Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Unshakable Knot
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Chapter 23
“But I can't just sit around and play while I'm waiting. Hmmmm~”
Peep...!
“Oh, is that you, Alterio? Hmm? Haven't you already eaten?”
Peep! Peep!
“You want me to take that out of your mouth? No. There are rules that must be followed in this world.”
When Alterio was very small, that might have been unnecessary, but now that he had grown larger than a large dog, Beonald kept him on a leash and with a muzzle whenever he wasn't personally taking care of him.
Since not even a single person could be allowed to get hurt, Beonald was thoroughly training Alterio not to attack people or livestock.
Peep! Peep!
“...I said no...”
Flapping the one wing he had left, Alterio expressed his dissatisfaction. Beonald hurriedly and diligently picked up the feathers that fell to the ground.
After all, they were griffon feathers. They would make excellent Alchemy materials, so he collected every last one, neatly organized them, and stored them away.
Of course, while doing so, Beonald felt somewhat ashamed of himself for picking up feathers simply because they were valuable despite being a High Noble, but there was nothing he could do about it right now.
“Sigh~ These can be used as medicine or decorations, after all~ And I need a lot of money, too.”
Peep!
‘More importantly, that one remaining wing really bothers me. When he was small, it just looked like a decoration... but as he's growing, it's becoming huge. And on top of that... that wing is incredibly powerful.’
Beonald carefully touched Alterio's wing, thinking that it would be a waste to simply leave this one remaining wing as it was.
The wing had to be large and incredibly strong in order to lift a body that was almost as heavy as a great feline predator into the air.
‘It's light, too. And I can feel mana coming from his body. Is a magical beast truly a magical beast after all? I heard there's supposedly a mana stone near the heart. A living creature capable of naturally using mana... that's truly incredible.’
Peep?
While researching how griffons flew and the principles behind their flight, Beonald wondered if there was some way he could make use of this wing.
He considered attaching a fake wing to the side where Alterio had none, but only the faintest trace remained there, making it impossible to attach a wing or even attempt regeneration.
‘Hmm... If it had been cut off, maybe, but it never grew in the first place... Then what am I supposed to do with just this one wing...?’
Peep... Peeyuu~
“That's right, that's right. You're being patient. Keep enduring. Let's go hunting again tonight.”
Peep!
Flap!
Whether because he was in a good mood or not, Alterio spread his wing wide once again. As Beonald was thinking that he wished Alterio could use that wing for something else, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
‘That's it. What if I harden the feathers and have him use them as a shield? Since it's an organ he can't use for flying anyway, using it for defense wouldn't be a bad idea. Or I could attach something like mithril and turn it into a blade. Hmm~ Before he becomes an adult, I'll train him to use his wing, and afterward, I'll make some kind of equipment to put on top of it. And later on...’
Just imagining Alterio growing larger and going onto the battlefield while riding a fully armored one-winged griffon made Beonald's heart race.
Even cavalry and heavy cavalry alone were considered the flower of the battlefield in this era. If they armored a griffon that grew even larger than a horse and sent it charging at the forefront of the battlefield, its destructive power would be tremendous.
And since horses were even included in a griffon's diet, the thought of enemy horses being terrified by it made Beonald realize that Alterio was an extraordinary treasure.
‘Even if he can merely disrupt enemy cavalry or reduce their momentum, his tactical value will be enormous. Anyway, I'll have to practice with him while training him to use his wing.’
And so, a new task was added to Beonald's daily routine: becoming Alterio's trainer.
Teaching Alterio different ways to use his wing with the help of food as a reward went quite smoothly.
Everything was proceeding smoothly, except for one thing: swordsmanship.
The derivative version, Neumel Tenth Form, still wasn't progressing at all.
‘...If possible, I want to break through the Tenth Form before I go to the main family. Sigh~ Do I need to put everything else aside and focus on this?’
There was so much work to do that even a whole day wasn't enough.
Hunting, gathering and processing herbs, cultivation research, Pharmacology, personal training, training Alterio, patrolling the territory, spending time with his parents, and so on. He wanted to entrust some of these tasks to other people, but aside from simple labor, hunting, and gathering herbs, everything either required a high level of education or was something only he could do. There was no solution.
