Chapter 9

This is a summary up to Chapter 20. If you are continuing to read, you can skip this.

The content of the past chapters is not included in this summary.

Ardys, a user of "Sword Magic," is one of the mercenaries who undertake various requests such as extermination, protection, and investigation for a fee.

On his way back from a certain investigation, he encounters and protects twin girls who are the survivors of a caravan attacked by bandits. In this world, twins are regarded as "cursed children" and are shunned.

At the same time that a mysterious woman who inexplicably regards him as her master joins them, the lord learns that Ardys is harboring the twins. Pursued, Ardys and his companions set up their home in a forest infested with monsters and dangerous beasts, and decide to move their base of operations to the capital.

Ardys steadily gains fame by slaying the three major strong demons that plague the kingdom and participating in the defense of a city-state. Four years later, Ardys, who reunites with his former partner, a golden beast, joins the war between the kingdom and the empire. His outstanding performance in battle earns him the nickname "The Thousand-Sword Magician."

After the battle, Ardys begins teaching swordsmanship to the duke's daughter, Minerva. In retaliation for an attack on Minerva, he destroys the organization responsible. At that moment, an unexplained phenomenon sends Ardys back to his original world. Along with Minerva, her guard Moa, and his partner, the beast Rona, who were also transported to that world, Ardys successfully returns. As a form of retaliation against the marquis who orchestrated the attack, Ardys participates in and wins a martial arts tournament that the marquis effectively organizes.

The marquis, having lost face, incites a fanatical priest of the church to label Ardys as a heretic and sends a hunting party to attack him. Although Ardys defeats the hunting party, the church's manipulation of information forces him to leave the capital with nowhere to go.

In search of a place to settle, Ardys and his companions travel north along the base of the Canobis Mountains and arrive at a small village where people live secretly in a dangerous area infested with monsters. Deciding to settle in a village that does not hold prejudices against twins, Ardys goes to the "Beast King" who rules the mountains to expand the village's survival area. After a battle, Ardys is recognized for his strength by the Beast King and successfully forms a new agreement.

Two years after settling in the village, Ardys learns of an impending war from the information brought by the merchant Michelle, who unexpectedly arrives in the village. Amidst the signs of war, the Marquis of Trias in Nigras Kingdom rebels. With the main forces of the kingdom's army dispatched to face the army of the Ermenia Empire, the kingdom sends the troops defending the capital to counter the Trias army. Taking advantage of this, a separate force of the empire launches a surprise attack on the capital from the sea. The capital, left with only a small garrison, falls. The duke's daughter Minerva and her guard Moa escape with the refugees but are surrounded by the pursuing imperial army. They are saved by Ardys at the last moment. With nowhere to go, Minerva and her group, along with the refugees, have no choice but to seek refuge in the northern frontier village.

To feed the swelling number of refugees, Ardys visits Marida, the head of the Litté Trading Company in the city-state of Reiting, to negotiate the purchase of heavy iron ore mined in the frontier village. As a condition, Ardys is forced to accept a request to serve as a bodyguard. Amid the attack by the Sanroger Principality's army, Ardys witnesses Marida's revenge on her parents' killers. After the fall of Reiting, Ardys and his companions flee to the northern frontier village of Grock.

The "Robles Alliance," composed of the Ermenia Empire, which destroyed Nigras, the Sanroger Principality, which occupied Reiting, the independent Kingdom of Trias from Nigras, and the island kingdom of Albaun, was causing battles across the continent with the aim of conquering it. As the number of refugees continues to increase, the village of Grock grows into a town, and the Trias army finally advances. Despite repelling them with the town's guard, Ardys is defeated without resistance by a man who suddenly appears. This man is Victor, one of Ardys's former mercenary companions.

Despite his defeat by Victor, Ardys continues to defend against the empire's invasion and focuses on the survival of Grock, along with the twins. Seeking to change the situation and also to avenge the previous attack, Ardys, along with Rona, storms the castle of Trias and slays the king. Incorporating Trias under their control, they begin the establishment of a new kingdom. Minerva and her guard, Ardys, head to the city-state of Kalvus to seek allies. After repelling the Robles Alliance's army in Kalvus and demonstrating their strength, Ardys and his companions finally manage to form an alliance.

Meanwhile, Filia, who remained in Trias, fulfills her assigned task and, by chance, returns to the village where she was born. The villagers, who shower her with cruel words and drive her away, are punished when beasts ravage and destroy the village.