Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Chapter 17
The Sword Master and the Lady
Kaitel von Delphione.
In the original , he was a one-time character who was assassinated by demon forces operating secretly in the Morian Empire, but to Rudian who was actually living in this era, he was an unforgettable figure.
'The Empire's Sword Master!'
He could undoubtedly be called the number one among the Morian Empire's active Sword Masters, and was a major figure among major figures—the younger brother of the Delphione Duke who held real power in the empire and the former captain of the Imperial Guard.
Excluding the retired Grand Master, Oscar Quihiller the Archduke, he could be easily considered the strongest on the continent.
Above all, he was the predecessor of "Sword Master" Crux van Richthofen who belonged to the protagonist's party—the former Sword Master.
'Come to think of it, he's still active in this era.'
Beside him, Luciella, he had also heard about him countless times while working as a squire, more than in the original work.
She was the precious jewel of the Delphione Duke, and in the original work, she had already been married when she first met the protagonist Abel, which disqualified her from being a heroine candidate.
But still, as a quality supporting character, she secured a thick fan base as a strong supporter of the protagonist's party and a commander on the front lines against the demons.
'She's completely fresh-faced now.'
Her expression always brimming with confidence was exactly like the descriptions in the original work.
It's still memorable how she was fanatically supported by some readers with peculiar tastes despite not being a heroine.
Of course, now she was not only unmarried but wasn't even an adult yet, being around the same age as him.
'Their arrival must be because of the holy sword's appraisal...?'
There was no other reason for the Delphione name to appear here.
While Rudian was lost in thought, Kaitel asked him again.
"Who taught you the sword?"
"I learned the basics from a passing mercenary, and I trained occasionally by joining the knights' practice sessions."
Rudian answered with natural nonchalance.
The word "passing" was very ambiguous yet carried powerful persuasiveness.
Especially in this era when reclusive talents and hidden masters were numerous everywhere.
"A mercenary? Someone hiding their identity? If it were the Mercenary King, I would understand..."
Kaitel showed more interest in Rudian than expected.
"Do you know any distinctive features about your master? I would very much like to meet him."
Kaitel mistakenly believed that the master who taught Rudian swordsmanship was a strong person of similar caliber to himself.
Seeing Kaitel like this, Rudian inwardly sighed.
'How am I supposed to say I learned form from an artificial intelligence?'
Although Rudian had consistently participated in the knights' training in the past, he had never learned swordsmanship from them.
Swordsmanship itself was treated as a family treasure, kept strictly confidential.
Naturally, he couldn't even dream of personal instruction, and in such an environment, the only reason Rudian could learn swordsmanship was thanks to Adi.
'Though I've only learned for a few days so far...'
The swordsmanship Rudian had learned was the ancient sword technique from a place called "Adora Civilization" that remained in Adi's database.
Although he hadn't yet properly digested even the form, Rudian could still call himself the sole inheritor of ancient swordsmanship in this era.
Adi had said with pride that it was the most complete and powerful sword technique among all the sword techniques in his database.
"Uncle, please don't press him so insistently. You're making Rudian uncomfortable."
It seems Rudian wasn't the only one tired of Kaitel's storm of questions.
Luciella sighed and apologized to Rudian.
"I'm sorry, he's usually quite taciturn, but he's unusually excited today."
"N-no, it's fine."
Rudian felt a fresh culture shock at Luciella's apology.
'...A noble apologizing.'
Especially among nobles, those with the title of "lady" were basically spoiled creatures who lived for their own self-importance, and the majority Rudian had met were excessively rude.
"Since the village is in a mess, let's clean up first. Uncle, please help too."
"Urgh...! Alright."
Watching her take the lead in clearing away the corpses, Rudian was moved and moved again.
He was reminded anew of why she was loved by readers in the original work—this angelic personality played a major role.
'Truly a heroine candidate!'
Rudian gave a thumbs up inwardly.
***
Despite their high status, Kaitel and Luciella helped the returning vigilante group clean up the corpses scattered throughout the village.
