A Quiet Wish
"Surely, the condition of our deal was that I could ask you one question of my choosing, correct?"
"Yes. Anything, as long as it is within my knowledge."
That was indeed the agreement, but...
Could she possibly be trying to ask about something other than the holy relic?
As far as I knew, nothing was more important to Gwen than her family's holy relic.
"And what if it is something you do not know?"
"Then I will grant you another opportunity to ask a different question."
For a brief moment, I wondered if I should count even a failed attempt as her one used opportunity, but I did not want to be so harsh with her.
Besides, when it came to Hundred Braves, there was very little I did not know.
Still, I could not fathom what she would ask if not the location of the holy relic.
To the current Gwen, nothing should be more vital than the holy relic.
Her family, the Lidval family, was once one of the most prominent noble houses in the Reim Kingdom—at least, until they lost their holy relic, the Rose Sword.
This was because the holy relic, the Rose Sword, was directly linked to the trait of Precocious inherited by the Lidval bloodline.
The trait Precocious dramatically accelerated skill growth at the cost of halting physical development.
To overcome the drawback of arrested physical growth, the Rose Sword was absolutely essential.
As the years passed without the sword, the Lidval family gradually fell into decline, unable to transcend the physical limitations of their stunted bodies.
Ultimately, Gwen Lidval, hailed as the Rose Hero, remained their sole surviving hope.
The fate of her entire house rested upon her shoulders.
And yet, she is asking about something other than the location of the Rose Sword?
It seemed impossible.
Knowing how deeply she cared for her remaining family, and the sheer adversity she had endured to find the Rose Sword, it was incredibly difficult to believe.
Though warm-hearted by nature, she would never compromise when it came to her family.
She had sacrificed everything solely to find the Rose Sword—even her own youth and lifespan.
So why now, of all times?
"Then, my question is..."
The question Gwen posed next was entirely outside of my expectations.
"You... are you of the Lidval bloodline?"
"Excuse me?"
What on earth was she asking?
"What makes you think that?"
It was true that I had inherited Gwen's Rose Emblem.
But there was absolutely no way for that to be visible.
At least, that was what I believed—until Gwen spoke.
"I have harbored suspicions since the very first day I laid eyes on you. No, rather, I was somewhat certain. I believed you had to be connected to the Lidval family."
The first day we met?
I searched my memories of that day.
I had fought off bandits, slipped a letter under Gwen's door,
and then struck a deal with her.
A great deal had happened that day, but I could not pinpoint exactly which moment had given her such certainty.
"Was it because of the rose emblem on the letter?"
"No."
I threw out my strongest suspicion, but it seemed I was wrong.
"While that did play a part, the decisive factor lay elsewhere."
She suddenly drew the sword at her waist.
Huh?
And without warning, she swung it directly at me.
Clang!
I barely managed to bring up the Gravitus Replicant to parry the strike.
"What is the meaning of—"
She did not listen.
She simply continued her silent, relentless assault.
I had no choice but to keep deflecting her blows.
Something is strange.
I recalled the swordsmanship Gwen had displayed when she fought the golems.
Compared to the sheer technique and speed she had shown then, her current swordsmanship was severely lacking.
The implication of that was clear.
Is she matching her level to mine?
I did not know why, but if that was the case, there was no reason to be intimidated.
I decided to actively utilize my Swordsmanship (B).
As I parried Gwen's strikes, an opening finally presented itself.
This time, Gwen's attack came in with considerable sharpness.
However, the instincts of Swordsmanship (B) engraved into my body already knew the perfect way to intercept its trajectory.
Following my instincts, I angled my blade obliquely against Gwen's sword. Then, using my left hand as a fulcrum, I swept my sword in a wide, circular motion.
But...
Why was Gwen's sword still here?
Her sword, which I should have deflected, was already back in front of me.
Having lunged forward to counterattack, I was completely unable to block it.
"Haha..."
Gwen's blade was pointed directly at my throat.
It was a rather chilling moment, but fortunately, Gwen withdrew her sword immediately.
For a split second, I had thought I might actually stand a chance, but it was a foolish hope. The difference in our raw stats was simply too vast to ignore.
"So, what was the reason for this sudden swordplay?"
"Just as I thought..."
Gwen spoke with a look of absolute certainty.
"That swordsmanship... though a bit unrefined, it is unmistakably the swordsmanship of the Lidval family. Judging by how you deflected my attack just now, it is remarkably close to the style of the main house that I was taught."
This swordsmanship is the Lidval style?
This completely shattered my prior assumptions.
Until now, I had never given serious thought to the nature of the Swordsmanship (B) skill.
Of course, there had been theories that not all swordsmanship skills of the same rank were identical. However, it had always been dismissed as merely a matter of hidden sub-stats.
But what if it wasn't a hidden stat, but the actual style of the Swordsmanship itself?
If so, it made perfect sense why there were differences in performance and compatibility even among skills of the same rank, depending on who they were inherited from.
And since my Swordsmanship (B) was inherited from Gwen, it was only natural that it carried her exact style.
Gwen had recognized my swordsmanship as her own.
"So, what is your answer? Do you still intend to deny it?"
Deny it... Gwen seemed entirely convinced that I belonged to the Lidval family. But for me, this was incredibly awkward.
Because I was not a Lidval.
As I racked my brain trying to figure out how to respond, a thought struck me.
