"This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Master Zigg's passing."
Gotoh added at the end.
'Has it been twenty years already? No wonder Netero is coming.' Roy speared a piece of bacon and popped it into his mouth, looking out the window with lackadaisical eyes. "Gotoh,"
"Yes, Young Master?"
"Have you ever met Grandpa Zigg?"
Twenty long years ago, Roy hadn't even been born, yet Gotoh was already here.
The young butler's thoughts drifted back as he recalled carefully. "I met him once."
Adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose, he spoke honestly. "At that time, Hall and I were still apprentice butlers. Tsubone took us to organize Master Zigg's wardrobe. I remember..."
"He had a whole room full of figures. He was quite thin and didn't put on airs, always smiling. Back then, he gave both Hall and me a piece of candy. He said he made it himself... it was actually quite delicious."
Gotoh recounted the meeting in detail while Roy ate his breakfast and listened quietly. Suddenly, he remembered the [Medal of Courage] Netero had given him during the Hunter Exam in the Numere Wetlands. Netero said it was a memento Grandpa Zigg had given him before his "death." Roy beckoned with his hand, bringing the medal branded with an "axe and wheat" into his grasp. He toyed with it, momentarily forgetting his food.
"Young Master... Young Master."
"Hmm?"
"The soup is getting cold." Gotoh had finished his story and noticed Roy staring pensively at the [Medal of Courage].
Roy snapped out of his silence and tossed the medal back into the drawer. Before the soup went completely cold, he took a spoonful and drank it slowly.
While drinking, he didn't forget his business. "Have you prepared the medicine I asked for?"
Now that he had the means for de-conjuration, it was time to fulfill his promise to his father, Tanjuro.
"The doctor has already provided a plan. I will head out to collect it shortly," Gotoh said seriously. "You will have it by tonight at the latest."
"Also..." Gotoh looked at him cautiously.
"Speak."
"Yes." The young butler's expression turned solemn. "Hall called to report something. He said a cult has suddenly appeared across various continents, recruiting members everywhere. It has caught the attention of several nations and the Hunter Association."
Roy's hand holding the spoon paused. He looked up.
Gotoh organized the information and said in a low voice, "Among them is that man the Young Master encountered... Guzman."
"Is that so?" Roy's face went cold. "Book a ticket. I'm going to kill him."
"No need." A gust of wind blew by, and across the dining table, a withered little old man appeared out of nowhere. His head was nearly bald, save for two stubborn tufts of hair sticking up. It was Maha.
"I sent your grandfather." The old man expertly took a soup bowl and, eschewing the spoon, gulped the soup down directly. After finishing the entire bowl of tomato and egg soup in one go, he let out a breath and spoke as if wanting more.
'Grandfather...' Roy remembered just seeing Zeno at the mountain gate. He fell silent.
Maha glanced at him sideways. "What, do you have to settle every grudge yourself?"
Having his thoughts read, Roy admitted frankly, "I did have that idea. I failed to kill him with one strike back then and let him escape. I figured I'd settle the score sooner or later."
"Then you still have a chance."
"It was merely an external avatar. Killing it is fine, but there will be another," Maha said dismissively.
Roy frowned. His great-grandfather seemed to know something...
As expected.
"You think you're the only clever one?"
The old man said cryptically, "Someone... has come down."
'Come... come down?' Roy was shocked. Where else could they come from besides the Dark Continent!
"Scared now?" Maha speared a piece of bacon and ate it. He didn't mind eating Roy's leftovers and proceeded to clear the table entirely. Finally, he dropped the fork into the empty plate with a sharp clatter.
Roy remained silent.
The boy stroked the [Curse] on the back of his left hand. After a moment, he sighed with some emotion. "You're joking, Great-Grandfather. I am afraid,"
"But not so much that I've lost my composure."
"I just didn't expect them not to even give me eight years. They're in such a hurry, it's as if Grandpa Zigg did something to upset 'Him'..."
"Hmm..." At the mention of Zigg, the two of them fell into a tacit silence.
Half-full, Maha slumped into his chair and looked out the window. The red sun rose, and the morning glow turned from red to white, bathing the earth in warmth. With a swift movement, he suddenly appeared outside in the mottled corridor.
"Walk with me..."
With a creaking sound, the door opened, and Roy silently followed the old man.
One with hands behind his back, the other with hands in his pockets, they strolled through the ancient stone corridors of the Zoldyck estate, cloaked in the warm sun, walking leisurely toward the training hall...
At one point, they saw Kikyo, her belly swollen with pregnancy, walking carefully through the garden with Tsubone's support. Her husband was not there, and she seemed visibly more high-strung than usual.
"Roy."
"How long has it been since you practiced your sword?"
They reached a corner, not far from the training hall's entrance. Maha stopped with his hands behind his back and asked suddenly while squinting at Kikyo's protruding belly.
Shimmering light gathered as the staff-sword manifested. Roy gripped it firmly.
