“Alright, I’ll get going now.”
It was definitely a moment that made my heart swell just a moment ago. But now, after a few minutes, it just feels awkward and embarrassing.
As Rianna cautiously steps back, Isaac lies back down on the bed.
“Be, be careful on your way.”
What is there to be careful about when you’re just going back to your room? Isaac himself doesn’t know, but he’s just saying whatever comes to mind.
Rianna grabs the doorknob. She hesitates for a moment before turning her head cautiously.
Her cheeks flush with a blush. Her small voice is as clear as tapping on a stone bridge.
“Hey, Isaac…”
“Yeah?”
I thought she had more to say, but Rianna just stares at Isaac without continuing.
“Why?”
“……”
“Rianna?”
Only when her name is called does Rianna flinch. She lowers her head, seemingly regretful, and mutters.
“You’re back.”
“……”
“I’ll, I’ll get going now.”
Rianna leaves as if running away. Watching her leave, Isaac sighs and relaxes his tense body.
‘Rianna.’
That’s a nickname from when we were dating, isn’t it? It’s embarrassing and absurd that I called her by that old nickname without realizing it.
‘Get a grip, Isaac. Don’t think weird thoughts.’
Rianna’s appearance was undoubtedly captivating. What man wouldn’t be shaken by the sight of one of the kingdom’s famous beauties holding back tears?
But he had already fallen for her once before.
‘Absolutely not.’
Isaac takes a deep breath and clearly organizes his emotions.
‘As fellow knights. I was just happy. After all, she’s the knight I admired.’
“Sigh.”
While muttering to himself to get a grip, the door suddenly opens again, and Vivian, the medical officer, enters.
“I heard you woke up.”
“Rianna told you?”
“Huh? No, Miss Silbern told me.”
Silbern? For a moment, he’s taken aback, but he extends his right arm to Vivian to make it easier for her to examine.
“You’re still in pain, right?”
“Yes, it still hurts.”
“To put it simply, it’s like cracking a rock with an egg.”
“……”
“Your right arm is the egg. It shattered under an unbearable impact. I’ll use healing magic once my mana recovers, but there might be some aftereffects.”
He’s suddenly scared. The memory of giving up everything due to injury is still vivid, isn’t it?
Seeing the shadow on Isaac’s face, Vivian adds an explanation.
“There’s no helping it. If anything, you handled something that wasn’t permitted.”
“Are we talking about talent again?”
Vivian, who could be called a talent believer, seemed dissatisfied that Isaac, who had extremely low mana, had shown such sword skills.
“Yes, we’re talking about talent.”
“You saw it with your own eyes.”
“That’s why…”
Vivian, pressing her forehead with her hand, responds with a sigh and a reluctant voice.
“That’s why it’s confusing. What you showed seemed closer to effort than talent.”
“……”
“Mages usually don’t break their own stubbornness. Because we think and worry more than others before coming up with answers!”
She hurriedly organizes the medicine, seemingly trying to hide her embarrassment with an awkward demeanor.
“So, remember! How amazing it is to break a mage’s stubbornness. I’m not someone who just gets swayed or changes opinions easily!”
After cutting off the bandage wrapped around the splint on Isaac’s right arm and rewrapping it with a new one, Vivian steps back, her thoughts seemingly organized.
“Keep coming for treatment. That way, we can see how far your so-called effort can go. And how wrong I was…”
As she finishes wrapping the bandage, her gaze at Isaac becomes serious.
“Your back as you climbed the wall-.”
A powerless stride challenging the impossible.
“That, in many ways, left a deep impression on me.”
Watching Vivian’s back as she returns to her duties, Isaac asks.
“Hey-.”
“Yes?”
“Even if things have gotten bad, calling your wife by a nickname isn’t strange, right?”
“……”
Vivian, who had been looking at Isaac in a slouched posture, sniffs and nods.
“You didn’t listen to a word I said, did you?”
Sorry, but I didn’t have the time to focus on that.
The great swarm has been dealt with.
The royal family sent supplies to celebrate and console, and the Malidan Wall was in a festive mood for several days in the form of a victory feast.
A huge bonfire was lit in the center of the training ground, and except for the minimum number of personnel on duty, everyone could rest until it burned out. They started with firewood and added long-burning fossils, so it’s been burning non-stop for three days.
To the point where Uldiran set up guards suspecting someone might be adding firewood every dawn just to rest more.
Anyway.
The Malidan Wall, which was hard-earned, was spending each day in a relaxed atmosphere, but of course, with the great swarm gone, farewell was also approaching.
Reconnaissance Unit 5 is gathered together.
While various dispatched nobles are leaving, Meladik Drakemore’s time to leave has also come.
The Drakemore family urgently called him back, so he couldn’t even share a few drinks and had to leave.
“It feels bittersweet to actually leave.”
As the promising heir of the Drakemore family, he came to the north to gain practical experience. He gained a lot of practical experience for his age, and it was a time of realization in many ways.
“You worked hard, Meladik.”
“You worked hard too, Captain. It feels like just yesterday when I challenged you on the first day.”