‘Once again, I'm realizing how important it is to recruit talented people. Damn it! If only I had even three... no! Even two people I could entrust some work to! This is why a proper family needs to be large! The difference in population is insane!’
In his previous life, Beonald had never needed to worry about his pool of talent.
Even when Beonald had just become the Family Head, he was still a High Noble who could participate in the High Noble council in the capital, even if he held one of the lowest seats. And if he included the populations of the territories belonging to the nobles under his influence, he ruled over hundreds of thousands of subjects. He could simply travel around, pick up children who looked reasonably clever, educate them, and put them to work.
‘This tiny little territory has such a small population, and the children are ultimately all the same. There's no hope. They don't even have basic education to begin with, so it takes forever! There's no hope! None!’
Peep?
‘So I need to focus on swordsmanship alone. I'll break through the Tenth Form before I leave. Once I go to the Callermain Earldom, I'll have to be careful about when I train.’
Beonald did not know how much time remained before the Callermain Earldom summoned him, but he made up his mind. He abandoned his entire schedule and decided to focus solely on swordsmanship and his Mana Training Method.
With his resolve to break through the Neumel Tenth Form firmly established, Beonald continued swinging his sword in the Training Room, sweating blood from his efforts.
“Damn it! Why isn't it working?! Why?! Huff... huff... huff...! It's only a derivative! It's a knockoff of the Imperial Knight Sword Style!”
When his progress failed to advance as he expected, Beonald lost his temper without realizing it.
His entire body drenched in sweat and his breathing ragged, he had truly devoted every waking moment aside from sleeping and eating to swordsmanship, yet the Neumel Tenth Form refused to yield.
‘Damn it! No. There is no way my talent is only this good!’
Reality seemed to be telling him, “Your talent with the sword ends here.” Beonald gritted his teeth and stood up again.
“Huff... huff... Even the knights of my family can all do this! Damn it! Haa... haa... haa...!”
What especially infuriated him was that the knights of his family, who were nothing more than chess pieces he could move with one hand, could all use the Tenth Form.
Even though they used an inferior derivative of the Imperial Knight Order's Mana Training Method! Whether through harsh training or talent or whatever else, they could all do it! The fact that he, the Family Head who had risen to the very top, couldn't master his own family's swordsmanship wounded his pride.
‘Should I just give up? My martial ability seems sufficient at this level anyway... No! If I do that, then that man's words will have been right.’
‘Beonald, you have no talent for martial arts. Martial arts ultimately means not only training your own physical strength, but also cultivating your inner self. But your inner self... To put it metaphorically, when there is a huge boulder in front of you, knights swing their swords to smash that boulder, while you deliberately avoid it instead of breaking it.’
“Don't make me laugh! Felix von Neumel! Don't define me however you please! Huff... huff... I will! I will definitely master this damn Neumel style! Huff... huff...”
“Young Master, it is time for lunch.”
Beonald's stubbornness was rising along with his burning determination, but he stopped training for the time being when the Servant announced that it was time to eat.
Normally, he considered even this time too precious and wanted to have only a quick meal brought into the Training Room, but since his departure was approaching, he had promised to spend mealtimes with his parents rather than devote every remaining moment to training.
“I'll wash up and come.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Hoooo~”
In the end, Beonald had no choice but to wash himself, change his clothes, and join his parents for their meal.
He spent the time talking with his parents, both to relieve the accumulated stress and to catch his breath.
“When you go there... if things become difficult, come back anytime. It will surely be hard.”
“It's fine. Don't worry.”
“You've grown up so well... and yet we have to send you there. It pains me. I just wish our family could live happily and peacefully together here...”
‘It's a shame, Mother, but that's not my fate. Sigh~’
Since even his very birth had been arranged by the Goddess, Beonald ultimately could not live peacefully in this place.
After the meal ended and Beonald was about to head back to the Training Room, he sensed someone hurriedly approaching him.
When he turned around, he saw a Servant who worked outside the Mansion.
“Young Master! Young Master! Please wait a moment!”
“What's the matter?”
“My son suddenly fell ill! He's gasping for breath as if he's about to die. Please... could you take a look at him for a moment?”
“...Sigh~ Very well. Lead the way.”
Beonald thought once again about how exhausting it was to be a skilled specialist.
