Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: The Ogent Family's Situation (3)
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Since she was already at the academy, she figured she'd treat him to a meal after so long.
He'd been spending time with a young lady named Tess lately, and that was one thing she approved of. She'd only met her once, but Tess was sweet-natured and a good kid who could handle Rian's stubbornness.
When she arrived at the training grounds, she saw Rian practicing his swordsmanship.
She'd heard he trained like this even during his lunch break because Tess brought him a packed lunch.
He was striking a dummy with a club, and even from a distance, a powerful aura emanated from him.
Tess, sitting on the grass and drinking water, had her gaze fixed on the club Rian was swinging explosively.
Since returning from heaven, he had intensified his training to the point where he spent more time moving than resting.
Tess picked up a Spirit magazine that Rian had tossed aside.
It contained an article about Shirone, who had defeated the kingdom's top star, Dante.
She'd read it so many times that the pages featuring Shirone were worn, the text faded.
The following page had an article about Shirone's parents, but she only glanced at it before looking away.
‘Rian… this must be hard for you.’
Tess knew what was going through Rian's mind as he trained.
Rian was Shirone's sword, and the depth of his resolve was palpable from the moment he returned from heaven.
To him, Shirone's success was an irreplaceable joy, but his disappointment in himself must have grown twofold.
The fact that his training volume had increased by 1.5 times the day after he read the article was proof enough.
A 1.5-fold increase might be considered slightly overdoing it for a swordsman, but Rian was an exception.
For someone who already tested his limits daily, that increase was a grueling, almost lethal, routine.
But Rian managed it.
It was a strange phenomenon unique to Rian, one that couldn't be explained by talent alone.
Tess watched the trajectory of the club Rian wielded and was left speechless.
It was as if he poured his soul into every strike.
‘He's so strong. Honestly, I'm not sure I could even block it if I faced him with my Schema.’
Rian, on the other hand, thought differently.
‘No. This isn't enough to defeat him.’
Rian wasn't looking at the dummy.
He was seeing an illusion of Ymir behind it.
Though small for a giant, his strength was etched deep into Rian's bones.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
Rian slammed the club down like a madman.
It was a specially made club, identical in weight to the greatsword he had inherited from his grandfather. Yet he swung it as if it were a mere switch.
‘No! No! No!’
When he first started training on the dummies, every swing was so agonizing he felt like he could die.
But after passing that stage, a thirst now washed over him.
Why couldn't he move faster? How had he done it when he'd cut Ymir's arm?
In that moment, a vision flooded his mind—all of his attacks being destroyed by a single blow from Ymir.
A massive fist flew toward his face.
Ymir shouted.
‘That's not it!’
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
Rian brought the club down in a vertical strike.
The dummy, struck squarely on the crown, crumbled from its post and exploded into fragments.
“Whoa…”
Tess’s eyes widened.
It wasn't the first time he'd broken a dummy, but this strike was subtly different from the others.
Realizing this, Rian also froze in the position of his strike, replaying the sensation in his mind.
He had to absorb every sensation.
A talented swordsman might have the insight to know without trying, but his path was one of learning through his body.
“Rian! Your sister's here!”
Rian’s face contorted at the sound of Reina's voice.
He was lucky to have grasped the feeling just in time; if she had called out a moment sooner, it all would have been for nothing.
“What? What are you doing at the academy all of a sudden?”
Before Reina could answer, Tess hurried over.
Earning points with her future sister-in-law was the first rule in the romance guide she had recently read.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Tess. It’s been a while.”
Rian asked again.
“So what's going on?”
“Uh, well…”
Reina trailed off.
She'd taken Kuan's advice, and she knew saying she was here about his grades would be counterproductive.
But she didn't have a good excuse, and as she stalled for time, a guard outside the training grounds suddenly shouted.
“Everyone, attention!”
Rian, Tess, and Reina turned their gazes toward the entrance of the training grounds.
Rian's grandfather, Ogent Klumpf, was walking in with a trail of the sword academy's instructors behind him.
A certified Class 3 swordsman had come to the academy, so it was only natural for the instructors, who were swordsmen themselves, to be flustered.
But Rian and Reina were anxious for a different reason.
Though not far from retirement, Klumpf still wielded immense influence in the military.
For such a person to visit the academy unannounced meant it was no ordinary matter.
Rian and Tess immediately snapped to attention.
Even if they were family, as students of the sword academy, they were at the bottom of the military hierarchy.
Failing to show proper respect to a commander like Klumpf could result in actual punishment under military law.
“At ease.”
At Klumpf's command, Rian and Tess obeyed by slightly relaxing their stiff shoulders.
Klumpf surveyed the training grounds. It was lunchtime, so only Rian and Tess were present.
“Training even during your lunch break? A very commendable attitude.”
“Thank you.”
Tess straightened her posture again and spoke.
This was the second time she had met Klumpf. She had been introduced to him once before when she was invited to dinner at Reina's house.
She remembered him being cheerful and putting her at ease, as befitting a stout man of arms, but she couldn't act carelessly here.
The instructors standing behind them also held their breath, watching to see how the situation would unfold.
Klumpf carefully observed Rian's balance.
He knew Rian had placed last in the midterm exams. When Reina had thrown a fit, threatening to go to the academy and complain, he had simply laughed it off.
How high one climbed was important, but he believed Rian's unwavering will was his greatest weapon.
But seeing him in person, things were different from what he'd expected.
Klumpf took the club Rian was holding and swung it around.
