Suzuki Makoto peered into the vortex but couldn't make anything out.
"Teacher, then I—"
"Enough. You have graduated. The world is vast, with many realms for you to explore."
"Huh? But I haven't killed the Sukuna Demon yet."
"Ah Cheng, don't put the cart before the horse. We kill demons to protect the living; killing them is not the goal itself—that blade of yours has already saved millions of lives, has it not?"
Ida Kojuro drew the sword from his waist, walked to the shrine, took out the blade within, and offered it to Suzuki Makoto.
"Take it. Remember next time, always carry a spare blade when you go out."
Suzuki Makoto was stunned. After a long moment, he shook his head and did not take the sword.
"This is the demon I am suppressing. It is my responsibility to deal with it."
"Even with your current strength and that sword, it won't be enough. This fellow hasn't learned any real skills, only how to cling desperately to life. Such a large body, yet such a small heart. And he calls himself a Demon King."
Ida Kojuro could see at a glance that Suzuki Makoto was still not skilled enough to completely extinguish the Sukuna Demon's life force.
"Then I'll go to a new world to train some more, and then I'll come back to deal with it."
Suzuki Makoto said decisively.
The man suddenly burst out laughing. He placed Suzuki Makoto's sword back where it was.
"Good, then I'll be waiting to see it!"
Words are often unnecessary to express the bond between men. The master and disciple both understood that this sword was the fated link that would allow them to meet again. If he took it, it was hard to say whether Suzuki Makoto could ever return to this world.
"Teacher, if I go to other worlds, what will the flow of time be like?"
"The worlds are like a river; it does not stop for anyone. The time of your arrival depends on where you step into this river. If it's a new world, then no one knows. But if you have an anchor point, you will re-enter at that very node, with not a fraction of a difference in time."
Ida Kojuro pointed to the sword at Suzuki Makoto's waist.
With that, Suzuki Makoto had no more worries. He bowed to Ida Kojuro in farewell.
"I don't know when we'll meet again. Master, farewell."
"Farewell, Ah Cheng!"
The man waved goodbye.
"Stay true to yourself. Otherwise, no matter where you run, I, your teacher, will come to be your kaishakunin!"
"I will never dare to forget!"
Suzuki Makoto said resolutely, then turned and stepped into the space-time vortex.
Ida Kojuro's eyes were filled with relief and pride; he knew Suzuki Makoto would not break his promise.
The man looked at the sword enshrined in the shrine, then placed his own sword beneath it.
Just as Suzuki Makoto had said, he didn't know when he would return, nor where he himself would be by then.
But, he still wanted to witness that moment.
------------
The feeling of falling ended. Suzuki Makoto opened his eyes, his sword already drawn.
A cold glint flashed, and dozens of walking corpses were instantly decapitated.
The people he saved did not look joyful, however. Instead, they shouted anxiously at Suzuki Makoto, pointing at the corpses as if the things would attack them again.
But it was clear the walking corpses wouldn't be getting up this time. Their bodies quickly shriveled before turning to ash and scattering away.
The armored soldier in the lead was first confused, then ecstatic. He stared at the sword in Suzuki Makoto's hand as if looking at a holy relic.
He rushed in front of Suzuki Makoto and blurted out a long string of words at an incredible speed, leaving Suzuki Makoto completely bewildered.
Judging by their clothing, this place looked like ancient Europe, and the language sounded a bit like... French?
This was hitting Suzuki Makoto's blind spot. Although he had worked in foreign trade in his past life, he had mostly dealt with Hans and Ivan in Europe. His understanding of French was limited to phrases like "hello," "is it tasty," and "you."
He was about to speak in English, then caught himself and forced the words back down.
Speaking English in what appeared to be medieval France... he might have just saved this group of people for nothing.
Finally, Suzuki Makoto hesitantly replied in German. The two sides stared blankly at each other for a long while.
The Frenchmen chattered for a bit, and eventually, someone came forward and began to communicate with Suzuki Makoto in extremely broken German.
This kind of communication was also completely inefficient, as the man's vocabulary and grammar were still incredibly unfamiliar. If not for a few familiar root words Suzuki Makoto could recognize, it would have been like a chicken talking to a duck.
Now Suzuki Makoto was even more certain he was in the Middle Ages, because modern German only took shape during the Renaissance.
The man was clearly speaking Middle High German.
So in the end, their communication reverted to pointing and gesturing.
The people indicated that they came from a castle, where they could fend off the attacks of these walking corpses and other monsters. The soldiers had come out this time to search the surrounding villages for supplies and to see if they could rescue anyone.
Suzuki Makoto expressed his willingness to go back to the castle with them. And so, the party searched the village, loaded several carts with the supplies they gathered, and set off toward the castle.
They didn't encounter any more walking corpses on the way back, but the road was lined with nothing but ruined walls and various corpses.
The soldiers' expressions were all very grim.
The castle was ahead. However, Suzuki Makoto noticed many scorched marks on it, as well as several damaged areas. It was clear they had faced more than just walking corpses.
Inside the castle, the stationed soldiers were all weary-faced, but seeing the supplies they brought back, a glimmer of hope returned to their eyes.
Soon, Suzuki Makoto met the commander of the castle. He was somewhat surprised looking at the blonde girl before him, not because of her beauty—but because she wasn't human at all.
"Who might you be, sir?"
the heavily armored girl asked sternly.
"I come from the East. I'm a mercenary from there."
He spoke very slowly in German, but she replied with a string of fluent, modern German.
"There are indeed some mercenaries from the Holy Roman Empire in France right now, but none of them can speak like that. Who are you, and where are you from?"
The man's expression was odd. So, that meant they could both drop the act now?
"I was summoned to this world for some unknown reason. I come from the far, far East. I just happened to help them kill a squad of the walking dead when I landed, so I followed them here."
"But you don't look like a Heroic Spirit."
"Heroic Spirit? You mean an existence like you, which appears to have a human shell but is actually powered entirely by a magical core on the inside, is called a Heroic Spirit?"
The girl froze. She looked Suzuki Makoto up and down repeatedly, then her face lit up with joy, and she grabbed his hand.
"Please, become my Master!"
Suzuki Makoto: ?
____
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