What is reason?

Scholars call it the ability to distinguish right from wrong. They also call it coolheadedness, an important weapon humanity possesses. Thus, reason is always regarded as an essential human virtue.

But tell me.

Is the rational choice always necessarily the right answer?

That was the question posed by the flame kindled in my heart at this moment.

By any rational measure, continuing to fight this giant was foolish. A fledgling sword walker with a single blade could not defeat a colossal creature as large as a mountain. The orcs’ coming-of-age rite, as explained to me, was meant to prove a warrior’s courage, so the right thing would have been to give up after putting up a reasonable fight. That would be wise.

But was it the right answer?

Had I acted rationally and reasonably, I should have refused Liam’s instruction to enter the orcs’ sacred ground. That would have been the right judgment, the safe one.

I should never have stood before an orc elder capable of separating my soul from my body in an instant, nor fought a duel on their sacred ground. When a 「sword runner」 appeared in my territory, I should not have rashly stepped forward. I should not have cared whether the knight Petel died a miserable death. Standing as champion for Petel, who had departed before me, had been irrational.

When I entered the steel city’s Arena as a fighter and found myself facing Seolyun, The Black Bride, I should have fled. That would have been rational and reasonable. Yet at every decisive moment, I chose the irrational option. Liam said my talent was cold, calculating Suspicion. But whenever I had to make a choice, I could never be cold.

Shoving a blade into my mouth on nothing more than the word of Liam, who had appeared like a ghost, had been reckless too. If he had been a hallucination rather than my actual ancestor, I would have died long ago. That was how precariously my life had continued.

Why had I taken such a course?

Perhaps because I had gotten it wrong from the very beginning.

["I will spare you. So forget what happened today and live your life."]

By any commonsense judgment, a boy from a remote country village who had never even held a sword could not possibly take revenge on the continent’s finest 「swordmaster」.

["Whatever happens, don’t even dream of revenge."]

["Swear that you will never hold a sword for as long as you live. That you will never return here."]

The reasonable choice was to forget those already dead, be grateful for the luck that had saved my life, and live quietly without drawing attention. A boy without talent could never succeed in taking revenge on the greatest swordsman on the continent. That was common sense. That was the rational conclusion.

["Young master, you must forget. Only then can you live."]

Yes.

My life had ceased to be rational from the moment my revenge began. The moment I chose to walk this road, I became an irrational person.

Climbing a rocky mountain to train without any safety equipment. Risking my life in the steel city’s 「Arena」 when I had barely begun wielding a sword. Facing a prodigiously gifted gladiator head-on instead of fleeing our duel. Becoming champion for the knight Petel, who had met such a miserable end, and dueling a 「sword runner」. Every one of those moments had been irrational.

But I regretted none of them.

Those choices were not wrong. From the moment I resolved to take revenge, they were inevitable. To me, who yearned for vengeance, every one of them was proof, something I had to do. Even if everyone else called them wrong, they were right for me.

Had I been rational at every moment, my journey would never have begun. I would have yielded to the world and abandoned revenge against my enemy. Instead of taking up a sword, I would have lived a meaningless life in silence. A life so terrible it sickened me.

Yes, I could not live that way.

Never.

Once again, the question arose.

What is reason?

Is the rational choice always necessarily the right answer?

No one could know the answer to that question.

Because...

"Hoo."

This world had been wrong from the start.

The world was not rational.

It was unreasonable, irrational, senseless, and it stole what people cherished without a second thought. Without so much as a second thought.

The moment I resolved to take revenge, I had all but vowed to defy that world. Instead of yielding to its injustice, I had chosen to fight it head-on. I could not accept it, so I would fight until I was given an answer I could accept.

"Hoo... Hah."

That was why I would not release my sword now.

Compared with the moment I first vowed revenge, that giant was not even frightening. Compared with that swordmaster, with this unreasonable world, a dim-witted creature whose only advantage was its enormous size could not instill fear in me.

"Hoo... Hah!"

I steadied my breathing. My lungs swelled as though they would burst, and my vision grew hazy, but my pounding heart drove strength through my entire body. Heat rose in my belly. Then it rose in my chest. It felt as though a furnace had formed inside me. As though flames flowed through my blood.

The 「path」 glittering like a comet in my vision slowly changed shape, no longer merely a streak of light. The light surged, then took on the form of burning fire, becoming a 「path」 of flame. A blazing path that seemed ready to burn anything blocking its way.

"Hoo, hah."

I moved along that 「path」 like an insect drawn into a campfire in the dead of night. Without hesitation, I charged along the dazzling path of flame. The heat filling my body spurred my muscles and bones.

I could feel it.

My body was growing harder.

As iron is forged in fire beneath hammer blows.

At that moment, I felt as though I had become a sword.

"Woooah."

The one-eyed giant moved. The path of flame running through it was precarious. This was not the rational, reasonable 「path」 I usually saw. It was perilous, dangerous—a path where a single misstep would send me plummeting to the ground below. But that was precisely why it suited me. It resembled the life I had lived, and the life I would go on living.

"Ugh, aaah!"

I let out a savage scream as though coughing up blood. Running until my knees nearly buckled, I kicked off the giant’s body and spun through the air. Mid-spin, I drew Fang and drove it into the wrist of the giant’s outstretched hand. Still spinning, I put my strength into kicking the end of Fang’s hilt with the sole of my foot, using the recoil to launch myself forward once more. I moved like a beast.

「How wild.」

Having missed me, the giant narrowed its single eye and reached for me again. There were gaps between its spread fingers. I boldly plunged through one. The rushing wind was strong enough to feel as though it were tearing at my skin. But I did not care. Even if I lost a part of myself, I would get what I wanted. I would never yield like this. Never.

