The Past-Cutting Sword (1)
"Um, Count... Forgive me for asking, but would you mind checking once more that you've submitted the correct documents...?"
The clerk at the window was sweating buckets as he pushed the papers back toward me.
I didn't even take them. I shoved them straight back in.
There was nothing wrong with the documents. Yulia and I had gone over them yesterday, then spent the whole night polishing the language. There was no way they could be wrong.
"No, it's just... The title of the paper alone is rather strange. It says, Establishing a Basic System of Black Magic...?"
"That's correct. It isn't a finished thesis, but I intend to present on that foundation, so I submitted the related paperwork."
"..."
The clerk's face went white in real time. He was definitely smiling, and yet somehow it didn't look like a smile at all.
Could you blame him? Not only was someone formally submitting a research paper on Black Magic to the Society—he was boldly announcing he would present it at the academic conference. The man had almost certainly never seen anyone like that before.
Better to give them time to brace for the shock now than spring it on them the day of.
Today I had stopped by the Society to turn in the mid-stage paperwork for the academic conference. Mid-stage submissions were entirely voluntary; most people only filed them when their presentation required special equipment or advance preparation and they needed to request it from the Society.
I didn't need to submit anything at this stage. I chose to anyway, and deliberately handed over an unfinished paper. I didn't want the full reveal to drop all at once on the day itself and set off too large a shockwave...
If I tipped the Society off in advance, they might at least station extra security. That was why I had decided to let them know early.
"J-just a moment, please..."
Scramble.
The clerk vanished from his seat in a hurry. Moments later, a grey-bearded old man appeared.
That man... I was sure I had seen him at the Imperial Palace, but for the life of me I couldn't recall his name.
"A pleasure, Count. I am the Society President."
"Good day to you."
"Ahem... I have looked over the documents you submitted. I find myself rather doubtful as to whether this paper can actually be completed—and even if it were, whether it could be explained in a way that does not contradict existing magical axioms and instead meshes with them. I understand you are participating because of an agreement with the Headmaster of the Imperial Magic Academy. If you like, I can speak with him and arrange to postpone your presentation until next year, or even later—"
"I appreciate the consideration, but that won't be necessary. Time is tight, yes, but not so tight that it needs to be pushed to next year."
"Pardon? Then... you truly mean to present on this research topic?"
"..."
I nodded. The Society President's mouth slowly fell open. His face said, plain as day, Has this bastard finally lost his mind?
Fair enough. Judging by my reputation so far, it would be only natural to suspect that Count Belmont intended to use the academic conference as a stage to spread some cult.
"Have you read the paper through to the end?"
"Eh? Ah—no... You said it was unfinished, so..."
"Read it. Unfinished or not, you should find it rather interesting. Inside is the proof that Black Magic is not some realm of fantasy and legend, but something that fits perfectly within the existing mana system."
"I-is that true!? You there! Fetch my magnifying glass! At once!"
Rustle. The Society President hurriedly spread the paper open and started hunting for his glass. I left him to it and turned to go.
Truth be told, calling it an unfinished paper was generous. It was basically a data dump of experimental notes that hadn't been organized at all... Interpreting it was going to take a long time. I intended to be gone before I had to hear him start yelling.
I was just about to head straight back to the carriage when—
"Silvia. Let's go ba— ughhk!?"
"My lord! Get down!"
In that instant—sshk—Silvia drew her sword so fast it seemed to come out of my own mouth. In a single breath I was crushed under her rear and forced flat against the ground.
"Hoh! You're far quicker than you look! Faster even than when I saw you at the Imperial Palace!"
"..."
Krrrng!
Silvia spun and swung. And somehow, already right in front of her nose, stood Reinhardt—catching that blade with his gauntlet.
I hadn't sensed a single presence nearby. When the hell had he closed in...?
"...What kind of game is this?"
"Hahaha! Forgive me, Count. When I see a strong opponent, my body moves before I can stop it. Until now I believed that, as a Sword Master, the only ones who could stand against me were my elder sister and the Captain of the Guard. Never would I have imagined a mere escort knight of the Count's would possess this level of skill..."
"Step back."