At first, he wanted to refuse because he wanted to devote every possible moment to training, but since he was leaving soon, he didn't want to leave either his parents or this damn territory with unpleasant memories. So he gathered whatever medicine and tools he could carry and headed to the Servant's house.
“H-here it is.”
“Oh my! Dear! Thank goodness, our Tune...!”
‘Damn it! I just wasted my time!’
But when he arrived, the breathing difficulty had already subsided, and the child had quickly regained his strength and was running around energetically.
As it turned out, he had greedily stuffed a large piece of roasted meat into his mouth and swallowed it without cutting it into smaller pieces, which had caused the problem.
And while his father had gone to fetch Beonald, the mother had made the child vomit and barely managed to save him.
“...I-I'm truly sorry! I'm so sorry, Young Master!”
“It's fine. What matters is that he is safe. Still, just in case, have him rest well today.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
‘Damn it! What a waste of time! These insignificant people!’
He left with a benevolent smile on his face, but inwardly he was extremely displeased at having his time taken away.
His training was already going nowhere, and now an irritating incident had piled on top of that. Seething with anger, Beonald walked along while suppressing his frustration, when he suddenly noticed the village children playing.
‘Children? Well, that's what they do when their parents are working. What are they playing with...? Ah, a wooden spinning top? It spins using rotational force... Their parents must have made them.’
He passed by a group of Commoner children playing with spinning tops carved from wood. Everyone was spinning theirs well, but one child's spinning top stubbornly refused to stand upright.
The child went to the others and asked them to teach him how to spin it.
“How do you do that?”
“Like this! Like this! Hold it in your hand! Throw it while pulling!”
“Nnngh... I can't do it well.”
“You're supposed to just do it! Why can't you? Throw it while pulling!”
“I know how... but I can't do it well!”
‘You know how... but you can't do it. Sounds just like my situation.’
Perhaps because he felt a sense of kinship with the child who clearly knew the method but couldn't execute it, Beonald stopped walking for a moment and continued watching him struggle to spin the top.
But the child kept failing no matter how many times he tried. Eventually, he threw the spinning top away in frustration, and his appearance was no different from Beonald's own 모습 immediately after training.
“Aaaagh! It doesn't work! The spinning top is bad!”
“No, it isn't. Here, look. It's a little difficult, but you can do it, right? Try with this one.”
“What's going to change if I use yours? Besides, it's heavier. Even if I try, it won't make any difference... Huh?”
“...!”
When he threw the spinning top he had received from his friend, the top that had never managed to stand upright before began to spin, albeit somewhat unsteadily.
His first success. His own spinning top hadn't worked! Yet strangely enough, after switching to another child's spinning top, he succeeded.
Seeing that scene, Beonald's eyes widened, and he suddenly jumped to his feet.
‘H-How did that happen?’
“Wow! It works! It works!”
“See! I told you they're different! Beginners can know the method but still fail to grasp the feel of it, so no matter how much they try, they just keep going in circles. That's why I gave you a spinning top that matched your strength. Try a few more times, and once you get the feel for it, you'll be able to use your own again.”
‘...!’
Beonald watched the scene in amazement.
Yes. The reason he had continued to fail at the Tenth Form was because he had been walking around the same path over and over again with his eyes covered.
Learning was ultimately about finding a path, and martial arts were no different. Yet Beonald had ignored that and complacently believed that if he simply repeated and trained enough, he would eventually succeed.
‘Just because everyone learns the same swordsmanship doesn't mean everyone becomes the same swordsman. It's “the swordsmanship of the one who learned it.” It becomes my own swordsmanship. I'm not learning the “Neumel Tenth Form”! I'm creating my “Neumel Tenth Form”!’
After gaining his enlightenment, Beonald hurriedly started to return to the Mansion, but stopped for a moment to approach the children and ask about their parents before finally heading home.
He then exempted the two children's families from this year's tribute and even granted them grain as a reward.
Compared to the enlightenment they had given him, such a gift was practically insignificant.
And some time later...
“Neumel Tenth Form—Two-Headed Snake! It works! It works!”
After changing his sword and stance to create variables and trying again, Beonald finally succeeded in performing the Neumel Tenth Form—Two-Headed Snake.
Having broken through the hardship that had blocked him for so long, Beonald shouted for joy with tears in his eyes. Then, toward Felix von Neumel, his father from his previous life who was now in the afterlife, he raised his middle finger.