Rogue Villain-Chapter 248: Nesting Doll Sword

Ackster’s idea was a long shot, and he didn’t even know where it had come from. But if there was one thing he had learned from dealing with Kargas, it was that crazy and powerful people couldn’t handle other people’s crazy. Of course, Ackster’s first attempt at outcrazying the Sword God ended up with losing his head.

He belatedly realized that the bluntness and self-confidence of his first attempt wasn’t the way to go. So, he decided to convince the Sword God with something else.

The Sword God tilted his head as he looked Ackster in the face before scanning him up and down with his eyes.

"Who are you?"

Ackster was beginning to wonder if the Sword God was suffering from dementia or didn’t put anything except swords on his mind.

"Your disciple."

Still, the fact that the Sword God didn’t kill him as soon as he heard the suggestion was promising, so Ackster continued pursuing the idea.

"I don’t remember taking a disciple."

"It hasn’t happened yet. You were just about to, though."

"And how reliable is this information?"

"Very. I would never lie to my Master."

"I see. It seems I have a very obedient disciple. So, how about you hand over that sword now?"

"I would if I could, but it’s stuck inside me."

"Then, since you’re my disciple, you won’t mind if I pluck it out for you?"

"As long as you can do it without killing me, I’ll be overjoyed."

"Hrmm. That’s a problem."

"..."

"But since you’re my disciple, you will trust me and let me kill you to take that sword, right?"

"Are you, as my Master, suggesting to kill me because you want a sword that’s already yours? I don’t understand, Master. Please tell me that’s not what is happening right now. That wouldn’t be right, would it? There’s no way the honorable Sword God would kill his own disciple, the greatest sword in his collection, for another sword, right?"

The Sword God cleared his throat at the compliment before raising an eyebrow and looking at Ackster with an eye of suspicion.

"I thought for sure you were a...human or something. But you’re saying you’re a sword?"

"I meant it mostly as a figure of speech. But yes. I am your sword. I will cut what you tell me to cut, and I will parry what you need me to parry. Of course, only to the best of my abilities. You wouldn’t want your precious sword to break, not when it can even cook food for you."

"I see. I don’t have that many cooking swords, that’s true."

Ackster’s eyes lit up slightly.

"And I bet you don’t have many nesting doll swords, either, right?"

"Nesting doll swords? Such a thing doesn’t exist."

"Sure it does. I’m living proof. Look at this."

Ackster pointed at the symbol on his chest.

"I am a sword, and I have a sword inside me. Doesn’t that make me a nesting doll sword? Don’t you just have to add me to your collection, treasure me, take care of me, sharpen me, and train me?"

Ackster felt strange saying the last sentence out loud since it sounded like he was begging for a sugar daddy, but it was what it was. If it were what he needed to say to survive, he would. He also doubted the Sword God had any interest in anything besides swords, so he doubted he would need to experience being the Sword God’s sugar baby.

The Sword God nodded after thinking it over for what felt like several painfully long minutes.

"A nesting doll sword. Incredible. I like it. Good thing it’s mine already."

The Sword God took a step forward and grabbed Ackster by the neck. Ackster got a bad feeling, and less than a moment later, the Sword God was already pressing his face against the opening to his sheathe.

"U-um, Mas—Master?"

"Yes, Nesting Doll Sword?"

"I—I have m—multiple thing—things I want to say."

Since the Sword God was constantly pressing his face against the scabbard, Ackster found it difficult to talk properly. He tried to use his hand to stop it, but he was no match for the Sword God’s ignorant strength.

"I can’t go inside the scabbard!"

Ackster finally found the room to use his words to stop the Sword God.

The Sword God held Ackster up like a stray kitten.

"Are you not a sword?"

"Well, yes."

"Then, you can go inside my Scabbard. All swords can enter my Scabbard. That’s what it’s for, and it’s the reason for swords to exist. A sword that can’t enter my Scabbard is not a sword."

"I am not just any sword, you know? In addition to being, technically speaking, two swords, I also have an independent space that might be clashing with your scabbard."

"An independent space? Everyone has that. It’s called the bathroom."

’What is he on about? Can he just let me go?’

"I meant something more like a pocket dimension. I can store things there without their weight affecting me and stuff."

"I see. You have your own Scabbard."

"I guess you could put it like that." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Amazing. Hand it over."

"My scabbard is stuck to my soul, so I can’t do that. But I can give you all my swords."

"—"

Ackster continued before the Sword God could request something impossible.

"Except for the sword inside of me. I die if you take that as I am now."

"...Okay."

Ackster found it a shame, but if he could use all the swords in his inventory to convince the Sword God, it would be more than worth it. So, he emptied his Inventory of the swords he and Wilma picked up what felt like ages ago and of the swords he had picked up in the ruins. Since he still had a bunch of armor and other weapons, he didn’t mind it that much.

Ackster did get a little worried when the Sword God exclaimed, ’Beautiful!’ each time he picked up a sword, even the rusty, trashy swords Ackster had picked up to give people tetanus.

However, as he dug through the piles of metal in his inventory, Ackster eventually found something he didn’t remember putting in there.

"This...?"