The footsteps slipping out of the hallway were light.

‘Finally, freedom.’

I smiled slightly, imagining the carriage that would be waiting once I left this enormous mansion.

Farewell to all those years bound as the spirit of the sword!

It was time to live a new life as a human, not a sword.

‘It wasn’t an easy process. No, not at all.’

The past life I struggled through to avoid ending up as a spirit like in the original story wasn’t easy.

Forming a contract with the male lead Dietrich, saving the family, saving the female lead…

And finally, saving my own life too!

I glanced back at the heavy presence boasting on my shoulder.

‘It was definitely a good idea to save up money in advance!’

I had meticulously planned a new life with this money I’d been secretly saving from Dietrich.

Thinking back on how I saved this money brings me to tears, but.

“…Anyway, I’m almost there.”

Before I knew it, I had nearly escaped the long corridor of the enormous mansion.

Like this, just like this, all I had to do was go out and savor freedom while breathing in the cool dawn air…

“Harpe.”

Savor…

“Harpe?”

Sav…

‘…No way.’

A low, sticky voice made me freeze in place.

It was too close to pretend I hadn’t heard it.

When on earth did he get so close?

I slowly turned around, stiff in an awkward posture.

There was Dietrich, leaning crookedly against the wall at the end of the corridor without making a sound.

Even with only a dim light illuminating the corridor, his hardened expression was clearly visible.

“…Harpe. Where are you going?”

He approached me with big strides, holding ‘Harpe’, the famous sword that had been my main body.

Why, why is he approaching with that sword?

My anxious feelings were revealed in my trembling voice.

“Uh, where am I going? I’m just trying to find a new life now…”

“Leaving me? After taming me as you please, you’re looking for a new master?”

Eyes filled with a sticky gaze captured by darkness were staring intently at me.

What’s wrong with this guy?

An unknown heat was rippling in his blue eyes mixed with a teal color.

He gently grasped my surprised hand and suddenly brought his face close, whispering.

“This time, I’ll be your sword. Come on, where do you want the handle? Where do you want to grab?”

As he said this, he pressed his firm body tightly against me.

“Grab anywhere. I’ll let you wield me just like that.”

In that brief moment, I could understand.

“As long as you don’t think about escaping from me.”

…Oh, I’m doomed!

There are many types of transmigration in the world.

Princess, noble lady, even a count’s daughter.

I thought transmigration usually guaranteed rebirth as a rich and beautiful older sister.

“…Ah, stop joking.”

I muttered, looking at myself floating in mid-air.

No matter how I looked at it, from the front or back, even after doing an elephant trunk a hundred times and rolling backwards, I wasn’t an ordinary human right now.

I stared at my half-transparent palm for a long time and rubbed my eyes.

Yet my body, floating and sparkling in the air, remained unchanged.

Moreover, the most important point was.

That I had flowed out from the energy of that sword carelessly placed on the cave floor.

I closed my eyes again. And as I took a deep breath, my body floating in the air was instantly sucked into the sword.

My voice trapped in the sword echoed loudly in the pitch-black cave.

…Tell me it’s a joke.

Immediately jumping out of the sword again, I grabbed my head and shouted.

“Really, really, stop joking!”

But there was no one in this cave to listen to my words.

I finally sat down hopelessly.

As time passed, facts that were difficult to understand no matter how much I thought about them began to organize one by one.

So to summarize, I…

Became a ‘sword’.

It all started with a small slip of the tongue I made not long ago.

The novel 《The End of Salvation》 was my only pleasure after work.

It was a story about a male lead with unrivaled sword skills who was always in mortal danger, meeting a lovable female lead and saving each other.

This novel, which didn’t have particularly special content, wasn’t actually very popular.

↳ Author, it seems like the male lead loves the sword more than the female lead, is this right?

↳ If you ask the male lead to choose between the female lead and the sword, he’d probably choose the sword;;

↳ Why don’t you just go with the plot of the male lead falling in love with the sword?

“That’s right! Nocturne is better than the male lead!”

Like most of the comments, I didn’t like the male lead either.

Shouldn’t a male lead be head over heels for the female lead and show a devoted love?

But the male lead in this novel was a bit strange somewhere.

The male lead, set up with incredible sword skills to conquer the world, had an abnormal obsession with his sword.

