Chapter 10: A Long Conversation
A faint smile drew across Lumen's face, not a smile of comfort, but one that masked the weight of a thought lodged in his mind. He adjusted his seat and leaned his back against the wooden chair. Can I tell him about the Castle Man? The old man treated me like his own son... but the Castle Man was not famous as a blessing for a ruler... doesn't he want people to know?
Lumen remained lost in thought for a few seconds before speaking in a serious tone. "I hope what I am about to say does not leave this tent."
Old Valjan understood the hint immediately. It occurred to him that what Lumen was about to say might be a secret he did not want anyone but his father, Valjan, to hear. That made Jan rise from his seat and speak to his father. "I will go check on my tent."
Lumen stayed silent as he watched Jan leave.
The moment Jan exited and the tent flap closed, Lumen spoke in a calm voice. "I only learned about the Pathwalkers not long ago..."
Old Valjan noticed that Lumen did not finish his sentence, so he asked gently, "How did you find out?"
Lumen lowered his gaze to the tabletop and said in a low voice, "I met Count Vikoth, and he wanted me to become his assistant."
"At first I refused his offer, but he tried to lure me with a bit of information about the Pathwalkers."
Old Jan's face showed clear surprise, and he asked, "How much did he tell you?"
Lumen replied without hesitation, still in a calm tone. "He only told me a few simple things about the Pathwalkers, the Paths, and the Stations. He explained that Paths are the routes a Pathwalker follows in order to gain brute strength and supernatural abilities. He even gave me an example to prove his words..."
He sighed heavily, as though reproaching himself for how little he knew, and then added, "He did not tell me anything beyond that. He said I would get the full information if I became his assistant..."
Old Valjan let out a heavy sigh. "And what did you decide? Will you become his assistant?"
Lumen shook his head. "Not yet... but I intend to after I return."
He turned his eyes toward Old Valjan without stopping his explanation. "I only hunted alongside him for a short time when I was with you... his father died and he inherited power after him, and not long after I joined, he left. I do not know what he wants or why. Honestly, I do not want to join him just to learn about the Pathwalkers, because I have you to ask now that I know you are one. But he is the only one who can help me achieve my goal."
Lumen straightened his posture and placed his hand on the table before asking, "Old Valjan, can you tell me about the Pathwalkers and the Count?"
Old Valjan looked at Lumen's face for a while and watched his expressions before speaking with a laugh. "And you do not want Miyan to tell Lumin that? Hahaha."
Lumen drew a faint smile and said, "No one will know as long as the secret stays between us... right?"
Old Valjan nodded slowly as he spoke. "Very well. I will not tell Lumin or anyone else, but I want you to promise me something..."
Lumen stared into Old Valjan's face and listened seriously as he continued, "I want you to search with me for a young man in the city of Hansan..."
Old Valjan paused for a second and then continued in a calm tone, "You can choose the date when we go there when we meet again in two weeks."
Lumen sank into thought, while possibilities crowded his mind. Hansan City? It is not far... but it is impossible to find the person he wants in such a short time. There are more than one hundred thousand men there. It is impossible to search for him quickly. What am I supposed to do with Rahil if I do not know how long it will take? Should I leave her with Dico and Fiona?
Or should I take her with me? We are going to search for some young man. If the old man has a keepsake belonging to the boy, we might be able to search faster with Rahil's help, but...
Lumen's thoughts froze for a moment before he added, Huh? Am I starting to think of Rahil like a real dog...
I should leave Rahil with Dico and Fiona and go help the old man. For now, I need to make finding Leech and the others who came with the gathering my priority. If going to Hansan City helps me learn more about the Pathwalkers and the Count, then I should go without objection...
Old Valjan noticed Lumen's silence, so he added to his words and cut through Lumen's thoughts. "We do not have to search for him all over the city... we can search in the Pathwalkers' gatherings."
Lumen raised his eyebrows. "Gatherings?"
