I Will Engrave This Grace Upon My Soul
“That’s excellent news.”
I nodded, putting on a deliberately pleased expression.
“Laward has always looked up to the Holy Knights. Looks like his dream might finally be within reach.”
Of course, I couldn’t simply ship him off to the Holy Knights right away. If Laward dropped out or got expelled from the Academy, it would trigger a death ending. Still, we could at least secure a promise for his future with the Order.
“Having the Knight Commander himself come is exciting, but honestly it doesn’t matter who they send. If the Holy Knights have any eye for talent, they won’t be leaving empty-handed.”
“Of course! And not just the Holy Knights… I already have a feeling people will start showing up from all over. Just as I predicted! Laward is a talent who will bring glory to our Academy—”
“When exactly are they supposed to arrive?”
“Weeell… they only said they were departing. They didn’t promise a precise time. Still, the official notice arrived quite a while ago, so they should get here within a few days.”
“I see. Understood for now. The tea was excellent, by the way.”
I gave the teacup a light push, then rose slowly from my seat.
“I should make some preparations of my own.”
That afternoon, I stopped by the finest armory in the marquisate.
Just like the magic-tool shop I had visited not long ago, this was a store that also appeared in the game.
Time to upgrade Laward’s gear a little.
When the Holy Knights arrived, I would inevitably be introducing him. For someone who supposedly had a private patron, he looked utterly shabby. One set of school uniform and a third-rate longsword issued by the Academy. It simply wouldn’t do. Never mind the first impression he made—my own pride was on the line.
In that sense, this shop was perfect.
According to the game’s lore, a master craftsman who once supplied the royal family had come down from the capital and opened this modest place. Its existence even mattered in a hidden ending.
The scenario of the Swordsman route.
During an Outing event, Laward would walk past this very shop. He would fall head over heels for a sword on display, only to continue on his way because he lacked the money. Years later, after graduating from the Academy and saving up, he would return just before the final chapter, buy that sword, and march off to war. It wasn’t a required condition for the hidden ending—more of a side story, really—but it guaranteed the blade was high enough quality to use even in a boss fight.
Ting-a-ling—
The moment I stepped inside, the refined scent of spices mingled with the clean smell of polished metal.
“Welcome.”
The clerk stationed at the entrance looked me over from head to toe, taking in my clothes and bearing, then immediately bowed at the waist. He scrutinized me so thoroughly I suspected his attitude would have been entirely different if I had dressed a little more casually.
“Is there anything in particular you’re looking for? Here is our catalog…”
“No need to look.”
Without so much as glancing at the catalog the clerk offered, I pointed to a single sword displayed on the wall.
“Conveniently, it seems to be right there in the most visible spot.”
It was the sword I had seen in the game. Its unusual shape made it instantly recognizable. Where a normal sword would have a crossguard, this one looked as if the guard had been completely sheared away; the boundary between hilt and blade was almost nonexistent. It had been refined to the extreme for pure thrusting and cutting. Defense was irrelevant. The blade stretched out smooth and lethal, as if it held nothing but killing intent.
The scabbard displayed beside it was a quiet ink-black, utterly plain without a single ornament. Yet the blade itself—
In contrast to its rough outer shell, the sword’s body shone brilliantly, as though it had sliced a piece of moonlight and sealed it inside. A subtle blue aura radiated from it.
“You have a discerning eye. However, that piece is the only one of its kind the master ever forged…”
“Is it not for sale?”
“No, that isn’t the case, but the price is rather steep. Quite steep, actually…”
Hmm. Just how expensive was it for him to make such a fuss? As far as I knew, it was a fine sword, but it didn’t quite reach the level of a true masterwork.
Thud—
I set a heavy pouch on the table with a dull clink of metal. The faint gleam of gold coins peeking through the mouth of the pouch made the clerk’s demeanor grow even more serious.
“Check if this will cover it.”
“…I believe it will.”
He craned his neck for a quick peek inside the pouch.
“Would you like to hold it? You should carefully check the length, the balance…”
“No need. Looking at it wouldn’t tell me anything anyway.”
In my previous life I had carried a greatsword gifted to me (mostly by Chris), but I had never been a pure swordsman. To me a sword was simply a vessel for holy power and spirits—more like a launch platform than a weapon.
“Still…”
“Have you finished counting the money? Ah, and while you’re at it, give me the cheapest sword in the shop as well.”
Since I was already here, I decided to pick up something disposable for myself. The kind of impulse buy you make when you grab a few plastic bags at the supermarket checkout.
“The most expensive sword and the cheapest sword in the shop… You’re a rather unusual customer…”
“Since I’m so unusual, how about throwing in a little service?”
“Pardon? Th-that’s the first time anyone’s ever asked for that. I’ll have to check with the master…”
Honestly, no sense of hospitality at all.
“…Just pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“Ah, yes… Will you take them with you, or shall we deliver?”
Snatch.
Instead of answering, I seized the sword from the display stand and slid it tip-first into the scabbard.
Click!
The radiant blade vanished smoothly into its sheath.
“Eunsanim! What brings you here at this hour?”
