"This year marks the 20th anniversary of Grandpa Jager's passing."
Wutong added.
Twenty years... no wonder Netero is coming. Roy tossed a piece of bacon into his mouth and glanced out the window listlessly, "Wutong,"
"Yes, young master, what is it?"
"Have you met Grandpa Jager?"
Twenty years may have gone by without him, but Wutong was there.
The young butler's thoughts drifted as he recalled, "I met him once."
He pushed the glasses perched on his nose and explained truthfully, "At that time, Hall and I were apprentice butlers, and Tsubone brought us to help organize Grandpa Jager's wardrobe. I remember..."
"He had a room full of figurines, was quite lean, had no airs, always smiling... and he gave each of us a piece of candy, saying he made it himself. It tasted pretty good..."
Wutong reminisced about that encounter in detail, while Roy ate his breakfast quietly listening, suddenly recalling the day in the Smelah Wetlands during the Hunter Exam when Netero gave him the 'Medal of Courage,' saying it was... a relic gifted to him by Grandpa Jager before he passed... Roy raised his hand, took the medal engraved with 'Axe and Wheat,' and toyed with it, momentarily forgetting his meal.
"Young master... young master..."
"Hmm?"
"The soup's getting cold." Wutong, noticing Roy lost in thought staring at the 'Medal of Courage,' reminded him.
Roy snapped back to reality, briskly returned the medal to the drawer, and before the soup cooled, scooped a spoonful and drank slowly.
While drinking, he didn't forget to ask, "Are the medicines I asked you to prepare ready?"
With the Anti-Conjuration technique in hand, it's time to fulfill the promise to his father Tanjuro.
"The doctor has a plan, I'll head out to pick it up shortly," Wutong replied, "At the latest, you'll see it tonight."
"Also," Wutong looked cautiously.
"Speak,"
"Understood." The young butler's expression turned serious, "Hall called to report, saying... recently on various continents, an evil cult has emerged, nurturing followers everywhere, drawing the attention of various nations including the Hunter Association."
Roy's hand paused on the spoon, his eyes rose to meet Wutong's.
Wutong adjusted some information, speaking solemnly, "Among them is the one you met... Guzman."
"Is that so?" Roy's face turned cold, "Book a ticket, I'm going to kill him."
"No need," a gust of wind blew, and unbeknownst to him, Grandpa Maha appeared across the table... almost bald with two stubborn tufts of hair sticking out. He skillfully started drinking the soup directly from the bowl, foregoing the spoon, enjoying it heartily until the tomato egg soup was finished, finally letting out a satisfied sigh.
Grandpa... Roy recalled seeing Zeno at the mountain gate earlier, and momentarily fell silent...
Maha glanced at him, "What, have a grudge you insist on settling yourself?"
Seeing through his thoughts, Roy admitted frankly, "I do intend to, since I couldn't kill him with one strike before, letting him escape, I've always thought one day, I'll settle the score."
"You'll have the chance."
"It's just an exterior manifestation, kill it and move to the next one." Maha stated indifferently.
Roy's brow furrowed, it seemed Great-grandpa knew something...
Indeed,
"Do you think you're the only clever one?"
The old man murmured, "Someone... has come down..."
Come... come down... Roy felt a chill, what else could it be... except for the Dark Continent!
"Scared now?" Maha tossed a piece of bacon into his mouth. He didn't mind finishing Roy's leftovers, shamelessly emptying the table before loudly tossing the fork into the empty plate.
Roy said nothing,
The youth gently stroked the curse on the back of his left hand, sighing not without emotion, "Great-grandpa's jest... I am afraid,"
"But not to the point of losing composure,"
"It's just unexpected that they don't even plan to give me eight years, how urgent... as if... Grandpa Jager did something to them, angering them..."
"Hmm..." Mentioning Jager, the grandfather and grandson fell into tacit silence,
After eating his fill, Maha shrank back in his chair, gazing out the window, the red sun emerging, the dawn turning from red to white, warming the earth with rays, stepping to the door, appearing in the mottled corridor.
"Walk with me..."
"Creak~" went the door, Roy silently followed beside the old man.
Both with hands behind their backs, strolling in the warm sun, leisurely making their way through the time-worn stone corridors of the Zoldyck Family's ancient castle, unhurriedly heading towards the training room...
At one point, noticing Killua with a protruding belly carefully being escorted by Tsubone, walking cautiously in the garden... the man absent, clearly... the woman was tense, visibly more anxious than usual.
"Roy,"
"How long has it been since you practiced the sword?"
Reaching the corner, not far from the training room's entrance... Maha paused, hands behind his back, squinting at Killua's prominent belly, suddenly asked.
Soft glimmers gathered, the Staff Blade appeared, firmly held by Roy,
The youth stroked the blade, feeling 'Eclipse's' joyful mood, truthfully, "Just practiced last night."
