Brimdal’s cabin.
I did my best to soothe the sobbing Elysia.
“Waaah… Waaaaah…”
“…My apologies. She gets so anxious when we’re at the mansion…”
“This is nothing.”
“Waaah… oooh… waaaah…”
Elysia buried her face in my knees and mumbled something, but I couldn’t understand a word of it. As I stroked her head, Luhannin bowed his head with a sorrowful expression.
“It seems we are once again indebted to your kindness.”
“I’ve received a lot of help from you as well. That’s fine, but what happened?”
“Well…”
Luhannin began to speak with difficulty.
“This charge of rebellion does not apply only to the head of the family. Several nobles in the capital have become suspects at once, and their mansions are being searched.”
I had heard about it earlier, but it was still an absurd story. I narrowed my brow and asked again, “Is such a thing even possible?”
“If it’s rebellion, yes. But even the Imperial Family cannot suppress so many nobles like this. However, now that the word ‘rebellion’ has been brought up, the best course of action is to lie low until the storm passes, rather than making any unnecessary moves.”
“Hmm. I’m just wondering, but.”
“A reasonable question. But no. I can tell you on my honor. There are few as loyal to the Empire, and to His Majesty, as the head of our house.”
Several nobles in the capital had been placed under house arrest on suspicion of rebellion. Though the charges were baseless and they were innocent, the word itself was so ominous that the correct course of action was to quietly endure the investigation at home and act later, even if it felt unjust… Aletus seemed to have judged it so.
As expected of a veteran noble, it was the right decision. I tapped my fingers on the table and asked, “Is there any common thread among the nobles accused of rebellion?”
“None. Other than being nobles, nothing at all.”
“Were they on good terms with each other?”
“Families that could be called sworn enemies are facing the same charges.”
“Hmm…”
Even if it was the Imperial Family, Lumia wouldn’t have enough power to cause such a catastrophe. She was too young. The Emperor didn’t seem like the type to do something like this either.
Aletus was unquestionably loyal, so framing him for treason would be like putting handcuffs on his own right arm. In that case—the First Princess? The person I had never met but who had expanded the orphanage and resolved the issue with the fallen ones so well.
The person who had been so mysteriously helpful to me? …Why? After pondering for a long while, I frowned.
“I don’t know.”
“Indeed.”
The motive was literally nowhere to be seen. Whether it was the princess or the Emperor, if they had rounded up nobles loyal to the Imperial Family, there must have been some aim. But targeting completely disparate nobles all at once made it difficult to understand.
“Is Lord Aletus safe?”
“Yes. It’s just that the mansion is currently in an uproar with the process of asserting his innocence, so, the young lady…”
Luhannin’s voice trailed off, and Elysia, who had suddenly lifted her head, wrapped her hands around my neck with reddened eyes. Why is she choking me.
“Je, Jern, Daddy is…”
“You don’t have to worry too much. Lord Aletus is a very capable man, so something like this won’t break him.”
“…You think so?”
Her expression slightly eased, and Elysia released her small hands. In that moment, I assured Luhannin.
“I may not be much, but I will do my best. Sir Brimdal is here as well.”
Brimdal, who was sharpening his sword in the corner, frowned deeply.
“Hey, why are you dragging me into this?”
“According to the knight’s code, you must protect a child in this situation.”
“Knight’s code? Ha, there’s only one rule a knight must follow. To be able to kill whomever you want, whenever you want.”
I had grown used to such heartless words, which made knights sound like human butchers. I explained to Luhannin, whose expression had turned a bit awkward.
“He may talk like that, but he’ll protect Lady Elysia more diligently than any other knight. This cabin is safer than a fortress guarded by a thousand knights, so please rest assured.”
“That’s reassuring. Thank you, truly.”
Luhannin bowed his head repeatedly and left. Watching him go, I sank into silent contemplation. Normally, no matter how much Elysia followed me or that Brimdal was here, he wouldn’t have left her in a cabin like this.
It seemed quite a number of nobles were being investigated.
“Jern, I…”
“Right. Get some rest today.”
