Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Military Parade and Heir Designation (2)
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I was back in Reinhime.
Today was finally the day of the Military Parade. The capital of the Essenmont Border County. The ceremony was to be held right here in Reinhime.
The place I was standing now was the central square in front of the Reinhime City Hall, where preparations for the Military Parade had been completed.
A massive stage had been set up in the middle of the central square.
And along the roadsides of the central square, the people of Essenmont had gathered in droves to watch the Military Parade.
I stood in one spot on that stage, waiting for the Military Parade to begin. Uriel, standing beside me, spoke up.
"How is your condition, Count Julian?"
"Not bad. It's thanks to your devoted assistance, Sir Uriel."
"Ah... no, it's because of your own efforts, Count!"
Uriel's face flushed red at my polite words. It was a complete departure from her previous provocative and stiff demeanor.
She was a woman after all, it seemed. Her attitude had softened considerably since we'd shared our bodies.
Still, her skill as a knight hadn't gone anywhere, so with her help, I'd managed to properly prepare for the Military Parade.
'My stats are still the same, and the preparation time was too short. But thanks to Uriel and my traits, I properly learned the first form of the first chapter, the basics of the Lion Heart Sword.'
The 'Ordinary Mana Knight' trait had boosted the efficiency of my sword training. Because of that, I—a man in my twenties who'd been completely distant from exercise—had mastered the first form of the ceremonial swordsmanship in just a few days.
It wasn't just superficial mimicry. I'd received a passing grade from Uriel, an Aura user and knight of the White Night Knights.
So there shouldn't be any shortcomings in being recognized as the official heir.
All that was left was to exchange one bout with Captain Michael. For the best scenario to unfold, the renowned knight would need to give it his all.
This time, Eirin, who was standing beside me, spoke to me.
"Young master, are you satisfied with the speech? If there's anything lacking, even now..."
"No, it's sufficient. It was good enough to make my blood boil just reading it. You did well."
"...No, I was just doing my duty as a maid."
With that, Eirin straightened my attire. The clothes I was wearing now were the noble ceremonial uniform worn by the Reinhardt family for major events.
While practicing swordsmanship with Uriel, I'd also built up some basic stamina in a short time. Combined with diet control, I'd lost a fair amount of weight.
It wasn't to the point of a perfectly sculpted physique. But it was more than enough to fill out the clothes I was wearing now with some presence. Eirin's cheeks flushed slightly as she adjusted my outfit. Perhaps reacting like a proper maid to how well it fit.
I headed straight to Border Count Wilhelm just like that.
The Border Count was conversing with the nobles who held titles in Essenmont Territory, as well as high-ranking officials from the City Hall—the core figures of Essenmont.
"It's Julian. Are preparations complete?"
"Yes, Your Excellency, Border Count."
The Border Count addressed me. Following his lead, the nobles and dignitaries moved to greet me, the heir.
In that moment, surprise flickered across their faces.
"Greetings, Count Julian. Oh, you look truly splendid today. As expected of the Reinhardt heir."
"Indeed. Anyone can see you're the Border Count's successor, full of dignity."
"It's not the clothes that are the wings, but Count Julian's countenance itself, like the wings of the archangel!"
The flattery came one after another, but it didn't feel unpleasant. I'd expected this level of reaction from the uniform tailored by Master Otto and his son, which boosted my Charm stat.
"Hoho, even I have to say today's Julian looks truly splendid. I hardly know whose grandson he is. Don't you all think so?"
The flattery seemed to please the Border Count even more than me.
"And I hear Julian has prepared a special speech before the heir designation. Isn't that surprising?"
"A speech? Remarkable. Standing in the middle of this central square to deliver one is no easy feat."
"A fitting idea for the Reinhardt heir. I'm greatly looking forward to the Count's speech! We expect a splendid address about the proud Reinhardt family."
And amid the sycophants, I recognized one man quietly nodding without a word.
'Captain Michael of the White Night Knights.'
His unkempt brown hair fell in disarray. His beard grew wild and rough.