"And there's a good sparring partner, as well."
"In your dreams?"
"Yes, in the dream."
"Is that so..." Maha turned to look, speaking lightly, "You have training companions, and you train diligently, so why are you still so incompetent?"
Roy was stunned, then his hand suddenly felt empty, and when he looked down...[Solar Eclipse] was in Maha's hands, taken away silently, being toyed with under the sunlight... The young man snapped back to reality, temporarily speechless.
The elder in front of him said nothing, yet seemed to convey everything... He was playing with [Solar Eclipse], silently as if saying, "Look, the sword you treat as life, was just so easily taken by me,"
"And you say you treasure it?"
Effortless grace in every move... rendering Roy speechless...
"I didn't see clearly, can Grandpa show me again?" Snatching the sword, yet achieving it without a sound, how was it done?
Roy bowed his head respectfully in a salute,
In a blink, sword light flashed once more, [Solar Eclipse] whimpered, as if suffering grievances, returning to Roy's hands, protesting vigorously about its discontent.
Maha clapped his hands as if having accomplished a trivial task,
With a shriveled posture against the window mast, basking in the sun, "What's the difference between seeing and not seeing, even if you try a million times, you cannot protect it."
Roy fell silent, gripping [Solar Eclipse] tightly, head lowered and speechless.
His forehead then ached, poked at the brow by Maha's finger, "Gratitude... you fool!"
"How did the old man produce such a blockhead like you?"
"Have you ever embraced endless gratitude for the[Way of the Sword]you practice?"
"Boom!" Thunderous shock arose from flat ground! Maha's words fell, akin to a great bell tolling in Roy's mind!
The young man was frozen in place, former confusion about[Swordsmanship]and the embarrassment and annoyance of being[Stealing the Blade]all vanished!
As he came back to his senses, the first image arising was a middle-aged man, hair disheveled, atop a snowy peak, filled with vast gratitude towards[Martial Arts], praying with fists raised... and a glow gradually appeared in his eyes!
Noticing the young man's anomaly... Maha withdrew his finger, a trace of satisfaction in his deep-set eyes, snorted coldly, saying: "Although Netero is not liked, he's able to create[Shingen-ryu]and understand his Martial Arts, the title[World's Strongest Human]is not undeserved."
"He has his path to invincibility; you should also have your invincible path... Obsessing over faith yet neglecting the[True Self], ignoring the tools with which you earn a living... Roy, that is upside down!"
"Booming!" More and more thunderous words descend upon the young man's heart...
Forcefully wiping away the confusion that paralyzed Roy's path in Swordsmanship, making eyes bright and his sword heart clear, reviving from stagnation...
These are the words of a master. Roy clearly understood that Grandpa did not understand swords, in his[Ren], the giant entwined with thunder wielded a hammer!
But... Martial Arts, Swordsmanship, or Hammer Arts... each path is different, yet all lead to the same endpoint—inescapably returning to the word "gratitude!"
"Gratitude for humans forging swords,"
"Gratitude for the world having Swordsmanship,"
"Gratitude for oneself learning sword,"
"Gratitude for sword choosing oneself..."
"I was wrong, terribly wrong..."
Enlightenment surged like a tide... Roy's eyes ignited two blazing suns, and at this moment, gently caressing his sword, muttered, "Actually, I had always been using you as a tool,"
Then he bowed again, sincerely performing a salute of apology to[Solar Eclipse].
"Buzz—" A profound sword hum resonated...[Solar Eclipse]clanged spontaneously from its scabbard... spiraled around Roy, dancing freely... all grievances from being forcefully snatched by Maha vanished...
It cannot speak, yet Roy truly heard it speak,
It felt what Roy felt, saw what Roy saw, heard what Roy heard, driven entirely by Roy's mind, in that instant, as if acquiring a life of its own.
However, this was far from enough...
Roy grasped [Solar Eclipse] with one hand, nodded slightly towards Maha, then quickly flashed outside through the window, sat cross-legged in the garden, beneath the sun, covered in rays of dawn, closed his eyes, and placed the sword across his knees, beginning meditation.
Suddenly a string of footsteps echoed...
Illumi, hair falling to the waist, approached slowly,
Stopped by Maha,
Accompanying the elder to watch the elder brother meditate, the young man's vacant eyes rippled, tilting his head, he asked: "What is he doing?"
"Why can't I understand it?"
Maha: "That's why he's the elder brother, and you're the younger brother."
Illumi concurred deeply, then shook his head slowly: "No, he is my beloved elder brother, and I am his loving younger brother, Grandpa... you forget love..."
"You!" Maha's eyes widened,
Kicked,
Suddenly kicked Illumi flying...
Visibly,
Transforming into a meteor across the sky...
In a blink, disappearing from sight!
"What a thing!"
"Speak nonsense again,"
"See if I won't beat you to death!"