Chapter 19 - The Real Thing Is Different (1)

How much of my soul would I have to draw out to dispel the presence of my uncle, who could be called a Sword Master of this era?

Two hundred years? Three hundred? Five hundred?

No. Even a hundred years would be too much.

What I drew out was only a portion equivalent to a few decades at most, out of the centuries I had lived.

Even with that alone, I was able to free myself completely from the presence my uncle had stirred up.

My uncle's eyes flew wide open. His face was full of shock and disbelief.

If I had been my usual self, it would have felt rather satisfying. Seeing that sort of face on my uncle, who always looked down at me so arrogantly, would have been quite a pleasant sight.

But right now, I felt no emotion at all.

"..."

The sight of my uncle opening and closing his mouth did not feel real.

No, it was not only my uncle.

The Royal Knights, who seemed to have only just noticed something was strange and were looking this way with narrowed eyes, and Adelia, who was looking at me with a frightened face, all of them felt unreal.

"Do not covet her, and do not desire her."

Even the voice that flowed from my mouth felt distant, as if I were hearing it underwater.

"I hate it when anyone takes what is mine."

It felt detached, as if I were looking at the world beyond a mirror.

There was no vitality, and no sign of life.

The only thing I could feel was a chill that seemed to freeze my soul.

My body trembled. My teeth clacked together. Though the season was still hot, white breath flowed from my mouth.

It was a sign.

A sign that this weak flesh was being eroded by the chill and darkness clinging to a soul it could not endure.

It seemed this was as far as I could go.

I buried the portion of my soul I had released back down into the depths.

The chill invading my body vanished as if it had been a lie. The muffled world, too, had returned to normal before I knew it.

"One ordinary knight."

As I was panting roughly, my uncle opened his mouth.

"Can save the lives of ten soldiers."

His deeply sunken gaze looked straight at me.

"One outstanding knight can save the lives of a hundred soldiers."

His eyes were greedy, yet showed not a speck of wickedness.

"She may be able to save a thousand soldiers, or even more."

My uncle's voice was the same as his eyes.

He was being stubborn and unreasonable. He himself knew that he was being unreasonable. Even so, he was堂々堂々 proud.

Is it conviction...?

The sense of responsibility of a frontier Commander overseeing the north; my uncle had a Great Cause.

"A harsh winter will soon come. Starving monsters will cross the border..."

"No need."

My uncle's face went blank. It seemed he had not expected me to refuse so immediately.

"Countless people may be saved because of her."

After composing his expression, my uncle spoke to me again.

"I said no."

My answer was the same this time as well.

The Great Cause of the frontier Commander responsible for the north belonged to my uncle, not to me.

I could not sympathize with my uncle's Great Cause at all. Nor did I have any intention of giving up something I possessed for that grand purpose.

"You do not understand her value..."

"Your Excellency, Count Ballorhard."

A clear voice cut through my uncle's rough voice and intervened. It was Adelia.

Hm?

The fact that she, who until very recently had been busy only watching her superiors' moods, had interrupted my uncle, a count of all people, was truly unexpected.

But there was something else even more unexpected than that.

Look at that dry, cold expression.

On her face as she looked at my uncle, there was not the slightest trace of her usual timidity.

Good. We can simply ask the person in question directly. My uncle, who had not a shred of tact, asked her directly.

"Will you not come north with me?"

His face showed that he firmly believed, without a doubt, that his Great Cause would earn her sympathy.

But what a pity. It was an argument that would not work in the slightest.

"I do not have even the slightest intention of leaving His Highness's side."

Because to Adelia, the Great Cause was 「me」.

"My body and heart already belong to His Highness."

At her voice, so firm that hostility could almost be felt in it, I could not help but grin broadly.

It was worth forcing myself to draw out even my soul.

The reason I had drawn out part of my soul, even knowing my current flesh could not withstand it, had not been to resist that paltry bit of presence.

It was because of Adelia. Because of that timid and dependent woman, that war maniac crazed for blood.

[Slave Mentality] was bound to submit to a being of a higher order.

And the order of my soul was sufficient to imprint upon her who her 「master」 was.

"I cannot follow His Excellency the Count's words."

At Adelia's words, my uncle's face went blank.

It seemed that failing to have his Great Cause acknowledged by not one but two people in a row was quite a shock.

"So she says?"

I chuckled.

"Thousands of living lives are at stake, so how can everyone be so thoughtless!"

At my uncle's words, which had even become pitiful, I spoke while still not wiping the smile from my face.

"If you are that worried, then instead of doing this here, why not return to your territory at once and take the field yourself. A knight on your level, Uncle, should still be able to save a few thousand."

At the blatant mockery, my uncle glared at me. I cleared my throat and belatedly composed my expression.

"Let us settle this while we are at it."

I understood how he felt, but my uncle, who found fault with every little thing, was no ordinary nuisance. It was necessary to draw a line here.

"The request Uncle received has already ended. In practical terms, there is no longer any reason for Uncle to come here every single day like this."

The request my uncle had received from the Queen was to discipline me while I was under probation. In regard to that, my uncle had said that the best he could do was help me lose weight.

And now my probation had ended, and I had lost weight beyond recognition.

"If you still insist on coming, I will receive you as a guest. But Uncle, you must also observe the manners of a guest."

Do not nag, do not interfere needlessly, and do not covet my property, Adelia. At the conditions I set out, my uncle frowned and looked at Adelia.

He still seemed to have a great deal of lingering attachment.