At a glance, he looked like any middle-aged man you might bump into on the streets of Essenmont.
But my Ordinary Mana Knight trait and Reinhardt blood told me otherwise. That man was undoubtedly a ferocious beast. One who could perfectly sheath his claws in the face of trivial foes or minor matters.
He was impressive indeed. His nickname as the Ghost of the North Country wasn't for nothing.
'A knight who's reached the Master realm. Sorry, Uriel, but he's on another level entirely.'
Of course, I'd also withstood Wilhelm's gaze, which was on an even higher level. But today wasn't just about eyes—it was the day I'd have to directly receive a strike from a Master-level knight's sword.
More than anything, in front of the people of Essenmont gathered to watch the Military Parade, I needed to show my changed self. Which meant I had to draw out the claws that man kept deeply hidden.
I approached him first and offered a handshake.
"It's been a while. I look forward to today, Captain Michael."
Of course, this was my first time meeting him. But according to Eirin, Julian and Michael had already met several times.
Like a rabbit quickly recognizing a beast and plotting its escape, the old Julian had been overwhelmed by Michael's sharp presence every time, unable to even meet his eyes properly.
But today's me was different.
I met his gaze head-on first. With eyes laced with a hint of provocation, no less.
"I look forward to it as well, Count Julian."
Michael's reaction was unexpected. Clear bewilderment showed on his face. Not just him—the officials around the Border Count were stunned by our handshake as well.
"No way... Count Julian is... speaking to that ghost...?"
"Did I really just see that? Count Julian approached that fearsome captain first and greeted him?"
The reaction was this intense. And all for a mere handshake. No matter how renowned the knight...
"Ju... Julian? You approached Michael first?"
Even the Border Count was startled. His eyes were wider than the officials', so it must not have been an ordinary action.
And shortly after. The Military Parade finally began.
From the southern end of the central square toward this stage, the White Night Knights and Essenmont troops' elite soldiers marched in formation.
Thud thud thud—
Clank clank clank—
A procession of 150 knights and 1,000 Essenmont troops. Not a massive army, but their elite quality lent them a disciplined air.
Yet something felt off. Though it was a Military Parade, they weren't polished in gleaming armor and weapons for show.
They marched with the raw ferocity of men fresh from the battlefield.
There wasn't a single spot on their armor or armament without scars. Their savage presence intensified as they advanced in formation.
Looking closer, their faces were covered in unkempt beards as well.
But those undisciplined faces bore dominant smiles. The leisure only survivors who had crossed the most desperate lines of death could possess.
They were worthy of being called the Border Count's pride and joy.
'I see why Julian fled at the mere sight of them.'
And why he'd wandered around with that incomprehensible wild hair and bushy beard. He must have been trying to imitate their raw masculinity.
Of course, a wastrel young master who'd never held a sword couldn't mimic that feral wildness.
Finally, their procession halted. And Border Count Wilhelm stepped to the center of the stage.
The Border Count's demeanor shifted in an instant. The grandfather proudly boasting about his grandson was gone.
The old lion's eyes flashed open. A chill wind swept the central square. Everyone participating in the Military Parade stood at once.
"Welcome home to your homeland, my soldiers."
It was a majestic sight.
The elite soldiers in formation knelt on one knee toward the Border Count all at once. Following them, the dignitaries on stage and the territory folk who came to watch knelt as well.
It was a pledge of loyalty to the territory's lord, the Border Count.
"Rise. I commend your hard work."
The elite soldiers rising in perfect unison at his words was a spectacle in itself. He continued.
"Today's Military Parade is also the occasion to affirm the qualifications of another who will carry on the long line of Reinhardts after me, Wilhelm von Reinhardt."
At Wilhelm's words, every gaze in the square turned to me.
The pressure was immense, even hard to withstand with my Ordinary Noble Scion trait. Especially from those elite soldiers openly directing killing intent at me.
But drawing on my newly acquired basic mana reserves, I met all those gazes with confidence. Thanks to Uriel's efforts, I'd started with double the mana, so this was manageable.