Of course, they did drag Rudian along to Iskar Main Castle afterward.
Needless to say, the appearance of major figures like Kaitel and Luciella completely turned Iskar Main Castle upside down.
"Prepare a banquet immediately! Butler, bring my wife and Calline here right away! All the other children too!"
"Tell the knights to be on their best behavior! Sir Derrick, you take charge of escorting the Viscount and the Lady until my preparations are complete!"
Count Rickart was completely caught off guard by the fact that someone of much higher status than expected had been dispatched from the Delphione Duke's family to appraise the holy sword Daylight.
A large expedition had been about to depart to subdue the bandit groups causing trouble in the border region, but their departure was abruptly canceled due to the arrival of these two.
'They would have returned without any results even if they had departed. They're lucky.'
Rudian inwardly congratulated the expedition on their good fortune.
Their leader Alec Hyuma had already been dealt with by Rudian, and the remnants of Cooper's special unit that had been scheduled to gather in Baran Village had been completely destroyed after encountering Kaitel and Luciella.
'Who would have guessed that the smell of blood was because they had already encountered another conflict?'
The bloody scent Rudian had detected when he first met Luciella was because they had already encountered the kingdom's special forces before arriving here.
'Just two people demolished over five hundred elite soldiers...'
The Sword Master Kaitel was one thing, but Luciella's combat power was tremendously unexpected.
Rudian admired the back of Luciella's head as she entered the castle with an extremely warm welcome.
'...2,852!'
Although her combat power was lower than Alec Hyuma's, in his case, he had received demonic power and was already over a hundred years old.
Her combat power wasn't properly depicted in the original work since she mainly worked in a command role, but considering her age and potential, she was probably a monster comparable to the protagonist's party in the main story.
"Well, it's time for us to part ways."
As the figure of Count Rickart appeared in the distance, Rudian quickly bid farewell to the two.
With just one day left of his vacation, he had no desire to get entangled in more labor or complicated affairs.
'I don't even understand why they brought me along in the first place!'
He had no choice but to be dragged along since the Empire's Sword Master and Viscount had grabbed him by the nape, but he couldn't figure out why they brought a mere squire like him.
"Hehe, I'll see you again later."
"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Rudian."
Kaitel irritated him with a comment of somewhat ambiguous tone, while Luciella continued to wave at Rudian with her angelic smile.
***
'I wonder if Rebecca is okay?'
"URGH!"
After parting with Kaitel and Luciella, Rudian made a groaning sound and returned to the employees' dormitory.
Since he had come this far, he needed to testify to the Count's family as a survivor who had repelled the invasion from the Kingdom of Rohans, and he didn't want to waste his remaining day of vacation traveling back and forth to the village.
'Well, the village chief will take good care of her.'
Rebecca seemed to have some cold symptoms due to the psychological stress she had experienced.
Originally, Rudian had refused Kaitel's invitation to accompany him because he wanted to nurse her, but for some reason Rebecca had refused his care, saying she was fine, which left him with no choice but to be dragged here.
Of course, he was half-willing to be dragged along since it was obvious that if he had stayed in the village in that state, he would have been put to work on the village repairs.
'Since it's come to this, I should make plans for the future.'
He intended to continue working as Calline's squire for a while longer.
By defeating Alec Hyuma, Rudian had gained confidence that he could survive in the world with his current abilities.
But even so, he calculated that it would be better to improve his personal capabilities by joining the Lion Hearts' training as before, rather than working as a mercenary in his current situation, before setting out on adventures.
'To retrieve Adi's terminal, I'll probably have to take tremendous risks... And to properly use Diablo, I need to reach at least Master level.'
So Rudian spent time envisioning his future for a while.
Only when the sun had already set and noisy sounds could be heard from here and there did he come to his senses.
"WAHAHAHA!"
"Baron Gorban! It's been a long time!"
"Why, if it isn't Viscount Polka!"
'The banquet must be in full swing...'
It was only natural for the Count to gather all his vassals and hold a grand banquet when a major figure like Kaitel von Delphione had personally visited.