Come to think of it...
Gwen's unexpected question,
and the sudden duel that followed had made me overlook something crucial.
Why is she asking me this instead of the location of the Rose Sword?
It made no sense for Gwen to simply abandon the matter of the Rose Sword.
If so, was there a problem that would be resolved if I were a member of the Lidval family?
I shifted my line of thought in that direction and let my mind race as fast as possible.
If I were a Lidval...
It was at that moment.
My eyes met Gwen's, who was waiting expectantly for my answer.
Her expression was filled with anticipation, yet it overlapped with another look I was all too familiar with.
It was the exact expression I had worn in my own past.
The look of someone on the verge of giving up?
It was the look of someone ready to cast everything aside and surrender.
As I pondered why she would wear such an expression, the truth finally dawned on me.
I understood why Gwen had asked that question.
"Gwen, if you thought I would shoulder your duty for you... you are mistaken."
"What?"
"I am not of the Lidval family. I cannot claim the Rose Sword."
For Gwen, finding the Rose Sword was a duty.
An incredibly heavy, suffocating duty.
She had carried it because there was no one else to bear it, but deep down, she had always been searching.
Searching for a way to escape that duty.
And the path she thought she had finally found was now telling her "no."
Gwen's composure began to crumble.
"Not of the Lidval family? Do not lie to me. Then what of your swordsmanship?"
"I told you before. I learned it from an adventurer. Perhaps he was of Lidval descent."
"Then how do you know of the Rose Emblem? How did you know I was searching for the Rose Sword? Nothing makes sense unless you are a Lidval."
The calm, collected, and occasionally warm warrior was gone.
Her desperate state was so pitiful it pained me to watch.
Even so, I could not reveal everything to her.
"I am under no obligation to tell you that. Your question, Gwen, was strictly whether or not I belonged to the Lidval family."
Hearing this, Gwen seemed to realize the reality of the situation.
It was a fact that I was not a Lidval.
Therefore, she had no choice but to return to her burden.
"I am... sorry."
In an instant, she reverted to her usual self.
The woman who was cold in pursuit of her goals, yet warm at heart.
"It is fine. This was merely part of our transaction. There is no need to apologize."
If anything, I was the one left feeling uneasy.
From the moment I realized how heavily her duty weighed on her, she had looked incredibly fragile.
But soon, I realized that my concern was misplaced.
"But are you truly fine with not knowing the location of the Rose Sword?"
"Yes. Despite everything, I still place some trust in my Constellation. Surely, they will guide me to the Rose Sword in the end."
Gwen seemed to have completely let go of her lingering hopes regarding me.
She really is strong, I thought.
And she was right. As long as the player followed the walkthrough step-by-step, she would eventually reach the Rose Sword.
Just as our intense conversation was drawing to a close, she spoke again.
"By the way... would it be alright if I asked one more thing? You do not have to answer if you do not wish to."
Since there was no obligation to answer, I had no reason to refuse.
"Of course."
"Then, you must also be aware of the curse of Precocious laid upon our family's Stigma? Since you know of the Rose Sword."
I nodded.
It was a fact that could easily be deduced with a bit of logical thinking.
"Then... do you happen to know by when I must lift the curse of Precocious if I wish to have at least two years of my lifespan remaining afterward?"
As I tried to grasp the intent behind her question, she rephrased it.
"To be more precise... by what age must I lift the curse of Precocious at the latest if I wish to bear a child?"
It was a question I would never have understood in the past.
But now, knowing that Gwen harbored a desire to be free of her duty, I understood it perfectly.
She simply wanted to live like an ordinary woman. Since she could not abandon her duty, she wanted to do so in the brief time left to her after her duty was fulfilled.
And to her, the standard of living as an ordinary woman meant bearing a child.
This... was something I had to answer.
"Thirty-three. To be precise, June of your thirty-third year. Beyond that, you will not be able to give birth."
At my answer, Gwen actually smiled.
It was a smile of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from her mind.
Perhaps it was because she now had a concrete goal to work toward.
"Thirty-three... so I have only four years left? It seems I must make haste."
It wouldn't be as easy as she hoped.
From the Constellation's perspective, they would want to delay Gwen's acquisition of the Rose Sword as much as possible to maximize her growth.
But that was now between Gwen and her Constellation. There was no longer any place for me to interfere.
Suddenly, I was reminded of the Gwen I had raised in the game.
The original owner of the Stigma I had inherited.
Had she felt the same way as the Gwen standing before me now?
The woman who, a mere year after obtaining her holy relic, lost her youth and became unable to fight, shutting herself away in her room.
Even as she spent her days knitting to raise her dexterity skill, I had relentlessly commanded her to raise her swordsmanship skill to SS.
Yet, she who had always faithfully obeyed my orders flatly refused that single command. In the end, her swordsmanship rank stopped at S+.
And what had been passed down to me was this very Swordsmanship (B).
I had regretted it more than once, thinking that if only I had persuaded Gwen to reach SS, I could have inherited a much higher rank of swordsmanship.
But now, I finally understood. Persuading Gwen back then had been fundamentally impossible from the start.
A line she had spoken in the game came back to me.
It was a line she had uttered while watching children playing in a village.
"If the day comes when I can no longer fight, it would be nice to spend the rest of my days in a place like this."
It was a humble wish, but to her, it had been her only dream.
