Solo Swordmaster

Chapter 82: A Sword Speaks For Its Wielder

“Is there an ace up your sleeve?”

“Not exactly—just a very simple and basic approach.”

“And what is that?” Li Chingwei’s eyes lit up, curious what method an ancient swordmaster would propose.

Limon looked at her, scratching his cheek.

“Uh, it’s complicated to explain… Could I get some detailed information on your domestic subsidiaries first?”

“What kind of information and on which subsidiaries?”

“All of them.”

“…All of them?”

“Yeah. All their headquarters, their branch locations, scale, products, income, employee data, average number of customers—every single piece of data you have.”

“How are you going to make use of all that?”

“As you already know, I’m a former PAB agent. My job was to catch criminals.”

What did Limon’s former job and the data have to do with each other? Li Chingwei was beyond confused as Limon let out a laugh.

“I was supposed to be preventing and investigating crimes, not fighting crooks.”

***

“…Princess.”

“Yes, Master of Swords?”

“I know I told you to give me everything you had, but… isn’t this a bit much?”

“Yes, Master of Swords.”

“Um, I know I told you to bring me everything you got, but….isn’t this a little too much?” Limon asked astringently.

“You asked for every single piece of data we had, did you not?” Li Chingwei tilted her head.

“I mean, there’s still gotta be a limit. You could fill a small library up and still have specifics to share.”

What laid in front of him could only be described as a ‘mountain of documents’ going from the ground up to the ceiling. There was more paper in the room than air!

“Well, of course. We are the Seven Dragons Association. You can thank Chao for cutting it down to this amount.”

“Ahhh…” Limon groaned.

To be fair, this should have been expected. The Black Dragon Clan may have collapsed, but they were still a pillar of the Seven Dragon Group. There was no chance they would slack on gathering data. It had simply slipped Limon’s mind thanks to the shock of receiving the minuscule amount of documents Wei-ling had organized for him.

‘I can’t even take my words back now…’

Limon turned to the person who brought in the documents. He could see distinct dark circles, dried-out lips, and an overall scraggy face. Where had her usual handsome appearance gone?

Limon groaned again. It was obvious that Wei-ling had spent the entire night preparing the documents. Limon may have heard his nickname ‘mad dog’ called out all the time, but he still had the conscience to not back down after having gotten more than he bargained for.

‘It’s too bad.’

Sighing, Limon picked up the first document and began to flip through it. Immediately, Li Chingwei and Wei-ling were taken aback. Limon was picking up each document and setting them back down after a single flip-through.

“Are you looking for something?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you flipping through the pages like that because there is something you’re looking for specifically?”

“No. I’m reading through all of them.”

“…You’re reading those documents at that speed?”

“Why do you think I can’t? It’s a whole lot easier than deflecting bullets.”

Wei-ling was at a loss for words. In the Seven Dragons Association, there were many experts who could dodge firearms. But asking any of them to match Limon’s reading pace? They would all respond with ‘Are you crazy?’. —And not to mention, they weren’t actually looking at the bullets and avoiding them. They were only avoiding the barrel of the gun.

Limon reading at the speed that he was meant that he would have the visual acuity to even read the writing engraved on a passing bullet. A human was not built to be capable of such a feat.

“Well… Thinking of it naturally, I suppose it wouldn’t be all that hard for the Master of Swords.”

On the other hand, Li Chingwei had the complete opposite reaction as compared to her.

As Wei-ling watched as Limon nonchalantly flipped through the documents, she realized two things:

Firstly, the white-haired man was a swordmaster—a true superhuman who could even take on a swarm of Apostle-ranked experts without breaking a sweat.

And secondly…

“Then, why didn’t you look through all the other documents like this?”

Turns out, Limon had been jacking around the entire time he’s been part of Guardian.

“Cough.” He could feel Wei-ling glare at him like he was garbage in human form.

“I mean, reading and understanding them are two different things. Not everyone will turn into an expert after reading college textbooks hundreds of times, ye know?”

“Either way, it’s still considered ‘jacking around’ if you only read something once in the time you could’ve read through it a hundred times.

“That’s because you’re good at your job, dummy brain.”

It’s also a great mercenary skill to be able to employ a competent subordinate and trust them to do their job.

Returning to the documents, Limon brushed off Wei-ling.

***

***

A few hours later…

Limon put down the last document and rubbed his eyes.

“Oof. My eyes hurt.”

“Did you really read all that?” Wei-ling only had doubts in her voice.

