Cheonseom
The day after his audience with the Emperor.
"Whoa. They're just bulldozing through cities? These bastards are something else."
Leon muttered in admiration as he hurried along, peering into a crystal orb.
Akbuhoe. The text within the orb detailed the atrocities of the organization the Emperor had asked him to deal with.
True to their name, they were a vicious armed group that standardized their weapons as axes. Despite their enormous numbers and influence, they rarely showed themselves openly — cunning enough to have survived for over twenty years.
Lately, though, they'd gone completely mad, rising up in force and sweeping through cities and villages indiscriminately. They marched their axe corps along routes, invading every civilian home in their path, plundering every resource and leaving not so much as a single rat behind.
Bandits, yes — but bandits with such overwhelming military power that nothing could stand in their way. Each unit even had a formidable powerhouse mixed in, capable of annihilating entire knight orders with ease.
Of course, the quality of knight orders varied greatly by territory. Those wiped out so far hadn't been particularly skilled. Still, they were knight orders — gatherings of actual knights. Looked at another way, it meant the Akbuhoe wielded such formidable might that neither a city nor even a lord's household could handle them.
And Leon intended to take care of one of those Akbuhoe units.
Which meant, first of all, he needed to gear up.
Ding-a-ling—
Arriving at Halito's forge, Leon went to the reception room and waited for Glem. Before long, Glem's stocky figure appeared, carrying a long box wrapped in cloth.
"Young Master!"
"Boss. You've arrived."
Leon rose from his seat to greet him.
Thud.
Glem set the box on the table with a thoroughly proud expression.
"Hahaha! You're going to be shocked."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Glem swiftly pulled away the cloth and opened the lid. Inside lay one longsword and two daggers.
"······."
Leon swallowed hard and reached for the longsword. The hilt seemed to cling to his palm like a magnet. He lifted it carefully. It was so light he almost doubted he was holding a full-length sword at all — more like plastic or styrofoam than a hunk of metal.
Slowly rotating his wrist, he held the blade up to the light. A pure white blade. Along the edge, a brilliant white radiance flowed luminously. Down the center ran a fuller — also called a blood groove — carved deep.
From the forte through the foible to the point, the elegant curvature drew involuntary admiration. It was exquisitely refined beyond words. The balance was excellent, and the design of the pommel, grip, and guard was exactly to his taste — simple yet magnificent, without a scrap of unnecessary ornamentation.
As Leon stared blankly at the sword, Glem grinned and said:
"I mixed in a bit of Holy White Iron on a hunch, and the alloy quality improved even further. I hate to say it myself, but this blade will cut better than the Heaven-Shattering Sword."
"······Incredible."
Leon replied slowly, gripping the sword with both hands and holding it upright.
Then—
Ziiiiiing······!
A clear, pure sword-cry rang out. It was as if the blade and Leon were communing. Glem's eyes went wide with surprise.
Leon channeled his energy into it.
Crack!
Vivid Sword Thread spiraled along the blade — as simple and instantaneous as flipping over a hand. For an instant, Leon's wrist trembled minutely. The tip of the sword flicked exactly twice.
Glem didn't catch that movement. But he did see a fingernail-sized object suddenly drop from midair.
Plop.
A dark speck fell onto the table. Glem's gaze went to it naturally — and he was stunned. A fly was thrashing its six legs.
Plip.
Two wings drifted down a beat later, settling around the fly. Glem could only go blank.
······He had cleanly sliced only the wings off a fly in mid-flight.
The man who'd just performed that exquisite feat paid the fly no mind. Beaming, he turned the sword this way and that before saying:
"Damn······ this sword is really something."
"Hah."
Glem let out a breathless sigh. Something deep in his chest seemed to solidify — pride and satisfaction. Being able to entrust his masterpiece to a swordsman like this was pure fulfillment. This man would undoubtedly make a name for himself far beyond anything he had now.
Leon tore his gaze from the sword. Looking Glem squarely in the eye, he said:
"Boss Glem."
"Yes."
"What is the sword's name?"
To Glem, this felt like a moment that would be recorded in history. He straightened his back and answered with utmost solemnity:
"That, Young Master, I would like you to decide."
"······."
Leon stared hard at the sword, then muttered whatever came to mind.
"Defying Heaven. Shattering Light. Annihilating Calm."
"······Wait."
Glem immediately regretted it.
"Shall I just name it myself?"