After Luhannin left and the tension eased, Elysia drifted off to sleep. I laid her down on the bed and came back out. Brimdal drew his sword.
“Are we doing it here?”
“It won’t be loud enough to wake her.”
The unexpected guest had delayed my schedule, but what needed to be done, had to be done. As I slowly circled Brimdal, he threw a question at me.
“Isn’t this something Red Lotus did?”
“If they were capable of that, we should just wash our necks and wait for them to kill us.”
Accusing nobles of treason. If Red Lotus could do that, it meant they controlled the Imperial Family, and if that were possible, there would be little point in resisting. We might as well let them kill us.
“Is that so.”
Brimdal replied curtly, his sword gleaming like a mirror in the torchlight.
“Today, we’ll split it four times.”
“…That’s too much.”
Despite my whining, Brimdal paid no heed and retorted.
“If you’re going to blame something, blame your own growth.”
The pressure from the standing Brimdal was—no joke. For this young body to stand against a knight who was easily two and a half times my size was in itself incredibly stressful. That was his aim.
Brimdal, revealing his sword, took his stance. He places his sword under the orange lamplight, takes a step, And it glittered.
“Hup!”
Swish.
I twisted my head so fast it felt like my neck would break, but a few strands of my hair were still cut off. If I had been 0.1 seconds, or even less, slower, my scalp would have been sliced. Brimdal, who had swung his sword with undisguised killing intent, let out a smirk.
“You dodge well. I’m coming three times in a row.”
“…”
I gritted my teeth and drew upon my Tide Sense. Splitting it four times referred to one second. He would tilt the sword, polished to a mirror-like shine, to catch the torchlight, and after the flash, a killing strike would fly at me in 0.25 seconds.
For a normal human, it would be nearly impossible to react.
“Make predicting the trajectory into a single motion. Then, predict that motion.”
In that glittering 0.25 seconds, I had to calculate the sword’s movement and find its trajectory. If I didn’t, I would die. This wasn’t training.
Brimdal’s attacks were serious attempts to kill me, without holding anything back. -Flick! My cheek was cut, and blood flowed. I felt a hot sting.
Brimdal looked at me with pity and once again placed his sword under the lamplight.
“Don’t think of your ability as an ability. If you do, you’ll consciously use it." "Consciousness itself is a process. When you unknowingly grab hot iron, do you consciously think you must let go before you do? Act first, then think.”
This was our daily training. As my magic-reinforced body grew stronger, just getting beaten up no longer gave me the same sense of being on the brink of death. Thus, Brimdal brought a decisive and overwhelming line between life and death that was more certain than any violence, one I could never get used to.
A psychopathic dwarf with killing intent. Though it was daily training, I felt death several times every day. Because— “If you die, I’ll send that young lady back.”
“…You have a sick sense of humor.”
Before we started training, we had made a promise. He would swing with the true intent to kill, so I shouldn’t resent him if I died. I was also at fault for saying ‘yes’ to that.
I thought it was a figure of speech. For Elysia’s sake, I couldn’t die today. I watched the sword glinting under the lamplight.
Over and over. After about an hour of training, my body was covered in minor cuts. I was so drenched in sweat that I barely noticed them, but the growth was certain.
“I feel like my Tide Sense is improving more than my magic-reinforced body…”
As I sat on a chair, breathing heavily, Brimdal asked with a curious look.
“That can be improved?”
“Apparently so.”
“Tsk, what a waste. Pearls before swine.”
In truth, using Tide Sense with my life on the line had greatly increased its precision. It was a world of difference from the slow progress of my magic-reinforced body training. Sighing, I grabbed a towel and opened the cabin door.
“I’m going to wash up.”
“Go on, but how long are you keeping that child here?”
“I’ll send her back after this is resolved. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“Well, you seem to have something in mind.”
“It’s not like that.”
A princess, the Emperor. Those were stories too far removed from the person I was now. I chewed on the thought bitterly and said.
“…No matter how I think about it, there are too few clues, so I can’t figure it out right now.”