"And that loyalty, too—drawing steel without a moment's hesitation even when the opponent is of the Imperial blood. Remarkable."
Thwack!
Silvia kicked Reinhardt square in the chest and opened the distance in a single burst. The moment her hand left the hilt, the sword that had been caught in his gauntlet vanished without a trace—
"Ughghhk!"
"...My apologies, my lord."
Silvia drew the blade from my neck again and leveled it at Reinhardt. His eyes went round.
"What in the world was that!? A sword that vanishes and reappears—by what principle!?"
"Would you please stop coming closer? You've startled my escort quite badly."
"I'm sorry for startling her! But I am a man who cannot endure unanswered questions!!!"
"...!"
Grinning with pure excitement, Reinhardt kicked off the ground and charged.
Ah. I'd forgotten. This was the man who had pointed a sword at his own sister the moment they reunited after five years. Being disciplined and demoted was never going to kill a temperament that rotten.
"Not even a Sword Master, yet you can still react to my speed! How on earth did a monster like this end up in Belmont!"
Whoosh, whoosh.
To my eyes, Reinhardt only seemed to flicker in and out of existence. Silvia tracked every motion and answered it. Raising a two-handed guard, he closed in step by step, then threw punches. Each time, Silvia's blade flashed in and knocked the gauntlet aside, sparks spraying in every direction.
"Speed on par with a Sword Master, yet you can't project Aura? Same sort as me, then!"
"Kh...!"
At a glance Silvia seemed to be holding her own. Look closer and she wasn't. She was being driven back, little by little.
True, she still hadn't brought magic into play. But Reinhardt hadn't drawn a weapon either—he was fighting with gauntlets alone. In pure skill, Silvia was being thoroughly outmatched. That was the only way to read the situation.
Did that mean I should support her with Black Magic?
One more step and I exhaust Reinhardt.
This had gone well past a joke.
I clenched my fist, preparing to activate the skill Black Magic—
"Come, then! Show me your full power, knight of Belmont...! Eh?"
"...?"
In that instant, a tiny bead of blood rose into the air. Reinhardt's motion stopped. Silvia froze where she stood, just as startled.
Plip.
Only after the drop hit the ground did a shallow cut open on Reinhardt's cheek, and small beads of blood began to well up along it.
What? He stopped over a wound that small?
"Just now, that was..."
"Seize him! Lord Reinhardt is causing another disturbance!"
"Damn it all! Sorry for the rudeness! We'll meet again, Count Belmont! And you, lady knight of Belmont!"
Scramble!
Soldiers came shouting from a distance. Reinhardt fled in a hurry before they could grab him.
How could a person be that free-spirited...? I had assumed that being demoted from commander of the Fourth Corps would have taken the wind out of him. The man hadn't changed in the slightest.
I clicked my tongue and climbed into the carriage. Silvia followed me up—and her movements were sluggish, as if she were lost in some deep thought.
"Silvia."
"Ah, yes. Hyeuk!?"
Whoosh!
I put her in a joint lock and toppled her. She crumpled helplessly. I hadn't actually expected her to fall for it, so I was startled myself.
Only then did Silvia seem to snap back to herself. Pinned beneath me, her cheeks flushed red.
"W-would you please move, my lord...?"
"Payback for just now. Even in an emergency, who throws their master flat on the ground?"
"I am truly sorry..."
"So. What were you thinking about so hard that a weakling like me could knock you over?"
"Earlier, I cut Lord Reinhardt's cheek."
"You did."
"At that moment... my sword never touched his cheek."
"...What?"
She took my hand, rose, and spoke with a grave expression. There was no sign she was joking.
"Then that means you succeeded in projecting Aura, doesn't it?"
"Not at all. I have seen Charlotte's Aura often enough that I can say with certainty it was not Aura. What is strange, however, is this: after the blood had already spattered, I felt the tactile feedback of tearing skin at the tip of the blade I had swung. By then Lord Reinhardt had already dodged, and what I cut was empty air."
"...?"
Listening to Silvia's serious explanation, I went blank.
If I went by her words alone, it almost sounded as if...
as if Silvia's sword could cut the past.