“I’d be insane to have just stared at all these scraps for hours otherwise.”

On the contrary, the princess looked at Limon excitedly.

“So did you find anything out?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“…Eh?” She hadn’t expected to receive such an answer.

“Why did you ask to see the documents, then?” Wei-ling interrogated.

“Now, now. I’m just about to see what I found out.”

Wei-ling looked at him like he was a fucking lunatic. Nonetheless, Limon stood up and walked to the center of the room.

“Both of you, stay at the wall. I have to focus.”

“What…”

Her remark was quickly silenced by the sound of Limon unsheathing his sword as he closed his eyes. An intense pressure could be felt. Recalling his memories, Limon muttered under his breath.

“…The weapons are a 12 cm long knife, a 94 cm blunt weapon, and a remote skill. They avoid fatal areas and aim for mutilation, causing as much pain as possible before dying. Destruction begrimed with madness and overwhelming power. And a cold, calculated kill using a skill to crush the victim with pressure. Then, that means…”

With his eyes still closed, he slowly started moving his blade. It looked like he was deboning a person. No, like he was a wild beast, perhaps? Or was he moving a giant boulder?

Wei-ling could feel shivers run down her spine as she watched the precision, energy, and strength in Limon’s slow motions. Every time his sword form changed, his aura completely shifted to resemble a new, different person.

It was eerie how he was able to mime butchering a human body despite only cutting through the air. Goosebumps could be felt across her entire body.

All of a sudden, the documents surrounding him flew into the air. Perhaps he’d been too forceful with the sword, but the blade hadn’t even grazed them. And yet, like a snowstorm in the night, the white papers began to consume the room. It was like the papers were an entity of its own. The sheets of paper fluttered like a swarm of butterflies chasing flowers, that being Limon’s sword.

Wei-ling could feel her mouth dry out. It wasn’t just from the blade’s ability to control the several hundred thousand pieces of paper, but also that not a single piece had been cut by the sword—an ultimate show of technique. Only one who reached the absolute peak of swordsmanship could hope to reenact such a scene. As a fellow swordsman herself, she could not help but shudder at the sight.

***

Limon finally stopped. Just how much time had passed? As the documents fell to the ground, three documents could be seen caught by his sword, perfectly stacked atop each other.

Clap, clap, clap—

“Truly, a Master of Swords. I am unable to believe that you could maneuver your sword so gracefully outside of a sword dance,” Li Chingwei praised.

However, Limon ignored her, flicking his sword instead.

“Here.”

The three documents fell into Wei-ling’s hands.

“ One of those three will be next. I’ll leave it to you to prepare accordingly. If you send military forces to each area, you’ll at least avoid the worst possible outcome.”

“…One of these three places will be their next target?”

“If they attack, yeah.”

“And how do you know that?” Wei-ling could not hide the suspicion in her voice.

What Limon had just displayed was surprising, but it was still just a technique. All it looked like was Limon swinging his sword for a bit, then passing her some documents his sword just so happened to catch.

“‘One can tell a person from their sword’. Ever heard of that?

“Of course. That is a common proverb.”

“Yeah. As long as you know that proverb, the rest is simple. Think of the methods of murder as swordsmanship.”

Wei-ling stared at Limon, finally understanding.

“…Did you infer the attack pattern by reinterpreting the corpses’ injuries with your sword?”

“Pretty much.”

“And you think that makes any shred of sense?” Wei-ling snorted.

Limon’s claims were completely and utterly absurd. It was no different from guessing the date of next year’s hurricane from a flying swallow—nonsensical babble worse than whatever con artist fortune tellers say.

“But it does make sense,” Li Chingwei interjected. “The Master of Swords is a swordmaster.”

Limon was neither a fortune teller nor a detective. He could not predict things or use deductive reasoning to figure out who the culprits were. But in the field of swordsmanship, there was nothing Limon didn’t know—and therefore, there was nothing he couldn’t do with it. He might have only known the blade, but that allowed him to truly hone his skills, becoming a master in everything related to swords. And so, surely, just looking at the corpses could tell him how many spoons the culprits had in their house—

Or at least, that’s what Li Chingwei claimed.

“Hey. Even I wouldn’t know how many spoons they would have.”

“But you would know which hand they use it with, wouldn’t you?”

“I guess…”

“Then that’s the same as knowing how many spoons they have. All you have to do is infer the person’s habits, personality, and financial status.”

“...Just tell me straight up you want me to be a fortune teller.”

——

——