The boy stroked the blade, feeling the joyful mood of [Solar Eclipse]. "I practiced just last night," he said truthfully.
"I even had a decent sparring partner."
"In a dream?"
"Yes, in a dream."
"Is that so?" Maha turned sideways and said indifferently, "You have a sparring partner and you practice diligently, so why are you still so pathetic?"
Roy froze. His hand suddenly felt empty. When he looked down, [Solar Eclipse] had vanished into Maha's hand. The old man held it up to the sun, toying with it silently. When the boy snapped out of it, he was left speechless.
The old man before him said nothing, yet seemed to have said everything. As he toyed with [Solar Eclipse], he wordlessly seemed to say, 'Look, this sword you treat as your life was taken so easily.'
'And you claim to cherish it?'
That effortless ease in his every move left Roy at a loss for words.
"I didn't see clearly. Could you show me once more, Great-Grandfather?" Taking a sword right out of someone's hand so silently... how did he do it?
Roy bowed his head respectfully.
In the blink of an eye, a flash of blade light flickered. [Solar Eclipse] let out a whimper as if it had been wronged, returning to Roy's hand while intensely complaining about its dissatisfaction.
Maha clapped his hands as if he had done something trivial.
The withered man leaned against a window frame to sunbathe. "What difference does it make whether you see it or not? Even if I did it ten thousand times, you still wouldn't be able to keep hold of it."
Roy went silent. He gripped [Solar Eclipse] tightly and lowered his head.
A sharp pain hit his forehead as Maha poked him between the eyebrows. "Gratitude... you idiot!"
"How did this old man end up with such a blockhead for a descendant?"
"Do you feel an endless sense of gratitude toward the Way of the Sword you practice?"
Boom! A thunderclap seemed to erupt on level ground! Maha's words rang through Roy's mind like a great temple bell.
The boy stood dazed. His previous confusion regarding the Way of the Sword, as well as the frustration and embarrassment of having his weapon taken, vanished instantly.
As he snapped back to reality, the first image that appeared was that of a disheveled middle-aged man on a snowy mountain peak, praying and throwing punches with a heart full of immense gratitude toward martial arts. A spark of light gradually flickered in Roy's eyes.
Noticing the change in the boy, Maha withdrew his finger. A trace of satisfaction flashed deep in his eyes. He snorted and said, "That Netero kid might be annoying, but he created [Shingen-ryu] and understood his own path. He didn't earn the title of [Strongest Human] for nothing."
"He has his path to invincibility, and you should have yours. To be obsessed with the path of faith while ignoring your true self and your own tools... Roy, that is putting the cart before the horse!"
Rumble! More and more "thunderous words" struck the boy's heart.
They forcibly wiped away the parasite of confusion on Roy's path of the sword, leaving his eyes and his heart transparent and clear, bringing them back to life from a state of dead silence.
These were the words of a master. Roy knew well that his great-grandfather didn't understand the blade; in his [Ren], the lightning-clad giant wielded a hammer!
But... be it martial arts, the sword, or the hammer—the paths were different, yet they all led to the same destination. In the end, they were all inseparable from the word 'gratitude.'
'Grateful to humanity for forging the sword.'
'Grateful to the world for the existence of swordsmanship.'
'Grateful to myself for learning the sword.'
'Grateful to the sword for choosing me...'
"I was wrong. I was completely wrong..."
Enlightenment surged like a tide. Roy's eyes seemed to ignite like twin suns. At this moment, he stroked his sword and whispered to himself, "In truth, I have always used you as a mere tool."
He bowed again, offering a sincere apology to [Solar Eclipse].
A low, ancient hum echoed. With a sharp clang, [Solar Eclipse] unsheathed itself. It danced around Roy, circling him freely, its previous indignation from being snatched by Maha completely gone.
It couldn't speak, but Roy truly heard it.
It felt what Roy felt, saw what he saw, and heard what he heard. Driven by Roy's will, it seemed to gain a life of its own in that instant.
However, this was far from enough.
Roy reached out and caught [Solar Eclipse] again. He gave Maha a slight nod and then leaped out the window. He sat cross-legged in the garden, bathed in the morning glow beneath the great sun. With his eyes closed and the blade resting across his knees, he began to meditate.
Suddenly, a set of footsteps approached...
Illumi, with his waist-length black hair flowing, walked up slowly.
He came to Maha's side and stood still.
Watching his elder brother meditate with the old man, a ripple appeared in the boy's hollow eyes. He tilted his head and asked, "What is he doing?"
"Why don't I understand?"
Maha: "That's why he's the elder brother, and you're the younger brother."
Illumi nodded in agreement, then slowly shook his head. "No, he is my beloved brother, and I am the brother who loves him dearly. Great-Grandfather, you've forgotten love..."
"You!" Maha's eyes widened.
He raised his leg.
And kicked Illumi flying...
To the naked eye,
He became a shooting star on the horizon...
Disappearing in the blink of an eye!
"What nonsense!"
"Dare to say such idiotic things again,"
"And see if I don't beat the life out of you!"