“Is that so? Then let me give you a piece of advice.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t worry about what you can’t do. Just do what you can.”
“…”
It was advice befitting of Brimdal. I looked at the sleeping Elysia and muttered.
“You’re right.”
There was nothing I could do for now. Preparing myself so I wouldn’t miss an opportunity when it came. That was a much better course of action than wallowing in my own powerlessness.
It was difficult to procure ingredients at the cabin, so I had to go up to the capital every week. It would be different if I bought ingredients that could be stored long-term, but— Brimdal had an ironclad rule.
“Aren’t you buying a little too much meat?”
“You’ll be thankful when you’re older. Training builds the mind, but meat builds the body.”
He replied as such while loading a full 100 kilograms of meat onto the cart. Of that, I would eat less than two kilograms. Seeing him also load all sorts of alcohol and snacks, it looked like it would take a while.
“I’m going to run a quick errand.”
“Go ahead.”
With a sigh, I headed for Dersia’s mansion. I knew they would contact me when she woke up, but I was starting to get anxious. She had been sleeping for so long that I was beginning to wonder if she would ever wake up.
Still, this wasn’t right. While strengthening my body helped resist the burden— In the end, it was only a temporary measure. I needed to learn magic.
“Excuse me, Sir Jern?”
“?”
As I was walking, worrying about the future, a blond boy about my age who was lingering by the fountain in the plaza spotted me and rushed over. His gait, the sword on his back, and the way he constantly scanned his surroundings. Not quite a knight.
A squire.
Someone I should be polite to. I asked carefully, “Yes, who might you be?”
“I’m, ah, Malton. We faced each other in the last tournament.”
“Ah. Sir Malton!”
“You remember me. We only met for such a short time, I didn’t think you would…”
“How could I forget an opponent I crossed swords with?”
Of course, I didn’t remember him at all. Still, I gave him a pleasant smile. He had likely fought with all his heart and remembered my name, so if I were to ask, ‘Who are you?’, I would surely shatter his heart.
“What can I do for you?”
“Could I possibly borrow a moment of your time?”
“Well…”
I need to go see Dersia. I was scratching my head with a slightly troubled expression, about to refuse.
“Please!”
Malton bowed his head a full 100 degrees right there in the street.
“I’ll make it quick. There’s something I absolutely must talk to you about!”
“Ah, yes… I understand, so please raise your head.”
If he was going to be this insistent, I had no choice. He probably just wanted some tips on sword fighting. I decided to see Dersia later and followed behind a beaming Malton.
“Yes! This way, please!”
As if he couldn’t be late, Malton headed into an alley and arrived at an empty lot.
“I brought him!”
In the lot, besides Malton, many other squires were sitting around. But… they didn’t look very happy.
“Well done.”
The largest squire glared at me with eyes that burned like fire. I glanced behind me. Malton was now among them, looking at me with a similar gaze.
Looks like I’ve gotten myself into something troublesome. The area was wide open, so escaping wouldn’t be a problem. But dealing with this kind of thing in the future would just be tiring.
I sighed and tried to start with a conversation.
“What is it? I’m a busier man than I look. Please make it quick.”
“He’s gotten arrogant.”
“You win one tournament and you think you’re a real squire?”
The squires approached menacingly, surrounding me. Their ages varied, most seeming a year or two older than me, but—as squires, their physiques were immense. I felt like I was surrounded by adults.
“It seems you have a complaint with me.”
“We do!”
So it’s about my background after all. Honestly, it was stranger that something like this hadn't happened sooner. No matter how successful one becomes—no, precisely because they are successful—the existence of a lowborn who surpasses them is bound to be displeasing.
In cases like this, a good beating is always the answer. I sighed and was about to place my hand on the hilt of my sword when— “Choose, right here and now! Are you a mage or a knight!”
“…?”
The largest squire pointed a finger at me and blurted out those words. Wondering what he was talking about, I asked back, “What choice?
I’m both.”
“You can’t be.”
“Why not.”
