Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Genius
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Leaving the palace wasn't difficult.
The moment they saw Germin's face, they let the carriage pass without even checking inside.
The butler family that had served the imperial family for generations.
Their position was higher than that of most nobles.
Moreover, the palace was in an uproar right now. With the spirit's appearance, even the common soldiers were spinning wild fantasies of "What if it's me?"
After passing through the checkpoint without suspicion, the carriage raced along the road.
"......"
The inside of the carriage was filled with silence.
This must be what heavy air feels like. It felt like my whole body was being crushed.
Edis and Croft.
And me, stuck between them.
"I'll increase the carriage's speed."
Edis drew a circle.
A circle is truth. The symbol of perfection.
All mages draw a circle before casting spells.
Mana flows out, forms the circle, and amplifies their will.
"Mana, obey my will."
In that instant, an enormous amount of nanomachines poured out from his heart and began spreading around at regular intervals.
The wind shifted direction toward the path the carriage was taking, and the ground became even smoother.
Mana was injected into the horses pulling the carriage, doubling their speed at least.
This was the realm achieved by an 8th-circle archmage.
Without issuing specific commands, their will alone influenced the surroundings.
It required an unimaginable amount of mana, but the mana in his heart was like an ocean.
"I'll assist as well."
Not to be outdone, Croft placed his hand on the carriage.
At the same time, the white aura enveloping his body began flowing into the carriage and the horses.
Aura, which only knights who had reached a certain realm could use.
Coating a tree branch with aura made it harder than steel and increased its cutting power.
It was typically used offensively, but Croft's mastery of aura had long surpassed that.
The carriage didn't shake at all.
"Whoa, whoa!"
Neigh!
At the same time, the horses went berserk.
The carriage itself was ordinary, but the horses pulling it were top breeds.
They accepted the sudden change effortlessly and charged ahead.
It was so fast that the passing scenery was a blur.
If Germin's horsemanship had been even a little lacking, disaster would have struck.
Thanks to that, they escaped the capital, which normally took two days, in less than half a day.
To head north from the capital, they had to cross the rugged mountain range.
Going around would take at least two more months.
But even as a shortcut, the terrain was treacherous, full of bandits, and avoided by merchants.
Yet the carriage didn't slow down.
"Stop! We're the infamous 'Red Hood Bandits'......!"
"Dodge it!"
"Crazy, what the hell is that?!"
"Heeek!"
It felt like we just ran over something.
Was that a person flying over there?
The carriage remained perfectly steady and comfortable.
The Rokari Mountains, linking the north and the empire's border, were considered one of the world's most dangerous places due to their treacherous nature.
Even bandits could only cling to the outskirts.
The deeper in you went, the unknown wilderness awaited—fatal to humans.
Not just wild animals, but also many magical beasts.
I recalled that even Carlos Grand Duke had circled the mountains for over two months to minimize troop losses when advancing north.
"I've sprinkled the blood of the mountain's lord around, so rest easy."
And now, I was on the middle slope of some nameless mountain in the Rokari range.
Croft had decapitated a magical beast and splattered its blood around.
It was an enormous ogre, the lord of this mountain.
The range consisted of hundreds of mountains.
Each had its own lord, but an ogre was an upper-class magical beast.
Croft had taken it down like a light snack and returned.
'I just can't figure it out.'
Sir Croft.
Your thoughts are hard to read.
I could count on one hand the times I'd spoken with him in the past.
And those conversations were all him rebuking me.
It was clear he didn't follow me out of genuine loyalty.
'He seems suspicious of me.'
He'd been watching me from the start.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have shown up right when Germin brought the carriage.
He'd anticipated I'd leave at Edis's request.
The issue was what came after.
Why had he, a close aide to the emperor, set out alone without a word?
"Sir Croft. I want to know your intentions."
So I asked.
Tormenting myself over it wouldn't yield answers.
Besides, Croft was a knight who spoke his mind. That was another reason nobles shunned him.
Shing.
In an instant, he drew the sword at his waist.
Outside the palace. Taking my head would be even easier here.
In the Rokari Mountains, he could leave no trace of the body.
The palace wouldn't even know he'd left, making it the perfect murder site.
Edis tensed, but no one could beat a Sword Master in close combat.
On the brink of death. Just drawing the sword sent chills down the spine.
But I'd experienced this plenty from past ordeals.
A true powerhouse doesn't show their sword when killing the weak.
They sever the throat before it even glints.
"......You're not surprised."
Croft's eyes showed genuine surprise.
I smirked and replied.
"If you wanted to kill me, you'd have done it ages ago."
"Indeed, I would have."
Croft agreed.
Impertinent, but true.
Opportunities to kill me had abounded.
He'd even hesitated over it.
About killing the crown prince to ensure the imperial family's stability.
"Care to hear my side?"
Croft handed me his sword.
A crude iron blade.
Not a famed sword, but it suited him perfectly.