Around ten o’clock that night, in the Academy’s private training grounds, Laward looked up at me with bright, clear eyes, sweat still beading on his skin.
I held out the sword without a word.
“This is…?”
He stared at the blade in my hand for a long moment. Then his eyes flooded with shock. Of course—he had seen it before.
“This is the sword you’ll use from now on.”
“Surely you don’t mean… for me…”
“I just said as much.”
“Ah—no, I mean, why would you give something like this to me…?”
“I heard the Holy Knights will be arriving soon. You’re a student under my patronage. I can’t have you walking around with Academy-issue scrap. I have my own reputation to consider.”
As I tossed off the indifferent remark, I noticed Laward’s shoulders trembling faintly. He still hadn’t dared to touch the hilt; he simply gazed at the sword as though it were some fragile treasure that might shatter at a touch.
“…Why?”
“Why are you asking again? How many times do I have to tell you?”
Laward kept his head bowed and murmured in a low voice.
“I’m just… some nameless kid who crawled through the slums. Why would you give someone like me something so…”
Slowly he raised his head. The boyish innocence that still lingered in his eyes stood out with a strangely poignant clarity. It was almost unpleasant.
“To me, the world was something you simply endured. The only person who has ever cleared a path for me and offered something this precious… is you, Eunsanim…”
Even with that waterlogged voice, he looked me straight in the eye. The light in them burned with fanatical loyalty.
Unlike our first meeting, I hadn’t been aiming for this today.
“Eunsanim. I will engrave this grace… upon my soul. Wherever my sword points, it will be only where your will lies.”
Why was this kid suddenly so eloquent? The Laward I had raised in the game could barely manage casual speech, a half-baked brat. Had he been practicing in secret?
While I stood there dumbfounded, Laward bowed deeply once more and held the posture for a long time.
Dazzling white armor and cloaks.
Holy Knights bearing the equal-armed cross—the symbol of the Order—engraved on their breastplates crossed into the marquisate.
“I still don’t understand.”
The smaller of the two knights looked up as he spoke.
“Even so, there was no need for you to come in person, was there? What is this, running around just to find one person?”
“Hahaha! There is no such thing as a useless mission, Chris! Broadening one’s horizons is also a form of training!”
The Knight Commander laughed heartily in his booming voice.
Blash kept his jet-black hair cut short and square, which gave him a severe air. His massive frame only added to the weight of that impression.
“Commander, this isn’t something to laugh about…”
“It’s a good thing, a good thing! The fact that we can come all the way out here ourselves just means we have the free time! Hmm, excellent! Peace is the best!”
“Do you have no pride at all, Commander?”
“None! Only the Goddess!”
“I refuse to accept this. You came all this way, Commander. If the guy turns out to be worthless, I won’t let it slide.”
“Don’t frown so much, Chris. You’ll age early. Your face already doesn’t look fifteen.”
“Ugh…”
Chris let out a deep sigh.
This was still the Chris who had not yet become Daywin’s inventory and dedicated door-opener.
“Hmm, shall we split up for now?”
“What?”
“I want to look around on my own. Chris, kill some time however you like!”
“Commander? Weren’t we going to the Academy tomorrow?”
“That’s right. Tomorrow. So today is free time.”
“Free time… That’s what I’m worst at… Commander, ever since I was born I’ve lived within the Order’s…”
“I’m leaving you to your own devices, Chris!”
The Commander waved cheerfully and strode off.
“…raised under discipline… Damn it…”
Chris tried to finish his protest, but the Commander was already far away.
Left alone, Chris trudged down the street.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
At that exact moment—
Whoosh—
From behind him surged a pressure so heavy and vast it was almost unbearable. It was the unique weight that only Holy Knights who wielded sacred power could sense. Completely different in texture from ordinary mana—a pure, cold force that seemed to crush the soul itself.
Chris reflexively exhaled and turned his head.
“Ah, seriously… Commander. Stop bothering me. We just agreed to split up a moment ago…”
His voice cut off mid-sentence.
The Commander was not there.
No—Blash was not there.
“….”
There was someone.
Daywin looking down at him.
In the middle of the bustling crowd, a man radiating a presence so alien it stood out like a blade fixed Chris’s gaze in place.
Striking blond hair. Eyes that seemed to chill the very air around them.
What?
The Commander had definitely gone that way.
Why does this feel just like the Commander…?
Chris’s hand moved instinctively toward his sword hilt.
That overwhelming holy power he had just felt… And when he looked into this man’s eyes, a strange, tingling ache settled deep in his chest. Even though he was certain he had never seen the face before.
Meanwhile Daywin calmly met Chris’s wary stare and allowed a brief smile to touch his lips.
He was pretending to be composed, but Daywin was just as startled.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
In the brief instant they had brushed past each other, he had felt the kid’s gaze dig into his back and turned around.
Chris.
If he had to name the five people who left the deepest impression across his entire previous life, this guy would easily make the list.
Daywin’s inventory. His dedicated door-opener.
Of all people, it had to be you who came.
As Daywin regarded him with a complicated expression—
Clack—
Chris openly rested his hand on the sword hilt, deliberately making the sound.
“You. What are you?”