Humming in thought, he then reached out and felt Rian's shoulders and arms.
At one point, his hand paused, and his eyes lit up.
“The same weight as the Ogent family's straight sword. Do you swing it until the dummy breaks?”
“Yes.”
Klumpf chuckled and handed the club back.
“Definitely a brutish method, just like you.”
Rian's lower lip jutted out slightly.
If they weren't at the academy, he would have shown him just how fearsome his youngest grandson could be, but here, rank was king.
“Well... do as you please. It's your life.”
“Yes, that's what I intend to do.”
When Rian replied testily, without crossing the line, Klumpf shrugged and laughed.
For some reason, he seemed to be in a very good mood.
He turned to the instructors and nodded as if to say they had taught him well, and only then did the instructors let out a sigh of relief.
Reina could now roughly guess what her grandfather had sensed in Rian.
With that thought, she furtively glanced at Kuan, and sure enough, he was watching her with a sharp gaze.
Embarrassed, she turned her head away primly.
In any case, it was a relief that Rian didn't seem to look so bad in the eyes of swordsmen.
Klumpf stopped paying attention to Rian and approached Reina.
“So this is where you were. They were looking for you at the royal palace. I came straight here after hearing you'd gone to this place.”
“What? You came here because of me? Is something wrong?”
Klumpf glanced at Rian, signaling that they should move somewhere else to talk.
The reason he had come here was because of intelligence that had arrived a few days ago from the Kazra Kingdom regarding Shirone.
Rian had sworn a knight's oath to Shirone, so it was only right to inform him, but Klumpf wanted to prevent that.
He wasn't one to be reasoned with when his blood was up. Calm Reina was better suited for this matter than hot-headed Rian.
Klumpf led Reina into the shade of a tree.
Rian pouted at being left out but soon put it out of his mind.
His grandfather and sister were busy people at the royal palace, so he just figured something must have come up.
Reina's eyes widened as Klumpf explained Shirone's situation.
“What? The first prince of the Kazra Kingdom?”
“It’s not certain yet, but it seems likely. They seem almost convinced on their end. The circumstances, time, and place of Shirone's escape all match up. And the fact that Shirone was the only child abandoned near the Valley of Dawn also points to it.”
Reina was silent for a long while, trying to process her thoughts.
But this wasn't a matter of sorting out a complex sequence of events. If the decision was already made, what mattered was how to handle it going forward.
“Which is why... I need you to go to the main family house. Take Shirone and go to the Kazra Kingdom. You're the only one who can do this.”
Reina also thought she was the right person for the job.
In the swordsman family of Ogent, she was the only artist with a wide range of social activities, and she had built a solid network of connections since joining the Elite Artists' 99.
However, she was also worried about Rian. If she proceeded with this while hiding the truth, he would be deeply disappointed when he found out later.
“Shouldn't we tell Rian?”
“No. As you can guess, the atmosphere is quite tense. A minor mistake could ruin everything. And as you know, that boy can be reckless.”
“That's true.”
This involved traveling to another country for an audience with the king; reason was more important than emotion.
In that respect, Rian was the number one risk factor.
When it came to matters concerning Shirone, he wouldn't see the king, or even a god, standing in his way.
“Alright. I'll go without telling Rian.”
“The date of the audience and the travel route have been relayed through intelligence. You must not reveal this to anyone until you reach Creas. Shirone must not know either.”
Intelligence is always exchanged for major and minor affairs between nations. But very few people had the authority to confirm the substance of that intelligence.
This secrecy of shadow diplomacy was also why conspiracy theories arose.
In a way, it was like child's play, but when that play was on a national scale, the story changed.
Even a trivial issue like deciding an envoy's lodging could become a trigger for war, so secrecy was paramount.
“The location is Alpheas Magic Academy. Fifty armed soldiers will accompany them, and Kazra's Administrative Officer Ordos will meet with Shirone as the envoy. We've sent a reply, but from now on, it's a battle of wits. They'll probably try to take Shirone before we arrive. We need to move as quickly as possible. You should be able to buy us some time.”
Reina felt a heavy sense of mission and nodded.
“Yes, I understand. I'll prepare and leave right away.”
Kazra Kingdom (1)
The three days of preparation they had requested from Ordos were over.
Shirone rode in a carriage with Reina toward the academy, being tested on court etiquette along the way.
“What is the first thing you do during an audience?”
“Kneel, keep your gaze 45 degrees downward, and place your hands on your chest. State your name and rank, and say, ‘I await Your Highness's call.’”
“What is the official standard for morning hours in the royal palace?”
“Thirty minutes before the lunchtime bell rings.”
Reina nodded in satisfaction.
“Good, very well done. That's impressive.”
“Hehe! It was easy because it has a lot in common with the Tormia Kingdom.”
Although from different eras, the Tormia and Kazra Kingdoms were sister nations that had broken away from the Yakma Republic, so their cultures and lifestyles were not vastly different.
Of course, for Shirone, who was not a noble, there was still a great deal to memorize.
But Reina wasn't worried.
He had been a bright child from a young age, so she trusted he would manage, and indeed, he had absorbed all the etiquette in just three days.
However, Shirone himself still seemed anxious.
“What if I make a mistake? I mean, ‘thirty minutes before lunchtime’ is pretty vague.”
Reina patted Shirone's head and said.
“Haha, no need to be nervous. Even nobles get that wrong a lot. Of course, it's best to observe it if you can, but you won't be thrown in jail for mistaking the time.”