle.

“I feel like you’ve changed, Julius.”

“I have?”

“Yeah. You used to have the eyes like those of a dead fish, but now you have the eyes of a normal human.”

“……”

My hand had stopped moving.

But it was only for a moment, and somehow I managed to regain my composure and started swinging my hoe again.

***

***

“…I-I see.”

“I don't know what it is, but you seem to be enjoying yourself. I don't know how much fun you're having, but you look like you're having a great time, ever since that day four years ago.”

That day, four years ago.

Since the day I saw the memory of the swordsman, I had been holding the remnants of the broken hoe, swinging it from morning to night in hopes of being a “Star Slayer.”

I did different things from time to time, but I basically just kept on doing this.

The day when everyone in the village started to look at me strangely, I was sure that was the day Sofia was referring to.

“I’ve been thinking lately of trying something new, just like you, Julius.”

“Something new?”

“Yes, something new! You know, I think I have a knack for healing magic. That’s why the priest wants me to become a healer. He recruited me when he came to the village the other day.”

“Hmm~”

Healers were invaluable.

It wasn’t a path for everyone.

Only someone with a talent for healing magic, which was essential for a healer, could do it.

I was surprised that Sofia had such a talent, but at the same time, I decided to give her a little push to make the most of it.

“I think it’s a good offer.”

Thud, thud. I said as I continued to swing the hoe.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You have a talent for healing, right? Why not put it to good use in a proper setting, then? It would be such a waste to let your talent rot here.”

I had a feeling that the village chief would yell at me if he heard that I was encouraging Sofia. He’d say that the village would lose young people again, but nevertheless, I sincerely felt like acting that way.

I didn’t want to let her talent go to waste.

“Such a waste, huh… Alright. I’m going to accept the priest’s offer and become a healer!”

She declared to me in a strong voice, fists curled.

“But then, I suppose I’d be all alone in the Capital, huh…”

She glanced at me deliberately, and in response to her, I threw back a— “That’s what you’re worried about?” —as if to say something.

“What I’m saying is that, won’t you come to the Capital with me, Julius?”

“Me?”

“Because I mean, you’re the only one in my age group who wants to get out of this village. Besides, you’re the one who encouraged me.”

In our enclosed village, there certainly was no one our age who wanted to go out of the village. They were all people who had spent their lives in an ordinary fashion, who wanted to finish it here.

I guess that was part of the reason…

I was the target of a lot of strange glances, which highlighted the abnormality of my desire of becoming a "Star Slayer" and my constant pretense to be one.

“There would be all sorts of dungeons if you go to the capital, Julius. You want to get stronger, don’t you? At least it’s far more suitable for you there than to just continue to pretend as one in this village.”

“…Hmm…”

…She certainly had a point.

And I couldn’t help but think about it, enough so to make me let out a distressed groan reflexively.

A dungeon is a common name for a den of monsters where adventurers, as Sofia mentioned earlier, earned their living.

It was fine to keep pretending to be something you're not, but it was more advantageous to earn money and deal with monsters in dungeons.

Sofia's argument was so right on every level that I almost nodded my head.

But I decided to shake my head at her words.

“I get what you’re trying to say, but I’ll refuse.”

“…Why?”

She frowned sullenly, which was hardly surprising.

I said that I agreed with Sophia, but then I shook my head.

Contradictions were just great.

“I’ve just begun swinging this stick around for several years. I don't think I have enough training to make it out of the village yet.”

My physical strength, my skills.

I was lacking everything.

So just a little more time—

“You can just have someone in the Capital teach you how to wield a sword.”

“That’s beside the point.”

I already had a swordmaster.

It wasn’t a living person, it was just a memory.

But it was my one and only role model.

The origin of my admiration.

I replied immediately to her words, believing that retracing my steps was what I was supposed to do.

“Mmuuuuuuu—”

Sofia puffed up her cheeks and glared at my inflexible attitude.

But I shrugged it off like a breeze in the willows, moved my paused hand, and resumed my pretend-swinging.

“…I don’t know, I don’t care anymore! I go out of my way to invite you but you just refuse me!!”

Sofia turned her back on me, her shoulders heaving with anger as she made deliberate footsteps to leave the place. Perhaps she wanted me to stop her.

Her stride was small in contrast to her angry expression.

“I don’t care anymore! I’ll go with the adventurers coming here tomorrow and go to the Capital alone!”

I guess she didn’t like the fact that I didn't want to stop her from going.

She turned to my direction again, stuck her tongue out to mock me, and then ran off.

“…An adventurer, huh?”

As I watched her figure grow smaller and smaller in the distance, I whispered the words that I had been so privileged to hear lately.

It seemed that one of the villagers saw a monster called a “goblin” outside of the village, and the village chief sent a request to the adventurer's guild in the Royal Capital to kill it.

There had also been a series of unexpected and disturbing events in the vicinity, such as a large number of monsters, and so a party of B-rank adventurers came to the village, just as the village chief had boasted yesterday.

I had some thoughts.

“I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested.”

But at this point in my life, I had no intention of becoming an adventurer.

“But still, I—”

No matter how many times Sofia asked me to be a part of it, I couldn’t just nod my head and say “okay.”

…Huh? The village chief told her to not go outside the village.

The direction she ran off in… It was a path that led to the banks of a river outside the village.

A month before the goblins were said to have been seen, Sofia had been warned to stay in the village as much as possible, but she still went out frequently.

Apparently, she felt more at ease outside the village than inside it.

“Well, talking about that girl, I really don’t have to worry about her, do I?”

Thinking about my childhood friend, who had been rather brash, I turned my attention back to my pretend play.

At that time, I had absolutely no way of knowing.

That this incident would be a turning point, just like that day four years ago.

——

——