"Hmm, what would be good······. Ah, thinking is a pain. Let's keep it simple."
"Please."
"Cheonseom."
Cheonseom meant the light that appears when lightning strikes — in other words, a lightning flash. He'd picked it roughly because it sounded fast, which he liked.
"I'll go with Cheonseom."
"Cheonseom······. Hmm, good."
Glem nodded, apparently not minding it either.
The appraisal was over. Leon then collected a scabbard for Cheonseom as well, along with the two daggers from the box. As for those daggers — surprisingly, they were a free service from Glem.
"I made these with leftover materials. You seem to use daggers quite a bit, after all."
"Oh, thank you."
Since Cheonseom was thinner than the Heaven-Shattering Sword, some alloy must have been left over. Leon looked at Glem again. Rather than just pocketing the leftovers, he'd gone and forged daggers too. The man knew how to do business.
"Let's call these the Cheonseom Flying Blades."
"As you wish."
The quality of the Cheonseom Flying Blades was every bit as excellent as Cheonseom itself. With the swords equipped on his person, Leon bid farewell.
"I've got places to be, so I'll be heading out."
"Yes. Take care, Young Master."
Glem bowed respectfully at the waist.
"I'll put the swords you forged to good use. The timing's perfect, actually. I'm about to feed them a hearty meal of blood."
"Ah, is that so······ wait, what?"
A truly bloodthirsty declaration. Glem's brightly smiling face went stiff.
"If you check the daily papers, you'll see just how well this Cheonseom takes heads. Haha, you'll be so proud."
"······."
Glem forced a nod.
"Hmm~."
Hera crossed her legs seductively and let out a husky hum.
"So then, little brother."
Crimson eyes flashed from beneath the hood she'd pulled over her head.
"He's on his way right now?"
"Not right now. I'll head out late tonight. Should arrive before midnight," Leon's voice answered through the crystal orb.
"Hmm? Leaving late at night, how do you get here before midnight?"
"Ah, I'm getting a teleport from a mage."
"?"
Hera tilted her head for a moment. From the nearest warp gate to here — Glenberg — was quite a distance. Not a range just any mage could cover with teleportation.
In reality, Leon was planning to hitch a ride with a palace mage the Emperor would send in secret. Among the palace mages, there were specialists in spatial magic. They held a position as transport mages, regularly moving VIPs or serving as couriers — a kind of express delivery service. Extremely valuable personnel, of course, but given that he was handling a special imperial commission, this level of support was only natural.
But Hera had no way of knowing that yet. Curiosity stirred, but she decided to set it aside and ask when Leon arrived. After all, getting to see her little brother sooner was a good thing.
"Aria, did you get all the money sorted?"
Aria, sitting beside Hera, answered.
"Yes, Master. I've finished disposing of the goods, and they're being laundered now. Everything should arrive in the accounts within the month."
"Okay."
Disposing of the goods seized from the Full Moon Auction had been their original purpose for coming to Glenberg. Over several days, Aria had carefully parceled out the items across Glenberg's countless black markets, auction houses, and brokers. Then she'd dispersed the funds through various distribution channels and banks, routing them into bank accounts in the capital.
Of course, even the Empire's financial system wasn't as robust as a developed twenty-first-century Earth nation. Still, given the sheer sum involved, some money laundering was necessary. In practice, the total amount had shrunk considerably from original projections, yet the profits from this venture were still substantial.
They'd even split it with Hera taking three-tenths, and Leon and Aria splitting the rest — three-and-a-half tenths each. Even so, the amount each received was enough to buy a mansion in a prime location in the capital's 3rd District and still have money left over.
Now Riel asked:
"Young Master. You said you'd be dealing with the Akbuhoe?"
"Yeah, that's right. What about you and big sis?"
Leon didn't ask Aria. Naturally — she'd already strongly declared her intention to join yesterday.
Hera spoke in a deliberately hurt tone.
"Little brother, how can you say something so cold?"
"About what."
"Of course we're going together. We're already of one heart and mind, aren't we? We've been forced apart these past few days, but our hearts have always been connected······."
Leon swiftly cut off her nonsense.
"How's the city situation?"
"The atmosphere is growing more unsettled by the day. The sharper ones already seem to be pulling out of the city."
Hera suddenly cried out as if remembering something she'd forgotten.
"Ah, right! Little brother!"
A small sigh from Leon came through the crystal orb.
"What now."
Hera said with a bright smile:
"Then can I kill someone?"