Old Valjan nodded and explained, "Not all Pathwalkers possess combat abilities. Not all Pathwalkers have the means to gather the ingredients for their advancement... not all Pathwalkers are ready to kill... but their hatred will not stop them from asking someone to kill for them. They will look for tools to make up for their weakness, and they will take on tasks to earn money. You will see all kinds of people in those gatherings."
Old Valjan stopped speaking, then took out a white sheet of paper on which a young man with a scar on his cheek was drawn. He extended the paper and handed it to Lumen.
Lumen glanced at the man in the drawing for a few moments before returning the paper and saying, "Is this the one we will be searching for?"
Old Valjan nodded and said, "Yes... We will go to a gathering in Hansan, and I will ask the gathering master for help in finding him."
"I will cover all the money needed for everything related to the journey there and until we return. I want you to come with me and help me when we catch him..."
Old Valjan sighed heavily before continuing, "I will not force you to come with me to Hansan. I will keep the secret to myself and I will keep quiet about what happened regarding Lumin... but I will not tell you what I know about the Pathwalkers and the Count. Did I not tell you before? The only currency more valuable than money is knowledge... I will give you the information you want in exchange for helping me find him."
We will search for him with the help of an expert Pathwalker... which means the search will not take too long. Lumen let out a deliberate sigh as he thought before speaking. "Yes, I remember. It was a rainy night... you told me this while hitting me when I was about to join Lanit after he lured me with some money to join his group. I still remember how angry you were. Fine, I agree to come. I will do whatever it takes to search for knowledge."
Valjan laughed loudly and said, "At that time I meant knowledge between us. It was the only word that came out of my mouth, but it is true... more often than not, knowledge is worth more than money."
Lumen ignored what the old man had said and asked seriously, "But seriously... how will I help you? Would it not be better to go with Lumin or Louis or even your son? They are all Pathwalkers before me, and they have broader knowledge..."
The old man answered Lumen directly, in a calm tone. "If you seek the truth... even now, I still do not know what sets you apart from them. Louis is no less intelligent than you, Lumin is far stronger than you, and Jan has some experience unlike you..."
As he listened to the old man's comparison, Lumen thought to himself, Are you really going to tell me what I fall short of compared to them?
"But when I used my ability, it pointed to you as the only one suitable to help me reach him. In truth, I belong to the Priest Path, and as the name of my Path suggests, I can foretell the future, in addition to some other abilities..."
Valjan rose from his chair and took a gold coin from his pocket before continuing. "I previously foretold the person I should choose... I can ask myself about something while I spread my aura into the coin. If I throw the coin afterward and King Olim's face appears, that may mean there is danger, and it means no. But if the number appears, that may mean there is no danger, and it means yes, depending on the question I ask."
Lumen looked at the coin in the old man's hand and asked, "May I ask how your divination works?"
Old Valjan nodded as he spoke. "That is what I was going to do. Will I find Falot with Lumin's help?"
The old man tossed the gold coin from his hand immediately after his words. Lumen looked at the coin on the ground and saw that it had landed showing the face of King Olim Batter, the first king of the Kingdom of Vagin, the king who took revenge on the republic and changed the system of rule. "It landed on King Olim's face... that means no, I will not find him."
The old man crouched down and picked up the coin while speaking in a voice filled with seriousness. "At my current Station, I have four ways of divining. This is the first method I can use to know whether I should act or not. When I thought about Lumin, the coin landed and showed Olim's face, which means I should not go with him. In your opinion, what face would the coin show if I changed the wording of the question to: Is there danger in going with Lumin?"
Heh heh, I will not even tire myself by thinking about it. Lumen drew a faint smile and spoke while looking up at the tent ceiling. "It is a difficult Path... do all Paths require this level of focus to understand? What Paths does Lumin have?"
Old Valjan shook his head and said calmly, "No... not all of them are as complicated as the Priest Path. I have heard of more complex Paths, and I have seen easier ones than it."
