Bonds of the Journey (2)
Bonds of the Journey (2)
Martin de Hierro.
The man who had blown the monster away was the illegitimate son of Marquis Hierro and Adria's half-brother.
When he asked to join us, the Knight Commander sought permission from Brother Simon, even if only as a formality.
Although Knight Commander Alonso led the group, the heir to the Duke's estate was worthy of ample respect.
Brother Simon, having been properly educated, left the decision to the Knight Commander.
Naturally, the Knight Commander didn't ask me.
Just as the illegitimate son of the Hierro Marquisate had said, although we were nobles, an illegitimate son's status was only worth so much.
Well, I was also just a young child, not even ten years old yet.
In any case, Knight Commander Alonso permitted him to travel with us.
The man was energetic and sociable.
Before even half a day had passed, he'd become close with everyone.
He talked with the soldiers without hesitation and chatted merrily with the knights.
The soldiers were delighted that a noble treated them so comfortably, despite his being an illegitimate son. And the knights, having seen him defeat a monster all by himself, felt a warm liking toward him as well.
Brother Simon tried to pay him no mind, and the Knight Commander and the Chief Butler treated him professionally, but he quickly grew close to everyone else and spoke with them informally.
It seemed I was the only one who felt a sense of aversion toward him.
After what I'd experienced in my past life, there was no way I could like him, no matter how kindly he treated me.
But he showed an interest in me. He'd heard from the others that I was an illegitimate son too.
"Hurling a sword and knocking back a flying monster is something even most knights would struggle to do. As I said earlier, it was truly amazing."
After chatting with the knights for a while, he approached me and spoke without hesitation.
"Thank you. You can speak casually with me. But you were even more amazing. I didn't know someone could send that monster flying with a sword."
I forced my tense expression to relax and thanked him for the compliment.
I didn't like him, but I couldn't show it. The opportunity had practically walked right up to me on its own two feet; I couldn't let it slip away.
There was so much I needed to find out: how an illegitimate son who'd been kicked out of his household had managed to gather people and seize power.
I needed to know who was backing him and where the people who'd killed us in my past life were.
And I had to figure out his skills and weaknesses, if I wanted to kill him.
"I wonder if it's really okay for me to drop the formalities..."
"Yes. There's an age gap, and we're both in the same boat anyway."
"Right. The same boat. Sure, let's keep things comfortable, then."
As expected, he was a man with maxed-out sociability.
"More than that, my strength is entirely thanks to my inherited ability. My actual swordsmanship is far below that of the knights. It's only thanks to my inherited ability that I can wander around alone like this..."
As he spoke, his expression darkened.
There was definitely more to it.
"Ah, right. In my case, it's because of my inherited ability, but what you showed, Alex, was pure swordsmanship! A high-level technique that even knights can't easily pull off!"
At his words, I stole a quick glance around us.
No one was paying attention to us; everyone was busy cleaning up after dinner and organizing their personal gear.
Everyone else had been too busy fighting to notice, but the very person who'd blown the monster away seemed to have properly witnessed my skills.
"You look ten years old or even younger at a glance, so how is that possible?"
"I obtained a related ability and have been training ever since my awakening."
"Ah... So your inherited ability is related to that... Still, can that kind of skill really come from it?"
Martin tilted his head in confusion, then muttered with a slightly gloomy expression.
"Training, huh. Is the Gracia Dukedom a place that properly raises even its illegitimate sons?"
Mindful of our surroundings, I replied.
"It's probably because I'm useful for something. This is a secret, but why do you think I came along?"
"Ah, I see. So it wasn't just a trip between brothers."
If I wanted to extract information from him, I had to instill a sense of camaraderie.
Since it was all true, I had nothing to feel guilty about. And as long as Brother Simon remained officially in the dark about why I'd come along, there wouldn't be any problem.
Hmm, would there actually be a problem? Nah, nobody heard us, so I could just play dumb.
"As expected, noble families are all the same..."
"Speaking of which, you mentioned you left home. What exactly happened?"
I asked him with the most innocent face I could muster.
He stared at my face, lost in thought for a moment.
Come on, spit it out—slowly.
The night bugs were chirping, and the campfire cast a gentle glow.
It felt a little soon, but the atmosphere was perfect for pouring one's heart out.
I kept my gaze on him, holding onto my innocent, pitiful expression as best I could.
After a moment, as if he'd made up his mind, he looked around and lowered his voice.
"There's no one listening, right?"
Nope. I checked everything.
"Will you keep it a secret too, Alex?"
I had absolutely no intention of keeping it a secret, but I nodded vigorously.
"Well, as I said before, I didn't leave home—I was kicked out."
A bitter smile played on his lips as he spoke.
"I obtained a somewhat useful ability and lived diligently to help the family, but that ended up rubbing other people the wrong way. They claimed I was trying to become head of the family or something. As if any noble family would hand down their household to an illegitimate son, yet they still spouted such nonsense."
He was right. Even if they awakened, noble families where an illegitimate son inherited the household could be counted on one hand throughout the Kingdom's history.
But since I'd also died because of absurd misunderstandings, it didn't sound strange to me at all.
"Well, I suppose I should be grateful they didn't kill me. But what they did to my sister..."
As he spoke, a chilling glint flashed in his eyes.
The glint vanished instantly, but the aura around him continued to simmer with rage.
"I'm in this state right now, but one day, I'll pay them back."
Muttering that last part quietly, he looked straight at me.
"The reason I'm telling you this, Alex, is because I want you to be careful too. You seem smart beyond your years, so you must understand what I mean."