“It was a good thing you listened after getting beaten up.”
Meladik smiles and shakes hands with Silbern. After shaking hands with each person, he stands in front of Isaac and, unlike the others, grabs Isaac’s hand tightly with both hands.
“Thanks to you, I really learned a lot.”
“It’s not about Drakemore’s swordsmanship, but what Meladik’s sword is. Thanks to you, I feel like my eyes have opened.”
Meladik’s heartfelt gratitude for the various advice and lessons he received.
Isaac responds with a smile.
“Don’t confuse learning with imitation. When you swing your sword, there is only you there.”
“Huh?”
“It’s something someone I know said. I remember it because it resonated with me.”
“……”
“Remember that you are Drakemore. Don’t try to fit yourself into it; where you go is the path of Drakemore.”
Sniff.
“Ah, the wind.”
Trying to hide his surging emotions, he pretends the wind is brushing past his eyes.
And so, Meladik Drakemore left.
Many dispatched nobles had left early, tired of the north, but this was the first time someone from Reconnaissance Unit 5 had left.
Even though they had only spent a little over a month together, it surprisingly left a void in their hearts.
“That’s what you said to me last time, right?”
On the way back after seeing Meladik off, Silbern quietly approaches and asks.
“You told me not to forget that I am Caldias.”
The advice to not try to fit herself into Caldias’ spear technique, but to become Caldias herself and move forward.
That advice, still deeply embedded in Silbern’s heart, was a source of pride and a catalyst for her to strive even harder in her training.
“Who said that?”
“It was written in a book.”
“A book? What book?”
“Please recommend it to me. I need to read more, miss.”
When Anna chimes in from the side, Silbern pouts and grumbles.
Isaac laughs helplessly and replies.
“I can’t. It’s a book that doesn’t exist anymore.”
To go deeper, it was an autobiography.
And also a will.
“Hmm?”
Silbern didn’t ask further.
She didn’t think she’d actually read it even if she got her hands on it.
“More importantly, your father is calling for you.”
“The border lord?”
“Yes, he’s been asking about your condition.”
Isaac, still with a splint and bandages on his right arm.
He’s been receiving treatment whenever possible, but he hasn’t undergone healing magic yet.
Since it’s a mana-intensive spell, it will take a few days to recover, so he’s only receiving basic treatment for now.
“Did I cause him worry?”
“No, more like he wants to beat you up as soon as possible.”
“…Because of this?”
Isaac points to the silver sword resembling an ice crystal hanging at his waist.
Silbern, with her arms crossed, nods with a pout.
“Right?”
“Ahem, Silbern. This thing…”
“This thing? Did you just call it ‘this thing’? I’m sure I gave it a name.”
“……”
“Don’t like it? Then give it back. I’ll have Antonio melt it right away—!”
“Alright! I got it!”
Isaac clears his throat.
Anna, watching from the side, smirks, and Sharen and Jonathan glance over.
Lianna has already slipped away.
“Is it because of this ‘Respected and Beautiful Goddess Silberin’ that he’s calling for you?”
“Yes, that’s right. ‘Respected and Beautiful Goddess Silberin’ is practically leaking frost silver light.”
“Uh, Silbern. I’m really grateful, but how about changing the name?”
“No.”
Silbern, with a displeased expression, strides past him.
“Wait, Silbern. Hold on—!”
Watching Isaac hurriedly chase after the seemingly sulking Silbern, Anna inwardly admires.
‘She’s really got his weakness figured out.’
The tranquil sunset bathes Helmunth’s mansion.
On Arandel’s desk lies a letter filled with flowery language announcing the victory in the north.
Thanks to the resolution of the Great Nest, the Sword Festival proceeds without a hitch.
Considering the special circumstances of the Great Nest, the slight delay is actually fortunate.
“Did you call for me, Father?”
The eldest son, Loengreen Helmunth, enters.
His confident smile and cheerful steps suggest he’s also heard the news of the Great Nest’s resolution in the north.
“It’s truly fortunate. I was worried the Sword Festival might be postponed, but now it can proceed without—”
“You—.”
Arandel cuts him off, dismissing his unnecessary words as if he didn’t hear them.
“What are you wielding?”
Loengreen stands tall, straightens his back, and answers with a bright, confident smile.
“The sword of Helmunth.”
“……”
Did he answer wrong?
Under Arandel’s heavy gaze, Loengreen gulps and adds.
“O-of course. Compared to Father’s sword, I am still lacking—!”
“Sigh.”
A short sigh.
Arandel closes his eyes briefly and utters a single sentence.
“Don’t become a copy.”
“…Huh?”
That was it.
Arandel, having nothing more to say, turns his attention back to the letter on his desk.
Loengreen, standing dumbfounded, bows and exits.
“What does that mean?”
Clench!
Loengreen, with a twisted expression, clenches his fist until it feels like his bones might shatter.
“Helmunth is my father.”
Burying his frustration in his chest, Loengreen heads out for training once more.
Mother will return tomorrow.
When she does, he plans to ask her to try and understand Father’s inscrutable heart.
‘Mother wants me to become the family head.’
