The Academy’s Sashimi Sword Master

Abel and I turned the doorknob with the utmost care, as if caressing a sacred relic, and stepped out of the room.

Fifteen minutes. That was the time our farewell with the Pope lasted.

For a while, I couldn’t move away from the door, as if nailed to the spot.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Abel’s face. She bowed her head slightly toward me and asked.

“Did you feel it wasn’t enough…?”

“I did.”

I was left with some regret. I could have talked more with the Pope.

‘If I had done so, maybe…’

Maybe in moments of making important decisions, I would’ve been able to judge more wisely.

Of course, I’ve had teachers too. In my past life and in this one.

The chief and the Sword Master. For someone like me, they’re more than I deserve.

They didn’t just teach me how to wield a sword; they gave me something even greater—the way to be human, and the ultimate gift of a “family.”

Even so, both were born warriors. A monk like the Pope thought very differently from them. Not that one was superior to the other.

‘They’re just different.’

With the farewell just now, I realized it again—someone as clumsy as me needs to hear diverse perspectives.

After a long silence, I forced a smile toward Abel.

“It was intense. It’s fine this way. Besides, there are many people who want to see him. If others who wish to say goodbye couldn’t do so because of me… that really would deserve punishment.”

Abel’s long lashes fluttered several times, as if she were surprised.

Then, with a soft smile, she took my arm.

“I like hearing you say things like that, Geom-Ma.”

I felt a lot in that moment. If I had cut the red threads that wrapped the Pope’s body with my sword—

Suddenly, my gaze fell to the end of the hallway.

Robes bearing the mark of the stigma fluttered. Believers of the Church of the Outer God were forming a barricade with their own bodies.

On the other side of that human wall, some patients with IV drips were trying to peek toward the room.

“We just want to see him once…”

“He’s done so much for us while he was in this room…”

Even with their gaunt faces, all of them were worried about the Pope.

Abel and I weren’t wearing hats at the moment.

Normally, people would point at us or cheer upon seeing us. But to them, neither the Heavenly Sword nor the Lady of the Sword mattered.

It wasn’t that they ignored us, but for those people, someone far more important was in that room.

‘So this is also a way to save people…’

My heart pounded hard. It was a feeling too complex to describe.

We turned to leave the hospital.

Until a voice stopped us.

“Heavenly Sword, Lady of the Sword.”

A man stepped forward from among the believers and walked toward us.

“May I have a moment of your time?”

It was Bedivere, the de facto leader of the radical faction.

“……”

The old me…

‘Would have left immediately.’

But now, I didn’t want to.

I nodded, and Bedivere bowed his head silently.

***

The three of us walked aimlessly through a quiet Swiss town, away from the noise.

The scenery was serene and pastoral. The sky, incredibly clear. And yet, around us, an uncomfortable silence lingered.

Abel, with a restless look, glanced at me from the side. Perhaps my calm expression made her even more uneasy.

Bedivere, for his part, didn’t open his mouth. In this world, ranks mattered. If I didn’t speak first, he had no right to.

We walked in silence until we stopped in a small, quiet plaza. At the center, a fountain sprayed clear water.

I stood still, tilting my head back. I could feel his gaze on my back. Even with his lips burning to speak, he said nothing.

He was an incredibly reserved man, fitting for a faction leader.

It was I who broke the silence.

“You must be curious.”

“……”

“About what the Pope told me.”

“To be honest… yes. That’s true.”

From the start, I had noticed—Bedivere had a direct, unadorned style. That made conversation easier.

“He didn’t say much.”

“……”

“But he left me with many thoughts.”

“……”

Only the sound of the fountain filled the silence.

Beside me, Abel stared at Bedivere with faint hostility, her eyes narrowing.

He was a radical of the Church of the Outer God. Ideologically, someone opposed to me.

For Abel, my lifelong ally, he could only be seen as an enemy.

“The Pope was a person of great stature.”

“Ever since he fell ill, all kinds of rumors have been spreading within the Church.”

Bedivere spoke in a softer voice, accepting what I said.

“His authority is absolute, both inside and outside the Church.”

“Then every word he says carries immense weight.”

“Yes. I understand it was a personal conversation with you. But being so close to his end, every phrase from the Pope could have a decisive impact on the Church.”

“He didn’t say anything that could shake the Church.”

“The Church of the Outer God has a very strict hierarchy. It wasn’t my intention, but I occupy the third position in that structure. If there’s something I should know, I must be informed.”

This man, honestly.

‘He speaks so dryly, even bluntly.’

It had been a while since I encountered someone who wasn’t intimidated in front of me.

‘Maybe it’s because he believes in the afterlife?’

It’s not that he despises existence—his goal simply isn’t in this world. That’s why Bedivere could speak to me without fear.

“The Pope didn’t speak to me about the Church.”

I said.