"What will you do? Shall I receive you even as a guest? Or..."

When I made a show of glancing toward the distant entrance, my uncle was silent for a long while before he answered.

"I will remain as a guest."

"If you break even one rule, I will throw you out immediately."

At my words, my uncle looked ready to burst with anger.

But the sight of him barely suppressing it without daring to get angry, while glancing sideways at Adelia, was truly a spectacle.

Heh heh. Laughter came out on its own.

* * *

Even after being humiliated like that, my uncle came to the palace as always. It was to see Adelia.

But Adelia paid him only the bare minimum courtesy and treated my uncle as if he did not exist. My uncle groaned and hovered around her. The sight of him struggling to somehow strike up even a word with her was pitiful.

From time to time, my uncle beat his own chest with a face that looked like he had much to say. It seemed his insides were bursting because he had something to say but could not say it.

How frustrating. Frustrating enough to kill a man.

I watched that sight with satisfaction.

Watching my arrogant uncle fumble helplessly as he hovered around Adelia was a source of energy in its own way.

"Tsk. Her elbow bends before the sword has completed its turn, so how could proper force possibly be carried into the blade like that?"

After staying quiet for about two weeks, my uncle sidled over and quietly muttered to himself.

"Are you speaking to me right now?"

Instead of answering, my uncle pretended to be distracted.

Hm. Her stance certainly has fallen apart.

Just as my uncle said, Adelia's posture had become unsteady after her stamina dropped from repeatedly swinging the sword.

"Adelia. Straighten your elbow."

At my brief correction, Adelia quickly adjusted her posture.

"Would it not be better to relax her shoulders a little more?"

"Her gaze keeps wandering on its own."

When I relayed his words, my uncle excitedly started chattering. I stared blankly at him.

"Ahem."

Realizing the meaning contained in my gaze, my uncle cleared his throat and stepped back.

I shook my head and focused on my own training again.

Adelia was adapting to the sword far too quickly. At this rate, it would not be long before my meager ability could no longer guide her, so I felt as if a fire had been lit under my feet.

"Whew."

I took a deep breath. Energy gathered at the tip of my sword. Sword Resonance rang out.

Breathing in, I struck down with the sword. Breathing out, I withdrew the sword. Then I repeated the same motion again.

How long had I been swinging the sword like that? A clear sound slipped into my ears.

HMMMM.

It was unmistakably Sword Resonance.

"Hm?"

When I turned my head, Adelia was looking at me with her sword raised straight.

Amazingly, the Sword Resonance had flowed from her sword.

The Sword Resonance soon faded away.

"Haa, haa."

Even as she panted roughly, Adelia was still looking at me.

"Uh, well done."

At my praise, she smiled shyly. She seemed pleased.

But I could not smile.

It was true that I had taught her how to imbue mana into a sword. But even so, I had not expected her to succeed in such a short time.

Although she only managed to maintain it for an instant because she did not have enough mana, success was still success.

It was truly terrifying talent.

Damn it. This really makes my skin crawl.

It felt as if a knife-wielding madwoman was chasing me from behind. A needless chill rose up my back.

"Do not tell me..."

Just then, I heard my uncle's voice. When I turned my head, I saw my uncle's expression frozen stiff.

"You gave her a Mana Heart too..."

My uncle's voice trembled in the end, despite his effort to suppress it. I answered indifferently.

"What of it?"

"Was it not enough for you alone to learn such a worthless art!"

At my uncle's words, I pointed toward the distant entrance with my finger.

"Leave."

Though his body flinched at my words, my uncle still forced out what he wanted to say.

"There was a far better path for her. She had potential beyond what you could even imagine. You ruined all of it."

His voice was calmer by a degree, but the anger contained within it was deeper than before.

Instead of answering, I pointed to the entrance once again.

"Shall I have you dragged out?"

When I tried to call the Royal Knights, my uncle said that even if he had to leave, he would leave on his own feet, and sharply turned away.

"Tsk."

As I clicked my tongue while watching that sight, Adelia quietly approached and asked.

"Is what I learned a worthless art?"

At her words, I shook my head.

"No. Absolutely not."

The Mana Heart seated in her chest was exactly the same as the one held by her ancestor, the Sword Marquis Agnes Bayern.

Though it was small and insignificant now, with the passage of time, it was a genuine Mana Heart that could display tremendous power just as her ancestor had.

"Then why does His Excellency the Count say that?"

Unlike her usual self, she had many questions today. Still, perhaps because she was the descendant of the Sword Marquis, she seemed to have quite a bit of enthusiasm when it came to the sword.

"Because he does not know."

I spoke while looking at my uncle's back as he disappeared around the distant entrance.

"The people of this era have completely forgotten what a true Mana Heart is."

The one that felled a mighty mad dragon was a Mana Heart, and the one that brought down the Giant King, ruler of the continent, was also a Mana Heart.

To call such a Mana Heart a worthless art was truly absurd.

"If they had not forgotten, they would never have thrown it away like an old shoe."

"I see."

Adelia answered in a tone that said she did not quite understand, but would believe me if I said so.

"You will know soon too."

I had no doubt that the day would soon come when she would also see what a true Mana Heart was.

But.

That day came much sooner than I had expected.

"Did you not act as if you would never come again?"

My uncle, who had left in anger, appeared after nearly a week. In his hand, he held a pitch-black wooden sword.

"Take up your sword."

As I stared at him, wondering what he was trying to do now, my uncle spoke in an even tone.