"And before officially designating the Reinhardt heir today, my grandson and Count of Harsen Territory, Julian von Reinhardt, will deliver his remarks."
Wilhelm looked at me. I slightly bowed my head and, following the Border Count as he stepped aside, took center stage.
The eyes of the elite soldiers, filled with respect for the Border Count moments ago, changed. Doubt and hostility toward me, clearly.
Now it was time to show them the new me.
As the City Hall mage cast the amplification spell, I opened my mouth.
"...Thus, the Reinhardts still remember and never forget the noble blood shed by Essenmont's children in this biting wind."
The central square was filled with silence. And in that silence, a man spoke softly, his voice carrying astonishing conviction.
'Count Julian... Julian von Reinhardt.'
Captain Michael inwardly repeated the wastrel count's name. For a moment, he reconsidered the term "wastrel."
Something utterly unexpected was unfolding before his eyes.
The speech Count Julian had prepared wasn't the typical family boasting or empty ambitions from a young lord.
Of course, that wasn't bad. In fact, it was the convention for noble heirs' remarks, considered their virtue.
But astonishingly, Count Julian's speech was a eulogy.
"The harshest Essenmont on the Iceland Continent. Yet beautiful northern homeland Essenmont. The people of our Border County have steadfastly guarded this place for ages as the Empire's greatest spear and sturdiest shield. Behold. The proud White Night Knights and Essenmont elites standing here before you are proof."
The dignitaries on stage murmured. But what surprised Captain Michael wasn't their reaction.
It was that his own subordinates were utterly absorbed in the count's eulogy, listening without a twitch. They were knights and elites, but they looked like bandits right now.
'To immerse those guys with just three inches of tongue?'
They were brutish types who sometimes ignored even their captain. But while shocked by their reaction, he also understood it.
The count's voice had a remarkable power to seize hearts.
As a eulogy, it soothed the listener's emotions endlessly, yet also stirred them to a fever pitch.
And that astonishingly clear tenor. Michael was reminded of Julian's birth father, the bard Riel.
'Blood doesn't lie, after all.'
No, that wasn't it either. Standing on that stage wasn't some mere bard.
Every word from Count Julian was imbued with the pride of the Border County, of Essenmont.
This place, often dismissed as northern hicks by Empire folk or those in the capital.
But they were the heroes who ceaselessly blocked demonic incursions from the Empire's border and even reclaimed the capital in the war against the demonkin.
"...Therefore, the Reinhardts dare call those with Essenmont blood heroes."
And Count Julian clearly knew that fact.
Otherwise, Michael's blood, always ruled by cool reason, wouldn't boil like this at some young upstart's speech.
The count was repeatedly emphasizing through the eulogy just how proud a land Essenmont was.
'A kid who hadn't even awakened mana. What the hell happened to that wastrel?'
Directing killing intent at the new Reinhardt heir was a sort of tradition. Border Count Wilhelm had asked him to do the same.
But Count Julian was receiving that intent nonchalantly even now.
And his subordinates had gone from killing intent to shining eyes, fully immersed in the eulogy.
'Well, I'm just as absorbed in the count's eulogy. Indeed. Even a wastrel is still a Reinhardt. Lion's blood...'
The count's speech ended. Everyone fell silent at the unimaginable address. Some even shed tears.
And since most here knew what kind of wastrel Julian was.
They didn't know how to react to this unforeseen event.
'Next up is our bout... If he took that killing intent so calmly, he must have awakened mana.'
That provocative gaze during their handshake on stage earlier. It wasn't bravado after all. The pitiful young master who couldn't meet his eyes before had changed.
And Michael found an unprecedented interest growing toward this young Reinhardt.
Just as everyone here had knelt to Border Count Wilhelm. He wanted to see for himself if this man was worthy of kneeling and pledging loyalty.
Michael changed his mind. No holding back. Even for one exchange, he'd go all out.
The square's silence persisted.
Captain Michael broke it with resounding applause.