In short, he was a ‘sword freak’ who couldn’t resist swords!

The novel received harsh criticism because of the male lead who loved his sword more than the female lead.

Yet the reason this novel was special to me was only one.

“…Ha, I’m going crazy. Please, please let me be even your finger.”

It was because of the sub male lead, Nocturne Frey.

This pitiful man, who would unconditionally become affectionate towards the female lead regardless of pride or anything else, makes such a heartbreaking love that he dares not even touch a fingertip of the female lead.

Unlike the ‘sword freak’ male lead!

I was fascinated by that love.

“No! I’ll just be your upper lip. I’ll be your upper lip, Nocturne!”

Then I could touch the lower lip, haha!

That day, like any other day, while whining about wanting to become a part of Nocturne while clutching my phone, I finally blurted out words that shouldn’t have been said.

“I just wish I could transmigrate into that novel as anything. Let me see our Nocturne!”

…And now I’m crouching alone in a cave.

Along with that ‘sword’ which is my main body.

I looked around the now familiar dark cave and banged my head against the hard cave wall.

“Why on earth did I say anything would be fine? Couldn’t I have just asked to transmigrate as a noble lady or princess?”

No, was transmigrating into a novel really something that could happen in the first place?

The feeling of facing an unacceptable reality was indescribable.

I felt so confused that I was about to burst into tears, but then I laughed because it was so ridiculous.

And a sword, of all things!

Who transmigrates into a sword, not even a person!

Of course, I know well that there’s nothing that can change now even if I blame myself, but still, it’s unfair!

The only thing that could be considered fortunate was that even though I wasn’t human, I was at least wearing one worn-out piece of clothing that looked vaguely like pajamas.

…Some fortune that is.

No matter how hard I tried to think positively, I just couldn’t.

“Is it because I wasn’t hit by a truck for reincarnation? Huh? God up there. Say something!”

Of course, there was no reply.

“When others transmigrate, they all become princesses, noble ladies, or at least maids, so why am I not even human!”

Again, there was no reply.

“Ah, I’m really doomed.”

Swallowing the curse lingering on the tip of my tongue at this frustrating reality, I decided to organize the situation step by step.

Given how things have turned out, it was important to grasp the reality.

This cave is probably the ‘Hermes’ cave hidden in the Delgado duchy.

And the male lead of the novel, ‘Dietrich Delgado’, will come to find me.

Dietrich Delgado was in a dire situation.

His stepmother and half-sibling, who coveted the position of head of the Delgado ducal family, raided the council of elders and demanded the position of family head, and eventually the council made one proposal.

It was to find the Delgado family’s treasured sword ‘Harpe’.

400 years ago, ‘Harpe’ suppressed a great evil and entered dormancy together.

Hidden in a place where no one could find it.

“But Dietrich finds it. So it means he does come to find me…”

The thought that Dietrich would come to take me out of this pitch-black cave someday made me feel a bit better.

At least once I get out, I’ll be able to do something.

I sighed deeply and quietly looked down at the sword lying at my feet.

‘It’s said to be 400 years old, but look at that shiny blade. I guess a treasured sword is a treasured sword.’

The condition of the sword was very neat and clean, exuding an atmosphere that seemed to shout ‘I’m a treasure!’ beyond just being clean.

He won’t not find such a treasured sword.

Let’s wait positively.

Unless he’s a fool, he won’t abandon such a treasured sword.

I believed without a doubt that Dietrich would definitely come to find me.

“Okay, good. Then when will he come to find me…”

…When?

Wait a minute. How do I know what time it is now?

My head went blank at the sudden realization.

Come to think of it, there was no way to know what time it was now.

How much longer I would have to wait in this dark cave, when Dietrich would come to find me.

What if it’s not long since this sword entered dormancy?

For example, what if it’s just been sealed in the cave right after suppressing the evil?

“…What? Save me! Dietrich, save me! Come quickly!”

Before my fuss and desperate cry could echo through the cave.

Creak, bang−!

A bright, white light hit my eyes so intensely that I couldn’t even open them.

What I saw as my vision gradually returned, looking at the wide open cave entrance with my eyes tightly squeezed…

“…Dietrich?”

Oh, he came pretty fast.