“After all, it’s not related to me. It would’ve been absurd to tell me. He looked further—toward the whole world.”

“Then…”

The plaza was full of doves, a white unlike the typical gray of big cities. I understood why they were seen as a symbol of peace.

“He wished for the world to have sunny days every day. There were other words, but that was the main message.”

“Very much like him.”

“Exactly.”

That’s why someone like me can’t compare to him—the difference lay in scale.

While I thought only of how to face the coming Apocalypse over this world, the Pope looked much further.

His farewell was proof of the boundless trust he had in me.

The words he hid in his phrases still echoed in my mind.

— The Apocalypse that invades this world will be stopped by you, Heavenly Sword.

The Pope had seen beyond.

After the invasion by external forces was over.

‘That’s no longer something I can control.’

Humans always live rubbing and clashing with each other.

Earth, this world, is the same.

We constantly judge differences as right or wrong and fight over them.

If there’s personal gain at stake, we don’t hesitate to hurt others.

In a way, the vileness of the false gods seemed to have arisen from the depths of the human heart.

Even so.

“Darkness always looms again. It might sound like hollow philosophy, but if there’s night, then there is also day. The Pope understood that well.”

“Yes, I’m sure he did.”

I turned to look behind me.

My black pupils pierced through Bedivere.

Receiving that gaze, for the first time, he shrank slightly.

“I’ll carry the darkness.”

“Those words mean…”

“I’m not a great person like the Pope was. The only thing I ever learned was how to survive by the sword.”

It was impossible for me to suddenly become someone as selfless as him.

Turning a fleeting emotional change into a life doctrine was too risky.

I have my own role.

“The day doesn’t belong to me. It’s your time now.”

As I said that, I wrapped my arm around Abel’s waist.

“That’s what I think he asked of me.”

“……”

Then.

Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!

There must’ve been a bell tower in the city.

The sound waves spread in all directions, and instantly, the doves soared toward the torn clouds.

At that moment, Bedivere’s eyes welled up.

Today was our first meeting, and yet he was just as good at keeping a straight face as the Emperor himself. I almost thought they were the same type.

“…I see…”

Bedivere wiped his eyes with his robe.

Inevitably, Abel felt a knot in her nose too. She turned away abruptly and ended up crouching on the ground, sobbing.

Soon the city—soon the entire world—would understand what those bells meant.

‘The Pope…’

Had passed.

Bedivere rubbed his reddened eyelids and turned so I couldn’t see his face.

“…The Pope always repeated one phrase to us.”

His voice trembled.

“The final light before fading.”

Just before the sun sets, the sky spills its brightest colors over the world.

“Even if you call yourself darkness, Heavenly Sword, to everyone in this world, you are the brightest light.”

I didn’t expect that. I thought he would walk away leaving some bitter jab.

“Beyond ideological differences, we are all in your debt. We will meet again, Heavenly Sword.”

Bedivere never looked at me again.

I stood still, watching silently as he walked away.

Then Abel clung to me.

“Do you know why I like you, Geom-Ma?”

“Getting sentimental now?”

“It’s not sentimental. It’s something I always feel. Anyway.”

Abel gave a faint smile.

“Because you’re capable of moving people’s hearts.”

Receiving such a compliment to the face was embarrassing. I scratched my temple.

I was thinking of how to change the subject when a good idea popped up.

“Since we’re here… how about visiting your father?”

“…My dad?”

“Yeah. The catacombs are nearby.”

“……”

Abel frowned, trying to keep more tears from spilling out.

At that moment, I wrapped both arms around her and pulled her close.

“I don’t just move hearts—I move people too.”

And so, the two of us rose into the sky, flying alongside the doves, symbols of peace.

***

The next day.

“Hmm, hmm, hmm.”

Choi Seol-Ah hummed cheerfully as she carried an iced Americano to the academy director’s office.

She was just a simple coffee messenger, but the moment lifted her spirits.

‘Vacation!’

Work had been cut down to a quarter.

Choi Seol-Ah had suddenly been promoted, which meant she also had way more work.

But she was lazy by nature. Her childhood dream had always been to be rich without working.

‘This position is perfect.’

The pay was good and came with vacation time.

It’s true that, as admin staff, she had to come to the academy even during break.

But just delivering coffee earned her a full salary each month.

Going to work? A minor thing.

“Hehe.”

Choi Seol-Ah giggled as she walked down the hallway when suddenly the office door flew open.

She nearly spilled the coffee.

‘What a scare!’

But…

“…Huh?”

In the end, she failed her mission as messenger. The ice cubes rolled across the floor.

Because the one who came out of the office was none other than—

‘The Prime Minister of Japan!?’

It was the director’s older sister.

Over her shoulder, the director herself could be seen, dark circles under her eyes, rubbing her forehead.

Saki Hina.

Clearly, there’d been trouble between the two sisters.