Under the darkening night sky, bright lights blossomed like flowers all over Iskar Main Castle.
Judging from the sound of laughter and conversation, it seemed the matter with the Duke's family and Daylight had been successfully concluded.
'Not bad.'
Rudian gazed with a warm expression at the lively atmosphere in the castle.
Not just the nobles, but also the busy squires, and the knights and soldiers guarding them, all seemed to be enjoying the banquet with relaxed expressions.
In about five years, a hell would arrive where they couldn't even properly hold banquets, but at least until then, he hoped they could live comfortably without worries.
At that moment, visitors came looking for Rudian.
-Master, you have guests.
"...?"
CLICK!
Rudian was curious about who would come looking for him at the squires' quarters.
In Iskar Castle, where people of higher status than him were abundant, many had called for him before, but none had ever come to find him here.
"It's me."
"Y-young master?"
Rudian was considerably surprised by the unexpected visitor.
Moreover, Iskar's First Knight Derrick was accompanying Calline.
Faced with the bewildered Rudian, Calline opened his mouth bluntly.
"Why didn't you attend the banquet?"
"Naturally, because I'm not of the status to participate..."
Why would a commoner try to join in where nobles were gathered and risk hearing unwanted comments?
But Calline's response was not what Rudian had hoped for.
"What are you talking about? You're my squire. A squire should assist his master at a banquet!"
"Ah, yes."
I wish he would acknowledge the fact that I'm on vacation.
Then again, if he were considerate enough to think of that, Calline wouldn't have been called a good-for-nothing in the first place...
Rudian pouted his lips and bowed his head in apology.
"I apologize, young master. I was short-sighted."
"Good, as long as you understand."
"..."
The thought that this guy would inherit this vast border territory made him shudder.
The future of Iskar is truly dark!
'But why did he come all the way here? And with Derrick?'
Although his mind had been absorbed by Calline's hateful speech, the current situation was clearly one where the master had personally come to his squire's residence.
"AHEM!"
As Calline closed his mouth, Derrick, who had been standing behind him, cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Well, Rudian. I've heard that after the dungeon exploration, you've accomplished another great deed this time."
"Ah, thank you...?"
Has the news already reached Derrick's ears?
Normally, there would be an investigation at the castle level for several days before merits were properly considered.
Yet the fact that these words were already coming from Derrick's mouth meant that Viscount Kaitel or Lady Luciella had directly reported Rudian's exploits to Count Iskar.
'This is unexpected.'
No matter how much interest Kaitel showed in Rudian, it should have been nothing more than the interest shown to a promising talent, nothing more, nothing less.
Normally, even if they showed interest, nobles were the type to forget about it as if nothing had happened after a short while...
But this was a prejudice that arose because Rudian had not properly understood Kaitel's personality.
Derrick cleared his throat once more and opened his mouth.
"In any case, our lord is very pleased with your activities."
'...What's this about?'
Derrick's tongue was unusually loose today.
"So I wanted to tell you..."
Derrick showed unusual behavior by strangely trailing off his words.
"Although things have worked out well with the Delphione Duke's family this time, they had one additional request."
This was quite an interesting topic, but... Was it something that required coming all the way here to discuss?
As Rudian tilted his head in confusion, Calline continued.
"That request is for me to enroll in the Maha Empire Academy and receive education there for seven years."
"The Academy... You say?"
"Yes."
The reason wasn't hard to guess without thinking too deeply.
No matter how much merit Calline had accumulated this time to erase all his past misdeeds, no matter how much he had recovered Daylight, from the Duke's family's perspective, if Calline caused another incident, it would tarnish their reputation.
The Duke's family's support was weighty, and one incident could instantly plunge their honor into the abyss.
The Duke's family probably wanted Calline to diligently attend the Academy for seven years and let his past reputation settle down.
'The Duke's family is dreaming an impossible dream.'
However, a completely unexpected remark flowed from Calline's mouth that Rudian had not anticipated.
"You're included in this Academy trip."