“It’s obvious why a mage would become a knight! ‘Knights are just a refuge for inferior runts who couldn’t become mages, so I’ll go and crush them one by one.’ That’s it, isn’t it!”
Hmm.
So these guys were more bothered by a mage becoming a knight than my orphan status. Did they have some kind of inferiority complex about mages? To them, the existence of a mage squire who beats up other knight squires’ seemed to be too much to handle.
I narrowed my brow and denied it.
“That’s not it. In the first place, don’t you think it’s strange to discuss inferiority and superiority between mages and knights? Their roles are so different, it’s like comparing a baker and a lawyer just because they’re both professions.”
“What do you mean, that’s not it! Then why did you enter the tournament and beat us up!”
“I didn’t really want to participate. And I have absolutely no intention of becoming a knight and taking your spots.”
It was just a sort of performance to show that the squire Brimdal had taken in was not a weakling. The problem was that I never thought I would actually win, and…
“I won’t be participating in the future, so don’t worry too much. Can I go now?”
The squire shook his head and held out his hand.
“Hmph, you have no intention of being a knight anymore? Then hand it over!”
“Hand what over.”
“The reward you got for beating us in the last knight tournament!”
“?”
This was the first I’d heard of any reward.
“What reward?”
“I knew you’d play dumb. If you really have no intention of becoming a knight, then you don’t need something like that!”
“No, I really didn’t receive anyth… ah.”
Could it be that? I rummaged through the pocket of my robe and pulled out a piece of parchment that had been crumpled into a ball.
“I did receive this certificate for winning—” “Gaaasp…!!!”
The squire’s eyes went wide. He quickly snatched it from my hand and carefully flattened it, as if he were handling a delicate sculpture made of foam.
“You, you crazy bastard! How could you treat it like this?!”
“Qu, quick! Get a heavy book! We have to flatten it!”
The squires quickly gathered their strength and started to smooth out the certificate. As if I were no longer of any concern, they struggled with it as though they were trying to save a dying person, not a piece of paper. I looked down at them with a pathetic expression and asked Malton, who was on the verge of fainting.
“I’m the one who won anyway, so what are you going to do with that? Do you need a trophy with someone else’s name on it?”
“You, you, you idiot?! Then why on earth did you even participate in the tournament?!”
To clear any suspicion. Malton turned pale and clutched his head.
“I just thought it was some minor tournament, since they just gave me this piece of paper and there was no award ceremony.”
“Award ceremony? With that certificate, you can receive a commendation from an Imperial Knight!”
“Ah, I see. A commendation. That’s important.”
So it really was nothing special. My indifferent reaction made Malton have a fit.
“Not just any Imperial Knight, the Imperial Guard! Don’t you know what this means?”
“I do not.”
“It’s a chance to show the most noble people that you are the winning knight!" "Not everyone who gets the certificate joins the Imperial Knights, but everyone who has joined the Imperial Knights got the certificate!!”
“…”
A way to make an impression on the Imperial Knights as a promising rookie. If that was the case, I could understand why the squires were so desperate. Of course, I had not the slightest intention of becoming an Imperial Knight.
I would refuse even if they offered. Why would I protect the Imperial Family when I had my own life to protect?
However.
“Hmm…”
I felt like I had found a small clue. I placed several things on a scale. I weighed safety and danger against each other.
The scale tilted, and one side touched down.
“Done! It’s flattened like new!”
“Sob, it’s beautiful, so beautiful…”
Just then, the squires had finished neatly flattening the winner’s certificate. I approached them as they were overcome with emotion.
“Everyone.”
“Ah, Jern, I think we misunderstood you.”
Just moments ago they were calling me a madman. The squires, now with faces as serene as Buddha, replied with magnanimous expressions.
“To give up such a precious certificate without asking for anything in return, you’re not a mage. You’re a true knight!”
“No. I am a mage.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. And.”
I smiled brightly and held out my right hand.
“I’ll be needing that back.”
It seemed they had misunderstood, but I never gave it to them. They snatched it on their own when I showed it to them.
“It’s mine, after all.”