Just as he said, I understood all too well. No, death had already engraved it deep within me.
Unfortunately, Martin, who was looking at me with a worried expression, didn't look like a villain.
It was probably because he saw me as a mere child, but he was a remarkably good person who still worried about others even after being hurt himself.
It was just that...
The things he wanted and would do in the future simply ended up harming me.
The enormous toll exacted by Adria's, Hugo's, and Bianca's deaths—and by my own.
Nothing changed.
Now that we were enemies separated by death, his justice no longer held any meaning to me.
Seeing that I seemed to understand, he spoke with a hint of regret.
"What a shame. Alex, if you were only a little older, we could have worked together."
Oh, what kind of lead is this?
Should I bite?
"Do you mean something like mercenaries?"
"Haha, did I look like one?"
"Well, you didn't really look like a knight."
"Hmm, I suppose you could call it mercenary work. We aren't officially registered, but I'm working with some good mercenary comrades, so that might be accurate."
"Wow, you work with mercenaries? What kind of work do you do?"
"Haha, that's a trade secret, so I can only tell you when you're a bit older."
Dang, backing out at the very end.
Still, if those mercenaries were the ones I knew, I might end up finding them surprisingly easily.
Hmm, I'd thought about killing him if an opportunity presented itself along the way, but it seemed I'd have to put that off for now.
If I killed Martin too quickly, I might lose track of them.
Well, to be honest, secretly killing him during the journey wasn't going to be easy anyway.
The sparring matches we had whenever we found time during our travels made that thought even more certain.
Whack!
A resounding thud rang out, and I saw the soldiers below looking up at me.
From their perspective, I must have been flying through the air right about now.
Tsk. No matter how outstanding my swordsmanship was, it was useless.
The masters would chase me down with swords in hand if they heard me say this, but with such a massive gap in strength and physical stamina, technique meant absolutely nothing.
Even though my swordsmanship was nearly at a knight's level—a remarkable feat for someone my age—I was no match for him at all.
In truth, our actual swordsmanship skills weren't that far apart. I needed to slip inside his guard without clashing blades, but the gap between our skills wasn't great enough for me to pull that off.
As a result, I ended up getting hit by his sword and flying through the air like this during every single spar.
Well, if I channeled mana into my sword, I wouldn't be pushed back this much, but I had to keep that hidden for when I faced him for real later.
And thanks to losing so diligently, I was able to roughly gauge his swordsmanship and strength.
I'd managed to get a decent grasp on how to deal with him.
Thud.
"Ouch!"
As I tumbled onto the ground after flying a good distance, laughter erupted from all directions.
"Haha, you held out for quite a while this time."
"Even though you flew much farther away, though!"
The knights teased me with chuckles as I got back up.
The soldiers didn't dare join in on the teasing, but I could see them all turning their heads away, snickering quietly.
It was a completely different sight from when we'd first started sparring.
Thanks to his maxed-out sociability, the knights and soldiers had quickly warmed to Martin, but from the very beginning, they'd found me incredibly awkward to deal with.
I was the child of a Duke, yet also an illegitimate son. And a somewhat useful one at that. It must have been difficult for them to figure out how to treat me.
But as I kept sparring and getting beaten up right in front of them, the distance between us began to shrink considerably.
My young age, reasonably cute face, and even my charm skills helped, too.
On top of that, seeing me coolly brush off their teasing remarks, just as I had a moment ago, completely broke down their guard.
Fortunately, the Knight Commander didn't say anything, and the Chief Butler didn't particularly criticize my behavior either.
Only Brother Simon frowned, but perhaps out of consideration for my position as an illegitimate son, he merely scowled without saying a word.
As we continued our journey and sparring sessions, we eventually arrived in the Marquisate's territory.
It had been a long journey that took us through four other territories.
As we passed through the other territories, envoys had asked us to stop by their lords' castles, but we were able to head straight to the Marquisate on the pretext that this wasn't the Duke's official procession.
During our travels, we encountered monsters several times.
They were all monsters that looked like corpses, but they weren't as strong as the first ones we'd encountered.
They were the sort of monsters a single knight—or sometimes even the soldiers alone—could handle.
"If Undead Wolves appeared every single time, trade between territories would be impossible. It's not like merchants can hire knight-grade mercenaries to escort them every time."
When I asked him about it, puzzled, Martin kindly explained.
I'd grown very close to Martin during the journey.
Since we sparred every day and talked often, it was impossible not to get close.
But he didn't let slip any more information until we parted ways.
I didn't bring up any useless topics either.
And he parted ways with our group in front of the outer wall of the city where the Marquisate was located.
"Let's meet again in about a year. I'll show up looking spectacular."
After greeting everyone one by one, he finally waved at me and shouted.
I waved back at him.
"There's no need to wait a year. We'll meet again soon."
Though he'd shouted, I whispered quietly so he couldn't hear.
"Now, everyone must be waiting. Let us enter quickly."
At the Chief Butler's urging, the group passed through the outer castle gate, crossed the city, and headed toward the Lord's castle.
Unlike the Duke's estate, the Marquis lived in a castle.
After parting with the soldiers in front of the inner castle gate, we crossed the inner courtyard with the knights and arrived at the castle entrance.
With flowers blooming profusely all around, finely dressed nobles were waiting for us in front of the door.
They were all unfamiliar faces, but there was one person I knew.
A girl who looked slightly younger than she had the last time I saw her.
Adria was looking at us with a prim expression.