As I gripped it, its hefty weight settled in.
"Hm."
"It's heavy. Three times the weight of a normal iron sword."
"I can see that."
A typical iron sword weighed about 5kg.
Three times that was over 15kg.
Croft fixed me with a sharp gaze and spoke.
"A month ago, Your Highness couldn't have lifted it."
A body ravaged by drugs, gaunt and frail.
I could barely hold a proper sword back then, yet now I hefted this behemoth effortlessly.
Strange, indeed.
Of course, no one had raised objections.
No one had been watching me that closely.
But Croft's keen eyes missed nothing.
I brushed it off casually.
"Guess my growth spurt came late."
"Your condition improved daily—too fast for that."
"Being sturdy isn't a crime, is it?"
"Your hair and height grew thirty times faster than a normal person's, too."
Croft had even pierced through [Nano Machine Zero] accelerating my metabolism thirtyfold.
Sharp as a blade. Felt like he'd slice off my flesh and mind with that tongue.
But with his allegiance unclear, I didn't need to reveal everything.
The problem didn't end there.
"You can tell from the muscle and bone structure, the shed skin flakes. Your constitution has fundamentally changed. It's hard to believe it's the same person."
Croft was saying I'd become someone else.
This was more dangerous than admitting past incompetence.
People see what they want, believe what they want.
If he deemed me not "Reinhardt," trouble would brew.
He might think I'd dabbled in forbidden magic and been possessed by a demon.
Worst case, Zero labeled a devil, me a cultist—hanged.
"What are you getting at, Sir Croft?"
Why bring this up now?
I glared heavily, and Croft said something unexpected.
"Would you like to learn the sword?"
"......The sword?"
The sword. I hadn't seen that coming.
Many knights learned from Croft.
Most palace knights had trained under him at least once.
But he'd never formally taken a disciple.
I'd never heard of him making this offer to anyone.
"Regeneration thirty times faster means muscle recovery is too. With resolve, that's immense talent."
Straightforward.
But Croft as the teacher was still suspect.
'Me, properly learning the sword?'
The true sword genius was 1st Prince Raunel.
2nd Prince Kazan had unmatched magical talent.
3rd Prince Carmen's gifts were the rarest,
and the 4th prince wielded unknown divine power.
Me? Nothing.
No drive to learn, mania preventing deep focus—never shown tangible skills.
Could I surpass those geniuses by learning now?
'Why not.'
I'm not the old me.
Will and body both changed.
"I appreciate it, but it's sudden."
Couldn't just gulp it down.
I needed his true intentions.
"Does my offer unsettle you?"
"Honestly, yes."
"I understand. I surprise myself."
Croft sighed.
He'd watched the crown prince for years.
Countless disappointments, hopes dashed.
Convinced he'd never change, forever that way.
Yet lately, the crown prince's actions defied imagination.
He'd changed. Like a different person.
The crown prince, who'd never shown life's spark, now shone brightest.
For the empire's future and peace, he should die outside the palace.
His mania would drag everyone to ruin.
—Is it truly strange for a brother to save his sibling? he'd asked.
That one line, those eyes, still burned in my mind.
"......Just chalk it up to an old man's whim."
"What if I'm a sword genius?"
"Heh, that won't happen."
Instant reply.
Tone brimming with certainty it was impossible.
Teaching the sword wasn't some grand scheme.
Just testing resolve.
Had the old crown prince truly changed? Was the spineless one now seeking transformation?
Not overflowing talent warranting discipleship.
Just basic training.
No expectations of sword genius in Crown Prince Reinhardt from the start.
'Has an eye for the sword, but a dullard who can't embody it. Healthier body changes nothing.'
Might have untapped talent he'd missed, but not in swords.
Imperial blood ensured basics, but nothing more.
Praising regeneration meant "I'll grind you mercilessly."
Grind enough, true nature emerges.
"Hm, blunt as ever."
"I'll teach until we return to the palace. Note: don't think of quitting midway."
He of peak prime, called strongest.
No reason to refuse direct swordsmanship lessons.
"Fine. Let's try it."
"Since we're on it, I'll demonstrate basic forms first."
He took the sword back and assumed stance.
Nano Machines spread through his body like breath.
No aura flared, yet every fiber accepted it naturally.
Inhale.
He swung downward slowly, agonizingly deliberate, slicing the moon.
The trees, the mountain, the world.
Overwhelmed by the flow in that single motion.
This was "basic" to him.
A realm others needed ten, twenty years to touch.
How much time passed?
"......Want to try it once?"
I gripped the sword.
Too advanced for a beginner.
Croft showed no expectation I'd replicate it on first sight.
A baby can't recite poetry just by holding a sword.
But.
'Zero. Scan worked properly, right?'
[Yes, Master. All biological movements and nanomachine flows recorded. Beginning reproduction based on footage.]
New functions from Admin Authority upgrade.
One activated.