「That is it, young descendant.」

The more I ran, the hotter my body grew. It felt as though fire, not blood, coursed through my veins. The flames heated my entire body. With them, the 「paths」 branching through me like blood vessels began to grow hot as well. As though the path of flame I saw had extended into my body. At the same time, the world slowly began to slow down. No, the world was not slowing.

I was growing faster.

「That is the path of steel.」

The 「paths」 extending through my body grew thinner and thinner until at last they became lines. The superhuman strength granted to me grew maddeningly powerful. If my body had been a block of wood before, now it was metal. Lines formed within it like blood vessels, circulating power of astonishing density. Mana spread to every corner of my body like fibers being woven, and with every beat of my 「mana heart」, strength bordering on miraculous surged forth.

Racing madly, I climbed as far as the giant’s neck. Then, instead of targeting the fingers protecting it, I leaped again and reached its face. Its single eye stared straight at me. I could see its pupil trembling in bewilderment. Gripping my sword, I entered the giant’s slightly open mouth.

I was not volunteering to become its prey because it looked hungry. Nor had I given up everything and decided to kill myself.

The 「path」 led there.

"Wooo—"

The instant I entered its mouth, I kicked off its tongue and swung the blade in my hand wildly, mercilessly slicing its palate, gums, and tongue. Unlike its outer skin, the giant’s insides were vulnerable.

My blade cut through the lining of its mouth. Blood spattered as I pushed past its writhing tongue. Then I followed the 「path」, swinging my sword again and again without obstruction. My thrusts pierced the lining, tracing lines that punched holes from the inside out. Not just one. I repeated the thrusts like a madman, until my arm muscles threatened to tear and my bones to break.

The giant’s body convulsed, and its howls thundered like an earthquake. Blood gushed through the gaping holes, and air burst outward. I wrung out every last drop of strength, then wrung out more, swinging my sword. Following the path of flame, following my own path, to prove the life I had lived.

「Do you remember, young descendant? I said you lacked the talent to become a genius.」

My entire body felt as though it would shatter.

If I let my guard slip for even an instant, everything would collapse. Clinging to consciousness, I immersed myself in the heat. I moved like surging flames.

「But I also said you had the talent to become a hero.」

I was dazed, as though dreaming.

I could no longer tell whether I was swinging the sword or the sword was swinging me.

「The talent to become like those who cannot find a perfect answer amid hardship, yet refuse to give up. Who refuse to retreat. Great souls who, for that very reason, write legends that reason cannot comprehend.」

When I came to my senses, I was covered in sticky blood and chunks of flesh.

「Great legends are not written by reason.」

「Legends begin with acts that seem irrational, senseless, foolish.」

「Everything begins with the resolve to carry out your will and fight, even when everyone laughs at you.」

I gasped for breath as though my lungs would burst.

My whole body was so limp it felt as though it would melt.

「Is a hero who charges an army more than ten thousand strong with a single sword rational?」

「Is it rational to face indescribable monsters in a human body?」

「Is it rational to follow the constellations and set off to explore a land full of the unknown?」

「No. It is irrational. But that is precisely what makes it great.」

I gazed blankly up at the sky. It was clear and blue, sparkling with sunlight. Savoring the fresh air, I slowly lowered my gaze.

「Remember the path you just walked, young descendant.」

There lay the one-eyed giant, dead with its mouth open and holes pierced through its neck. The giant had fallen, and I stood upright. Yes, in the end, I was the one still standing. Armed with only a paltry blade, the boy who had faced the giant had finally won.

「That is the ‘hero’s path.’」

The thrill of that battle.

I engraved it deep in my heart.

Today, I had discovered another new path.

Perhaps the path I ought to walk from now on.

"..."

As I stood silently before the fallen giant, cheers reached me from far away.

"Waaah... Waaah...!"

The faint, echoing cheers grew clearer and louder. They were the cries of the orcs—the highest praise they could offer a warrior who had proved their courage. Listening to that praise, I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, a somewhat alien scene lay before me.

An entirely white space, without the corpse of the giant I had felled or the wondrous natural scenery. As that space unfolded before me, even the echoing cheers ceased. Only a cold stillness filled the whiteness. While I stood in that uncomfortable silence, I heard approaching footsteps.

"Congratulations, heir of steel."

There stood the orc elder, smiling with satisfaction.

"Human, you have passed the orcs’ coming-of-age rite splendidly."

The orc elder walked toward me with an awkward gait.

From the moment the white space appeared, the exhaustion and injuries filling my body seemed to have vanished. The body that had been on the verge of collapse felt completely refreshed. I looked straight at the approaching elder and spoke.

"Then, what you promised...?"

"Our sacred relic? Naturally, I must keep my promise. I will gladly give it to you. Whatever it may be."

What a relief.

The orc elder did not suddenly go back on his word or spout some bullshit about having to pass another trial. I had been tense because they were so unpredictable. Now I could breathe an inward sigh of relief.

"Ah, thank..."

"And I have another gift for you."

But then...

"After hundreds of years, I have finally seen a fine warrior who has inherited that great blood. I cannot give you a mere sacred relic and nothing more. The warrior’s blood flowing through me will not allow it. Human, watching your struggle was so delightful it made my blood boil."

"..."

"Since you gave me such pleasure, I ought to give you another gift."

This was an unexpected turn.

"I will give you a very special gift, heir of steel."

The orc elder gave me a meaningful smile.

"I think you will like it very much."