"Captain Lumin has three Paths under his control: the Priest Path, the Soldier Path, and the Owner Path. I was the strongest Pathwalker in the Priest Path with him, but I have begun to struggle during journeys compared to before. My son Jan will take over my work as the club's priest... even though he suffers more because he is at a weaker Station than mine, I cannot tell you more about the Path... Would you pry into all the abilities of your own Path if you were in my position? It is not a matter of whether I trust you or not, but I must always be cautious."
The old man continued without giving Lumen a chance to respond. "I know nothing about the Owner Path. I do not know its abilities, I do not know its rituals, and I do not even know its ingredients. But I am certain of two things. First, Louis the Owner may be at the sixth Station. I asked him long ago about his Path, and he told me he was an Owner at the seventh Station. It is hard to believe he would not have advanced after all these years through his contributions with Lumin... Second... Vikoth is also an Owner."
Old Valjan sighed heavily, as though the words were piling up on his chest, before continuing. "In truth, I do not see a problem working under his command, but I must warn you... do not treat him as if he were your friend. He sees people only as tools to be used. The moment you disappear, your role will be that of an ordinary civilian in his city... he will throw you into his trash bin. That is how I see him, even though I did not know him completely."
The old man fell silent for a moment, his eyes gleaming with a deep, warning light before he continued. "Try to make yourself the step he climbs to reach his goal. Help him whenever the opportunity arises. Be kind to him and do not cross your boundaries. Pretend that you want to befriend him. Pretend I never told you anything... but remember not to become attached to him. Leave yourself a line of return that can pull you back out of the trash bin."
Lumen nodded in silence, absorbing the weight of the old man's words. The tent was quiet for a few seconds, which prompted Old Valjan to turn to the Soldier Path. "Lumin is the strongest in the Soldier Path... he is at the sixth Station... he can hear and see the smallest details, and he has many supernatural abilities... I do not usually hunt beside him, but I learned how extraordinary he is through the simple journeys I made with him..."
A faint smile appeared on the old man's face as he continued. "If you become a Soldier, you will gain many things compared to the Priest. You will gain broad perception of spiritual aura... you will gain knowledge of the body's organs after you complete the Soldier ritual. You will know which organs are vital and which are not. You will be able to throw things like pebbles with greater force and speed than a rifle. You will have high regenerative ability. At the beginning of every day at twelve o'clock, all your wounds will heal and your fatigue will vanish immediately. Even your body will adapt to any combat style in record time. You will not need to train for years to master swordsmanship or archery and marksmanship. With two weeks of training and practice, you will be like someone who has trained with the sword for two years..."
Wonderful... how wonderful... Will I still remain human after the Soldier ritual? These are abilities I never even imagined when I was writing the Count's family's trash... Can I really walk two Paths? I will become a superhuman like the Sword Saint Reinhard... The difference between the Soldier and the Link is huge... no... not huge, it is enormous.
Lumen could not stop himself from thinking about the Path and comparing it with the Link Path as he listened to Old Valjan speak.
"I do not know the abilities the Soldier gains at the seventh or sixth Station, and I do not even know their names. Lumin only gave me three Soldiers from the Soldier Station. But there is one ability I saw him use that was not present in the Soldier Path: he could create a blade from the air and fight with it... Does that not remind you of something you liked reading? Hahaha!"
Lumen looked at Old Valjan's face and answered with a smile, "I forgot its name... but it is one of the characters from Re:Zero."
Old Valjan nodded with confidence. "Yes... do you know what that might mean?"
Re:Zero has an ability from the Soldier Path? Hmm... it might be a coincidence, but he also had supernatural healing... what if...
It only took Lumen a few moments to think before he answered in surprise, "Does that mean Lenzot is a Pathwalker?"
Old Valjan drew an exaggerated smile on his face and said excitedly, "Yes... I think he hid the Pathwalkers' abilities in his novels!"